Page 19 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“Good girl. You’re doing really good for me, Ruby Red.” Letting out a deliberately dramatic sigh, he shook his head. “It’s a shame I have to really hurt you now.”

And there, in the dark depths of her eyes, was his favorite emotion of all.

Fear.

CHAPTER 7

RUBY

She was beginning to worry she might havewildlyunderestimated one Beckett Stone.

It wasn’t the punishment he’d delivered for her refusing to obey immediately. That much she’d expected. And even if the weights did make her nipples ache more than usual, she could handle that. She could handle a lot.

What was harder to handle, she was learning, was what hedidn’treact to. Even when he was clearly annoyed by something, he didn’t always punish her for it immediately. Which left her wondering what, exactly, he was planning in that devious mind of his.

And it was that unknown, that wondering what might happen that had her heart racing and her stomach tying itself into knots.

But even with all that, her clit still throbbed with every look, every word, every touch. She was in pain, somewhat terrified of what came next, and her body still ached for him.

Sometimes she worried there was something seriously broken inside her, that she could have gone through everything she had and still want this. But according to the therapist she just barely scraped up enough money for every month therewas nothing wrong with her. Dr. Jenn had even applauded her choice to take the job at Club BDE, calling it a breakthrough and telling her how proud she was that Ruby was reclaiming her power as a submissive.

At the time, Ruby had rolled her eyes. But with Beckett watching her like he wanted to simply devour her, for the first time in a very long time she really did feel powerful. More so than she had with any other Dom she’d played with in the past few years.

Pushing to his feet, Beckett disappeared behind the stocks and fear pounded through her veins. She hated not being able to see what was coming. And at least when she was strapped to a cross or on a bench, she could move her head a bit to catch glimpses of what her partner was doing.

But the stocks didn’t allow for any such movement, and it was almost as bad as being blindfolded, which was one of her hard limits.

She was on the verge of calling “yellow” when his hand came to rest on her backside, calming her in an instant with that single, simple touch. “Why are you getting this spanking, Ruby?”

Something had changed in his voice. It was harder now, sterner in a way that made her feel very small. That made her want to obey just to hear him call her a good girl again in that gentle tone he’d used earlier.

And she almost did. Until her gaze landed on a familiar head of fiery red hair toward the back of the crowd surrounding their podium. Frankie raised an eyebrow as if to tell her to get on with it already.

Right. She wasn’t supposed to be his good girl tonight. She was supposed to be a complete and total brat so he would never want to have anything to do with her again.

That thought shouldn’t have her throat going dry and tears burning in the backs of her eyes.

Forcing her emotions to the side, she smirked for the crowd and raised her voice. “Because Daddy B doesn’t have a sense of humor?” she asked, earning her a few big grins from their audience.

She braced, anticipating the first swat. But it didn’t come. Instead, he simply stroked his hand over the curve of her ass.

Under other circumstances, it might have felt like a tender caress. Here, now, from him, it felt more like a warning.

A warning that was echoed in his voice when he spoke. “Try again, little girl. And just so you know, for every incorrect answer you give me, I will add a cane stroke to your tally. You’re up to seven now.”

Shit. Again he was waiting her out, giving her a choice to make instead of simply forcing her compliance.

Brilliant bastard.

The weights on her nipples were growing heavier with each passing second, a constant reminder that he would not hesitate to follow through on his threats. One was just a bit heavier than the other, making her feel a little off balance.

Who was she kidding? Everything about this man made her feel off balance.

But she couldn’t give in that easily. Not with her pride on the line. “Becauseyoudon’t have a sense of humor?”

“Eight. Try again.”

“Maybe you should try taking the stick out of your ass, Bex.”

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