5. Jace

As soon as he walked into his office and saw Ruby standing with her nose in the corner, Jace sighed with relief. After he had left her, he’d walked around the club to check that everything was running smoothly but his mind had stayed on the Little girl in the playroom.

She was sassy as hell but something in his mind told him she wasn’t truly a mean Little girl. No. He suspected there was another reason for her naughtiness, but just wasn’t quite sure what it was yet.

“What did she do now?” he asked.

Ruby turned to peer at him as soon as he spoke.

“Turn around, little girl, unless you want to add more time,” Zane said sharply.

She immediately turned and faced the corner again. Zane looked toward Jace and grinned. Yeah, Zane was in his Daddy element and loving it.

“Miss Ruby decided it was a good idea to snatch a book out of another Little girl’s hand and then, when the Little girl took the book back, Ruby snatched it from her again and threw it across the room. I’m guessing by your question that this isn’t her first time in trouble tonight?”

Jace chuckled and shook his head. “No, it’s not. She already visited the naughty corner earlier tonight because she wouldn’t share the dollhouse with Maddie.”

Zane nodded and Jace could tell his friend’s mind was spinning in circles over Ruby. To be completely honest, Jace’s was, too. He couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so captivated by a woman. Something about her pulled at him so hard he’d practically panicked when he went back to the playroom and saw she wasn’t there.

The timer went off on Zane’s phone and Jace smiled when he noticed Ruby didn’t immediately come out of the corner.

“Come here, Ruby,” Zane said.

She turned and walked toward Zane slowly, glancing up at Jace as she passed him. He gave her a reassuring smile and just barely resisted the urge to pull her into his arms for a hug. Stopping a few feet away from where Zane sat with his legs open, she waited silently. When he pointed in between his legs, she moved forward.

“Are you ready to talk now or are you going to continue to sass me?” he asked.

Even though Jace couldn’t see her face, he could tell she was nervous just based on how squirmy she was as she stood in front of his friend.

“I’ll talk.”

Zane nodded and pointed toward the sitting area. “Let’s all go over there and chat, but any more sass is going to end up with you back in the corner. Understood?”

She immediately nodded her head.

“Answer me verbally, please,” Zane said firmly.

“I understand,” she replied quietly.

All of them walked to the sitting area where she sat on the couch and both men sat across from her in large armchairs. He had to hide his smile as he watched her fidget under their gazes. Both men could be intimidating by themselves, but together they could be terrifying for a naughty Little.

“Okay, little miss, explain to me why you think it was okay to snatch a book out of someone’s hands and then throw it across the room,” Zane said.

The pair of big blue eyes staring back at them was enough to make Jace practically crumble. She looked so vulnerable sitting on the couch by herself. But he also knew crumbling wouldn’t be beneficial at that moment. Naughty Little girls needed to be punished and afterward, if she wanted, he would cuddle her and make her feel better.

“It wasn’t okay,” she said quietly.

“Then why did you do it?” Zane asked.

Jace sat back and let his friend lead the conversation. After all, he hadn’t been there this time when she’d been naughty, which made him think that she definitely needed a Daddy. Maybe even two Daddies.

“I don’t know.”

“Eyes on me, Ruby,” Zane said.

Lifting her eyes from her skirt, she looked at Zane and then over at Jace and back to Zane again.

“This is your first time at The Playground and you’ve already found yourself in trouble twice tonight. Do you plan to be naughty every time you come here?” Zane asked.

Even though he was sure he was seeing things, Jace almost thought he saw a sparkle in her eye when Zane asked if she planned to be naughty every time she came.

“I don’t ever plan to be naughty. It just happens,” she said with a shrug.

Jace and Zane looked at each other and even though they didn’t show it outwardly, they were both amused by her answer.

“Right. Well, I suppose that’s a problem, isn’t it? You coming here, causing trouble in our club. Do you enjoy standing with your nose in the corner, Ruby?” Zane asked.

She shook her head. “No, it’s very boring. I’ll try to be good in the future if I come again.”

Jace furrowed his eyebrows. Why wouldn’t she come again? Even if she was naughty, that was pretty common amongst Littles. The only difference was most of the Littles who came had a Top with them that would handle their punishments when they were naughty.

“We hope you’ll come back. But just know that when you are naughty, you will find yourself in that corner over there,” Jace said with a wink.

She gave him a small smile and he noticed her visibly relax.

“Maybe we’ll even hang a sign that says Ruby’s Corner,” Zane added.

Ruby shot Zane an incredulous look but he continued talking before she could say anything.

“No more throwing books. Or snatching things out of people’s hands. Are we clear?” Zane asked.

“Yes. I understand.”

Both men nodded and smiled at her.

“Do you have any questions for us?” Jace asked.

“Are you both Daddies?”

Jace nodded. “Yes, Ruby. We’re both very much Daddies.”

She contemplated his answer for a second before she spoke, and Jace just knew that whatever was going to come out of her mouth was going to be sassy.

“So does that mean your Little calls you Zaddy?” she asked Zane.

Zane furrowed his eyebrows and then looked over at Jace with a confused look on his face. He grinned at his friend, knowing Zane was completely lost as to what she was asking.

“Why would they call me Zaddy? What does that even mean?” he asked.

Ruby giggled and shrugged. “Zaddy would fit you perfectly.”

Jace chuckled while Zane continued to look confused.

“He doesn’t have a Little, so no one calls him anything,” Jace finally told her.

“Oh. Do you have a Little?” she asked.

Shaking his head, Jace sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“No, Ruby. Zane and I are a package deal, so when we have a Little, there’s only one of them dating the both of us. But we don’t have a Little right now.”