Ghost: The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, Book 8

by Blevins, Candace

  “Ten strikes with my belt, Hailey. You’re going to lean over the bed and ask me for them, and you’ll stay quiet so you don’t bring security.”

  * * *

  Hailey

  I don’t think I understood exactly what I was challenging him to do when I pointed out I’m as strong as him now.

  And even once he started, I’m still not sure I knew where we were going.

  It wasn’t until the wolf inside me rolled over and showed her belly that I figured out what I’d done, and why — I’d needed him to assert his dominance, and he’d done so with flying colors.

  Nothing in my body argued with him when he told me to bend over the bed and ask for the belt. He’d earned my respect, and I owed him this for making him prove himself.

  “I love you, Dare,” I told him through my tears as I stood by the bed.

  “I love you, too, and we can put this behind us once we get these ten strikes over with.”

  I nodded, leaned over, and managed to slow my sobs enough to ask, “Will you please give me ten strikes with your belt?”

  Each stroke of the cruel leather flayed skin and muscle, and I put my face back into the pillow to keep from drawing the guards. He gave me time to recover between strikes, but I had to ask him for nine more, then eight more…

  When I was finally ready to ask for the last, he said, “Ask me to give you the last stroke on your pussy, Hailey. Roll onto your back, hold your legs open, and ask me to hurt your pussy.”

  On the one hand, my pussy hadn’t already been beat to hell and back, but on the other hand — do you have any idea how hard it is to hold yourself open for a belt to hit your pussy?

  I managed it, and thankfully he didn’t make me hold position long before the biting leather slammed onto the sensitive skin. It felt as if my clit completely compressed before it swelled, and I rolled to my side with my legs together, and sobbed.

  He didn’t let me lie there and cry alone, though. He gently pulled me into his arms and sat with me in his lap on the sofa.

  “I have you, Shortstuff. It’s over. We’re good. Fuck, please don’t ever do that again.”

  I knew in that moment that I’d someday challenge him again, and I also worried that if he ever couldn’t dominate me, we’d be finished.

  “Why do you smell scared? We’re good, Hailey.”

  “What happens if you can’t dominate me in fifty years?”

  He sighed. “I don’t know, but I have to trust we’ll figure it out.”

  He ordered six steaks and a dozen burgers from room service, and told me when the food arrived I could change to wolf and back.

  I think I fell asleep as soon as I finished my burgers and steaks. It wasn’t until I awakened the next day that I realized he hadn’t gotten his blowjob, and we hadn’t had sex.

  Our suite took up two floors, with a living room and kitchenette downstairs, and the bedroom upstairs. Dare was downstairs watching a ball game when I awakened, and I didn’t bother putting clothes on before going down.

  “I was going to give you another thirty minutes to sleep. We’re supposed to be in Will’s room in an hour to eat and hear from your various managers and publicists.”

  He was lying on the sofa while I stood fifteen feet away, but I wasn’t sure how to bridge the distance.

  “You didn’t get your blowjob last night.”

  “Didn’t want a blowjob. Wanted to fuck your throat.”

  “You didn’t get that either.”

  He stood, walked to me, and pulled me into is arms. “I’m never going to mix sex in with my having to prove my dominance like that.” He walked me to the sofa, sat, and pulled me into his lap. I curled into him as he said, “I’ve put some thought into this, and I think maybe we should institute some spanking and power exchange. Fun stuff, designed so maybe it’ll hurt but it’ll still turn you on, and you won’t be so injured you have to change to heal. Maybe the frequent reminders that you submit to me because it’s who we are will keep you from needing to challenge me?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say, so I didn’t say anything.

  “Okay, we’ll give it a try when we get home. If I can make it good for you, maybe you’ll be on board. If it doesn’t work then we’ll probably institute a spanking a few days before the full moon. Nothing like what I had to do last night, but more than I’d give for a fun spanking.”

  “Fun spanking? That’s an oxymoron.”

  He sighed. “Are we good?”

  I buried my face in his neck before I remembered it would wake the bloodlust, but I ignored the craving and told him, “Yeah. I pushed you to it. I’m not sure I understood what I was doing on a cognitive level, but I’m certain the wolf knew, which means I let her push me. I’m the pilot, it’s my responsibility to act like a human, and I challenged you. If you hadn’t responded in a way that let all of us — wolves, snake, humans, and vampire — know you’re still dominant…” I shrugged. “I don’t want to think about where we’d be now. I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.” He kissed the top of my head and held me a little tighter. “I wish there’d been another way.”

  Chapter 36

  Hailey

  I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got home, but our first night was full of gentle lovemaking with the occasional rough moment right before Dare came.

  The band had taken on a modified vampire schedule on the road, crashing around four in the morning and sleeping until noon or sometimes after. Dare and I didn’t try to alter it when we got home, which meant he had to bring me breakfast in bed, since he’d put total-blackout blinds in his bedroom and bathroom but not the rest of the upstairs.

  I wrote some lyrics as we ate, grabbed my guitar as I finished my last bite, and didn’t even realize when Dare left me alone so I could compose. The song I wrote was about how much I missed the kiss of the sunlight warming my skin, and I poured my heart into it as I wrote and composed.

