Bailey: Independence #1

by Karen Nichols

  “According to my admin, you have a killer reputation.” Gabriel reigned himself in, shifting slightly to lean back in the desk chair. He was glad the view of his slacks was obscured by the desk and adjusted his cock without flinching.

  “Getting through to them isn’t always easy. Some flat out don’t want to be there. If they weren’t required…” She shook her head. “It helps that I have discretion over whether they pass or not and I don’t have to rubber stamp them,” she admitted with a little shrug. “We can go now.” She slipped to the floor and crossed to where she left her jacket. She slid her arms inside and left the front buttons undone, the shorter English cut jacket fit nicely with the persona she’d created for training days. She held her pack in front of her and walked to wait at the door that led to the garage.

  Gabriel joined her, his palm open and gesturing for her to go through the door once he’d opened it and reset the alarms. He opened the door to the SUV. Curious and interested, he watched her set her pack inside and shimmy the skirt a little higher along her legs before she could lift one foot to the running board and step into the vehicle. Somehow he managed to keep his smile inside and close the door. He knew he deserved the wince when he hitched a leg into the SUV and his cock scraped the zipper of his slacks.

  He had chuckled as he walked around the SUV. He should have been a gentleman and lifted her into the seat, but damn if it wasn’t sexy watching her climb in on her own.

  Bailey stared out the window, occasionally letting her mind drift to nothing when the rain began spitting down. Maybe she could get him to drop her off at the entrance. Maybe no one would be there.

  She didn’t know he had a parking slot right next to the front entrance. Until he pulled the black SUV into it. No one could see her. The windows were tinted. But she couldn’t very well train from inside the vehicle. Oh, god. How fast could she run in these heels, she wondered fleetingly.

  She opened the door and slid to the concrete, grabbed up her pack and quickly closed the door behind her. She didn’t look around her. She kept her eyes on the concrete as she moved. She didn’t have to look around. The slight gasps from people watching told her they had made the connection. That they hadn’t made it to the building unseen.

  “Head up, Bailey.” Gabriel gripped her elbow when she looked like she might fall into the front fender. “Never give them the satisfaction of seeing your discomfort.” His palm slid to her waist and then onto her hip, guiding her easily through the double doors that glided open.

  Bailey was reaching for her badge as they approached the security portion of the building.

  “Good morning, sir.” The guard tipped his head politely. “Miss O’Conner.”

  “Morning, Russ,” Gabriel greeted the guard with a smile and a nod.

  Bailey blinked and blinked again as they continued past the guard’s desk. No badge needed when you travel with the boss, she thought with a sigh.

  Gabriel led her to the elevators, stepping off to the side and cupping her chin.

  “I’ll check my calendar but if I can, have lunch with me, Bailey.” He waited, amused at the look in her eyes when she nodded. “I have your number and will let you know. What time is your lunch on training day?”

  “I…usually from eleven thirty until one,” she answered automatically, too aware of people looking quickly at them and then hastily glancing at anything else they could find.

  “That works. I’ll let you know.”

  She intended to back away. She intended to hastily shake her head and ward him off. She should have known better. You don’t ward off a dom. Or maybe you just don’t ward off a man intent on kissing you, she corrected. His mouth was on hers before she could move. If she really wanted to move, she thought with a sigh, her lips easily answering the hungry call of his.

  “Lunch, Bailey,” Gabriel stepped into the waiting elevator and winked at her as the doors were closing.

  She didn’t move for a long time. At least it felt like a long time. She doubted it was more than a minute before she turned and headed toward the IT section. Then she started hearing the words, the less than soft whispers of disbelief around her.

  “Her? Are you serious?”

  “I heard Garrett doesn’t fuck his employees,” then laughter. “Guess that rumor is wrong.”

  “She’s nothing like he shows around town at the fancy events.”

  “Hey! Girlfriend! Wait up!” The lower Brooklyn accent ripped through the other voices.

