UnSub

by Kendra Greenwood

  Well, not much anyway. They did have to make it convincing.

  “Alyx,” Daniel said, interrupting her thoughts. “You’re wound tighter than a drum. Tension is oozing off you.” They’d arrived in his bedroom without her realizing it. He came up behind her and grabbed her shoulders and started to work out the knots in her neck that had suddenly become painful.

  “I’m fine, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m good under pressure. I’ll do fine tomorrow at the club, you won’t be embarrassed.”

  Daniel made her face him. He chucked her chin up and forced her eyes to meet his. “You’re really starting to piss me off, Alyx. Why can’t you admit that you’re in over your head? Shit.”

  Alyx stared into his dark eyes, but she couldn’t understand why he was so angry. This had nothing to do with him anymore. His job was done and she could take it from here.

  “Lose the clothes,” he commanded.

  Her eyes blazed with fury. “No.” Who did he think he was? They were done with this whole Dom/sub charade. He couldn’t make her do anything. Even if she secretly wanted to.

  “I’m going to get you to feel something one way or another, Alyx. For one more night I intend to be your Dom and I’m going to give you what you need, not what you want. Because for some reason you are ignoring your feelings and it’s unhealthy. Now, I’m not going to say it again. Take off your clothes. Or I’ll do it myself.”

  Alyx couldn’t move and fear gripped her, although she’d never, ever, admit it to him. She’d never admit it to any man. Maybe sex would make her feel better. She did crave the way he made love to her. His rough, bossy bedroom persona excited her and she had already been saddened over the fact their relationship had come to an end, even if it was only make-believe. After tonight she could go back to being the strong independent woman she’d been before. Fine, she’d play the game one more night.

  “Go ahead, have your way with me. I don’t care either way.”

  Alyx couldn’t believe she’d said that. She really did want him to make love to her, but she’d never give him the satisfaction of letting him know. How many times had she been disappointed in love? Well, five boyfriends, plus her father, that would make exactly six times. Six for six. A perfect record.

  * * *

  Getting in Alyx’s face, he jabbed her in the sternum with two hard fingers. “I want you back in protocol. And I want you to show some respect. This petulant child act is inappropriate and stops right this second.” Daniel withdrew his fingers instantly and stepped back. This was killing him. What if this backfired and she cracked? He wanted to fold her into his embrace and just love her. Hold her until she regained her sanity and could think clearly. But no, he would be doing her no service by being soft. He needed his mega-Dom persona to get her through this.

  He tightened his lips, then blew them back out, rubbing the anger off his face with his hands. He knew better than to deal with a sub when he was angry. Control, man.

  He fully expected her to lash out at him, but instead her eyes were focused on the floor. “Yes, Sir.” He opened his mouth to speak, then stared down at his hands.

  “Good girl,” he said reflexively. He discarded his jacket and shirt and threw them on the bedside chair. Alyx yanked off her tee-shirt in full tantrum mode, like the first time he’d met her. Back to square one.

  He could watch her strip all day and he felt himself harden. He hoped he was making the right decision because he was sure she was expecting something else from him. Well, perhaps he would fulfill her wishes afterward, but first he intended to give her what she needed, not what she thought she wanted.

  Daniel unbuttoned his jeans, but left them on. Alyx stood before him in her underwear and he wanted to dip his hands into her bra, then take those luscious breasts into his mouth and suck ravenously on her sweet nipples. But, he reminded himself she needed something else from him. Focus, man.

  He pulled back the covers on the bed and sat on the edge. “Lose the underwear. All of it.”

  She hesitated briefly and then complied. “Come here,” he commanded, extending his hand. Slowly, she inched her way toward him, then stopped, her knees pressed against his. Her breasts were even with his mouth and he fought the urge to bite her nipple. Instead, he grabbed her arm and threw her, stomach-down, over his thighs.

  “Wait,” she screamed. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, asshole?”

  “Protocol, Alyx. We’ll do this all night until you behave appropriately.” His left hand pressed on her back and he scissored his legs around hers. She squirmed and bucked on his lap and he held her firmly, her strength no match for his.

