Cunning (Infidelity #2) (4 page)

So this was this my new job—to be his waitress?

Swallowing my pride, I walked to the bar and read the different bottles. I wasn’t a scotch drinker, but I found a bottle I recognized from Alton’s personal favorites. Thankfully, the ice bucket was full. I filled the bottom of a cocktail glass with the square cubes and poured the strong liquid over the top. The smell reminded me of the drink Karen gave me earlier in the day. Once I was finished, I turned back around.

Nox merely nodded.

I handed him the glass. “Your scotch, sir.”

He swirled the ice and amber liquid, momentarily mesmerized by their dance, and then his pale eyes were back to mine.

“Take off your clothes.”

Shock undoubtedly showed in my expression and tone. “What?”

After taking a drink, he sat the cocktail glass upon the table and grinned. “Come here.”

My eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“My days of making exceptions are over. It’s time you learn my rules and what happens when you disobey.”

I inched closer. “I-I haven’t…”

He lifted his hand, palm up, beckoning me closer. Like a spider to a fly, his silent invitation enticed and excited me. For reasons I couldn’t comprehend, in Nox’s presence my will to argue waned as my desire to please grew. Slowly, I reached for his fingers and placed mine in his. As he encased my smaller hand, just like the first time, our connection formed a conduit, a portal for energy to flow from one to the other. Heat flooded my circulation, warming everything from my fingers to my toes. My gaze flew to his, and in that millisecond, I saw the navy I adored. No matter what he was trying to prove, our connection wasn’t gone.

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and with a blink the navy disappeared.

“Closer, Miss Collins. I’m going to show you what happens when my commands are met by questions. This should remind you to end your rebellious ways.”

My steps stuttered.

“Over my knee.”

Is he fucking kidding me?

“What?”

In one fell swoop, he tugged my hand, pulling me closer and capturing me over his lap.

“No! Nox, I’m not doing this. I won’t.”

He didn’t speak as I protested in vain. His erection prodded my stomach, as I went over his knee. Visions of Alton came raining through my mind. My mother’s headaches and the days she couldn’t make it out of bed. I wouldn’t live that way, not for a day and definitely not for a year. My limbs stiffened as I thrashed about.

“Asshole, let me up.”

I was no match for his strength. With his left arm pushing against the small of my back and his right leg keeping my kicking feet back, I was effectively pinned, balanced in a way that provided me no leverage—no escape. The dimmed world around us was a blur seen beyond the veil of my hair brushing the floor. Panic overtook me as I felt him lift the hem of my dress. My reaction was primal. I was in survivor mode and did the only thing I could think to do. Reaching for his ankle and lifting his pant leg, I bit with all of my might.

“Shit!”

His curse echoed as he pulled my hair to force me to release my bite and pushed me from his lap. Almost immediately, I was on the floor.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he barked, reaching for his ankle.

Scooting away as fast as I could, I replied, “What the hell do
you
think you’re doing?”

He stood and took two steps until he loomed over me. “Give me your hand.”

My lip disappeared between my teeth as I stared at his palm once again being offered. I shook my head. “I don’t want to be hit. I won’t agree to that. It’s my hard limit.”

“Come here.” This time his request was less cold than just moments earlier.

Unable to resist, I reached out and Nox helped me to my feet.

His large hands framed my cheeks as he searched my eyes, less scrutinizing and more curious than before.

“My tastes—”

“Are unique,” I said, finishing his sentence. “I remember.”

“What you did—signing with Infidelity—was unacceptable.”

I sucked my lip back between my teeth and tried to comprehend his words. My signing with Infidelity was what brought us back together. Was being with me unacceptable? Would he prefer to be with someone else? He didn’t have to buy my agreement. Why did he?

“Are you listening?” he asked.

I wasn’t.

“No. I’m trying to understand. No one forced you to buy my agreement. If you didn’t want me—”

His grip on the sides of my face tightened as he walked me backward. Once my shoulders were against the wall, Nox released my cheeks and pinned my wrists above my head. The vein in his forehead pulsated with life, as he asked, “Did I say that? Did I ever say I didn’t want you?”

I swallowed, my emotions tugging my heart in too many directions. “I-I don’t understand.” I tried to free my hands. “And you’re hurting me.”

Ignoring my plea, he pulled my hands higher, making me shift to my toes. His shoulders broadened and neck straightened. “Come now, Miss Collins. From what I’ve heard, you’re a Stanford graduate on your way to Columbia. That sounds like you’re an intelligent woman. Prostitution shouldn’t be too difficult for you to comprehend.”

Heat bubbled from the floor, not erotic but stifling. I blinked my eyes, each time slower than the last, regulating my breathing and wishing to escape. My hands were beginning to feel numb as the grip on my wrists increased.

If my childhood fantasies were true, I could click my heels together three times to escape. The only problem with my solution—and the difference between Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and me—was that I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go back to Del Mar and away from the decision I’d made.

“Companionship,” I whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“Companionship, not sex, not prostitution,” I said louder, forcing my eyes to meet his.

“Are you insinuating there’s a difference?”

I lifted my chin defiantly. “Yes.”

He released my wrists and led me to the sofa. I followed, mindful of his hands and doing my best to avoid landing across his lap again. This time we both sat.

“Let me tell you what
I
understand,” Nox said.

I nodded, rubbing the circulation back into my wrists as the woodsy scent I’d missed settled around us.

“For the next year, you’re mine. Tell me why.”

I swallowed the bile bubbling from my stomach. “Because you bought my agreement.”

“
You
. Not an agreement. I bought
you
.”

If he wanted me to feel cheap, he was succeeding.

“Say it,” Nox commanded.

“You bought me.” The words came out stronger than I felt.

