by Lea Griffith
Daly had shoved it in a corner and forgotten about it. But now her curiosity was piqued. What was in the suitcase? She’d left nothing at Jeremiah’s place. What could it possibly be?
She dragged it to her bedroom and placed it on the bed, heart racing, palms sweating. There was something in there that was going to change her world; it was a surety in the pit of her stomach.
Slowly, she popped the latch and opened it. Her breath left her in a whoosh. Nothing but red lace and satin. Her eyes filled with tears and the sob that escaped her chest hurt. He’d returned her red lingerie. All of it. Everything she’d left the first time.
It was another cut among the myriad wounds he’d already inflicted on her soul. But in the midst of those red bras, panties, and corsets was his reason.
She’d been so blind, and once the blinders were removed the anger rushed in, hazing her mind with a red deeper than anything in the bowels of that fucking suitcase.
He’d thought to push her away before she had a chance to hurt him again. And he’d done a damn good job of it.
But did Daly want a man who refused to trust her? Did she want a man who closed off at the first hint of difficulty?
Thoughts came at her so fast she could barely process them. Yet the predominant theme was that she didn’t want a man who closed himself off. She didn’t want a man who didn’t trust her. But she did want Jeremiah Copeland.
The plan formed before she could stop it. Oh, her grand plans—she was having more of them lately than ever before. But this one was insidious, creeping along the pathways of her brain, down her spine, and invading her heart, demanding she listen and follow through. The anger rushed through her, making her clench her hands and grit her teeth.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t open herself like that again. Could she?
What if she didn’t? What if she gave up on him and didn’t give him a chance to make things right with her?
It was unacceptable. Because Daly trusted what he’d told her. He loved her. He’d given her the words and by God, she was going to make him live by them or tell her to her face he didn’t mean them.
She scribbled one word on a piece of paper, tossed it in, and closed the suitcase. Everything. It was what he’d promised her and what she’d given in return.
Plans, plans, plans, but first, she had to call Candace and after that, Ruthie. This was going to be tricky. Jeremiah was a hard man, but she was his softness. She was his submissive, and it was time to use that to her advantage.
Chapter 28
“You’re insane, Day. He’s like a surly bear and you’re going to poke him?” Ruthie’s voice was a beguiling mixture of worry and delight.
“I’m what he’s made me and it’s time for him to own it. He fucked up, and I’m simply giving him an opportunity to make it up to me,” Daly responded, then grunted as Candace pulled tight on a corset string. “Damn, Candace, I won’t be able to breathe much less bend over in this.”
“Pain is pleasure, dear,” Candace said with a laugh. She and her husband had come to The Underground tonight as support.
“Toby is staying far away, I take it?” Ruthie asked.
“I wouldn’t think he’d want to watch his sister in this particular situation, Ruthie,” Candace chided. “He’d probably want to see you, but not Day.”
Ruthie turned bright red but said nothing to that. Daly wondered if Ruthie and Toby would ever get it together.
“Just a little more,” Candace said through closed lips. “There! Turn around and let me look at you.”
Daly did, and Candace whistled, then described in detail what Daly looked like so Ruthie could picture it in her mind.
“Lovely,” Ruthie said. “Now, we have to get you into the main room and Jeremiah here. Candace, I’m going to leave it up to you. Daly? You got this? I’m upstairs if sugar goes to shit. Have Candace get me and I’ll be there in a second if you need me, okay?”
“I won’t need you,” Daly said, and both women smiled.
“You will, however, need a donut to sit on when he gets finished wearing that ass out because you’ve shown it to everyone in the club,” Candace said with a laugh.
“Serves his ass right. He threatened me with a restraining order and he had that fucking bitch Detective Cavanaugh tell me.” Daly growled.
“Calm down, woman. Tonight is about getting your man to understand what he’s done and what he needs to do,” Ruthie teased. “We’ll go after Savvy together once your mission is accomplished.”
Daly hugged her and turned to Candace. “You ready?”
“The question is, are you?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Daly said in a rush.
“Fingers crossed,” Ruthie called out as the elevator doors closed.
“I don’t need luck,” Daly whispered. Her eyes met Candace’s in the silver of the door.
“You need a fucking miracle,” Candace breathed out.
“You’ve got the rope?” Daly asked nervously.
Candace chuckled. “It’s all waiting on you.”
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Candace’s husband had made sure to have Jeremiah gone from the club, and Ruthie had snuck Daly up to her apartment by the private elevators. As Daly stepped from the public elevator, her nerves nearly had her stepping back in and calling it off.
“This is for forever, Daly,” Candace whispered.
Those words steeled her spine. That was exactly what this was for. If he rejected her, at least she’d tried. She’d break completely, but she’d be able to rebuild because she’d gone after what she wanted, not run from it. She’d done that once and lived a half life the past three years.
Her legs shook, but she was affirmed. She spotted the spanking bench on a short platform in the main alcove of the club. It was the biggest stage, but the bench was brand new. Plush red leather with mahogany handles and rests, and the titanium hooks at the sides were guaranteed to hold the strongest subs in place.
