Page 47 of Training His Pet

In the corner of the room was a cage. A metal cage meant for a dog. A thick pillow covered the bottom, and a warm blanket was folded inside as well.

“I’m not going in there,” she said and kicked at his leg.

He gave her a warning squeeze of her hand, but she wasn’t listening. No. She was not going in a fucking crate.

“I know I was rude, and you can spank me for it, but I’m not—”

“I determine your correction, not you,” he said evenly. “If you try to kick me again, I’ll bind you before tucking you in. If you keep yelling at me, you’ll sleep gagged.” He brought her to the opening of the cage. “Now, get ready for bed,” he commanded in a hard voice.

“I’m sorry I was rude—”

“This isn’t all about your comment. You need to let go, you need to learn that you aren’t in control here, and you really need to be kept out of trouble. So, until I’m convinced you aren’t going to go snooping around or causing trouble, you’ll stay in the crate.” He brushed her hair from her shoulders. “It’s not as bad as you think, and just like the spanking, and the store, you’re not going to hate this.”

She swallowed back the panic rising in her throat. “You’ll let me out if I need to get out?” she asked, confused why she would even consider going along with him on this.

He nodded. “If the reason is a good one.”

“But—”

“While we’re here, Erika, you aren’t making decisions. You’re following directions, you’re following rules, and you’re rewarded when you do these things. When you don’t, you’re corrected.”

“If I have to use the bathroom?” she asked, hating the meek voice coming out of her. When he was like that, hovering and domineering, she couldn’t help but feel smaller. But even with his fierceness, his unmovable dominance, she didn’t feel overpowered, or crushed. It was like he knew exactly how much force, how much pressure to put on her without hurting her.

“You won’t have to wet the crate.” He smiled, but she could see through it now. She was starting to see him, see the man behind the guard. He wasn’t grinning because he wanted her to be reassured; he was grinning because he was going to enjoy her discomfort.

And fuck if her pussy didn’t clench at the idea, too.

Chapter Seventeen

Erika was curled upon the purple pillow in the crate when Dax woke up the next morning. He sat up in bed and looked over at his little pet. The extra pillow he’d given her was squished in her embrace and the blanket had slid off her ass during the night. She’d taken off her clothes when he commanded it, and he figured she had realized the more she obeyed, the more likely she’d be able to get out of the crate when she wanted.

He had no plans to keep her in there indefinitely, but he did need her to be close by at night. He needed to be sure she wasn’t going to slip out of bed and start digging around places she shouldn’t be digging. Even with her promise, he had to protect his friends. To be sure their secrets didn’t get leaked out. And as much as he knew she wouldn’t intentionally hurt any of them, he could see the blinding desire to reach her goals.

Deciding to let her sleep a little longer, he headed to the bathroom to clean up. When he’d been back in Chicago contemplating taking a long weekend for himself, this wasn’t exactly what he’d pictured. Though he wasn’t sure he was all that upset about it.

After his shower, he dressed and shot off a text to Corbin to check in. His little brother would probably start accusing him of hovering like a mother hen, but Dax’s concern was a bit bigger than that. He needed to be sure Joey wasn’t getting any wild ideas in his head. Though it sounded like he hadn’t even sent a guy over to Erika’s apartment looking for her.

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