Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) Read online

  If he had to leave her here, to endure even the most-good natured of ribbing—it wasn’t happening.

  “Clock out,” he growled, dropping her face, and striding to the door, his hand on the knob.

  “You just told me to go work the room.”

  “And now,” he intoned impatiently, “I changed my mind. Clock out, and go up to your room for the night.”

  Her eyebrows raised quickly and her attitude turned on a dime. “You’re sending me to my room?”

  “Yes, I am. And I’m the boss. What I say goes. Get used to it.” With that he was gone, leaving a slack-jawed, half-dressed Diamond behind.

  Pax strode through the club, careening between bodies like a man on a mission as he made his way through the main room. He ignored the jovial greetings, and well-meaning congratulations on his new employee, waving them off dismissively as he exited the staff only back door to the outside. Taking the back way around the hotel to the casino was longer, but it was quieter, and it would give him time to get his semi-erection under control, and to quiet the conflicting thoughts racing through his brain with every step he took.

  As he rounded the corner to the front of the hotel, he heard his name being called from behind him. He recognized Jason’s voice immediately, but he was not in the mood for a face to face confrontation at the moment, so he just kept walking, as fast as he could. But it was a lost cause. While Pax did weight training to stay in shape, Jason ran marathons for fun. Pax was fast, but Jason was faster and by the time his friend caught up to him, Jason was panting, and had to stop to catch his breath.

  “Dude,” Jason greeted him, breathing heavily. “Where did you go?”

  Pax regarded him blankly. “I’ve been working.”

  “That’s bullshit. You disappeared for an hour after you left the stage—and that show—man, that was intense. You were totally in the zone. I’ve never seen you like—oh.” His friend stopped short, his eyes widening as he connected the dots, looking as if he was afraid to make the connection that seemed the most obvious. “Was she—is she okay? She looked pretty wrecked there at the end, but you seemed in tune to her, so I didn’t worry. Should I? Are we going to have a problem?” Jason’s analytical brain was always examining things from the legal side.

  “She’s fine. No problem. And if there was a problem, which there’s not, it would be mine and not ours,” Pax reminded him pointedly. Pax owned half of Aubergine, not the other way around. Rojo was his and his alone.

  Jason rolled his eyes as he processed the implications of Pax’s denial, looking very much as if he would have preferred a legal problem to the alternative.

  “So, where were you then?” he asked again, though it was clear from his angry expression he already knew the answer. Jason’s mouth was open slightly, his jaw twitching as he worked it from side to side, chewing on the possibilities of what he would say next.

  “Making sure she was okay,” Pax answered gruffly, mentally willing his friend to shut up and go away.

  “Oh yeah?” Jason snickered loudly. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

  “Shut up. Go to Hell.”

  Jason remained unamused. “Dude, what is wrong with you? For a guy who apparently just got laid, you sure have a bad attitude. What’s your deal? Was it not any good? Judging by the chemistry radiating off the stage this evening, I find that a little hard to believe.”

  Pax couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his friend’s crudeness. “It was more than good. It was amazing. That’s not the point.”

  “What is the point then? If it was so amazing, where is she now, and why are you stomping around with a giant stick up your ass?”

  “She’s a showgirl,” he ground out between gritted teeth, shaking his head when he realized how that sounded. “She’s an employee. It’s a bad idea to mix business and pleasure.”

  “Rules are meant to be broken,” Jason countered quickly.

  “That’s what she said.” Pax sighed, rolling his eyes when his buddy lost it over the popular pop culture reference.

  “Listen, Pax, here’s the deal. All you do is work even when you’re technically off duty, you’re here at the casino, or next door at Aubergine. Work is your pleasure, and that’s okay; that’s who you are. But it means that either you blur the lines a little bit every once in a while, or you come to terms with the fact that you’ll probably end up old and alone, living out your days here at the casino, with me as your only family. Well, me and my twelve kids.”

