His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(45)
Author: Shayla Black

“Did anyone see you?”

“I don’t think so. We kept to the shadows before we left the most public area and went to an observation room. It was up high. The windows were tinted. No one could see.”

“But you weren’t supposed to stray far from Axel’s side,” Thorpe pointed out, looking at Callie like her ass was grass and he was the lawnmower.

Not that Bailey worried about her new friend. The woman would probably enjoy her punishment. What would it be like if Joaquin did the same to her? The idea made her shiver.

Callie objected. “She just wanted to see—”

“Do you really want to take up this argument?” Sean prodded.

She hesitated, then shook her head. “No. She was curious and . . . I wasn’t thinking.”

“Let’s go.” Thorpe stepped away from the desk.

Sean fell in beside him, motioning Callie closer with a sweep of his fingers. She followed them silently toward the door.

“If you need anything around the club tonight, Axel will be here until four a.m. If you want food or drink, our receptionist, Sweet Pea, will help you,” Thorpe instructed. “We’ll be back tomorrow morning, but you have our numbers if there’s an emergency.”

“I do.” Joaquin nodded. “Thanks.” Then he looked Bailey’s way. “I’ll deal with this situation.”

*   *   *

AS he took her by the arm, Bailey looked like she wanted to protest. Before she could engage in anything so unwise, Thorpe and Sean swept Callie out of the room and down the hall. The brunette turned to Sean and said something, looking as if she was trying to argue her case. Her fiancé shook his head. Her Dom smacked her ass.

Now, there was a good idea . . .

Joaquin turned his attention back to Bailey. “Come with me.”

She didn’t say anything. For once, she was surprisingly quiet as he led her back to the bedroom she’d been staying in. He shut the door behind them, locked it. The sound made a soft snick in the otherwise silent room. He took the empty glass from her hand, managing not to succumb to the urge to slam it on the nearby dresser.

“Explain what the hell you were thinking.” He was willing to hear it, not that he expected to like it.

“I already did.” She shrugged, but didn’t quite meet his gaze. “It’s been one devil of a day. You’ve turned my whole world upside down. I barely know who I am right now. I just wanted out of this room for a few minutes. I wanted wine. I wanted a moment’s peace. That’s it.”

Joaquin tapped his toe, feeling antsy. While he understood her desire for some fresh air and some liquid fortification, with this much danger lurking, he didn’t like it. At all. She’d put herself in goddamn danger without thinking. He repressed the urge to fidget. No other woman had ever made him this itchy or had crawled under his skin so quickly. Why her?

“You wanted?” He didn’t mean to bite out the words, but they slipped free.

If he’d followed even half of his urges simply because he’d wanted, she’d have a red ass, a sore pussy, and be wearing a smile of satisfaction. And damn it, he had to stop thinking like that.

“So you just thought, the murderous freak who likes to butcher women . . . ‘Ah, fuck him’?” he challenged. “Because you’re what? Smarter? Stronger? Or you’re just playing the odds?”

Bailey looked chagrined for a moment, then her anger kicked in. It showed in the tightening of her soft lips and delicate shoulders. She drew in a deep breath, but somehow only looked angrier for it.

“Why do you care?” she spit at him. “I only matter because I was born Tatiana Aslanov, and you think I can help your cause, whatever that is exactly. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have given a damn about me. You would have passed me on the street without looking at me twice if I’d been anyone else.”

Joaquin stared at her for a moment, his shock climbing. He’d spent just enough time at Dominion, observing Callie and her Doms, to understand a bit about how the relationship flowed. He’d heard of BDSM before, but never seen it in action until the past twenty-four hours. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t fascinate him. And he’d realized quickly that when Callie put on her “bratty pants,” Sean and Thorpe came down all over her.

Bailey was sounding pretty bratty about now.

He’d also seen a man spanking his sub tonight when he’d gone looking for Bailey in a panic. Axel had explained the reasoning behind the discipline to him. A short explanation, yes. But he got the part about the submission and the endorphins mixing together to send her into a subspace that would calm her mind and emotions.