Behave Read online

  Once inside, reality began to penetrate. Hal was scowling. Scowling and waiting for her. She was out of control. She couldn’t trust him to care for her, not really, and the feelings that warmed her heart now were probably going to get her into trouble. It was nothing for him to wine and dine a woman, he was an attractive, powerful man, and it was clearly natural for him to switch gears and dismiss her company any time he fucking well felt like it. She needed to push him away before she fell in any deeper. And before he delivered the spanking she was afraid he was planning.

  She had to come out sometime. With a deep breath, she opened the door, trying to look innocent, as if she couldn’t possibly have sworn a minute ago.

  He took her hand and surprised her by towing her with him through to the back of the restaurant. The cooks recognized him, nodded, and stepped back, out of his way. One man opened the door for them, and in no time, they were outside.

  Tom, as always, waited by the car. They had decided to leave it in the back where there was less chance of it being recognized by fans, or enemies. Lainie felt Hal’s hands on her back, pushing her to get in. “I’m not getting in,” she said. “Why don’t you go take care of your important business? I’ll get a cab.”

  “You won’t,” he murmured in her ear. “You’ll get in and slide across and then I’m going to get in and wallop your hind end.”

  “I’d have to be fucking nuts to get in that car.” Her bottom clenched and her breath came fast. She squirmed, and suddenly she was free of his hands. She ran, away from the car and down the alley.

  But Hal ran too. He didn’t grab her, just kept pace easily. “You know I’m going to stop you,” he said, “There’s no point in running. You are behaving so badly, I only wish I had more time for this spanking.”

  Then he wrapped his hand around her upper arm with no effort, as if they weren’t running, but standing still. He brought her up sharply to a halt, and put one foot on the back step of building, effortlessly folding her over his raised knee, holding her wrists down on one side of his leg. With his other arm, he scooped her hips up, shifting her so her legs dangled on the other side. “I’m glad I got you into this dress,” he said, pulling up the silk skirt, bunching it above her waist.

  She tried to wriggle off his leg, but hanging over his knee, she could only twist her upper body. Her bottom was held in place by her own weight. In a second, her panties were whisked down and they slipped to her ankles, and the chilly night air swept across her exposed buttocks.

  “You’re going to wish you’d behaved tonight,” he whispered in her ear, and spanked her. Once, twice, one rapid smack followed the other, the sharp slapping sound, the numbness before the pain penetrated each time came again and again, hard and relentless. Smack after smack. She fought to squirm, to wriggle free.

  “Stop that now or it’ll be worse.”

  She kicked, but with her ankles caught in her panties, she could barely move her legs. She wrenched her hips to the side and he unleashed his strength, whacking her bruised flesh again and again. With lips clamped together, Lainie determined not to cry, or to beg him to stop.

  But he did stop. He guided her to slide off his knee and let her pull up her panties over her burning, smarting bottom. While she did, her dress fell into place. “I told you I have urgent business,” he said. “I’m going to drop you off at my place.”

  “Of course you don’t have much time,” she said, between gritted teeth. Her behind was throbbing and twitching as if the spanking were still going on. “You’re so important, and there’s always something urgent you need to be doing. Something more important than being with me.”

  His voice was a deep, irritated snarl. “Didn’t your parents ever spank you? Teach you some manners, teach you that sometimes other people do have to attend to other things?”

  “They were never around,” she said, in a small voice.

  He pulled her into the circle of his arms, her angry walls collapsed and the sobs poured out of her. “No brothers or sisters?” he asked, gently now.

  “Only child.” Arms wrapped around his waist, she held onto him.

  “I’m sorry you were lonely, and maybe neglected. But you have to understand, I am the governor of this state, and I can’t have you behaving like a child when you’re with me.”

  Hurt, angry, embarrassed, and determined she would not get in his car and be driven to his house, she said, “Then maybe I shouldn’t be with you. I’m calling a cab.”

  “All right,” he sighed. “I’ll take you home.”

