Hooked: Club Decadence Book 7, page 10
“Meaning, I should be prepared for the Inquisition from them both?”
“It won’t be as bad as that. David’s a tough dom, but he only tops Emma now. Ten years ago, he may very well have put you on his rack to get the truth out of you. Muah, ha ha ha.” She giggled, her earlier somberness dispelled. “Truly, though, they’re my only family. They love me and want to see me happy. I think once they meet you, they’ll love you as much as I do.”
Realizing immediately that she’d let the L-word slip out, she cringed inwardly, waiting stiffly for a response. Holy crap! Had she screwed up and let it out too soon? It had only been a month.
“Livia,” he said softly, his hand finding hers and lifting it to his lips. After a gentle brush, he held it clenched on his hard thigh. “Although a declaration while driving wasn’t my intention, since it’s out there...I love you, too. If you’re worried that it’s too fast, consider that although we’ve only been a couple, and dom and sub for a few short weeks, we’ve known one another for much longer, and the feelings were there well before that night at Club Decadence. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” she whispered, squeezing his hand. “I’ve loved you forever, it seems.”
He grinned at her obvious exaggeration but didn’t discount her fervent declaration. “I’d prefer you turn that around a bit.”
She thought for a moment and restated her feelings. “I will love you forever, Joseph.”
He brought her hand to his lips once again. “That is indeed sweet music to my ears, love.”
THE EVENING WITH HER friends wasn’t awkward as she feared. Instead, it was filled with delicious food, great company, a lot of wine, and plenty of laughter. Joseph and David hit it off right away, both having so much in common. The only uncomfortable moment came during after-dinner coffee. She had snuggled up next to Joseph on the love seat while their hosts shared the oversized chair-and-a-half, petite Emma ensconced in David’s lap. Somehow, the conversation turned to Livia’s extremely poor taste in men.
“Hopefully, Joseph, you can help her break the pattern.” David went on half-jokingly, “Of course, if it’s her heart that gets broken, I’ll be obligated to lop off a certain appendage, which is what I should have done with that bastard Vaughn.”
Her dom stiffened beside her, his full attention shifting to her. She directed her frown at David for making things awkward, which was also a good way of avoiding looking at Joseph directly.
“I don’t believe she’s mentioned anything about ‘Vaughn the bastard,’ have you, Olivia?”
“We haven’t discussed past relationships at all, not in detail.”
She felt the heat of his gaze but resisted meeting it. She really didn’t want to get into this now—or ever. The wine had put David in a talkative mood, and much to her detriment, he warmed to the topic of her evil ex.
“Vaughn Steros was an abusive prick,” David supplied, turning a dark glower on Livia. “And you, missy, should know better than withholding something so pivotal in your past from your dom.”
Two on one, so not fair. She looked to Emma for help, but she was frowning at her, too. Definitely outnumbered and outgunned. She shifted to get up, but Joseph’s arms tightened.
“It was a long time ago. Can’t we move on?”
“The better question,” David quipped, “is, have you?”
“How can you ask that when I’m sitting beside...” Her hand waved over Joseph’s long frame, which would dwarf Vaughn’s by almost a foot.
“She’s got you there, babe,” Emma drawled. “He is, without a doubt, an upgrade.”
“It seems you’ll have to fill me in since she clearly doesn’t want to share,” Joseph stated, his voice which had been warm and relaxed earlier, having taken on a noticeable chill. “Was the abuse physical?”
“No,” Livia interjected, but got a silencing squeeze. Joseph had moved on to another more reliable witness, evidently. She glanced down at her clasped hands, really not wanting to get into this.
“There were never any visible bruises, but his words hurt as much as a fist. He beat her up emotionally,” Emma explained, reaching out to squeeze her friend’s hand. “After he stripped her bare and left her defenseless, the bastard dumped her when she turned thirty-five like it was a preordained cutoff point. Then, to add insult to injury, he shows up a month later with a college kid on his arm. If she was twenty, I’d be surprised.”
