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Instead of answering him with words, I flipped him the middle finger. It was still telling him to fuck off, albeit without saying it out loud.There. Now they could both be equally annoyed at me. I wish I had been thinking more clearly, but hindsight was twenty-twenty.
“Sir—” Dane started.
Tanner held up a finger. “Give her a minute.”
I glanced down at Tanner’s hand. The two of them stared at me wordlessly while I was lost in thought, likely waiting for me to say something. Deciding I’d already said enough, I stayed quiet. The silence was deafening, but somehow not uncomfortable.
“Are you going to listen to what I have to say now, buttercup?” Tanner asked sternly.
“Yes, Tanner.”
“No more tossing nasty words at me and fluttering off to your room. You will not tell either Dane or myself to fuck off, whether with words or gestures.” His green eyes took on a forest green sheen as he led me across the room. Side by side, we walked to the corner. I pouted when we walked past Dane, but his lips were set in a straight line. I had been disrespectful, and insulted his boyfriend. No,ourboyfriend I corrected in my head.
“Yes, Tanner,” I repeated, doing my best to listen.
“You’re in my home, and for as long as you’re here, you are going to follow my rules. However, I’d never purposefully do anything to make you uncomfortable. We can discuss your limits, but your safety is non-negotiable.”
Tanner stuck my nose in the corner. I should have expected such a response, but I was still surprised. “I apologize for telling you both to fuck off. I’m really sorry.”
“I’m sure you are.” He moved my hands behind my back. “Put your hands together.”
I did as Tanner ordered, and my head dropped. He rubbed the crown of my head, down my neck and to my shoulders. “I don’t understand what we’re doing.”
“We’re going to stand here until you’re ready to look at the rules again.”
“You don’t deserve to be in the corner.” I relaxed a tiny bit from his touches. “Your behavior didn’t warrant it. Mine did.”
“No more back and forth. Whenever you are ready, however long that takes, you tell me.”
“Yes, Sir.” Calling him a title worried me since we hadn’t specified anything about our dynamic yet. If that’s even what we were getting into.
“Good girl,” Tanner praised. “I enjoy hearing you call me that.”
I let out a long breath, calmed by his genuine care. There was no reason to think that he, myself, and Dane wouldn’t get along. It was my insecurities rearing their ugly heads.
Tanner cared about me deeply. But could I actually function in a dynamic with him in charge? There was one time back in college when I’d refused to listen to anyone. I went to a party in a part of town riddled with crime and gotten into trouble. It was a place no one should go on a good day. A single young woman like me should never have ventured there. Other than attempting to make-out with Tanner and Jesse when they found me, I didn’t remember much else. The whole incident was awful, but the two of them stepped up with their attention and guidance. They forbid me from going to any parties without one of them for the rest of my time in college. Since they were both first responders, having already been through medical training, I was okay health-wise, but I shuddered to think about what could have happened. It had been some sort of illegal substance spiked into my drink and without their fast action, it could have ended badly for me.
When I recovered, Tanner belted my ass. Jesse assigned me so many lines I thought my hand would fall off, including a list of all the places in town where I would promise never to go again. The two of them had riding lessons for different reasons later that afternoon, and they had forced me to sit on a hay bale and write. It had been hell to sit there with a stinging behind made worse by the rough surface while they trained. I never wanted to experience such a serious punishment again.Ugh.
Pushing away the gross memory, I swallowed hard. I trusted Tanner to keep me safe while I followed his rules. I wasn’t sure how Dane fit into the picture. He didn’t seem to have the same sort of vibe as Tanner, and he never threatened to put me over his knee. Yet. But he also mentioned the Daddy dynamic to Tanner, so I would ask him about it later.
“May I please look at the rules again, Sir?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes, darling.” Tanner unlinked my arms and led me back to the kitchen stool. “Read them in front of me.”
I glanced at the page, hating each one more than the last, and yet they were centered on my needs. Somehow, Tanner knew what I needed. I don’t know how he figured it out since it had been so long, but they all made perfect sense.
“Bedtime is a…” I snapped my fingers. “What’s that word? A hard limit.”
“Tell me why it’s a hard limit, Tiana.” Tanner sipped from his mug. “It better be more than you not wanting to comply.”
“But I don’t.”
“Give me your reasoning.”
“Does Dane have a bedtime?”
“These are your rules.” Tanner confirmed. I bet he wouldn’t let me wiggle on them at all. “At your house the other day, you mentioned you hadn’t slept in weeks. Aiming to be in bed at the same time each night will get you on a better schedule.”
