Page 8 of The Handyman and The Drama Queen (Myths, Legends, and Southern Charm #1)

Ezra

“Nope. Still not sorry I got my way.” Stone shrugged, shifting closer and pretending to kiss my cheek again. “ Ghost would’ve been a terrible movie choice and even I’m not that sadistic.”

Wait.

Was he a sadist?

That was a specific kind of thing…everyone knew that, so I didn’t have to feel weird about it. But his laughter wasn’t a good indicator if he was fucking with me or not.

Wait.

He liked fucking with me.

“Are you?” Following him through the living room and toward the front of the house, I didn’t let myself get distracted by his ass or where we were going. “A sadist, I mean. Are you one?”

His snickers and cat that ate the canary grin said he probably was.

“Would it make a difference?” There was a sparkle in his eyes that pushed me toward the fucking with me side of things. But it was hard to tell because he had to turn away to open the front door.

“I don’t know.” He was such a brat. No. That was it. “No. You’re some kind of a brat Dom. Not a sadist.”

They wouldn’t laugh as much as he did.

He managed not to laugh again as he bounced down the front porch stairs, but it still wasn’t as funny as he seemed to think it was. “You’re right. I’m not a sadist but you are fun to torment.”

He wasn’t moving away from that brat definition anytime soon.

“This isn’t how a first date goes.” I was starting to see why he hadn’t found a partner in town. “You’re supposed to talk nice to me and romance me and tell me I’m right.”

He snorted.

“And you’re not supposed to be rude.” That was the one part I was confident about.

“But you’re cute when you’re riled up, and for the time being, I don’t have to worry about driving you crazy because you can only touch me when you’re turned on.” He winked at me. “Not pissed.”

“I’m going to be very dangerous once I’m more solid.” I’d figure out how to do that without being horny sooner or later.

If the librarian could do it, so could I.

Stone shrugged as he opened the passenger door and got out his lunch box. “Then I can just spank you. Still not worried.”

He’d spank me?

“ Oh .” Dragging out the sound, he grinned even wider as he slammed the door shut. “Flashing in and out, huh? You’re curious at the very least.”

Damn it.

“That’s cheating.” It had to be. “Stop reading my mind.”

Nearly giggling like a kid, he shook his head. “No. I’m enjoying that tell entirely too much.”

How much practice would it take to be able to throw his notebook at him?

“Yep, we’re going to have to figure out a nice firm punishment for you once you’re solid enough to need it.” Winking, he didn’t look stern enough for me to be worried. “Until then, I’ll just have to be patient and enjoy the show.”

No…it was going to need to be heavier than the notebook.

“There’s no show and I’m not curious.” At least, not about being punished. “You’re being ridiculous.”

No one wanted to be punished.

Right?

“And the wheels are turning again.” Stone looked slightly less infuriating as he walked up to me and pretended to kiss my cheek again. “Ask your questions, brat.”

“I’m not the brat.” But I might have questions. “What if they’re stupid?”

Stone’s glare was just as sexy as his laughter. “You’ve never been dead before and you’ve never had a chance to explore BDSM, so are there any stupid questions here?”

Well, when he put it like that.

“No.” Probably not. “I just feel like…”

Shrugging wasn’t the best way to finish my sentence, but I couldn’t figure out how the rest should go. I wasn’t sure how Stone would take that, but he nodded slowly and his stern look softened. “You’ve had a lot going on and I’ve thrown even more at you. I should probably apologize for that, but I don’t think holding back would be good for either of us.”

There really is an us?

Taking a moment, I tried to gather my thoughts but they were running in circles like rabid squirrels. “So I can just start anywhere, right?”

“Yes.” The confident man in front of me was too serious to be my Stone, but I kind of liked the new man he’d become in a different way. “We’ll jump into whatever is on your mind, and if we bounce around to different things, that’s okay.”

He must’ve seen some of the confusion I was feeling on my face because he leaned in close and pretended to kiss me again. “Kisses for my worried boy.”

There was no way to miss the possessiveness in his voice or in his words, but that didn’t help me narrow down where to start.

“One question. Then another.” Smiling again, he nodded toward the house. “Come on. You can keep me company while I grab some food and then get some work done. As long as you’re still good with that.”

Since that was the plan to begin with, I nodded without having to think about it. “Yes.”

Once I’d replied, though, it took a second for me to realize what he was asking. “I don’t mind the food thing. I feel…satisfied, I guess. If I was more food motivated in life, it might be different, but I don’t mind watching you eat.”

I’d died eating canned pasta, for fuck’s sake. A gourmet I was not.

“Good.” He leaned close again and I could almost feel what his lips would’ve been like against my cheek. “But you need to let me know if I do something that gives you a negative reaction. Logical or not. Got it?”

His sexy stern face was back, so I nodded. “Yes. Promise.”

“Thank you.” He waited to continue walking until I’d started toward the house, but then he moved in step with me, almost like he was holding my hand. “I’ll do my best to pay attention to your reactions, but I’m going to miss something eventually.”

I really didn’t want to admit that he was right.

“I’m not…my emotions surprise me sometimes.” I shrugged, not wanting to get lost in that discussion. “But the food thing is fine with me and nothing we’ve done has been an issue so far.”