  When the limo pulled up at her place, and Tom opened the door, she shot out of the car and ran inside. He would not be the one to walk away from her this time. It was intolerable, being treated like this, thrown over his knee, helpless to stop him pounding on her behind, being told what words to use. No matter what Anna said about spanking being okay in a relationship, Hal was not going to touch her again, ever. And since she couldn’t stop him, once he’d decided to punish her, she wouldn’t be seeing him at all. No man could do this to her. And there would always be something he had to rush off to do. After tonight, he wasn’t likely to call again anyway.

  ***

  Too much wine the night before had left her with a sick headache. And remembering how she’d ended up over his knee made her flush. She really had behaved like a brat having a tantrum. Her suite felt empty again, and she couldn’t stop herself from wondering if he was thinking about her.

  Probably not. Between campaigning, and matters he had to attend to as governor, she doubted he could spare a thought for her. Torn between wanting to tell him what she thought of his rushing off last night, as he always did, without telling her he’d call, reminding him he’d broken his promise and that meant they were through, and begging him to forgive her language in the restaurant and give her another chance, she resolved to keep her phone off and get out of her suite, find somewhere peaceful to study.

  With her books, and folders in her arms, and her laptop strap across her shoulder, she opened the door to find Hal standing on her porch, one finger on the doorbell.

  “I tried to call,” he said. “I wasn’t in the mood for voicemail.” He pushed open her door and marched into the living room. “We haven’t finished what we started last night.”

  Her bottom shuddered. “I’m finished,” she said.

  He strode to her and took her books from her arms, placed them on the coffee table, and lifted the strap of her laptop case over her head, laying it beside the books. His huge hand slipped behind the back of her neck, cradling her head, and he bent to bring his lips close and kiss her long and hard until heat fired up between her legs and pulsed through her system.

  When he let go of her, he said, “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I don’t have a lot of time. I had to make sure you know that with the election in a few days, this is the way it’s going to be. Yes, I’m busy. That doesn’t mean I’m not thinking about you. I couldn’t leave things the way they were last night, so here I am.” He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into his rock hard front, heart pounding, filled with happiness. And anger.

  In a minute he’d run out on her again. “So this is a kiss and run,” she murmured into his jacket.

  “I’m debating Frye tonight, it’ll be live on the news, five stations. My speechwriter is waiting; we have to spend the day preparing for possible questions. But as soon as that’s finished, if you’re not waiting for me at my home, I’ll come and get you. You shouldn’t be living here by yourself, I simply can’t allow that any more. Tell me you’ll be waiting for me at my house after the debate tonight.”

  Lainie pulled away and looked into his face, ignoring the heat in his eyes, and the lips that felt so good on hers. “You mean, like I don’t have anything else to do? Just wait around at your place?”

  “I mean to have you watched,” he said. “Things could become more dangerous for you between now and the election, and I don’t think you have the sense to watch out for yourself. You got p
retty careless last night, so I’m taking over the job of keeping you where no one can get at you. I tried to make it a quiet evening, but now, it’ll be all over the news that we were together, and there are plenty of people out there who’ll want to make me look bad.”

  Anger flamed in her gut. “Let’s see if I’ve got this. You came over here to tell me that going out with me makes you look bad?”

  “Only if you make a scene,” he said. “And I haven’t finished training that out of you. So I’m having you driven to my place where you can’t get into trouble, and where I can continue our lessons.”

  How romantic. Lessons? Who did he think he was? She’d been so happy to see him when he’d arrived, but now it was all about how being with her made him look. “Don’t,” she said simply. “Just look out for your own safety.” And she walked to the door and held it open. Yeah, she’d move the fuck into his place on the twelfth of never.

  He checked his watch. Now she really wanted him gone. “Please go,” she said. “I don’t want you here counting the minutes until you have to be somewhere more important. And I have studying to do.”

