Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  “No, Sir.”

  Her answer was instant, he thought triumphantly. She was his for a while longer. Maybe that was his answer, too, he thought abruptly. He’d find her a Dom interested in a relationship, not just the play.

  “Get dressed. Time to head home.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she nodded dismally and slid to the side, heading to the pile of clothing. She’d seen the anger in his eyes and it hurt that she put it there. As much as she admired Mistress Dianna, she was wrong. He didn’t want her long term. It was all the game, the play.

  Gabriel stared at her back as she dressed. How the hell did everything go to shit so damn fast? One minute he was floating in ecstasy with Bailey, the next he was trying to find her another Dom? Where the hell was his head?

  No, that was the best idea, he argued irrationally. Get her completely out of his system and his life. He could go back to once a week with a stray sub at the club and things would return to their controlled normal for him. The sex had been…fine. Acceptable, he corrected. He spent most of the week rearranging his schedule and having Janet adjust things so he could fit time into his life for Bailey and that wasn’t how he operated.

  Bailey fought the urge to cry. She’d almost said she didn’t want another Dom. She hadn’t known she wanted him until he’d taken control. But it would be a lie. She wasn’t interested in another Dom. He would always be her Sir in her mind and when he ended this, she would end it as well. She withdrew as they walked through the club toward the entrance, falling back into observing and listening.

  “Why are there so many…” She struggled with the right word, his gaze on her for a moment as they crossed to the parking area. “Not everyone uses the same words or…or behaves the same.”

  “It depends on the choice of the Dom and what’s negotiated between them,” he explained, sliding easily into trainer mode. “We have a more casual style between us. I’m not interested in a twenty-four hour mindless decoration. If you were more rebellious, more resistant despite your decision to be there, I might implement a stricter protocol. The length of space between us when we walk; a collar with leash attached or on your knees, crawling behind me. Your eyes would always be down and speaking out of turn would always result in punishment. Then there are those Dom’s and Domme’s that enjoy the third person and high protocol. That seems too lordly and mighty for my tastes and frankly, annoys me.”

  Gabriel opened the door for her, gripped her waist and lifted her to the inside. A momentary flash of thought had him installing a step for her.

  For an instant their eyes met and she offered a smile of thank you that vanished quickly at the dark expression on his face. She didn’t know what sent him from a nice, conversational mood to the Dom look that had her worrying and thinking over what she’d done to earn it. She shifted her gaze and slid her legs inside, quickly buckling her belt and lifting her pack from the floor. Her arms wrapped around it, her eyes focused on the many lights of the night around them as he drove.

  “I don’t want to embarrass you,” she said quietly. “Your friends are really nice.”

  “You’ve won a few new friends there, Bailey. You fit nicely with them and seemed to enjoy yourself the other night.”

  “Oh, I did,” she answered honestly, glad he wasn’t scowling again. “It’s an interesting group. It’s definitely not something you can talk about with all your friends. I think some of them have the same attitude as the detective.” She thought carefully about her next question. “The woman…mistress…who hit me…do you know her?”

  “I don’t think I know her well enough,” he admitted, an annoying something nagging at the back of his mind when he thought of Janelle. “I know she’s been in the life long enough to know better than to take control of a sub the way she did. You’re wearing a collar with my initials on it. Clear and easily noticed,” his head shook at the memory of what he’d witnessed. He wondered if he was wasting his time, but he spoke firmly. “Bailey, if anyone in the club ever does that again, I want the word ‘red’ shouted out at the top of your lungs. Do you understand me? No one has that right without discussing it with both of us. Just like Dianna did when she wanted to talk to you. Are we clear?”

  “I need a manual,” she said, relieved when he laughed. It was a good sound, she thought, sighing and nodding. “I understand. I think I was so focused on making it to the bathroom…I reacted first and then…” She sighed. “Why do you think she was interested in what the police wanted?”

  “I don’t know. But I will find out. I’ll handle her and the detective, Bailey.”

