Unbind My Heart
Unbind My Heart
Club Decadence Book 4
By
Maddie Taylor
©2014 by Blushing Books® and Maddie Taylor
All rights reserved.
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Taylor, Maddie
Unbind my Heart, Club Decadence Book 4
eBook ISBN:
978-1-62750-464-5
Cover Design by
ABCD Graphics & Design
This book is intended for
adults only
. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.
Table of contents
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The clicking of high heels echoed in the empty corridor as Joanna Davis moved purposefully toward the administrative offices of Bellmere Academy. Arriving at a stout oak door with a gold and black etched plaque bearing the name of Howard Pritchett, Headmaster, she smirked at the pretentiousness of the whole place. Smoothing down her skirt, she opened the door—unintimidated—and entered without knocking. The young woman who had the misfortune of being seated at the reception desk at that moment looked up in surprise.
“I am here to collect Alexis Berry,” Joanna announced coolly. “Here is a copy of my guardianship order. Please call her immediately. I am double-parked.”
Dressed to impress in a red power suit, she folded her arms over her chest and gave the receptionist a perfect imitation of her husband’s imperious stare, silently declaring her expectation of instant compliance. Joanna watched as the woman scanned the official-looking document, flipping to the second page that contained both a judge’s signature and an embossed state seal. Duly impressed, the receptionist jumped to her feet, mumbling, “Yes, ma’am. I’ll just check her schedule.”
When she rushed from the room, Joanna smiled, pleased with herself. The years of being on the receiving end of Peter Davis’ foreboding stares had paid off. He’d be so amused. She sobered as her thoughts turned to Lexie and the frantic phone call she’d received the day before. Miserable and in tears, she had pleaded with Joanna to rescue her. Her stories of mean girls bullying her had been heartbreaking.
Lexie had been through a lifetime of drama in her brief fifteen years, starting with her parents’ tragic death when she was five. Afterward, she’d been sent to stay with her only living relative, Janice Berry. Unfortunately, her father’s sister was nothing but a self-absorbed, greedy bitch. The first time Joanna had met the woman, she had been rude and abrupt. Other than her trust fund, she obviously had no interest in Lexie, caring only about what her niece could bring to her struggling gym’s bottom line. Her obsessive delusions of grandeur had her dreaming and scheming in hopes that someday one of her gymnasts would be her claim to fame. Who would have thought her first Olympic hopeful would be none other than sweet little Lexie. Graceful and agile, she was quickly molded into a budding junior star.
Winning a string of competitions, Lexie began collecting quite a bit of hardware early on, and Janice saw gold in her future. Of course, fate did not favor young Lexie and her promising career came crashing down when she morphed into a 5’10” beauty with killer curves practically over night. By the age of fourteen, she had a perfect body for modeling, but it wasn’t the least bit conducive for gymnastics. Lexie struggled to adapt, except her center of gravity had shifted with her added height, new boobs and curvy hips, and she lost the edge over her petite, more streamlined rivals. Her less attractive cousins who had always been petty and jealous became outright nasty, and her aunt—now that she couldn’t ride Lexie’s coattails to the national stage—lost interest. Joanna shook her head angrily; that indifference was the reason why Lexie had ended up at Bellmere Academy in freakin’ New Jersey in the first place.
The door behind Joanna opened as the receptionist returned with a stuffy-looking old man in a three-piece suit—the headmaster, she surmised. They were followed by what Joanna could only describe as a Smurf. Open-mouthed, she stared at her fifteen-year-old niece’s formerly golden brown hair that was now bright blue. In addition, the skin on her face, neck and chest was a lighter tint of grayish blue with a hint of red from the obviously unsuccessful attempts to scrub off the dye.
“What happened?” Joanna demanded.
“Blue dye packs in her shampoo. Just a schoolgirl prank, Ms.…?”
“A prank? The girl is blue, for heaven's sake.” Joanna put her hands on her hips and turned her best Peter-esque glare on the portly man. “You are Mr. Pritchett, I assume. How have the culprits been punished?”
“We haven’t been able to identify them yet.” He extended his hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met, you are…”
Her glare turned to rage, and her maternal instincts revved into high gear. She didn’t need to channel Peter’s dominance any longer, but she did plan to invoke his name. “I understand you are dependent upon your generous benefactor’s donations and grant money to keep your doors open.” She took a step closer, and although Joanna was shorter and smaller than the headmaster, he took a step backward. “I took a look at your contributors. I’m sure Senators Burnside and Lowell will be happy to meet with my husband about his concerns over the lack of supervision here at your school. Their constituents will certainly be appalled when this gets out.”
“Certainly that won’t be necessary, Mrs.—?”
“Joanna Davis. I am taking my niece home, but you can expect a call from my husband, Colonel Peter Davis, tomorrow. The colonel will be following up to ensure that you have exhausted every effort to find the miscreants who assaulted our niece. I’m sure you know, Colonel Davis is very well connected in the political community and can bend ears, twist arms, and frankly, bust balls if necessary. So, Mr. Pritchett, I suggest you have some answers for him when he calls.”
Joanna stared at the portly man, her gaze unwavering until she saw the red heat of concern creep up his neck and cover his round face. She didn’t look away until he squirmed. Having sufficiently intimidated the man, she turned and collected Lexie who stood with blue lips wide open in a gape-mouthed stare watching the scene unfold with fascination. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”
As they walked down the brick steps of the academy, heading for Joanna’s silver BMW, Lexie broke out of her stunned silence. “Is Uncle Peter really going to bust Mr. Pritchett’s, uh… you know, his balls?”
