Balancing it All: The Punishment Pit ~ Book Four Read online

  Balancing it All

  The Punishment Pit ~ Book Four

  Livia Grant

  ©2020 by Livia Grant

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Black Collar Press

  Balancing it All

  Punishment Pit Series - Book Four

  by Livia Grant

  e-book ISBN: 978-1-947559-38-7

  Print ISBN: 978-1-947559-39-4

  Cover Art by Laura Hidalgo and Spellbinding Creations

  Sign Up for Livia’s Newsletter! www.liviagrant.com/newsletter/

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Electronic Publish Date, October 2020

  First Print Publish Date, October 2020

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About the Author

  Also by Livia Grant

  Black Collar Press

  Chapter One

  Lukus

  Lukus was throwing the bread sticks into the oven to warm up when the cell phone in his pocket vibrated. He decided to let it roll to voicemail. There was only one person he wanted to talk to right now, and she was in the elevator on her way up to the loft.

  I wonder if we’ll have time for a quickie before we eat.

  They’d been damn near inseparable since meeting the weekend before, and yesterday his intense attraction to Tiffany had started to scare him after he’d realized he couldn’t make it through an hour without thinking about her. Scratch that. He couldn’t make it an hour without obsessing about her. He was a Dom; in control of anything and everything in his life. It had pissed him off that he couldn’t just turn off the need to see her—touch her—talk to her—fuck her.

  As if he’d needed to prove he was stronger than her magnetic pull, he’d forced himself to stay away from her last night. His brain knew they needed the break from each other to catch their breath. It was at around 11 p.m., when he’d found himself in the elevator with car keys in hand to drive out to her place in the burbs, that the depth of his problem had hit him hard.

  He’d managed to turn himself around and return to his loft, but he’d slept like shit, worried about her needing his comfort when the nightmares of that asshole, Jake, woke her. By 4 a.m. he had given up on sleep, deciding to get an early start on his day rather than lie in bed feeling like a fucking lovesick puppy.

  Lukus’s phone vibrated again. “Dammit.” It was clear someone wanted to talk to him, and now. “This better be good.”

  It was his club manager, Ethan, calling. “We have a problem.”

  “Funny. That’s why I hired you. To take care of the problems.”

  “I think you’re gonna want to handle this one yourself.”

  “I doubt it. Find Derek. He should be back soon from parking Tiff’s car.”

  “I don’t think this can wait,” Ethan said.

  “Is the place on fire? If not, it can wait.”

  “Robinson is here.”

  “Fuck. Well, it was bound to happen at some point. His suspension is up. He’s cleared to return to the club.”

  “That’s not the only problem.”

  Lukus opened the oven to check on the lasagna and bread sticks. Deciding to leave them in for a minute longer, he continued, “Spit it out, will ya? This cryptic shit is driving me nuts.”

  “Did your girlfriend make it up there yet?”

  The first alarm bell went off. “No. She should…” It hit him that there’d been plenty of time for Tiffany to have made it up to the loft. “Fuck.”

  “Yep. I’m not sure how she got in, but I came out front from the storage closet with a case of Heineken, and saw a crowd gathering in front of the bar. I was surprised ’cause it’s still early. It took me a minute to figure out what’s going on, but there’s a hot blonde surrounded by Robinson and the Bronson twins. She doesn’t belong.”

  “Why do you think it’s Tiffany?”

  “For starters, she looks like a dead ringer of how Derek described her,” Ethan said. “But mainly, because she’s the only woman I’ve seen in the club fully dressed, looking like she just came from the office. She has no collar and she looks scared shitless.”

  “God dammit. I can’t fucking believe it. I’m gonna wail on her ass so hard she isn’t going to sit down for a week.”

  “Well, you’d better hurry. It seems like she just said something that totally pissed Robinson off. He looks like he’s going to beat you to it.”

  Lukus was already sprinting to the stairwell, knowing it was faster than waiting for the elevator. “Over my dead body. Get out there and break it up. Protect her at all costs until I get there.”

  “You got it, boss.” The call ended as both men moved into action.

  Lukus’s mind raced thinking of all the bad things Robinson might do to his Tiff as he took the stairs two at a time, going as fast as he could without breaking his neck.

  On some level he knew he couldn’t pin the blame for this situation on Robinson, even if he was a top-notch asshole. He had so wanted to expel him from the club when Robinson, a sadistic bastard, put his sub-turned-slave in the hospital six weeks ago. If only the woman had pressed charges, Lukus could have expelled him, but she moved back in with him after her release from the hospital. Following the strict by-laws of the club contracts, the most Lukus could sanction him with was a one-month suspension from stepping foot on club property. That one month had ended last weekend.

  He’d better not hurt a hair on her head or he’s dead.

