“I can if you agree to our terms,” he countered.
She paled. Okay, that wouldn’t do. He didn’t want her to fear him.
“But I’m willing to wipe the slate clean this once. However, after you have agreed to our terms, there will be no more lenience. Break the rules and you get your bottom warmed.”
“And all the women here agree to this?” Her green gaze flicked between the two of them.
“They do,” Kent told her. “Not only that, but they want this way of life. They’re some of the happiest, most cherished women in the state. They know that their men always have their best interests at heart. Our women always come first.”
“And no one or nothing touches them,” Clint told her.
“And I have to agree to follow the rules or I’ll be…”
“Spanked,” he supplied. “There are other punishments as well—”
“But those don’t apply to you,” Kent interrupted, staring over at him. Yeah, he got it.
Bit of a pity, though. He’d like to see her plugged and standing in the corner with her red bottom on display.
“I’ll only be here a few weeks. Couldn’t I just be exempt from this—from this rule? I mean, would you be having this conversation if the agency had sent a man instead of me?”
“No,” Kent admitted. “But you’re not a man. We’d intended to keep the cook under close observation. No one would have told him what goes on here.”
“So why didn’t you just keep it from me?” she wailed.
“Because you didn’t seem shocked when I said I would spank you earlier if you lied to me.”
“That’s it? That’s the only reason? I’m certainly shocked now.”
“But you’re also intrigued, aren’t you?” Kent leaned forward. “You read about BDSM, so it must excite you in some way, interest you?”
“Just because I read about it doesn’t mean I want to live it.”
Clint narrowed his gaze. “Hmm, I can’t tell if that’s a lie or not. I think you’d like to try it. You just haven’t had the opportunity or maybe you’ve been too scared.”
“But I don’t want to be tied to a cross and whipped or have hot wax dripped on me or any of those things,” she said.
“In the books you read, did the Dom ever take more of a daddy role?” Clint guessed. It was a risk, bringing this up now. But he had to go with his gut.
“I’m going.” She stood up hastily. Yeah, he’d hit the nail on the head.
“Sit down, Charlotte.”
She paused but didn’t sit.
“You don’t want me to say it again.”
She sat, but she wouldn’t look at either of them. Her arms were tightly wrapped around her. He didn’t like how lost she appeared. How alone.
“Baby, no one is pressuring you into anything,” he told her in a soft voice. Had he pushed too far too fast? Probably. That was pretty typical for him.
“Seems like you are,” she said in a small voice.
He stood and moved over to where she sat. She stiffened and he thought she might try to bolt. But she stayed in her chair as he grabbed the one next to her and turned it. Then he sat and reaching over, moved her chair around so they faced one another.
She gasped slightly but didn’t raise her gaze.
“Eyes on me, Charlotte.”