Page 36 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

“I don’t think so.” He locked Butch back in his cage and went to stand next to her. He held out his hand.

With a sigh, she handed over the list of hours she’d worked. “I’ll feed the animals,” she muttered, not wanting to see his expression when he read it.

She focused on the task at hand, and fifteen minutes later, all the animals had been fed. She couldn’t think of any other tasks to use as procrastination techniques, so she went and stood beside him near the counter.

He set the pages down, crossed his arms, and said sternly, “This is completely unacceptable. I thought you told me Gwen fed the animals in the morning.”

“She did for the first couple of weeks, but then I told her I had it covered, because she was doing it for free as a favor. I pay her to come in twice a week to do vet checks on the animals, not to feed them.”

“When do you sleep?”

“I sleep,” she said.

“Five or six hours a night?”

“Sometimes.”

He shook his head. “For the next seven days, you’re only allowed to put in eight hours per day.”

“Eight hours? There’s no way I can get everything done in eight hours.”

“I don’t care.”

Tessica put her hands on her hips. “Well, it’s not really your call, is it?”

Connor raised his eyebrows. “We’re talking about dating. It may not be one hundred percent official yet, but I care about you. When I see you doing something this unhealthy, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Little, a submissive, or an equal partner. I wouldn’t be okay with this schedule. If one of your Littles had this schedule, what would you do?”

She bit her lip. “I’d make them stop.”

“Exactly.”

“Look, I agree it’s too much. I realize I need to cut back, but eight hours isn’t enough. How about ten?”

“No.”

“But—"

“No. Eight hours a day and if you go over, I’ll spank you.”

Tessica scowled at him as anger bubbled up in her chest. “What? You can’t threaten to spank me out of the blue. You need to speak to me like an equal when we’re not in a scene, or I’ll spank you!”

Connor scoffed. “You and what army?”

Tessica crossed her arms and shook her head. “You’re a sad excuse for a Dominant if you think BDSM is all about being physically bigger than your submissive.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Connor could feel the disappointment wafting from Tessica, and as her words slowly sank in, he realized she was right. Shame and embarrassment replaced all the irritation he’d been feeling at her lack of compliance.

Tessica continued speaking in a chastising tone, adding, “We haven’t negotiated anything yet. I haven’t agreed to any rules or punishments. We haven’t discussed safewords.”

Connor’s face heated up. “You’re right. I…”

She waited patiently while he floundered for words.

He took a deep breath. “For the past twelve years I’ve only played with submissives. That’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a partner who didn’t want me to take charge and make decisions for the both of us. But you are absolutely right. I had no business threatening you with any kind of punishment before we’ve negotiated. I’m sorry.”

She eyed him warily, but eventually nodded.

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