  Lukus made it to the first floor in one piece and took the quickest route to the club floor by rushing across the stage and through the red velvet stage curtains. The room was dimly lit, but he could make out the crowd gathered in front of the bar, as Ethan described. He stopped long enough to assess the situation. His blood started to boil when he saw Robinson pulling Tiffany’s hair and grabbing her ass.

  I’m glad I have Markus on retainer. There’s a good chance I might end up in jail tonight.

  * * *

  Tiffany

  “Take your hands off her right now, Robinson, or I’ll cut them off for you.”

  Tiffany had never been so happy to hear Lukus’s voice. When her captor failed to release her fast enough for Lukus, she felt herself being yanked back into Lukus’s arms, her back pressed against his chest, wrapped in his protective embrace. She could feel tension building in the silent standoff between the two Doms.

  The older man broke the silence with a stiff response. “Mitchell.”

  “Robinson. I think you should be heading out.”

  “Fuck you. I just got here. Since when do you play referee out on the club floor? She’s not collared. She’s fair game.”

  “The hell she is. Take one last good look at this woman so you’ll know her
when you see her. Listen up. If I ever see you so much as glancing her way, let alone talking to her, or touching her ever again, I’ll knock you into next year. Got that?”

  Tiffany felt Lukus shaking with anger while holding her tight against him. Unfortunately, she knew a good share of his justifiable anger was directed at her for disobeying him. She prayed the Dom in front of her would back down, because she was going to feel even worse if they threw punches over her stupid curiosity.

  Robinson began to show signs of withdrawing. Unfortunately for the slave girl at his feet, he turned his anger towards her as he yanked her leash, hauling her forward to her hands and knees. His menacing eyes never left Lukus’s. “I don’t know what you’re playing at here, Lukus. You made the fucking rules, so you better damn well follow them. I don’t care who the fuck she is. If she shows up here without a collar again, she is mine.”

  “Touch her and die.”

  Tiff saw a flash of gleeful surprise cross Robinson’s face. “Holy shit. The rumors are true. You’re going soft over a piece of ass. At least she looks to be a juicy piece.” Robinson’s gaze swept down over Tiffany’s body. She could feel Lukus tensing. Knowing she needed to keep him from doing something stupid, she turned in his arms, reaching up to hold his face in her hands.

  “Honey, look at me. I am so sorry. This is totally my fault. Don’t get in a fight over me. Let’s go upstairs. Please.”

  Lukus refused to take his eyes off the predator behind her, but he did lean in to whisper against her ear. “I can’t fucking believe you defied me. We just talked about it. You did exactly what I told you not to do.”

  Obviously, his whisper hadn’t been soft enough, because she could hear the mocking laughter behind her. “Trouble in paradise, Mitchell? I fucking love it. The Master’s Master can’t control his sub. You must be losing your touch.”

  “Get the fuck out now, Robinson, before I rethink your reinstatement.”

  Tiffany was surprised to hear another voice join them. “Do we have a problem here, boss?”

  “Ethan, show Robinson out, and make sure he doesn’t come back tonight. Turn off his access card.”

  “This is bullshit. I haven’t broken any club rules. If anyone has, you did by letting your sub wander around without her fucking collar on.”

  Before she could stop him, as if she could have anyway, Lukus shoved Tiff aside, and had Robinson by the collar, pulling the shorter man until their angry faces were just inches apart. “I’ll make this easy for you. It’s my club, and I make the rules. It’s a simple rule. Touch her and die, got it?”

  They all held their breath, waiting to see who would make the next move, until the club door opened, and Derek stepped through. She could see his momentary confusion at the scene before him, but he must have figured it out quickly, because he stepped up next to Lukus. Tiff could see the first real flicker of fear crossing Robinson’s expression when faced with the dynamic duo of Lukus and Derek. They really did make an intimidating pair.

  Ethan stepped up. “Derek, can you please escort Mr. Robinson out. I’ll take care of revoking his entry access.”

  Tiffany snuck a glance up at Derek and saw him glaring at her. Luckily, she was saved from his wrath by the older Dom finally moving to leave. He stepped out of Lukus’s grasp and jerked on his sub’s leash. “Come along, slut.” The young girl didn’t look too happy, but she scrambled to her feet, quickly catching up before he pulled her leash again. Derek threw Tiff a dirty look before he stomped out behind the ejected couple, leaving Tiff to face Lukus’s justified wrath on her own.

  Before she knew it, she was gripped by her upper arms and pulled tight against his chest. She’d never seen Lukus this angry; the sight took her breath away. He may have been looking into her eyes, but he was talking to the club manager standing behind her. “Ethan, this is Tiffany O’Sullivan. She is my girlfriend. I’ll give you her photo. I want you to share it with all the employees so everyone knows who she is and that she’s to be protected at all times. She has full access to the back of house, my office and the loft, but her access card explicitly excludes her access to the club. She is not a member, and as such, should never be here without being at my side as my guest. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll make sure everyone knows. If you don’t mind me asking, how did she get in tonight? Do we have a security problem here?”

