Desert Surrender (14 page)

“I can"t believe you disobeyed me so quickly. Why did you do that?”

“Because, I…” She licked her lips and then looked down at the marble.

“Look at me.” She glanced back up. He grabbed her hair and drew her head back toward him. She kept her gaze trained on him in the mirror. “I"m not one of those Doms you"ve read about who likes lowered gazes. I like to see my sub"s face and eyes when she talks to me. Now, answer the question.”

“Because, I…”—she moaned softly—“got excited when you mentioned spanking me. I didn"t want to wait. I"m sor—”

“No, you say, „I"ll do better next time, Master." Never say you"re sorry when you disobey an order. That word is reserved for accidents only, and this situation doesn"t warrant that. If you were sorry, you wouldn"t have done it in the first place.”

A blush crept up her face. She once again felt like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. “I"ll do better next time, Master.”

“Very good.” He ran the leather up her thigh, and she shook with need. “And since you want this belt so much, you can"t have it. Not yet.”

“Master?” Good Lord, what was happening to her? She felt like a puddle of goo right now, ready to sink to the floor and do anything he wanted. If she thought it would do any good, she"d beg for a spanking; she wanted it so badly.

“Don"t worry, you"ll get it later, when I deem the time right. Now, what are you not going to do when I leave?”

“Not play with my pussy.” She shot him a sly grin. “Truthfully, I"ll probably check the door to make sure you"ve really left.”

She watched a smile play across his lips. Then he stepped back and threaded his belt back through the loops. There was a huge part of her that hated that sight. She wanted to taste the leather, see what it felt like. The
clink
of the buckle made her look down; then she looked back up to see him studying her. “Three o"clock, missy.”

“Missy?”

“Your new name, short for Miss Smarty Pants.”

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Melinda Barron

“I already have four names. What"s wrong, can"t you remember one of those?”

Without answering, he turned toward the door. “Three o"clock.” The door opened and closed, the sound seeming to reverberate as it hadn"t the last time. Clarissa stayed in place, her hands on the counter. She took several deep breaths to try and calm her nerves, which were on edge, waiting for him to come back; then she looked up, gasping when she saw Maddox"s reflection in the mirror.

“Good girl.” And then he turned and left, and a huge smile broke over her face.

She"d definitely passed some sort of test, even if she"d missed a few of the questions in the process.

* * * * *

Clarissa held out her credit card. When the young woman wouldn"t take it, she jiggled it in front of her face.

“I apologize, Ms. Alexander, we"re under strict instructions from Mr. Perry that all your purchases are to go on his account. I can"t accept your credit card.”

“Oh, well, isn"t it nice of him to let
everyone
know we"re screwing.” She smoothed her hand down her new sundress.

The woman let out a laugh, then put a hand in front of her face to hide a smile.

“If you call the tabloids to report this, make sure they pay you. They usually give tipsters at least a Benjamin for information on me. In this case, I"d ask for two, since you have confirmation from me. „A source close to Ms. Alexander said she sucked Mr.

Perry"s cock last night, and it was delicious." Sorry, we didn"t take pictures.” She picked up the bag containing the dress she"d worn last night and glanced inside. The two linen shirts she"d bought were nestled in paper. She"d also bought two T-shirts with the Moonglow logo on them—a crescent moon nestled in the center of the shirt with sequined stars twinkling around it. She planned to use part of her free time today to mail one of them to Anna as a token thank-you for putting up with her angry father.

Thinking of him made her wonder about her phone, sitting at Maddox"s house.

How many missed calls were on it now? How many messages from her parents, her father"s anger rising with each one, her mother"s mock crying in despair about the shame Clarissa brought to the family with her actions?

She could almost hear her mother now.
Really, Clarissa, I don’t care who his mother
is. He’s a
casino owner.
He’s just not up to our standards.

Clarissa winked at the obviously shocked clerk, then headed out the door. She would retrieve Maddox"s car from the valet, find the nearest post office, and mail Anna"s package. Then she"d do what she did best. Find a mall and do some shopping.

