by Maren Smith
Champ sat next to Terri soaking in the love and attention, but still doing his job. It was as if he understood he had to be discreet about investigating each one of them. The K-9 never ceased to amaze him.
The crowd thinned and Nick spotted Marshall making a beeline for him, stopping when he reached Terri and Champ and motioning for Nick to join them. He was accompanied by a blindfolded young woman holding tight to his arm. Interesting.
“Good evening, O’Connors.” Marshall’s voice was smooth, and professional, all business. “I wanted to introduce you to someone. This is Ella,” he stated, indicating the young woman gripping his arm. “Ella, these are friends of mine, Nathan and Tara, and the one nudging your hand is Champ.”
Smiling, Ella knelt down and rubbed Champ’s face. “Hey there,” she cooed, making a friend for life, before rising and turning her attention back to Nick and Terri. “It’s nice to meet you both. I trust you’re having fun so far?”
“We are definitely impressed and excited to learn more about the lifestyle,” Nick responded, trading a knowing look with Marshall while silently willing Terri to keep her mouth shut. A quick glance at her face told him she had assessed the situation and come to the same conclusion he had. This was the girl they were there to protect.
“Well, you are in the right place. Marshall does everything to the fullest so no doubt you will get what you came for.” She nodded before turning her attention back to Champ. “I’ve always wanted a dog, but up until a few years ago I thought I was allergic and now my apartment won’t allow me to have one. How old is he?”
“He’s two, still a pup, but he’s great. He takes good care of me,” Terri answered quickly. He could tell she couldn’t wait to get away from this conversation, however normal it seemed.
“We got him when Tara began to lose her hearing,” Nick added, using their cover story. He never knew who was listening, and it was always better to be safe than sorry. If the bad guys were tipped off to their presence, they would be of no help to Marshall or Grace. “He’s been a great addition to the family, and he reduces any risks that could come our way.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, and even Terri relaxed a bit, as Champ was one of her favorite subjects. Then Marshall cleared his throat and turned toward his companion.
“Ella, I need to get back to Kaylee.” Ella looked sad, but nodded, linking her arm with his once more.
“It was nice meeting you folks, I hope we run into each other again before your stay ends.”
“This is a big place, but there’s always a chance.” Terri smiled. “It was nice meeting you too.”
The sincerity in her voice was evident, and Nick knew the mission had finally become personal for her. Grace was no longer a name on a piece of paper. She was a person. An innocent woman their own age who was in need of their protection.
“Enjoy your dinner.” Marshall nodded at them both as they took their leave.
“That man is dangerous,” Terri mumbled as soon as they were safely out of hearing distance.
“How do you figure?”
“He knew how it would affect me when I met her. He knew that I needed that interaction to take myself out of my head and into the mission. Nick, she’s so sweet, and young. We have to keep her safe.”
He reached out and took her hand. “And we will, I promise. That’s the job, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.” She let him lead her to a table and sat when he pulled out a chair for her. “Stay here and keep an eye on the room. I’ll go get us some food.”
He went through the buffet line, filling a plate with all her favorites. No need for the bait and switch routine he’d pulled at lunch time.
When he returned with her plate, she took it, forcing a smile, and thanked him between gritted teeth, her walls back firmly in place. Endgame, he reminded himself as she took her plate and scooted her chair as far away from him as she could manage. Endgame.
Chapter 7
Something jabbed her in the side, and Terri opened one eye to see Nick standing over her, poking her with one finger. “Ugh,” she groaned. “Leave me alone.”
“Rise and shine, sleepyhead. We need to get down to breakfast and then Wardrobe, we have things to accomplish before the new guests arrive.” Nick prattled on with way too much energy for anyone to have at o-dark-thirty and before coffee.
Terri yanked the covers over her head and groaned. “I hate you so much.”
“That’s fine. Hate me all you want once you’re out of bed and dressed. As you keep reminding me, we have a job to do.”
“Where’s my coffee?” She peeled the covers down just enough to peek out and search for any signs of the magical brew. Nick knew how much she hated mornings and he usually brought her coffee on the occasions he had to be there when she got up. He did it for his own sake as much as for hers.
“It’s downstairs. Coffee delivery is for good girls who don’t make their partners sleep on the floor.”
Terri’s face heated with embarrassment as the memories of the day before came flooding back to her. She had been pretty awful to Nick ever since the tickling incident. If they were being honest, she had been pretty awful before that too. But he had threatened her all day, and he had spanked her. Not cool. Lying there with the covers tight around her, she took stock. Her ass was no longer tender, and she was sure the handprint had faded by now.
“Apparently, you didn’t learn your lesson or you would have brought me coffee,” she muttered, closing her eyes and rolling away from him.
Nick’s answer was a low growl that had her stomach running away from her.
“Get out of bed now, brat, or we are going to have a repeat performance of yesterday afternoon, and this time I won’t be apologizing afterward.”
God damn, he was a persistent fuck. Fuming, she weighed the odds of him carrying out his threat against the torture of getting out of bed, getting dressed, putting those damned ‘hearing aids’ in, and having to go all the way downstairs for coffee.
