Page 68 of Dozer

I stepped carefully because mom seemed to be trying. I didn’t trust her not to have ulterior motives, but without knowing for certain, it didn’t feel right to decline without an explanation.

“I’ve made friends here, Mom, and one of them has arranged for a driver to take us to Atlanta to shop for my dress, and we’re all going to buy kickass outfits to wear that night, too. We have reservations to eat at a super-nice restaurant, and then we’re going to this rave kind of thing, with live music and dancing. Some of the women from the Atlanta chapter are going to it with us, too. We’ll end up at the Rolling Thunder Bar in Atlanta, and then Bud, the president, has invited us all to stay at his house that night. He’ll feed us breakfast the next morning, and then our driver will take us all home. The MC has a huge SUV that seats nine people, but with the driver plus another bodyguard, that’s only seven of us, so we might get a limo.”

I took a breath and made a decision. I didn’t think Master would be upset with me, but if he was, I’d take whateverpunishment he thought appropriate. I really thought he’d be okay with this, though. Plus, I didn’t think she’d come. The optics of spending the day with a bunch of bikers’ ol’ladies must be considered, after all. Still, I put it out there. “Maybe you can fly down and join us? I mean, I don’t think you’ll want to go to the rave, but the shopping trip and then the restaurant?”

“I wanted to spend the day with my daughter, getting to know you again.” It sounded like she was explaining why she wasn’t coming, but then she said, “It isn’t what I’d hoped for, but I would very much like to meet your new friends, so thank you for the invitation. Text me the date, and the day’s itinerary, and I’ll make arrangements to fly down and have someone bring me to you for the shopping trip.”

“I’ll make sure there’s enough room in our vehicle so you can travel with us between places. I’m glad you’re coming, Mom.”

Dozer is almost always around when I talk to my parents, but he’d gotten a text and had to leave right away. I always worried when he got called away unexpectedly and he only told me, “Club business,” before he went tearing away on one of his bikes.

I wrote him a note on the whiteboard in the kitchen before I went to bed.

I invited my mom to go shopping with us in Atlanta. Gen knows and is good with it. Kind of a long story and I’ll explain the whole thing, but I wanted to give you a heads up, so I’m sure we remember to talk about it in the morning. I love you, Husband.

It’d become kind of a thing for me to call himHusbandinstead ofMasteraround people. Not for every sentence, but the important ones.

When he rolled me to the side, lifted my leg, and jammed his lubed dick in my ass, I looked at the clock to see it was 4:39 in the morning. Seven minutes later, he finished and insert a plug,to keep me from leaking, but also just because he likes me to be plugged most of the time — especially after he’s come inside me.

“I reset your alarm for nine forty-five. Neither of us are going to the restaurant tomorrow. Today. Go back to sleep, little flower.”

“Yes, Master. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“I’m hard to hurt, but we’ll talk more about that tomorrow evening. Do you need to use the restroom before I lock you in?”

“Yes, Master. May I, please?’

“You may.”

I need permission to go to the bathroom in his presence. I can use the toilet whenever I want when he isn’t home, but I’d been asleep since around eleven, so I should try to go again.

When I returned, he locked my left ankle cuff to the bottom of the bed. I’d be able to twist and turn as much as I wanted, but I wouldn’t leave the bed until he unlocked me. Is it crazy that I slept better, knowing I was locked to the bed with my Master beside me?

Chapter 53

Dozer

Her scent told me she appreciated being locked to the bed, which is why I continue to do it most nights. I no longer worry she’ll grab a kitchen knife and stab me in the heart with it, or that she’ll sneak out and be gone. She couldn’t likely kill me even if she tried to with a knife, since none of the ones she can get to are silver. It would hurt like fuck, but I could heal, even if she managed to sink a knife into my heart. I’d have to punish her severely though, so I’d kept her from being able to for the longest, but it wasn’t necessary anymore.

I read some stuff about kids who grow up in institutions as opposed to homes with a loving family, and basically, it means they like schedules and don’t deal well with surprises. They appreciate routines, and will create their own if no one else does so for them. Also, they have a hard time with change. Some possible attachment issues, too, and based on what I read, I thought Daisy exhibited anxious attachment, rather than an inability to attach at all. It meant I needed to be certain she knew she had a place by my side, and I needed to continue to assure her of it. It also explained why she’d been so happy about signing the marriage certificate with hardly any prior notice, because it was basically a guarantee I couldn’t easily discard her.

I’d seen her inability to deal with change in vivid display once I started fucking with her schedule. She was at the laundry three weeks, then at the bike shop a month, and now she was at therestaurant. She was a bundle of nerves and couldn’t settle her first week at each new place, but I didn’t punish her for it since I understood the root issue.

And I understood it was possible she’d never get beyond it. She’d been wired to accept living on a set schedule, and she’d never be happy living on an as-you-please basis, which is the way I prefer to live my life.

But I try hard to keep as much consistency as possible in her daily schedule, and to warn her ahead of time when I have to alter it. We had an appointment with Marco the following evening, so I let her know as soon as I could, since Julian had verified it while I was out, away from my phone. I hadn’t seen the text until I’d returned to my phone, but I’d thanked him for finding a spot in Marco’s schedule, and assured him we’d be at The Billiard Club. I’d also verified the people who’d be coming with us.

And I had to acknowledge to myself, never to Daisy, that my first reaction when I’d read her note was anger that she’d invited her mother without permission. Daisy wasn’t the only one with issues, it would seem.

I was terrified she’d want to go back to her original life of privilege and power, and stop slumming it with the biker. I’d been able to ignore that fear until I spoke it out loud to Brain, but I couldn’t do it any longer.

If Daisy’s mother truly wanted a relationship with her daughter, then I had to let it happen. I mean, not legally or anything, but morally. It would be wrong for me to keep the woman I love from her family, if they were willing to take her back.

But they couldn’t have her. She’sminenow. I’d share her with them, but I had to make sure she always came back to me.

And yet, all the ways I could think of to do that would be wrong.So, very, wrong.

Except for one. Well, a modified version of one, because the wrong version would be allowing her to have a puppy and then telling her if she didn’t come home as expected, I’d torture it and kill it. And no, I wouldn’t actually do that, but I’d likely give it away and tell her I had, if I had to go collect her and bring her home. And by that, I mean if I had to kidnap her and hold her captive, because there’s a damned good chance I’d do so, if she left me.

---