“Keep it together, sweetheart,” David quietly advised.
“I don’t know if I can,” Emma said, angry on her behalf. Flicking her hand her way, she exclaimed, “He must be blind because look at her. She’s thirty-eight but could pass for twenty-eight and is fah-reaking gorgeous. And she will be at forty-eight and sixty-eight. Trust me, I’ve seen her mother. By my way of thinking, he did her a favor, but it took a while for us to convince her of that.”
“Can we change the subject, please?” Livia implored softly.
“Silence, pet.”
The endearment was common in the lifestyle, but Joseph had only used it in private. He didn’t hesitate in front of Emma and David. They’d understand its meaning, and said in his no-nonsense tone, would recognize he was serious about dredging up the ugliness that Livia clearly didn’t want to.
“I blame myself,” David’s low voice rumbled, his anger rivaling his tiny wife’s. “I was away for two years while working on my PhD and completing my internship. She’d talked about him, but whenever I came home for a visit, he was always out of town or he cancelled when a work matter suddenly came up. I suspected something was wrong, but Livia convinced me I was imagining things. Finally, about two years in, I got the chance to meet him. It took about two minutes in his presence to recognize he wasn’t a dom but an abusive bully. Trying to persuade her he wasn’t good for her wasn’t enough. I should have done a helluva a lot more.”
“I was an adult, David. What more could you have done? I didn’t listen when you tried to warn me. It’s not on you, but on me,” she ended in a whisper. Drawing on Joseph’s strength, she pressed closer against his side. “Not long after the breakup, I transferred into your office. The change was good for me, but it took a while to come back to myself. David and Emma helped me.”
“It wasn’t just us, Liv,” he added gently. “You need to tell him all of it.”
Livia glared at him again. Was nothing private with these doms?
Joseph intercepted the look and turned her face up to his. “Don’t take this out on him. David knows how important disclosure of past trauma is in our lifestyle, not to mention honesty and trust. By revealing your remarkably imprudent omission, it shows his concern and love for you. You should have told me this first thing, so he didn’t have to.”
“I know that,” she whispered. “It’s just so embarrassing.”
“To have fallen in love?”
“No. To be pathetic and weak. That’s how he made me feel.”
“This happened three years ago. Is that why you never got involved again?”
“I was being cautious,” she said evasively.
“Olivia,” David cut in, repeating, “tell him all of it.”
“I was getting to it,” she snapped. Immediately, she apologized. “I’m sorry, David. I shouldn’t have bitten your head off. It’s just that I’d rather forget this ugly chapter in my life.”
When she took a deep, steadying breath, his arms curled around her. Pulling her in rather than pushing her away, providing his support, thank goodness, which was unlike what she’d experienced with the only long-term dom in her past.
“I was in a dark place. The doctor called it clinical depression. It took counseling and medication before I felt like myself again.” She glanced up at him to see how he was taking it all. Seeing no disapproval or condemnation, she added, “I’m off the antidepressants and my therapy sessions have ended. The change in jobs, David coming home and having him and Emma in my life really helped me heal. There was also this really hot attorney who caught my eye.”
Joseph’s grunt was the only acknowledgement of her attempt to lighten the mood. “Have you been with anyone since the bastard? Am I the first in three years?”
“I’ve had a few dates.”
“You know that isn’t what I meant.”
“I did a few scenes at a few clubs and parties, but nothing serious.”
“She pushed them away,” David put in. “Just like she tried to do to you that first night. Thank god you had the balls to call her on her shit.”
Joseph’s eyes searched hers while stroking her cheek. Suddenly, they shifted to David. “Knowing all of this, why the hell did you let her go clubbing by herself? What the fuck?”
Shocked at his language, Livia stiffened. She’d never heard Joseph use fuck as an exclamation or expletive. A verb during play, yes, but never in this context. Shock quickly turned to dread, as she realized her other omission from that night was about to come to light.
