Page 250 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“Want to change what you just said, darlin’?”

Reggie rubbed her stinging bottom frantically while she had the chance.

“I’m not a child you can give a bedtime to, Alex. I’m a grown woman who can make her own decisions.”

Her hands were clasped and held at the small of her back as his other hand rained thunder onto her bottom. She felt her butt cheeks shake under each spank.

“Okay, okay,” she yelled out as he continued to spank her. “I give in.”

“How do you give in?” he asked as his hand stilled.

“I’ll go to bed at ten,” she muttered reluctantly.

“And?” He rubbed her sore bottom, bringing her a little relief.

“And lights will go out at eleven,” she groaned as he touched a particularly sore spot.

“Good,” his voice was rich with satisfaction. “You can also have a nap tomorrow afternoon.”

She groaned. “Yes, I’ll have a nap.”

“Good girl.” His praise ran through her, warming her from the inside out. He turned her over, cuddling her against his chest.

“Now, what was so damn important that you had to stay up so late?” Alex moved his hand towards the mouse to refresh the sleeping screen.

“No!” She reached out too late to grab his hand.

“What is this?” He peered at the screen before turning to look down at her.

“It’s a job searching site,” she muttered reluctantly.

“Why are you looking for a job?”

She rolled her eyes, although she kept her head safely lowered so he couldn’t see her.

“Ahh, because I need a job?” She couldn’t stop the sarcasm from slipping through. “I’m broke, Alex. I need money, and the only way I’m going to get that is if I get a job.”

He leaned back in the chair to stare down at her thoughtfully, one finger rubbing against his cheek. “So you’re planning to move to the city and get a job, and you didn’t think I needed to know? Or were you going to travel back and forth for each day?”

Suddenly, she shattered. It was all too much, the stress, the worry, the thought of having to be away from Alex for long periods of time. Tears ran in rivulets down her face. “I don’t want to. But there’s nothing for me to do here. I sent out resumes and got nothing. I didn’t want to tell you until I’d made up my mind what I was going to do.”

“Baby, I can’t believe you haven’t talked to me about this. You know I’d provide whatever you need.”

“But that’s not the way it works. I have to make my own way.”

“I don’t want you away from the ranch for long hours. But I might have another idea,” he said as she went to protest. “I need someone to help with paperwork. For the ranch and our business.”

“Are you just making that up?” she asked suspiciously.

“Not at all. And if you’d talked to me about this earlier, I would have told you that. And you wouldn’t have been worrying about this.”

Oops.

Standing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her up to bed. “Tomorrow, we’ll have a chat about you keeping things from me.”

Great. She was looking forward to that.

Chapter Nine

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