Her nerves were shot, but heat bloomed in her abdomen. She would submit it all to him tonight and in doing so, she would have her Dom.
People milled to and fro. It was a Saturday and the club was relatively busy. Her extremities tingled at the thought that people would be watching. She knew instinctively that he didn’t want to share anything they did, but tonight it was the only way to capture his attention and make sure she held it.
He was her Dom and if she knew anything about him, it was that he wouldn’t turn away from her in her need. Jeremiah wasn’t that cold.
He threatened you with a restraining order, her head reminded her.
He was hurt, her heart shouted.
“You need to relax,” Candace said at her side. Her friend was dressed in a cat suit. The leather delineated her luscious curves to perfection. She and her husband were in the lifestyle, a true Master/slave relationship that Daly both admired and wanted for herself. That she’d taken on the possibility of losing Jeremiah’s friendship by helping Daly hadn’t gone unnoticed.
The cool air of the club brushed over Daly’s flesh, reminding her she was in a corset, thong, six-inch heels, and nothing else.
“You got this,” Candace said from the corner of her mouth. Louder and for the benefit of everyone else she said, “On the bench, sub.”
Daly did as she’d been told, going to her knees on the wooden support rest and bending at the waist to lie facedown on the bench, but she didn’t say anything. She’d never call anyone Sir but her Dom.
“Relax, Day,” Candace murmured.
Daly felt the rope begin to twine around her wrist. She opened her eyes and watched the lovely red bamboo rope wind around her arm, slip through the hook, and then double back to knot at her wrist. The other arm was done the same way.
“Feet now, Day,” Candace warned her.
The process was repeated with the rope on both legs and she was completely bound to the bench. Facedown in a cutout for just that purpose she waited, feeling the stares of everyone in the club.
Candace took a deep breath at her ear. “And cue music.”
Daly knew what the music signaled. He was here. Candace had come up with that telltale sign from her husband.
“He’s here, Day. Good luck.”
She felt the air stir as Candace stepped away and then the music invaded her body. Slow, thumping, and so deep Daly wondered if she could come just listening to it.
“What the fuck is going on?”
His voice moved her. How she’d missed him! So damn much. Nobody moved. Nobody said a word. Daly had not been given permission to speak, and therefore let the situation speak for itself.
This was a bad idea, her head mocked.
It’s bloody brilliant, her heart screamed.
“Tell. Me.”
She remained silent.
“Speak, Daly,” he bit out.
“I would think it obvious … Sir.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said in a nasty voice.
“I am here for you, Sir. Only you,” she said softly.
“Speak louder, goddamn it.”
“I am here for you, Sir. Only you!” she shouted. Then she smiled because she heard him suck in his breath, felt his frustration reach out and stroke along her skin.
“I don’t want you.”
It hurt. But she’d known he’d resist. She wanted him. She would have him. “Yes, you do, Sir. And I have no other need than to give you what you want.”
“Candace, untie those ropes and get her the fuck out of here,” he demanded. His voice was ugly. Deep, gruff, and pained.
Oh how his pain tugged at her heart! Determination filled her muscles, locking her in place, and she prayed that her will communicated itself.
“No,” Candace said. “She’s here for you. She needs you.”
“She’s practically fucking naked!”
Candace laughed, and it made Daly smile. “And she needs you. I’m sure if you can’t fill that need there are others here who would?”
Mentally, Daly was high-fiving her friend.
Jeremiah growled and Daly went wet.
“Nobody touches her but me.”
Candace laughed again. “That’s what I thought. I’m off now, J.C. I’ll expect a call thanking me tomorrow.”
Jeremiah didn’t respond, but Daly felt his perusal like a hot brand on her skin. It was a calculated risk, and she’d had no other option. This was the way to crawl back into her man’s heart. So she’d taken the risk, but now the waiting was painful.
“You thought you’d have her tie you to a bench and I’d what, Daly? Fall at your feet and beg you to come back?”
She remained silent. Rhetorical questions sucked.
“Answer me.”
“No, Sir.”
“Then what did you think?”
“I knew I loved you, and the only way to get back in front of you was to be bound and at your mercy.”
That shut his ass up. So now, Daly was high-fiving herself, until the music went silent and she heard the sounds of people leaving. Then she was high-tenning herself because he’d made everyone go. Unable to handle anyone seeing her, seeing them, he’d made them leave.
“I don’t want to see you,” he said harshly.
“Yes you do, Sir,” she said around a lump in her throat.
“No, I don’t. I don’t want the pain you bring with you.”
“Your sub hurts as well, Sir. Her heart is broken. Trampled. Because her Dom didn’t trust her.”
Ice dusted the air between them. She could feel his rage and let her own fly up to meet it. How fucking dare he?
“You walked out of that fucking office and didn’t give me the benefit of the doubt, Sir.”
He hissed in a breath. “I saw your face, sub. It was full of doubt. You doubted me. There was no room for trust with all the doubt on your face.” His voice was horrible.
“You’re a blind man.” She waited a few seconds. “Sir.”
“Then what was there, sub?”
