Page 37 of Disciplining Dana

It fell open.

Fuck.

The shackle pulled free from the lock body, and as it did Kurt noticed a bluish-gray residue on the shank. He touched it gingerly, a sticky substance coming away on his fingertip as he pulled back.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

She’d jimmied the padlock. The gum she’d used to hold it in a dummy-closed position was classic. A Dana dead-giveaway.

Goddammit.

He pulled out his cell and slammed his finger against the screen until the call went through. Again, straight to voicemail. Before the ‘leave me a message’ prompt had finished he cut the call off with an angry jab.

She’d gone down there. He was one hundred and fifty fucking percent sure she had. There was no question of it.

He punched his hand into the wall. “God-fucking-dammit!”

He had a decision to make. He could thank Roman for waiting, then leave the shop. Go outside and wait for her to emerge when she was finished with what she was doing. How long that would take was unknown, but when she did sneak out, he could catch her, confront her and…

The things racing through his head he wanted to do to her started with his palm turning her ass shades of purple and blue and only got more vicious from there. This… how the fuck could she do this to him? Again!

Again.

Because it was again. It was willful ignorance on his part to pretend this was the first time she’d done something like this, because it wasn’t. It wasn’t the first or the third or the fifth. And the thing was, she was going to do it again. Unless he did something to make it clear to her this needed to stop, once and for all, it was going to happen again and again and again. Because she could get away with it. She had and she could, and she would because she clearly wasn’t going to stop of her own accord, and without any ramifications, without some form of discipline…

“Hey! You about done?”

Roman’s voice pulled Kurt out of his reverie. Turning toward the front of the shop, he paused for a moment before answering to consider his next moves.

Just go outside, calm down, and wait for her to come out of the fucking mine where she shouldn’t be. Then, confront her, Kurt. Pull her ass back to her room and finally, finally have the conversation you know you’ve needed to for a long time now.

He could do that, and in terms of drawing attention to what Dana had clearly done, it was probably the least obtrusive.

Or…

“No, I’m not,” he called out. “In fact…” He looked back toward the lock, the gate, the dark tunnel beyond.

“I need your help.”

CHAPTER 9

Dana

“Just the Orbit Wintermint, ma’am?”

Dana nodded with a smile.

“Do you need a bag?”

“No thank you,” she answered politely, and remembering what Kurt had told her, she showed her keycard to the clerk, who thanked her for dropping in. Picking up the small box of gum, she left the store, striding across the lobby of the main building and out the front door.

She’d needed only an hour of poring over her files to realize she was right. The erosion cut she and Kurt had found was another piece to the puzzle she was putting together, but right now it was only a piece. Like a corner, but Dana wanted more than just the one. She needed a second, and right now there was one place where she knew she could find it.

Taking out two pieces of gum from the box, she popped them into her mouth. She didn’t normally chew gum, but for what she had planned, she needed it.

No. Do I make myself clear?

He had, but just as clear was her need to confirm what she suspected, and there was only one way to do that.

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