The problem with being threatened before coffee was that her brain wasn’t working properly. Sitting up, she crossed her arms over her chest and mimicked his dour expression. “I dare you.”
His smile deepened and his eyebrows rose to his hairline. “Feeling brave this morning, brat?”
“No, I just think you’re full of shit,” she grumbled, lying down again, pulling the covers tightly against herself just in case he wasn’t as full of it as she thought.
When he moved toward her with a grave expression on his face, like he truly meant to carry out his threat, she took a moment to reconsider her life choices. Being spanked hurt and it was humiliating, and the fact that it turned her on and made her hungry for the one thing she couldn’t have was the worst part of all.
In one swift move, he tore off the blanket that was serving as her only layer of protection and flipped her onto her stomach. Panic rose in her throat, and she did the only thing her un-caffeinated brain could think to do. She screamed.
“Mushroom! Celery! Pickle!”
Nothing happened, except Nick laughed at her and raised his arm above her panty clad ass. Shit. Think, Terri, think.
“Onion! Onions! Whatever the fuck!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, triumphantly, knowing she had gotten it right this time.
“Dominant, step away from the submissive,” a deep male voice announced from speakers hidden somewhere around the ceiling, and they both froze. “Security has been dispatched and will arrive momentarily. Submissive, what is your name?”
“Security? What? No! I just needed him to stop. I’m good now, we don’t need security,” Terri stammered.
Nick sprang off the bed and moved away from her, almost tripping over Champ in his haste. “You’re kidding me, right?” Nick leveled her with a hardened expression he usually saved for criminals.
She gulped.
“The team has already been alerted,” the voice continued. “Submissive, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,
” Terri shrieked toward the intercom. “Dear God, please call off the security. He stopped and I’m fine.” She rambled, hoping something would stick and…
Champ jumped up as their suite door was opened and three large men barreled into the room. She recognized the leader instantly as one of the men Marshall had introduced them to. Fabulous. Champ stood rigid, growling and waiting for the command to get rid of the intruder.
“Down,” Nick snapped at him. He sat, but the rigidity did not fade.
“Mr. O’Connor, step out into the hall please, we need to speak with you two separately,” Jackson instructed.
“I’m fine, I swear,” Terri begged as she scrambled to cover her half-naked form with pillows.
Without a word, Nick walked to the edge of the bed and picked up the blanket, tossing it to her before leaving the room. Jackson followed close behind, shooting her a very disapproving look as he passed.
In that moment, Terri realized she had made a huge mistake.
Nick was mortified as he paced in the hall waiting to see what the outcome of this was going to be.
“Take me through the events of the morning again.” Jackson sighed with a look of disbelief on his face. Nick tried not to be offended by their relentless drilling. The truth was, police officer or not, they didn’t know him from Adam, and for all intents and purposes they were guests here for the foreseeable future. Jackson and the security team were just doing their jobs and following protocol to make sure that everything was above board and safe.
“I was trying to get her out of bed and downstairs for breakfast,” Nick repeated dumbly. “She was uncooperative, and I moved to spank her. Before I had even laid a hand on her, she screamed the safeword. She screamed a couple of other vegetables first, before she got to the right one,” he added, without a hint of amusement.
Jackson crossed his arms over his chest. “You never spanked her?” he questioned for the third time.
“I didn’t lay a hand on her, save to flip her onto her stomach,” Nick confirmed.
The door opened, and the two members of the security team who had been with Terri stepped out. Nick sighed in relief as both he and Jackson turned their attention toward the two burly men.
The bald one stepped toward Jackson with a grave expression. “It would appear that we have a boy who cried wolf situation on our hands, boss.”
“I’m sorry?” Jackson repeated, looking tired and annoyed. “She cried wolf?”
“It would appear that way,” the guard confirmed. “Swears up and down that he,” the guard nodded in Nick’s direction, “never laid a hand on her.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Nick growled before a hard look from all three men shut him up. Right, he reminded himself. Protocol.
“Has this ever happened before, boss?” the second guard, who had been silent up until this point asked, directing his question toward Master Jackson.
Jackson looked pained, rubbing his forehead with an open palm. “Once,” he answered grimly before turning his attention back to Nick. “Marshall’s not going to like this.”
“I’m more than aware of that.” Nick was silently fuming at the mess Terri had gotten them into. How were they to be taken seriously on the job after this fiasco?
Jackson was silent for a full minute. When he spoke again, it was to dismiss the two security guards. Content that their job was done, they nodded and ambled down the hall. Once they were safely out of earshot, Jackson stepped in to stand closer to Nick and lowered his voice. “Being that you two are actually here on assignment, I’m going to assume the whole married couple exploring the lifestyle cover is just that?”
“You assume correctly.”
“Is it also safe to assume that neither one of you have any experience in the realm of BDSM?”
Nick hesitated, scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor. “I do,” he began, “but she doesn’t know that.”
