“Thank you,” he said, seconds later when nothing else would come from him.
“Erm, you’re welcome.”
“Your punishment is over with,” he said, drawing her down to kiss her. “You may go and get changed now.”
Staring down into his dark brown eyes, Clara frowned. “What? That’s my punishment?”
“I could take you over my knee, but I thought your punishment was sufficient.”
Clara didn’t argue because as far as punishment went, it was the best one she’d ever experienced.
Chapter Six
Nick saw the shock on Clara’s face along with the happiness. Slapping her ass, he ordered her to go and get dressed. Glancing down at his cum coated stomach he shook his head. He’d make a f**king awful Dom. When he walked into the sitting room he had every intention of slapping her ass. Seeing an opportunity to get more pleasure out of the experience had driven him to change the punishment to suit his need.
Getting up from the furniture he checked to make sure none of their releases had gotten onto the fabric.
Satisfied all was clear, he grabbed his clothing and walked to his bedroom. Showering and changing into a fresh set of clothes he went back downstairs to find Clara sitting in the robe once again.
“I’ve got to go out,” he said, thinking about the urgent call from his office. “I’ll be back for my guests. Amuse yourself, Clara. Look around, go for a swim. You can also stand around naked. No one will see you.”
The light brightened in her gaze.
“You won’t get a single chance to escape,” he said. “I’ve coded everything. The moment I leave this house, the doors will close, and your only access outside will be looking through the windows.” He saw the hope die within her.
He hated the sight of her defeat. Standing close to her, he leaned down kissing her head. “I’ll be back before you know it.”
The desire to stay at home was strong. He’d cut the conversation short and knew he had no choice but to go in.
“Amuse yourself while I’m gone.”
Before he changed his mind, he spun on his heel and headed outside. The moment the door closed, all other doors and windows would shut. He’d designed the security for his own peace of mind. After being outlawed from all packs he’d been concerned for his safety. Some pack alphas would get it into their heads to hunt down an outlaw and remove him permanently.
No one even tried to hunt him down. They must all know he’d kill anyone who tried.
Climbing into his car, he waited for the gate to open then shut it before he was driving down the street heading toward the city to deal with his current problem. Getting a call from one of his security managers about Mark invading his offices had been a slight problem. Hearing from Mark again was another one of his problems mounting up the list of stuff he needed to deal with. The agreement should have been that their contact would cease the moment he paid for Clara.
Parking his car, he nodded toward another wolf shifter on his security team. Nick made sure to employ outlawed wolves like him. Most of the wolves didn’t have the invasive mark that he did, but he respected them all the same.
He took the elevator taking him straight to his office. Dean was standing there with Mark and one of his security men, Bill.
“Get the f**k off me. This is business, nothing else,” Mark said.
Closing the door, he watched with satisfaction as the men flinched. All of them had been so preoccupied with arguing they hadn’t even smelled his approach.
“If I was still an alpha of a pack, I’d punish you all for simply not paying attention,” Nick said, gaining their attention. Bill had walked out of his pack when they’d murdered his wife for being unfaithful to him. The laws of the pack were strict. Once a male and female mated, it was for life. If a female was to cheat then death was the penalty. He noticed the same rule didn’t apply to the males. All they got was a slap on the wrist. Bill walked away because they took his life mate from him even though he’d asked to watch her with another man. Someone had spied on them, killed his mate, and Bill had left. The story was sad, depressingly so, and another reason why Nick would never be part of a pack even if one was offered.
“What’s going on, Bill?” Nick asked, taking a seat behind his desk. Refusing to look at Mark, he concentrated on the men he didn’t want to kill.
Don’t kill her father. His death would make a mess, and there are more humans in the office than not.
He tried to reason with himself. The more he thought about what he learned of Clara, the harder it was not to hurt the bastard.
“This ass**le,” Bill said, pointing at Mark. “Stormed into your building shouting out his demands.”
Bill looked ready to commit murder.
Get in line, Bill. Anyone who takes out this f**ker will have to answer to me.
“He caused a stir, terrified the women, and started bad-mouthing you.”
Moving his attention to Dean, he waited for another explanation.
“I tried to get him out of your office, Nick. He wants more money,” Dean said, shrugging.
Getting his anger under control, Nick turned his attention onto the man he wished to murder. “What gives you the right to come into my place of work and start mouthing off?”
“I want more money.”
“I paid you one million dollars for your daughter. You’re not getting another cent from me.” Staring at Clara’s father, Nick couldn’t stop the feeling of repulsion coming over him.
“She’s worth a lot more than a million.”
“I heard your wife say Clara is the runt of the litter. She means nothing to you. A million is more than fair.” In truth, Nick would pay triple if not more to keep her.
“If you don’t pay me more I’m going to the collection of alphas.”
Nick raised a brow and turned to Dean, who shook his head.
“Interesting. You’ll go to the collection of alphas?” Nick asked, standing up. The collection of alphas was responsible for his outlawed status. People referred to them as either the “collection of alphas” or as “the collective”. The only desire he had to deal with the collective was to hurt them. The collection of alphas acted like social workers or the modern legal system for wolves.
“They would make you pay more.”
“You really think they’d help you?” Nick asked, taking a step toward the other man. All he needed was any excuse to end this sack of shit’s life and he’d do it in a heartbeat.