“I am so sorry. I didn’t see you there. I was watching, and well, I got distracted and umm…” Sam knew she was stammering as she was in a panic. Standing back up, she looked up at the Dom and wanted to explain, but nothing came out. This was a first. She normally talked, a lot. She talked when she was panicked, excited, sleeping, or pissed. Hell, she talked all the time.
“Did I say you could look at me, sub, or even talk!” he commanded. Double shit. She knew better. Both Sydney and Noah warned her several times about this, and even Ryan had. Damn it, she was in trouble now.
“Um, no, Sir.” She did know she could talk this time since he asked a direct question.
“You have no collar on, and your masters are not here with you. I know Sydney and Noah gave you a direct order to go straight to your room, but you stopped to watch the scene. Therefore you didn’t follow it and thus have not followed the rules of the club. So right now you are going to give me ten without complaint,” he said as he pulled her over to a chair in the corner of the room. Sam was in a total panic. She didn’t want him to touch her. She knew the rules, but this was not going to happen.
“I don’t think so. Look, I know I broke the rules, but you are not touching me. I signed a contract with Sydney and Noah. If they have an issue with me, then they can come and tell me themselves. Otherwise I am leaving. I’m sorry I bumped into you, but it was an accident,” Sam said as she put her hands on her hips. Who the hell did this man think he was? She was not some random sub… Well, yeah, she was, but she wasn’t going to put up with this shit. She had to protect herself, and she didn’t want him. Without warning, he yanked her over his knee before she could squirm and get out of the hold, and his hand came down on her ass with a smack. Ouch, fuck that hurt! She couldn’t do this. She didn’t want this.
“You are one bratty sub and need to be taught a lesson,” he said as he brought his hand down on her ass again. Sam cried out in the pain. This was wrong. It felt wrong. He wasn’t Noah or Sydney.
“Let me the fuck go now. Red, you asshole, let me up!” she screamed at him as the room suddenly went silent. Sam could feel the tears falling down her face as she struggled to get out of his hold. He finally released her and stood before he spoke again.
“You are wasting your time here. You’re not a sub. You are just playing a fucking game. I suggest you leave and don’t come back. If you can’t handle a spanking, then Sydney and Noah don’t have time for you either. The door is that way. Have a nice night,” he spat out as he walked away. Sam was utterly humiliated. People had stopped and were now staring at her. She felt the tears rolling down her face, and she couldn’t stop them. No one had ever spanked her before, and now she was sure, if it was anything like that, she didn’t want any part of it. She was out of here. She got what she needed for Piper, but she wasn’t going to pretend to be something she wasn’t anymore.
Wiping the tears off her cheeks, she walked to the elevator door and allowed herself to head to her room. Once out of the elevator, she realized that she didn’t have her purse, key, or anything. Everything was being held by Noah. He had her room key. Fuck. This night just seemed to get better and better. Taking a deep breath, she was determined not to allow these people the satisfaction of knowing they could affect her so much. Taking the elevator back down to the bar area where she did have access, she approached the bartender and asked to use the phone. Only, she didn’t know who to call. She couldn’t call Milo because he was taking care of Piper, and she didn’t want to alarm Riley, but she needed to go home. Thinking of the only people she could trust without saying anything, she decided to call Wes and Grady. After a couple of rings, they picked up and agreed to come and get her without question. She knew she had to think of something to tell them about her outfit because both men would question her later. Right now she just wanted to lose herself in a large margarita and her bed.
About an hour later, Wes and Grady pulled into the front of the building where she stood waiting. She was freezing, and Wes rushed out and covered her with his jacket and helped her in the truck. He was always like a big brother to her. They both said nothing, just started the truck and drove to Lucky, where she could forget all about tonight, and all about Noah and Sydney.
Chapter Four
Noah sat there looking at all the plans laid out when he finally looked at the clock. It was after three in the morning. Where the hell did all the time go? He should go and check on Samantha to make sure she got to her room okay. He didn’t mean to leave her alone tonight, but under the circumstances, things couldn’t be helped. Maybe he could take a break and go and check on her. The club just shut down an hour ago, and no one was there. Yeah, a little pick-me-up would help keep him awake.
“I think we should take a half hour break and then come back with fresh set of eyes,” Noah suggested. Syd agreed, but then Gunner cleared his throat, drawing his attention to him.
“You can take a break, but she isn’t there. She left right after you did,” he said as he drank his cup of coffee, looking at the profile again.
“What the hell do you mean she is gone? I told her to go to her room. Why the hell would she leave? Fuck! What did you do, Gunner?” Noah was yelling now.
“I spanked her, and she safe worded on me after the second swat. She didn’t follow the rules, and it’s my job to keep everyone in line. So I was punishing her. She is not cut out for this crap. She is a tourist. She’s just playing a fucking game. I told Ryan that she really wasn’t interested in the club. We don’t need her giving out personal information to her little writer friend. So she left. It’s that simple.”
