Page 6 of Jade

He took a step forward. “I caught Miss Jade here in an empty conference room singing along to music that is barely acceptable for an adult, and certainly not allowed for a Little such as herself.”

“Oh really?” Baze raised both his eyebrows and cocked his head at his Little. “Is that true, Jade? Was the music inappropriate—something you should not be listening to?”

She shrugged.

Ryan sucked in a breath.

Baze started counting. “Answer me, little girl. One…”

“Okay, okay fine! No, it wasn’t appropriate.”

“I see. Did it have cuss words in it?” Baze prodded, looking for more information.

“Yes, Mister Daddy.”

“And you were singing along?” Baze pressed.

“Yes, Mister Daddy.” Jade looked down at the floor, her cheeks flushing.

Ryan almost felt bad for her, but he also kind of liked seeing her be scolded like the naughty girl she was.

“So not only were you listening to the kind of music we agreed you were not allowed to listen to, you were singing it, and saying words that you know you are not allowed to say. Is that correct? Do I have the whole picture now?”

Ryan almost answered for her, but clamped his mouth shut and refrained. He’d given Baze all the information he had. It wasn’t up to him to decide what was relevant.

He waited for Jade to answer.

“Yes, Mister Daddy.” She heaved a long-suffering sigh.

“All right. Go upstairs and wait for me. No phone, video games, or music.” He dismissed her with a wave and she ran from the room.

Uncrossing his arms, Baze sat back at his desk and looked at Ryan. “Thank you for bringing that to my attention. I assure you it will be dealt with.” He paused and regarded Ryan with a shrewd eye. “Is that everything?”

Say yes. Say yes. Leave the room.

“How do you know if you’re a Daddy?” he asked instead, taking a seat on the other side of Baze’s desk.

If Baze was surprised by the question, he didn’t show it. He cocked his head and folded his hands. “Well… why are you asking me that? Let’s start there.”

“I don’t exactly know,” Ryan admitted. “When I came here, I was just looking for a new community and open-minded people. I didn’t know much about kink or BDSM and I certainly knew nothing about ageplay, but I figured that people who’d opened their mind to different lifestyles in that regard would be open in other regards too. And I just needed something different than what I’d always known.”

Baze worried his lip, then nodded. “I suppose that’s a fair assessment. But it’s a far cry from the question ‘how do you know if you are a daddy’? Are you asking from a place of general interest in learning more about the lifestyle you are suddenly immersed in or is your interest more personal, more vested?”

“I guess it’s more personal, sir. I’ve found myself drawn to Jade, and I was able to ignore it at first. I’m not drawn to ageplay, at least not the sort that seems to be most prevalent here, but when I heard about Jade identifying as a Middle, it took out some of the more taboo aspects of it and my interest grew. And today, when I found her behaving in a way I knew she should not, and in a way I found personally egregious, it was all I could do to march her up here instead of taking care of it myself.”

“Well… that certainly is interesting. Let me ask you something. Do you understand there is a responsibility in being a Daddy-Dom? That while it is considered a kink, it’s not really a sexual interest?”

“I think it’s the responsibility that interests me, sir. I’m not thinking about it like that. I am, after all, a man of God.”

“Just an open-minded one.”

“Right. And getting more open-minded by the day.” He paused and frowned. “I have a view toward music that some might find unconventional. I believe that music is a soundtrack for our soul and the words we ingest affect us on every level. And I don’t mean that as hokey as it sounds, and I’m not the sort who thinks that only gospel music and hymns are acceptable to listen to. I just believe it can affect us in many positive and negative ways, and when I heard what Jade was listening to, it hurt my heart. I wanted to protect her, and I also wanted to correct her. But it wasn’t my place to do either, so I brought her here. And I told myself to fill you in and go, but I couldn’t. The question I asked was heavy on my heart and right on the tip of my tongue.”

Baze nodded slowly. The expression on his face was one Ryan couldn’t discern.

Before he could say anything else, Baze stood. “Come with me,” he said, as he strode out of the room.

Ryan had no choice but to follow. They took the elevator up to the penthouse and stopped before the doors opened. “I want you to tell Jade what you told me,” Baze said.