  Of course, I had to go back and change enough words so it sounded as if now that I’d lost my true love, I may as well have lost the sun. Still, writing it was therapeutic, and by the time I was ready to come out of the bedroom I realized I was starving.

  It was dark out, so I went to the kitchen and put together a meal of pork chops with bacon topping, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans (also with bacon), and steamed cauliflower dunked in cheese meant for a fondue pot.

  I texted Dare as I started cooking, and let him know if he wasn’t home when dinner was ready, I’d eat it all.

  “I’m sorry I zoned out on you,” I told him when he came into the kitchen twenty minutes later. “Did you have a nice ride?”

  “Yeah, I missed my bike,” he said as he snagged a piece of cooked bacon. “Can’t wait to hear where you are on the song.”

  “I’ve never been in a situation where I knew there was a good chance people would hear the song I’m writing. Before I met Will, I’d sold about a dozen songs in my entire life, and only one of them really went anywhere, but the significant royalties dried up after the first year. I mean, my quarterly checks helped with tuition, but…” I shook my head. I was getting off the subject.

  “And now you know if you write something good, people will probably hear it.”

  I nodded, happy he understood where I was going. But then I told him the second part — the thought that’d been bothering me. “If I hadn’t killed my dad, I wouldn’t have fallen apart on stage, and Will might not have been interested in me.”

  “I’d suck as a therapist,” he said, “because my first thought was that at least your dad did something for you.”

  Maybe his words hit too close to home, or maybe it was his tone of voice, but I started laughing and crying at the same time, while trying to keep the food cooking without burning. Dare turned all the eyes off, moved the pork pan to the center of the stove, and pulled me into his arms.

  “I’d give anything if it’d been me that killed them instead of you.”

  “I’m glad it was me. They had to die a
nd they were my responsibility. I’m just relieved the MC went with us so we could fight everyone they brought with them. Without help, it’s possible we’d have been dead while my dad and uncle lived.” I took a breath, backed out of his arms, and turned back to the stove. He let me finish cooking, and I got my thoughts together while he retrieved us both a beer from the fridge.

  “Harmony said you might have some little micro-crying jags that’d be over as quick as they started. Was this one of them?”

  “I have no idea, but maybe. I had to hold it together on the bus, but there was once when I’d have probably lost it a little if I could’ve.” I turned the pork chops, stirred everything, and used the bacon grease as well as some of the pork chop grease to start the gravy. “I wish there was something more I could do to help my mom. She’s still taking shit from the men’s wives and families.”

  “I thought Grandfather had fixed that by moving one of this great-great grandson’s campers to her backyard?”

  I nodded. “Having him close helps keep them away from her at home, but she’s had a few issues when she’s out.”

  We talked about possible solutions while I cooked, and then jumped from topic to topic while we ate. Dare helped me with the dishes when we finished, and told me, “I’ve rented a cabin for us, about an hour outside of town.”

  “We just got home.”

  “Yeah, but I wanted our first formal power exchange to be a little, well, formal. Plus, this is a remote cabin so we’ll have privacy — no worries of neighbors hearing. Eventually, you’ll have to be okay with the other wolves knowing what we do behind closed doors, but I don’t want you thinking of that as we start.”

  I was quiet while I waited for him to explain, but he said, “I’m sorry, but I think it’s better if I wait until we’re there to explain more. You’re going to have a million questions, but if you’ll just trust me to show you, it’ll be easier than trying to explain.”

  Chapter 37

  Ghost

  This had to work.

  The first time I met Hailey, our parents took us on a camping trip. My dad had brought the tents and food, but little seven-year-old Hailey had gone into the woods with a damned slingshot and came back with three squirrels and a rabbit strapped to a stick and slung over her shoulder. She showed me how to skin them, prep the meat to cook, and then salt the skin. She’d managed the fire, cooked most of our dinner, and looked at me like I was crazy when I complained about not having electricity, running water, toilets, and a shower.

  She’s been self-sufficient since long before I met her, and that was when she was a human child. She’s now a crazy mix of vampire, wolf, and snake — and I’d have to stay on my toes to be able to dominate her twenty years from now.

  Just maybe, if I could make her learn to love submitting to me… maybe it wouldn’t matter that she might one day be able to kick my ass?

  I didn’t know, but it was the best plan I could come up with.

  I pulled enough beef and bacon out of the freezer to last us two days, tossed in eggs, canned biscuits, butter, and jam. I’d already packed my paddles, floggers, plugs, gags, rope, and her new collar and super-strong ankle and wrist cuffs. I keep a go-bag with a change of clothes, toothbrush, and shaver in the car, so I was ready to go by the time Hailey packed a bag.

  “I arranged for a late check-in tonight, and we have two nights and one day. The entire bottom floor is light tight, and the upper floor has lots of windows. The kitchen’s on the lower floor.”

  “You found a rental cabin designed for vampires?”

  “Yep. Bran set me up with the company.”

  She didn’t need to know some of the rooms offered shackles in the walls designed to hold a vampire.

