Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) (14 page)

Pax took a seat at a table in the center of the room, and she followed quickly sank to the floor at his feet, following the instruction he had given earlier, and waiting for his signal, much the way a soldier waits to hear the phrase, “at ease.”

She held the position for several minutes until he nodded and tapped her shoulder. When she was finally able, she looked around the room. There were a good two dozen tables in the VIP area, but at the moment only five of them were full. She tried not to stare as she took in the sea of faces that made up the VIP lounge. To her surprise, Sir Darius and Roxy were up there. Darius was dressed nearly identical to the way he had the other night, but Roxy wore a beautiful mini dress made of purple leather. The collar around her neck was huge and sparkled with an assortment of diamonds, amethyst, and rubies and seemed so perfectly customized to the couple’s personalities, Diamond knew it had been specially made. Roxy was the only sub in the lounge to be seated at the table with her dominant rather than on the ground near his feet. There were roses on the table, and they each held a goblet of champagne. It must have been a special occasion for them. She wanted to ask, or go over and congratulate them on whatever it happened to be, but she knew that wasn’t allowed.

At the table nearest to them, she recognized one of the Tanners from the other night, and his wife, Petra, as the one who had been bound in rope the other night. Tonight Petra was free from her bonds, currently kneeling in front of her husband, with her dress pushed up in the back, while he simultaneously carried on a casual conversation with a man whom Diamond didn’t recognize, while sporadically assaulting Petra’s ass with a small leather paddle. Diamond quickly looked away.

In the back corner was one of Lady K’s mistress companions, Mistress Carrie, the one who had offered Diamond the services of her slave-boy while she watched the show on Friday evening. Said slave boy was also in attendance, this time on all fours before his mistress with a bright red spiked collar around his neck. She too was wielding a paddle, this one seemed to be made of some sort of heavy plastic, and she was intermittently beating him with it across the short leather hot pants he wore. Diamond was beginning to see a theme she hadn’t noticed before. With the exception of Sir Darius, every single top in attendance had an implement of some sort within arm’s reach, and all the subs were on the floor, most of them in various states of punishment. The VIP lounge it seemed was an environment conducive to allowing couples to punish or be punished publicly, while still affording them a modicum of privacy.

She was both excited and horrified at the thought that she too could be punished publicly. Which was silly, as she had been punished in front of a much larger crowd than this one. But this was so terribly intimate. A quick look at Pax confirmed her suspicions. His small bag that he had carried into the club had been opened, and a small wooden paddle sat on the table in front of him, a tangible reminder of his many expectations.

And now, it seemed, she had a decision to make. She could try her hardest to follow his edicts, and save her ass in its current nearly pristine condition, or she could take a chance and carefully disobey, therefore earning a punishment and immersing herself into the Rojo experience.

She was running over the rule list in her head, and considering her options when a hostess approached. Even without looking up, she recognized that it was her new friend Crystal and her face burned with embarrassment.

“Good evening, boss.” Crystal spoke cheerfully, giving no noticeable indication that she had even taken in Diamond’s presence. “We weren’t expecting to see you here tonight, and off duty no less. Can I get you anything to drink?”

Diamond hoped for a martini to calm her nerves, but she wasn’t able to say so. She had no choice but to trust Pax to make her decisions for her, and to obey them happily even if they weren’t ones she herself would have made.

“Two ice waters with lemon please, Crystal. And a straw.”

Darn.

When Crystal turned to leave, she backed up a step, and looked straight down at Diamond, who suddenly wanted to sink into the floor. Her face burned in shame, as her friend slowly raised her eyebrows, smiled knowingly, and walked away.

