Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) Read online

  She stood, and moved to the sink, turning it on and cupping her hands under the running water before splashing some on her face. Her reflection in the mirror made her wince. If she had looked this bad last night—she had nothing to worry about—she wouldn’t have even had sex with herself. Maybe if she stayed in there long enough the mystery man will take a hint and leave. She had decided she didn’t even want to know who he was or why he was here. She just wanted to take a hot shower, try to look less like death than she did currently, and have him be gone when she finally re-emerged.

  Having made a plan, she turned on the shower and stripped, letting the steaming hot water wash off the stress of the events of the last twenty-four hours. At least her birthday was over now. She had survived, even if just barely by the feel of things, and she didn’t have to deal with a day like this one for another 364 days.

  She took her time in the shower, scrubbing the remnants off the night before scrupulously washing off every inch of her skin. Once out, she dried off and donned the hotel’s fluffy white robe. She blow-dried and curled her hair, did every step of her intense skin care regimen and took extra care getting her make-up perfect. The whole time she was as quiet as possible, listening for the telltale sound of a door opening and closing. She was applying a final coat of lip-gloss when she finally heard it. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she quickly finished and swung the door wide open, blinking hard when a broad chest and massive shoulders sporting a hotel security shirt blocked her exit. Annoyed, she looked up and straight into the deep green eyes of Pax Donovan.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, glaring up at him angrily.

  “I own half of this hotel.”

  “I mean, what are you doing here, in my room? I don’t remember inviting you in.”

  Pax crossed his arms across his chest and smirked. “You didn’t. But even if you had, I doubt you’d remember it.”

  He had a point, and she knew it. Worse, he knew she knew it. She faltered for a half a second. “Well, even if I did, it’s my room, and I’m asking you to leave.”

  “Sorry, sweetheart,” he said smugly, finally sidestepping to allow her to pass. “I’m here on official hotel business.”

  Her eyes narrowed as she brushed past him to sit on her unmade bed. “What business?”

  “I ordered breakfast.” He ignored her question, gesturing towards the silver room service cart near the door. “Are you hungry? Do you really want to have this discussion on an empty stomach?”

  “I don’t want to have a discussion with you at all.” She stressed the last words, standing as she made a sweeping gesture of her own. Towards the door.

  “Fine. Have it your way.” He turned and began walking away. His back was towards her and the next sentence was tossed out over his shoulder as he went. “You’re fired. Jason wants you out by three this afternoon. Hope you’ve got someplace to go.”

  Her eyes widened in shock, and her heart raced at the thought of having to leave Aubergine. Of course she had a place to go, she was Diamond Barrett. But because she was Diamond Barrett, there was nowhere she wanted to go, especially not after yesterday’s headlines. “Wait! Stop! Please!”

  Thankfully, Pax stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned, crossing his arms in front of him once more. She shivered involuntarily. He was an intimidating man.

  “That’s why you came up here? To fire me? Couldn’t you just have sent up a note? Made a call?”

  “I didn’t come up here to fire you. I’ve been here all night.”

  “Oh.” She had been afraid of that. “You stayed up here all night just to fire me when I woke up?” Still suspicious, she glared at him from beneath knotted brows. “Or was there another reason?”

  “There were a few reasons.”

  “We didn’t… you didn’t…” She winced, not wanting to finish the thought out loud, but unable to stop herself from asking.

  Now it was Pax’s turn to glare. “I would never take advantage of an inebriated woman, and you were more than inebriated last night, sweetheart. You were straight up plowed.”

  “I had a bad day.”

  “Yeah, I kind of got that.” He crossed to the small table by the window, and picked up a plain manila file folder. “I know who you are.”

  “Fuck!” If her cover was blown, she had to be out of here as soon as possible. “Why didn’t you tell me that an hour ago? I’ll never make it home without a paparazzi trail!” She stood and began pacing the room. “How did this happen? What did I do last night? Whatever it was, it was apparently bad enough to get me fired, but still that’s no reason to blow my cover. That’s like the lowest of low, especially if you consider that the paparazzi were the entire reason I melted down yesterday. Well, maybe not the entire reason, but they definitely made it worse.”

  Pax crossed the room quickly with giant strides, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her at arm’s length in front of him. “Diamond. Stop. I didn’t tell the paparazzi. Hell, I didn’t even tell Jason. And if you would calm down and stop accusing me of compromising you in every way possible, I can fill in a few of the missing pieces of your night last night, and tell you the real reason I’ve been here all night.”

  She blinked up at him, tears of relief welling in her green eyes. “Really? I’m safe?”

  “Totally safe, sweetheart. And if you’ll chill—I have a plan to keep you safe, and employed.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She frowned, eyeing his giant arms that were still holding her hostage near the door. “You can let go of me now. I’ll calm down and listen.”

  Pax dropped his arms, instead placing one giant hand on her upper back and guiding her towards the small table. “Sit.”

  She did, and she thought he would sit opposite her, but he crossed the room, and rolled the room service cart over to her. “What’s your poison? I wasn’t sure what you would be in the mood for so I ordered a bit of everything.”

