by Maren Smith
Leaving him scowling at her retreating back, Lucy made her way through the small crowd, stopping to chat with each guest.
A gasp from behind alerted him to a newcomer. “Oh my gosh! This is incredible!”
Ethan froze at the familiar voice. His gaze landed on Lucy, who was watching him with a grin that threatened to split her face. With a wave and an air-kiss, she turned back to her current conversation partner.
Fighting back a wave of irrational anger, he turned in search of the owner of the voice. Isabella Taylor looked as out of place as a fish in a sandbox, but it didn’t seem to be dulling her excitement any, if the gleam in her whiskey-colored eyes was any indication.
Those eyes went wide when she spotted him, and her perfect, plump lips formed a small ‘O’ before she forced them back into a polite smile. “Sheriff Clarke. Fancy meeting you here.”
“What are you doing, Isabella?” The anger he wasn’t successfully holding back colored his tone more than he’d meant for it to. Oh, well. Maybe if he pissed her off enough, she’d leave before anyone put their hands on her.
Including, and especially, him.
Hurt flashed in her eyes, and she tilted her chin up in that defiant way she’d had for as long as he could remember. “I was invited.”
Wrapping his hand around her arm, he pulled her out of the way and pushed her onto a stool by the bar. “Sit. Don’t move.”
“Or what?”
Adrenaline pumped through him, and he let his lips curve, making sure she saw exactly the type of man she was dealing with. “I can assure you, Isabella, I know how to use every implement you see on that wall. And I have quite the reputation when it comes to brats just like you. Stay.”
It was impossible to miss the way her pupils widened, and her cute little tongue darted out to wet her lips. Ignoring the stiffening of his cock, he turned and stalked toward their host for the evening.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he growled, nudging her away from the group she’d been entertaining. “I need a moment with Lucille.”
“You got your present, I see,” she said with a wide grin, right before he backed her into a corner, caging her in with his arms.
“What the hell are you playing at, Lucille?”
“What?” Her bottom lip moved into a perfect pout. “Don’t you like her?”
A man would have to be blind not to be attracted to Isabella Taylor, but that wasn’t the point. She had no business stepping foot in a place like this. “How do you even know her?”
His palm physically itched when she rolled her eyes. “Have you forgotten her sister and brother-in-law are members of our little group? Marisa brought her as a guest to one of our socials a few weeks back. After getting to know her, I invited her tonight. My gift to you, for your birthday.”
“Why her?”
A self-satisfied smirk lifted the corner of her lips. “She’s cute and bouncy and bratty, just the way you like them.”
“You know what else she is?”
“What?”
“The biggest fucking gossip in Bolton Springs.”
There was a certain measure of grim satisfaction in watching her face pale before she forced a bright smile. “Well, then I guess it’s up to you to keep her in line. Have fun!”
Before he could catch her, Lucy ducked under his arm and hurried back to her other guests. As much as he wanted to put her over his knee and spank the living daylights out of her right then and there, Mike wouldn’t appreciate him manhandling his sub without his permission.
It took several deep breaths for Ethan to feel in control enough to return to Isabella’s side. Unsurprisingly, she wasn’t at the wet bar where he’d left her but standing in front of a wicked-looking clear plastic paddle, her head tilted to the side like a curious puppy.
Her attention was so focused on the row of implements, she didn’t notice him until he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Naughty girl.”
Spinning around, eyes wide, she slapped a hand over her heart. “Fucking Christ, Ethan! You scared the shit out of me!”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Unless you want to spend the evening with a ball gag in that pretty mouth, watch your language, little girl.”
Just like when he’d threatened her earlier, it was impossible to miss the desire darkening her brown eyes. “You,” she licked her lips and cleared her throat, “you can’t do that. You’re not my Dom.”
“I am tonight.” Lifting a hand to her neck, he stroked his thumb over the pulse beating there. “Apparently, you are my birthday present. Didn’t Lucy tell you?”