  “I don’t deserve a punishment. Let me up.” She pounded her fists into his leg and growled.

  “This isn’t punishment, Alyx, this is about you feeling something. Your emotions are buried so deep they’ll kill you if you don’t let them out.”

  “Fine I’ll take whatever you want to dole out. I’m tougher than you, I’ll outlast you.”

  He smiled. Oh really, little missy, we’ll see about that.

  “One,” she yelled. “Go ahead you wimp, I can count higher than your little pea brain. ONE.”

  “No, little subbie, since this isn’t punishment, there will be no counting. I will continue until I decide to stop.”

  That shut her up.

  He trailed his fingers over her bare bottom, massaging her firm, silken skin, bringing the blood to the surface. Her body was rigid, her muscles like steel. But he was up to the challenge and wouldn’t quit until she yielded her emotions to him. “Flatten your hands on the floor to brace yourself. We’re going to be a while.” His hand stroked her bottom again. He smacked her and the sharp intake of breath told him he had her attention. The next set of swats came in rapid succession. He hit one cheek, then the other, waiting for the stinging to die down before giving another. She struggled again, trying to escape the impact of his hand. He paused and lightly massaged the pink skin on her adorable little ass.

  “Tell me, Alyx, how did you feel when you realized Jason was in your apartment?” He rubbed her butt cheeks slowly, the skin hot on his palm. “Out with it,” he commanded and then smacked her.

  “Nothing,” she screamed. “I felt nothing.”

  His hand slapped her ass five times in a row. “I don’t believe you. Liar. Tell me the truth. How did you feel when Jason suspended you from the ceiling?”

  Alyx kicked and thrashed, and pounded on his legs with her fists. “I didn’t care. I knew I could wait him out and when I got free I’d probably shoot the bastard.”

  Daniel’s hand froze. She was close. He had to get her there. Another five swats, and she stopped beating on him and dropped her head, her hands flush against the parquet floor.

  “You intended to kill him? Are you a murderer?” Daniel knew he was pushing the envelope and hoped he hadn’t gone too far.

  “No,” she cried, “I wanted him dead. But I wouldn’t have killed him, I would have called for backup once I had him at the other end of my gun.”

  “Tell me how you felt, Alyx. How did you feel when he attacked you?” He smacked her again, harder then he’d ever smacked anyone. “Start talking.”

  “Fine,” she sobbed. “I was mad. Fucking furious. But when he overpowered me and strung me up like an animal I was terrified. I never let anyone get the upper hand on me, never. My father would be furious if he knew some guy had gotten over on me like that.” Her cries had reached hysteria and her body suddenly went limp, unable to fight him any longer. Sobs wracked her and he waited as the tension seeped out of her. He stroked her bottom lovingly, caressing the heated skin to soothe the pain.

  “You were afraid, Alyx,” he said softly. “There’s no shame in fear. Now, we’ll talk about where you learned this.”

  He pulled her flaccid body into his arms and settled her against his chest, leaning his back into the pillows propped against the headboard. Tears choked her, but he hoped her worries had started to dissipate. Pressing
her head onto his shoulder, he wrapped her in his arms and held her until she calmed. He chucked her chin up so he could see her face and stroked away the streaming tears from her cheeks with his thumb, then offered her a tissue to wipe her nose. He hoped this ordeal had left her empty of the pain she’d been holding onto, leaving her clean and whole again.

  “You made me cry on purpose,” she declared, snuggling against his chest again.

  “I know,” he confessed. He leaned his chin on her head and caressed her arm.

  “You spanked me so I would cry?”

  “Yes. That was the point. Spankings can be used as punishment or for erotic foreplay. But, sometimes, physical pain can be used to help people release bottled up emotional pain. Now, let’s talk about how you learned that fear was an unacceptable emotion.”

