Page 11 of Passionate Defense

“Sorry. What specifically did this psychologist, who now knows you have a control fr—uh, rather, a perfectionist for a wife, recommend that we do?”

“Role-play.”

She stared at him a moment then drawled, “O-kay... How exactly is that going to help?”

“By stepping into someone else’s shoes, you don’t have to be Lanie, Melanie, the Ice Queen, or perfect. You can be someone with an entirely different personality, and act and react how they would. I’ll take the lead while you practice letting go.”

“Take the lead, like with sex?”

“Yes.”

“But you already do.”

“This can go beyond sex if we choose. In theory, once you learn your world won’t come crashing down around you if you don’t micromanage every aspect of your life, you’ll learn to relinquish control and eventually relax.”

“Kinky sex and beyond,” she stated for clarification. “In theory?”

“My psych colleague warned it might take a considerable amount of practice until we get it right. But I think we can do it together, if we put some extra effort into it and persevere.”

His wolfish grin gave her pause. When he waggled his eyebrows, however, she lost it and couldn’t help the giggle that escaped.

Just as quickly, he turned serious again. “I’d like to give this a try. By playing a character, you can take on a completely different persona. Like this evening, for instance, you took on the role of a naughty wife in need of a sound spanking. I took control, which gave you the freedom to surrender in a completely safe, nonthreatening situation.”

“How is a spanking nonthreatening? It stung—a lot!”

“You loved it, Lanie. You came harder than you have in months with only my hand on your ass and a little stimulation from my fingers in your—”

“Okay, okay...I get it.” Her cheeks flushed, still concerned that she had enjoyed the spanking too much. Feeling uncomfortable with that, she added with a frown, “I’m confused. Does liking it make me a masochist or something?”

“No. You don’t need pain to get off. And pain is pushing it in this case. That was a very mild punishment.”

“Says the spanker to the spankee.”

He scoffed at her insinuation. “You were barely pink when I stopped. If I turned up the lights and inspected your butt right now, any color you had will have faded.”

“Never mind that.”

“Don’t like the idea of an intimate inspection? I’ll add that to my list.”

“You have a list? Of kinky punishments?”

“No. Of things to push you out of your comfort zone and toward a catharsis.”

“Ah...”

His soft laugh was brief. “You lock down your emotions tighter than a bank vault, Lanie. This was only the second time I’ve seen you cry since we’ve been married.”

“I hate weepy women.”

“So you’ve said, but it’s an effective outlet for stress. How did you feel after you let the tears come?”

“Relieved, I guess.”

“You guess? This isn’t a time for mincing words. Or maybe I need to take you over my knee again to get to the bottom of this.”

“No! And that was an atrocious pun!”

He didn’t answer except to palm one ass cheek firmly in warning.

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