against the wall in the corner. She shuddered as she remembered being threatened with a bench almost exactly like it in Jake Davenport's home. It was a punishment bench. It even had leather straps to restrain its occupant, like Jake's had.
She looked up into his eyes, looking for answers. "What? I mean... why?"
"It's how they choose to live their marriage. Some call it age-play."
"But..." Hannah didn't even know how to form the questions racing through her brain.
"I never used to understand, but I think I'm beginning to, as of recently," Dylan said.
She choked out her response. "Then maybe you can explain it to me? Does your brother hurt Rachel?"
"Not like you're thinking. Not like Davenport. Never. Rachel is Derek's life."
"Then why..." She glanced at the spanking bench, hating that she felt butterflies in her girlie parts as she thought about being laid over the bench with Dylan watching her. That wasn't so bad. Then she saw the heavy wooden paddle, not unlike the one Jake had terrorized her with, and all sexual overtones vanished, leaving her with pure dread. "Oh God, you don't want to—"
He cut her off. "Oh hell, no. I may understand better, but it's not my thing."
"Then why do they do it?"
Dylan didn't answer right away. He waited so long, she wondered if he wasn't going to answer at all. "The best I can explain is that Derek loves taking care of Rachel in every way. He loves that she depends on him for even the basics. Rachel is a very submissive person, unable to make a lot of decisions on her own. She loves how Derek makes her feel loved and taken care of."
"But why let him punish her? What could she possibly do that could warrant those?" Hannah nodded in the direction of the wall of painful implements.
"I'm not sure. I don't ask too many questions and it's not really my business. I've just seen them with my own eyes. They are a perfect couple. He'd give his life for her. He's at his happiest when he's taking care of her."
Hannah looked more closely at the adult-sized changing table. The shelf under the top was full of both disposable and cloth diapers. Jars of lotions, long thick thermometers, and an array of sex toys filled the remaining space on the shelf. The hooks and leather straps along the outside edge were out of place.
Dylan spoke. It took her several long seconds to internalize what he'd said.
"Excuse me. Could you repeat that please?" she managed to squeak out.
"I said I want to take care of you too, Hannah."
She was panicking. She knew it. "Take care of me how? Like this?" She motioned frantically around the room.
I knew he was too good to be true.
She tried to push out of his grasp, but Dylan held her tighter, unwilling to let her slip away.
"Shhh. Not exactly like this, no. But I do want to keep you safe. Make you happy." He stroked her long hair, comforting her until she settled down.
Doubts still swirled as her mind raced with all she'd just learned. "But why me? You could have anyone you want."
He scoffed. "Hardly, and I want you."
She braved a look up at him. He looked serious. "Why? My life is a mess. I'm a mess."
Dylan squeezed her tighter, moving his right hand to the back of her neck. He made it impossible for her to look away from him. "Seriously? I don't want to hear you put yourself down like that ever again, got it? You're special to me. I knew it the second I saw you for the first time, working behind the bar at the Four Seasons. I knew it when I had to watch you putting yourself in danger by going out with Jake Davenport and I couldn't do anything to stop you. It almost killed me."
She could see the regret in his eyes. An unwelcome question popped into her head and she blurted it out before thinking it through. "What would Derek do to Rachel if she put herself in danger?"
The question hung in the air. Dylan looked like he was struggling to come up with an answer. He finally admitted, "I'm sure he'd light up her bottom good with one of those punishment devices over there on the wall."
"So, he really spanks her?"
"Yes."
"You know that for a fact? I mean—"
"I know it for a fact." Dylan looked uncomfortable with the topic. "I think we've been gone long enough. Let's head back down."
"But... I