  “That’s an excellent question, Mr. Walsh. Would you care to enlighten us, Tiffany? I’d love to hear exactly how you gained access to the club, despite my explicit instructions to the contrary.”

  “I wasn’t thinking. I’m so sorry. I was just curious. I was only going to take a peek.”

  “I’m gonna tan your hide so hard you aren’t going to sit for the rest of the night. God dammit, Tiff, Robinson is the absolutely last member of the club I’d ever want to expose you to.” She could hear the emotion in his voice as he suddenly hugged her tightly to him. In spite of his threat to spank her, she was relieved by his protective reaction. They spent a long moment clinging to each other, both needing to calm down. When they parted, Lukus had regained his composure.

  “Tiffany, I want you to apologize to Ethan. He’s my club manager, and you made a hot mess here tonight. We’re lucky it’s early and there aren’t many members here yet.”

  Stopping to glance around, Tiffany followed his lead and now saw that basically every member present had stopped what they were doing and were staring at the impromptu show just put on. Only now did she realize just how mortified Lukus must have been by her behavior tonight.

  Well, I was worried I was going to embarrass him and now I have. Great job, Tiff.

  “I’m so sorry, Ethan. I don’t know what I was thinking. I promise, I won’t cause you any more problems by coming into the club without Lukus.”

  Ethan surprised Tiffany by reaching out, as if to shake her hand. She was unsure if she was supposed to accept the greeting and glanced at Lukus for guidance. He nodded his approval. Reaching out, she shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too, Ethan, although I wish it had been under better conditions.”

  Ethan didn’t look upset by the events in the least. “Oh, no worries. It was the most excitement we’ve had in here all week. It’s been almost boring without Lukus here doing the shows. He always keeps things exciting, although he’s usually taking on the subs and not the Doms. I thought Robinson was going to be stupid enough to throw a punch there for a minute.” He turned to address his boss. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll buy everyone here a round on the house.”

  “That’s fine. Night.”

  With that, Lukus dismissed his club manager, who was smart enough to take the hint. “Nice to have met you, Tiffany. I hope to see more of you around here—with Lukus, of course.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Ethan,” she said again.

  Despite knowing how much trouble she was in, Tiff couldn’t help but be pleased to hear Lukus had kept his promise to her and hadn’t done the center stage show the night before. When he’d told her he had to work late on a security job, a small part of her worried he’d lied so he could stay at the club for his normal punishment show. His eyes hadn’t stopped studying her, and she suspected he knew what she was thinking.

  “We need to go upstairs. I left dinner in the oven and I bet it’s burned now.”

  “Oh no. I am so sorry, Lukus. Really.”

  “Oh, baby. You haven’t seen sorry yet. Just wait until I get you upstairs.” And with that, he reached down to pick up her discarded bags with one hand while squeezing her hand in his other, dragging her along behind him.

  Way to go, Tiff. You really blew it this time.

  Chapter Two

  Lukus

  Unfuckingbelievable. Never. Felt. Like. This. Ever.

  Lukus barely managed to maintain his composure long enough to literally drag Tiffany off the club floor. By the time they crammed into the small elevator that took them from his club office to his two-story loft at the top of the building, he
was shaking. Emotions he’d never felt coursed through his veins like molten lava erupting from an active volcano. He’d witnessed many Doms losing control, but never, not once, had he felt this close to the edge. He was the one who always maintained his cool. He was the one hysterical people came to for help defusing their emotional bombs.

  Like helping Markus and Brianna. I’m supposed to be the one in control; not the one losing it over a damn woman.

  Warning bells thundered through his brain so fiercely, he had an instant headache. On some subconscious level he suspected he was overreacting, but having zero experience handling the onslaught of sentiments raging through him, he hadn’t the first clue how to stem the emotional storm.

  The second the elevator doors closed, he released Tiffany’s hand as if it were burning his skin. Unsure how long he could contain his growing rage, he distanced himself from her as far as possible in the cramped space, not wanting to scare her. Her quiet sob confused him. A quick glance in her direction confirmed she was crying. He hated that her tears always hit him hard. He felt a desire to comfort her, but it was quickly overridden with anger.

  She defied me. Flat out. Fucking did the exact opposite of what I told her to do.

  As the doors opened, he sprinted out of the elevator, leaving her weeping. It hit him that being blatantly disobeyed was most likely a daily occurrence for many men, but it hadn’t happened to him before, ever. For his entire adult life, he’d surrounded himself with submissive women who obeyed him in all things, in and out of the bedroom. While brave subs might have broken a small rule, it had always been part of the power exchange games he was so fond of playing. The punishments he’d been forced to dish out for their infraction were exactly what they both had wanted.