“I’m getting a headache—”
“Stop being avoidant, Olivia. We’re doing this now. Sit there and be quiet unless you have something of value to add. If you can’t do so, I’m sure David has a gag I can borrow.” He paused, obviously done with her crap. “Are we clear on this?”
“Yes, sir.”
His eyes reconnected with David, who was shaking his head, perceptively offended. “I’d never let her go to a club alone. She always went with me and Emma.”
“She was at Decadence alone.”
Two pairs of eyes turned to her; one set angry, the other appalled.
“I arranged for a colleague, who was also a member, to escort her.” David’s blue-eyed gaze blazed with fire as his words mirrored Joseph’s. “What the fuck, Livia?”
“My escort canceled at the last minute. I was afraid if I didn’t go, I wouldn’t get another chance.”
“How did you walk into that place by yourself?” Emma gasped.
“It wasn’t easy, or the smartest thing I’ve ever done. But if I hadn’t gone, things might not have turned out as they did.”
“The end doesn’t justify the means, little one.”
“Was that the only time?” David barked, his face telling her he already knew the answer.
So she didn’t. Answer that is, which was as good as admitting the truth.
“Fuck me,” he growled. His eyes shot to Joseph. “She’s a handful, man. Sweet as hell, but when she gets a bug up her ass—”
“David!” Livia and Emma both cried at once.
“No need to worry,” Joseph assured him. “I’ve had plenty of practice handling a disobedient submissive. More so of late, which Livia can attest to.” He stood and tugged her up beside him. “Thank you for dinner and a very informative evening. I think Olivia and I will continue this discussion at home.”
“What about dessert?” she asked, sending a wide-eyed look Emma’s way as she tried to stall.
“What about your headache?” Joseph challenged.
At the door, he turned. “I almost forgot. I wanted to invite the both of you to join us one night at the club. There are some preliminary forms to fill out and approvals to get beforehand, similar to what Olivia had to go through. But if you’re interested in putting in the work, I think you might enjoy the club.”
Emma practically flew off David’s lap and jumped up and down in her excitement, while his reaction was more sedate. Rising, he clamped an arm around her shoulders, trying to contain her as he graciously accepted on their behalf.
Despite what lay in store for her later, Livia smiled at her friend’s exuberance. “You’ll like it, Em. There’s a great band with an awesome singer and the owners’ submissives are all very nice.”
“I can’t wait to see the dungeon. Maybe this time, you can, too.”
Blinking slowly, Livia looking up at Joseph. He smiled warmly, clearly recalling that night as fondly as she did. Needlessly, she stated, “I told her I never made it past the bar.”
David’s attention switched to Joseph’s and back. “I thought you two, you know.”
She flushed under David’s regard and admitted, “I fainted when I saw him, and he carried me to a room upstairs.”
“Have you ever heard anything so romantic, babe?” Emma asked, dreamily.
“It was one of the owners’ private apartments,” Joseph explained. “We have an arrangement. They let me stay because of the long commute and I represent them as well as all their women when they get into legal trouble. Believe me, they’re getting a bargain.”
David’s eyes once again snapped with anger as they zoned in on Livia. “Let me get this straight. You went to a club alone, picked up a dom, and went directly to his private apartment? Olivia Suzanne, did you retain nothing I taught you?”
“But it was Joseph, David. Besides, I was unconscious, and didn’t have much say in what happened.”
“Fuck me,” he repeated with a groan, his hands raking through his hair in frustration. “Joseph, my man, please give her a few swats for me.”
“Not a problem, my friend.”
“Hey,” Livia protested, stopping her hands—just barely—from flying protectively to her bottom.
“Save your breath, pet. No amount of protests will get you out of your punishment for this.” He bid David and Emma goodnight, adding, “I’ll be in touch about your visit.”
With his hand firmly gripping hers, he headed out. She looked back at her friends beseechingly as he pulled her down the sidewalk toward his Jag. They were no help, especially David, who was grinning broadly rather than coming to her rescue—the big traitor.
