Bailey: Independence #1 (38 page)

Maybe it was the warmth and relaxation of the pool room, she wasn’t sure, but abruptly her body bolted upright. Hands came up and swept the hair back from her face. Her feet clung to the bottom of the pool, her body frozen as her mind processed the image in her brain.

She knew she was breathing too quickly and dove beneath the water, long arms out and cutting through the crystal clear liquid. She had five laps complete when she finally had her mind settled, the sight of Mistress Janelle blending with a woman from
Immersive Games
.

She’d have to check in the morning. If anyone knew anything about her, it would be Patsy. The woman worked in the quality assurance labs and had flunked the software class twice before finally managing to squeeze past the acceptable level on the test. And she had been incredibly angry that Bailey had informed her supervisor that she had not met minimum standards for completion.

Bailey was out of the pool, wrapped in a towel and headed to bed. She placed her small alarm next to her on the nightstand and settled down, staring out the window and inhaling the sweet smell of the burning logs from nearby.

Why did her mind finally register the face of the woman from the club? No, she thought, why had it taken so long? Oh, gee, maybe because there were tons of other things messing with your head. That might be it. Then her body began to hum when a weight settled on the bed and a palm ran heavily along her thigh.

The room wasn’t incredibly dark. Lights from the exterior flickered with the falling rain drops over the window. Bailey rolled to her back to peer into dark eyes that seemed to seek out every one of the fantasies she’d ever created in her mind.

“I’ve given some thoughts to your seduction techniques.” Gabriel stroked his hand over her stomach, fingers dragging beneath one breast and higher to brush the back of his palm along her jaw. He liked the humor and passion that flared in her eyes and grinned down at her. “I think I should volunteer for practice.”

“That’s very noble of you.” Bailey managed to say without laughing at the teasing in his eyes. “Does that mean I get to find some cuffs?”

“It means I get to guide you in your efforts toward perfection.” His mouth came down on hers, barely touching, barely whispering a kiss that pulled their bodies closer together. “Just keep in mind when you achieve perfection, practice is necessary to maintain it.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered back, her hands up and wrapping around his neck.

This time it wasn’t entirely all his fault that they weren’t asleep before midnight.

Chapter Thirty-Two

If there was ever a distraction, it was the man she was spending time with in bed. He woke her before the alarm went off, stroking and arousing and making her body come alive before her brain was willing to face the morning. She didn’t know why and she really didn’t want to ask questions about why he seemed lighter when he was feeding her bits of toast as she struggled with her comfortable boots and rolled the pant legs of her jeans to her knees. She almost rolled her eyes when he slid the glass of orange juice toward her with one brow arched patiently.

Bailey decided not to push her luck and drained the glass with only a small glower before carrying things to the sink and rinsing everything out. He talked about the housekeeper and how the woman kept the house basically clean and in order. He talked about the meetings he had and laughed at her comments and she decided it was getting easier and easier to leave the SUV with him in the morning.

He leaned in and whispered in her ear that they probably decided they were a boring couple and moved on to someone else as a topic of curiosity.

Gabriel figured he was adjusting her slowly because she only offered a slightly reproachful glance when his palm slid over her jean covered ass as they parted at the elevator. He stood long enough to watch that twitching, bewitching behind saunter off and greet her friends before vanishing behind the locked doors into the first floor offices.

Bailey made it through most of the day before cornering Patsy on break and asking what she knew or could find out.

“Stuck up Nelly?” Patsy wrinkled her nose. “No one is ever good enough for her. She’s been here…hmm…maybe two and a half years. Not too many like her because she’s flat out mean. Did you run into her in training?”

“I flunked her,” Bailey admitted, leaning back in the chair and staring out the window in the cafeteria. “Twice,” she caught the grimace on her friend’s face. “Yeah. I’m finding out that being on her bad side isn’t a good thing. She…”

“Uh-oh, I’ve seen that look before,” Patsy scooted her chair closer. “What happened?”

“Evidently she enjoys being a Domme,” Bailey began quietly, one finger up with Patsy’s mouth opened. She snapped her lips tightly together and gaped. “Yeah. Well, she also isn’t particularly pleasant.”

“You met her at the club?” Pasty whispered in disbelief. “Seriously?”

“Not met her exactly,” Bailey inhaled slowly. “She uses a riding crop and doesn’t follow the club rules of not punishing subs that belong to another Dom.”

“Girlfriend, you want me to go take her down for you?” The New York street girl came out low and clear, big, dark eyes flashing angrily.

“Gabriel suspended her membership until further notice for striking me with the crop without his permission.”

“She hit you? She
hit
you!”

“Shhh!” Bailey felt the heat in her cheeks.

Patsy raised one finger. “You were aware that she prefers females.” She saw the answer on Bailey’s face. “Guess not. Yeah, girlfriend. Last rumor had it, she had a girl she was seeing who was on the police force.”

Bailey felt the bells going off inside her head and every drop of moisture evaporated from her mouth. “No kidding. A cop.”

“I don’t think I like the look on your face. What’s going on?”

“You know about the murders. You know someone sent me the costume,” she watched her conclusions fill in the puzzle pieces on Patsy’s expression.

“You’re serious. You think…a cop…oh, god, girlfriend…” Patsy fell back in the chair, her head shaking. “You need to tell someone. Talk to the police or…or Gabriel.”

“I can’t just go out accusing a police officer of murder!” Bailey hissed furiously. “They’ll lock me away or…or circle around and shield her.”

“And your grand scheme? You’re a computer geek. You’re not CIA or some wild mercenary like in the games,” Patsy reminded her flatly, keeping her voice down. “And what will happen when your Dom finds out your suspicions and you didn’t share them with him?” She watched Bailey winch and twitch on the seat.

