She gaped at him. “Wow. All the women on the ranch live like that?”
“Yep. More than that, they want it. Enjoy it. Although, to be honest, there aren’t that many women living there currently. Every woman has to have a guardian. And the only woman who isn’t married is Clint’s sister.”
“A guardian?”
He nodded. “Someone who watches over her, takes responsibility for her and punishes her if necessary. Usually guardians are their husbands or boyfriends, but sometimes it’s a family member like with Clint’s sister.”
“But what if a guardian abused one of them? Was horrible to them?”
He reached forward and took her hands in his, rubbing them. “Do you ever believe that I would abuse my power over you?”
“Of course, I don’t.” She clung to his hands. “But you’re you, Bear. You’ve got more integrity in your little finger than most people have in their whole bodies.”
He flushed, looking embarrassed. That was pretty damn adorable.
“But I know that other people aren’t like that,” she worried.
“Okay, I have another question. Do you think that Clint would allow anyone onto his ranch who was even the slightest bit abusive to a woman? That I would? Everyone on that ranch is there because they believe women should be kept safe. We would never allow any abuse.”
She thought that through. “Clint would know, wouldn’t he?”
“Everyone would know. And it would not go well for any man who ever abused a woman. If for some reason I lost my mind and hurt you, then you go straight to Clint and you tell him. And you’ll be taken care of. And you’ll never have to see me again.”
“You’d never do that.”
“I know. But if I did, you would go to him,” he told her in a commanding voice.
“But he’s your friend. I’d be the one who’d be sent away.”
He shook his head. “You still don’t get it, baby. Women come first. Always. We don’t give them rules to be assholes. Or because we enjoy spanking them.”
“You don’t?” she asked cheekily.
“Well, I don’t necessarily like causing you pain. But a sexy spanking could be fun.”
Her body heated at his words. “Yeah. I think that’s the only spankings I’m going to get from now on.”
He gave a bark of laughter. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “You’ll see. I’ll be a good little girl from now on.”
“We will see. You’re still very pale. Ellie, I love you so much. I can’t stand the idea of you being in pain and not telling me. We’ll get Doc to examine you as soon as we get back to the ranch. Hopefully, he can figure out what these headaches are about.”
“Are any of the other women on the ranch like me? A Little?”
He looked thoughtful. “No, I don’t think so. Although sometimes Clint’s sister can act a bit like a teenager. But that doesn’t mean anyone will make fun of you or look down on you.”
“I don’t feel comfortable showing my Little side to anyone else.”
“Then you don’t have to,” he said easily. “It will just be special for the two of us.”
She smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that.”
“Like I said, everything is different for everyone. And we’ll do what’s right for us.”
She held up her arms and he carefully pulled her into his lap, holding her close. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, baby girl.”