Page 23 of Forever His Brat

When Sam had gone into the hospital she’d taken over the ranch, briefly. Decisions had been made that had gotten her in big trouble, but overall, she’d proven to him that she could learn. Since she was so clearly determined to be his partner, he’d started to let her in, teaching her how things were done.

Charlie was careful to follow his lead and not argue with him about his decisions too much. She didn’t want him to change his mind. And with their engagement had come a shifting of emotions when it came to the ranch.

Sam was a good foreman. He had a lot of experience running things. He’d been doing the job well for years and she could admit that now.

Her earlier need to prove him wrong had partly been motivated by anger that he’d been given charge ofherranch. The other part had come from feeling like he didn’t take her seriously. That was still a work in progress, but the studying she was doing toward her doctorate was giving her an educated voice.

She realized now why he’d ignored some of her ideas, why he’d been convinced they wouldn’t work. He was right.

And with research to back up the plans she was still sure of, hedidlisten. The biggest thing Charlie was learning was how little she’d known about the ranch industry—but that changed a little more each day, and Sam recognized that.

He treated her like a colleague now when they worked together, instead of a bratty little girl who just wanted to get her own way. She could admit that was pretty much who she’d been when she’d first come home.

Things being what they were… all of that was different now anyway. She was his. He was her Daddy. The ranch was just one more thing he was in charge of when it came to her.

Charlie found working in the office a little too stifling all of a sudden. She had some restless energy to work off. His threats and the way he was starting to take charge again had her feelingthings.She offered to do some errand work for him.

Running around and counting things kept her busy, as he tallied up the inventory numbers and placed orders for supplies. She’d offered to be his legs because “It will be faster that way, Sam,” and he’d given her a suspicious look but agreed.

It honestly wasn’t her way of getting him to rest this time. She really just needed to be moving around so she didn’t end up throwing herself across his lap to encourage him to follow through with those threats.

It was strange really. He’d just spanked her that morning, and as short as it had been, normally that would have settled her down for a while. But he’d done this, kicking her hormones into high gear with the casual way he’d reminded her of the authority he held.

Her mind was spinning, picturing what might happen soon. Would it be punishment? He’d implied he had a list and when she thought back, she could think of more than a few things he might owe her for.

Charlie enjoyed the shiver that rolled through her body. Her nipples tightened and felt overly sensitive. She hated punishment when it was happening, but before… sometimes when she was waiting for it, the anticipation could be a huge turn-on.

And after it occurred, there were definite perks—at least when Sam wasn’t being mean about the no sex after punishment rule. All that heat settled in deep and throbbed low in her body. The sting, once it started to fade and wasn’t so intense, added to the effect.

Punishment was something she needed. It helped her to be a better person and reinforced their relationship roles which made her feel more secure. But it would be silly to pretend that she didn’t get other benefits from it.

Maybe she wasn’t the same kind of brat Katie was. She would probably always hesitate over breaking a rule and worry about the consequences. But this feeling right now, the excited anticipation, it definitely made her want to be a bad girl so Sam would snap those reins tight.

Soon, she promised herself. Nick would take over. Sam would have more time, and then she’d stop holding herself back because she didn’t want to give Sam any more stress.

She’d give in and demand the attention she needed. Waiting was hard but it helped to know it wouldn’t be much longer. She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed a sign that things would get back to normal eventually— not until Sam had stepped up and made it clear he was still in charge and had no intention of giving that up.

CHAPTER6

Sam wasn’t oblivious to the reaction his words had caused in Charlie. The counting, the warnings, the threats, even the short taste of discipline he’d given her before work had all combined to leave her as skittish as a barn cat.

Which was exactly how he wanted her.

He felt like he’d been failing her lately and the logical side of his brain told him to knock off that kind of thinking. He knew he was doing the best he could and so did Charlie. It wasn’t like he could summon up the Dom energy from mid-air.

When he’d first gotten back together with Charlie, he’d felt like he couldn’t keep his hands off her ass. Any excuse to spank her would do. He’d gone to work short of sleep just so that they could have hours of playtime. And he guessed that part of a relationship couldn’t last forever.

It had gradually settled into a balance. Her needs were being met and there was still time to play, but even before the hospital he was struggling to find the time and energy. Not for being her Daddy, hell no. He’d always find time for that, no matter what.

Her bratty side never failed to push him right into Dom mode and snapping out warnings was second nature to him. Flipping her across his knee for a brisk punishment to push her back into line was something he could usually manage.

The problem was she’d been working so hard to be good lately that there hadn’t been much excuse to react to her behavior. And on the rare occasion she did act up he’d let it slide because well, it was rare. It felt wrong to be a hard ass for an occasional mistake.

But he wanted things back the way they had been, and he knew she did too. Too much work, a slow recovery from the infection that had put him in the hospital, and not enough downtime had drained him so that he just couldn’t find the energy for those long scenes they both loved.

He wanted to tie her up, drive her to the edge and then deny her over and over again. He wanted to give her a real spanking. Not twenty hard smacks on his way out the door, but the full experience that would bring her to tears so she could pour out all those emotions that were bottled up inside.

He wanted the time to reduce her to her essence and then build her back up again. She needed it and so did he.

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