  The loud East coast accent broke through Bailey’s enforced cocoon and sent her head up, lashes blinking wildly to locate her friend.

  “I’ve been calling you since…” Patsy stopped abruptly when she looped her arm with Bailey’s. “Girl, what’s wrong? You got that scared white rabbit look!”

  “I…” she gulped in air and moved her feet a little faster. “I came to work with Gabriel this morning,” she whispered hoarsely, trying not to look around at the murmuring voices. “In his SUV!”

  “So?” Then Patsy straightened up and brought them both to a stop, her head swiveled and dark lashes narrowed as she swept the people walking past and staring at her friend. “They’re jealous cows.” She looked around, daring any of them to speak to her. “You hear me? Jealous cows!”

  “Patsy!” But nothing brought a bubble of laughter to Bailey quicker than hearing that New York accent get thicker and thicker with anger. “Okay, okay…oh, god…”

  “Don’t let them get to you! Girl, he’s a hunk,” Patsy whispered dramatically and accepted the soft giggle as an answer. “And you certainly sounded relaxed when I called to check on you.”

  “You know what they’re thinking.” Bailey looked around at people she’d worked with for four years. Now, suddenly, it all seemed different.

  “Yeah, they best be on their top behavior or you’ll get the boss to fire their sorry asses,” Patsy laughed at the stunned look on Bailey’s face. “I know you wouldn’t do that. But it’s a fun threat,” she chuckled.

  “You’re awful,” but she laughed and shook her head. “I gotta set up my class room. See you later,” Bailey started off, turned and hugged her friend. “Thanks.”

  “You like him,” she said softly, sighing at the sadness in the green eyes.

  “It’s just a game. It’s role-playing for adults,” Bailey shrugged, drew in a long breath and plastered a smile in place. “Later.”

  Gabriel leaned back in his chair watching the lights play over Puget Sound and waiting for the phone to be answered. He’d never been uncertain as a Dom since he first began exploring, learning and training. And he’d had damn good trainers.

  “This is a surprise,” crooned the soft voice, hinting slightly of the deep south.

  “Dianna, good morning to you, too.”

  “You don’t pass pleasantries just because they’re there,” she laughed softly, sobering a few seconds later. “I saw the news. Is your little sub alright? Are you alright?”

  “Pissed off. And that’s probably too mild a term for it, to be honest.”

  “And your little sub?” She listened to the thick breath he pushed out.

  “Stubborn. Blaming herself. Carrying some idiot notion that I’ll be safe if she weren’t around.” Gabriel reigned in his anger, his voice shifting to flat and cold. “Right now we have an un-negotiated truce.”

  “Un-negotiated? As in she’s taking orders but…”

  “Yeah, the but part is beyond annoying. And I don’t know what the hell to do about it. Everything in me says she should be punished, but she refuses to apologize and will not admit she did something wrong. I even get the feeling she would accept and understand the reason for the punishment as justified from my standpoint.”

  “What happened?” Dianne asked carefully.

  “The perimeter alarms went off around the house,” he said tersely. “I ordered her, fucking ordered her into the bathroom and told her not to come out until she heard me calling for her.”

  “Ahh…I can see where thi
s is going,” Dianna chuckled softly. She knew the instant she’d seen them together that Gabriel was going to be as neatly tethered as his little sub. And the stronger they are, the harder they fall, she thought affectionately. They’d been like brother and sister for so long, it was comforting to see him genuinely smile now and then.

  “She found the league equipment and came outside with a fucking baseball bat on her shoulder and ready to swing!” And the damned sexiest fierce look on her face, he recalled in disbelief.

  “That is a tough one,” Dianna admitted with a slow breath. “She won’t buckle on it, either. You could blame the red hair, Gabe, or discuss it and give her a pass.” She’d spent most of her adult life analyzing and helping people through problems, that’s what a psych 101 told you to do. Being a GP didn’t mean you had simple, easy cases to deal with. “These circumstances aren’t something that’s going to happen again, hopefully. And it sure as hell isn’t something you can prepare for or prepare her for. You see her as more than just a play sub.”