I flinched as he reached toward my cheek.

“No.” The velvety tenor washed over me. “Don’t flinch. Charli, I don’t
hit
. What I wanted to do—and still plan to do—isn’t hitting. I plan to spank that beautiful round ass. Do you know why?”

My body was defying me. Spanking was hitting. I knew that. I also knew the soft yet breathy tone that Nox was now using. That tone, combined with the way his warm touch caressed my cheek and neck and teased the neckline of my dress, brought my insides back to life. I moaned as he tugged my hair, pulling my eyes to his.

“Answer.”

“You said,” I began, “it was because I signed with Infidelity. But,” I added quickly, “if you don’t like it, why are you a client?”

His gaze narrowed as he painfully wound his fingers in my hair. “New rules.”

My lips came together, the pressure on my scalp keeping me mute.

“My rules,” he went on. “When you signed your name on that agreement, you forfeited the right to question. You forfeited your hard limits. Your job for the next year is to say, ‘
Yes, Mr. Demetri
.’ Can you do that?”

I swallowed as he tilted my head back farther, and his lips found the sensitive skin behind my ear.

“Miss Collins,” he spoke between demanding kisses, “answer.”

“I can,” I replied, “but it depends on what you want.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

My eyes opened wide. His tone had again changed. “Nox, I do have limits, hard limits.”

His assault on my neck ended. “No, Miss Collins, you don’t. I own you—one hundred percent—for the next year. What I say goes without question. You will show me the respect I deserve as your client. You are mine to do with as I please. Is that clear?”

“Yes,” I replied, the word choked out as resentment boiled within me.

Nox cleared his throat. “You’ve just added more swats to your ass, not that I mind, but you will. Would you like to try that answer again?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It wasn’t just my ears; it was my all of my senses. This wasn’t my prince. He was a dick. I worked to hide any sarcasm. “Yes, Mr. Demetri.”

I lowered my eyes, unknowingly shaking my head.

Nox tugged on my hair, lifting my gaze. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

I fought the tears that welled in my eyes and the cries that festered in my throat. Ignoring his fist in my hair, I looked into the icy blue. “You have no idea how difficult this was, how heart-wrenching. When I began to make the call and your number appeared…” I took a deep breath. “…I was relieved, but now…” I searched for any sign that my words were affecting him. “…now you’re making me feel cheap.” My volume rose. “If that’s what you want for the next year, a cheap whore, then you’re succeeding.”

One side of his lips quirked upward. “New rules, as I was saying. I always succeed. I always win. Know that, remember that.” He released my hair and fluffed it over my shoulders. “Also remember, you’re not a cheap whore.”

My chest clenched. “I-I’m not?”

Nox lifted my hand, encouraging me to stand. When I did, he tugged and I was once again across his lap. This time I didn’t fight. That didn’t mean I approved of what he was about to do. I didn’t. It meant that his next words sapped the fight from me. They hurt me more than his hands ever could.

“No, Miss Collins. I paid a fortune for you. You’re the most expensive whore I’ve ever met.”

I closed my eyes as he lifted the skirt of my dress, bunching it at my waist and pulled my panties down to my knees.

A low whistle filled the air before he said, “You do have a fine ass.”

As he rubbed my behind, his erection grew against my stomach. The first slap of his palm against my exposed skin echoed through the room as blood rushed to my ears and copper filled my mouth. My teeth clamped as I pierced the inside of my lower lip. Tears fell from my eyes, but I refused to allow myself to cry out.

He punished and then would tease, spank and then caress. The opposite sensations produced an array of emotions. I hated the abuse to my ass, but loved what his fingers were doing. My vow of silence didn’t last long. Soon, both moans and whimpers filled the suite, punctuated by the sound of slapping skin.

I didn’t only utter sounds. Nox made me repeat phrases. If I did, I was rewarded with his fingers within my folds. If I was too slow or not loud enough, the sting of his hand returned.

By the time he was done, I’d admitted that he owned me, that I was his for the next year, and that my limits no longer existed but were his to decide. I’d agreed to all things in private and public. He was my job, and I belonged to him.

I’d said what I was required to say. That didn’t mean I agreed. In Del Mar I’d given him my heart. I knew that now, because today he’d broken it.

Once he was satisfied that I was demeaned enough, he pushed me from his lap and callously said, “I’ll be back. Read my instructions and be ready. I want my money’s worth.”

His words hung in the air to taunt me as he left me alone to gather the aching shreds of my heart. After the door shut, I slipped to my knees. Reaching for the lamp—currently the only source of light—I flung it against the marble floor. Sparks flew seconds before the room went dark.

I COULDN’T PROCESS
the downward spiral of the last few days. With my panties secured in their rightful place, I eased my sore body against the wall in the dark suite and hugged my knees to my chest. Tears coated my cheeks as I worked to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.

Memories, like slivers of my broken heart, scattered through my thoughts. Time lost meaning as my recent and long-ago past intertwined until I wasn’t sure what was real and what were memories. I remembered the card Karen gave me this afternoon.

Could I call the number? Could I be the first to ever claim abuse? Or was this an injustice like others I’d suffered, ones where resolution never came?

The room blurred as more unshed tears raced for release. The entire scenario—Infidelity, Nox, and what he’d done—was embarrassing and degrading. I detested corporal punishment as a child—hated it—and yet at some point with Nox, it became erotic. My temples throbbed, ass hurt, and insides twisted with unfulfilled need. My body’s reaction was as upsetting to me as his actions.

It was wrong. He was wrong. I was wrong.

More and more memories swirled. The fragmented contrasts to childhood punishments churned the acid in my stomach. Those memories erased any desire Nox had elicited.

I closed my eyes and gave in to a recollection I hadn’t thought of in years.