Page 39 of Shadow

Ripley slipped his hand into hers and turned her toward the door. Savko followed. “We’ll get out of your hair so you can get done with work on time.”

Savko offered him a handshake. “Mr. Mercer says you’re coming on board full time.”

Ripley grinned. “Sure am.”

Hearing him say he was taking a full-time job with Peter fanned the flame of home that had flickered to life in Olivia’s heart. Maybe he really was back for good.

Back at Peter and Carrie’s house, they took a shower together that miraculously didn’t devolve into fucking, then moved to the bedroom to get dressed.

She watched him thread his belt through his dark jeans and swallowed. He’d promised her more of that after they got home from the club. For some reason she dreaded going to Exposure with that hanging over them. This would be their first time going together as a couple. If he really was home, she wanted to walk in with him for the first time with a clean slate.

Olivia chewed her lip, trying to decide how best to approach him about it.

“What is it, baby girl?”

“Can we get the rest of my punishment over with, Daddy?” Throwing in the Daddy seemed like her best bet at getting what she wanted.

“I said after we get home from the club, Liv.”

“Please, can we do it now?”

He frowned. “Why are you so intent on doing it now?”

She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed wrapped in a towel. “Because if we’re going to play at Exposure I kind of want to do it with… I don’t know a clean slate?”

He didn’t finish putting on his shirt and instead laid it over the chair.

“I can see how that could be important to you. I had plans to make it dirty for you, but we can handle it now and be dirty later.”

“Thank you.”

He chuckled. “You won’t be thanking me when I’m done. I warned you what this part was going to be like, and I’m not changing my mind about that.”

A mixture of fear and arousal coursed through her. “Yes, Daddy. I understand.”

He flipped the chair around and placed it so it faced the bed and sat in it. “Do you? Because I don’t want to punish you this way if you don’t fully understand why.”

She dropped her head. “You’re mad because I ran back into the building.”

“It’s not that I’m mad. I was fucking terrified. And if you have that much disregard for your safety, we clearly need to work on that.”

“I understand. And I also understand this is the beginning of a new dynamic for us and you want to make sure you set the right tone. You’re going to be a demanding Daddy Dom. I like it. I’m looking forward to exploring. Even if it does mean painful punishment sometimes.”

“OK. Then you have a choice to make.”

She frowned. “What kind of choice?”

“Part of tonight was going to be making you wait until morning for another orgasm.”

She bit her lip. That sounded terrible. Especially after the incident in the alley.

“So, we can either go with that plan, which means even if we do play at the club, you don’t get to come. Or you can take an extra five with the belt.”

She sucked in a breath. That was twenty-nine in total on an already sore ass. She was a masochist, but she had her limits. Especially since he’d promised his hardest swats. But there was no way she was going to Exposure if she couldn’t have an orgasm.

So, she blew out a breath and nodded. “OK. I’ll take the five extra.”

“Good girl. Lose the towel and pile the pillows in the middle of the bed. Then I want to see that naughty bottom laid over them.”

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