Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  Bailey moved without questioning, her head hanging down and her stockings and panty covered behind aimed toward the noise.

  “And I do not want you to make a sound,” Dianna warned firmly, one palm in the center of Bailey’s back as she listened.

  “I’ve given the police open access, Detective Fields, but I believe you’re abusing the privilege.” Gabriel ignored Dianna and Bailey as he walked toward the angry detective.

  “I know Bailey O’Conner is here. I’ve checked her apartment and I’ve been waiting for her since four in the afternoon.” She turned and strode to stand toe to toe with Gabriel Garrett, her chin up and scowl defiant. “I know you’re keeping her. Now where is she?”

  “Keeping her? She’s an intelligent, independent woman. She doesn’t need keeping.” Gabriel studied her for a long quiet minute. Crazed was the best way he could describe her. Pupils dilated and a slight sweat on her brow.

  “Try the bullshit on someone else, Garrett. You latched onto her the instant she came in your club.” Casey Fields looked around at the faces watching her, the derision in her eyes sparking and bold.

  “How would you know that, Detective? Did you attend the Halloween party?” He definitely had to check his guest list.

  “I want her, Garrett. She should never have come in here,” her head shook. “She shouldn’t have come through that door.”

  “Bailey isn’t a suspect. What do you want with her?” Gabriel didn’t try and stop her from looking around the large room. He knew the detective would be looking for a redhead and Dianna had managed to keep her hair hidden by having her over her knees. A position and view that had his body reminding him just how much he wanted his redhead.

  “That isn’t your concern. I’m taking her into custody for questioning and possibly her own protection from you and people like you.” Casey Fields paced from one scene to another, spinning angrily and storming back to Gabriel. “Where is she?”

  “She’s supposed to be at my home in an hour. You present a warrant and I’ll allow her to speak with you in the presence of her attorney.” He turned quietly and nodded to Jess. “You wouldn’t mind representing Bailey, would you Jess? Seems this police detective wants to harass her about the murders.”

  “Not at all, Gabe. Especially since all the evidence says Bailey is being used.” Jess leaned against the bar, his booted foot on the brass ledge that ran around the bottom. “The evidence and the Lieutenant in charge of the case. Are you here at the direction of your superior?”

  Gabe watched the answer flare to life in her eyes and continued to watch her.

  “If you believe she’s so innocent, why are you hiding her? She may have been innocent when she came in here, but the instant she hooked up with you, she lost the chance to be saved. She should never have made it inside the club,” she shook her head and shoved past him toward the door, muttering to herself.

  “That woman is not stable, Gabe.” Jess frowned after the detective. “She thinks she has to save Bailey? Save her from what?”

  “That’s a damn good question.” Gabriel pulled his phone out, tapping the number Lieutenant Templeton had given him. “Lieutenant, I’m sorry to disturb you, but has there been a change that requires you to take Bailey into custody?”

  “Of course not. Miss O’Conner has never been on the suspect list.” Natalie leaned out of the arm that held her while they paused the movie. “What happened?”

  “Your detective just stormed my club demanding I surrender her.” Gabriel looked over at Dianna, relieved to see her helping Bailey back to her feet and sending her off to the restroom. “What’s going on, Lieutenant?”

  “I’ll get back to you. Thanks.” She ended the call, the anger in her voice evident.

  Gabriel closed the phone and dropped it into his pocket, his palm on Jess’s shoulder. “Thanks. If I need you, I’ll call but I don’t think we will.”

  “She’s gone to the ladies room, Gabriel,” Dianna stood up but quickly placed one palm on his wrist. “Gabe…” she nodded toward the corridor.

  “Stop.”

  Bailey reacted to the tone and hardness in the unfamiliar voice, wishing she could cross her legs as she stood in the hall. She was about to turn when the thin crop struck across her ass. A surprised yelp of pain left her lips.

  “Stand still and quit fidgeting,” the Domme ordered flatly.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Fuck, I thought she’d quit and moved out of state,” Gabriel ground between his teeth.