“I’d really rather not think about that,” Bailey said with a hard swallow. “But why go after Gabriel? If she’s angry at me, why target him?”

“This is worse than those books I read.” Patsy leaned on the table, her upturned palms holding her chin. “There’s too much stuff we don’t know.”

“The detective came to the club the other night,” Bailey said thoughtfully, finishing her smoothie with a slurp. “She wanted to talk to me about the murders. But they hid me. Gabriel said something is off with her…”

“If she’s friends with the QA troll, yeah, I’d say something is off,” Patsy stood up with her and they walked toward the exit.

“He told me to stay away from her. To only speak to the Lieutenant.” Bailey tried avoiding the palm that was up and on the back of her head with a little swat.

“The woman is loony. Stay away from them both. Don’t make me go New Yorker on you,” Patsy warned with a scowl before heading off to her department.

Bailey made a face at the departing figure and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. It was Thursday afternoon, she thought, trying to decide who to talk to, who to trust. She should be going straight to Gabriel’s office but she knew he had people from an outside company in this afternoon and for the next week. The last thing he needed was this on his plate.

She wandered into the main area and pulled work orders from the board, letting her brain simmer while going from job to job until the small chime on her wrist went off on her wrist. Bailey was thinking of all the bad movies where the girl ignored the shouts that said don’t go with the crazy mad person or don’t go into the spooky looking house. She sighed, her pack slung over one shoulder and her jacket dangling from her fingers as she vaguely heard the door lock behind her.

People rushed past, eager for Thursday to be over when the hand came out and gripped her wrist seconds before she bounced off the very solid male. Her head went back in time for the mouth that brushed over her lips.

“Hi,” Bailey breathed and tried to step back, suddenly aware of the four men and one woman watching their interaction.

“She gets distracted with her work,” Gabriel said smoothly, grinning down at her. “Bailey O’Conner, let me introduce you to the people working with one of our teams on the new game.”

Bailey listened, applied a smile and tried to remember the names with the accents and faces. She knew they were from a studio in England that he was courting to join him for several future projects. It was when the words,
we’ll meet you at the restaurant
, came out of his mouth that her feet stumbled a little walking toward the exit.

“Dinner?” Bailey whispered hoarsely.

“Dinner. The evening meal to hold you over on the long cold nights in my bed,” he whispered as he pulled the SUV door wide and lifted her to the seat.

“Nights in your bed are far from cold,” she tossed back, enjoying his laughter.

“We do create a bit of a flame, pet,” he agreed. “The social and business culture between the two countries is different and I tend to favor theirs. But American workers are different.”

“You’ve already come to an agreement?” She saw the excitement in his eyes and threw her arms around him with a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you! That’s just what you wanted. Congratulations!”

“Yes, it’s just what I wanted,” he agreed softly, his hands moving behind her back and returning her hug. A simple hug. Nothing complex, nothing out of gold or silver. Just a hug and happy words and she had the most beautiful smile in her eyes that made him feel like a king. “It’ll be a good partnership for us both.”

Bailey let her hands frame his face before she kissed him. “Then we better get going so we can celebrate with your new partners. You should have told me. I would have worn something…”

“You are beautiful just like you are. Did you see those guys? Believe me, I’m the one definitely over dressed,” Gabriel turned her knees into the front seat and closed the door, striding around the front of the SUV and sliding into the seat.

Bailey listened to him talking about the network they’d be setting up for direct transfers of files and the special computers just for these projects. He wanted her to talk to their IT person to discuss the technical points and security necessary.

She found herself leaning into his arm while he chatted, the menu in her hands but going unseen as she tried following the conversation, which had nothing at all to do with work. She thought that would dominate but what was the center was the current best soccer teams and who would lead this year as well as the dupes running both countries!

Four hours later, Bailey tossed clothing into the laundry bin and climbed into bed, the sights and sounds of the social room in the large restaurant they’d gone to still in her mind. Darts, pool tables, laughter and too many conversations and topics to keep track of. She would spend half the next day with their IT person to work out the requirements. Gabriel had already cleared it with her supervisor, a comment that made her look at him like he’d lost his mind.

Gabriel loved the softness he pulled back against him when he climbed into bed behind her a few minutes later. He tucked her close, his cock nestled contentedly against her soft ass and his lips brushing her temple.

“Thank you for indulging me tonight. I like having you with me, Bailey.”

“Oh, Gabriel…” she sighed and closed her eyes, letting those few precious words echo in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

He knew she was tired. He’d seen her fading after he tucked her into the SUV and it was shortly before midnight before he carried her into the house and laid her on the bed.

She swore she was awake, her body popping up from the bed and stumbling into the bathroom, ignoring his laughter behind her. He’d pay, she thought. Come morning she’d just make him miserable. Then he cuddled against her and whispered to her and she felt it all melting away into the night.

Bailey didn’t know where the morning went. She woke to pancakes and orange juice and a disgustingly handsome guy grinning down at her. He’d already showered and dressed, a crisp beige shirt and jeans that were really nicely fitted to him when she opened eyes less than focused to peer up at him.

“Open,” Gabriel forked two small pancakes into her mouth and chuckled, carrying the plate back to the breakfast bar.

“Hey! That’s just wrong!” She shouted after him, wrestling with the blankets and throwing them aside.

“You want the rest, get dressed and get that sexy ass moving,” he called back through his laughter, settling before his laptop and going through email and checking his stock portfolio. He didn’t like the way some things had been moving and wanted to shift a few things around before the weekend.