  She eyed the overflowing cart suspiciously as her stomach turned. “Coffee please, and toast.”

  “That’s not breakfast.” He placed the requested items in front of her adding a bowl of fresh melon and a plate of bacon slices.

  “Ugh. No.” she pushed the bacon across the table and frowned. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

  “I did. While you were in the shower for an hour. An egg white omelet and a wheatgrass smoothie.”

  “Ugh. A health nut.”

  Finally, he sat down across from her, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed against his chest, legs stretched out underneath the table. “Eat.”

  “I don’t want to eat. Can you just tell me what you have to say? Do you have a plan to get my job back?”

  Pax scoffed at her. It was actually a full on laugh. “No. Once Jason makes up his mind about something, it’s done. There’s no going back. That man is as stubborn as a pack mule. At least when it comes to business decisions,” he added as an afterthought.

  “Oh.” Diamond frowned, and picked up a piece of toast, nervously ripping the crust into tiny pieces.

  “I need a new girl. We need some fresh meat to keep up interest and provide regular… entertainment.”

  Her eyes blazed, and she dropped her toast, suppressing the urge to pick up her steaming hot coffee and throw it in his face. “I am not a whore! And furthermore, I’m not desperate. I have options you know, plenty of them.” She actually only had one that she knew of, but he didn’t need to know that.

  Pax stood, towering over her. He looked about as angry as she felt. “What are you talking about? Nobody called you a whore or even insinuated as much. You need to chill, girl. You might still be a little bit drunk or something, because you are making zero sense.”

  “Oh yeah? Pax’s girls? Ring a bell? Isn’t that basically what you just asked me to be?”

  His eyebrows crinkled high into his forehead, and he frowned. “Well, yes. But it doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means. I don’t think we’re on quite the same page here.”

  “O
h, really? Enlighten me then.”

  “Only if you dial back the attitude.”

  “Fine.” It was her turn to cross her arms. She copied his stance from earlier and looked at him crossly. “I’m listening.”

  “Rojo, if you didn’t know, is a mild BDSM club with a focus on spanking. My girls dance the same as you did here. They don’t do anything else, other than serve the customers drinks and keep them happy and comfortable—and no, that doesn’t mean what you seem to think it means. The only difference is, well, for one thing, I take care of my girls. Comped rooms, paid meals, monthly allowance, health insurance, all that jazz. I also pay better than Jason, but don’t tell him I said that. My girls also follow my rules. They keep a curfew, they eat healthy, they work out, and they show up on time. I keep them on a short leash. I want them in tip-top shape at all time. The kind of stunt you pulled last night would not be tolerated.”

  “Right I get it. You’d toss me out on my ass—just like Jason is.”

  “No. My girls mess up and they deal with the consequences. If you had been mine last night—and that was a regular occurrence—yeah, I’d get rid of you. You’d be a liability, and I’d have no choice. But unlike Jason, I pay attention to things like extenuating circumstances, and according to the things I learned from your file, coupled with headlines in yesterday’s paper—for you, last night certainly qualified as such.”

  Pax was making it really hard to hate him the way she wanted to, and she kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. She couldn’t get past the idea that she was missing something. Something important.

  “Thank you.” She was thankful for the kindness he was showing her, and the care he had apparently shown last night. “So, are you offering me a job?”

  “On one condition.”

  She stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

  “You’re tomorrow night’s entertainment. And that means, you accept the consequences for your mistakes last night. On stage. In front of a crowd.”

  Her eyes narrowed sharply. “What kind of consequences?”

  “The kind all my girls have for their random misdeeds. I spank them. Every Tuesday night is Vanilla Night, and if any one of my girls have any transgressions from the prior week, they come up on stage, and we take care of it.”

  Diamond had chosen the wrong time to take a sip of coffee, and she choked on it. “And by take care of it, you mean you spank them? On stage? In front of an audience? You have got to be kidding me. That’s insane.”

  Pax stared at her blankly. “A large portion of the population would disagree. You’d be amazed at the crowds our demonstrations generate, especially on Tuesday nights.”

  “Pass. Hard pass.”

  He shrugged, looking very much like it honestly didn’t bother him one way or the other. “Okay. Have it your way. I get it. You don’t need a job and that’s fine. Go home to Daddy, live off your trust fund, and become paparazzi fodder. No skin off my nose. Hell, I’ll even help you pack.”

  Well, crap, when he put it that way, she didn’t know which option was worse. Getting spanked on stage in front of hundreds of people, or spending her days gracing the covers of tabloids and having strangers track her every move. Pax’s proposition was crazy—and she was just as crazy for considering it—even for a millisecond, but God help her, she was considering it.

  “I’ve never been spanked. I think I might freak out. That would be really embarrassing.”

  “You’re right. The crowd wouldn’t like that much.” He raised one eyebrow and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile that was almost sexy. “I could give you a preview, so you’d know what to expect.”

  He must be right, she thought to herself. I must be still drunk. I’m not thinking clearly. There is no way this is a better idea than just going home. I need to turn him down, and get as far away from here as possible. She opened her mouth to decline.

