Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) by Rayanna Jamison

stated simply kissing her again. “There is a time and a place for structure and order, and there is a time and a place for throwing caution to the wind and trusting your instincts and going after what you want. That’s something I’ve learned over the past few days.”
    “And… you want… me?” Diamond asked breathlessly, her face close to his.
    “Since the moment I pulled you off the stage at Aubergine,” he admitted.
    Her heart swelled with happiness, even as her pussy throbbed with arousal at his admission. But she wasn’t going to give in that easily. In her admittedly small realm of experience, this was how women got hurt. “Pax, I… I want you too, but what about tomorrow?”
    “What about it?”
    “Is it just going to be more of the same—you come to and feel like you’ve made some horrible mistake, and I’m left behind crying?”
    “Fuck,” he swore softly, releasing her, before sitting on the bed and looking up at her with sad eyes. “I’m sorry, Diamond. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. In all reality, I thought I was doing the opposite of that. I don’t do well with spontaneity. I don’t make spur of the moment decisions without thinking through every aspect and calculating all the advantages and disadvantages to every situation. I’ve never felt like this so quickly. I’ve never jumped into anything so fully, or leapt without looking down first. My analytical mind was telling me that there was no realistic way that any kind of relationship with you would ever work. I had to throw out the pros and cons and what ifs and listen to my heart. I’ve never done that before.”
    Diamond’s own heart was in her throat as she listened to Pax’s impassioned plea. “What,” her voice cracked, and she swallowed heavily. “What is your heart telling you?”
    “To throw out the rule book and see what happens. To take a chance for once in my life. To go after what I want because I deserve happiness, and sometimes that means taking risks. I can’t promise that my doubts and fears won’t get the best of me at times. This is completely new territory for me, but I promise to do my level best not to hurt you, and to tell you when I’m struggling.”
    He stopped, and looked up at her, and she was nearly moved to tears by the raw emotions playing out on his face.
    “But, what about work? What about the fact that you’re my employer? What will people think? How will it even work?
    “Luckily for me, people’s opinions of me is the one thing I don’t give a damn about, and as for how it will work, we’ll figure that out as we go, I guess.” He smiled, a mischievous smile, as he looked up at her with amusement. “There is one thing you need to consider, however.”
    “What’s that?”
    “I’m a dominant by nature. It’s not just work for me. I expect you to be my submissive both inside and outside of the club.”
    She smiled, a whole world of possibility opening up in her mind at the notion. She couldn’t believe that after the night she had had, one simple sentence like that one filled her with boundless amounts of energy and a sudden urge to jump his bones.  Ignoring her throbbing ass, she sat gingerly on his lap and threw her arms around his neck, smiling happily. “I was hoping you would say that.”

Chapter Seven
    Diamond quickly learned that being Pax’s girlfriend came with a whole different set of rules than being one of his showgirls. She also learned that there was a whole lot more to being a sub than getting spanked for her misdeeds. Pax was patient, easing her into it slowly, but as he had told her, he was a man who thrived on schedules, rules and order. His expectations were high, and Diamond found herself subject to many new forms of punishment those first few days.
    They stayed together every night—sometimes in her suite, and sometimes in his, always returning to their respective suites for breakfast, to avoid being found out by any of the hotel staff.  Their nights were