No name-calling. Or humiliation.
“That won’t ever happen.”
No blood or scars.
Fuck. He wouldn’t want to make her bleed anyway. He wasn’t a sadist or that hard core.
“But spanking with my hand is fine? Maybe later with a paddle or the belt, that okay?”
She nodded shyly. Yes.
“We need to figure out a way you can safeword. Maybe a squeaky toy during punishment.”
She nodded, looking shy.
“How about this? We’ll go for a swim then I’ll read one of your books to you. Tonight is your quiz night, right? You still want to go?”
Excitement filled her face and he was glad he hadn’t told her she couldn’t go. It had been tempting. She’d be safer here, but he didn’t want to take away everything from her.
Yes.
“Meet you downstairs in fifteen. Don’t go into the water without me.”
15
Brick took one look at Juliet and shook his head. “Nope.”
She paused at the bottom of the stairs and gave him a confused look. Then she glanced down at herself.
“Go change your shoes.”
Exasperation filled her face. She took another step down.
Lord, she was trouble.
But the very best kind.
He moved closer and clasped her around the waist to whisper in her ear. “We’re gonna be late if I have to take the time to spank your ass. Either way, you’re changing your shoes. Now, it’s your choice if you sit comfortably or not tonight.”
A tiny sound of irritation escaped her. It was weird, but he treasured each noise he managed to extract from her like they were expensive jewels.
Pulling back, she got out her phone to type him a message.
What’s wrong with them?
“They’re too high. You’ll trip in them and break your neck.”
Did she just . . . yep, she rolled her eyes at him.
“Three.”
She frowned.
Three what?
“I’m counting down. If I get to one and you haven’t started up those stairs, you’re in trouble.”
Her mouth opened in shock. He had to bite back a grin. Damn, he enjoyed playing with her. Although he wasn’t playing about the shoes. She wasn’t going out in them.
“Two.”
With a huff, she turned.
“And take the shoes off before you attempt to climb the stairs.”
Another huff. But she did as she was told. Satisfaction filled him. He had this under control. She absolutely knew who the boss was.
As she came back down the stairs, he realized that his assumptions were just that.
Because there she was, clutching at the banister as she took each step carefully, wearing black stilettos that had to be at least eight inches high.
She couldn’t even walk on them. With each step, she wobbled. Damn fool woman was about to fall and break her neck.
And she’d done the exact opposite of what he’d just told her to. Storming forward, he plucked her off the steps before she could even get to the bottom. Then he swung her over his shoulder.
She let out a squeal that had Elias and Sterling racing into the foyer.
“What’s going on?” Elias asked as he started back up the stairs.
“Someone needs new shoes,” he called back, smacking his hand on her ass as she tried to wiggle away from him. “And an attitude adjustment.”
She let out an outraged gasp that was drowned by the bark of laughter from below. She stiffened.
“They’re not laughing at you,” he reassured her gently. “Both of them are Doms too. And they’re laughing at me.”
Probably because they’d never seen him act like this. He’d always kept his head when playing. Control was important to him. But this brat had him tied in knots and the thing was . . . he didn’t ever want to be set free.
As he moved up the stairs, he smacked her ass in between scolding her.
“Going to break your damn neck.” Smack! Smack!
“No high heels.” Smack! Smack!
“Got half a mind to go through all your shoes.” Smack! Smack!
They’d reached the landing on the third floor, and he set her down gently. He knew she wouldn’t appreciate him barreling through into her private rooms. Although he was curious. What did her bedroom look like? Was it all done in black?
She gaped at him as he crouched in front of her. “Hands on my shoulders.” Without argument, which was likely due to her shock, she put her hands on his shoulders and lifted each of her feet. He pulled her high heels off and kept hold of them as he stood.
“Now, go put on some sensible shoes, because we’re not leaving until I approve of them.”
Beautiful hazel eyes studied him then she stomped her foot and turned to the door.
“Unless you want me to choose?”
She shook her head and held out her hand for the high heels.
“Oh no, you’re not getting these back. Not until you convince me you can walk in normal shoes without falling over.”
With a pout and a flounce, she turned to her door and he headed downstairs.
Brat.
Crap. It was fifteen minutes until the quiz began. If she was late, then Kiesha would never let her hear the end of it. She shifted around anxiously on the front passenger seat. Elias and Sterling had taken the back seat. Brick reached over and placed his hand on her thigh, stilling her nervous movements.
“Easy,” he told her in that low voice of his. She should be pissed off at him. He’d not only made her change her shoes. Twice. But he’d spanked her ass. Okay, she had gotten a bit bratty. But he was high-handed.
Grumpy-Butt.
Even though she’d stopped shifting around like a toddler needing the toilet, or a woman who’d had her butt smacked, Brick kept his hand on her thigh. It was hot and heavy. And it felt like a brand.
As though he was claiming her.
That made her insides rejoice, heat filling her.
She was in such trouble.
She still couldn’t believe he’d thrown her over his shoulder and smacked her ass while carrying her up the stairs.
Damn caveman.
It was kind of sexy though, too.
Lord, Juliet. What have you gotten yourself messed up in?