Mortified, Diamond buried her face in her hands and groaned. Maybe she should ask permission to use the restroom so that she wouldn’t have to be here when Crystal returned. She didn’t get the chance. Before she could even turn to look at him, or open her mouth to speak, that damned bullet came to life, startling her to her feet, as she danced in place while it danced inside of her. And just as suddenly it stopped and she realized what she had done. Clapping her hands over her mouth, she turned to look at her dom. Pax was gazing at her with an expression that spoke volumes. His eyes conveyed amusement at her reaction, but his mouth was set in a hard line. One hand was in his pocket, and the other rested on the table, just inches away from the stupid paddle. Her stomach dropped to her knees. She questioned him with her eyes, and he nodded gravely. Making a swirling motion in the air with his finger, he motioned for her to turn around, so that her back was to him. She obeyed, hesitantly, knowing that not obeying would only make the situation worse.

“Bend over, and touch your toes.” His voice was so low, for a moment she seriously considered pretending she hadn’t heard him, but her body betrayed her. As much as she was mortified knowing that Crystal was likely to return at any moment and see her bent over with her hands around her ankles, presumably being spanked by the boss, she couldn’t not obey. The thrill of not knowing what was going to happen, and knowing that she had an audience watching as she was publicly chastised was making her pussy throb and clench around the intruding object as she clenched her thighs together willing it to stay in place, as it seemed to slide farther and farther out with each naughty thought.

“Stay in position, sub, and think about what’s about to happen,” Pax whispered, standing and leaning in close. She felt, rather than saw, his position shift as he lifted the paddle from the table, and she squirmed, in her place.  But it’s hard to squirm while bent at the waist grabbing your ankles, so in reality she just wiggled her ass, making the view that much more interesting. Her dress was unbelievably short already, so now, in her precarious position, it barely covered her ass. She was incredibly grateful to be wearing panties, even if their sole purpose was to hold the punishment inducing torture device in place.

Her face was bright red, burning from the knowledge that all eyes were on her, and the fact that she could hear heels, presumably Crystal’s, clicking as someone made their way up the stairs. Her worst fears were confirmed when the heels came into view, walking straight up to their table. She held her breath, once again willing herself to disappear.

No such luck.

Pax chose that exact moment to strike. Her whole body swayed under the force of the paddle—so much so that she almost fell over, but she stubbornly didn’t make a peep. After all, that’s what had gotten her into this predicament in the first place. The paddle fell twice more before the heels clicked again, announcing Crystal’s departure and Diamond wondered if she would ever be able to look her friend in the eyes again.

She didn’t have time to think about it. She felt a weight on her back and realized that Pax had stopped spanking her, and instead of returning the paddle to its place on the table had chosen to balance it awkwardly in the middle of her back.

“Don’t let it fall,” he barked.

And she wondered what he meant, and how long she would have to stay bent over in this god-awful position with her dress riding up, the blood rushing to her head, and a wooden paddle balanced on her back. Just when she was convinced it couldn’t possibly get any worse, the damn bullet came to life, buzzing with twice the intensity as it had been previously, so loudly that there was no possibility in hell that every single person in the VIP lounge didn’t hear it and have some idea of what was going on.

“Fuck, just kill me now,” she muttered to herself.

Pax, cool as a cucumber, calmly sat back down behind her, and sipped his drink. And she was left with nothing to do, but stand there with this damn torture device working her up into an over aroused, sopping wet frenzy in a club full of people, and pray that the God damned paddle didn’t fall, because she couldn’t even imagine what the consequence would be if it did.

So she stood there, legs clamped together, grasping her ankles, paddle balanced on her back, a loud buzzing sound coming from her vagina, just praying that she could hold it together, and that Pax would have mercy on her soon. Every minute felt like thirty, and after what felt like forever but what was in reality, only about five minutes, the buzzing stopped. The paddle was lifted, and brought down across her protruding rear one final time, and then she heard the blissful sentence excusing her from her current predicament.

“Very good, sub. You may stand up now, princess.”

As she stood, shaking slightly as the blood fell from where it had gathered and righted itself to her extremities, Pax grabbed her, drew her into his arms and kissed her deeply. The VIP lounge exploded into loud applause, and Diamond went rigid in his arms. For a brief and blissful moment, she had forgotten that she had an audience for the entire ordeal.

