Page 22 of Ashley
"Be your Daddy?" His voice was full of disapproval, prompting her to look back up at him.
"Yes, I'd want more of a teacher role for you."
He sighed and let out a bitter laugh. "I find the sweetest, most perfect little girl, and I can't manage to hold on to her."
"James, that's not—"
He looked back at her. "And it's all my fault."
She fell silent then. "It's no one's fault," she finally whispered.
"It is," he said, reaching out to snag one of her hands in his. "I did this. If I had recognized what you were, if I had taken the time to see it, then you'd be my princess."
Her face flushed. "James—"
"But if this is what you want, then I'll do it. I'll teach you, honey. Tell me what you need from me."
"Discipline." Her fingers tightened on his. "I need structure and rewards because I-I don't like punishments. I need confidence because I'm still so scared." She sucked in a deep breath because it felt like her chest was being split open and the contents of her heart were spilling across the table, all of her insecurities laid bare for James to see, but still she went on.
"I don't respond to being hurt or talked to harshly. I just, I want someone to be firm but sweet with me."
He nodded, fingers rubbing her skin gently. "I can do that, honey. I'll only use gentle corrections, no pain, except, then comes the matter of punishments."
Her eyes widened at the mention of punishments. "What do you mean?"
James leveled a serious stare at her. "If you break rules, then we need to have consequences."
"What kind of rules?"
"Ones that keep you safe, healthy, and happy. Youwillbe getting enough sleep, eating correctly, not taking risks with your health, or making reckless decisions. That includes alcohol."
She flushed and bristled slightly at the way he said alcohol. "I don't drink to excess."
"The last time I saw you drinking, you were," he pointed out.
Ashley crossed her arms, lips pressing into a thin line. "And yet you still took me to bed."
He sighed and nodded. "I did."
"You even made me a drink."
Again, another nod. "I did that, too."
"So what makes it special now?"
"Now, you're asking me to teach you, yes?"
She bit her bottom lip and narrowed her eyes at him. "I am."
"Then I am going to be enforcing the same rules I would on my little on you. You don't get special treatment to behave badly just because you aren'tmine." His voice dipped on that last word, held onto it like honey did to a spoon, and somehow, it sounded dangerous when James said it. That 'mine' lingered between them like a promise and she did her best to breathe evenly as he let his eyes rake over her with a look that was unmistakable as anything but lust.
James wanted her. Truly, desperately, wanted her.
She picked up her water glass and toyed with it before taking a hasty sip. "And what if-if I was yours? What would you do if I broke those rules?"
"I'd spank you," he said without preamble, and she nearly spit out the water she'd been sipping.
"What?" she asked, eyes wide and cheeks turning hot as she suddenly thought of what it might be like to be spanked by James. Before James, Ashley had never engaged in anything wilder than girl on top, and while their night had been passionate—wild, even, for her—she hadn't received more than a playful swat from the man. To think of him taking her over his knee for something she had done was another level she hadn't considered.