She shivered at the silk in his voice.
Danger, danger, danger, her mind screamed.
Shut the fuck up already, yelled her heart.
“There was revulsion. Those pictures were horrible, Sir. Surely you’d seen them? Oh, that’s right, you’d been there. You had video. I guess the pictures were redundant.” She let her rage pepper her tone and didn’t care.
For a split second she wanted to be untied so she could get in his face and yell at him. But that would defeat the purpose. He was talking with her. She didn’t want that to end. Not yet.
“You’re silent now, Sir. Whatever you saw on my face was a reflection of fear and confusion. And your lack of faith and trust in me hurt.”
“You didn’t tell me you’d received any pictures, Daly.”
“You hadn’t given me time. You see, Jeremiah, I decided after those pictures were delivered that I would trust in you. Then I forgot about them. Could have been the marathon fuck sessions we engaged in. Could have been the stress. But the bottom line is I had seen most of those pictures, especially the damning ones, and I had decided to trust you any-fucking-way.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
In his tone was the doubt Daly needed, and she pounced.
“You weren’t very forthcoming yourself, Jeremiah. So much you knew but never told me. So much you kept from my brother and me. I should be the angry one, but instead, here I am, trussed up, half naked, and waiting on the man who stole my heart to steal my body and make me forget.”
“Forget what?”
“That you left me. That you hurt me.”
“Goddamn,” he murmured. “What did I do?”
“You crushed me. But I came right back, Jeremiah, to show you that my love is stronger than your lack of trust. Because I want you to trust me and know that I love you more than anything or anyone else on earth. And you are mine.”
Long minutes passed and she wondered if he’d left, but then she felt his touch on her lower back. And then she felt his lips and she knew, she fucking knew, that she’d managed to do something she’d never thought possible.
She’d gotten her Dom back.
“I’m sorry, Day,” he said, then licked the strip of skin between her thong and the edge of her corset. “So fucking sorry. I couldn’t get past my own fear.”
Daly groaned. “We’ll talk about it later. I’ve got your attention now and you can start making it up to me, Jeremiah.”
“How?” He was tortured, and Daly wanted to erase that note from his voice. It was time to make it right for both of them.
“I need you, Jeremiah.”
“I don’t deserve you,” he immediately responded.
“I think I’m exactly what you deserve,” she returned. “And you made a promise to me a couple of weeks ago.”
His hand drifted lower, stroking over her ass, pinching lightly before he rubbed. “You have such a gorgeous ass,” he whispered right before he bit her.
She yelled out and he laughed.
“The rules, sub, give them to me.”
“Rules are naught between us. You have my everything because you will give me yours, Sir.”
“I don’t deserve you. I’ve hurt you time and time again. But tonight, Daly, tonight, little sub, I hope you’ll give me your forgiveness.”
“Make me fly, Sir,” she pleaded.
“You’ve given yourself to me. You trust that I know what you need. All you give to me I will hold close and care for in all ways. You are mine to do with whatever I want. You. Are. Mine.”
Her body relaxed into the soft leather and her heart soared.
Chapter 29
She’d come to him and his surprise at her tenacity, her strength, knew no bounds. He had no right to her forgiveness. He’d done her wrong yet again. He wanted to beat his own ass, but knew it was impossible. So instead, he’d concentrate on making her his again—marking her, bringing her orgasm after orgasm and taking her higher than she’d ever been. His sub had taught him a
lesson about strength. It wasn’t one he’d ever forget.
How he’d hurt her. Threatened her with a restraining order because if he had to see her he’d beg for her. He’d mistaken her disgust at those pictures as disgust for him.
His precious Daly was everything. How could he have not trusted in her?
The answer was simple. Fear. As he walked around the beautiful red leather spanking bench her body was tied to, he thanked God she’d been stronger than him. Power flowed through him at the thought. She’d been stronger than him and now he’d take that back, return it to her a thousand-fold.
“Your safe word, little sub. I would have it,” he ordered.
“July.” It was a reminder. He wouldn’t forget this time.
“I hope you can handle what I’m about to give you. You’ve earned it, little sub. Begged for it, and now I’ll give it to you.”
Copeland saw the wooden paddle resting beside her and smiled. “You brought my paddle, but I think tonight, I’ll use my hand first, little sub. I want to feel the heat of your skin under my palm. I want to feel the sting as I tap your ass.”
She moaned. “Yes, Sir.”
“I want you to count each strike. I want you to yell it. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good, little sub. I’m so proud of you. So proud you’re mine. I don’t deserve you,” he said with a light stroke over the back of her thigh. “I don’t think I like these panties. They hide that pretty pussy from my view.” He ripped the material easily and stuffed it in his pocket. “Spread your legs, sub.”
She did, and he flicked over her bare lips, lightly caressing her clit before he pulled away. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Such eagerness. I can smell you and my mouth is watering. I’ve dreamed about your taste. And now you’re here.”
He tapped her hard on the ass and she raised it higher. He spanked her again, hard taps that didn’t cease. Steady and consistent until her ass glowed red. Then he stopped and rubbed the sting away.