  “I don’t know. I was pretty fearless as a kid. At three, my parents found me twenty feet off the ground in the giant oak tree in front of our house. My father told me at least a hundred times that my mother nearly had a stroke when she found me. My dad, on the other hand, was so proud of me. He told me all his life that a Cameron doesn’t show fear, ever.”

  “And you believed him?”

  “He was my dad. I was a young girl. Whatever he said was gospel.”

  “Look, Alyx, if he started telling you that at such a young age it could be considered a form of brainwashing. Even though you’ve felt fear, and briefly acknowledged it, you buried it someplace where you thought you wouldn’t ever have to deal with it.”

  “I guess, sort of makes sense.”

  “But, it’s dangerous to live like that. Fear is important for our survival. It prevents us from taking unnecessary risks. It keeps us safe. Do you understand that fear is a good thing?”

  “I guess,” she said again, and he heard the smile in her voice.

  He pulled her up to face him and kissed the remnants of tears from her eyelashes. “Good girl. Now tell me how you feel about tomorrow.”

  This time he saw it in full living HD color. Her eyes a deep, dark blue. Terror. And that made him very, very glad.

  Chapter 8

  Saturday

  Alyx and Daniel slept late, like teenagers-with-nothing-to-do-late, and decided to forgo working out again this morning. Both agreed they usually took weekends off anyway. Alyx threw on one of Daniel’s tailored white shirts, as she hadn’t brought clothes to hang around in. What a fuckety-fuck-fucking night. She hadn’t seen it coming, either. After the spanking ordeal, which she hadn’t enjoyed at all, it had been nothing like the other times, they’d had mind-bending, toe-curling sex. If she were totally honest with herself, they’d actually made love. Although she’d thoroughly enjoyed the crazy, raw sex they’d had over the past week, it had always been just another screw, and that had been fine. But last night was different and now a wondrous energy throbbed in her veins. Like a huge raincloud had passed over her, washing her clean, and she felt ready—both physically and emotionally—to do what was needed at the club in order to free the imprisoned women.

  “Can’t believe it’s nearly noon,” Daniel said, interrupting her inner monologue. He dragged on a pair of tan linen pants, no underwear, and slipped a navy-blue tee over his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept till noon.” He came over and put his arms around Alyx and pulled her into his chest. “You okay? Last night was pretty intense for me, it had to take a toll on you.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Now, see, there you go. Again. Your tedious response. Tell me how you really feel.”

  Alyx wrapped her arms around Daniel’s waist. “Well, I’m good, really good. Like my body feels after a great workout. Only I guess you could call this an emotional exercise.”

  “Much better,” he said. “That’s my girl. Now let’s go and eat. I’m starving.”

  Alyx smelled some sweetly delicious concoction as she entered the kitchen. Lydia had taken the liberty of making homemade waffles. Although she liked to cook, Alyx couldn’t remember ever having waffles from scratch. Since her mother left when she was so young and her father wasn’t exactly a chef, they’d relied mostly on frozen and microwave stuff. Their housekeeper, Greta, made an effort, but her culinary skills left a lot to be desired.

  Daniel ushered Alyx outside to sit at the table. The noon sun proved still warm for September and she mused over the fact that winter wasn’t far away. She added her favorite creamer to the steaming mug of coffee and sipped, burning her tongue a little. Daniel reached into his pocket and placed something wrapped in pink tissue paper on her plate. “What’s that?” she said.

  “It’s your graduation present.” He took his seat next to her at the table.

  Alyx picked up the lightweight package and slowly opened the tissue. Out fell her hair clip from their initial and confrontational meeting. She laughed. “I never thought I’d see this again after that night.”

  “Me either. I still can’t believe you showed up and you actually stayed. I planned to keep it as a testament to my intimidation factor.” He grinned. “Apparently, I’ve lost my edge.”

  “Apparently.”

  Daniel buried his beautiful face behind the New York Times. Alyx selected the sports section and leaned back in her chair. “The Giants play at four on Sunday.”

  Daniel peered at her around the paper. “You’re a Giants fan?”

  “Of course.”

  “I had no idea. You have impeccable tastes.”