Pax just laughed and pulled her closer, bending down to whisper in her ear. “Are you ready to go home now, sub? Do you feel like you’ve gotten the full immersion experience? Or enough for one night anyway?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Paxton, open up! C’mon, man!”

Pax rolled over in bed and frowned at the clock. Five am, and he had taken the day off. The pounding on his door was loud and incessant, and he recognized the voice as Jason’s.

Not wanting to wake Diamond, who was sleeping soundly beside him, he rolled out of bed with a groan, and strode quickly to the door, grabbing his robe off the hook, and shrugging it on.

He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. It was a private floor, which only he, Jase, and the staff had access to. Jase was standing there pacing, looking more agitated than Pax had ever seen him, and clutching what looked to be a rolled up newspaper in his hand.

When he came out, Jase stopped in his tracks and stared at him annoyed. “Really, dude? Can’t we have this conversation somewhere other than the hallway?”

Pax stalled. The suite was large, and the bedroom door was closed, but he didn’t want to risk Diamond waking up to the surprise of finding Jase in there. What if she came out naked?

“Dude, I know Diamond’s in there. The entire world knows Diamond’s in there, and odds are, you’ve got a money hungry BDSM loving paparazzo staying in the hotel right now. So unless you want him to stay here, and continue to have access and ability to ruining both your lives, you need to let me in now.”

Shocked into action by Jason’s words, and the intensity with which he delivered his speech, Pax unlocked the door, and stepped aside, following Jase in instead of the other way around.

Once they were in, Jase mellowed, taking a seat on a chair in the living area. “Dude.” Without another word or any follow up, he handed Pax the paper he had been clutching.

With a raised eyebrow, Pax began to unroll it, immediately noting that the publication was that of a global tabloid. When the headline America’s Submissive Sweetheart Takes Refuge in Las Vegas BDSM Club came into view, his stomach dropped. And then, when he flattened it on the table, and his own image came into view, a photo of him on the front porch of the guest house at Diamond’s father’s house, holding Diamond’s chin in his hand as he kissed her, the rage set in.

“Holy fuck.”

“Keep reading. That’s just the cover.”

The story spanned several pages. It rehashed the accident that killed her mother, the recently released details of the accident, and the fact that the press had been unable to locate Diamond when the story broke. It spoke of her work at Aubergine, and finally, her newly formed relationship with Pax. The article referred to him as a “BDSM club scene aficionado, club owner, and professional dom.”

“Oh hell. How bad is it? Do you think the public really cares?” Pax questioned, thinking about what Diamond’s father had said, and praying the older man had been right.

Jason didn’t even answer. He just stood, wordlessly, walked to the window, opened the blinds and pointed to the sidewalk below.

Reluctantly Pax followed, knowing that if Jason wasn’t even answering, it had to be bad. It was. Pax’s suite looked down on the sidewalk outside the casino lobby. From his seating area, he could see both the entrance to his own casino, and the entrance to Aubergine. Both were madhouses. Paparazzi toting cameras of all makes and sizes lined the streets in various attire. Some had suitcases, as if they were planning to stay while the story was hot. Others toted backpacks and water bottles. Some had video cameras. In the streets between the two casinos, there were news vans. Lots of news vans, from both the local stations and the national ones. He swore under his breath, and looked helplessly at his friend for answers. “How did this happen, and what do I do?”

Finally, Jason had an answer. He sprang into action, grabbing the open tabloid from its place on the coffee table. “Okay, so the catalyst of the story, was the picture on the cover. Whoever took it apparently is very active in the online BDSM scene, and recognized you from club publicity pics over the years. So, then, on a lark, they drove here, and snapped this picture last night.” Jase pointed to a photo Pax hadn’t noticed earlier, one that had apparently been taken as he and Diamond had entered the club just last night. “This one,” Jason pointed again, to a photo of Diamond in club attire posing with the Tanners and their submissives, “was available on the Tanner’s website. I’ve already contacted them via email and asked them to remove it as soon as possible.”