  “Of course, Sir.” She knew there was tone. It was almost impossible to avoid it when he thrust himself into parts of her life that weren’t part of the play.

  With his jaw set, his teeth ground together when she hopped out at the house and moved quickly through the cold to the front doors. Another momentary thought had him finding her one of the spare keys and giving her the codes until something inside him slammed that door shut.

  A shiver raced through her as she waited for the door to be opened but she wasn’t cold. She wanted somewhere to hide. Someplace all her own where she wouldn’t do anything but cry for a while. She’d been nothing but mixed up that last ten days and he wasn’t making it any easier. Add to that the confusing conversation with Mistress Dianna and the crazy person trying to kill her. Oh, yeah, things have just been a nice, smooth river of fun.

  Bailey stepped past him and went straight to the bedroom and into the bathroom. The door might have slammed a little. Just a little. She stripped, washable things into the basket and the others folded until she was ready to leave the bathroom. She filled the huge tub and sunk into the hot, steamy water, eyes closed as she worked to breathe through the stinging tears. She sunk beneath the water, holding her breath and counting until she couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Trying to drown yourself?”

  Surprise popped the wide green eyes open, the dark expression on his face came through the cascade of hair and water as she blinked and blinked some more.

  “No. No, of course not!”

  “Why the red eyes, Bailey?”

  “I locked the door,” she said sullenly, her head swiveling when he arched a brow and looked in the opposite direction of the bedroom door to the bathroom. There was a hall entrance as well and she’d forgotten that one. “Oh.”

  “Planning to answer my question?”

  “Allergies,” she said simply, keeping her gaze on the surface of the water.

  “Hmm…” Gabriel straightened from the lean against the counter, his gaze dark and level. “Meet me in the playroom in ten minutes, Bailey. And don’t forget your collar,” he tapped the thin strip of leather lying beside him on the counter. “Right fucking now, Bailey.”

  She opened her mouth but before a word could come out, he was gone, the door closing behind him. Now both of them were unlocked. If she had secret powers, there would be a hole burned in the wood about now.

  Besides, she was tired and he didn’t ask. She paused at the camisole and briefs she’d brought with her. Dom’s don’t ask, she reminded herself with a sigh, frowning at the pajamas.

  “Right fucking now!” Is Dom for please, she thought ruefully.

  Fine. She left the clothing, squared her shoulders and let the long, damp hair hang down her back. It took effort, but she managed not to stomp down the stairs.

  Gabriel turned and barely kept all the rampant emotions in check.

  He knew she’d follow his order but he hadn’t expected her to appear naked. She looked like she just stepped straight out of the pool. Water glistened over her skin where it dripped from her hair.

  The defiance in her eyes was still a challenge to him, though.

  “You don’t want to be here right now,” he said simply.

  “I hoped to go to bed and sleep until morning,” she admitted. “Sir.”

  “Then the problem is simple, Bailey. Why did you lie to me?”

  “I…lie about what?
”

  “Have you lied about so many things you can’t recall which one?”

  “I don’t consider private thoughts as lies,” she said without remorse, wincing the next instant at the dark storm brewing in his eyes.

  “You’re my sub. You have no private thoughts. When I ask a direct question, I expect honesty and an immediate answer.”

  “Yes, sir,” she answered quickly, the fire in his eyes freezing her in place as he moved toward her, his gait as lethal looking as the expression in his eyes. She watched him slowly look around the room.

  “You don’t have allergies.”

  “No, sir.” She admitted and knew she’d waited too long. “I was sad. That’s all. It’s a girl thing.”

  “I’m still listening for an answer, Bailey.” Gabriel lifted a light weight flogger from the wall collection. Flicking his wrist, he wondered how it would sound and look against the freckles that dotted her body.