  “Twelve kids?” Pax asked, flatly.

  “Hey, I’m being realistic. I blur the lines a lot,” his buddy informed him with a shit eating grin, clapping him heartily on the shoulder. “So, what’s it going to be? You going to pull the stick out, bend the rules, and take a chance, or are you still going to be here thirty years from now lamenting the fact that you don’t have a damn life outside of this place because you’re too damn stubborn to take a chance and trust your gut? You yourself said it buddy. You are not a rule breaker. You’re the least impulsive person I know. So ask yourself, what happened this time to make the great Paxton Donovan toss his rules and discipline out the window even for an hour, and is it something that’s worth exploring? I got to tell you, buddy, I think the answer is yes.”

  “You sure changed your tune fast about Diamond,” Pax observed gruffly.

  Jason let out a low whistle, shaking his head back and forth slowly. “You didn’t see the two of you up on stage. It was explosive. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  For the first time since he had left Diamond alone backstage, the light was beginning to dawn in Pax’s brain. Truthfully, he had had no idea that Jason had been there, which wasn’t surprising given the size of the crowd. And he hated to admit it, but his friend had a good point. Several of them, actually. But while Pax now had several things to consider, he wasn’t ready to give up his strict adherence to rules and discipline just yet.

  “Thanks, Jase.” He dismissed his friend, with a wave, now entering the casino’s front entrance.

  “Think about it,” Jason admonished him sternly.

  “I will.”

  * * *

  While the timestamp machine was located in a small room next to the dressing room, there was no way out besides through the club, or if there was, Diamond wasn’t aware of it yet. After Pax left, she finished dressing, washed her face and re-applied minimal make-up. Now that the endorphins and euphoria had worn off, her ass was on fire and it hurt to walk. Funny, it hadn’t seemed like a big spanking when it happened, and the after effects had taken a while to show up. If her skirt wasn’t so short, she would have ditched the panties completely, as the sheer itchy fabric was having the effect of making her feel like she was sitting bare-assed on a pile of fire ants. Her bottom brushed the tender crease of her thighs with every step she took, making the simple act of walking across the room, an excruciatingly painful feat, and she had to somehow make it all the way back up to her room on the other side of the hotel from where the nightclub was located.

  She hadn’t known what to expect when she entered the club, but it certainly wasn’t that everybody would stop mid conversation to look at her and applaud. The room came to a literal stand still, and everybody turned to gaze at her where she stood before slowly erupting into a loud applause. For a minute, she froze in place, petrified that her cover had been blown, until she felt a nudge in her side, and turned to see one of the other showgirls standing beside her sporting a similar get-up.

  “That was impressive,” the girl, whose name she thought was Crystal whispered. “They haven’t stopped talking about it for the last hour. Are you sure that was only your second spanking ever?”

  “Pretty sure,” Diamond confirmed, rubbing her bottom ruefully through her short skirt, causing the other girl to laugh knowingly.

  “Well, you took it like a pro. I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest. I’m always a total mess when it’s me up there. I squirm, and holler and cry and beg. I do not
know how to take a spanking gracefully at all, and I’ve been doing this for five years.”

  “Does it get easier?” Diamond asked with a grimace, grateful for the company as Crystal hooked her arm in her own and steered her through the crowd, stopping occasionally to answer a question, or let people congratulate Diamond on a “great show.”

  “The spankings? No, not really. I don’t think so anyway, but I’m a wuss. The rules get easier to follow, though, which means less spankings, so that’s good. I probably only get called up once a month anymore, and that’s on purpose. I’m so used to regular spankings now, if I don’t get them, I start to get a little cranky and restless.”

  “They do seem to have that effect, don’t they?” Diamond sighed, relieved that she wasn’t the only one who found the application of a well-deserved spanking to be oddly comforting and cathartic.

  “Nobody believes me about their calming effects,” Crystal lamented, “so I’ve stopped trying to convince them. It’s one of those things you’re never going to understand until you experience it for yourself.”

