Chapter 18

Dolly was amazedthe man was offering her a chance to approve his plan. "Yes, Master Derek, it all sounds fair to me. Thank you for not just kicking me out."

Master Derek gave her a look she could not decipher. "You might rethink that once you learn what your punishment will be. But that can wait until this afternoon."

"Yes, Sir."

Though she wanted her notebook back, she decided to wait until later to ask for it. Standing, she quickly left his office from the same door she had entered.

In the lobby, she stopped short and when Quincy walked into her, she tripped and would have fallen to the floor if a strong arm had not wrapped around her middle and pulled her back up again.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Umm, to breakfast? And to get started on the list?"

Though she knew her answers came as questions, at the moment she was not sure of anything. For the first time in her life, she had told another person what she did for a living without a computer screen between them. Master Derek had not kicked her to the street, and Quincy had just agreed to continue teaching her about BDSM. Had she fallen into some alternative universe overnight?

"And you were going without me? Didn't you hear me take responsibility for you in there?"

"Umm, yes, Sir."

"That means you don't leave my sight until three o'clock this afternoon," Quincy released her, but wrapped one big hand around the back of her neck, tethering them together.

"Not even to use the bathroom?"

"I'll be standing right outside while you do. For the next eight hours, you are in my charge, and I take my duties seriously. Or would you rather stand in the corner of the lobby so whoever is working the desk can keep an eye on you?"

Dolly felt her eyes go wide at that suggestion. "No, Sir. I'll stay with you."

"Good girl. Now, let's get breakfast at the café. That will lessen the number of people on your list."

"Yes, Sir."

Feeling the need for comfort food, Dolly refused to look at Quincy as she ordered chocolate chip pancakes with extra whip cream and syrup and an extra side of bacon. Maybe she would make herself sick and have to stay in her room all day.

That would be one way to avoid Quincy, though she had a feeling he was a dedicated enough Dominant that he would sit on the bathroom floor with her while holding her hair as she threw up.

"She'd also like a glass of milk, please," Quincy added after she finished ordering.

"Yes, Sir."

Dolly looked at the young woman's name tag and noted her name. As they waited for their food to be prepared, she opened the back of her notebook and clicked her pen. At the top of the page she wrote, "People I've Talked To" then wrote "Julie—café".

Thinking back to her arrival at Rawhide Ranch, she started with Tiago at the security gatehouse and went from there. She only got a half dozen names jotted down before her name was called.

Breakfast was ready.

Taking the tray from Julie, she looked to Quincy for direction. He smiled at her and said, "Do you want to eat here or go back to the room?"

"Here please," she said as her stomach rumbled noisily.

Quincy ate his breakfast and watched as Dolly picked at her food with her left hand while she made notes in her book with her right.

"Eat your breakfast," he said, taking the pen from her hand.

"But I need to make the list for Master Derek."

He could tell she wanted to argue but looked at him for a second before dropping her gaze to her plate.

"And you will. But first you're going to eat at least half of what's on your plate."

"Yes, Sir," she whispered as she put her fork in her right hand. Then she went to work on her breakfast. Without the notebook to distract her, she was able to focus on the fact that she was hungry. It only took a few minutes for her to clean her plate, though he could tell the food brought her no comfort.

He waited until she laid her fork down before he praised her. "Good girl. Now let's go back to the room and together we'll finish your list."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

After piling their dishes together, he had her carry the tray back into the café before returning to the table again. Glancing at his watch, he wondered what else he could do to keep her busy and on edge for the next seven hours.

When Dolly returned to the table, he rose and took her hand in his. Then he led her back to his room. He made a mental note to ask Derek to close out her room account since she would be staying in his room for the duration of their stay.

After placing the do not disturb hanger on the doorknob for housekeeping, he led her across the room to the table by the fireplace.

"All right, get to work. Once you finish, we'll go through the list since we've been together most of the time."

"Yes, Sir," she said softly.

While she worked, he retrieved her bags and brought them into his room. Then he went back into her room and closed and locked her side of the connecting door. Leaving her room by the hall door, he reentered his room from the hallway and did the same to his connecting door.

A glance at Dolly showed she was watching him with curiosity. When she saw he was looking at her, she dropped her head and returned to the task at hand.

Without a word, he laid her suitcase on the bed, opened it up and unpacked it. By the time he hung the last garment in his closet, she seemed to have finished writing as well.

"All done?"

"Yes, Sir."

"All right then. Read me the list."

As she read the list and who the people were, he mentally pictured each person. To his memory, the only people she missed was the man in charge of karaoke night, the names of the threesome who had scened in the Dungeon at the same time he'd first taken her there, and Mia who had been the service submissive helping him clean up the St. Andrew's cross after they'd played.

He added Mia's name to her list and then looked at her. "Very good, pet. You did well and only missed a few which we can easily learn from Jaben and Erika or Sadie. The fact that you knew so many names is impressive. I don't think I would be able to make such a complete list."

Her cheeks pinked up at the praise. "Thank you, Sir. I seem to have a real memory for names and faces. It helps that as a writer I collect people and names."

"What do you mean, you collect?"

"I have files full of descriptions of interesting people, or common people, and interesting names I've come across. You never know when you need to name a minor character in a book and those characters need names as interesting as the main characters. Especially since a lot of times they end up demanding stories of their own and I hate using the same five or six names over and over again."

Quincy nodded. "That makes a lot of sense. Now, how about we get out of this room for a while? We'll get the missing names and then head outside. It's a beautiful day and sitting in here brooding will only make the wait harder."

"I'd like that, Sir."