  “In your office it was so…it all felt so perfect and then everything was wrong and you were angry and nothing makes sense,” she said, the lid off the bottle now and the redhead inside set free. “One minute you want me around, the next minute you’re telling me you aren’t interested in more than the play and when I want to go to my own apartment, I’m not allowed to do that, either, because of…of the murders. Or is that a lie, Gabriel? Is it alright for the Dom to lie to his sub but not the other way around? I haven’t asked about your past relationships because for some idiotic reason I believed you when you said you wanted honesty between us. What are your private thoughts? Do you share them all with me?”

  Gabriel stared at the heaving chest, the perky breasts with their sweet nipples straining to reach upwards; the flush of heat in her cheeks and the way it spread throughout her body.

  She stood with her feet braced and eyes flaring with the anger she’d let free.

  “I’ve never kept anything from you. I’ve answered anything you asked.”

  “Wouldn’t the Dom call that a lie by omission?”

  Gabriel moved lithely to her side, his fingers shoved into her hair at the base of her head. He lifted her to her toes, holding her carefully, preciously. His mouth moved very softly over hers, along her jaw and next to her ear.

  “The Dom wants you on the cross, Bailey O’Conner. The Dom answers any questions you chose to ask.” He let her slowly go to her feet, his palms sliding down her back and onto her ass. Her expression mixed between a wince at the pain still there and the arousal he could feel thumping beneath his lips. “Face the cross, Bailey. Arms above your head.”

  Her words stung but he shoved them aside, reluctantly pulling his palm from the tangle of her hair and stepping closely behind her.

  “I wouldn’t be able to show my face in my own club if you let that temper go like that on another Dom,” he shook his head, his palm swinging with a sharp slap against her ass. “We began discussing why you continue to lie to me when I ask a direct question.”

  “Why don’t you want a relationship?” Bailey threw back, settling her stomach against the padded center and wiggling.

  “Wrists.” Gabriel ordered, adjusting the straps until she was stretched tautly. He leaned the cross slightly forward, his palm running possessively down her back to cup one firm globe. She jumped, but the straps held her firmly in place. “I spend too much time working between the club and my business. The last thing I want to come home to is some female whining that I don’t care enough to spend time with her. You aren’t like that.”

  He stepped back and flexed his wrist.

  “Why are you on the cross, Bailey?”

  “Because you can do what you want with me and you want me here,” she said pertly, adding slowly. “Sir.”

  For a moment he almost let the deep laughter free.

  Gabriel brought his arm up and the flogger against her thighs. Too softly at first.

  “You’re on the cross because you can’t seem to grasp the basics, pet,” he delivered several similar swats, watching the thin leather fingers dancing over her skin as it turned pink beneath his attention.

  Bailey had closed her eyes, trying to breathe regularly. Trying to think of anything but the feel of those thin strips against her skin. She’d watched Dom’s use the flogger in the club but this is the first time Gabriel had picked up one to use on her. Not so bad, she thought until the next swat.

  He was moving the swats around her body. Over her behind, down her thighs and onto her back. Some stung, some seemed to tickle. Her body arched with the next one, her breathing harsh.

  How did he manage to make the thing hit her pussy like that? And why didn’t it hurt? And why was she getting wet? She felt her pussy swelling and aching at what it hoped was coming. She tried grinding her pelvis against the leather and received another swift couple swats for her effort.

  Now he knew he had her attention back from where ever she’d gone in her mind.

  “You weren’t listening, pet. Another indiscretion,” he tsked, running his free hand along the inside of her thigh until his fingers collected in the hot moisture. “My, my, my…”

  He trailed his fingers between the globes of her ass, lingering over the taut little rosebud and swirling even though she tensed. Light teasing touches, drawing barely-there fingertips around the taut bundle of nerves to be explored.

  “Do you really believe you can deny me, Bailey?” He waited very briefly and brought the flogger down across her ass twice in succession. “A Dom expects answers. A lesson you keep failing, pet.”

  “No, sir, I can’t deny you, but…”

  “But you want to,” he brought the flogger down again.

  “No! No, sir! I don’t mean to!” She tried flexing her hips, pressing her clit against the padded center.

