His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(64)
Author: Shayla Black

Bailey lifted her fingers to her throat, her head racing. Joaquin didn’t just want to take her to bed, but she mattered in some inexplicable way? But if the only way he could show caring was to spank her, she should resist—no matter how sexy he seemed.

As she cast her gaze across the room, she saw that Logan had pulled Tara against him, chest to chest as he cradled her on his lap. She sobbed and he held her tight, crooning in her ear. But the woman didn’t look at all angry. Instead, she appeared somewhere between grateful and ecstatic.

Bailey thought back to the scene she’d witnessed in the dungeon with Callie the other night. That woman had worn a shockingly similar expression. Their tenderness looked so achingly poignant.

No way Bailey could deny that she wanted someone to care for her. No, not just someone. She cast a clandestine glance at Joaquin, only to find him watching her with a laser-focused stare. He watched her every gesture and nuance. No doubt, he’d be asking her questions later about what she’d seen and how it made her feel. She didn’t know what to say.

Kata let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness Logan finally helped Tara cry.”

“Yeah,” Hunter added grimly.

“She’s been bottled up since giving birth,” Kata explained. “She’s trying to be supermom and superwife. She’s gone back to work in the last few weeks and isn’t getting enough sleep. She’s so worried about letting everyone else down. Logan has been trying to get her to open up, release her stress, and lean on him more.”

“That ought to do the trick.” Hunter smiled.

“You mean . . . he spanked her for her benefit?” Now Bailey was really confused.

“I doubt Logan was complaining,” Hunter drawled. “But yes. He had to get past her walls and reach the woman underneath. Now that she’s opened up, they’ll be able to better communicate and work everything out. Otherwise, Tara was only going to keep getting more brittle until she shattered.”

Bailey stole another glance at the couple and knew Hunter was right. In a weird way, she saw the logic. If Tara didn’t have her guard up anymore, Logan could dig down to the real problem and fix it. She could no longer say she was “fine.”

Biting her lip, Bailey wondered . . . Had Joaquin been trying to reach her?

“I can tell by looking at them now that Logan loves his wife. Of course he’d want to help her,” Bailey argued. “If Joaquin wants to put me in a state where I’m compelled to let my guard down, it’s only to help me remember the past I’ve apparently forgotten. He needs that information.”

“He does, but discipline is to teach you a lesson, not to jog your memory. While you’re still in danger, will you leave your appointed safe zone again without talking to him first?”

Her first impulse was to remind Hunter that she was a grown woman and would do whatever she wanted, but the demand in his expression made her think twice. “Probably not.”

“Mission accomplished,” he quipped.

But Logan spanking Tara had looked both emotional and sexual. So had the scene in the dungeon a few days ago. When Joaquin had smacked her backside, Bailey had experienced the event on a deep level that, yes, had also been sexual.

She opened her mouth to ask if she’d misunderstood Joaquin’s spanking, then closed it. He’d gotten his point across to her. And if his reaction had been anything to go by, it had aroused him, too. What did that mean?

Hunter whispered something in Kata’s ear, and she gave him a come-hither glance. In the background, Logan lifted Tara and locked lips with her in a way that left Bailey no doubt what he wanted. He strode toward the back of the club, flung open a door, and let it slam behind them.

In a corner, Axel now cuddled Sweet Pea, whose face looked exhausted but peaceful. Oddly, their embrace seemed comforting, not erotic. The little receptionist, now back in her bright dress, gave the slab of a man a grateful smile. He stroked her hair, murmuring something to her that made her nod, her eyes shine. What they shared was so different, but still so poignantly connected.

Finally, Sean, Callie, and Thorpe emerged from the kitchen again, carrying a few more sodas and bottles of water. The pretty brunette adjusted her skirt. Her cheeks looked flushed. She wore a supremely satisfied expression echoed by her two men.

Envy pierced Bailey. She wanted what all of them had—comfort, belonging, connection. Love. Her parents hadn’t been her parents at all, but had raised her for a paycheck, then left without a qualm. She’d never had any grand love affair except with dance. She’d never had true connection with anyone, even when she thought she had. It devastated her to realize that she’d always been alone.