The thick leather collar was lined with soft fur, and when the weight of it settled around her neck, she could feel herself sliding deeper and deeper into her submission. The collar grounded her, humbled her. It would be a constant reminder during the day of who she belonged to and why she was wearing it.
“All right. Daddy needs to get ready for work. Stay right here until I come and get you.”
If she hadn’t already been in so much trouble, it would have been tempting to disobey, to crawl around and make some mischief. But she wasn’t in any hurry to make him any angrier than he already was, so she stayed put until he returned to her side.
“Good kitty,” he praised as he clipped the leash to her collar. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 14
Makingher crawl all the way to the kitchen would have been beyond cruel, so Connor allowed his little kitty-girl to walk until they reached the kitchen doors. When he stopped and pointed to the ground, she sent him a pleading look, but he didn’t bend.
“You can crawl with or without my handprints all over your bottom for everyone to see. Your choice, baby.”
Guilt niggled at him when her eyes widened and her lower lip pushed out into a pout. But he hardened his heart against the sadness in her eyes. He’d discussed this course of action with Derek at length earlier that morning, for the express purpose of ensuring he wasn’t taking things too far.
As Derek had pointed out, a little humiliation never hurt anyone. And she had a safeword if it really got to be too much.
“One,” he counted when she still hadn’t moved.
As he’d hoped, she dropped to all fours immediately, with a soft squeak.
“Good girl. You just have to get through the kitchen and to Daddy’s office. It’s not that far. And I’m right here.”
But as soon as the door to the kitchen swung open, he realized his mistake.
With him taking the morning off to deal with Hayleigh and paperwork, Julia was running the kitchen. In the chaos of the food fight and the resulting fallout last night, he’d completely forgotten to talk to Derek about her.
Her head snapped up when he walked in and her gaze traveled down to where Hayleigh was kneeling at his feet, her head lowered. When Julia’s eyes met his again, smug triumph burned in the pale gold.
“Well, it looks like little Miss Prankster finally got what was coming to her. Finally figured out you need to keep her on a leash, Chef?”
Beside him, Hayleigh’s quiet, sharp inhale was the only indication she’d even heard Julia. She made no move to retaliate or defend herself. Goddamn, he was proud of her.
Resting a hand on her hair, he met Julia’s gaze head on. “You’re dismissed for the day, Julia. I don’t want to see you in this kitchen again until I’ve spoken to Master Derek about your behavior.”
“What?” Shock widened her eyes as the kitchen fell silent around them. “You can’t do that!”
“I can and I am. Bullying is severely frowned upon at the Ranch. And I absolutely will not tolerate any of my staff mocking my submissive, oranysubmissive for that matter, when they are being disciplined. You are dismissed, Ms. Simmons.”
Red bloomed on Julia’s cheeks and she sent a hateful look in his direction, but she didn’t argue. Silently fuming, she stormed past him and out the kitchen doors.
Deafening silence filled the kitchen. “Since I have your attention,” he said, raising his voice to ensure every single person could hear him, “take note that I do not tolerate that kind of behavior in my kitchen. If you have a problem with it, you know where to find the door.”
A couple dozen heads shook side to side. “Good. Angel, you’re in charge. I’ll be in my office most of the day, so if anything comes up, you know where to find me.”
Stepping forward, he gave the leash in his hand a gentle tug and Hayleigh silently fell in beside him.
The office door shut behind them and he guided her to his desk. “Come here, baby.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she climbed into his lap, curling into him.
“I’m sorry, jellybean. I knew something was up with her, but I never expected her to be so mean. But after her comments last night, I should have anticipated this. Forgive me?”
With a silent nod, she snuggled in closer and made a sort of rumbling sound in her throat.
Laughing, he ran his hand down her back. “Was that a purr?”
Another nod, another little rumble.