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“Give me one good reason not to wear you out, little girl. I’m trying…”

Swat.

“And failing…”

Swat.

“To understand what was going on in that beautiful, brilliant head of yours.”

Swat. Swat. Swat!

He spoke in the same tone of voice he used when talking about the weather. But that last swat lifted her up on her toes and pushed the plug against her pussy and that special spot inside her bottom.

She shot up from her position on the stool and spun to face him, hands covering her plugged backside. His voice might have been mild, but his face looked like a thundercloud about to storm.

“I won’t keep anything like that from you again. I promise. I’m sorry, Daddy.”

“You’re sorry? You’re sorry.”

The fact he was answering his own questions probably wasn’t a good sign. This was the point in every scary show where people waved their arms in the air trying to prevent the heroine from doing something stupid, yelling,Stop! Don’t do it!

Pressing her lips together, she fought to hold back the words. But there was no way she could stop herself from answering. She’d been expected to know the right answer to every question her whole life. His glower seemed to indicate he didn’t want her to say yes, so she chose the only other option.

“No, I meant no.”

Great. Now his jaw was clenched and that vein on his forehead was pulsing again. “So, you’re not sorry?”

Well, that didn’t sound right. Not for her bottom’s sake anyway. Then her mouth pulled one of those “hold my beer” moves and snatched the control of her tongue away from her brain. “Darn it, Daddy! If it isn’t yes, and it isn’t no, then what am I supposed to say? What do you want?”

“The truth, Tildi. I want the truth.”

Dear lord in heaven. Maybe if she jumped out of the window and lassoed one of those Mustangs he’d told her about, she could escape into the mountains and live the rest of her days as a miner panning for gold and scaring the tourists.

He wanted the truth? Fine.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn't want to worry you. People get tired of being worried all the time and I didn’t want to risk you getting tired of me. So, I ignored the texts and pretended they weren’t real. I didn’t mean to lie and hide something bad from you, Daddy, but if I told you then it would be real. And if I brought real trouble to the ranch, you wouldn’t want me to stay.”

He stared at her then. For a really long time. Like, she was beginning to feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. Then he dropped his gaze to the floor and sighed.

Had she ruined everything? She’d tried to give him what he wanted.

“I’m going to ask you something, Tildi, and I want you to think before you answer me. Who is it in this room that you think will ask you to leave? Is it the soldier who gave up a chance to take down the man he’d been after for three years to save you? Or is it the rancher who brought you almost halfway around the world to meet his family because he wants to make a home with you? Maybe it’s the Daddy who loves you too much to allow you to put your safety at risk and is going to spank your naughty, plugged bottom until he thinks you’ve learned how precious you are? Because all those men are me. And none of them is ever going to let you go.”

“I... I…” For the first time in her life, Tildi didn’t know what to say.

“We have a chance for something most people only dream of, babygirl. But you have to trust?—”

“But I do, Daddy.” She had to stop him from thinking she didn’t. “You’re the most wonderful person in the world. I do trust you. I just don’t know why you want to put up with me.”

She was ruining everything. Just like she’d known she would. She hadn’t been on the ranch a week, and she’d already ruined everything.

He ran a hand down her hair and cupped her cheek. “You interrupted me, babygirl. I know you trust me. The person you don’t trust is you.”

“What?” What did that even mean?

“You think in order to be mine you have to be perfect. And you don’t see that you already are. You’re the perfect Tildi. My perfectly scrumptious bluebell. Grif and Dutch adore you. Kenzie sang your praises all day to anyone who would listen. The only one who doesn’t believe in you, baby, is you.”

“Because I’m not!” She couldn’t let him go on like that. He was just proving her point. She could never be the person he deserved. And eventually he’d realize it and be done with her.