If her eyes got any wider, they were liable to fall out of her head. “You?” she squeaked. “You’re my partner tonight?”
Jesus. This was not the place for the conversation they needed to have. Releasing her with more than a little reluctance, he took her by the hand and led her to the stairs.
“Where are we going? Isn’t the party down here?”
“Relax, brat. We’re going somewhere quiet to talk so I can decide how to deal with you.”
“Deal with me?” Her voice pitched up again, with that delicious mixture of fear and excitement he could practically feel pumping off of her in waves. It was intoxicating, almost enough to make him forget she was his best friend’s little ‘sister’. The in-law part didn’t matter one whit to Jake, who’d practically raised Isabella after marrying her sister Marisa.
Pushing thoughts of Jake aside for a moment, he focused on Isabella as he pulled her upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms, locking it behind them. Normally, Lucy wouldn’t allow her guests to utilize her private spaces, but he figured she could make an exception this once.
“Sit.” He punctuated the order by giving her a light shove toward the bed.
“What has gotten into you, Sheriff?” Arms crossed, she plopped onto the bed and glared up at him.
“Does Jake know you’re here?”
The slight coloring of her cheeks was all the answer he needed. “Jake isn’t the boss of me anymore.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’. Damn it, Izzy.” He raked his hands through his hair in a desperate attempt to keep them off of her. “What the hell were you thinking, coming here alone? You don’t know any of these people!”
“I know Lucy! She invited me!”
Mirroring her stance, he crossed his arms and pinned her with his sternest glare. “Tell me exactly what she said.”
With a huff, she rolled her eyes, and every instinct he had screamed at him to bend her over the bed and teach her some manners. “Watch it, Isabella. I’ll only take so much rudeness before I introduce you to that Lexan paddle you were admiring downstairs. Talk. Without the attitude.”
The threat had that heady blend of need and fear swirling in her eyes. But when she spoke again, her tone was at least a bit more respectful. “She just told me about this play party they have every month and asked if I wanted to come. And she did tell me she had someone she thought I would enjoy playing with, but she didn’t tell me it was you!”
“How many of these types of parties have you been to before?”
Perfectly straight white teeth nibbled at her full bottom lip. “This is my first,” she admitted quietly.
“And how many Doms have you been with?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“I figured as much. Let’s go, Isabella.”
“No! Please, Ethan, I really want to stay.” Dropping her hands into her lap, she lowered her eyes and plucked at the hem of her short dress. “Y-you can do whatever you want with me.”
Red colored the edges of his vision. Reaching out, he wrapped her long ponytail around his hand and yanked her head back so she was forced to look up at him. Fear flickered in her eyes, and she let out a little mewl of surprise.
“Anything, Isabella?” Wrapping his other hand around her throat again, he watched her eyes widen. Her hands gripped the mattress, but she made no move to stop him. “Maybe I could start by stripping you naked and marching you
back downstairs to the party. Tie you to the St. Andrew’s Cross and take the flogger to every inch of you.”
Another little whimper, but not as distressed. The fear in her eyes had been joined by a need so raw and naked, he almost forgot he was trying to scare her off.
“I have a whole slew of implements down there to choose from to make you regret that promise you just made. And after I finish leaving my mark all over your beautiful, virgin skin, I’ll release you, but only so I can fuck you in every way you can imagine, and some I’d wager you can’t. Until you beg me to let you come, which I won’t.” He tightened his grip on her throat, not enough to cut off her air but enough to let her know he could if he wanted to. “Or maybe I’ll force you to come until you beg me to stop, which I won’t.”
The fear still hadn’t left her eyes, but he was certain if he slipped his hand beneath the hem of her dress, he’d find her soaking wet. This wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped. Apparently, the little brat had a bit of a pain slut in her — at least as far as imaginary pain went.
“Now. Does the offer stand to do whatever I want to you? Or would you like to retract that statement?”
The muscles of her throat moved under his palm when she swallowed. “I want to stay.”
