Page 55 of Tessa

Dax’s eyes bulged, his face fell, and his jaw ticked as he chewed on the inside of his cheek.

“I love being a Daddy. Tessa is perfect for us. We both know I wouldn’t be happy if it were just us. But… there are things about it I do miss. Being a Daddy comes with a pressure to be on all the time, and to behave a certain way. And I just… our dynamic between us is beautiful, Beau. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t want to lose that either, and you know I’ve been trying to figure out where the balance is. I guess today I learned again that I can’t figure that out all on my own. I need my Daddy to help.”

Slowly, Beau nodded, his heart constricting in his chest as a heaviness filled him. “Thank you for telling me that, babyboy. I wish you would have told me earlier, like before you went and decided to take our girl to get tattoos. We might have to talk about that too. Later though. When it’s just us.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Bringing someone into an already-established dynamic is always an adjustment. It takes a lot of regrouping and communicating so that nobody feels less than or like their needs aren’t being met. I guess we, all three of us, haven’t been doing as good as we should at that part of it. That’s on me, and we will fix it. But tonight, we are going to fix that you thought it was okay to get your ass permanently branded without talking to me first.”

“Yes, Daddy.” Dax took a step closer and laid his head against Beau’s still-wet chest.

Beau gave him a quick hug followed by a hard slap on the ass. “Get on out there. You don’t get to be in here playing mature co-Daddy working out problems like an adult with me after you played the brat all day. Get out there with Tessa and get ready to take your punishment.”

“Yes, Sir.” Dax’s Adam’s apple bobbed when he gulped and did the shuffle of shame out of the bathroom.

He had no idea how cute he looked, Beau thought as he reached underneath the towel to adjust himself. The truth was, Tessa’s fake tattoo had been pretty damn hot, and the fact that they had both gotten his ownership permanently branded on their bodies—their butts to be exact—did something funny to his insides.

But it also set a precedent he couldn’t let slide. His naughty little brats needed to learn a lesson and he intended to spend the rest of the night making sure they learned it well.

Dax

Getting that off his chest, even a little bit, had felt good, and Beau’s response had been perfect, but Dax was struggling as he shuffled out to the main room where Tessa was already bent over the bed, naked from the waist down, new ink on full display.

The exact same position he’d been instructed to put himself in. And doing so in front of Tessa, who was supposed to be his Little, not his equal, was a certain kind of humbling that he hadn’t thought through at the tattoo parlor.

As they liked to say, it had seemed like a good idea at the time. And though he didn’t regret his new ink one bit—though he suspected he might by the time Beau was through with them—he did regret the way he had gone about getting it, and that he had gotten Tessa into trouble she wouldn’t have gotten into herself. That certainly hadn’t been very Daddy of him. He was going to need to apologize to her when this was all over, assuming she didn’t hate him by then. Even though he could tell she had a brat streak below the surface, she had been really well-behaved since becoming theirs. The two spankings she’d managed to earn so far were nothing compared to the hellfire he knew Beau was about to rain down on their asses.

When he reached the bed, Tessa turned and looked at him with questions in her eyes, probably wondering what he’d been doing in the bathroom. He wasn’t ready for that conversation.

Turning away from her, he stepped out of his shoes, and undid his belt, letting his cargo shorts drop to the floor before pushing his boxer briefs over his hips to join them. When he was naked—fully, because he’d already taken his shirt off upon entering their room earlier—he took a deep breath and stepped with a confidence he didn’t really feel, over to the end of the bed to join Tessa.

When he was in position, his cheeks burning with shame, she turned with her cheek against the mattress and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. “I’m really sorry I put you in this position,” she said with a sniffle. “Literally.”

If she was trying to make him feel better, she failed miserably. “What?” he exclaimed in a hushed whisper. “Oh, little one, no! This is my fault. My idea, my fault.”

“Yeah, I mean… kinda. But if I hadn’t decided at the last minute to join you, then it would just be a thing between you and Beau and I wouldn’t have to be involved. I know the duality of your role is making this extra complicated and awkward.”

Knowing that she understood some of his inner turmoil helped ease it. She wasn’t taking some weird joy in seeing the tables be turned and her Daddy about to be punished like the naughty boy he was. That helped ease some of the guilt and awkwardness he was feeling.

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Dax reached for her hand and squeezed it. “This isn’t your fault, little one, so take that idea out of your head right now. But thank you. I clearly didn’t think this through. Just promise me you won’t think less of me as your Daddy now?”

“What?” Tessa gasped, jumping out of position. “Never!”

In an instant, she was on him, awkwardly hugging his back, forcing him to roll over to join the hug. Pulling them both into a standing position, he wrapped her in his arms, burrowing his face in her neck.

Hot tears leaked from her eyes and onto his chest. “I’m sorry,” she cried piteously.

“No, I’m sorry!” They continued on like that for several minutes, crying apologies and hugging tightly until Beau cleared his throat.

“I’d be mad that neither of you are following my instructions, but I have a feeling that whatever it is that is happening here, needed to happen.”

Dax turned his face to answer but the sight of Beau in gray sweats with his hair still damp from the shower clutching his favorite worn leather belt in his hand stopped him in his tracks.

Judging by Tessa’s soft gasp of surprise, she had the same reaction.

“Bend over the bed like you were told,” Beau commanded. “Let’s see those tattoos up close and personal.”

Though they both hurried to do as they were told, Beau did not hurry. He didn’t come up behind them to inspect the artist’s handiwork as he promised. Instead, Dax could hear him bustling around the room. The nightstand drawer opened as well as one coming from the direction of the changing table, and then from the dresser where they both kept their clothes and Dax’s heart dropped but he didn’t dare look behind him to confirm his suspicions. Nor did he need to. The tell-tale sound of a bottle of lube popping open was distinctive and spoke for itself. And then finally, Beau was behind them, dropping his supplies onto the bed beside Dax.

He looked, he couldn’t help it, and saw exactly what he was expecting to see. The belt, and Tessa’s Daddy’s Girl butt plug they had ordered together. Conspicuously missing from the equation was the bottle of lube, and Dax’s plug. He wasn’t fooling himself—they were already in Beau’s hand.

Folding his arms under his head and burying his face in them, Dax groaned. Butt plugs and belts meant they had a very long night ahead of them.