Or maybe she should find a tattoo parlor, get a moon inked on her ass or her pussy. She dismissed that idea immediately. Too much healing time, and she wanted her body ready for Maddox to play with while they were in the desert.

Desert Surrender

75

“Clarissa!” She closed her eyes and counted to ten, praying what she"d just heard was a call for someone else with her name. But it wasn"t. She knew that voice. She opened her eyes to see Henry walking toward her as fast as possible without seeming like he was running.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She held out her hand to stop his progress when he tried to close the gap between them. “Get away from me, Henry.”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing in this…place? Your parents are worried sick. They"ve been trying to reach you for days.”

She shrugged. “Good for them. And good for you, their loyal retriever; you found me. Now, let"s go to the kitchen, and I"ll ask the cook if he has a spare bone. You can take it and crawl back home.”

Anger boiled inside her as she watched him shake his head. “Your father sent me to collect you, and that"s exactly what I"m doing.”

Her anger increased with each word. “How did you find me?”

“Your credit card company, of course. They said there was a charge here that was immediately taken off. They became suspicious and tried to call you, and when they couldn"t reach you at your home or on your cell, they called your father.”

“How dare they!”

“Clarissa, the bank has his name as the person to call in case of emergency. You know that. They were worried someone had stolen your credit card.”

She snorted, laughing when he looked around to see if anyone noticed her unladylike noise. “Yeah, thieves often charge something on a credit card, then have it taken off.”

“They said there were also numerous charges at stores here in Las Vegas, and in Henderson.”

Clarissa made a mental note to close that account and get a new credit card that her father wouldn"t have access to. The one she"d always used had originally been opened in his name, which was why the bank so readily gave him the information, she was sure.

“Henry, you"ve done your duty. Tell my father I"m fine, and if I wanted to talk to him, I would have answered my phone. Maddox is showing me the time of my life, and I"m enjoying myself immensely. So shove off.” She pushed at him when he tried to close the gap again. “I mean it, Henry, get the hell away from me.” Her voice rose with each word, and people stopped to see what was going on.

She strode around him and headed for the bar. Screw getting the car. She could have the concierge send Anna"s package out today. Right now she needed a drink. She had a nice, juicy erotic novel nestled in her purse. She"d sit and read and drink, and if she got bored, she"d take a walk down the strip or maybe play some slots.

76

Melinda Barron

“Perry?” he said in disbelief as he followed her into bar. Clarissa signaled Nicole, the waitress who"d waited on her before. She held up her finger and mouthed the words,
Butter baby.

Nicole nodded, and Clarissa found an empty table and sat in one of the chairs.

When Henry slid into the seat across from her, she groaned. “What did they teach you at Harvard? Did „get the hell away" mean something there that it doesn"t mean here?”

“Is that what this is about? Maddox Perry? He"s not a nice man, Clarissa. Your father is worried.”

Nicole sat her drink on the table and turned to Henry. “Can I get you something?”

“He"ll have a large „I was just getting the fuck out of here."” Clarissa handed Nicole a ten-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”

The waitress nodded and hurried toward the bar. Clarissa had no doubt that someone in the hotel, Nicole or one of the security guards who"d been in the lobby, was now reporting to Maddox that she was fighting with an unidentified man.

“Listen to me very carefully, Henry. You have about ten seconds to get out of here before you"re wearing my drink. Understand?”

“He"s been in jail; did he tell you that?”

Her heart leaped in her chest, but she managed to control it, keeping her anger in check, something that was a minor miracle for her. Still, his words stung. He was lying.

She and Maddox had bared their souls to each other last night. They"d talked about everything. Surely if he"d been in prison, he would have told her, wouldn"t he? He wouldn"t be able to get a gaming license if he had a record, would he? No, it was just another trick from her father, trying to get her to toe the line.

