Page 16 of Disciplining Dana

“Why would you say that?” she probed.

Kurt looked away. “I’m merely saying I think it would be a good idea, okay?”

Uh huh. Kurt wasn’t good at this. Being coy wasn’t his strong suit, and this instance was no different. She hated when he tried, even if it was typically an attempt on his part to protect her feelings. On one level it was sorta sweet each time he made the effort, but she bristled nonetheless at the idea he thought she wasn’t self-aware enough to know what people in their field thought of her, particularly those at McKerr-Dennison.

“You think they’re watching me.”

He snapped his gaze back to her. “I didn’t say that…”

“You didn’t have to. I’m not stupid, Kurt. Of course they’re watching me. They have been for a while now. I’m… I’m reckless. I take chances. I do things my way, not the way they preach in the company manual, and… sometimes things happen.”

“You definitely have a way of painting a target on yourself.”

“But I get results,” she stated emphatically.

Kurt nodded. “Sure, nobody’s questioning that, but it couldn’t hurt to finish an assignment without you ending up in the hospital, know what I’m saying?”

Dana had her suspicions why he was selling this assignment so hard, the teasing about going as a D/s couple aside. As she’d said, she wasn’t stupid. She’d heard some of the rumors going around. HR and folks on the board wanted her kept on a tighter leash. Hell, that was part of the reason they’d partnered her with Kurt all these years, the fact they occasionally shared a bed notwithstanding. Her aggressiveness in the field was both an asset and a detriment. And while she never really worried about them letting her go, she did fear someday they might try to keep her desk-bound, looking at scans and mapping topography to hand over to someone else to do the boots-on-the-ground field work. The fun stuff. The things that still excited her about being in the profession.

She took another sip of her wine as Kurt gazed back intently. He was right about one thing: this assignment had the potential to take a measure of heat off her. They’d find something out in Montana; that was a given. Her peers called her cocky and arrogant, but that was jealousy substituting words for what she really was: confident. Dana was confident in her skills, confident in her abilities, and her track record backed her up. There was only one thing she wasn’t confident about in her life right now, and the fact she couldn’t entirely pin down what that was irritated her more than she cared to admit.

“Okay,” she said, to break the pause that had gone on too long. “Fine. Let’s do this. But let me make it clear”—she held up her finger—“I’m not going to Rawhide Ranch so you can spend the week trying to fuck me in between checking out this mine. I’m going there to prove that like all my previous research, I’m right about this one, too. We’re either going to find a deposit there, or data that points us in the right direction toward one.”

“So”—Kurt gave her a teasing smile—“what I’m hearing is once you do find one or the other of those things, then we can spend the rest of the time fucking?”

Now it was Dana’s turn to laugh. “Dude. You had the chance to fuck me the other night, and you passed it up.”

Kurt’s mouth morphed in an elaborate ‘O’, his eyes wide in faux shock. “I’m certain I have no idea what you’re referring to.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you don’t,” she huffed. “That being said, since the concept seems to be eluding you, let me put it in simple terms even you can grasp…”

She pointed her finger.

“I’m not going all the way to Montana just so you can screw up again.”

CHAPTER 4

Kurt

“Littles?”

“Uh… yeah. Littles.”

Kurt waited for what he suspected was coming. He’d kept this bit of information squirreled away until they were on the plane heading to Rawhide Ranch because she’d already balked once about going when they’d discussed the details of what kind of resort Rawhide was. Dana truly wasn’t a judgmental person, but like anyone she wouldn’t intentionally put herself in an uncomfortable position if it could be avoided. Bringing up Littles was potentially something that might’ve colored her decision to take this assignment if he’d led with it, and so he hadn’t brought it up.

Until now.

Dana tapped the fold-down seat back tray in front of her. “You told me Rawhide Ranch was a BDSM-adjacent resort.”

“And it is.”

“But now you’re saying it caters to Littles?”

Kurt made a rotating motion with his fingers, emphasizing his words. “I’m not saying it only caters to Littles, I’m just saying it’s… well-known for helping Littles find their Daddies or Mommies.”

“And you know this… how?”

“Little—no pun intended—bits and pieces I picked up in conversation at a few events we’ve been to.”

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