Page 38 of Bet On Me, Daddy

“All right?” Now it was her turn to question if she’d heard him correctly. “Really? Just like that?”

“Yes. If it makes you that uncomfortable, I won’t do it again. I’d appreciate an explanation, but I can respect that you aren’t ready to give me one yet.”

Yet. The word hung between them, heavy with promise. “Well… thanks. I appreciate you being so, um, amenable.”

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk and he resumed his slow trek forward. “Amenable?”

“Yes. Amenable.”

“I can’t say that’s a word I’ve heard applied to me very often.”

Gee, I wonder why. “It happens to fit this specific situation.”

The aftercare room wasn’t a particularly large space. A fact she was regretting as his next step put her within arms’ reach. “I suppose it does. But I would warn you not to get used to it, Ruby Red.”

“I’m not scared of you.”

“Maybe you should be.” Another step closer. And now he lifted his hand, brushing his fingers down the bare skin of her upper arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. “I’m not looking for anything serious, Ruby.”

“Who said I was?” She wasn’t, and the ache in her chest had nothing to do with his declaration.

Liar.

“You should be,” he said softly, still running the tips of his fingers up and down her arm. “You deserve someone who will care for you. Who will keep you safe. Who will love and cherish you. I’m not that man. I can’t be that man for you, Ruby.”

“I’m not interested in being cherished or protected, Beckett.”I’m not interested in being controlled.

“What are you interested in, then?”

Actions, they said, spoke louder than words. With that in mind, she shifted, just enough to press herself against him, looping her arms around his neck as she pushed up onto her toes. “This.”

Unlike when he’d kissed her the night before, she didn’t start gentle. She poured every ounce of need and heat she’d been feeling since their scene into the kiss, telling him without words exactly what she wanted from him.

She wanted the pleasure he’d promised her. She wanted more of the pain he’d already given her. She wanted to let her mind empty of everything that wasn’t him, the way it had during her punishment.

Strong hands slid down her body, reigniting the fire in her veins as he moved over her corset, under the short skirt she’d paired with it to grip her ass in a tight, possessive hold.

Pain flared, not quite as strong as it had been right after her caning but strong enough to have her hissing against his lips.

His chest vibrated with laughter a moment before he lifted his head to grin down at her. “Poor baby. Is your bottom still sore?”

“You know it’s still sore, you?—”

“Careful.” He gave her ass another hard squeeze, this time in warning. “Just because you aren’t mine doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate outright rudeness. So unless you want to go home again tonight without any relief, you’ll watch your mouth, Ruby Red.”

“How do you know I didn’trelievemyself already?”

“Did you?”

She hadn’t, because she’d wanted his hands on her more than she’d wanted her own. But telling him that would only feed his ego. “Guess you’ll never know,” she said instead with a flash of a smile.

“Hmm. Then I guess I’ll just have to assume the worst. It’s a pity, really, because I was so looking forward to finding out how your pussy tastes when you come all over my tongue.”

Dammit. She hadn’t been expecting that, and now that she knew what she was leaving on the table, it was tempting to tell him the truth.

Even more tempting when he released his hold on her ass to cup her face in his hands, his dark eyes boring into hers. “Tell the truth, Ruby Red. Were you a good girl for me last night?”

Yes, Daddy. She’d never actually used that title with anyone before, but just then she wanted nothing more than to be Daddy’s good girl. She tried not to think about what it meant that she was wanting things from him she’d never wanted or needed from anyone else. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

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