A Shot in the Dark (5 page)

Being on his lap would cut the sting down, given the slightly awkward angle, but would let her feel him. The chest would give him room to move, allowing him to make every smack count.

“The chest, Sir.”

Carter nodded, indicating she should move. The boots and corset would project an interesting image as she walked over. She made sure to add a little enticing sway to her hips as she went.

Paige cleared her mind and braced her hands on the edge of the chest. She hated when he didn’t move right away. Being watched was hard for her, especially when she wasn’t in motion. All the noise and activity kept her grounded. It was easier to hide, distract others when she never stopped long enough for others to notice.

Squeezing the edge, she was once again forced to close her eyes and take several deep breaths to calm herself. Everything relaxed into place, as she concentrated on the beats of her heart and the steady in-out of her breathing. She’d gone deep into herself and hadn’t realized Carter was standing beside her until he ran a hand down across her ass cheek.

“That’s better,” he muttered, giving her ass a small pinch. “I want you to keep your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing. I’m not going to go easy on you, but I will check to make sure you’re okay. Understand?”

“Yes.”

He slapped her ass hard, and Paige cried out.

“
Sir.
Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl. I want you to count like you did before.”

The comforting presence of Carter’s body beside her disappeared, causing Paige to whimper. Unlike before, he didn’t touch her body as he moved into position behind her. Again he waited and Paige knew he was waiting for her to do as he’d asked. She let her head hang and started to count the breaths.

In and out. One.

In and out. Two.

In and out. Thr—

The crack of the wood hitting her ass was almost as loud as the scream she let loose. God dammit, that hurt! Paige let out a small sob and gave her head a shake. “One.”

“I want you to think about the reasons why you walked away from this, Paige. You had one, a serious one if I had to guess. I need you to consider if that reason is still valid.”

The sting had morphed into a burn, her already sensitive flesh and ragged nerves not ready for the hit or the question. Still, she let her mind wander to Rick. He’d hurt her, hadn’t listened to what she’d needed, when she’d needed it. He’d been after his own pleasure, using her as a tool to get off rather than a partner to share a life with.

But not Carter. This was all for her.

The second smack was as hard as the first, but the burn had shifted into a numbness that heated her entire cunt. She was wet as the tingling traveled down her thighs. Fuck, she hadn’t been this turned on in years. Light pressure against her clit would be all she’d need to make her come. Not even Rick got her this hot in their time together, and he’d done a whole hell of a lot more than paddle her ass.

After the third smack, Carter stepped in and ran a hand down her back. Paige was sweating beneath the corset, the fabric scratching against her skin as she adjusted her stance. Her legs shook and she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to hold herself up much longer.

Carter slipped one hand around her hip to hold her steady, while he dipped the other between her legs. Her clit was swollen and it wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge. Fuck, she needed to come badly, or else she might possibly go mad. Teasing her opening with his finger, Carter hummed in her ear, nipping at the lobe.

“You’re standing there taking it. You’re listening to me and doing what I want. But we’ve only started, haven’t we?”

“Yes—” she swallowed, “—Sir.”

“Are you ready?”

Paige couldn’t answer verbally. Instead she nodded and pushed her ass back toward him. Carter’s soft growl was the only acknowledgement he gave. He pulled back and landed two hard smacks in rapid succession. He didn’t hold back, and yet he wasn’t trying to break her.

“Four. Five.”

“That reason for you not coming here, I want you to think about it again. If it’s not an issue for you any longer I want you to say goodbye to it and let it go. Do you understand me?”

She nodded again.

Smack!

“Six.”

Rick was long gone. He’d moved to Montreal a few months after she’d kicked him out and changed her phone number. She’d been scared and angry for a long time after that. Scared she’d find herself back in another emotionally abusive relationship, when she needed pain as a release. Angry for having been too blind to appreciate the difference.

Smack!

“No!” The tears were flowing down her face again, but this time it had little to do with the physical pain. Rick had taken this from her.
This
was what she’d wanted, needed, and she wouldn’t let the specter of her past relationship control her any longer.

“No what, Paige? Who are you saying no to?”

“Rick. Fucking asshole.” She wouldn’t let him continue to win.

“That’s my girl. Let it go.” The kiss to her bare shoulder. “He’s not here anymore and you are okay.”

“I’m okay,” she mumbled, nodding her head. “I’m okay.”

“Now, what number was that, Paige? I need you to tell me.”

Numbers? Shit, she was supposed to be counting. Five? No, that wasn’t right. “Seven.”

“That’s right. See, you know. And that means we’re almost done.”

With smack number eight, the blackness of peace slipped over her and Paige was no longer able to find her voice. Somewhere she registered the last two smacks before Carter’s arms were around her and her face was pressed to his chest.

