Page 4 of Midnight Dissonance
He bristled at the barbed insult. Her comment hit far too close to home. And he seethed. If she wasn’t going to bend, he would break her. With that thought in mind, he grabbed her by the arm and hauled her over to the couch. “Someone is in need of some discipline. I was hoping for a pleasant night. But instead, I’ve been saddled with a spoiled brat. You’ve earned every single one of these.”
Furious, he sat and dragged her onto his lap until her ass was in position. At her yelp, he gritted his teeth and stared at her perfectly formed, heart-shaped ass. Of course the sub with the attitude of hellcat would have the most perfect fecking ass. And bloody hell, her leopard print body suit was so sheer it left nothing to the imagination. But he wasn’t going to think about the way his body sizzled at having her on his lap. Even his cock wanted in on the action, the stupid bastard.
Using his forearm, he held her prisoner against his thighs while she struggled against his hold. Wasting no time, because the sooner he broke her, the sooner they could move on to more pleasant interactions, he brought his hand down hard against her butt. Hard enough to leave a red handprint behind and for the sound to echo in the room.
Lexi screamed, “Red.”
“Excuse me?” Shock filtered over him that she’d used a safeword after one swat.
“It’s my safeword. Or do you ignore those too?” she spat over her shoulder. Her tiny body trembled. And she tossed an angry glare over her shoulder.
Bloody feckin’ hell! He’d been saddled with a damn shrew!
In all his years as a Dom, he’d never had a sub use their safeword. It was always more please, Sir. He wasn’t putting up with this tonight. Grinding his teeth, he unceremoniously set her on her feet. Then he rose from the couch and gestured for her to follow him. “Come with me.”
“Like I would go anywhere with you.”
“Master Gabe will want to know we’ve got an impertinent sub who doesn’t think the rules apply to her.” He pegged her with an angry glare, daring her to defy him more.
“I’m not going.” She retreated a few steps. But the defiant gleam persisted.
“Yes. You are.” He wasn’t above tossing the minx over his shoulder and marching upstairs. He’d bet she’d scream bloody murder the whole way too. Why the fuck had he been saddled with a banshee of a sub?
“No, I’m not. I’m going home.” She spun on her heel and marched toward the door.
And when she gripped the door handle, he snarled, “If you even think of leaving, I will haul your ass back inside and tie you to the fucking bed. You are not leaving this room until this matter is dealt with.”
At his threat, she rolled her eyes and marched back toward the bed, putting space and distance between them.
Smart lass.
Yanking his cell out of his back pocket, he called his cousin. He answered on the first ring. “Gabe, we have a problem. I’m down in room seven. Aye, I’ll be here.”
She glared like she was imagining all the ways she would make him pay for keeping her here. Right back at ya, sweetheart.
They stood like boxers in a ring, measuring one another but in a standoff, waiting for the other to make the first move. One of the preemptive rules of the club was safe, sane, and consensual. As an attorney, he understood the letter of the law better than most. And as much as he wanted to tan her fecking hide until it was bright red for the offense, he knew if he touched her without witnesses present, it could be bad for him and the club.
Gabe entered the room with Colin two steps behind him. He loved his cousins. They were good men. And were lucky sons of bitches with the women they called theirs.
They assessed the distance between them and the tension in the room before Gabe addressed him. “Josh, what is the problem? Has Lexi done something to offend you?”
“Aye, she bloody well has. This little sub decided before we even began that she wasn’t going to scene with me, wasn’t even going to kneel out of respect.”
“It’s my right to safeword out when I want nothing to do with a certain Dom. Or are you in the habit of forcing yourself on subs?”
He sneered. “Lass, I don’t need to force them. Ever. They come to me willingly and always ask for more.”
“Not all of them.” She snorted. Every line of her hourglass figure rippled defensively. She jutted her chin out, looking like an angry, hissing kitten standing in a room full of lions.
Gabe pierced her with a hard glare. He might appear calm and merely displeased, but Josh could tell he was fecking pissed as hell. That made two of them. “Lexi, why don’t you want to scene with Josh?”
“Because he’s a total player, and I’m done with those. If you force me, I quit the club. I won’t be pushed to scene with a Dom, regardless of whether he’s your cousin,” she replied disdainfully.
Gabe assessed her with narrowed eyes and a hard set to his jaw. “We never force submissives. Our club thrives on consent. And you are aware that you consented to scene with an unnamed Dom as part of singles night. It was an agreement you signed off on in order to participate tonight. And what I’m hearing is that you lied, that you are ignoring the rules of singles night. Would you like to explain why?”
“I won’t scene with players and be another notch on their bedpost. And I realize there’s a lot of that here. But he’s not even circumspect about it. The dude goes through subs like he’s changing his underwear. I won’t scene with him. If you try to make me, it will be against my will.” She lifted her chin in defiance. But Josh noticed the tremble in her bottom lip. She knew she was in trouble and wasn’t backing down. He wished he didn’t find it arousing. But then, he was a feckin’ headcase. And she might be young, but she was proving just how formidable an opponent she could be with three Doms glaring at her and still refusing to back down from her stance.
Gabe’s face hardened further. “I see. While we would never force you, I’m also vastly disappointed in you, Lexi. If you had come to us before offending Master Josh, we could have corrected this easily enough. But since you have offended him, your punishment is his choice.”
