She shook her head.
Kent snorted. “Seems like she might be as stubborn as you are.”
“Doubtful,” he replied. “Charlotte, look at me now.”
She reluctantly raised her gaze. And his stomach clenched at the hint of fear in her green eyes. “Ah, little darling, we’ve pushed too hard, haven’t we?”
“You-you shouldn’t call me that,” she whispered.
“But you are a little darling. Small and delicate and sweet.” He reached out and lightly ran a finger down her cheek. “And I’m thinking that you’ve been taking care of yourself for too long.”
“No one else is going to do it. Besides, I’m a grown woman. I should look after myself.”
“Maybe. But wouldn’t it be nice to live in a safe place, where people look out for each other, especially the women? Where you know no one will bother you? Threaten you? Where you don’t have to worry about where you’re going to sleep or if you’ll be safe?”
Her eyes widened at that but she didn’t say anything.
“We know you’ve been sleeping in your car, Charlotte,” he told her gently.
She stiffened and tried to move away but he kept hold of her chin. “That’s very dangerous and a threat to your health.”
“It’s not like I want to sleep in my car. I had no other choice.”
“Now, you do.”
“If I agree to become someone’s sub while I’m here.”
“No,” he countered. “If you agree to follow the rules. That’s all you have to do. Like I said, no one expects anything more from you than to do your job and obey the rules. But if you don’t, then you also have to accept the consequences.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not sure I can do that.”
“I know this all sounds weird and somewhat scary,” Kent told her. “But we really have your best interests at heart. The rules are to keep you safe. This ranch was set up by our great-great-grandfather to provide a safe place for people who had different views about relationships.”
“He shared his wife with his brother,” Clint told her.
Her eyes widened. “Seriously?”
“Yep,” Kent told her.
“Do the two of you share?” she asked them.
Clint shook his head. “Nope, I’m too possessive for that.”
She bit at her lip, obviously thinking. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do?”
“No,” Clint told her. “But you do have to agree to follow the rules and to any discipline if you break them.”
She shifted around on her seat. There was trepidation, fear, but also a glint of interest. She might be denying it, but she was intrigued.
“If anyone ever did try to force you to do something you don’t want to do, you’re to tell me immediately,” he told her.
“And who would be my guardian?” She glanced from one to the other.
“We would share that responsibility,” Kent told her.
He didn’t like it. Not one bit. In fact, he wanted to tell Kent that if he touched her, he’d never touch anything again because he’d slice off his hands. However, he was already too possessive, if he was her only guardian…well, he wasn’t certain that he trusted himself not to take things too far.
“I-I don’t know.” She gulped.