Page 106 of Coiled Tight

He was never nervous. I didn’t know what to do with a nervous Daddy. They didn’t teach you that in Age Play School. Or anywhere.

Oh, shit.

Maybe I should find an excuse to move away and text Kara. She had more experience with long-term relationships. Well, with one. I wasn’t counting the abusive ex. But like, there was more of a chance that she’d experienced this.

Right?

Of course, finding that excuse would be hard to achieve when it was just the two of us and the horses, and no real place to hide.

Ugh.

I supposed I could teach Mercury to feign some kind of emergency that meant we had to run back to the stables. But… That would worry Daddy so much, and he’d follow me anyway.

Shit.

No one warned you about this when you decided to uproot your entire life to live in an isolated animal refuge.

“Because we’re visiting the club.”

“Um. Okay? Why?”

We didn’t go there. Well, Daddy had gone a few times these past couple of months to take measurements and discuss things with the Dungeon Masters, but I was more than fine staying in the sanctuary, thank you very much.

“Because I told you I want to mark you the first day. That hasn’t changed.”

He grimaced, tongue darting out to his lip. I was usually the one who did that because my thoughts ran faster than my mouth. This was all very disturbing.

Oh, shit.

Was this how people felt around me? Was that why people kept their distance? Well, why theyhadkept it at the beginning? I couldn’t say I blamed them. Part of me wanted to run for the hills just so that I didn’t have to figure out how I could help. If I could.

Could I?

“Um. Please make some sense.”

Was that good? Too pushy? Not enough?

Shit, I was being selfish, wasn’t I? Putting my need for comfort over his orsomething?—

“Breathe, darlin’.”

I did.

A big gulp of air that almost had me choking—it would have, if he hadn’t caught me. If the rumbly quality in his voice, in his command, wasn’t enough to soothe the building, stabbing pain in my chest.

“Okay.”

That was not the right thing to say, was it?

Daddy didn’t say, but he did push me closer to his chest, silencing my next attempt at an apology.

“I’ve made my peace with you staying out of kink spaces, darlin’.” Did he add more of that rumbling to his voice on purpose? I was not going to complain. “But I do want to collar you. And I don’t wanna do it here where someone can call with an emergency. Or where they won’t understand.”

“Um.” My brain whirled to a stop. Suddenly, his closeness was suffocating, and I needed space. Space to look into his eyes and pretend that I was better at reading people’s faces than I actually was. “Collar me?”

“Yes.” Daddy breathed out. “One of the Dungeon Masters has been helping me set it up. It’s all arranged. If you agree to it, of course.”

“Of course,” I repeated.