“Fucking gorgeous. You’re amazing, Paige. I want to taste you. Need to…”

He set her on the table and dropped to his knees. Paige’s mind floated as he spread her thighs wide and breathed in her scent. Carter’s attention was focused on her cunt and he pushed a finger into her. Paige gasped when he leaned in and licked a swipe up across her lips.

The tingle from the blood rushing through the over-sensitized area ignited to a full-out blaze. Paige moaned, mesmerized by the precision of his licks. He tasted every inch of skin he could get his tongue on. As he increased the pace of the hand pumping into her, her battle was lost. Screwing her eyes shut, she let the orgasm explode, rending apart the remains of her resistance.

She must have blacked out because the next thing she knew she was sitting on the floor, wrapped up in Carter’s arms.

“There she is.”

Blinking up at him, Paige let the real world filter back in through the haze of her post-coital bliss. She swallowed down a dry lump.

“Here.” Carter held up the water bottle and let her take a few sips. She whimpered when he took it away. “In a second. Let that settle first.”

After a few minutes and several more mouthfuls of water, Paige noticed that Carter’s hard-as-rock-cock was still firm beneath her. Resting her hand on his chest she leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek.

“Would you like me to take care of that, Sir?”

He smiled, kissed her forehead but gave his head a shake. “I’m okay.”

“But—”

“No buts. This wasn’t about me. We’re getting to know each other tonight, and I’m not ready for that.”

“You feel ready to me.” Paige let her head fall against his shoulder, trying to ignore her disappointment. “If you’re sure?”

“I am. And before you go off thinking that you did something wrong or that I’m not attracted to you, stop.” He bucked his hips up. “Clearly that’s not the case.”

Why she was girlishly pleased by his comment, Paige didn’t want to examine too closely. “Why not then?”

“I don’t have sex with someone I’ve just met, sub or not. Scene or not. It’s my one rule.”

“Oh.”

They sat in the quiet of the room for several long minutes, but Paige didn’t feel uncomfortable in the least. Carter was constantly touching her, running his fingers through her hair, twirling the ends and tugging slightly, squeezing her hip. For the first time in ages her mind calmed and she seemed more settled in her skin, ready to face the world. She liked it.

Slipping her fingers between the buttoned fabric of his shirt to touch the warm skin of his chest, Paige turned her face. “Now what?”

“If you’re up for it, I suggest we go back downstairs, get ourselves a drink and talk.”

“Talk? About what?”

“Date type things.”

A date? A scene wasn’t normally the sort of thing she did when she first started dating someone. Then again, there would be no awkward moments of her needing to explain how she loved to be tied up and spanked.

Carter cocked an eyebrow at her, when she sat up and carefully got to her feet. She smiled as she bent down to get her skirt. “I want a rye and ginger.”

“
D
ear God, the apocalypse must be on its way.”

Paige turned to stare blankly at Ian, doing her best to ignore the surprise on his face. “Sorry?”

“You’re humming.”

Paige opened her mouth to protest, only to shake her head, confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know, humming. That thing you do when you can’t remember the words, are in the shower or generally in a good mood. Lady Gaga, from the sound of it.”

“I am
not
humming.” Though she did have “Bad Romance” stuck in her head this morning. “You’re imagining things.”

Her phone chose that moment to buzz, announcing another text message. Her hand slipped into her pocket to curl around it, but she didn’t pull it out. No way she’d do
that
in front of Ian.

Ian rolled his eyes and added more beans into the roaster. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. It’s kind of nice actually.”

True, she’d been feeling lighter since her night out with Carter, but she hadn’t realized others were noticing. They’d spent the rest of the evening down in the bar, talking about the submissive strapped to the cross. Carter had wanted to know her impressions of the Dom’s technique, how he wasn’t pushing the sub far enough. What her preferences would have been.

That had been a far more difficult conversation.

Still, when he eventually put her in a cab to make sure she got safely home, the care with which he helped her into the car and gently shut the door, Paige knew she wanted to see him again. The texts had started later that night.

Carter had plans for the weekend, but he didn’t let that stop him. At first the texts were a distraction, little updates about what he’d been doing peppered throughout her day. But the more she received, the more she liked it. Carter wasn’t chatty face to face, his sly humor usually delivered with a soft chuckle. But through his notes, Paige started to see more of his sarcastic nature slipping through. After a week of messages, Paige found she was looking forward to them. The steady buzz of her phone was a pleasant distraction from her day.

“There it is again! A smile.”

Turning her back on her brother, she concentrated on stacking the clean mugs under the counter. “Shut up, Ian.”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with a certain fireman, does it?”

“No.”

“Because you haven’t said much since your date with him.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Does that mean things are going okay? Are you going to see him again?”

“One date, Ian. That’s all. If there was something earth-shattering going on, you’d be the second to know.”

“You’re worse than Sadie with the personal life details.”

