His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(43)
Author: Shayla Black

“Spit it out, doll. You’ve got questions.” Callie nodded at her.

Bailey blew out a big breath. A million. Then she realized that the other woman wasn’t holding a glass. “Where’s your wine?”

Wrinkling her nose, she held up a water bottle. “I feel so dehydrated. Been running all day. I just need water. Besides, I have to fit into my dress on Saturday.”

With a nod, Bailey turned back to the windows and caught sight of the familiar man who’d moved from attaching body jewelry to his bound wife to giving her a soft, almost lazy flogging.

Bailey watched ecstasy cross the woman’s face. Obviously, she was enjoying every slow strike of the strips of cloth or leather or . . . whatever it was. Every time, the man caressed her skin with the flogger, his wife’s body twitched or bucked. Bailey found herself tensing, holding her breath, anticipating his next smack.

“Who is that?” she asked Callie absently. “He looks so familiar.”

“You’ve probably seen him on the news. That’s Jason—”

“Denning. And that’s his new wife?”

“Yes. I’ve known Jason for years. I never thought he had the capacity to actually fall in love. Nice to know I’m wrong. And oh, you never saw him here.”

“Sure.” Bailey shrugged. It made sense that privacy was a big issue at a place like this.

The man she’d first seen was finally done spanking the woman previously perched over his lap. Now he held her in his arms. The sight struck Bailey on a visceral level. The tenderness he now showed her after the almost ruthless way he had spanked her made no sense—and yet Bailey responded with something far beyond curiosity.

Damn it, she was actually wet. Worse, she felt almost envious.

“I don’t understand.” She pointed to the pair cuddling together on the bench.

Callie just smiled. “Most likely, he was disciplining her. Now he’s giving her aftercare. If he gave her a command she didn’t heed or she failed to observe a rule, then it’s his right as her Dom to punish her. Or it could be that the spanking was for their mutual fun. It’s something they both wanted. You can see that.”

Bailey could. The woman clung to her Dom, with her head on his shoulder as he caressed her back and whispered something in her ear. How could an ass smacking like that morph into something so tender?

“Sometimes, when you feel like your world is spinning out of control, it’s so comforting to hand yourself over to a man you know will help you relieve your troubles. I’m sure that sounds old-fashioned or silly. I can, in fact, take care of myself. She can, too. You have to be strong to truly submit. But that . . .” Callie gestured to the pair. “What those two are sharing is priceless. I can’t explain. It’s not one-sided. He needs control and he needs to be needed. Believe me, they’re giving something precious to one another.”

Psychologically, Bailey had no idea how that worked, but she didn’t doubt Callie. Another jab of envy, this time altogether different, stabbed at her. What would it be like to trust someone enough to give herself over and let him turn her inside out? Reduce her to her most vulnerable moment? Scrub her soul raw?

“It’s . . . beautiful.”

“Done right, with affection and trust, it is,” Callie whispered, as if she found the moment sacred.

It felt that way to Bailey. She swallowed down more wine.

“We should go,” the brunette said. “I’m going to get more than a friendly tap on the ass if I don’t get you back and spend some time with the guys.”

“Thorpe will really spank you?”

“I can almost guarantee it. But as the wedding has drawn closer, Sean and I are both on edge. Like we’re worried something is going to come along and screw it up. He’s been a bit paddle-happy lately, too.”

And she didn’t seem to mind one bit.

“Let’s go,” she offered as Callie headed toward the door.

“Do you want more wine before we head back into the secure area?”

Bailey hadn’t finished the glass she had. “No, thanks.”

The woman opened the door, and a big, burly guy with flat eyes and shoulders like the side of a mountain stood there with a look of annoyed expectation. Axel.

“Oops. I guess I forgot to tell my watchdog that we were coming up here. Darn. I think I’m in more trouble.” A saucy smiled played at the corner of Callie’s lips.

Bailey kind of wondered if she was crazy, then shook her head. Crazy like a fox maybe. If Callie got the sort of connection from her men after a spanking that she’d seen between the couple on the floor, Bailey imagined she’d be happy to disobey a little more often.