His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(49)
Author: Shayla Black

Joaquin studied the pair of them, their words turning and tumbling in his head. Was there any chance they were right? Sure, he’d found his Dom space, and that had been awesome. Addicting. Life altering. But what had Bailey been feeling? She’d liked their kisses. Even when they’d been rough and he’d pressed her up against the wall, she hadn’t objected one whit. In fact, she hadn’t seemed anything but turned on when they’d been arguing just before he’d taken her across his lap. Maybe . . . she just wasn’t ready to trust him, and who could blame her?

Oh, hell. What did it matter? He’d brought her here to protect her, not start a relationship or explore his Dominant side with her. This chapter of their lives was probably better put behind them. In a few days, he hoped to have these freaks from LOSS pinned, driven back, or roped up—something. He and Bailey would go their separate ways. End of story.

Except something inside him didn’t like that ending.

Joaquin frowned. This wanting more than a romp from a female was a first; he absolutely didn’t know what to do. Normally, he was decisive. He delved into a situation, fixed it, then stole back out. No harm, no foul, no worrying about how anyone felt. But the idea of doing that again made his gut tighten in objection. That fucking wasn’t happening. He wasn’t really sure why it mattered. It just did.

Who did he have in his life? He sat back in his chair. His best friend had been gone a couple of weeks. He’d barely had time to bury Nate or be astounded by the fact that, when they’d finally tracked down his next of kin, they discovered that he hadn’t spoken to any of them in almost a decade. They hadn’t seemed shocked at the news of his death, and barely saddened. Is that how Joaquin wanted his mother or sisters to react when some asshole’s bullet found him?

It shouldn’t matter. It never had before . . . but somehow it did now. And he wanted it to matter to Bailey, too.

Wait! How did spanking the woman and her liking it, or not, have anything to do with his connection to his family? Jesus, he was losing it.

“Thanks for the pep talk, but it’s a moot point. I doubt I’ll be spanking her again. She’s made herself clear, and I need her consent to stay here way more than I need her okay to paddle her. I just wanted to be aboveboard and tell you what happened.”

“Was she breathing hard?” Thorpe ignored his speech and asked.

“Yeah. She was scared.”

“Maybe . . .” The club owner shrugged. “Maybe not.”

“Were her cheeks flushed? Her nipples hard? See any of the usual arousal signs?” Sean asked.

Honestly, he hadn’t thought to look as soon as she’d begged him to stop touching her. “Just drop it. It’s done.”

“If that’s what you want, sure.” Thorpe sent him a cavalier glance that said if he didn’t pursue this, he was an idiot. “The truth is, I think you need this in your life. I suspect she needs this even more. She feels scared and everything is beyond her control. The opportunity to be with someone who can make her feel protected and will assume the responsibility for her onto his shoulders is something she craves, I’ll bet. But you can’t know for sure unless you two communicate.”

Yeah, communicating wasn’t exactly his bag. Joaquin often forgot that something went down better if he sugarcoated it. He winced as he imagined himself suggesting to Bailey that she’d obviously liked him beating her ass and that he didn’t appreciate her making him feel like a douche about it. Hell, that would make him sound like some sort of creepy misogynist rape-happy prick. No thanks.

“Point taken. Now I need to check in on her.” Because that sounded like as much fun as gouging his eyes out with a screwdriver.

Joaquin headed for the door, but Thorpe’s voice stopped him short. “Talk to her. Or I will.”

He whipped around and leveled the Dungeon Master with a pissed-off glare. Being under this roof kept Bailey safe, but it was starting to come at a steep price.

“Don’t meddle in my life,” he warned. “I did you the courtesy of informing you. I didn’t ask for your advice.”

“It wasn’t advice. It wasn’t a suggestion, either. You have until lunch to talk to her or I will take her aside and ask her some very personal questions until I get to the bottom of this.”

“Why the fuck would you do that? I said I wouldn’t touch her again.”

Thorpe sat back, raised a brow. “Don’t make that promise. Based on the way you look at her, I don’t think you can keep it. Besides, I won’t have her upset about anything more than the assholes hunting her down. I especially won’t have her worried enough to call the police.”