  “We didn’t get that lucky,” Dianna responded. “With her reputation, none of the doms want to permit their subs near her.”

  “Why are the police after you, girl?” The woman was about forty, her features drawn and worn as she stepped to the side, peering into the younger face.

  “I don’t know, mistress.” Bailey kept her eyes down.

  “I expect answers when I ask questions and that is not an acceptable answer.” The riding crop bit across her cheeks again and make Bailey jump. “What did the police want?”

  “I don’t know! I was with Mistress Dianna. It’s probably to do with the murders,” she guessed frantically, really disliking the thin crop.

  “You’re involved with that,” Mistress Janelle said thoughtfully.

  “No, mistress. I’m not,” Bailey yelped at the third strike, her eyes burning. That thing hurt worse than the palms!

  “I do not like being lied to, girl.” The crop rose again but was caught.

  “You know the rules, Mistress Janelle,” Dianna gripped the crop in one hand and stood easily five inches taller than the older woman. “She doesn’t belong to you and you have no right to strike her.”

  “I do if she disrespects me,” Janelle challenged without hesitation, her glare met the one on Gabriel’s face.

  “I spent the last half hour with this sub and disrespectful isn’t in her nature,” Dianna said quietly, refusing to release the crop.

  “She refused to answer my question.”

  “I don’t know,” Bailey whispered, hating the tears and hating the woman behind her.

  “You don’t know what, pet,” Gabriel brought one palm up, gently stroking over her face.

  “I don’t know what the police want with me, sir. Please…may I…” she looked from the floor to Gabriel to the bathroom door a few feet away. Relief flooded through her when he nodded. She took off before anyone could change their mind.

  “Janelle, you have no right striking my sub and even less right interrogating her. I might also remind you that we pride ourselves on confidentiality. Speaking to either the police or the press about this issue will create problems for you that you couldn’t possibly recover from. Not to mention it would be a personal affront to me. I don’t know what your interest is in this matter, but never strike my sub again. You can choose a month of suspended privileges or an hour with Mistress Dianna.”

  Dianne released the crop, her head tipped slightly. She knew the older woman had few friends in the club and she also knew Janelle strongly disliked females in control of her.

  “I’ll take the suspension.” Janelle looked at Gabriel. “My apologies to you, Master Gabriel.”

  “It’s my sub you owe the apology to.”

  Janelle laughed and strode toward the exit without looking back.

  “Manners appear to be on the severest decline,” Dianna said with a shake of her head.

  Bailey left the bathroom with a grateful sigh, her eyes immediately going to the floor when she saw the two of them waiting.

  “I’m sorry about that, Bailey. Janelle isn’t one of our better Dommes,” Gabriel lifted her chin. “Alright?”

  “A little sore but I’m alright, sir.” She hesitated. “May I speak to Mistress Dianna, please? Alone.”

  Gabriel looked from one to the other and nodded, walking off toward the main room.

  “A problem?” Dianna asked quietly.

  “Do I have to tell him about…about what we talked about?”

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p; Dianna laughed and gestured her toward the main room. “If you’ve accepted him as your Dom, Bailey, you know the answer to that question.” She almost laughed at the sigh.

  “Yes, Mistress,” came the resigned reply. “Thank you.”

  “Give him time, Bailey. He’s not used to caring about someone. Good night,” she said with a grin, striding off to greet the man who’d come into the club.

  Bailey stared after her unaware she was holding her breath until she gulped in a deep draft, her body jolting slightly. Mistress Dianna was mistaken. He’d told her that it was only about the play; only about the sex. He felt responsible for her, she told herself firmly, straightening up and finding him suddenly in front of her.

  “Are you alright, pet? Janelle has been suspended from the club because of her actions.” Gabriel closed his palm and put it beneath her chin. “Look at me. I enjoy seeing your eyes when we talk. I’d like to say she’s an aberration but you’ve managed to run into too many who believe they could master you better than I in the week you’ve been in the club.”