  Powerful hands wrapped around her arms, and he pulled her close for another electric kiss and a hard pat on her bottom. “You’re going to learn that because I’m busy doesn’t mean I don’t care.” And he was down the stairs, striding for his limo.

  ***

  Pleased with her productive day of studying, Lainie left the campus library and walked rapidly to her car, watching around her. She had a job in two hours, she just had time to rush home, change into her miniskirt uniform, and show up to serve the guests with a smile. Catering a dinner for David Frye, Hal’s opposition, was just a job, not a show of support. Hal’s debate with Frye would take place an hour after the dinner. Her lips still tingled from Hal’s kiss in the morning, but his hand on her bottom had left a shameful burn as well. And his constant rushing off, leaving her the way her parents had always done, left her with the same hurt and anger she’d grown up with. She could make it to his debate after her catering job, but why should she?

  The hotel wasn’t as luxurious as some, but the dining room looked elegant with white linen and crystal lights that gave only a soft glow. Lainie ran back and forth in the dim light, serving food, answering questions, and worrying about how and when she could get enough on Mason to be sure he’d be locked away. She’d show Hal she wasn’t helpless, and she wasn’t his toy to be kept on a shelf at his house.

  The meal and the speech finished, Frye left for the debate, and people drifted out.

  A familiar voice whined, close by, and reflex kicked in. She didn’t turn toward the speaker, but walked slowly away, back toward the entrance and when she was far enough away, she turned. Mason was seated at a back table, in a huddle with the two men who had grabbed her earlier.

  She crept up closer, but kept her position so Mason’s back was to her, and she wasn’t in the sightlines of the other two men.

  One of them said, “You sure this is the place to talk about this?”

  “Yes,” Mason said. “No phones, no chance of anyone listening in. Nobody’s gonna hear us back here.”

  The other man brought out a folded paper and spread it on the table in front of Mason. “Here’s what you asked for. Floor plan of the debate tonight.”

  Lainie’s blood ran cold. Mason took the paper and bent over it. He looked up at the man who’d handed it to him. Lainie edged around, needing to get closer to hear them over the growing hum of conversation.

  “No sweat,” the man who’d grabbed her said. “Clear shot from this point.” He stabbed at the paper with a fingertip.

  “Good,” Mason said. “You’ll be behind the crowd, hidden, and everyone will be watching the debate. You can get off a shot, and be outa there before they know what’s hit them.” He leaned closer to the other man, and Lainie had to strain to hear him say, “Do it right, finish the job. There’s too much at stake to let Barmak stay in office.”

  Heart pounding, mouth dry, her hand holding her phone shook. She called the police, told them what she’d just heard, and ran. It was only two blocks to the theater where the debate was to take place. And she would recognize the assassin.

  She called Hal, got voicemail, and left him a message. She had to prevent the debate until Mason and his men were caught.

  Most of the audience was seated as she slipped into the theater. Hal and Frye were standing at podiums, several feet apart, on opposite sides of the center of the stage. A moderator stood between them.

  Lainie stood in the aisle, looking frantically around for a secret service man, or for Mason or his men. If she tried to rush to the front to tell Hal to get off the stage, she’d be stopped. A couple of police in uniform stood in the aisles, and a man in a suit, who she was sure was a cop, was talking to Hal. Hal shook his head. He was refusing to postpone the debate, she knew. She knew that stubborn look, and she knew him.

  Close to the back of the theater, she examined the faces she could see behind her in the muted light. She didn’t recognize anyone, so she crept forward, to get a better view of the audience, but she moved slowly, trying not to draw attention.

  “Good evening.” The moderator stood between the two candidates. “Welcome to this evening’s debate between our incumbent governor, Hal Barmak, and David Frye, the gubernatorial hopeful. Governor Barmak has been in office for one full term, and David Frye has been a prosecuting attorney for almost a decade. I’ll step back now, and let these two great men introduce themselves. He looked at Hal. “Governor?”

