Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
He gave her a shocked look.
“You don’t really have to buy her roses. I’m acting like a crazy person. Sorry.”
She was so embarrassed.
Owen scowled. “What did I tell you about saying bad things about yourself?”
Uh-oh.
There was no way he would spank her here, right?
“You can’t spank me!” She looked around. There was no one here. But still, he wouldn’t spank her here, would he?
Hmm. She wasn’t so sure about that.
“Spank her?” Beck asked.
Oh crap.
Owen raised his eyebrows as he stared down at her from his chair. “Don’t think I won’t do it just because we’re outside, baby girl. I gave you a reprieve earlier, but that was your last one.”
“You still spanked me!”
“Two pops on your butt aren’t a spanking.”
“It is in my books!” she cried. “And you’re not spanking me here!”
“That’s a shame,” Judd muttered.
She shot him a look. He wasn’t helping.
“And I didn’t say anything bad about myself.”
“I heard you call yourself crazy,” Owen said.
Nuh-uh. He had it all wrong. That wasn’t what she’d said at all.
“Owen,” Beck said again. “We’ve had a conversation about consent.”
“I know. Consent is sexy. Always get consent. Have a safeword. I remember it all. I have an excellent memory.”
“So you’ve had that conversation with Chloe?” Beck asked, sounding far too interested.
Great. Were they all going to want to wallop on her ass? She clenched her butt cheeks just thinking about it.
“Yep. Her safeword is red. She’s never been in a relationship with a Dom or a Daddy. She’s nervous about being spanked, but not opposed to it.” He frowned, thinking. “Limits. We didn’t really talk about limits except that anal isn’t one of them.” He looked at her expectantly.
She groaned, going bright red.
“That’s good you spoke to her about all of that. But how about we try not to overwhelm her so much she starts to hyperventilate,” Beck said calmly.
“Got to know her limits so I don’t cross them. How do you feel about bondage?”
She stared at Owen. Was he having her on? He wanted to know that right now?
“Eat.”
She turned to Judd who was staring intently at her sandwich.
“Um. I . . . I don’t think I can.”
Judd grunted.
“Okay, everyone, just take a deep breath. You’re overwhelming her,” Beck said.
“She needs to eat,” Judd said. “She’s pale.”
“Come here, Freckles.” Beck reached slowly to grab hold of her. She tightened up. He drew her onto his lap, settling her so she faced him. He placed one hand around the back of her head and drew her in, snuggling her into his chest. His touch was firm but didn’t hurt her. And she got the feeling if she tried to move, he’d let her go immediately.
But she kind of liked his firm grip. It was helping to keep her grounded. His other arm was wrapped around her lower back. She was pressed fully up against him.
And her body really liked that.
Shit. Now was not the time to get turned on. But she couldn’t help it.
“Feeling better?” Beck asked.
“Yeah. I’m so sorry. I just . . . I felt a bit . . .”
“Overwhelmed? It’s all right. I get it. We can be a lot. Judd has a thing about making sure we’re eating properly and looking after ourselves. When one of us is sick, he goes all mother hen on our asses.”
“He sure does. Last time I got a sniffle, he tried to stick a rod up my ass. Why he thought that would make me feel better, I have no idea,” Owen complained. “Maybe he thought it would scare the germs out of me.”
“It was a thermometer, you ungrateful asshole. You think I wanted to stick anything up your hairy ass? I didn’t. But I thought the oral one wasn’t getting a proper reading. And you didn’t have a sniffle. You had pneumonia. I was the one who got your ass to the hospital. You should have thanked me.”
“You knocked me out and stuck me in the back of your truck.”
“Because you were trying to leave.”
“Never did pay you back for that.”
To her shock, she started giggling.
Beck shook his head. “They’ve known each other so long that sometimes they sound like a married couple.”
“Hey!” Judd protested. “I could do way better than him!”
“No, you couldn’t,” Owen said smoothly.
She turned her face to look at him, surprised to find him staring at her intently. “You okay, baby girl?”
“Yeah.”
“You lying to me?” Owen asked.
“No.”
He nodded. “Not going to apologize for threatening to spank you.”
Beck groaned.
“I didn’t expect you to.”
“Good. Because you deserve it.”
“I do not. I didn’t call myself crazy. I said I was acting crazy.”
“Hmm.” He frowned. “I don’t know . . . could be the same thing.”
“It’s not. It’s really not.”
“How about we let that go and let Chloe eat some food since it’s been a while since she last ate,” Beck suggested.