  “Does it hurt?” Gabriel slipped his fingers into her pussy, first one and then another, gathering the thick moisture and spreading it gently before easing one finger inside her anus. She bucked and tried to move, his finger withdrawing and the handle of the flogger quickly placed between her teeth. “Hold that, pet.”

  Gabriel pulled the straps from the sides, snugging them around her middle and immobilizing her.

  “Now…does this hurt?” He slipped his finger back inside her, satisfied and nodding when she couldn’t move out of his way. He removed the flogger.

  “I…no…no…”

  “You’ve had the plug back there. I think maybe this weekend we need to stretch you just a little more,” he murmured, turning and bringing the flogger down quickly from her knees to her shoulders.

  Tiny yelps broke from her lips but each time the lashes struck, her muscles tensed, clutching at his finger. He brought his thumb to the center, stroking through the swollen, blood flushed labia and pressing hotly against her clit.

  “Tell me what lesson you’re learning tonight, pet?”

  “That I should answer questions…” she paused, yelping at the next swat. “Honestly. I’m not used to…and quickly,” she shouted when the lashes flicked the insides of her thighs.

  “What else, little sub. Keep talking,” Gabriel rubbed against her clit, just hard enough to send her muscles tightening before backing off. Her body teetered on the edge, her breathing ragged.

  “Oh, god…Sir…I…” she groaned loudly, her head thrust when her back arched at the quickly delivered lashes. “I should ask questions if I want information!”

  “Very good, pet,” Gabriel chuckled and let his fingers play over her clit while thrusting his fingers into the tight muscles of her ass. “Tell me what you want, Bailey. Right now.”

  “To please you, sir,” she whispered honestly, her body shaking when he withdrew his fingers and stroked his palm over her ass. “I’m not stupid…my temper sometimes…”

  “I didn’t for a second believe you were stupid, Bailey. I wouldn’t find you so damned irresistible if I did believe that.” Gabriel tossed the flogger to the table and reached for her hands. He released her wrists and braced her body with his behind her.
“Don’t move, pet,” his palms massaged down her arms and back up, lowering them to her sides.

  He brought a large bottle of water from the chilling unit in the wall, broke the cap and held it to her lips.

  “Drink,” he ordered, lowering it seconds later and setting it behind him before releasing her ankles. The strap around her middle was last, his hands lifting her to the floor.

  Bailey felt the floor beneath her feet but swayed against him. She had no idea how or why what they did took so much from her or why it made her want to sit astride him all night long so he could ease the hunger he created inside her.

  “I understand not wanting to have someone in your life,” she murmured, grateful when his hands steadied her. “It hurts to fail someone.”

  Gabriel intended to take her to bed but the sting in her words jerked him back to reality. He’d never been afraid to try anything in his life. He lifted the bottle and put it into her hands.

  “Finish that.”

  Confused, she nodded and took the bottle. “Yes, Sir.”

  Gabriel stepped back, watching her take a few steps.

  “Go to bed, Bailey. You said you were tired.” Gabriel met the surprised look on her face. “Work on remembering your lessons, pet.”

  “Yes, sir,” she turned and left him standing there, all the confusion back inside her. Burning tears ran down her cheeks but she swiped at them angrily. Lie or not, he’d never see that from her again.

  Chapter Thirty

  Gabriel threw the flogger against the wall and bent over the low table, his knuckles white as they gripped the edge.

  What the hell was wrong with him? All she wanted was him and he kept sending her away! He’d answered her question. He didn’t get involved for logical, sane reasons but sane was the last thing he was feeling right now.

  “You’re an idiot,” he rasped angrily and spent the next several minutes cleaning up the playroom before he finally shut things down and headed to the bedroom.

  How the hell could he explain to her when he didn’t have any sane answers for himself? What was he afraid of giving up? What was he afraid she was going to take from him? She wasn’t like the others he’d let into his life through the years. She was decidedly nothing like his parents and their friends.