Jackson smiled sardonically. “Well, I think you might have to tell her. We cannot have submissives going around using the safeword willy-nilly. It wastes time and valuable resources and sets a bad example for the other subs. Something has to be done about this, and if you’re not up to the task, I have no doubt in my mind that Marshall will be more than willing to handle it himself.”
“I’ll handle it,” Nick promised, his chest heavy with the decision he had to make. Terri was going to be spitting mad, but not as mad as she would be if she had to answer to Master Marshall. For reasons Nick didn’t fully understand, she hated the man with a passion.
“I’ll talk to her now and punish her tonight. I’ll make sure she understands the consequences of her actions on all levels,” Nick promised.
Appeased, Jackson nodded and turned to leave. “Very good.”
“There’s just one more thing,” Nick said, stopping the man in his tracks. “When I deal with her later, I’m going to need to gag her.”
He didn’t miss the smirk that crossed the other man’s face or the mirth that crept into his eyes when he nodded. “I’ll let Marshall know.”
Nick took a moment in the hallway to compose himself and plan his attack before stepping into their room and shutting the door behind him.
When he entered, Champ had calmed and settled back onto the provided dog bed, and a wide-eyed Terri was dressed in the hated maid’s outfit, hair pulled back, make-up done, ready to go and looking thoroughly chastised and apologetic. She hadn’t seen anything yet, he thought, crossing the room with his jaw set in a hard line.
For each step he took, she took one backwards, until she was backed up against the wall, a position that he planned to take full advantage of.
“Nick, I’m so sorry. Really. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble,” she cried, speaking before he could.
Nick closed the space between their bodies, effectively pinning her between him and the wall. “Only one of us is in trouble over this morning’s little charade, brat, and I assure you it isn’t me.”
Her eyes grew wide, and the squeak that escaped her lips was endearing. Saucy red lips. He was going to enjoy shoving a ball gag between them later.
“Nick, please, I’m sorry,” she whispered frantically.
“It’s too late for sorry,” he informed her, grabbing a handful of hair and yanking her head up to meet his gaze. “You went too far, brat, and now you have a choice to make. The only choice you have in the outcome of this is the answer to this question: Am I going to be the one to deal with you, or is it going to be left up to Master Marshall?”
Her lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears as she realized just how much of a shit pile she had created with her antics. “Oh God,” she squeaked. “Nick, please no. Not Marshall.”
He raised his eyebrows and regarded her with scorn, “Oh, now you want me to deal with you, is that it?”
She nodded, her eyes shut tightly against the tears that were threatening to fall.
“I won’t be going easy on you,” he warned. “So, if that’s your thought, you can forget it right now. You might be better off with Marshall.”
Her head shook back and forth emphatically. He knew that would be the last thing she wanted.
Nick released her hair and snapped his fingers, pointing to the floor. “Get on your knees and beg me to punish you for your misbehavior.”
Her eyes opened and flashed with anger. For just a brief moment, he saw the spark he was used to and wondered if she might decide to take her chances with Marshall instead.
Her jaw twitched, her chin jutted out. She met his eyes, and then, without a word, she carefully lowered herself to kneel on the floor beside his feet. He took a moment to enjoy the picture she made. She might have thought she was winning but the taste of her submission did nothing but encourage him.
“Nick, please forgive me. I’m so very sorry for the trouble I put you through and for not taking this mission seriously. I understand why I have to be in trouble, and I really don’t want to be at the mercy of
Master Marshall. Please take pity on me and deal with me yourself. You’re the one I hurt. Let’s solve this between the two of us.”
He had to hand it to her, she could beg like a pro. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she had some experience in getting out of this kind of jam.
He grabbed her hair again and used it to tug her to her feet, ignoring her hiss of pain.
“Listen up, brat,” he whispered in her ear, pulling her close enough that he could feel her breath on his neck and see the goosebumps on her skin as she trembled. “Your piss-poor attitude toward this place and the people here got old quick. Whether you like it or not, we are on assignment. Your behavior has been less than professional. I’m not about to risk you messing everything up because you can’t get past the activity in this so-called fuck fortress, as you like to say. Lives are at stake here, Terri. I need to be able to count on you.”
“You can!” she promised but Nick wasn’t hearing it. He silenced her with a look.
“You’ve already proven otherwise,” he growled. “And we don’t have time for you to attempt to prove yourself again. So, let me tell you how this is going to go. From here on out, you will act as my sub. I don’t care if we are in public or the privacy of our own room. You do what I say, when I say and how I say. I will give the orders and, if they aren’t followed, I will punish you as I see fit. If, when this is all said and done, you want nothing more to do with me, then so be it, you can ask Captain for a new partner. But, if you could just cut the crap and open your mind for two minutes, you might actually find that you enjoy the experience.”
Her lip quivered, and she blinked back tears again, but he watched as she steeled herself and nodded her agreement. It might only be her pride speaking, or the fact that there was a challenge in his tone she couldn’t back down from, but she agreed to his terms. Breathing rapidly, he dropped her hair and took a step back.