“You what?” Noah could see the steam billowing out of Sydney’s ears while he yelled at Gunner. He got up in his face, letting his fist fly and connect with Gunner’s jaw. “She was not your fuckin’ sub to touch, you sick fuck! If she did something wrong, you should’ve told me or Noah, and not fucking touched her. Of course she safe worded on you. She doesn’t know you. If some ass was to grab me and start spanking me, I would freak out, too. Damn it, Gunner, I can’t believe you. Why the hell would you do something like that? You know what? I don’t care. I’m done. We’re done. I am so tired with these damn mind games you are playing.” Sydney turned to Ryan when he spoke next. “Mail me my check. We will consult on the case, but that’s it. No more. You find two other lackeys to do your work. I’ll send you the information we found, and I’ll clear out the room today.” And with that, he walked out the door.
Noah stood there in shock. Sydney was normally the fun-loving one, and he was the pissed-off one between them, but Sydney was right. Gunner had no right to touch his sub without speaking to them first. He was getting tired of playing with other subs anyway. Now was the best time for them to move on. He knew, between the FBI and now the security work, he was just done with it all. He and Sydney had dreamt of owning their own bar. They had the money now, and it was time.
“Ryan, thanks for everything you have done for us, but Sydney said it, we’re done. We will be out of the way by the end of the day. We’ll stay on as consultants until we catch the UNSUB, but nothing more. This was the last straw. And, Gunner, you are a fucked up son of a bitch, you know that? You had no right to touch what is mine. She’s new to all this, and even then we give them some leeway, but you went to the extreme on a newbie. Have a nice fuckin’ life, asshole.” And he, too, turned and headed out the door. What the hell was wrong with that guy? They had a real connection to Sam. She was so spunky and full of life. He wanted to spend more time with her, and now Gunner just messed all that up. He would find a way, and in the meantime he would find the UNSUB and put this case to rest for them. It was going to be the new beginning for him and Sydney.
* * * *
Sydney walked into the room more pissed off than he had ever remembered. What the hell was Gunner thinking? He knew he had hang-ups with new people, but this was an all-time low, even for him. Now he and Noah had lost Sam. If she used her safe word, that meant she was really upset, pissed
off, and possibly hurt. God, he could only imagine what was going through her mind when that happened. He should have sent Noah to see Ryan, and he should’ve walked her back to her room personally. Actually, he knew he needed to take her to her room. They had taken her key. Noah walked in seconds later, and Sydney asked for the key to her room. Both he and Noah must have had the same thought as they took off toward the room she was supposed to stay in. Inserting the small card, the door clicked open as they walking inside. Everything was still there. She left without her things. An uneasy thought crossed his mind. Who the hell picked her up? But this provided them with another reason to see her again. Walking around the room, he could still smell her scent that still lingered in her clothes and the fabric of the bed. Oh, how he wanted to bring her back to that bed tonight and get lost in her hot little body for hours on end, sleep, and then do it all again. She was so responsive to both him and Noah, that he craved more. More of her. Damn it. Noah started to pick up her clothes and her purse. They had to find her and give it back to her and then explain everything. They had to make this right between them.
Sitting on the bed, he finally realized how tired he was of working for everyone else. Both he and Noah had worked their asses off for years, and for what? It got them nowhere, and fast. Many times they put their lives on the line, and now they wanted to live their lives the way they wanted. Both of them joined the military early, only to be picked up by the FBI after getting out of their first tour. They both excelled within the bureau, but after having to bring down half of their team working with the cartel, they were done working there, too. It was a career bust, but they didn’t long for that life anymore. They wanted to actually have a business, where the times were set by them, and be able to come home not worrying if a bomb was under the hood of their car to kill them. They took on consulting work with Wes and Grady through Ryan and Milo. It’s wasn’t too bad. Wes and Grady were a couple of crazy men, and he wondered sometimes if they both had a few screws loose. Maybe that would be the connection they could use. Wes and Grady knew Sam, and said she was a handful. She sure was, but it was a handful he wanted for a long time. Nodding to Noah, they both took Sam’s items to their room and started packing. It was going to be a really long day.
* * * *
Sam sat in her house and sent an e-mail to Ryan apologizing to him about misunderstanding the rules of his club and asking politely if he could send her items to her house. She couldn’t go back and get them from there. She was grateful she had spare keys to her shop and her car in the house. Dressing for the day’s work ahead, she determined to throw herself into her new adventures with Piper. Piper had mentioned the spa, and she was going to look into it. The building attached to hers would be perfect. She had done some research and found several people needing a job as a spa-tech. She really could do this. Trying to brush away what happened the night before, she decided to give Piper the details of the stage areas and nothing else. She didn’t need to know about Noah and Sydney. She would just tell Piper that it just wasn’t her thing. That was it.
Getting into her car, she was thankful she took a cab to the club that night. Sam drove the short distance to her shop and opened up for the day. She ordered new scents and worked on making more soaps and oils, which reminded her then to make a special package for Piper to make her feel better. Soon the bell on the door opened up and customers started coming in. The first half of the day went by as a blur, and she had forgotten the night before. Lunch came, and since she didn’t have help right now, she closed the shop to eat and make a couple of calls. She found the building attached was actually less than she expected to pay and could start renting and renovating it within the week. Excitement mounted at the prospect of expanding and offering the town something new. Happiness bloomed through her. Piper was going to be her partner, and Sam would be able to finally find help for the store. After the week’s tasks were laid out. She made plans to meet with Piper. With a deep sigh of contentment, she smiled, knowing it was all going to be fine from here on out.
