“Yes.” My response is immediate and completely without hesitation. I feel Mandy stiffen under me, but this shouldn’t be a surprise to her. Everything I’ve done has been because I love her.
Stella nods her head and looks to the guys behind me. “Let him go.” When they start to protest, Stella interrupts, “He’s doing the same thing you two did for me. You did it because you love me. Let them go.”
I turn around, and after a second the guys move away from the elevator.
I walk toward it with Mandy still on my shoulder, only now she’s silent. Once I get in the elevator, I don’t put her down. Instead I smile and flip off Aaron and Justin as they stand there, not wanting to let us leave.
“Put me down, asshole.”
I reach up and smack her ass hard enough to make her squeak in pain.
“You ran from me.”
“You used me!”
Mandy tries to kick out and push off my shoulder, but I pull my hand back and give her three loud smacks on her ass again. This time she screams, but her body stops fighting against me.
“You’ll listen to every word I have to say, kitten.”
“I’m listening now.”
“No you’re not. You ran from me. You didn’t talk to me, you just ran.”
“Is it true?” I can hear the pleading in her voice.
“That I love you?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll tell you when you’re cuffed to our bed.”
She starts kicking again, and then the elevator doors open.
“Listen to me, kitten. I’m about to carry you out of this very nice casino over my shoulder. If you want me to spank you the whole way I will, and if you don’t calm down I’m going to do just that.”
“Put me down, I can walk.”
“That’s not happening. You ran from me, so you gave up the privilege of walking. Your choice now is a public spanking or to come quietly.”
I step out of the elevator and wait. It only takes a moment before I feel her deflate against me.
“Fine. I’ll come quietly.”
I carry her through the casino and out the front door, placing her in the car and locking the door. When I walk around to the driver side, I unlock it and get in, driving us back to the Snake Eyes.
The drive is silent, and I’m doing everything I can to keep from coming apart. I want to yell and scream and hold her to me to make sure she never leaves again.
Once we pull up, I keep her door locked until I walk around and pull her out, throwing her over my shoulder again. She starts to kick and hit my back, but we’re in my casino now, and I don’t give a fuck.
I land three more smacks on her ass as I walk into my elevator.
“This is so embarrassing,” she moans against my back.
“You remember that the next time you think about running away from me.”
When we get to the penthouse, I punch in the code and go straight for the bedroom. I don’t hesitate to throw her in the middle of the bed and jump on top of her, pinning her flailing arms down while I cuff them.
“Let me go! I said I would talk, Charles. You can’t cuff me!”
As the second cuff snaps around her wrist, I lean down and flash her my most wicked smile. “Looks like I just did, kitten.”
“Start talking,” she says through gritted teeth.
I grab her chin and make her look at me, slowly running my thumb across her bottom lip. “You forget your place, Mandy. You don’t tell me what to do.”
She tries to shake her head free, but I just hold her steady and keep rubbing her lip, waiting for her to calm down. Eventually, my patience is rewarded and she takes a deep breath, letting some of the tension go.
“Yes, I was at Stella’s auction. It was the first and only other auction I ever attended besides yours.”
“Why did you go?”
“Basically to be a dick and raise the price for them. I knew how bad they wanted her, and I used that knowledge to my advantage. I needed something from them and I needed leverage.”
“What did you need?” She sounds hopeful but cautious when she asks, not wanting to let her heart fully believe the worst.
“You, kitten. I needed you.”
“But I don’t understand. You had me. You got me for thirty days from them. What happened?”
“A while back Justin came into the Snake Eyes to have a date with some reality TV housewife, and it went bad. I ended up helping him get out of a sticky situation, but I kept the video of their encounter. I used that to blackmail them into them giving me you for a month. I was so jealous that they had you, and it consumed me. I’d never wanted anything in my life as much as I wanted you. From the very first second I saw you, I had to have you. I thought at first that you belonged to them, but after the auction and the switch, I knew the truth.”
“Then why didn’t you do something about it when I was working here? Why did you let me go through the auction?”
“When you worked here for me, I was so consumed with every breath you took, and I couldn’t focus on anything. I didn’t trust myself to do the things I wanted to do to you without ruining you. You seemed too perfect and too good for me. You still are.”
“So why the auction then. Why buy me?”
“Because I knew if I had you under contract you couldn’t say no. It’s that simple.”