Page 49 of M!lked For His Pleasure

Ugh, the last thing she wanted to do was talk about his stupid program. Crossing her arms, she glared at him and did her best to pretend her heart wasn’t threatening to beat out of her chest as he met her gaze with a level stare of his own.

All her life, Dorothy had been attracted to a completely different kind of man. The kind of man who would pamper her beyond her wildest dreams in exchange for some quick, boring sex once or twice a week.

But there was something about Lucas Callaway that just… hit different. And it wasn’t simply the fact that he was built like a bull and carried himself with the confidence of a man who had worked his ass off for everything he had.

It was the eyes. The pale gray was disconcerting all on its own. But then there was the fact that when he looked at her, for the first time in her life she felt like someone actuallysawher. All the way down to her soul.

Disconcerting, to say the least. Possibly downright dangerous.

Because those eyes did see too much, she turned her head to look out the window before answering his question with a shrug. “You already told me everything I need to know. That it’s a rehab program and apparently I need to be rehabbed.”

“While that’s true, there’s much more than that to it. Would you like me to tell you how the program works?”

Unease twisted in her gut and she risked a little peek at him out of the corner of her eye. “I dunno.”

The big jerk had the nerve to chuckle. “Well, I can wait until we get there little darlin’, but it’s probably best if I prepare you now so it’s not as much of a shock when you see it all in person.”

Jerking her shoulder in a deliberate show of nonchalance, she slumped down in her chair as much as the belt around her waist would allow, still refusing to look at him. “Fine. Tell me about your stupid program.”

“I started it about fifteen years ago. Over the course of the program, we’ve had just under three hundred graduates who have gone on to do some pretty amazing things with their lives. Not a single graduate has relapsed into their old ways, and ninety percent of our graduates have completed some form of college degree. I even have a few PhD candidates who have graduated from my program.”

That… was kind of cool, actually. It wasn’t like shewantedto just be a complete waste of space. Somewhere along the way, she’d simply lost interest in anything that wasn’t partying with her friends.

Maybe school would have held her interest if she’d felt passionate about literally anything. Even fashion didn’t give her the same thrill it gave her friends, though she enjoyed having pretty clothes.

But none of that excused her parents sending her away the way they had, without even giving her a chance to make things right, a fact she clung to as they soared over the clouds.

“Good for you,” she said after a moment, rolling her eyes to hide the fact that she was actually maybe a little bit intrigued by his ‘program’ and how it worked.

“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of it, though it is a bit… unconventional.”

That got her attention and had her finally looking at him. “What does that mean?”

“If you’d read the contract, you would know exactly what that means,” he answered with a raised brow that made her tummy do a funny little flip. “But since you didn’t, and we have plenty of time, I’ll explain.

“Once you arrive at the Ranch, you’ll be assigned an animal to embody. For the next two months at a minimum, you will live, eat, and sleep as though you were that animal. All of your basic needs will be seen to by my ranch hands, and the members of the program who have graduated to the next step. The purpose of this is to strip away all the extra noise of the outside world. Your only purpose for the next month will be to eat, sleep, and obey.”

Shock rendered her, for the first time in her memory, completely speechless. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”

To her surprise, he grinned. “Possibly. You aren’t the first person to tell me so. But I like to think the results speak for themselves.”

“What does any of that even mean? Living as an animal? Are you going to put me in a fucking barn? Walk me around on a leash?”

A familiar throbbing ache made itself known between her thighs at the idea of being led around on a leash. Oh hell no. There was no fucking way she was turned on bythat.

“If you were being put into the puppy program, perhaps. But given the state of things, I think you would do well with the cows.”

An old familiar fear twisted in her stomach at his words. “Are you calling me fat?”

“Not at all, darlin’,” he assured her in a soothing voice that reminded her of how people often spoke to young children. Or their pets. “Animals are not assigned by anything as superficialas physical looks. It’s more about temperament, and the needs of the student.”

“I don’t have any needs.”

“Disagree, darlin’. You have the same needs as anyone else. The need to belong, for instance, which I suspect is why you’ve fallen in with the crowd you have. Our herd will give you that sense of belonging you’ve been chasing. Along with the discipline and boundaries you so desperately need.”

“I have boundaries,” she mumbled.

“Do you? Is that why you’re always letting your new friends talk you into trouble?”

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