  “I’m alright. I…she didn’t like the answers I had for her questions.” She looked toward the entrance. “Why did you keep me from the detective?”

  Gabriel arched a brow patiently.

  “Sir,” she needed to remember that. Being upside down over that horse thing just was not her idea of fun. Not without Gabriel being the one administering the punishment. That thought sent a sexual shiver racing through her.

  “Because I don’t trust her. Something isn’t right and until I figure it out, the lieutenant is the only one you’re to trust, Bailey. Is that clear?” He waited for her to nod. “What did Dianna want from you?”

  “Just to talk. She asked if I had nightmares because of the murders but I don’t remember any,” she sighed.

  “She’s a good person,” Gabriel commented quietly. “Should we sit by the fire for a while or go home?”

  “Home, please, sir,” she answered immediately, the draw of the solitude too strong.

  Gabriel tipped his head, his palm up and on her elbow, guiding her among people toward his office.

  “Home it is,” he said, wondering just when he started thinking of her in connection with the peaceful surroundings of his home. “Do you have the clothing or anything you might need at the house, Bailey?”

  “Yes, thank you, sir.” She thought of mentioning her car but decided she would do without for now. She could always get Patsy to drive her out to get it at lunch tomorrow. “Does she believe I killed those women?”

  “I don’t know what she thinks,” he answered honestly. “I let the lieutenant know what happened. She didn’t sound pleased.” He ran his palm along her waist and onto her behind, his mouth thinned at the sharp lines left by the crop. He let the woman off far too easily. “I have something to put on the marks.” He took her hand in his and closed the office door behind him. “Stand by the desk. Like in my office, Bailey.” He watched her body tense, the pulse at the side of her throat jumping visibly at the same time his cock thrust against his slacks.

  “Yes, sir.” She kept her head up even when her knees wanted to shake beneath her. She moved to the end of the desk, placed her palms around the edge and separated them before taking a step back and spreading her feet.

  Gabriel brought a bottle of lotion from the shelf and poured some into his palm.

  “Take your panties off and resume that position, Bailey.” He waited, setting the lotion on the desk and stepping behind her. “Beautiful. I should have used that crop on Janelle for touching you.”

  She pulled the long hair to one side and exhaled when his palm began massaging her ass. Firm, steady strokes; first on one side and then the other, she felt like purring when he added more lotion to his hand and continued. Then his palm wandered.

  Lower and around the globe that hadn’t been struck. By a palm or the crop. She couldn’t stop her body from jumping slightly when his other hand slipped between her thighs to caress the labia she felt swelling with each of his strokes. It didn’t surprise her that the stinging in her ass had faded considerably with each foray of his fingers through the damp center.

  “Is this because of the spanking, Bailey?” Gabriel moved closer, pressing his cock against her thigh.

  “The spanking hurt. It…it isn’t the same when it’s not you,” she admitted quietly, gasping when two fingers abruptly thrust into her at the same time his thumb pressed hard against her clit.

  “You’re aroused now. Do you want to come?”

  Gabriel laughed at the soft groan. He could almost hear her thinking of which is the right answer to his question. Only this time, his sub selected quickly and made his cock harden just a little more.

  “If it pleases you, sir,” she whispered breathlessly. A well of relief burst from inside her when she heard the sound of crinkling foil and a zipper. She kept her eyes closed, listening to the muted sounds of the club and his feet moving over the carpeting of the modest sized office.

  “Come over here, Bailey,” Gabriel had moved to the sofa, standing beside it with the front of his pants open but nothing showing. He’d removed his shirt and tossed it to the side. He watched her straighten in the dim lighting of the office and step out of the panties she’d let fall to the floor. The long, loosely curling red hair hung just past her shoulders as she walked to him, still wearing her heels and stockings.

  Gabriel sat on the sofa, sliding forward and lowering his slacks at the same time, his cock was already sheathed and so hard it hurt. He took her hand and pulled her onto his lap, his fingers going to the swollen halves and the heat down the middle. He spread the sticky honey and urged her thighs apart.

