Page 35 of Daddy's Little Liar
“You know now,” he said graciously.
She shifted in her seat, the blush brightening in her face as she stole a glance at the half-occupied tables around them. As if anyone in this restaurant knew she was sitting on a hot butt… or that she had more of the same still coming.
His cock stirred, loving the anticipation.
“Yeah.” She winced softly. “Now I know.”
“Daddy’s belt is going to make sure you remember it too, for a very long time.”
He loved how her widening eyes flashed to his. She caught herself mid-squirm. He also loved that spark of playfulness that infiltrated behind the uncertainty just before she haltingly attempted a little backtalk.
“That’s going to be awfully hard to do when you’ve got other people in your house.”
“Have you forgotten the garage?” he countered. “All I have to do is shut the office between it and the house. The only thing Iris is going to hear will be your shrieking pleas for Daddy to please stop hurting your naughty bottom.”
The blushing tint on her cheeks got brighter still, and her heart beat so hard, he could see the fluttering of her pulse just beneath the pale skin at her throat.
She was nervous, but she was intrigued. He really liked that he hadn’t scared her off. That went a long way to show him there might just be his kind of little girl in the woman sitting breathlessly before him now.
“You think I won’t?” he coaxed, giving her every opportunity to allay her fears by talking them out.
“Won’t?” she echoed.
“Spank your naughty bottom whenever and wherever it needs to happen. I don’t care that she’s in my house, and I busted her butt often enough I don’t need to hide who I am around her. So be careful when and where you decide to earn your swats. I’m a big believer in consistency. It’s every bit as important as consent.”
She thought about it, her brow creasing just before she confessed, “I didn’t really mean to stop it. You know.” She looked ready to spontaneously combust, her blush was so dark. “Before. When you were—”
“I know you didn’t.” He smiled, taking pity on her. “I realized shortly after I stopped, but I’m also still getting to know you. What I think is too much and what you think is too much might not be on the same level. I don’t want to hurt you.”
That made her laugh, even as she glanced nervously around to see if anyone might be close enough to listen in on this.
He honestly didn’t care if they did.
“I’d think the two would be the same.”
“It’s not,” he promptly corrected. “Trust me, some spankings hurt, but they should never hurt you. There’s a difference.”
He couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not, but that she wasn’t in the lifestyle showed in her response. “I don’t see one.”
“One, if done right, builds you up, gives you confidence, makes you feel safe and secure, and loved. The other hurt breaks you down. It’s domestic abuse, and that’s not something I want to practice. Although,” he sighed, supposing now was the time to admit it, since the longer she was with him, the more likely it would be that eventually, someone was going to let it slip, anyway. It would be better if she heard it from him. “There are some in town who’ll happily tell you I am exactly that kind of abusive asshole.”
She blinked twice, a corner of her mouth twitching as if she were waiting for him to finish the joke. “What do you mean?”
“The last time I spanked Iris was the night I found out she’d been cheating on me. Not just with our neighbor, but with at least two other guys and before we were even married. I didn’t have a clue, and I was... so hurt. I lost my temper, and I bust her ass. It was not well done of me. In fact, I would honestly have to categorize that as abuse. I’ve never been that angry, and I wasn’t prepared to handle it the way I should have. I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure it never happens again. How do you feel about that?”
She blinked again. She wasn’t smiling anymore, but she still didn’t look like she was ready to run.
“I don’t think I have ever, ever heard anyone confess they got physically abusive with someone from their past to someone they’re just dating.” Startled misgiving flashed into her features as she realized what she said. “That... that is what we’re doing, right? Dating?”
He couldn’t help smiling. “That’s what I’m trying to do, yes.”
She relaxed a little, her fingertips tapping on the side of her glass. “Okay then, in that vein, I’ve got a confession, too.”
Easing back in his seat, he tried not to let it show how adorably earnest and somber she looked while she made it.
“About four years ago, while I was in college, I was dating a guy named Mike. Mike had this habit of shutting me out when he got mad. You know, the silent treatment. Here I’d be trying to talk the problem out, and he’d just stonewall me. No feedback. No forgiveness. There’d be times I didn’t even know what I’d done wrong.”
“To be clear,” he said, no longer enjoying this conversation. “I would consider that abuse too, albeit verbal.”