“Oh good. Thank you, Jase. You always have my back.” Pax paused for a minute, looking over all the photos, before speaking again. “So, this one, right here, the one taken in LA sparked the whole thing?”

“Yup. If we can figure out who took it, we might be able to shut this down or at least take precautionary measures to keep something like this from happening again.”

“I know who took it. Or I mean, I know someone who does. So this guy, he’s in the club scene?”

Jason nodded gravely. “Possibly. He could just be an online lurker who obsesses, but doesn’t have the guts to actually play.”

Judging by what little Pax did know of him, the second option seemed more likely. “Great. Just my luck. I insisted on going with Diamond because I was afraid of her running into over exuberant, crazed paparazzi, and instead, I only see one the entire trip. And he apparently recognized me, because he’s some sort of closeted dom wannabe freak?” Pax but his head in his hands and sighed deeply. “This is all my fault. I wanted to keep her safe, and instead I put her in danger.”

“Dude. Don’t be so hard on yourself. For real. How could you have possibly known that this would happen? I mean, what are the odds? There was a much higher chance of her being harassed by them in LA then there was of someone knowing who you were and putting together a story from that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I know. I just can’t help but feel guilty. I led the vultures right to her doorstep. She hid out here successfully for four years. One week with me, and her cover is blown.”

“Pax, pull yourself together, man. You can’t change what already happened. You have to be proactive. We need a plan, and most of all, we need to keep Diamond safe, and out of the tabloids.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right.” Grateful for his friend, he took several deep calming breaths, and tried to regulate his heart, which currently felt like it could beat out of his chest and fall on the floor at any moment. “Okay, it’s almost six. Let’s order breakfast, and make a plan. When we have one, we’ll wake up Diamond.”

* * *

The ringing of her phone woke her, and she mentally cursed the fact that she had been much too busy and distracted to mute it before she went to bed last night. Rolling over, she squinted at the screen, peering at the number in confusion until it came to focus. It was her father. Before seven on a Monday morning? What in the hell?

Praying the early hour was more an indication of her father’s absentmindedness and not an actual emergency, she answered, mumbling a garbled hello.

“Diamond, it’s Dad. Are you okay? Are you safe, baby? Is Pax there? Can I speak to him? I’m so sorry. I never expected this to happen or I would have gotten a restraining order on Fitch years ago.”

Baffled at the nonsense coming out of her father’s mouth, Diamond pulled the phone from her ear, and held it in front of her, glaring at it in confusion. When her father had first started speaking, she had shot up in bed at the concern so plainly evident in his voice and the first thought she had had was that she had slept through an act of terrorism or a national emergency.  Now her father mentioned Fitch, the tree creeper, and she was lost. Fumbling in the bedcovers, she found the remote, and switched the TV on, dropping the phone when her own face filled the screen. A series of images flashed in quick succession while a newswoman babbled in the background.

The pictures seemed random, and outdated, going back to her with her parents as a small child, some press photos her family had done when she was a teen about to leave for college, and finally, the ones taken the day of the accident. She stared at the screen in disbelief. Why was this being hashed again—like her own personal Groundhog Day?

The photos changed again, and Diamond let out a blood curdling shriek as she recognized the one she had posed for Friday night at the club. Then it went live, and she saw that the reporter was standing in front of the hotel, and that the sidewalk and streets were jammed with photographers. She screamed again.

The minute the second scream left her throat, Pax and Jason both burst into the room, looking as if they were about to pounce. They scanned the room on high alert, only relaxing, when Diamond pointed at the TV screen in anguish.  “I—do you—have you… is this real?”

Pax was on the bed at her side before she could form a full sentence, and Jason stood watch at the door like a guard. His eyes were trained on the window, rather than her, and it was only then that Diamond realized that she was fully naked under the white blankets, and that the blanket was down around her waist, flashing her ample boobies to the room. This day wasn’t off to an auspicious start.

