Sophie Oak - Siren Unleashed

The slap to her ass was worse than all the others combined. “I’m not making you fucking beg but I will also not hurt you in a permanent fashion.” Smack . “If you want a real sadist, you need to find another sucker, sweetness.” Smack. Smack. Smack . “I am not some asshole who kidnaps women because I can’t keep my dick up without some sadistic shit.” Smack .

Her skin was so sensitive even the smallest slap made her bite back a cry.

This was what she’d missed. Not just the spanking. Not just the magnificent, horrible, amazing heat that flushed through her.

Connection. She was connected to Sir, emotion flowing between them in a way she wasn’t sure she could handle, but she knew she couldn’t say the words that stopped it.

Tears dripped from her eyes. It wasn’t a deluge, but it was enough. A nice floaty sensation started as the tears fell. She needed to scream, but this was enough. Years had passed with nothing but tension. Even when she’d hurt herself, she couldn’t cry, but they squeezed out now. No sobbing, but some relief flowed as Sir smacked her over and over again.

She relaxed, her muscles giving up the fight. Tears fell, silent but there.

He stopped, his hands lifting her, shifting her so she slumped in his arms.

“Cry for me, sweetness. You need it.”

She needed to get away from him. She had zero interest in getting cuddles from the big bad Dom. But he felt so good. His arms encircled her, his hand pressing her close, tucking her head under his chin as she sniffled.

“Hey, sweetie.” Gaby’s voice broke through the relative quiet. “You did great. Come on. We can go and sit and talk. I’m really happy for you.”

“Be happy somewhere else. She’s mine. Until she gets off my lap, she’s mine and I don’t want to share right now.” His arms tightened around her.

Such a bossy Sir. And warm. She was tired and weak and the day had been past shitty. She sighed and relaxed against him.

It was a while before she got off his lap.

Ben thought about hanging himself from the nearest well-pruned tree. The resort was gorgeous and tranquil. He could see that even in the dead of night. But there was no peace for him here. There might not be peace for him anywhere.

“Oh. My. God. This is so cool. I’ve never been to Texas before. Are there cowboys here? Do you think they have horses?”

Georgia wouldn’t stop. Her mouth had been running at three hundred miles an hour since the moment—the terrible moment—he’d agreed to let her come along. He’d started thinking of that moment as his own personal Armageddon. The bible had left out a fifth horseman. Sure, Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death were all scary, but Ben was starting to think they had nothing on Petulance.

“Ewww.” She pushed a few buttons on her phone. Yeah, she loved that phone. “Ashton? OMG. I am. You are? Really. No, like horses and cowboys and shit. Seriously?”

Ben turned up the final drive hoping he knew where the hell he was going.

Georgia screeched, the sound threatening to split his skull in two. “No kidding? She did not do that. What is wrong with that girl?”

“Sir?”

Ben sighed. Not only did he have to deal with Georgia’s backseat ramblings to her West Coast friends, he’d been forced to stop in Dallas and pick up Kitten and the kid. Logan Green was the only one who seemed comfortable. He snored lightly from the passenger seat. “What is it, Kitten?”

“Do you know if Nat has been arrested?”

Ben softened. Kitten’s obvious worry for her friend trumped his irritation with everything else in the whole world. “I talked to Chase a couple of hours ago. She was brought in for questioning, but she hasn’t been arrested yet.”

Heavy emphasis on the yet. Chase had seemed fairly sure Kitten’s friend had done the deed. Of course with Chase that didn’t mean a damn thing. If he decided it would be more fun to cover for the chick, he would do it. Ben had gotten every bit of morality between them. Chase often viewed life as one big game, and the people around them were simply chess pieces for his amusement.

“Kitten—I don’t believe Nat killed this man.”

It was sweet, but he had to look at the evidence. “I hope not.”

“Nat would have just gutted the man and called the police.” Kitten sat back. Through the rearview mirror, he could see the stubborn set of her jaw. Kitten still struggled with being assertive, but she held her own much better than she had a month ago. “I’ve seen Nat kill a man. She wouldn’t hide it.”

Kitten had been through a lot, but she hadn’t seen the things Ben had. Natalie Buchanan could have snapped. He wouldn’t blame her if she had, but he had a job to do. “We’ll see, Kitten.”

“Yes, murder,” Georgia continued. “I’m totally working a freaking murder case. Can you believe it? I’m totally an investigator now.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He should have left her behind in Dallas. The last thing he needed was Georgia trying to help.

“I’m not sure allowing your sister to investigate Nat’s case is a good idea, Sir.”

Yes, Kitten was showing marked signs of improvement. Ben turned down the long circular drive. He needed to find Chase and figure out what they were going to do with the brat. Chase was better at running people off than Ben was.

A high-pitched giggle came out of Georgia’s mouth, and she slapped at her knee. “You’re so totally right. I’m like one of those Charlie’s Angels . I’m totally the blonde one.”

Ben stopped the car and a staff of valets descended. Logan opened his eyes, stretching his lanky body. “You’ve been a huge help, Logan.”

The kid frowned. “Do you want me to help?”

“Well, I didn’t bring you along for my health.”

Logan got out of the car and stopped the valet who was trying to open Georgia’s door. “Please, allow me.”

Ben got out of the car, helping Kitten. The night was utterly peaceful with the singular exception of Georgia’s ongoing, never-ending recitation of everything that happened to her from the airplane to the diner to the SUV not having satellite radio. Ben looked out over the grounds. A large lake with a lighted fountain was to his left. It was the kind of thing that would be nice to walk around with a sweet woman, talking and enjoying the night. That wasn’t going to happen.

Georgia didn’t even look at Logan as he reached in to help her out. “Yeah, there’s another guy. Uhm, no, not with a ten-foot pole. No, he’s from that little town in Colorado. I know. I kind of thought it was a myth, too. Like who lives in Colorado?”

Logan smiled at her, helped her down, and took her phone and launched it in a perfect spiral throw straight into the lake.

Georgia’s eyes got wide, her mouth dropped open, but for once absolutely nothing came out.

Logan yawned again before giving Ben a little pat on the back. “There. I helped.”

Kitten grinned up at Logan, threading her arm through his. “Sir is very good at throwing phones.”

Logan winked down at her. “Sir is very sick of listening to idiocy. Sir wanted to sleep, but he got to listen to California girl over there prove you really can waste money on a college education. Now, it’s time for Kitten’s feeding. Let’s get you something to eat, sweetheart, and then we’ll check out the dungeon in this place.”

Georgia sputtered behind Logan. “How could you do that?”

Logan never looked back. “It was easy, darlin’. I put my arm back and threw. That’s what they teach us boys in Colorado. You can swim and get it if you like, but I’ll just throw it again. Learn some manners, little girl.”