Weird.

Confusing.

Frustrating.

Erotic.

But not an issue in the way he meant.

“So then tell me where you want to start with your questions.” The normal laughter was gone from his tone and something about it pushed at me to get the words out. “You have questions, and right now I’m the best way for you to get information.”

He was really my only way to get information, but I was glad he hadn’t pointed that out.

“Um, well.” Ugh.

There were no stupid questions.

There were no stupid questions.

“You talked about spankings.” Okay, that wasn’t so bad. He didn’t even smile, and he looked like it was a reasonable start too. “You made it sound like they could be punishments but maybe not? I’ve seen some stuff online. I mean, who hasn’t? But not what I think you’re talking about.”

I was starting to think I should’ve read more dirty books when I’d been alive. The porn I’d found hadn’t given me a very balanced point of view and I’d clearly missed stuff.

“I’m not sure what you’re picturing, but I’ll start with what I meant. We can use that as a jumping-off point if my thoughts aren’t clear enough or if I give you another question.” As we headed into the house, Stone paused and shut the door.

Waiting for me.

Yes. Eventually, I’d remember to give him clear indications I was listening.

“I think that’s a good plan.” I hadn’t come up with a better one anyway, so it would work. “And I know if I think of something else to ask later, I can just bring it up…the next time I see you.”

I’d hoped he missed my awkward stumble, but he winked at me. “On our next date, brat.”

Since I wasn’t going to get into the who was the brat debate again, I nodded. “Our next date. Yes.”

Because he somehow thought dating a dead guy was reasonable?

Nope. I wasn’t ready for that conversation yet. Spankings were definitely an easier topic.

God, my life had gotten so weird.

“So spankings?” Yes, that was definitely a lighter topic.

Stone’s smirk as he headed toward the kitchen said he’d guessed at least part of what I’d been thinking, but he was nice and stayed on topic. “I’d love to talk to you about my hand on your ass.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t hard to figure out why he liked that discussion.

“For some subs, spankings are punishments.” There was still a twinkle in his eyes as he pulled out my chair at the table, but he didn’t get distracted fucking with me as he walked around and sat down across from me. “So that was what I was teasing about to begin with, but based on your reaction, I changed my teasing to focus on you enjoying the spanking.”

Nodding since it seemed like we were on the same page, I tried not to wiggle as I sat down. Looking like a kid with ants in his pants was not my current goal. I was going to look relaxed and serious and not feel silly.

Or look silly.

Fingers crossed.

“A lot of people have their pain and pleasure centers crossed for a variety of reasons. It can be the pain that’s associated with a spanking that turns someone on, or it can be a combination of the embarrassment and finding the situation erotic that pushes the painful stimuli in a sexy and fun direction.” Something about the serious and almost clinical way he was explaining it made it easier to relax and not feel ridiculous.

“I’ve…I’ve never explored anything like that, but you’re saying it’s common to find the idea of a spanking erotic?” I knew that was what he was saying, but I just needed to hear it again.

“Yes.” His firm answer made it clear I hadn’t misread the situation. “It’s incredibly common in real life and not just playacting in porn or in a scene in a dirty book.”

I definitely should’ve read a wider variety of books when I’d been alive.

Would Library Ghost have counted them as real books?

“For us specifically, I think you’re curious about the erotic type of spankings and I’d enjoy putting you over my lap and baring your bottom.” His tone was still no nonsense but something had changed and it sent a shiver through me.

The brat Dom had definitely left the building and this one sent butterflies whirling in my stomach.

It was a really good thing I was dead and didn’t need to figure out how to eat with the hurricane of wings going on inside me.

“We…we can’t do that, though.” No real body meant no real spankings.

He gave the barest nod but my non-corporeal nature didn’t seem like it would be much of an issue. “Not right now, but we can talk about it and I can go over the scene in detail when I get you off again.”

“That…it’s not weird if that still sounds kind of scary, right?” Was that the right word? Wait. Not right now? Nope. I was going to stay on track. “I mean…it’s…it’s.”

It was the time to run out of words, evidently.

Stone didn’t seem to mind.

An understanding smile peeked out as he shifted back in his chair. “It’s not weird. It’s new and just the fantasy of it can give you strong emotions. But scary isn’t bad.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but Stone seemed confident. “It just builds anticipation.”

That was one word for it.

“But we can’t do that right now.” Somehow having no real body had ended up as a good thing. “So we’ll just push that off for the time being.”

Stone cocked his head. “Yes, the actual spanking we’ll put off until you’ve had time to think about it and when we’ve got the body thing worked out, but do you want to put a limit on using it in a fantasy?”

Limit?

A limit.

“Oh. Um.” Maybe the whole can we have a relationship question would’ve been easier? “I kind of feel like I’m standing on a cliff when we talk about it.”

I thought that was a stupid way to explain it but Stone didn’t smile and seemed to find it reasonable. “A lot of BDSM is like that. The emotions and the sensations build and then you release everything. That cliff you’re standing on is made to help you fly.”

He made it sound magical, but I was pretty sure I was in the middle of a Road Runner cartoon…and eventually I’d go splat instead.