Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Grady took her hand. He drew her back to the bench and pulled her into his lap, holding her close against his solid chest.
Sage curled into him immediately, tucking her face into the warm curve of his neck and wrapping her arms tight around him. She breathed in his scent and that comforting masculine warmth that made her feel so safe and let out a shaky little sigh.
“I didn’t mean to worry you,” she whispered through her tears, voice small and wobbly. “I just didn’t want you to send me away.”
Grady pressed a slow, tender kiss to her temple, his big hand still gently rubbing slow circles on her back. The steady motion made her melt even more, her sore bottom throbbing warmly against his thigh.
“I know, baby, and you took your punishment like my good girl. Now listen to Daddy. There is nothing you could do that would make me send you away. We can talk about what will happen at the end of the summer, but if you leave this ranch, it will be because you want to.”
“But you pull away from me every night when you tuck me in, Daddy.”
“Babygirl, when I tuck you in at night, I’d love to do nothing more than lie down beside you and hold you until you fall asleep. When I leave, it isn’t because I don’t want you.” To make his point, he took her hand and pressed it against his rock-hard cock. “Does that feel like I don’t want you, Wildfire? I want you so much it hurts. But we’re very new, and I have to do what is best for you first. That isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. When you’ve had time to know what you want for more than just tonight, we’ll talk again.”
She squirmed on his lap, and he groaned. “I wish that rule applied to spankings as well as sex.”
He raised one brow and shook his head. “What you did was dangerous, and yes, you scared me. And when you scare me by doing something dangerous, you earn a spanking. That’s how this works.”
Sage nodded against his neck, her body relaxing fully into his hold. She was deep in her Little headspace now, soft and clingy and content. The burning ache in her bottom mixed with the comforting safety of being held like this created the most confusing, wonderful swirl of feelings in her tummy.
He wanted her. Fresh tears slipped down her cheeks. “Can you carry me to bed, Daddy?” she asked, voice tiny and hopeful.
Grady stood without hesitation, lifting her easily into his arms. Sage twisted so she could wrap her legs around his waist and bury her face in his shoulder. She felt safe, protected, and cared for.
He carried her back to the house and into her room, where he tucked her in with gentle hands, pulling the covers up to her chin and pressing a warm kiss to her forehead.
“Sleep, Wildfire,” he murmured. “Daddy’s got you.”
Sage smiled sleepily, her fingers curling around the edge of her blanket as she snuggled deeper into the soft bedding. Her bottom still throbbed, a warm reminder of his discipline, but it only made her feel more loved.
“I like it when you’ve got me,” she whispered, eyes already drifting closed.
Chapter Eleven
Sage stood at the kitchen counter with her back to Rose, slicing thick pieces of sourdough bread while the morning sun poured through the window like warm honey. Her bottom still ached from the spanking her Daddy had given her the night before. The warm, tender reminder sent tingles straight to her core with every little shift of her weight.
As soon as she had gotten up, she’d examined her rear in the mirror. A session with her “battery-operated boyfriend” had been necessary afterward.
How in the world does a sore backside make me so horny and happy?
She wasn’t sure. She only knew it did. A secret, fluttery kind of joy kept bubbling up inside her every time she remembered his big hand and that low, stern voice telling her she was his good girl… even while he made sure she was very sorry for what she’d done.
Rose’s gaze heated a spot in the center of her back. Her Rosie-girl sat there, watchful and quiet as always, but something had definitely shifted in the last week. Her sweet girl was silent no more, as she worked at trusting the words in her own mouth again. Sage’s back was to her for this very reason, to encourage her to use her voice.
Sage wouldn’t say she was a chatterbox. Not yet. But she soon would be. Her heart did a happy little flip every single time she coaxed a word or phrase out of her once silent charge.
“Rose, honey,” Sage called over her shoulder, keeping her voice light and cheerful even though her bottom gave another warm throb, “do you want grape jelly or strawberry jam on your toast this morning? You have to tell me with words, remember? No pointing or nodding today. Those are your pa’s rules.”