“We are aware of the situation, and we are doing what we can to get the situation under control. Jason’s been up here since five, and he was making calls and sending emails before that. I need to talk to your dad though, as soon as possible.”

“My dad?” she questioned, processing the new information that she had just received. “Oh! My dad! He’s on the phone!” She began frantically patting the bed sheets around her with one hand, while holding a cover over her chest with the other. She located the phone, and handed it to Pax.

He took it and stood, walking over to Jason and all but pushing his friend from the room, giving her the privacy to dress. All she had here was the short black dress she had worn last night, so she put that on. When Pax was done with her phone, she would go up to her suite to shower and change.

The TV had blissfully moved on to the local weather report, so she turned it off, and joined the men in the sitting room. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, or how she had ended up on the news, and what Fitch had to do with it.

Pax wasn’t in the room when she entered, so she was alone with her old boss who had just gotten a private showing of her breasts, all before she had even had coffee or fully opened her eyes. It was definitely a Monday. Jason, whom she hadn’t seen since before he had fired her, was acting as if they were old friends. Before her butt ever hit the couch, she had a cup of coffee in her hands and a bowl of fruit in front of her.

Jason looked just as awkward as she felt as he took the couch opposite the one she was on, and rubbed his hands together nervously.  “Pax is in his office,” he stated, jerking his thumb towards the closed door behind him.

Diamond just nodded, sipping the coffee slowly, and letting it settle, doing its magic throughout her body. It was no longer super-hot, so she drank it fast, relishing each sip of the sweet liquid. As the cup emptied, she became more alert and aware with every sip, and found herself desperately wishing that she could draw out her blissful oblivion just a bit longer. She had a feeling that whatever had happened would have effects that were life-changing, at least for a while.

When the last sip was gone, she set the cup on the table in front of her and eyed her old boss. “What’s going on?”

“We’re still in the process of figuring it out,” Jason began. “But, the bare bones are that a photographer at your dad’s house recognized Pax as being a part of the BDSM club scene, followed the two of you here, got a photo of you going into the club together last night, and did enough digging online to find out that you’ve spent the last four years hiding in plain sight.” He sighed. “That’s the bare bones. The spin the media is putting on it is a different story entirely.”

“Right. They’re good at that. So the shot of that crowd outside the club this morning? That was real?”

“Unfortunately, yes. And it’s getting worse. Plus, we have reason to believe that the photographer is staying in the hotel, or at least that he did last night. That’s what Pax is working on right now. All we had to go off of was a nickname, and with 3500 rooms it was getting us nowhere fast.”

“Okay, and once we find out his name, Pax kicks him out and this all goes away?” Diamond questioned, being purposefully obtuse. She had dealt with the media enough to know it wasn’t that simple.

Jason rolled his eyes, and leveled her with a blank stare, before pushing an open tabloid towards her. “I don’t know what the plan is yet.”

Diamond was staring at the open article, growing incensed at the grave injustice of having her private life advertised as front page news, and the fact that no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t put her mother’s death fully behind her. The media wouldn’t allow it.

A hard growling moan left her throat, startling ever her. She scrunched the paper in her fist, and left the wad on the table. “I can’t deal with this right now. I’m barely awake, and I need a shower and some clean clothes. I’m going back to my room. Tell Pax to call me later.”

She moved to the door but Jase was faster. He stood in front of it spread eagled, with his arms at arm’s length across the frame, shaking his head violently.

“No.” He was firmer than she ever heard, and she wondered if he had dominant tendencies in his private life also. “I don’t know much,” he continued, “but I know that you are not leaving this room anytime soon.”

She gaped at him as the severity of the situation sank in. “But, I have nothing here. Not even underwear or a toothbrush or anything!” Her face crumpled, and tears began to fall hard and fast.