  We left our house as the sun dipped below the horizon, and arrived at the cabin about an hour later. I’m not a good passenger, but it was important Hailey get as much practice driving as possible. I think we were both frustrated with each other when we arrived, so I decided perhaps we’d go for a walk in the woods to calm down before we jumped into a scene.

  It was a good call, because the forest is always going to call to my Hailey. She was centered and happy when we returned, so I started things off with gentle, fun kisses until I was sure she was ready for more.

  I’d given her over-the-knee hand spankings as a teen, and Bran had used a whip for corrections. I’d eventually used it a little, too, and I figured perhaps we should keep these methods for true consequences. I’d brought floggers, and I intended to start fun, not heavy. Today, I wanted something she didn’t equate with punishment.

  I backed her against a wall and trapped her body with mine as I intensified our kiss. She responded by relaxing and letting me control her, loose and willing, and I relaxed a little. I’d worried she’d fight me.

  I lifted her until she was my height and told her, “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

  She twined around me and my heart swelled with love. My hips pressed her into the wall, my cock throbbed in anticipation. With only our jeans between us, I groaned as she moved her hips, wanting more.

  Before I forgot the purpose of the evening, I walked her to the large chaise, settled her on her back, and stretched out on top of her. She tangled her legs around me again, and I kissed her neck just below her ear as I told her, “Formal rules — you ready? Not full-time rules. They’ll just be required during our scenes. Like tonight.”

  She nodded, and I kept kissing. “You’ll call me something to show I’m dominant over you, every time you speak. Master and Sir are fine, but I’m willing to entertain other titles if you want to use something else.”

  “Okay, Sir.”

  My cock swelled even more, but it wasn’t time for me to take my jeans off yet.

  “You’ll follow orders when they’re given. If you aren’t sure of a directive, politely ask for clarification. If you have a safety issue around something, let me know.”

  Part of me wanted us to play without a safeword, but the realist in me knew we’d have to start with one. I wanted her to see this as fun, so she needed to be able to let me know when something was too much.

  “If you’re close to not being able to handle something, tell me yellow. If something is suddenly too much, tell me red.”

  “Shit, I wish Bran had given me a way to make him stop with the damned whip.”

  I pulled back and looked at her a second, and she said, “Sir. Sorry, I forgot.”

  “You’ll get three times with a reminder and then there’ll be consequences.” I took a breath to be sure of my next statement, and added, “Safewords don’t apply to consequences and punishments.”

  “Red and yellow are the safewords, Sir?’

  “Yes, and they aren’t just for physical stuff. If I do something that brings back any bad memories, I need to know. This is supposed to be fun. Good. If it isn’t, tell me.”

  I kissed and nuzzled her some more, brought her arousal level back where I wanted it, and continued. “You’ll stay human, and you won’t drink from me. You’ll ask permission before you do just about anything. You’ll need permission to go to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to join me on the sofa, and to orgasm. Most of the time I’ll tell you what to do, so it won’t be an issue.” I pulled back and met her gaze. “You’ll find a collar, as well as wrist and ankle cuffs on the small table by the front door. I’d like you to stand and take your clothes off before retrieving the leather items I had made for you. When you hand them to me and ask me to put them on you, it’ll tell me you agree to this.”

  * * *

  Hailey

  He was giving me the control to agree — or not — to my giving away all control. He wasn’t forcing it from me. He wanted me to decide to submit.

  I never gave total control away when I turned tricks. I mean, sure, I lost the ability to say no to sex, but Dare was asking me to give him the right to say whether I could go to the bathroom or not.

  I trusted him, though, so I stood and stripped.

  And
discovered taking your clothes off when you want to is completely different than doing it when you’re ordered.

  I had to stop and look down a few seconds after my shirt and jeans were off, before I removed my underwear. This was Dare, not a john. I wanted to be naked for him.

  I’d barely unhooked my bra when Dare was up with his arms around me. “Tell me.”

  I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I’m good, Sir.”

  “Please don’t make me start this with punishing you, Hailey. The rules are for you to let me know when something’s too much. Why was undressing too much?”

  I tried to shrug, but he was holding me and it didn’t work. “I haven’t done the sex-on-demand thing in a while.” I didn’t want to remind him I’d been a whore, but there didn’t seem a way around it.

  “Okay. Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel…” He kissed the top of my head. “Let’s get you out of your clothes together, and then you can bring me your new presents.”

  I rolled my eyes as he took my bra the rest of the way off, but having him do it lightened the mood. Of course, walking to him with the collar and cuffs made it a little heavy again. It didn’t hit my psyche wrong — it was just intense. I hadn’t expected an extra connection to him as I offered myself.

  He sat on the ottoman and had me kneel on the floor at his feet to hand him the collar. He showed me how he wanted me to hold my hair up for him to buckle it, and then he had me hand him the wrist cuffs.

  “These were made by someone Bran recommended. He assures me they’ll hold a vampire.” He talked as he fastened them, explaining how he got them snug without being too tight, and then nodded toward the ankle cuffs at my side. “Put them on yourself, please. I’ll use them to restrain you later, and I’d like you to put them on to show me you agree to it.”