  There was no beginning. No pretense. He kept his gaze on the shining green of her eyes and positioned his cock, pulling her hard against him and thrusting up at the same time.

  Bailey cried out at the sudden invasion. Hot and hard and touching every nerve that needed to be touched as he pulled her down onto his lap.

  Gabriel couldn’t remember needing, wanting a woman as strongly as he did the redhead on his lap. Buried balls deep, he lowered the lace covering her breasts at the same time his hips urged her to rock gently back and forth. The low groan she offered told him her body had found the right angle for her clit to strike against his pelvis.

  He watched her wrestle with whether she could touch or not, her hands falling to her thighs until he momentarily left playing with her breasts and carried her palms to his chest.

  “I need your touch, Bailey,” he murmured, sliding his hands along her arms until he could spear ten fingers into the thick, dark hair. He pulled her mouth to his, his tongue invading her mouth as purposefully as his cock had taken her body. He arched his hips sharply, her knees the only thing holding her against him.

  Bailey gasped into his kiss, her arms winding around his neck. She tilted her hips, rubbing her clit against him. Her breasts ached for more of his touch but she settled to have them pressed firmly against his chest. Everything in her body clenched and tightened around him; twisting and squeezing hard as the convulsions wracked her senses. It had been building all day. Through lunch and into their evening together.

  She’d wanted him! She thought about him and saw his laughter and his smile when she closed her eyes. Like it or not, he was in her blood with the speed of a very fine liqueur.

  “Harder,” she ordered raggedly, the edge of another orgasm just outside her reach. He’d taught her about coming and she wanted him along with her this time. She lifted and thrust down, meeting him and taking him.

  “Demanding little sub.” Gabriel met her hunger, his hands sliding to grip her hips and keep her from moving. “So sweet…so fucking good…” his fingers tightened, tilting her forward and thrusting hard, listening to the low, sexy cry from her lips as her body went over the edge and he soared with her. Thick, hard spurts left his body, the hard muscle surrounded by velvet, rippling walls, draining him completely. And of more than simple fluids.

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nbsp; Gabriel let his face fall into her shoulder, his arms around her tightly as he inhaled the scents that had become Bailey in his mind. Their hearts hammered as one, against each other and slowing together. There was an amazing peace just holding her, stroking his palm over her head and listening to them both breathing.

  “You should put lotion on me more often,” Bailey breathed deeply snuggling down against him, relieved when he chuckled. The sound moved through his chest and warmed her a little more.

  “I honestly had intentions of packaging you into the SUV and taking you home. It’s bothering me that you seem to attract the idiots I let into the club.” Gabriel watched strands of deep red that had begun returning to their natural curl. He let them sift through his fingers, reluctantly lifting her and sitting her on the sofa. He disposed of the condom and brought her a bottle of water after draining half of it.

  “They aren’t your fault, Gabriel,” she said after drinking deeply. “So many things are happening to us at once,” she heard the low, husky sound of her own voice and wondered who it was. “It’s so hard to understand when things are alright and when they’re not and what category they fall into.”

  “And you’re too stubborn to accept help managing it all.” He’d left his shirt off, his slacks buckled and closed as he dropped to his heels in front of her. He urged her to finish the water. “Talk to me, Bailey.”

  “I’m not stubborn,” she said, frowning when all she received was an arched brow. “I’m not. Not really. It would be so much easier to simply let you take over but I have to manage on my own when…when this isn’t anymore,” she finished with a slight quaking in her voice. “You have so much you handle…I can manage my own life. But I appreciate the offer. Sir.”

  “I’m the one with the right to release you, pet,” he paused on purpose. “Or not.”

  “You said I had the right to request a different Dom,” she pushed with the stubbornness she had said wasn’t her.

  “You have that right,” the words burned coming out of his throat, his hands tightening on the edge of the sofa. “Are you making that request?”