“For God’s sake, Ian, the last time I said anything to you about my personal life you freaked out.” Paige leaned forward and rested her head on the side of the counter door.

He tapped the top of her head, reaching over her to fill the coffee pot with filtered water. “You were talking about your sexual preferences. I don’t want to hear anything about that. I only want to know if you’re interested in this guy. If there’s a chance I might need to hire yet another staff member because you’re going to be out half the week.”

“We haven’t even talked about a second date, and the first one was barely that.” She couldn’t count it as a date when he’d spanked her soundly before giving her the best orgasm she’d had in years. That was way more intimate than learning about each other’s reading preferences or their favorite colors.

The phone in her pocket buzzed again. This time she snuck a peak. Sure enough, Carter’s phone number was on her screen.

How bout burgers? Do u like em w/cheese or r u into veggie?

Smiling, she quickly thumbed.
Meat’s yummy. xtra cheese & bacon on mine plz.

Within seconds of her hitting send, Carter’s reply bounced back.
Then we shld go. I know a place.

When?

2morrow?

Her stomach did a little flip.
Sounds good. I’ll call u 2nite?

KK.

She was going out on a date. Again.

The bell over the door sounded and Paige turned around as she shoved the phone back into her pocket. “Welcome to Pulled Long. What can I get—?”

Oh, hell no.

Rick stood inside the doorway, his hands on his hips and a grin on his face. “Hello, Paige.”

She’d pictured this day a few times after their last phone call three years earlier. None of the scenarios played out positively for her. At least this was public and Ian was here. While Rick might not have understood the line between foreplay and fucked-up, he never did anything outside of a club or their apartment to draw attention to their lifestyle. She hadn’t given him any chances after leaving him.

Swallowing down the sick rising in her throat, she plastered on her best fake smile and pretended he was another customer.

“What can I get for you? Our special today is mocha lattes and lemon loaf.”

Ian came up to stand beside her, his hands balled into fists below the counter. “Hello, Rick. I’d heard you’d left town?”

“I did, but now I’m back. Not enough interesting work in Montreal to hold my attention. I moved back to Toronto a few months ago.”

With every step he took closer to the counter, Paige’s chest tightened. She fought to keep her panic from showing, not wanting to give him any reason to think he could still affect her like this.

“What can I get for you?” Her voice was steady, but she found it challenging to keep her gaze locked on his.

The door chime sounded again as Blue Eyes walked in. “Hey, kids.” He didn’t let Rick’s presence stop him from making his way over to the counter and taking up residence on one of the vacant stools. “Can I get a black coffee and one of Sadie’s muffins, gorgeous?”

Ian glanced at Blue Eyes before turning to her. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t she be okay?” Rick stepped up flush to the counter and threw a twenty between them. “One coffee. Double, double. You, go talk to your boyfriend.”

Paige had always hated the way Rick had treated Ian, and her brother was more than ready to get into a fight with anyone who wanted to push matters. She reached up and took Ian’s fist. “Go see to our other customer. I can handle this.”

“Are you sure?”

She smiled. “Not like you’re far away.”

Ian gave Rick one last glare before moving down to talk to Blue Eyes. Paige ignored him to concentrate on the bastard at hand. “Let me get your coffee.”

The weight of his stare was like an electrical current running up and down her spine. She wanted to scratch her arms to chase away the feeling of bugs beneath her skin but wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her uncomfortable.

The sugar was swallowed up by the chalk-colored coffee, the best effort she was willing to make for him, letting her know it was done.

“There you go.” She slid it across the counter. “Anything else?”

Leaning over to close the distance between them, Rick grinned. “I heard a rumor you’d gone back to the club.”

Fuck.
“Who the hell told you that?”

“Doesn’t matter. Though she did say you were all alone for a long time. Like you didn’t know what to do with yourself.”

Paige hadn’t recognized anyone there that night, certainly not anyone from their old crowd. “I was fine.”

“Yeah, the person said that too.” There was something in Rick’s tone that had Paige paying attention. He lowered his voice and placed his hand over hers. “I heard some asshole took you upstairs. You were gone for a while and when you came back the two of you were smiling and laughing at people. Is that true? You find someone who could pretend to give you what you want?”

“Shut up. That’s none of your damn business.” She tried to pull her hand away, but he pressed down hard, preventing her escape.

“No, you listen. I left you alone because you told me you weren’t into pain anymore. That you didn’t need to be spanked and tied up, and ‘please Rick you don’t need to do that anymore. I’m over it.’” His cheeks were red and his eyes were bug wide as he whispered softly enough so no one but Paige would hear. “I don’t care what you think. Your ass still belongs to me.”

“Let me go.”

“No.”

Paige jerked on her hand, but he held her fast. “I said let me go.”