Leaning down, he growled in her ear. “That’s not what I asked, little girl.”
“Please, Ethan. Sir.”
Dammit. Looking down into those pleading brown eyes, he suddenly understood why Mike was so wrapped around Lucy’s little finger, despite her bratty ways. It was far too tempting to give her whatever she wanted when Izzy looked at him like that.
Maybe he could at least give her part of what she’d come here for. Relaxing his grip on her throat, he stroked the sensitive skin. “If you stay, you play by my rules. Understood?”
“Yes! Whatever you say. I’ll be the best-behaved little subbie you’ve ever had.”
“I highly doubt that.” Chuckling at her exuberance, he released her and held out a hand. “Give me your questionnaire.”
For once in her life, she did as she was told without argument. She opened the small bag she’d brought with her and pulled out several folded sheets of paper and handed them to him. He scanned the boxes, looking first for her absolute “No Way” items. There were only a few, and they lined up neatly with his own. Next, he scanned for the things she’d marked as “Yes”. Again, only a few basics such as spanking and bondage. Everything else went into the “Curious” column.
“Which of your ‘Yes’ items are you most interested in?”
Pink blossomed on her cheeks. “Spanking,” she whispered, so softly he barely heard her.
The mental image of her kicking and pleading over his knee was one he’d indulged in many times over the past few years. Having the opportunity to turn his favorite fantasy into reality was really more than he could be expected to resist.
Jake was going to kill him and send him straight to hell. He might as well make it worth the trip.
“Here is how this works. Your safeword is ‘Red’. You will tell me immediately if anything or anyone makes you uncomfortable. Including me. Outside of that, you will not speak unless I give you permission to. If you can be a good girl once we return downstairs, I may be inclined to give you my birthday spanking. If you don’t behave, you can watch while I paddle some other lucky girl’s bottom.” Cupping her chin in his hand, he ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Do we have an agreement, Isabella?”
“Why can’t I talk to people?” Her tone was one he was all too familiar with, and it told him she was ready for a fight. At least this time he’d be able to end the argument on his terms.
“You have a tendency to let your mouth run the show, and you say things you shouldn’t.”
The corner of her lip pulled back in a sneer. “You sound just like Jake. I’m not a gossip.”
“Sweetheart, you’re the biggest gossip in all of Georgia. Now, do we have an agreement or not?”
She blew out a huff of air. “Yes.” A raised eyebrow was all it took to have the color in her cheeks darkening. “Yes, um, Sir?”
Normally, he settled for Sir during a scene. But he wanted more from her. For years now, he’d dreamt of hearing one particular word from her lips and tonight may be his first and only chance to hear it. “While we’re here, it’s Daddy.”
To his relief, there wasn’t even a hint of disgust in her eyes. If anything, the excitement and need there intensified as soon as the word left his mouth.
“Yes… Daddy.”
Hearing that word from her was even sweeter than he’d ever imagined. It took every ounce of his self-control not to toss aside his own edicts and take her right then and there.
But in the end, he held back and rewarded her with a small smile. “Good girl. One last thing. Whatever happens tonight stays between the two of us. Things like this have a tendency to be misunderstood, especially in small towns like ours. You can talk to Marisa and Jake, but that’s it.” A thought popped into his head and he frowned. “Do they know you’re here?”
She at least had the grace to look sheepish. “No. They think I’m on a date.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he took a deep breath to calm the fury bubbling inside of him. “We can discuss that later. For now, you follow my rules without argument, or we leave.”
“Yes, Daddy.” There was considerably more snark behind the phrase this time, but he decided not to call her on it. Taming a brat like her took considerable time and effort, and he was short on time at the moment.
“Good girl. Let’s get back to the party.”
Chapter Two
Trying to contain her excitement as much as possible, Izzy followed her escort back down the stairs. Other than Ethan’s ridiculous rules, this night was turning out better than she’d imagined. When Lucy had promised her a hot Dom who knew what he was doing, Izzy hadn’t dared to dream it might be Ethan.
