Page 48 of Cowboy Daddies

“Thank you. Second,”—he put another finger up—“we have to start somewhere. Besides, haven’t I let things slide long enough? Is letting this go really going to help anything?”

Her glance dropped to her lap where her hands twisted and twined. “I guess not.” Her voice was so soft that her own ears barely picked it up, but it seemed to be enough for him.

“And finally, sweetheart, if I recall… a little unfairness was a hot button for you. I doubt that’s changed.”

She squirmed, feeling her face heat. Not one damn thing he’d said was wrong, and it was annoying as hell, but there was also this sense of relief. Finally. Finally, he was going to help her. She hadn’t entirely realized how much she needed and wanted that until just now.

There was a giddy whooshing feeling inside. Her pulse began to race as she realized she really wasn’t getting out of this. It wasn’t going to be fun. Punishment never was, but once it was over, everything would be better.

He gave her a few seconds to take it all in, and then, “So, this is what we’re going to do…”

Chapter Two

It had been a long day for Carter too. Beginning when his hand slid across the bed, searching for her in his sleep, but finding only cold sheets. It woke him, as it always did. He frowned as he squinted at the bedroom clock. It was nearly two in the morning.

There’d been a lot of late nights recently, but not that late. He wasn’t worried, not yet. He was pretty sure where he’d find her, and sure enough, there she was fast asleep on the couch. It wasn’t the first time she hadn’t made it to the bedroom after a long day.

There was still that sense of relief at seeing her home safe with his own eyes. For a moment he just watched her, noting the phone still in her hand and the way she was half slumped over. She’d be sore in the morning if he left her like that.

With a sigh he went to make her a little more comfortable. Trying not to wake her, he put her legs up and tucked a pillow under her head. He gently pried the phone out of her hand, saw the low battery light blinking, and went to plug it in so she’d have it for work in the morning.

As soon as it had power, the screen brightened and texts began to appear. He saw the first one and that left him curious enough to keep reading. A cold hard lump of anger began to form in his middle as the messages flew by. He continued to stare at the screen long after it went dark.

They were a few hours old, probably stuck in the queue when her phone went into low battery mode. They’d most likely come in after she’d fallen asleep, and he almost, almost wished he hadn’t seen them at all, because now he was going to have to confront her. That meant facing a problem that had been looming over their marriage for a while.

He never made it back to sleep. There was too much to think about. Too many plans to make.

It was long past time to deal with the issues, but it wasn’t going to be easy and part of him was afraid of how she was going to react. Allegra was his world. She was his sub, his wife, his everything that mattered, and she had been hiding things from him.

By the time she was up and out the door in the morning, he knew exactly what he was going to do. It started with him stepping up to make the difficult choices he’d put off for far too long. If she still wanted him to be her Dom, and he hoped that was the case, then it was time to get back to the basics.

Carter had known for a while there were issues to work out. He’d tried to bring it up with Allegra on multiple occasions, but she was always too tired, or had to get work done, or was rushing out the door. He should have pushed. He hadn’t, and that was his fault.

To be fair, he hadn’t known how bad things had gotten; she’d kept it secret. But he’d known there were problems, and that meant he wasn’t entirely unprepared for this situation. For a while now, he’d been considering a special vacation to help get them back on track.

He knew the website address almost by heart, he’d been there so often. This time, instead of just flipping through the pictures, the descriptions, the happy couples who had been through a life-changing experience, he actually went through the process to book the trip. There was only one future event listed, and it started the following week. He grabbed it without hesitation, despite the fact that it would be a scramble to get them there with only five days warning.

Allegra would have a million reasons why she couldn’t take the time off right now, and he was going to shut them all down. Their marriage was in trouble and so was she. Nothing was more important than fixing this.

His day was busy enough that he didn’t have time to worry about the showdown they were going to have. He needed to get some work done, and part of that was delegating a few of his projects, so that he could free up his schedule. He was going to need the next three weeks off. Luckily, as the boss of his own company, he could make that happen.

That and making flight plans took most of his morning, which left the afternoon for running errands. He would make her a nice dinner. Put some flowers and wine on the table, and then after they’d eaten, he’d bring up the texts.

That was the plan anyway.

He’d jumped the gun on the last part. Sitting there and saying nothing was just … too much. How could he make small talk with such a big issue looming? Once he brought up the texts, the meal had gotten tense. Holding back the conversation until she’d finished eating took real effort and killed his own appetite.

He didn’t bother to bring out the cheesecake he’d picked up from her favorite bakery.

And once they’d gotten into the conversation things had quickly escalated until she was in the corner and he, for the first time in a long while, was in full Dom mode. None of that was planned, of course. He was going to ease them both back in, but instincts had taken over—and it felt ... good? Right? Necessary?

Something like that anyway.

For a long time now—had it really been almost a year?—he’d been plagued by self-doubt. Doubting whether she really needed or wanted a Dom. Doubting whether he’d lose her if he pushed too hard. Doubting … everything. It was good to step past that and slip into that comfortable role.

“So, this is what we’re going to do…” He watched her as the pause lengthened and the reality set in. If she was going to protest, it would be now, but she didn’t. “We’re going to clear the slate with the hard punishment you’ve earned. Then we’re going to discuss some serious life changes, because this isn’t working for either of us.”

She’d always had a pretty good poker face when she wanted to. She watched him, eyes a little wider than usual, but otherwise her expression was smooth. The nervousness was in the hands though. Allegra had always been very expressive with her hands, and he could see them writhing in her lap like they were looking for an escape.