“I think you better listen to the lady.” Blue Eyes was on his feet and beside Rick before either of them realized. “You’re getting dangerously close to assault.”

“And I’ll make sure you won’t be using that hand again anytime soon,” Ian said with enough venom to make Paige believe every word.

Rick glared at them and for once did the smart thing. Lifting his hand, he grabbed his coffee and took a step back. “We can finish this conversation another time.”

Blue Eyes stepped between them, forcing Rick backward. “See, I also think that is a bad idea. You’re going to leave now and if this nice lady tells me that you’ve been bothering her, then my friends over at the police station are going to take a special interest in you. Understand?”

Taking a long sip of his coffee, Rick stepped back again, keeping his gaze on Paige. “Sure thing. I have to meet someone anyway. Thanks for the coffee.”

Blue Eyes walked forward, forcing Rick to leave and keeping her view of her ex thankfully blocked.

When the door closed, Ian pulled her into a hug. “You okay?”

The sting of tears was back. Paige burrowed into his arms and tried not to cry. “I will be.”

When Blue Eyes came back in, the muscles in his jaw and throat were still tense. “I think he’s gone for now. Who the hell was he?”

“Her ex-asshole.” Ian kissed her temple. “I don’t know why you decided to leave him, but I’d never been happier. What did you ever see in him?”

“I would tell you, but you said you didn’t want to hear about my sex life.” Paige sniffed as she pulled away.

Blue Eyes laughed. “She told you.”

Paige reached across the counter and pulled Blue Eyes in to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

A grin split his face as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “All in a day’s work.” He turned to face Ian. “Do I get a kiss from you too?”

“I never kiss on the first date,” Ian said casually. The effect was ruined by the dark blush covering his cheeks.

“But we haven’t had a date.”

“I don’t even know your name.” Ian smiled, reaching for a mug. “Let me get you some on the house for defending the honor of an employee of Pulled Long.”

Blue Eyes kept his gaze on Ian, who turned to make the drink. “I’ll keep that in mind for future payments. Nothing better than free coffee. Your pocket’s buzzing.”

Paige blinked at him. “What?”

“Your pocket. Someone’s trying to get in touch with you.”

Carter. Pulling out the phone, Paige groaned when she realized she’d missed seven texts from him.

Jason put hemorrhoid cream in Scott’s socks. Entertaining party. When will u b home?

Paige?

Customer?

We can do burgers tmrow if u want?

I might make u do naughty things to earn yr supper. Crawl across the floor naked.

I keep thinking about yr red ass and how good yr pussy tasted. Want more.

U there?

Her hands shook as she ran her thumb across the display. “Ian, I’m going out back for a few.”

“Go ahead. I’ve got things covered.”

The air in the kitchen still smelled of the cookies Sadie had made early that day. It gave the illusion of warmth and safety, that life was simple and uncomplicated and the man she’d thought loved her wasn’t back in her life. Without thinking too hard, Paige pressed Carter’s number, nerves making her breathing shaky as the phone rang.

“Hey.” His low voice warmed her, chasing away some of the darkness. “You on a break?”

“Hey. Yeah, I needed to get some air.”

“What’s wrong?” The certainty in his voice left no room for her to argue.

She sat on the stool and tried to find the words. Nothing seemed adequate enough to describe the hell her emotions were churning up. “Remember you asked me why I left the clubs and didn’t do scenes anymore? Well, he showed up today.”

“Are you at the store?”

“Yes, but—”

“Is Ian or Sadie with you?”

“Ian’s here, a customer too.”

“Don’t move. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Thirty tops.”

“Carter, you don’t have—”

“Don’t finish that sentence. Thirty minutes and I’ll be there. Then we can talk.”

The dial tone sounded before she had a chance to argue further. Okay, the reason she’d called him was more for the comfort factor than anything, and wasn’t that screwed up seeing as she’d only known him for a short time. Still, he was coming, and knowing that helped her ease up on her panic.

The baking smells and the soft laughter of Ian and Blue Eyes helped her spin down enough so she was no longer nauseated. Rick wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her with the guys around. And while he could probably figure out where she lived, she’d long ago had monitored security installed. She still had her phone unlisted, which would mean he couldn’t get to her that way.

Paige pressed her thumb to her wrist until her nail cut into the sensitive skin. The small burst of pain was enough to help center her mind. Closing her eyes and pulling her legs up, she sat precariously on the small stool and let her mind wander as she ran through the meditation techniques she’d learned.

Time melted, and it wasn’t until the door to the kitchen was pushed open that she realized she’d slipped out of reality and into her own head. When she opened her eyes, Carter stood there, his hands on his hips, staring at her with an odd expression on his face. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans despite the coolness in the air.

“Hi.” She tried to let her feet fall to the floor, but she’d lost the feeling in her legs. “Mind giving me a hand?”