James (Doms of Club Indigo #1)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Laura hurried back to the chairs and picked up her novel again, but couldn’t concentrate on the story. The guy, practically a complete stranger, had threatened to spank her! Just because she’d been looking out of a window? He said he was her Dom now and she… Well, she hadn’t disagreed. Was he actually willing to deliver on his threat? She looked down at the book she was still holding in her hands. There had been a lot of spankings and whippings in her books, but there were also great relationships and awesome sex.

Sad to say, even after years of marriage, she had no idea what that was like. In the bedroom, as everywhere else, Jake’s ‘dominance’ was really just selfishness. He seemed to go out of his way to demand sex when she was busy or tired or even sick. Over time, what it took to get him off was increasingly uncomfortable or humiliating for her, until what should have been a mutually enjoyable act instead became something to be dreaded and endured. Sometimes she was so dry, it actually hurt to have sex with him, and she was afraid to tell him that, afraid he’d enjoy that even more if he knew. She knew not every man was like Jake, but it was hard to imagine anything different, that sex could really be the way it was described in her books, and that men could be as tender and supportive as they were strict.

She peeked through her lashes at James, still watching her with laser focus.

With thoughts of spanking on her mind, she had managed to ignore the weather and the overbearing – and gorgeous – man for a bit, but a loud thunderclap reminded her of their situation.

The steady creaking of wind-blown trees gave way suddenly to an ominous snapping, splintering sound, immediately followed by a deafening pop . She turned her head turned toward the windows just in time to see a large tree fall in front of the building, breaking one of the windows with its branches. Although there was plenty of space and half a dozen washers between her and any broken glass, she still leapt back, right into ‘her’ Dom’s chest.

“Safety glass?” James inquired, gripping her arms to steady her.

Laura stepped away from him fast. “All right, I’m willing to admit I might have been wrong in this instance, but I still won’t be told what to do by a total stranger.” Laura caught herself before adding a hot ‘So there!’

A bubble of nervous energy erupted inside her, causing a burst of giggles to escape her lips. She couldn’t help but find the situation humorous, her nerves getting the best of her. However, her amusement swiftly faded as she caught sight of James’s face, a mixture of confusion and surprise etched across his features.

“What’s so funny?” he asked .

She felt like she owed him at least a bit of an explanation. After all it wasn’t a laughable situation. “I very nearly stamped my foot just now. Can you imagine?” Her cheeks felt red-hot. Great, she wasn’t only thinking like a spoiled brat, she was blushing like a schoolgirl.

Before James could answer her, the lights went out and the washing machine noise stopped – the power was out.

Outside, everything had gone quiet as well, but suddenly, the wind started roaring around them, louder than anything she had ever heard. It didn’t even sound like wind anymore. It sounded like a train, racing right at them. Even more alarming, the tree blocking the broken window began to slide ever so slightly away.

“That’s not good!” James grabbed Laura’s arm and they raced toward the back of the laundromat. “We need to get away from those windows. This looks to be the strongest part of the building. Do you know if there’s some kind of back room that might be less open and with less heavy machinery in danger of falling on us?”

“There must be an office or a maintenance closet, but they’re surely locked unless the woman who runs the place is here,” Laura answered.

James pulled out his cell phone, turned on his flashlight app and pushed it into her hand, saying, “Tonight we’re not going to worry about locks. Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” He jogged back to their seats, returning in a moment with his toolbox and her groceries.

Laura tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Why do you carry a toolbox around?”

“Someone broke the lock on the back of my truck this morning and this stuff is expensive. It also has a real flashlight in it, so I don’t burn through the battery on my phone. We may need it later.” James gave her the bags and rummaged through his tools, pulling out a heavy-duty screwdriver and the flashlight.

After giving her the flashlight and pocketing his phone, he turned to the door. “No deadbolt, that’s good. Give me some light, please?”