  What came out was, “Okay.”

  Pax wasted no time. Before she could even process what had happened, he sat down on the bed, and patted his lap.

  She froze. Her mouth opened in a small O of surprise and her head began shaking back and forth, seemingly of its own volition.

  “I’m going to give you two minutes to finish your coffee and gather your wits, and if you’re not over here, I’ll have to come get you.” He paused before continuing, menacingly, “You do not want me to have to come get you.”

  As she sipped her coffee slowly, her eyes never left his face. He really was a handsome man, but that wasn’t a good reason for what she was about to do. Every part of Pax was large and intimidating, including his hands. Was she really about to let him maul her ass with those monster sized hands? A spanking might really hurt. And what if she cried? That would be mortifying.

  Two minutes passed fast, and her stomach and mind were no more settled when Pax stood and rose slowly, crooking his index finger in a “come here” gesture, even as he walked towards her.

  For a moment, he looked as if he were about to scoop her up and throw her over his shoulder but he stopped short, took her arm and gently tugged her across the room, sitting on the bed once more, and unceremoniously dumping her face down over his lap. Her face smooshed into the soft comforter, and she crossed her arms underneath her head and tried to tell herself that this was not really happening. That it was all just a very strange alcohol induced dream.

  “Darling, I hope you have panties on, because this thick robe is not going to do.” She nodded yes, and he bunched the thick fabric at her waist.

  One giant hand nearly covered her ass, and just sat there, resting as if waiting. “Now, if you were on stage, you’d be wearing one of our Tuesday night outfits. We have several styles, but I picture you in a nice collegiate type school girl outfit. Plaid skirt, white blouse, maybe a little cardigan, and some white thigh highs. I’d turn to the audience, and explain to them what actions had led you to earn a spanking. If I planned to use an implement, I’d hold each one up, and talk about it for a few minutes.”

  “Im-implement?” Her voice came out shakier than she intended. “What’s that?”

  “Oh, you know—the thing I use to spank a naughty bottom. Paddle, strap, cane. That’s sort of thing.”

  Diamond gulped as an involuntary shiver coursed through her body. This sounded serious.

  “Your behavior last night for an experienced girl, would warrant a meeting with the rattan cane, but you’re quite new, and that’s not an implement for a beginner, so a small wooden paddle would probably do the trick.”

  “Oh.” There was nothing more to say. Pax must have agreed, because he stopped explaining.

  “This is a preview. This is not the real thing. It will be intense, but only a fraction of what you would experience tomorrow night.”

  “Okay.”

  “On stage you would address me as Sir, Master Pax, or for a few, even Daddy Pax. It’s up to you. I have no preference.”

  “I could do Sir,” she agreed shakily, choosing what she viewed to be the lesser of three evils.

  “That’s fine.”

  “So, Miss Diamond, are you ready to pay the penance for your bad choices?” he asked, sounding grave.

  Her stomach tightened in a hard knot, and she noticed she was breathing heavily.

  “Yes, sir,” she whispered breathily, trying it on for size. It wasn’t as hard to say as she would have imagined.

  His hand lifted off her rear, and a glance over her shoulder caught it mid-air pause, level with his shoulders. She looked away, quickly, unable to watch.

  Nothing could have prepared her for the shocking rush of pain and adrenaline the first time his thick hand made contact. He wasn’t holding back. She knew immediately that he wanted to give her a genuine taste, and that he intended to make every swat count. His hand fell again and again, and she could actually feel her skin flatten and bounce back up with each thudding smack.

  Staying stoic was a fight she was determined to win. But the struggle ended about the tenth tim
e his hand fell across the crack of her ass, covering both sides at once in a punishing blow.

  “Ow!” she cried out. “Okay, okay, okay! You can stop now. I get it.”

  Pax had the audacity to chuckle. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m just getting started.”

  She wasn’t sure what infuriated her more: that he laughed, that he called her sweetheart, or that he wasn’t planning on stopping.

  “Stop! I said stop!” she yelled furiously, even as his hand fell across the lower crease, where her bottom and thighs met.

  He stopped. “Are you declining the job?”

  “I…” she paused and thought about going home to the large mansion with its constricting gates, and the constant barrage of news crews and photographers, even now. Especially now. It wasn’t worth it. “No?” She didn’t sound nearly as sure as she felt.

  “Then we’re not done here.”

  His matter of fact assurance was oddly comforting, and she forced herself to breathe through the pain, and focus on the end result, which was her anonymity—the freedom provided by being able to hide in plain sight. “Yes, sir.”

  With her consent to continue given, Pax drew back his arm once more, and she winced at the fact that she could actually hear a whooshing sound as it traveled through the air on its way to her ass.

  “Pax’s girls behave like ladies,” he warned between swats. It was an odd thing to say, as she hadn’t been one of his girls last night, and she technically wasn’t still, but the words gave her something besides the pain to focus on, and she was thankful for that. “There is a three drink per week limit, and only on your days off. There will be no drinking anywhere on the premises besides your own room, so if you want to have a drink at a bar, you leave the hotel. You must be back and in your room at midnight each night.”