Ethan Clarke, Bolton Springs’s football star turned sheriff, and all-around Golden Boy. She’d known him her entire life and had been in love with him half as long. When she was younger, he’d come around a lot to check on her and Mari after their parents had died. Every now and then, he’d taken her out for ice cream to just sit and talk. He’d been so gentle and sweet with her back then.
“Gentle” wasn’t a word she’d used to describe him these days. Tonight wasn’t the first time he’d laid down the law with her, though it was the first time he’d threatened to enforce said law with a paddle. Getting her bare ass spanked by hunky Sheriff Clarke would have fulfilled one of her deepest, darkest longings, so it was an understatement to say she was tempted to push his buttons a little. But the temptation was tempered by his threat to take her home if she didn’t follow his instructions.
Still, it was exciting. When she’d come to the social with Mari, it had basically just been a polite luncheon. Other than the few warnings Lucy had received from her deliciously stern husband, it had been kind of boring.
Tonight promised to be anything but boring.
When they reached the dungeon — and wasn’t that a weird thing to say, even in her own head — Ethan guided her over to the wet bar again where Mike was now serving drinks to a handsome couple who looked to be in their sixties. After serving the couple, he turned to Ethan, his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. “Ethan. Izzy. What can I get for you?”
“Two bottles of water,” Ethan answered before she could so much as open her mouth.
“But…” her protest died on her lips when he pinned her with a stern glare.
Lips twitching with amusement, Mike turned to the small refrigerator, where she assumed they kept the bottled water. Beside her, Ethan leaned down, his breath tickling her ear when he spoke.
“Did I give you permission to speak, Isabella?”
“No.”
“Proper titles, or we walk out the door.”
Even though nobody was close enough to hear him, she still felt the burn of humiliation on her cheeks. “No,
Daddy.”
“I asked for water because if we do scene tonight, you’ll need to be hydrated. And Mike does not allow alcohol for anyone who may be involved in a scene. If you would rather have a drink and strictly be an observer tonight, I can change your order. Would you prefer a drink, brat?”
She wanted to snap at him over the nickname, but it wasn’t worth losing her chance to stay. “Water is fine. Daddy,” she tacked on with a growl at his raised eyebrow.
“I thought so.”
Apparently sensing the moment had passed, Mike approached and set two bottles of water on the gleaming wood between them. “I didn’t realize you were bringing a guest,” he said, a slight note of censure in his voice.
“I didn’t. She was a present, from your wife.”
Amusement lit Mike’s eyes. “My wife is a generous woman.”
“Your wife is a brat.”
“She is that,” Mike agreed with a laugh. Turning, he waved for Lucy to join them. “Lucy. Did you arrange a surprise for our friend Ethan here?”
“Yes, Sir.” Eyes wide with faux innocence, Lucy smiled up at her husband. “It’s his birthday.”
“Hmmm. And did Ethan ask for this particular gift?”
“Well, no. Nobody asks for a birthday present!”
“She has a point, Sheriff.” Reaching across the bar top, Mike gave his wife’s ponytail a tug. “But we have a scene planned later, and I’d be happy to add a couple extra swats, just for you.”
Lucy’s lips moved into a practiced pout, but she didn’t object. It was impossible to miss the gleam of triumph in her eyes at her husband’s declaration.
“Or, you could give her your birthday spanking,” Mike offered, grinning widely when his wife’s mouth dropped open.
“I appreciate the offer, but I have plans.” Ethan lifted his hand to let it rest at the nape of Izzy’s neck in a gesture so openly possessive she nearly melted into a pile of goo. “I’ll settle for letting you handle Lucy.”
With a huff, Lucy turned to Izzy. “You’re quiet. Is everything okay?”
Although it went against her nature, Izzy looked up at Ethan for his permission. After what seemed like hours of him studying her, Ethan nodded.