Page 18 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Good,” he said instead, inwardly laughing at the flicker of disappointment in her eyes. “The clamps aren’t too tight?”

“Nope. Right as rain.”

“Perfect. You’ll use the safeword if that changes.”

It wasn’t a question, so he didn’t word it as such. And he was pleased when Ruby agreed without hesitation. “Yes.”

Good girl. At least she knew not to fuck around with something as important as her safeword. Most everything else he was willing to let her play the brat with, but not this.

Not with her safety.

Those same old memories from before threatened to crowd him, so he dragged in a deep breath and pushed them aside. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now, so they would just have to wait.

“All right, Ruby Red. Let’s get you in those stocks.”

She pouted. Just for a moment, but he saw the way her bottom lip puffed out before she caught herself, making it even more clear how much she disliked the stocks.

He’d have to ask her about it later. If the humiliation outweighed her enjoyment, then that was something he certainly wanted to keep in mind for the next time.

Because even if he hadn’t made that promise to Holden, he already knew there would have been a next time. One night was not even close to enough to get a woman like Ruby out of his system

And he wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about that.

Pushing those thoughts down into the box where he’d crammed his memories a moment ago, he slid his hand around to the back of her neck.

Mine.

For tonight, anyway. And tonight would be enough, at least for now.

And there’s some oceanfront property in Arizona for sale.

Ignoring those torturous thoughts, he guided Ruby over to the stocks. He released her, reaching for the top piece of wood, raising it up to open the holes for her head and wrists.

“Bend over and place your neck in the middle cutout. Your wrists go on either side of you.”

Once again, he watched her eyes as she tried to figure out some way to twist his words. Malicious compliance was a brat’s best friend, but he hadn’t given her much wiggle room.

Sighing dramatically, she leaned forward, positioning herself in the stocks. He took a moment to move her ponytail out of the way so it wouldn’t get stuck before lowering the wood and locking her in place.

She shifted, pulling at her hands to see if she was actually stuck. Which gave him the perverse pleasure of hearing her breath hitch as she realized she was well and truly captured.

Pulling the stopwatch out of his pocket, he hit the button to stop the timer, holding it up for her to see. “Eight minutes. Which means seven weights for those pretty little tits of yours, Ruby Red.”

“I still say you don’t play fair. Ididobey.”

Crouching down in front of her, he held up one of the magnets for her to see. “You only did as you were told after I gave you an ultimatum. That isn’t obedience in my book, Ruby Red. Being a brat has consequences, and these are yours.”

It would be easier to walk around and attach the magnets while standing beside her. But he wanted to watch her eyes as he added each weight. It was an addiction, and one he worried there might not be a cure for.

To his delight, Ruby didn’t disappoint. When the first magnet caught, those beautiful brown eyes went round with surprise and she sucked in a sharp breath.

With each magnet, he watched her emotions battle each other in her gaze. Shock faded after a while, but pain and pleasure were having quite the go round. Worry was there, too, but just a hint of it.

By the time he added the seventh, final weight, she was panting slightly and pain appeared to be winning the battle, from what he could see in her eyes.

“What color are you, sweetheart?” he asked softly, brushing a stray bit of hair from her face.

“Green. Still green.”

---