Page 17 of Disciplining Dana

Dana took another sip of her club soda before setting the plastic cup back down. Kurt watched as she toyed with the container, twirling it around in the little indentation on the tray, the muted rumble of the jet engines filling the first-class cabin.

“I’ve never been one to judge other people’s kinks or choices, especially in the lifestyle, and I’m certainly not doing that now, but…” She glanced over at him, her dark eyes serious. “I am one hundred percent not a Little.”

“And there’s no reason you need to pretend to be one.”

“Listen,” she said, pointing her finger at him, “you were the one who said we needed to blend in, not draw attention to ourselves.”

“I did, and I’m sure you can do that without putting your hair in pigtails and calling me Daddy.” He bit back a grin, because the idea of Dana putting her gorgeous mane of rich black hair into twin rows, each tied back with little pink bows…

She shook her head as if she could read his mind. “God, you are loving this, aren’t you?”

“That’s not fair, Dana.”

“And that’s not a no.”

He pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. “Okay, so… yeah, sure, I might be enjoying this a little.”

“Well, stop,” she fired back. “Nothing’s going to happen at Rawhide. I’m not gonna pretend to be a Little, or your submissive, or even acknowledge you exist if you keep this up.”

“Harsh.”

“Fact,” she countered, tapping her fingertip against her tray. “Even if Rawhide Ranch does cater to Littles, it’s still nothing more than a BDSM-adjacent resort, and a glorified dude ranch. We’re there to investigate the mine, nothing more.”

Kurt thought back to a night a few weeks ago when he’d gone over to Dana’s place, a stack of forms in his hand. He’d informed her Gary had said they were both required to complete an application packet before they’d be allowed to step a single toe on the resort’s grounds. She’d bitched about having to fill out page after page of forms, questions that had made it clear there was a certain expectation—or at least a tacit understanding—about why they’d be interested in going to Rawhide Ranch. Still, despite her initial protests, in the end she’d filled out every page, ensuring they’d be able to get onto the property to make their investigation.

“You know what, you’re right, Dana,” he made a placating gesture. “I’m sorry for teasing.”

“See, the thing is, it doesn’t really feel like you’re just teasing. It feels like you actually want to partake of the amenities, as it were.”

“Fair enough. I mean, I did say the other night, as long as we’re there, we could have… fun. And, yeah, I kinda meant that.”

“We have fun after work.”

“Oh, come on,” Kurt grumbled. “You have to admit this situation is a little different.”

“That doesn’t matter. We’ve never mixed business with pleasure before.”

“Oh my God, that’s bullshit, and you know it. I’ve fucked you plenty of times in the field.”

“That was… different. That was… stress relief.”

Kurt groaned. “I seriously don’t understand your reluctance about this. You and I have been in all sorts of clubs and dungeons around the world, but ever since I mentioned what Rawhide Ranch is, you’ve made it abundantly clear nothing’s going to happen there. Nothing.”

Dana snatched up her drink and finished it off. “I have my reasons,” she said firmly, setting the empty cup down. “Now, can we move on and discuss business?”

“Sure,” Kurt replied. She was hiding something, and she could keep dodging what it was about Rawhide that made her uncomfortable, but he’d find out eventually.

“The mine attraction…”

“The Exploration Zone,” Kurt said, filling in the name.

“Right. The manager, Roman… Zenturio? What do we know about him?”

Kurt frowned. “Not much, honestly. He’s not a geologist or anything related to the field. He’s… well, I mean, essentially, he’s just a gift shop manager.”

“This thing they do with the sapphires… I assume he’s the one who sets that up?”

Kurt nodded. “Near as we can tell. It’s a pretty simple operation. They have an area they’ve set up with a washer. They allow the customers to come in, take a little bucket they’ve pre-filled with dirt, then use the sluice to wash through the diggings they’ve been given. Separate the stones and rocks, keep a sharp eye out, and— voilà. A sapphire.”

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