“See that anything Ms. Vincent wants is put on our account. Kiss-kiss, Gail. Enjoy yourself. I doubt you have many more days of freedom or much money left.”
Sage spun on her heel and headed back for the lift, hearing Gail scrambling to extricate herself from the table. Gail caught up with her just before the lift doors open.
“You bitch,” Gail seethed. “I made you. You were nothing before I found you, and you’ll be nothing after this new book of yours bombs. But it won’t matter,” she said, lowering her voice and leaning close to Sage, “because you’ll be dead.”
Gail pulled a hatpin from her stylish vintage veiled pillbox hat and swung it in an arc toward Sage, who jumped back and crashed into something very large and very solid… Roark knocked the hatpin from Gail’s hands. Sage made a wild dive for it before it fell down the shaft of the lift as the door opened. Grasping it by the pearlized end, she held it aloft and looked at Roark triumphantly, but his dark eyes held Satan’s own fury. She wanted desperately to believe it was directed toward Gail, but her butt clenched. She knew full well who would feel the sting of his displeasure.
“Really, Gail?” she said, ignoring her growing arousal. “I had the villainess in The Toxic Corpse try to kill Clive with a poisoned hatpin.” Sage fished around in the large pockets of her swing coat and produced two plastic baggies, dropping her phone into one and the hatpin into the other, then turned back to Roark.
“If you give this to DSI Holmes, I’ll bet he finds traces of thallium,” Sage said, handing both baggies to Roark. “And I had my phone set to record.”
Gail seemed dumbstruck for an instant before turning around to make a hasty retreat. Only she ran into something rather large and solid, too—Gabriel Waverly.
Roark extended the baggies with the hatpin and Sage’s phone to Felix, who had arrived with Gabe. Gabe had apprehended Gail, and she was unable to get away.
“Handle this carefully,” Roark said, “and give it to DSI Holmes. According to Nancy Drew here, it’s coated in a lethal poison, and the other has some fairly damning evidence.”
“Very good, sir,” Felix said.
“I’ll take care of ensuring Ms. Vincent is handed over to the Yard,” Gabe said as he removed a hissing and spitting Gail from the lobby into his office, where she could be held without disturbing the Savoy’s patrons.
Roark turned to Sage, pulling her into his embrace. “Room, corner, strip, now,” he whispered before his mouth crashed down on hers in a fiery kiss. “I need to speak to Gabe and Felix, but you had better be waiting for me when I get there.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she answered softly and meekly.
Sage went back to their room and did as instructed. She didn’t have long to wait before the door opened and Roark entered the room.
“Of all the lame, foolish, reckless stunts. What do you have to say for yourself? No, wait, it doesn’t matter. All I need to know is… did you really think if you’d told me what you were planning to do, I’d have given you permission? You couldn’t have possibly thought that since you didn’t have my permission to leave our room,” he thundered.
“But I got the evidence of what she was doing! I recorded her trying to kill me. She was apprehended with the murder weapon in her hand,” she said, whirling around to face him.
“Do you bloody think I give a damn about that? She could have killed you!”
Sage stared in horrified fascination as Roark unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves before unbuckling his belt.
“You put your nose in that corner, little girl. Hands against the wall, bottom pushed out, legs spread.”
“Roark?” she barely managed to squeak out.
“That’s the third time you’ve risked your life and the second time you’ve left our room without Daddy’s permission. Obviously, a mere spanking, followed by a rough fucking isn’t getting through to you. Let’s see if a set of welts makes an impression.”
“Welts? Now? With no warmup? Is that even allowed?” she said in a rush, starting to panic.
“Daddies don’t have to do anything they don’t want to, and you haven’t behaved well enough to be eased into a welting. Now, Sage,” he growled the last.
She turned back to the corner and complied. The only warning she had that she was about to get her first taste of a belt applied to her backside was a swoosh a fraction of a second before his belt laid a two-inch lick of fire across her bottom. Sage wailed and bounced up on her toes, trying to tuck her tail. The strap of hellfire struck again, intersecting with the first weal.
“No, Sage, push that bottom back out. I intend your first welting to be memorable. You will not put yourself in danger!”
It was the desperation in his voice that stole her breath and will away. It was obvious he was at a loss how to ensure her safety, and as he’d said, he meant to make this bad enough she never tempted fate again. If he’d yelled at her, it would have been easier, but knowing she had scared him did more damage than the belt ever would. She caved in and began sobbing.
The third strike was even worse, landing across the lower part of her backside and intersecting with both he’d already laid down. She bit back a scream, the fire and searing agony beyond anything she’d ever experienced.
“Daddy,