  Lydia came outside and placed a stack of warm waffles in between their plates along with a pitcher of hot maple syrup. “This is wonderful, thank you so much, Lydia,” Alyx said. Lydia beamed at the praise, but suddenly her gaze drifted behind Alyx and her lips curled downward, her eyes wide.

  “Daniel,” someone shrieked. Daniel promptly dropped the paper from in front of his face and glanced up. A tall, leggy blonde wearing a tight, white, off-the-shoulder blouse atop black jeans stood in the doorway. Her appearance oozed money. Alyx couldn’t see her eyes because they were hidden behind dark oversized sunglasses. A large black Chanel bag hung on her right shoulder while her left hand sat primly on her hip.

  “Lacey,” Daniel said, getting to his feet. “I thought you weren’t due back for another week.”

  Lacey didn’t move and fixed her eyes on Alyx. “Apparently,” she said. “Who is your friend? And why is she wearing one of your shirts?”

  Daniel stepped closer to Lacey, but she recoiled from him like he had some serious disease. “It’s not what you think, Lacey.”

  “Oh really, Daniel? You’re a mind reader now. Do tell. What the hell am I thinking?”

  “This is Alyx Cameron, and I’m sort of babysitting her for a friend.”

  Babysitting? Alyx thought. Yet she decided to keep her mouth shut and let this play out. In a few hours, she’d be out of here and this would be nothing but a bad memory.

  “Babysitting, my ass,” Lacey shrieked. “You’ve had this little tramp in that rec room of yours. And after you promised me you’d left all that sick shit behind you.”

  Daniel kept his voice calm. “I don’t want to talk about this now, Lacey. And you’re being rude to my guest.”

  “You think this is rude?” she snapped. “Just wait. I came by to tell you we’re expected at my parent’s house for dinner tomorrow to iron out plans for the engagement party.”

  Alyx’s eyes immediately fixed on Lacey’s ring finger. How come he’d never mentioned he had a girlfriend, no wait—a fiancée? A giant diamond solitaire glinted in the sunlight. No denying it now. Daniel had asked her to marry him and the thought sent a wave of nausea through her stomach worse than food poisoning. God, what a fucking week. Alyx felt like she’d been through literal Hell.

  Lacey whirled on her four-inch heels and stormed out. Daniel still held the newspaper in his fisted hand and he threw it to the floor. “Damn,” he said and then followed after Lacey.

  Alyx tried to regain her emotional equilibrium. Her eyes sought out Lydia, who hadn’t moved a muscle. “Well, that wa
s awkward.”

  Lydia blew out a long breath. “I’ll say, and then some.”

  “I didn’t know Dr. Taylor had a fiancée, Lydia. He never mentioned it.”

  “Well, I’ll mention a few things. She’s a gold digger if you ask me. Her father got caught in that big Ponzi scheme and lost his shirt. The word around town is he’s broke. And besides, she’s always ordering Dr. Taylor around and making him do things he doesn’t want to do.”

  Alyx found that odd. She would have assumed Daniel to be the “boss” in any relationship he was in. “She’s very beautiful. I’ll give her that.”

  “Skin-deep beauty isn’t worth much if you ask me,” Lydia offered. “Excuse me, Ms. Cameron, but I think I’ll head back to the kitchen, I’ve already said more than is appropriate. Please forgive me for interfering.”

  As she hastened her exit, Alyx couldn’t decide what to do. The amazing waffles were getting cold. She should pack up and leave. But she needed a ride. Matt would bring her car out later, but for now she was stranded. She had no desire to talk about this with Daniel. He didn’t owe her anything. His problem would be with Lacey and he’d have to figure that out on his own. But she decided the waffles smelled too good to ignore and she needed to put something in her stomach. Rob Scarborough wouldn’t be here for a few more hours. She buttered her waffles and smothered them in the warm syrup and tried to eat quickly, the lump in her throat making it difficult to swallow. After a week of convincing herself this had merely been a silly game, she’d finally considered the possibility that she felt something solid for him, and that perhaps he felt the same.