“I like him, Liv,” he called with a wave as Joseph tucked her in the passenger seat and shut the door.
“I love him,” she whispered in the empty car as her determined dominant rounded the hood. “Although I have a feeling my bottom won’t by the end of the night.”
THE CRACK OF HIS BROAD palm on one upturned cheek echoed through the bedroom. The sound hadn’t died when his hand connected on the other side with another crack. And that’s how it went as he kept up a steady barrage of crisp, stingy swats, too numerous to count, that brought tears to her eyes and stole her breath. When he finally stopped, he rubbed his hand from the crest of her cheeks to the top of her thighs, dispersing the heat and easing some of the sting.
“What have you learned, pet?”
“That honesty is the best policy, sir.”
His hand tightened on her ass. “Are you being flippant? Not a wise idea with my hand still on your ass.”
“I wasn’t being flippant,” she rushed to explain, even though she was, sort of. “I’ve learned that being honest is so much easier than trying to keep up with lies and concealing secrets. It’s less stressful than worrying when the truth will come out because it always does, especially for me.”
He ran his nails lightly over sensitive skin, making her shiver. The near perpetual desire Joseph inspired, with a softly spoken command in his smooth baritone, a heated glance, or a touch, whether for pleasure or discipline, flooded her pussy with liquid heat. She was more than ready for him to disburse the fire he’d instilled with his hand to the rest of her body by driving into her and taking her fast and hard.
“Is that all?”
“No. It’s a whole lot less embarrassing to be honest, even though it’s hard sometimes, than having your friends spill the beans.”
“I had hoped you would have learned a deeper meaning, one that was less egocentric.”
She frowned. That meant selfish, didn’t it?
Before she could replay her answer and determine what had made him think that, he gripped her hips and helped her up from his lap.
“Kneel on the bench, hands flat on the bed, ass nice and high. I’ll be right back.”
She looked at the padded bench at the foot of the bed, where he pulled her over his thighs and spanked her thoroughly. Kneeling on it would put her at a good height for him to take her from behind like she wanted, but she had a feeling that wasn’t what he had in mind. She turned to see him emerge from the big walk-in closet, a long cardboard box in hand. Her brows knitted together in confusion. When had he brought that home and why, after already being punished was he bringing it out now?
“In position, pet,” he ordered as he dropped the box on the bed and withdrew the riding crop.
“But...you just punished me, master.”
“I did, but those swats were for David. You heard me promise him a few licks, didn’t you?”
Her hands flew back to her fiery backside. Which, of course, he saw. He moved toward her, and once in front of her, removed her hands from her bottom and placed them on his chest.
“Any rubbing that’s done tonight is up to me. Understood?”
“Yes, master,” she whispered.
He tucked the crop under his arm and framed her face with his hands. “Are you beginning to see how much trouble you’re in, pet?”
She nodded and squeaked, “I think so.”
“Let’s be clear. This punishment isn’t because of choices you made in your past, and it has nothing to do with the bastard poser you were involved with or what you had to do to get over his abuse. This is solely for lying by omission and keeping secrets from me and your friend, who has been your protector for years. Dishonesty isn’t something I will tolerate, Olivia, and your backside will endure the brunt of my displeasure until you figure that out.”
“But I do, sir. That’s to say, I have. Figured it out, I mean.”
“Mmm,” he replied, sounding skeptical. Then he removed all doubt by stating, “I’m not so sure.”
He kissed her forehead gently then released her and tapped the bench smartly with the crop.
“In position, naughty girl. Your punishment from me is just beginning.”
On her hands and knees, quivering ass pointed high as she awaited further castigation, she had a moment for introspection. Maybe she had been too single-minded when considering what keeping her past from Joseph meant, or the risks she taken going to clubs on her own where she knew no one. In this case, because she found the dom she’d always wanted, the end justified the means, but neither of the doms in her life, nor Emma, found the means and the risks she taken acceptable.