  They reached the doorway at the front of the club, and Crystal released her arm. “You have a good night. After a spanking like that, I’d sleep like a baby, and it sounds like you’ve had an eventful week. You go rest. We’ll have another chance to chat later. Maybe we can do lunch sometime this week.”

  Diamond smiled. “I’d like that.” She knew instinctively that she had found a kindred spirit in Crystal, and she was wholly tempted to clock back in and stay to work, but as annoyed as she currently was with Pax, she had zero desire to disobey him at the moment. Her aching ass wouldn’t allow it.

  The walk back to the rooms was long and slow. Without company, there was nothing left to focus on other than the pain and heat radiating off her rear with each and every step she took. It was after midnight by the time she finally made it, stopping at a small café to order a sandwich and a bottle of water to go.

  As soon as the door to her suite closed behind her, she lifted her skirt and ditched the panties, glaring at them as if they were the cause of all her pain. She devoured the sandwich, standing up, of course, and yawned. A full day had ended with a hard spanking and mind blowing sex, and now that she was safely away from the noise and the lights and the crowd below, she was utterly exhausted.

  Ditching the schoolgirl outfit, she opted instead for a tank top and a pair of plaid cotton boxer shorts, smiling when she added her trademark knee socks. It was too hot in Vegas to wear socks during the day, so she put them on the first chance she got, every night. Most people thought it was weird that she slept with socks on, often putting them on to sleep after not having worn them all day, but Diamond couldn’t go to sleep with naked feet. She collapsed onto the bed, face first, relishing in the feeling of the soft and loose cotton against her torched skin. This was so much better than those horrid panties had been.

  A loud knock on the door disturbed her restful state, and had her stomach clenching in concern. It was nearly 1:00 am, and nobody knew her room number.

  “Who is it?” she yelled, hoping that some drunk partygoer was lost. That happened a lot in Vegas.

  Hearing no answer, she stood, and began creeping towards the door, looking around the room for a weapon as she went.

  “It’s me,” Pax said sullenly, throwing the door open and stalking towards her quickly. “And that door should have been locked,” he growled. “This is Las Vegas.”

  “I… what are you—” Her line of questioning was interrupted when he reached her, and grabbing her tightly around the waist with one hand, he pulled her close. His other hand snaked through her hair as he cupped the back of her neck, and claimed her mouth in a possessive kiss that lasted a full minute and left her breathless.

  “Wow,” she said with a weak laugh when he pulled away. “What about the rules? Structure, order, discipline, the cornerstone of your life—the things that made you what you are today—what about all that?”

  “Fuck the rules,” he stated simply kissing her again. “There is a time and a place for structure and order, and there is a time and a place for throwing caution to the wind and trusting your instincts and going after what you want. That’s something I’ve learned over the past few days.”

  “And… you want… me?” Diamond asked breathlessly, her face close to his.

  “Since the moment I pulled you off the stage at Aubergine,” he admitted.

  Her heart swelled with happiness, even as her pussy throbbed with arousal at his admission. But she wasn’t going to give in that easily. In her admittedly small realm of experience, this was how women got hurt. “Pax, I… I want you too, but what about tomorrow?”

  “What about it?”

  “Is it just going to be more of the same—you come to and feel like you’ve made some horrible mistake, and I’m left behind crying?”

  “Fuck,” he swore softly, releasing her, before sitting on the bed and looking up at her with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Diamond. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. In all reality, I thought I was doing the opposite of that. I don’t do well with spontaneity. I don’t make spur of the moment decisions without thinking through every aspect and calculating all the advantages and disadvantages to every situation. I’ve never felt like this so quickly. I’ve never jumped into anything so fully, or leapt without looking down first. My analytical mind was telling me that there was no realistic way that any kind of relationship with you would ever work. I had to throw out the pros and cons and what ifs and listen to my heart. I’ve never done that before.”