“Go back to my father, Henry; tell him I"m a grown woman who can make her own choices. Right now my choice is Maddox Perry.”

“I can"t believe you"d embarrass your family this way.” His voice sounded just like her father"s, and it turned her anger into rage. “Get your things, now, and—”

“You can"t tell me what to do. Get the fuck away from me!” The room grew silent except for the bells and whistles drifting in from the casino. People turned to stare at them, and the hold she had on herself snapped. She picked up her drink and threw it in his face.

He sputtered and stood quickly, brushing liquid from his shirt. “Clarissa!”

She heard the telltale
click
of cell phone cameras as she turned to the table next to hers and grabbed their drinks. She tossed the first one in his face and was about to throw the second one when Maddox grabbed her wrist.

“Enough.” He turned to Henry. “Mr. Isaacs, I think it"s best if you leave. Now.”

“I"m not leaving without Clarissa,” he said, his voice deep.

“I"m not going anywhere with you, asshole; don"t you get that yet?”

Maddox inserted himself between them. “You may leave on your own, Mr. Isaacs, or I will have you escorted from the building. It"s your choice.”

Desert Surrender

77

For a moment, she thought Henry would tell Maddox to go ahead and make him leave. He straightened his jacket and picked up a napkin, wiping his face. “This isn"t over.”

He pushed his way out of the bar, and Clarissa watched two security guards fall into step behind him. Maddox turned to her and shook his head. “I can"t leave you alone for a minute, can I?” There was a smirk on his face and humor in his voice.

The din in the bar rose as people discussed what just happened. Clarissa shrugged her shoulders. “He started it.”

“Really? You don"t look wet.” He eyed the empty glasses on the table and glanced back at her. “He"s going to be looking for a way to catch you alone again, which means he"ll be waiting outside. If you want to leave, have Andrew paged. He"ll have my car brought round back and you can leave from there. I"d rather you not put yourself in his path again.”

“That"s fine with me.” She put her hand on his arm. “This time I am sorry for causing a scene in your hotel.”

“Don"t worry about it; you"ve heard the term even bad publicity is good publicity?

Well, it"s true. It"ll be just fine.” He leaned toward her and kissed her gently, his lips lingering on hers. “Now behave until we"re ready to leave. Or I may have to spank you in front of all these nice people, really give them something to talk about.”

“Yes, Sir.” She held up three fingers. “Scout"s honor.”

“You were never a scout.”

“You"re right, I wasn"t. How did you know?”

“You"re using the wrong hand for the salute. It"s a dead giveaway.”

78

Melinda Barron

Chapter Ten

Clarissa tightened her grip on the door handle, then reached for the window button, pulling her hand back at the last minute.

“Would you like me to turn up the air?” She glanced over at Maddox, who expertly wove his way through traffic. “Or would you like to talk about your conversation with your father?”

She shook her head. “Oh no, I think going through it the first time was plenty for me, thank you.”

Her father had screamed at her at first, calming down only when she hung up and he had to call back. He"d called her ungrateful, berated her for embarrassing Henry, since there was now a video on the Internet of her throwing drinks in his face.

“
You were cussing like a drunken sailor
,” he"d yelled. “
Your mother is beside herself
with grief
.”

Clarissa had resisted the urge to sing the old Irish ditty about what she could do with a drunken sailor. Instead she"d said, “
You sent him, so this is your fault, not mine.

Plus, you never should have shown Mother the video. It’s not my fault she saw it
.” Her calm words set her father off again, reminding her that she “
never took responsibility for her
actions
.”

“They said you were in jail,” she said abruptly. “I know all they"re trying to do is discredit you. I told them it wasn"t true.”

“You"re right, it"s not true. They had to dig deep for something resembling that.

They must have forked out some good money for a PI. I was arrested once when I was eighteen after getting into a fight on the UNLV campus. I paid a fine, spent no time in jail. It was a misdemeanor. I"m not a felon, if that"s what you"re worried about.