“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked with all seriousness. “Are you prepared to commit to a Domestic Discipline relationship?”
“Yes,” she replied simply.
“If you are sure this is what you want, I promise to always be fair. However, you should know that I am a stern disciplinarian. I must admit that last week I went fairly easy on you. I want you to think about last week, but rather than my hand, try to imagine a belt or strap, or a hairbrush or paddle, or a switch. If I think the transgression warrants it, I have been known to cane.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to imagine that.
The shock must have registered on her face because he chuckled. “You look a little anxious, love.”
He sat down on the bed again, but this time, he drew her into his lap. Once settled, he smoothed his palm where her thigh met her hip. “I will love you whether we pursue a serious relationship or not, and my offer for you to move in and finish school still stands no matter what you decide. I do not want you to enter a relationship you’re not ready for, or change who you are to fit my lifestyle, or worse, force yourself to accommodate me because you think it’s what I want. I want you to be happy. That is what I want, and that is what is most important to me.”
Jessa closed her eyes. The vulnerable good girl within desperately craved the stability and security Wil offered physically, mentally and emotionally. While strict, Wil was even-tempered and consistent. A good person—no, a great person. She knew she would thrive under his firm hand. Jessa was good at following instructions and well-behaved by nature, so Wil would not be disciplining her often, she reasoned.
However, the strong, recklessly independent woman she’d become (out of sheer necessity) wasn’t sure she wanted that type of structure despite her very real need for it. Granted, more often than not, she felt like an exhausted swimmer treading water while waiting for rescue, but she had been in “sink or swim” mode for so long, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be saved. She’d grown determined and proud to make it alone.
Carelessly determined and proud to a fault. Even self-destructive at times.
Should she let him rescue her before she drowned herself?
And if so, at what price?
She found Wil’s alpha male strength titillating, but as a mature woman living in a modern world, any form of thrashing seemed excessive to her, even for a domestic disciplinarian. Spanking with the hand was one thing, but… a switching? A strapping? A caning?