  It was a statement, not a question and Gabriel listened to the same words that had been bouncing around in his head since he found her in the club.

  “Did you give her the infamous short speech?” Dianna asked in the length of silence. She sighed when he didn’t answer. “So now she’s waiting to be booted out of your life.”

  “That isn’t going to happen. But it would be safer for her,” he said thoughtfully.

  “You’d risk losing her altogether?” Dianne shook her head. “If you trust my advice, don’t push her away to protect her. You won’t get her back because she won’t be able to trust you again.”

  “A free pass on misbehavior, huh?” Gabriel knew she was right and he wasn’t sure he had the resolve to put her in her apartment and walk away. Especially knowing she was waltzing around in that damn suit.

  “Was it misbehavior? This falls outside the perimeters of a play scene, Gabe. Is it just…to take away her right to care and defend? Men…” she pushed a sigh through her lips, thinking of the age old battle. “We weak females know you want to protect and shield us from the world, but the fiercest battle in the world will come from a female defending what belongs to her. Deprive us of that…and you’ll lose, Gabe.”

  “It goes against everything inside me, Dianna. From Dom to man, but I know you’re right,” he ran his free palm against the back of his neck.

  “You sound tired.”

  “I spent the night in the fucking guest room to punish her with denial,” he ground out, snarling at her laughter. “Yeah, that didn’t last long. I swear, that little sub has upset years of training and control.”

  “She’s a redhead,” Dianna teased. “And a cute one. I heard a couple of the unattached doms asking about her the night of the party. Given that you make no secret about your refusal at take a sub on more than occasionally, I’d watch the competition if I were you.”

  “Did you warn them off?”

  “Not my place, Master Gabriel,” she chuckled warmly. “Despite what I saw between you two that night.”

  “Thanks for your advice, Dianna. You’re a good friend.”

  “We’ve listened to one another for a long time, Gabe,” she smiled into the phone. “I’ll see you Friday night at the club.”

  “Absolutely. Good-bye,” Gabriel closed his cell and slid it over the desktop.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  No one had said anything to her directly. But she saw them whispering more than normal in her class. She went through the lesson, their computers responding to their input as they learned their way around the program. She thought of how smoothly the class was going and wondered if Patsy was right. People were going to behave just to avoid what they believed might happen to them. Because of Gabriel.

  Bailey leaned against the desk and watched people gather their cheat packets for the two programs she’d taught them. Her hands held tightly to the edge of the desk, a few of the female executives eyeing her up and down before the buzzing of whispers in the hall began.

  The men….Bailey sighed. She’d been given those looks since she developed curves. But today they were different. It was as if because Gabriel was interested, there had to be something extremely special about her.

  Half way through her lesson, she’d sent people off on a break and quickly typed up a short note to Gabriel. As soon as she stepped into the elevator, people would know where she was going. She’d discovered them watching her like she was an alien walking among them since that morning. No one said anything. Not out loud. Not to her face. But she was starting to get twitchy.

  It’s not like she was hungry anyway. Or maybe her imagination and stomach were playing tricks on her. She’d decided to track down a smoothie in the cafeteria when the smells began getting stronger and stronger. The faintest sound of wheels on the tiled floors made her walk to the open door of the training room. She made it to the doorway in time for her gaze to sweep the bustling hallway.

  “Hey, Bailey! I brought lunch,” Kelly Barlow pushed the large cart into the training room.

  “I…”

  “Mr. Garrett placed the request and I’m to tell you that he’ll be here in a few,” the bright blue eyes smiled at her.

  “Kelly…” Bailey looked at the covered dishes in disbelief.

  “Don’t fret. I know what you like, so it’ll be okay,” she laughed and rubbed a palm over the small growing belly.

  “He shouldn’t have done this.”