The rest of the day went on without a hitch, and she stopped by Milo’s house to talk with Piper. She missed her, even though she was in the same town. Piper was no longer in her house. Sam was lonely. She wished that some days she had someone to go home to. Hell, she would be happy to even have someone to call her just to see how her day was going. Originally she had thought that she could’ve had that with Noah and Sydney, but then the damn guy touched her and she just couldn’t stand it. That night she’d gone home and done three shots of tequila and jumped into the shower, and she swore she scrubbed her skin until it was red. He didn’t do anything that bad, but it was the fact someone had touched her without her consent. Everyone had their hang-up, and she was definitely in the dark about this type of lifestyle. Ever since Florida, she wouldn’t allow another man to get close to her. She could still remember the night. It was the night she moved from Florida to Lucky without a second thought. Damn, she needed a drink just thinking about it. She knew she drank too much, but it was the only thing that helped numb the days when the pain was too much to bear. She’d be fine, she would be fine, she would be okay, she repeated to herself over and over again as she made it home from work. She fell onto her couch after downing three more shots and waiting for the alcohol to take effect so she could fall into a dreamless sleep.
* * * *
“What do you mean, mail Samantha’s stuff? We were going to go take it back to her and apologize. We didn’t know what Gunner had done at the time,” Noah said into the phone “No, Ryan, I don’t fuckin’ work for you anymore, so you can’t tell us what to do with a sub, and she is not a sub anymore, if you remember. She did what? Are you sure? Yeah I will think about it. I’ll talk to Sydney and see what he wants to do. No, we just pulled into Lucky now. We need to speak to Wes and Grady before we do anything. Yeah, they came and picked her up. Okay, thanks, man. I’ll keep you informed about the case. Later.” Noah hung up. He was still fuming with what happened at the club, but Gunner was on suspension and Ryan had asked them to come back and see if they could work out something. Both he and Sydney were done. They just needed the final push to get them to their ultimate destination. Pulling the truck into the driveway in front of Wes and Grady’s massive house, both Noah and Sydney needed to come up with an idea of how to fix things with Sam. Ryan had informed them that he had received an e-mail from her stating she was sorry for inconveniencing him and would not return to the club. She also asked if he could mail her personal items she left sitting in the room. Frustrated at what to do next, they got out of the truck and headed inside to get their asses chewed out by their friends for what happened to Sam.
He and Sydney walked into the front room. Wes was the first one yelling at him while Grady was on Sydney. Both Noah and Sydney stood still as punches were thrown at them. Noah didn’t fight back as it was no use. They deserved everything coming to them. Soon Wes and Grady stopped and started yelling again. “What the fuck did you do to her, you asshole? She was fucking catatonic when we picked her up. That is not Sam. She normally can’t shut up long enough for anyone else to talk, but not a word, not one damn word came out of her all the way home. Even at the store, people said she was like a robot. She was going from one task to another, as if on autopilot. We trusted her with you. So did Milo. If he wasn’t with Piper right now, I would’ve called him and you both would be in a damn ditch somewhere,” Grady spat at them, finally calming down enough to make sense of what happened as Noah and Sydney just stood still.
“Dude, seriously, we didn’t do anything to her. I swear to you. We were called away by Ryan. Another sub was taken while we were in a room with her. Gunner busted in, and we headed out. I guess we went into the room to see what was going on and Gunner didn’t. Sam was distracted by a scene happening on her way to the room, and Gunner found her. She broke a rule, according to Gunner, and he tried to spank her. He only hit her twice, but twice was too much. She safe worded in front of a room of people, and Gunner se
nt her packing. We didn’t know until later what happened. That was the end of it for us,” Noah pleaded with him. “We quit. We seriously like her, man. We had this weird connection, and she responded to us as no one has. But we don’t know now what to do. Ryan called and she wants her things, but I don’t know if we should go to her or if we should just mail it to her. You have known her longer than us. What do you think? Help us here, man. We are now homeless and desperate at this point.”
Wes seemed to understand his frustration before he spoke next. “Shit, man, you guys fucked up big this time. I have always hated that guy, but hell, he touched Sam. I should drive up there and kick the shit out of him. Damn it, man, I knew something bad happened when she wasn’t her normal bratty self. You guys need to fix this. She has Piper in town now, and Milo, too. If he gets word about this, then all hell is going to break loose. You know it, right? Give Sam a couple of days to cool down. Why don’t you give us her stuff, and we can take it to her tomorrow? She won’t question us. Just do us a favor. Don’t head into town. The last thing we need is to have her flip out and not trust us. She may put on a strong front, but she is fragile. I remember when she moved here for good, she looked like a damn ghost, but she has since opened up her shop. She got happier. Please, whatever you do, don’t break her more. We don’t know what her past is, and we respect her too damn much to go looking to see what it is. Plus she would totally kick our asses if we did.”
Feeling Lucky [Lucky, Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 4