When he pulled up outside the Wishing Well, Brick squeezed her leg while the other two got out. “Remember the rules?”
He’d gone over the rules this afternoon. Several times. She’d had to promise to a whole lot of ridiculous demands. Their table would be at the back of the room with a wall behind them. She wouldn’t move more than two feet away from him at all times. If he wasn’t there, she had to stick by Elias or Sterling.
If she needed to go to the toilet, one of them was to go with her.
No leaving on her own.
Then he’d handed her an alarm button that, if pressed, would emit a loud screeching noise, and a necklace with a GPS chip.
If she hadn’t wanted to come tonight so badly, she might have argued with him. But she had given in. Not graciously, but hey, what did he really expect?
She gave him a salute.
“Juliet,” he warned. “This isn’t the same as wearing high shoes or getting into the swimming pool on your own. I get that I’m overprotective. Always been that way of people I care about, of which there aren’t many. Maybe because I’m stifling.”
She slapped his thigh and pointed her finger at him warningly. She caught his grin.
“But this is your safety. You fail to obey me, and I won’t hesitate to haul your ass out of there. And I guarantee, you won’t be back there until I know the risk to you is eliminated.”
He grasped hold of her chin, it was firm without being threatening. “Understand me? Your safety comes first. Above everything else.”
Butterflies moved through her tummy, growing bigger and bigger until she could barely breathe. But in a good way.
A really good way
.
She nodded. Then like a good girl, she waited until he came around and lifted her down.
“Still think you need a booster.”
That was the sort of thing a Daddy might say, right?
Suddenly, she felt exhausted from all of the secrets she held. Why couldn’t life be simple? Then again, simple would be boring, right?
When they reached the door to the bar, it opened and someone half-stumbled out singing a bawdy Irish song.
Irish Mick.
He wasn’t actually Irish, but he had red hair and when he got drunk, he sang this really vulgar song with a bad Irish accent.
Brick clamped his hands over her ears just as he got to the good part. Like she hadn’t heard it a thousand times before.
“This place seems like fun.” Elias rubbed his hands together. She didn’t know where Sterling had gone, maybe he had to pee.
“Juliet! Ye better get in there, darlin’, it’s about to start.” Irish Mick wobbled away.
“That was the worst Irish accent I’ve ever heard,” Elias stated as he moved ahead to open the door.
When the door opened again, the noise hit her. Nerves jangled, the way they did every week. She both loved and loathed quiz night. She enjoyed being with her friends and the quiz itself. But being surrounded by all those people made her really anxious.
Moving towards Brick, she twisted her hand in his shirt under his jacket. He paused and glanced down at her. “You want to go home?”
She shook her head.
He didn’t move so she gave him a nudge. She could handle this. She just got really anxious in these situations.
He moved her hand off his shirt and she let out a distressed noise.
“Easy, Duchess. Just hold on to the other side in case I have to go for my gun.”
Right, she remembered that instruction now.
Brick moved forward and she slid up so close to him that she was bumping into him as he walked. She was probably putting wrinkles in his shirt.
Elias stepped in behind her and she had to remind herself that she knew him. That she was comfortable with him. It was only because of the situation that she felt so on edge. She glanced around.
“There’s Sterling.” Elias pointed to a table near the back, but she couldn’t see anyone over this crush. Had Sterling come in to find her friends?
“He’s talking to a tiny blonde wearing a sparkly dress and cowboy boots,” Elias explained, seeing her issue.
Isa. She nodded.
Brick started moving and she walked behind him. People got out of his way immediately. He had that effect on people. She shivered, a weird feeling coming over her. Almost like being watched. She shook that off, though. Most of the bar probably had their eyes on her right now.
Weirdo Juliet with the two hunky men.
This would fuel the gossip mill for a while. She kept her gaze down, though. She knew from experience that looking around would just overwhelm her. Too much noise, too many colors and scents.
Sensory overload. So, she kept her gaze down and trusted Brick to get her safely to where she needed to go.
“Juliet! About time! We thought we were actually going to have to do some of the work tonight.”
She looked up as Kiesha came barreling towards her. The other woman stopped and bared her teeth at Brick. “You.”
Brick stared down at her. “You.”
Kiesha pointed over at Sterling who was smiling at something Isa said while Cleo poured them all drinks from a huge pitcher. She wondered what was in it. Maybe she’d have a drink tonight. She didn’t usually drink because it didn’t mix well with her anxiety medication. But had she even taken that medication today? She couldn’t remember, she wasn’t great at remembering that sort of thing.
“I get that you sent him in to butter us up. But while Isa might be charmed, I’m not. And I’m watching you.” Kiesha used two fingers to point at her eyes then at Brick. She did the same to Elias. “You too, cutie-pie. I don’t trust any of you. You hurt my girl and I will come after you. See how you like driving on slashed tires.”
Juliet tried to pull away to talk to Kiesha, but Brick held her back, glaring down at Kiesha. “You won’t go anywhere near our tires.”
“Oh yeah, why’s that?”
“Because we drove Juliet here and you won’t want your friend waiting in the cold while we get our other vehicle.”
His answer took all the fight out of Kiesha. “Jeez, it’s no fun fighting if you’re gonna be all logical and shit.”