She aimed the light at the doorknob, and James dug his screwdriver in between the door and jamb. One good heave and the cheap lock broke, allowing him to open the door The back room was just a glorified hallway, so cluttered with supplies that they couldn’t stand side-by-side without bumping something. There was a manager’s office, with a lock a good deal sturdier than the first and an alarm besides, a dented metal door leading to the back lot, a back wall lined with rattling windows (“Don’t worry, they’re probably safety glass,” James said of those, and met her incredulous stare with a smile), a pungent restroom where the two of them couldn’t even fit unless one of them was standing on the toilet and the other sitting in the sink, and in the far corner of the room, beside the dry-cleaning station, one last closed door.

Opening it, they entered a small, cramped room with overflowing bins of abandoned clothing and shelves of dusty cleaning supplies.

“No windows,” James observed with evident relief. “No machinery, no exposed pipes or wires. This is it.”

It didn’t smell great, but it was the best of their limited options. Laura crept inside and James closed the door they had come in by.

“Can you give me a hand?” Standing at one end of one of the smaller shelves, he raised an eyebrow.

Was it bad she found the expression sexy as hell? Disconcerted by her thought, Laura hurried to help him. Together, they moved it in front of the door and stacked boxes of detergents around it.

Once that was done, she looked uncertainly around. There was enough room for them, but clearly the room was some kind of storage area and not intended for hanging around in for any length of time. Outside, the storm raged and howled. She winced as something heavy hit the roof and bounced across it. Glass shattered, the roof creaked and a thud like something really heavy - maybe a washing machine or some of the driers – hit the wall to her left. Laura cried out as the room shook. She supposed they were safe – safer than they’d been in the front room, anyway – but she didn’t feel safe, not until she looked at up James and saw his brown eyes looking back at her with quiet confidence.

‘I can do this,’ she thought, and squared her shoulders.

“What now?” she asked.

James could see that Laura was trying to be brave, but even as she tried to smile, she looked like a deer caught in the proverbial headlights, her eyes glassy and round with terror, desperate to flee, but standing her ground.

James couldn’t offer her much comfort. They’d done all they could to make themselves as safe as possible, and now they just had to wait out the storm and see what happened. But she didn’t want to hear that. What she wanted, what she needed, was a distraction, something to take her mind off the things they couldn’t change. And after all, she had earned herself a spanking with her recklessness a few minutes before. “I think it’s time I turned you over my knee, don’t you? ”

Laura went from pale to blushing in an instant.

“Why on earth would you do that?” she exclaimed, her voice shrill on the last word. “You truly think I’m willingly going to let you hurt me? You must think I’m insane. No, wait, you’re the one who’s insane!” Her voice swirled like the raging tornado outside, gaining strength with each word.

James sighed and set up the light on a shelf where it would provide the most illumination. He sat down on a pile of rags and old clothing. Time to take back the control. With his feet shoulder-width apart and elbows on his knees, he took a centering breath and gave her his Dom-look, the one that many submissives told him made their knees weak.

He didn’t know about her knees, but that look hit her somewhere, for sure. She smoothed down her clothing nervously and backed up, although she couldn’t go far in this small room. With a self-deprecating laugh, she tried to downplay her discomfort, but her eyes darted away, breaking the fleeting connection they had made. In a gesture of vulnerability, she shrugged and hugged herself, as if trying to make herself smaller and less noticeable.

“Laura,” James said seriously, “if you’ve read as much as I think you have, you know I won’t harm you. Yes, a spanking does hurt, and it can leave a bruise or two, but ultimately, it’s about trust and letting go. I think you know that. I think you’re curious and you want to try. What’s holding you back?”

He captured her gaze with his, immensely pleased when she didn’t break the connection this time. She bit her bottom lip but didn’t make a sound. She was definitely thinking about it.

“Do you intend to use your safeword?” he asked. “Because you can either use it and we can wait this thing out on opposite sides of the room making awkward small talk, or —” He gave her the Dom-stare again, his voice firm and uncompromising. “— or you can be a good little submissive and accept your punishment.”