Page 20 of Forever His Brat

Yet somehow that Dom attitude came through so clearly it shut her right up. He knew it too, if the way his lip quirked up at one side meant anything. But he didn’t mention it, instead he gave his attention to Katie. She was lingering in the bedroom doorway, as if afraid she’d miss out on something.

He cleared his throat and one hand moved to rest casually on his belt buckle. “You going to put some clothes on, or do you want to put on a show for Charlie while I blister your butt?” His voice was absolutely calm, but there was an iron core to the words that made it clear it wasn’t an idle threat.

Katie squeaked and vanished.

Charlie wasn’t sure what to do or say. She had never really been in a situation of seeing another Dom interact with their sub like that. There was something thrilling about it and her heart was racing.

She almost wanted to see him follow through on the threat. Realizing that had her cheeks heating again as she looked around the room desperately for something safe to stare at while she calmed down. Was this what it was like to know other kinky couples?

If so, there were levels to this that she hadn’t expected. To be able to be so open about their relationship would be new. She couldn’t even imagine how she would feel if Sam made a threat like that in front of them. There was a lot to unpack there, but later when she was alone.

Katie returned dressed. Her mood didn’t seem to be dimmed by Nick or his threat. She was all smiles and just as bubbly as she had been before.

“Sorry about that. He can be overbearing andmeansometimes.” She said it right in front of Nick, who didn’t seem annoyed by it at all.

He shook his head. “I’m going to start unpacking the car. It will be fastest if I leave the door open so you two might want to go in the bedroom where it’s warmer.”

“Do you want help?” Charlie asked.

“Nope. I’ve got it under control,” Nick assured her as he pulled on his coat and gloves. He was out the door a second later and the blast of cold immediately dropped the room temperature.

Katie shivered dramatically. “He’s right. Let’s go into the bedroom, so we don’t freeze. C’mon, it’s this way.” She headed for the bedroom and then stopped abruptly and laughed. “But you know that already, don’t you? I forgot you used to live here.”

“Yes, but just for a few months. Sam lived in this cabin most of his life though, so I spent a lot of time here when I was younger. There are some good memories in these walls.” She smiled as she looked around the room, remembering.

Almost as an afterthought she added, “The big house is mine, but when we got together, I moved in here with him so I could do some renovations on the old place.”

Katie tilted her head and Charlie could practically see the questions bubbling up. But she moved into the bedroom and dropped onto the bed cross-legged before she asked any of them. “So, you guys have only been together for a little while? From what Nick said it sounded like a long-term thing.”

Charlie hadn’t really been mentally prepared for a long chat about her life and all the ways it had changed in the past year, but Katie seemed so open about everything. More importantly, this was what she had wanted right? Someone she could talk to about Sam and their relationship.

She paused to shut the door behind her, to hold back the cold, and then she took a seat on the bed next to Katie.

“Well, Sam and I grew up together on this ranch. My dad was the owner and his was the foreman. We were the only kids for miles around, so it was natural we ended up as best friends. And then when we got a little older… hormones kicked in.”

Charlie could feel the smile sliding into place as she remembered those early days as teenagers. Trying to figure out how it all worked. The handholding had turned to kissing. The kissing had gotten more intense.

For a while there had been a constant need to find dark corners to grope each other. The ranch gave them plenty of those and the heavy petting stage hadn’t lasted long before they were too worked up to hold back.

The way Sam was so sweetly concerned that she was ready, so afraid he would hurt her, would always be with her. He’d wanted to wait, but she’d been just as eager to see what it was all about and had urged him on. There had never been regrets there.

“Don’t drift off into memories, girl. I want the story!” Katie said, pulling her out of the reminiscing.

Charlie couldn’t help laughing. Katie was easy to talk to. It was like they had been friends for years.

“We did what teenagers do. We dated and fooled around every chance we got. Eventually …” Charlie trailed off and shrugged.

“Yes?” Katie sounded impatient.

“Eventually we started to explore some of the kinkier things. I read a lot and about that time I found romance novels. You know the type, right? Usually historical. Filled with kidnapped maidens and lusty pirates who turn out to be decent guys under a rough exterior?”

Katie shook her head. “Never really got into romance myself. I was always more into fantasy stories.”

“Well, you missed out. Because half of them had spanking scenes, or at least threats. And reading those stories made me feel… things. Unexpected things.” Charlie grinned. “Of course, I felt like a weirdo at first. Who gets turned on by a sweaty barbarian spanking some runaway bratty princess anyway, right?”

“Me. I would!”

“Yeah, me too. For a while I was pouring through every romance I could get my hands on, and dogearing all the pages with spanking references for… reasons.” She fixed a completely fake innocent look on her face as she stared at the ceiling.

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