Juliet had to hide a smile.
“Just watch yourself,” Kiesha told him. “Juliet has all of us at her back and we ain’t afraid to get dirty, if you know what I mean.”
“Who’s getting dirty?” Cleo asked with a frown. Cleo was tall, gorgeous, and very serious. She was in a relationship with the owner of The Wishing Well, Noah.
“We are, if they hurt Juliet.”
“Who hurt Juliet?” Isa interjected. “Who are we hurting? Let me at’em.”
Isa was tiny and tough. Also, her housemate was a crazy dude who knew how to kill a person and hide the body so nobody would ever find them. Nobody messed with Isa.
Speaking of Loki, she spotted him across the room sitting with his friends.
“Your team is going down tonight,” he yelled out across the bar when he saw her looking. “Loki’s Warriors are gonna win.”
“Loki’s Warriors,” his friends all chanted.
“Not a chance, boys,” Kiesha called back. “You should just give up now. Maybe go home and get in your jammies and ring your mommies because that will be less humiliating than the ass-whipping you’re about to get.”
“Oh good, I didn’t miss the trash talk.”
Juliet looked over as Georgie approached with Ed walking slightly behind her. He frowned at Brick, taking in Elias and Sterling.
“Georgie!” Kiesha cried, wrapping the other woman in her arms. “It’s been so long!”
“I just saw you three hours ago,” Georgie pointed out dryly.
“Yeah, a whole three hours. You’ve delivered her now, Ed, bye-bye.” Kiesha shooed the sheriff. “It’s about to kick off.”
“Wait, weren’t we going to kick off with whoever hurt Juliet?” Isa asked.
“Who hurt Juliet?” Ed rumbled.
“What’s this about Juliet being hurt?” Noah asked as he approached with a pitcher of water. “Someone hurt you, sweetheart?”
Brick stiffened and she slid her hand into his without thinking. She should have known better. Eagle-eyed Kiesha spotted the movement straight away. She sucked in a breath.
“Oh, you’ve got some explaining to do.” She reached for Juliet.
Brick frowned down at her, stepping between them.
“Listen here, bodyguard boy—”
Thankfully, before Kiesha could finish the threat, Red spoke into the microphone. He ran the quizzes each Thursday night.
“Five minutes until we start, ladies and gents, so grab your tables and get ready.”
“Loki’s Warriors are ready for war,” Loki roared.
Noah turned to him, hands on his hips. “Fun, Loki. This is a quiz for fun.”
“There’s no fun in love and war.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense.” Noah shook his head, turning to Isa. “Isa, he’s your problem tonight.”
“Loki’s harmless, Noah,” Isa said with exasperation.
“He doesn’t look harmless.” Brick frowned.
Ed, who was close enough to hear him, glanced over. “Don’t worry, Loki would cut off his hand before he hurt anyone.”
“But he is fond of kidnapping women he considers spoils of war,” Georgie added.
“What?” Brick snapped, drawing Juliet close to his side.
The sheriff watched them. “You’re awfully hands-on, even for a bodyguard. Something we need to know?”
“Nothing that has anything to do with the law.”
Ed raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? And what about as
Juliet’s friend?”
“If she wants you to know, then she’ll tell you,” Brick replied.
Ed studied her and she smiled at him, sending him a wink. His eyebrows rose. “All right, then. Take it Reuben doesn’t know?”
The whole bar seemed to quieten at her brother’s name coming from Ed’s lips, but she knew that couldn’t actually be the case.
She shook her head.
“Thank Christ for that.”
Brick gave him a curious look and Ed kissed Georgie. “I’m going to sit at the next table.”
“Good. No men allowed,” Cleo said loudly. She smacked Noah on the ass as he turned away. He spun and gave her a look that had her smiling.
Then he glanced at Juliet. “Sure, you’re okay?”
She nodded as she slid into the chair that Brick pulled back for her. Always a gentleman.
Noah glanced at Brick with narrowed eyes. “Juliet has a lot of friends here.”
She sucked in a breath, wondering how Brick would react to the threat in Noah’s voice. Noah was generally pretty easy-going, but he had another side to him that was rarely roused unless Cleo was threatened.
And apparently, when he thought there might be some sort of threat to her. Which she hadn’t realized.
“I can see that. I’m glad she has all of you. But she has me now too. And I’m not going anywhere.”
“I like him,” Isa said loudly.
“I don’t.” Kiesha glared at him.
“I’m on the fence. He has to prove himself,” Cleo said with a sniff. Cleo wasn’t fond of most people. Her being on the fence was as good as he could have hoped for.
“I’m a bit on the fence myself,” Elias added with a grin as Brick glared at him.
“I’m with Cleo,” Noah said. “Needs to prove himself worthy.”
“Maybe we should strip him and send him out into the woods with a packet of matches and see if he survives,” Kiesha said with a toothy grin.
Ed groaned. “I told you to stop watching Naked and Afraid.”
“What do you say, Brick? You want to be out in the woods? Naked and afraid?” Kiesha asked as she pulled a sucker from her pocket and pulled off the wrapper.
Her Daddies’ Saving Grace Page 14