She glanced up, her eyes pleading. “No, Sir, but I—”
“Eyes down,” he growled. “You know better than this, sub.”
“Sorry, Sir. Will you punish me now, Sir?”
Manipulative little brat. She knew exactly what she was playing at. But she wasn’t going to get her way.
“You deserve to be punished. You do not get to touch me without permission. That’s ten.”
A small gasp made him look up, and it took a while for his brain to catch up to what he saw.
Lacey.
Her shocked face looked from him to Jessica.
Shit.
What was she doing here? And why? He looked behind her to Javier, who was frowning down at Jessica. How did the other man know Lacey? Was she here with him? Javier met his gaze, his look sympathetic. The look soon changed as he obviously read the fury on Gray’s face.
The other man held up his hands and took a half-step back. “I’m just the escort service, man. She’s not here with me.”
Lacey turned to frown at Javier then looked back up at him. “I think this was a bad idea, excuse me.”
He watched as she turned and fled back across the room. Fuck!
“Don’t just stand there, go after her,” Javier prompted him. “It’s obvious you want to.”
Gray looked down at Jessica, who still knelt at his feet.
“Go on, I’ll look after Jessica,” Javier promised in a dark voice. Jessica looked up at the big Dom in alarm.
“No, Gray, Sir. Please, I want you to punish me.”
“He’s got more important things to take care of than punishing a little brat like you, girl,” Javier told her in a firm voice. “Now up you get, it’s time you had a taste of my paddle.”
Gray ignored the pleading look on Jessica’s face as he turned away and moved quickly after Lacey. Obviously, he’d been too lenient on Jessica if she’d rather face his punishment than Javier’s. He reached the corridor outside the women’s changing rooms and stopped. Would she have gotten this far already?
Xanthe stepped out of the woman’s changing rooms. “Hello, Sir.”
“Is there a new sub in there? Tall, thin with long, dark hair.”
Xanthe nodded, and relief filled him. She smiled gently. “She’s beautiful, Sir. Like a model. And furious. She was muttering something about arrogant males who think they know what’s best.”
“Thank you, Xanthe.” The petite sub was sweet, but she had a tendency to blurt out everything she knew.
She gave him another smile before walking away. Gray found himself in the unenviable position of standing and waiting for the damn door to open. He knew she had to come this way, there was no other way out. He just had to wait.
Finally, the door opened, and there she stood. A little too pale for his liking, but otherwise fine. She had wrapped a large shawl around that sexy, red dress she’d been wearing, and he felt the urge to slowly unwrap her. Like a much anticipated Christmas present.
“I don’t have time to talk. I’m leaving.” She attempted to move past him, but he reached out and grabbed hold of her arm.
“Lacey, what are you doing here?” To say he was shocked to see her was a definite understatement.
She licked her lips, looking slightly nervous. “I came with Hunter and Cady. I’m their guest here tonight.”
So where were they? Guests weren’t supposed to be left alone. But she hadn’t been alone, had she? Javier had been with her.
“How do you know Javier?” he half-barked.