Page 108 of The Sadist and the Brat

“Rules?” she said blankly.

“For tonight. You’re wearing my collar, and that comes with responsibilities.”

“Oh, God, you’re not going to make me wait on you like some servant, are you? Because if that’s the case, we can just get rid of this right now,” she told him and reached for the collar.

“You can’t get it off without the wrench, remember?” he said, laughing, and drew her hands down. “And no, I’m not going to make you wait on me.”

“Then what are we talking about?”

“Just some basic guidelines,” he soothed, still holding her hands. “You’ve never been to a kink event with someone.”

“Of course I have,” she began, but he was shaking his head.

“I meant, you’ve always been responsible for yourself,” he explained.

“Oh. Well, yeah.”

“Tonight, I’m responsible for you. So, rules.”

Her hands tensed in his grip, and she knew he felt it, because he smiled. “Stop panicking. I’m not implementing high protocol.”

“Maybe you should tell me what youaredoing,” she suggested.

“It’s simple. I don’t want you to go anywhere without telling me first, and if someone bothers you or asks you to play, you’ll let me know.”

She frowned. That allseemedreasonable, except… “Can I go to the bathroom without telling you?”

“No,” he said, his smile growing when she scowled. “Naturally, that doesn’t apply while I’m in the board meeting.”

“Oh, naturally.”

“But otherwise, yes. I’m not saying you have to ask permission,” he said before she could blast him. “But you do need to give me the courtesy of telling me where you’re going, and when you’ll be back.”

When she stayed silent, staring at him, he gave her hands a squeeze. “Can you do that?”

There was no reason for the panic suddenly licking at the back of her throat, she thought, and swallowed it back. “Yes.”

“Yes…?”

She swallowed again. “Yes, Boss.”

“There, was that so hard?”

“Yes,” she muttered, and with a laugh, he kissed her.

Eager to be on familiar ground, she kissed him back, her blood quickly heating when he sucked her lower lip into his mouth and tugged. Then he eased away, nudging her gently back when she would’ve followed. “I have to get to the meeting.”

“Right. The meeting.” She dropped back to her heels, rocking a little, and tried to understand why she was suddenly so desperate for him not to go. “Okay.”

He shrugged out of his coat, revealing the snowy white button-down he’d paired with the leather pants. “Hang this up for me, please?”

She took the coat. “Sure.”

“I’ll keep my bag with me,” he told her, bending to pick it up. “Don’t want you peeking.”

“Ha,” she said with a smirk and nipped playfully at the finger he flicked down her nose.

“Behave,” he ordered and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

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