Page 27 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“You didn’t play together as friends?”

“No. Looking back, I think we were both so in love with each other we were terrified of what would happen if we crossed that line so we never played, even platonically.”

“I can’t imagine Delia being scared of anything.”

Cordelia, with that hint of danger swimming just beneath her head cheerleader good looks was everything Ruby wanted to be. Well, except for the Domme part. Ruby couldn’t imagine dominating someone else.

An image of Beckett, stark naked with his head and arms locked in the stocks while she circled him, dressed head to toe in black leather popped into Ruby’s head, startling a laugh out of her that had Ivy staring down at her as though she’d lost her mind.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ruby managed through giggles. “I was just thinking how I wanna be Cordelia when I grow up but without the whole ‘dominating other people’ thing and now I can’t stop picturing Beckett in the stocks, yelling at me to stop messing around while I smack his ass with a crop.”

Ivy’s laughter was long and loud this time. “Oh my god. Beckett wouldnever. And if you even tried, he’d have you over his knee so fast it would make your head spin.”

“Might be worth it though. I imagine it would be fun to get him riled up.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Beckett riled, now that you mention it. Like you said, he’s patient. Almost calculated. I’d pay good money to see someone really get under his skin.”

Interesting. Now that she knew her usual bratting tactics wouldn’t get to him, she’d have to try something else next time.

Because Beckett had made it very clear he wanted a next time. “He asked me not to get myself off tonight.”

“Oh?” There was a wealth of meaning in that one single syllable. “Are you going to listen?”

“I don’t know. He told me it would please him. No threats. No ultimatums. Just ‘It would please me’.”

“Do you want to please him?”

“Yes. And I don’t know how to feel about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s just been a really long time since anyone made me want to…” She trailed off, unsure of exactly how to put what she was feeling into words.

“Surrender?” Ivy suggested softly.

“That’s a good word for it. The last time Isurrenderedthe way Beckett makes me want to, it didn’t exactly go well for me.”

“I’m sorry.” And unlike some, who mistook pity for empathy, Ivy genuinely seemed to mean it.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. But it’s taken me a lot of time and a lot of therapy to even be willing to submit to someone during a scene.”

“And you’re worried because Beckett makes you want to submit the way you did before.”

“Yes.” And because Beckett reminded her, in so many ways, ofhim. Rich as sin and just as gorgeous, with thatsomethingabout him that practically demanded her obedience.

Everything Ruby knew to avoid. And yet, here she was again, ready to drop to her knees for a man bound to break her heart.

She really was the worst kind of fool.

“You know that doesn’t mean being a doormat, right?” Ivy said, her tone still soft and gentle though now it held a note of conviction it hadn’t before. “You can submit yourself wholly to another person and still be strong. Still stand up for yourself. That’s something I had to learn for myself along the way. Something I’m still learning, even with Dee. There are times I think it would be easier to simply give in to her even if it’s something important to me, and I have to remind myself that’s not what either of us wants.”

“Maybe.” She knew all of that. Had worked through those exact issues with her therapist over the past few years. But it still worried her, this need she had to give herself over the way a man like Beckett Stone would want her to.

“You should talk to Silver sometime.”

For a moment, Ruby could only stare up at Ivy. “I’m sorry. It almost sounded like you said I should talk toSilver.”

“Because I did. She knows a bit about abusive Doms. I think you two could be good for each other.”

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