Page 49 of Ruin Me, Daddy

“Much.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. She was feeling better, she just wasn’t feeling good by any measure of the word.

And apparently she wasn't as convincing as she would have liked, judging by the way he frowned at her response. “I’ll clean up here. You go take a nice hot shower.”

“I can clean up.”

“It wasn’t a request, Amanda. Go.”

Considering he hardly ever used her real name, it was probably in her best interest to do as he said. But she wasn’t in any mood to be bossed around. Rather than argue, she simply rose from her chair and picked up her dishes. And tried to ignore the racing of her heart as she rinsed them clean before stacking everything in the dishwasher.

For the briefest of moments, she thought she’d gotten away with ignoring him. Until she turned around and found him leaning back against the island, watching her with his arms crossed and a carefully blank expression on his face.

“Do you need a spanking?”

“What?” The question shouldn’t have shocked her, but she felt her eyes go wide in response. “No!”

“You sure about that? Because you’re certainly acting like a naughty little girl in desperate need of a hot bottom.”

“All I did was clear my own dishes, Ice.” God, was she whining? How humiliating. And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “You know, like any other grown adult.”

“And is that what I asked you to do?”

“No, but you weren’t being reasonable!”

“I see.” The words were clipped, with an icy undertone that had her freezing in place as he uncrossed his arms and reached for her. Catching her chin between his fingers, he forced her head back. “So, in your world, you only submit when you happen to agree with me.”

“That’s not what I said.”

Or, not what she’d meant to say, but replaying the conversation in her head she could see how he’d come to that conclusion.

Shit.

“Explain it to me, then.”

“Sir?” The honorific was likely too little, too late, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to start being a bit more respectful.

“Explain why you felt it was acceptable to defy me just now.”

“I wasn’t trying to defy you, Sir.”

“Daddy.” The grip on her chin tightened. “You want to act like a naughty little girl, you’re going to call me Daddy. Understood?”

“But—”

“Am I understood, Amanda?”

Oh, he was pissed. She could see it burning in his eyes, hear it in the tightness of his voice. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Much better. Now. When I told you to take a shower while I cleaned up, was there any part of that statement you found confusing?”

“No, Daddy.”

“Did my request in any way violate your limits?”

“No, Daddy.”

“And yet, you chose to ignore me anyway.”

To her horror, more tears filled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

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