“Thank you, but as I was cooking, I made up my mind about something.”

“What was that?”

“I’ll never serve a Master who expects me to cook. Once was enough. I mean, hell, the carrots alone were enough to drive me up the wall.” She shook her head. “And to think I’d have to do that two or three times a day? Hell, no.”

They finished eating and she took their empty bowls to the sink.

“Oh, man, I forgot I had all this left to clean up.”

“I’ll help,” he said. “We’ll both clean up the countertops, and then you wash and I’ll dry.”

“You’d really think someone like you would have someone come in to do this sort of thing.”

“Nah, I like my privacy too much.”

They worked quickly together clearing the countertops and Sasha was soon up to her wrists in sudsy water. “They have dishwashers for this, you know.”

“I don’t like putting dirty dishes in there.”

“It defeats the purpose of a dishwasher if you wash them first.”

“Perhaps, but at least this way I don’t have a bunch of dirty dishes in my kitchen.”

“But they’re in the dishwasher. Oh, fly!” She waved her hand to shoo the insect away, but in doing so splashed him.

“Sasha.” He wiped the water from his face.

“Sorry, Sir, it was buzzing in my ear.”

He pretended to be stern. “And that makes it okay to get me wet?”

She studied him as if weighing his words and expression to determine if he was serious. “Frankly, the only thing that would be more okay is if you were wet all over.” She shook her hand again, getting more water on him this time.

He looked at her in shock. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“Not if you don’t catch me.” And before he could reply, she spun and ran out of the kitchen, through the living room and out the back door, giggling.

Game on.

He let her have a few seconds of a head start and then followed. She waited on the patio behind his new table. “Splashing me and running away?” He shook his head. “Someone’s been a very bad girl.”

“It was a mistake,” she said with a grin.

“It was a mistake the first time. The second was on purpose.”

“It’s not my fault you look hot when you’re wet.”

“Is that right?”

“I don’t want you getting a big head or anything, but yeah. You are.”

He walked out onto the patio, keeping an eye on her. She moved back away from the table, still giggling, onto the grass, her hands up in a keep-your-distance signal.

In his mind, he mapped where she was standing in relation to his sprinkler system. Her left foot was almost at one of the heads. He pretended his phone buzzed and pulled it out of his pocket.

“Talk about rotten timing.” He looked at the display as if reading a text, but in reality he scrolled through his apps until he found the one he was looking for.

There it was, the new app that allowed him to control his sprinklers from his smartphone. “Hold on, I just need to take care of this really quick.”

Her hands fell to the sides of her body and she relaxed, appearing to be waiting patiently for him to play again.

“Here’s what I was looking for.” He looked up at the same second he pressed the button for the sprinklers to cut on.

Sasha shrieked as the cold water hit her and brought her hands up to her face. “You cheated.”

“How can I cheat when I’m the one who makes the rules?”

“Then I guess I’m the one who breaks them.” And with that, she proceeded to take her clothes off.

“Are you trying to distract me?”

“Of course not, Sir. I just don’t like wet clothes.”

He wasn’t sure he believed her. She was quite the distraction standing in his yard, naked and wet. “You look pretty hot wet, yourself,” he told her.

“You could come join me.” She ran her hands down her body. “I’m getting lonely standing here all by myself.”

As the idea of what to do next came to his mind, he drew the shirt over his head and tossed it on the brick patio floor. “We can’t have that,” he agreed. “You might get lonely.”

“And when I’m lonely, I do bad things.”

“We definitely can’t have that.”

He started walking toward her, holding her gaze as he crossed the patio. Making sure he kept his expression neutral and moving slowly, she didn’t suspect anything when he made it to her side.

“See?” she said. “You look hot with your shirt off. Now we just need to get you wet.”

She took a step to the sprinkler, but before she could put her foot down, he yanked her up in his arms and threw her over his shoulder.

“Hey!” She pounded on his back. “What are you doing?”

“Enforcing the rules,” he said with a smile.

“How did I break rules?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe splashing your Dom, running away from him, and trying to distract him with your nakedness for starters.”

“Oh, those rules.”

“Indeed.” He was pleased she picked up that they were made-up fun rules and she wasn’t really in trouble. He was even more pleased he’d had the foresight to set up his backyard for playing a few days before she arrived. “Though I would suggest you stop hitting my back.”

Her hands stilled and he carried her across the yard to a far corner where the lot was wooded. He found a fallen log and sat, placing Sasha over his knee.

“Now this is a lovely sight.” He ran his hand over her backside. “I’ve never had you in this position before, but I think I like it. In fact, I may turn you over my knee every night before we go to bed.”

She just groaned.

“Tell me, slave. Have you fantasized about being facedown across my lap?” He slapped her butt cheek when she didn’t say anything. “Tell me.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He rubbed the spot he’d just slapped. “Good girl. Now tell me what I did in your fantasy.”

“You spanked me.”

“With my hand?”

“Sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” He reached behind the log and picked up the switch he’d found days ago. “That means more than one fantasy?”