Page 33 of The Boss

It had to be her choice, though.

“Beagle.”

I blinked. Where hadthatcome from?

Those sensual lips curved up in a saucy sort of smile that sent blood rushing straight to my dick.

“It’s my favorite dog,” she explained.

Sort of.

“It can be my safe word.”

I froze. I had to have misheard her.

“How do you know what a safe word is?” I asked the question carefully, not wanting to insult her, but needing to ask a question that could’ve gone so many different directions. If she thought I was questioning her virginity after I’d made her confess it, or if she thought I was implying she wastooinnocent, things could end badly.

Fortunately, she looked pleased with my question. “I read.”

“You read?” As soon as I asked the question, I realized what she meant. “You’ve read romance books about BDSM.”

“I have.” She put her hand over mine, her fingers soft as they stroked the back of my hand. “And I may have done a little research to see how accurate those books were.”

The thought of her sitting at a computer, looking through BDSM sites annoyed me. I wanted to be the one to teach her about everything. If this meant she stayed, there’d be no more computer knowledge. I’d be her teacher. Heronlyteacher.

“Are you saying you want to stay?” I asked. I didn’t want any misunderstandings. The situation we were in was a delicate one. I needed her consent to be clear before we went any further.

Her eyes met mine, and turquoise irises blazed. With the slightest pressure on my hand, she slid both of our hands between her legs. “I’m saying I would like to know what my punishment is.”

It took only a few seconds for her statement to process, and then I was on my feet and pulling her up as well. “You remember what to say any time you want things to stop?”

“Beagle,” she answered promptly. “Now, are you going to de-virginize me or what?”

She looked as shocked as I was by the comment, but I wasn’t going to shy away from it. “First, I’m going to spank you.”

Her jaw dropped, and color flooded her face, but she didn’t protest when I led her down the hallway and through the second door on the right. Guest bedroom. I rarely came in here, but I wasn’t taking her into my bedroom. That would be a step too far.

Even though we were the only two in the place, I closed the door behind us. She needed to feel absolutely safe for this to work. Since I wasn’t counting on this being a regular thing, and she wasn’t a normal sub, I’d take it easy on her…but I still planned on learning what it felt like to turn her ass a nice shade of pink with the palm of my hand.

I released her hand and moved over to the bed, sitting on the edge. “Dress off.”

She reached behind her and unzipped the dress, letting it fall to the floor, leaving her in only a sheer black bra that did more to enhance those amazing breasts of hers than if she would’ve been naked. Her waist was soft, and her hips curved in ways that was nothing like the previous women I’d been with. The trimmed curls I’d felt on my fingers and mouth were the same brilliant red as the thick locks cascading over her shoulders.

She was gorgeous.

I’d known she was pretty, of course, but how had I not seen that Ashlee Webb, personal assistant to my A&R department, was fuckinggorgeous. How the hell would I ever be able to look at her at work and not picturethis?

I held out my hand and gave her an expectant look. Her expression turned shy as she took my hand, but she let me pull her to me. She was short enough that our eyes were level as I explained to her what would happen next.

“I’m going to put you over my knee and spank you.” I put my hand on her hip and smiled when I saw her sway. “Normally, for a lie, I’d say twenty, but since it’s your first offense, we’ll go with ten. Five on each cheek.”

“I’ve never done this before,” she blurted out. “That really didn’t need to be said, did it?”

I raised her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles, a Dominant need to soothe her nerves. “One word and I’ll stop, but give it a chance. I’ll make it good for you.”

She nodded. “I trust you.”

I allowed myself a moment to wonder what I’d done to deserve that sort of trust from someone like her, and then I pulled her down onto my lap, arranging her over my thighs with her delightful ass right in prime spanking position. My cock was already pushing against my zipper, and I had a feeling that by the time I was finally ready to be inside her, it was going to take all of my self-control not to come right away.

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