Page 60 of Shared on the Ranch

“Seriously.” Betsy cut off a bite of French toast from her plate. “I still can’t get over it.TwoDaddies. Or two…” Her brow furrowed. “Whatever they are still. Still.Two.”

Chyanne shrugged. “I know, it seems like a lot, but it… just works.” She took a sip of her coffee and practically purred in satisfaction as the liquid filled her. “You know, I kinda get the feeling that if I only had one of them, I’d still be able to…” She shifted in her chair, not knowing the words she was looking for.

“Pull the wool over his eyes with that stunning smile?” Ashley guessed, tugging on one of Chyanne’s curls.

She shrugged, blushing. “Yeah. Something like that. And before I was here, I never would have thought I’d want to not be able to do that, but… it’s nice knowing there’s someone out there that can handle me.” She ducked her head, feeling shy and tongue-tied all of a sudden, certain that she hadn’t explained it right.

“From the looks of things, not only can they handle you, they want to.”

She looked up into Lora’s warm smile and found herself relaxing as she smiled back. “Yeah, it certainly seems that way.”

There was more giggling, more food swapping, and just generally enjoying one another’s company. Chyanne was glad for a bit of a break—she had already worked up an appetite! She had just swallowed another big bite of French toast when Betsy spoke up.

“Still. Two spankings… two punishments…” She shuddered.

“Has the new paddle come yet?” Lora asked sympathetically.

The other girl shook her head sadly. “No. Daddy says it’ll be any day now though.”

Chyanne stopped with her fork in midair. “Wait… you don’t mean…” All of their eyes moved to her, but when no one answered, she felt a sickening lurch in her stomach. “Oh, my gosh, Betsy, I amsosorry.”

The Little looked at her with a dejected expression. “It’s okay. Just… Daddy says it’s going to be twice as worse since…” She winced.

Chyanne dropped her fork, horrified. “But that’s not fair! It wasn’t your fault.Iwas the one who did it! He can’t do that! I’ll talk to—”

Betsy stopped her by leaning forward and grabbing both of her hands. “It’s okay—really. And for the record, yeah, you did break it, but I didn’t stop you.”

Like anyone can stop me once I’m a woman on a mission.But she decided to keep that to herself.

“I still could have my—” She glanced around, checking if anyone else was listening to them and lowered her voice. She was blushing when she said, “Daddy and Master talk to him.”

Ashley whistled and Lora said, “Ooooh. A master too, huh? Well, aren’t you a lucky girl?”

Her cheeks burned hotter at their teasing, but surprisingly, it felt good. It was the first time she’d ever called them that aloud to someone else. And yes, she’d been whispering and embarrassed, but still, now that it was out there and she’d only been more embraced… all of it felt right. Like she was finally, after twenty-eight years, discovering where she belonged.

Betsy gave her hands a squeeze and dropped them.

Chyanne couldn’t help but think it was a silent way of closing the discussion on her impending paddling.

“Two sets of hands, definitely, two sets of punishments, maybe,” Ashley mused. “But also two of…otherthings.”

The girls all broke into laughter again, and Chyanne joined in. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this happy and carefree.

* * *

She’d been so excited when Chandler had told her she would start practicing today—she’d bounced around, clapping gleefully just like the Little he often accused her of being until Aaron had scolded that they’d be late—that she’d forgotten her shin guards. In her eagerness to get out to the horses, she considered going without this one time, except that she had already done that before, and any barrel rider worth their quirt knew it was a rookie mistake.

She was headed back up to her room when she heard a loud commotion coming from the front desk. It wasn’t anything to be worried about, just the loud din of several voices trying to be heard at once. It wouldn’t have bothered her—she certainly wouldn’t havestoppedfor it—except that there was one voice, the one raised above all the others, that stopped her in her tracks.

Chyanne knew that voice. And the sound of his loud, boastful tones, she froze. She couldn’t help it. Her stomach sank, and her heart began beating a rapid tattoo in her chest.

What… what is he doinghere? How did he find me? How… how… how…

He’d promised he would, though. And Lance Sellers never broke a promise, no matter how long it took him to keep it.

Her mind was whirling, and nothing was making any sense. She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears that threatened.It’s not fair! I’ve started over, I’ve got people that care about me… maybe even love me… I’ve even got friends… just five minutes ago, I was happy…

She could close her eyes as tightly as she wanted, but she couldn’t close her ears. She could hear him, his voice carrying through the lobby.

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