  Diamond’s own heart was in her throat as she listened to Pax’s impassioned plea. “What,” her voice cracked, and she swallowed heavily. “What is your heart telling you?”

  “To throw out the rule book and see what happens. To take a chance for once in my life. To go after what I want because I deserve happiness, and sometimes that means taking risks. I can’t promise that my doubts and fears won’t get the best of me at times. This is completely new territory for me, but I promise to do my level best not to hurt you, and to tell you when I’m struggling.”

  He stopped, and looked up at her, and she was nearly moved to tears by the raw emotions playing out on his face.

  “But, what about work? What about the fact that you’re my employer? What will people think? How will it even work?

  “Luckily for me, people’s opinions of me is the one thing I don’t give a damn about, and as for how it will work, we’ll figure that out as we go, I guess.” He smiled, a mischievous smile, as he looked up at her with amusement. “There is one thing you need to consider, however.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m a dominant by nature. It’s not just work for me. I expect you to be my submissive both inside and outside of the club.”

  She smiled, a whole world of possibility opening up in her mind at the notion. She couldn’t believe that after the night she had had, one simple sentence like that one filled her with boundless amounts of energy and a sudden urge to jump his bones. Ignoring her throbbing ass, she sat gingerly on his lap and threw her arms around his neck, smiling happily. “I was hoping you would say that.”

  Chapter Seven

  Diamond quickly learned that being Pax’s girlfriend came with a whole different set of rules than being one of his showgirls. She also learned that there was a whole lot more to being a sub than getting spanked for her misdeeds. Pax was patient, easing her into it slowly, but as he had told her, he was a man who thrived on schedules, rules and order. His expectations were high, and Diamond found herself subject to many new forms of punishment those first few days.

  They stayed together every night—sometimes in her suite, and sometimes in his, always returning to their respective suites for breakfast, to avoid being found out by any of the hotel staff. Their nights were full of passion and exploration, but even those were sometimes stifled by Pax’s strict rules.

  “A midnight bedtime?” Diamond complained on Thursday night as Pax carefully un
tied her from her bonds. “Really Paxton? This is Las Vegas and I’m a showgirl for god’s sake.”

  “Which is why it’s much later on nights that you work late,” he explained patiently. “Like tomorrow. Tomorrow you work really late, and it’s a big night for the club. We have a headliner coming, which means we both need to be in tip-top shape tomorrow.”

  “So, we’ll sleep until noon!” she exclaimed stomping her foot, quickly retreating when Pax raised one eyebrow in displeasure.

  “If you sleep until noon, you’ll break several rules and mess up your entire day.”

  Pax had his game face on, which meant there was no way she would win this one, but that if she continued to try she would likely go to bed with a sore bottom. Sorer, she corrected herself wryly. Her ass seemed to be permanently sore these days, and the novelty was fading quickly.

  Arguing would not demonstrate wisdom. Diamond wasn’t wise. She puffed out her lower lip, and turned her big eyes on him, fluttering her lashes exaggeratedly. “Can’t I have a dispensation just this once? We were just getting to the fun part!” It was a bold faced lie, and she knew it. They had been playing with rope for the better part of two hours already, which Pax had said was more than long enough for a beginner.

  “If by fun part, you mean the part where I throw you over my knee and tan your naughty bottom to remind you who the boss is in this relationship, then you’re right—we were just getting to the fun part.” Pax wasted no time in grabbing her around the waist, and tucking her under his arm like a football as he carried her over to the bed, depositing her unceremoniously across his lap—face down into the bedcover she went. It was a position she was becoming very familiar with.

  “How convenient that you’re already naked for me,” he teased, laying a fat slap on her bottom as she rolled her eyes. He required that she be naked for him in the evenings. It was part of her submissive training, and every time she earned a spanking, which was often, he liked to tease her by commenting on how convenient it was.