Page 49 of Cowboy Daddies

But she didn’t say no. She didn’t try to argue with him. She remained silent.

He waited a few more seconds and then said, in a gentle voice, “You know how this works, Allegra. You can safeword. If this isn’t what you want, I’m not going to force it on you.”

Her lips parted then sealed again without a sound. She shook her head, drew in a deep breath and then let it out as a long sigh before she finally spoke. “I’m tired. It’s been a long day, and honestly, I just want to go to bed, but I also want—I want what we used to have. I—” Her voice trembled as she paused.

She took another deep breath, reaching up to brush dark hair off her face. “Can we fix this? Can we go back to how things were?” There was a wistful note in her voice.

He leaned forward, reaching across the low table to touch her leg. “Of course we can, sweetheart. Listen, this is just a hiccup. We’ve gone through a lot of changes in the past year, and yeah, things fell by the wayside, but if we both want it, we can pick them back up now. Is that what you want?”

“Yes, please,” she said, half-sighing the words. “I need that structure. It always felt so right when you were running things.” Her hand moved to cover his. “No matter how stressed I was, I always knew you would help. I miss that, but I thought you didn’t want it anymore. Honestly, I couldn’t blame you. Being a Dom is a lot of mental labor and⁠—”

“I miss it too, Allegra. I’ve been missing it for a long time.” He straightened and cleared his throat. “It seems like we had some serious miscommunication. You thought I didn’t want to be a Dom. I thought you didn’t want to be my submissive anymore. I wish we’d talked about it instead of making assumptions, but we’re on the same page now. Right?”

“I think so.”

“So, just to be clear… you want our dynamic back. That means rules and structure and punishment.”

Allegra nodded. “Yes.”

“And you know I’m going to lay down some punishment now for the major rules you already broke when you hid things from me?” This time her yes sounded more like a sigh, but he accepted it. “Good, last question: do you want to put it off until tomorrow? If you’re too tired, or you need some more time to think, we can wait.”

“No.” A much more decisive tone. “I don’t want to put it off. Well, I mean, I do, but I feel like we’ve put it off long enough. I’m scared if we don’t jump back in with both feet right now… something will happen and it won’t happen.” Her eyes fixed on him, pleading. “Let’s just do it. Please?”

That’s what he wanted to hear. He released the breath he’d been holding. “Good girl. I said things were going to change, and they are. We have a lot to talk about because this, this running yourself into the dirt to please that—” He cut himself off with a growl.

When he thought about the way her supervisor had spoken to her in those texts his fists clenched, but that was something to deal with later. He shook his head sharply. “That’s done with.”

“But—”

“Nope. We’re not going to argue about it right now. That man has been abusing you and I doubt he would have kept his word anyway. Why would he, when he’s getting so much work from you at no extra cost?”

Clearly she’d thought about that too, because she just frowned and looked away.

“We’ll talk about how that’s going to go later. For now, I want you in the bedroom. Naked. On your hands and knees. On the bed.” Each order a complete statement. Every word backed by iron, leaving no room for arguments.

For a moment he thought she might change her mind about putting the punishment off, but then she swallowed hard and got to her feet. She took three steps, paused for a moment, and then said, “Yes Sir,” in a soft voice. Without another word she left the room.

It had been a long time since he’d heard a ‘Yes Sir’ from her. Hearing it now… made him feel like things were going in the right direction. Finally.

He took a minute to prepare himself mentally. Punishment required a certain headspace, and it had been a while since he’d dipped into it. While she was in the bedroom undressing, he searched for the stern dominant energy he was going to need.

He had to admit he was looking forward to disciplining her. Punishment was a tricky thing when it came to emotions. Sometimes he hated to have to do it, dreaded it even. At other times, like now, when it was so obviously what was needed, he couldn’t help but feel the anticipation rising.

When he was ready, he took a deep breath and joined her in the bedroom.

Allegra was waiting exactly as ordered. Her head was pillowed on her arms, and her bare ass upraised and presented like an offering. He took a moment to look at her, to enjoy the sight. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed seeing her like this.

It wasn’t that she was naked or on her knees. Despite the lapse of their dynamic, Allegra had still been very much a bedroom submissive, but that was sex. That was about the arousal, the excitement, the way they brought each other pleasure. There might be pain, but it just added to the sensations.

This wasn’t the same. This required a different kind of trust. The vulnerability of undressing and positioning yourself to be punished, knowing that it would hurt and there would be no arousal to cushion the pain… this was the gift she gave him with her submission. Gave them both really, because his wife needed the catharsis that came with punishment.

Of course, as much as she needed it, she still dreaded the process, and he could see it in the tenseness of her muscles. The way she trembled, fidgeting as she felt the weight of his gaze on her, was beautiful. The vulnerability … only he got to see her like this.

Fuck, it’s been way too long, he thought to himself. He drew in a deep breath and saw her freeze. “So, it seems we have a few things to deal with tonight. Actually, I suspect the list is probably pretty long after all this time, but given the situation, I think we’ll just focus on the recent problems. What do you think?”

She didn’t look back but the sigh was answer enough. “Yes Sir.”

He rested his hand on her lower back, just above the sweet divide. He wasn’t ready to start yet, but he wanted the connection. They’d already discussed most of the issues, but he liked to be very clear before he started, so that the punishment was connected to the crime. “Lying is a big one.”