“Damn straight, sweetheart, but first I’m going to have to fill him in on all the gory details.”
Lexie’s jaw again dropped open in awe of her aunt. “So you were bluffing?”
“Yes, sweetie, but once he takes a look at your blue face and hair, he will be fit to be tied. That man will be lucky if his campus isn’t overrun by Green Berets by the close of business tomorrow.” Joanna smiled at her reassuringly; inside she hoped her dominant husband wouldn’t be too angry at her throwing his name around repeatedly, and those of his powerful friends. Although her bottom tingled in anticipation of potentially negative consequences, she decided that the end justified the means in this case. Peter was usually reasonable. Besides, she was not about to leave poor Lexie to the mercy of those wealthy teenaged mean girls for another minute.
“Won’t he be angry?”
“Pshaw!” Glancing at Lexie’s face, she saw it was tense with anxiety. “Oh sweetie, Uncle Peter can be a very intimidating man, but he’s always been kind and friendly toward you, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, but I don’t want him mad at you because of me.”
“Nonsense, inside that tough military exterior is a teddy bear. I’ve been married to Uncle Peter for twenty years; you just leave him to me.”
“If you’re sure. I just can’t believe you dared do anything in his name before checking with him first.”
Out of the mouths of babes, Joanna thought. Lexie must be psychic because Peter had said the same thing to her many times in the past two decades. Except this time, there hadn’t been time, or so she would make him believe.
“How did you get guardianship papers? The headmaster’s secretary showed them to me.”
When they arrived at the car, Joanna paused before unlocking it. She looked up at Lexie, who dwarfed her, even with Joanna in heels. “I know a few big guns myself.”
Cupping her face, she gently brushed the hair out of her niece’s eyes, speaking earnestly. “Your mother was like a sister to me. She made Peter and I your godparents for a reason, sweetie. She trusted us. After we talked last, and you told me about how your aunt has been treating you all these years, I contacted my attorney and he drew up the papers. So when you called me all upset, I thought, enough of this nonsense—no time like the present. I couldn’t leave you to her cold, unfeeling guardianship anymore. I just wish you’d have said something earlier, Lex.”
“It wasn’t so bad until I couldn’t compete anymore.”
“Not so bad is still not good enough. There is no excuse.” Pulling her into a tight hug, she whispered, “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
After a minute, Joanna answered her question. “On my way here, I swung by Janice’s gym with a notary in tow, got her signature and… Voila! Here I am, your new guardian. I hope that’s okay, sweetie.”
“That is so okay, Aunt Joanna,” Lexie said with a wide grin. “I couldn’t love you both more if you were my real aunt and uncle. I’m floored that Aunt Janice would simply sign over custody and lose all hope of ever getting access to my trust fund. In the time I’ve known her, Janice Berry has never done anything without somehow getting something out of it for herself.” She paused, and a frown crossed her pretty face before she asked, “Did you have to pay her off?”
Joanna did her best to conceal her surprise. Lexie was very intuitive, but this wasn’t sometime a teenage girl should have to worry about. With a beep, Joanna unlocked the door and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Get in, honey. We have a three-hour drive ahead of us. I thought it’d be nice to stop by a great mall I know outside of Baltimore. We can buy you some new clothes and have a late lunch before we head home. How does that sound?”
“How much did you have to pay her? I know she wouldn’t have given up my monthly allotment without a fight. I’ve lived with her for almost ten years and know for a fact it takes the Jaws of Life to open that woman’s purse.”
Joanna could tell that, for Lexie, the thought of her family only wanting her for financial gain stung. The poor girl’s self-esteem must have taken quite a beating from her bitch of an aunt. The woman’s behavior today had been cold and calculating. She was heartless to treat any young girl in such a manner, but especially her own flesh and blood. Well, she planned to save her from any other pain at the evil shrew’s hands.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. We have an arrangement.”
“Aunt Joanna, what did you do?”
“Well… That judge I know happens to have a wife who is a former gymnast. Coincidentally, she is an advisory board member of the USA International Gymnastics Committee and the National Association of Women Gymnastic Judges.”
“Crap! You threatened to blackball her and her gym. You blackmailed her!”
“Language, dear,” Joanna scolded gently, but then ruined it by snickering. “Yes, sweetie, I blackmailed the crap out of her. Having Judge Jones’ name on the court order was the icing on the cake. She folded like a cheap suit after that.”
“You are my hero.”
“Think nothing of it, dear. Just keep it between you and me. There’s no need to tell Uncle Peter about my little scheme, okay? He’s likely to overlook my throwing his name around, but when I start throwing our friends’ names around, he might frown upon that.”
Her husband would absolutely have a fit if he found out because it was a bluff. Although she did know Judge Jones and his lovely wife, Nadia, very well, never would she have asked for such favors that would put her ethics and integrity in question. Of course, Janice didn’t need to know that.
As predicted, when Peter saw Lexie’s condition, he immediately called in the big guns, and by the time he put in an appearance at Bellmere the following afternoon, three girls had been expelled and the headmaster was seeking employment elsewhere. A new administrator was in place within the week and the new curriculum included a mandatory class on bullying.
To Lexie, Joanna and Peter Davis were guardian angels. They took her into their home and welcomed her as if she were their own daughter. In fact, their two children were also warmly welcoming, with fifteen-year-old Callie and twelve-year-old Jace becoming like the brother and sister she’d never had. She thrived once again in the care of a loving family and began to feel like a normal kid for the first time in a very long time.