  Hal, tall behind the podium, looked around in greeting and then faced the microphone. “Welcome to tonight’s debate,” he said. “As most of you know, if I am elected, I will continue the fight to re-open the hospitals that were closed down before I took office four years ago.”

  Lainie’s heart banged so loudly in her chest she couldn’t believe nobody seemed to hear it. She glanced at the proud, broad shouldered man standing straight at the microphone, telling the people of his state how he planned to make their lives better. She rotated around, scanning the crowd, looking in all directions, searching for the familiar faces of Mason’s men, or the stealthy movement of someone standing, or lifting a gun.

  And then it caught her eye. Raised arms, the shape of a rifle, a glint of light off the barrel. She screamed Hal’s name with all her might, a blood-curdling scream. The explosion of the gunshot rocked the room. She heard shrieking around her, but she was running for the front.

  Secret service men surrounded Hal, one shifted in front of her and yanked her arm backward. “I’m a doctor,” she yelled. Hal’s legs were stretched out on the floor of the stage. He was lying on his back behind the podium.

  “Lainie,” he called. “Let her through. She is a doctor.”

  A secret service man said, “Ambulance is here, sir.”

  Hal repeated, “Let her through.”

  Lainie dropped down at his side. “Where are you hit?”

  “It’s nothing,” he said. “My arm.”

  She called, “Some help here,” opening his jacket and loosening his tie. One of the men standing over him lifted his upper body and helped Lainie tug his sleeve over his wrist. Hal grimaced.

  Blood had soaked through his shirtsleeve, and when she ripped it open, she saw a dark, ugly wound, but it wasn’t spurting, it hadn’t hit an artery. She could see that it had entered the fleshy part of his arm. “Clean towels,” she ordered. A pile of linen appeared and she pressed them against the wound. Hal groaned. A gurney was wheeled up, and Hal stood and waved it away.

  “Sir, you’re going to the hospital,” said a man supporting him by his undamaged arm.

  “I am,” Hal agreed, “but I’m walking to the ambulance. And this lady,” he inclined his head toward Lainie, “is riding with me.”

  ***

  After the doctor at the hospital cleaned and dressed Hal’s wound, she sent him home in an ambulance with Lainie at his side. Hal’s house was even bigger than the m
ansion she had pictured. Tom opened the door, and Lainie followed him to a vast sitting room. Three long leather couches arranged in a partial square formed a seating area, and a marble table sat in the middle. Elegant small tables in a variety of heights were scattered around the room as if waiting for the next lavish cocktail party where they could hold drinks and appetizers. Plush armchairs and loveseats created five more seating formations throughout the room.

  Tom was close on their heels until Hal turned to him and said, “Good night, Tom.” He closed the heavy double doors behind him and turned a key. “You were magnificent,” he said to Lainie. “You saved my life. That shot went wild when you screamed.”

  “Thank god I saw him, and the rifle.”

  He lifted his injured arm out of the sling he’d been given at the hospital.

  “You shouldn’t do that,” Lainie said. God, she loved this man. He was alive and she loved every molecule of him.

  “I need both arms for this.” Hal walked to a walnut bookshelf, which was completely full of neatly arranged books, reached into the space between two bookends, and brought out a wooden paddle.

  “What are you doing?” Lainie’s bottom flinched. Panic pounded through her system.

  “I’m going to deliver a spanking you won’t forget. You can’t escape this, I know you disobeyed me tonight and put yourself in exactly the type of danger I warned you to steer clear of. You’re wearing your uniform. Where were you tonight, before you came to the debate?”

  “Not your business. And I just saved your fucking life.”

  “I won’t deny that,” he said.

  “You agree with me?” A reprieve. Lainie backed up a step, away from him, eyeing the locked doors.

  “I do,” Hal said. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you have a foul mouth, which I’ve asked you to control. And you seem to have no more sense of danger than a lemming. I’ve stuck to the rules and kept in contact with you. But you have broken the rules I set for you, especially the most important one. You went to a catering job tonight.”