  “Please, it’s about time someone looked out for you. Patsy told me about him,” she leaned closer. “He’s a cutie. I’ll send someone to get the stuff. Just leave the cart outside the room in the hall and enjoy! Talk to you later, Bailey.”

  “Thank you, Kelly,” Bailey should have known better. Her friends thought he was a cutie. Oh, yeah. The big, bad dom called a cutie. Bet they wouldn’t think that when he had them bent over the bench, fucking them crazy. Full lips were pulled into a taut bow, arms across her chest and foot tapping when the dark suit came around the corner, the door to the room released and closing behind him.

  “I can see you’re in a good mood,” Gabriel lifted one of the covers from a plate and sighed. “I’m starving so if you want to argue with me, sit down and eat first.”

  “You shouldn’t have done this.”

  “Your friend in the cafeteria was quite informative,” he rearranged the plates, putting the large tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich toward her. “I learned that you usually have a case of nerves and rarely eat on Monday’s.” He watched the mounting astonishment on her face. “You have some very protective friends.”

  She really wanted to stomp her foot. Really wanted to throw something. Heat flushed through her when people passing by looked in the large window on the door.

  “Sit down, Bailey, and eat lunch.” Gabriel lifted the cover from his choice, the fragrant mixture of Indian spices and vegetables filling the room. He waited while she pulled the chair from around the desk and sunk into it. “Thank you.”

  “You shouldn’t have done this,” she repeated, her head shaking. “It’s bad enough…” Her lips clamped shut at the raised eyebrow. She lifted the spoon and began eating the soup, her stomach giving a grateful little growl. “Thank you.”

  “What’s bad enough, Bailey?”

  “Nothing. It’s fine.”

  “I would have thought you’d learned about lying to me, pet,” he sighed and opened his jacket, shook out the napkin and began eating. “Does it have something to do with people staring through the door as if we’re a display at the zoo?” Gabriel chuckled at the instant answer flaring not only in her eyes but in the tinted cheeks. “Maybe I should let you decorate the bar at the club for a few hours. Then the nosy types here will seem like nothing worth stressing over.”

  Bailey kept eating, her mind churning over his words.

  “Umm…no, thank you, sir,” she answered and hoped it was polite enough.

  “I can tell the various possibilities are bou
ncing around in that very busy brain,” he broke off a piece of the plain bread that accompanied the spicy dish. “With the holidays coming up, I think you’ll make a lovely ornament. I’ll have to personally find you just the right kind of tinsel and glitter.”

  “O-ornament?”

  “Hmm…Now let’s try once more. Why did you cancel lunch? And think carefully about what happens when you lie to me, Bailey.”

  “Because people will know where I’m going when I go to the elevator after this morning,” she said carefully, staring at the wedge of sandwich in her fingers. She looked up to see genuine surprise on his face. “You never noticed.”

  “That people stared at us? I don’t care,” he said with a toneless laugh. “It isn’t their life, it’s ours. Yours and mine, Bailey. Were you afraid of being punished in my office again?” This time his laughter was deep and amused when he watched the conflicting emotions in her eyes.

  “I think I liked it better when you weren’t speaking to me,” she told him with a sullen pout.

  “Did you, pet?”

  She swallowed the bite she’d taken, the soft way he spoke making her look into his eyes. Her head shook slowly.

  “No. No, I didn’t. I don’t like making you angry with me.”

  “Then you must also know I don’t like having to punish you,” Gabriel met the slow nod she offered, her fingers pulling apart the sandwich she was eating in bits and pieces. “Is that why you wanted to avoid my office?”

  Bailey decided she didn’t care for the half grin on his face and growled at him before ripping a bite out of her sandwich.

  “I don’t want to be…to be something people whisper about,” she finally pushed the words out. “And me coming to your office…” Her head shook. He couldn’t possibly understand. “They treat me differently because of you.”

  “Do you honestly believe people gossip about the truth? Or what they want the truth to be?”