Her Old-Fashioned Husband by Laylah Roberts Read Free Book Online Page A

there was something wrong with her mind.
    He didn’t think that at all.
    But he didn’t like the fact that she’d threatened to disappear on him. Fear pierced his heart at the idea of not having Frankie in his life. He’d wanted to race home last night and tie her to the bed. He smiled a little. In fact, tying her to the bed wasn’t a bad idea, then he could play with her at will. Torture her to the point of ecstasy over and over.
    Then spank her until she promised she’d never even think about leaving him again .
    Tom was a naturally dominant man. His need to care and nurture was tied in with his need to protect. And Frankie came first in his life. He loved caring for her, indulging her where possible, but he also knew she needed boundaries and consequences.
    Frankie had grown up in a household where her father was most definitely the head of the household. When Frankie’s parents had died at sixteen, her oldest brother, Heath had taken over as her guardian. Heath was probably a stricter disciplinarian than Tom was.
    Frankie was full of fun and fire and he never wanted to smother her or put a damper on her spirit. He just wanted to make sure that she had fun while being as safe as possible.
    Tom h adn’t had much of a home life. His father had left before he’d turned five. When h is mother had remarried , he’d been ten. She’d focused all her attention on her new husband. Rod was n’t been a bad man, but he’d had his own family from a previous marriage and hadn’t been interested in Tom.
    So he’d spent a lot of time at the Jamieson house growing up. They’d been his second family. At college he’d met Austin. They’d quickly become best friends and Tom ended up spending most of his holidays with Austin and his family. They were an amazing family. Austin’s mother was the center of the family. His father doted on her and her children adored her.
    Austin’s father was a strict but loving man. Tom had been surprised to realize that like Frankie’s parents, Austin’s dad disciplined his wife. And he’d also been a little relieved to find it was more common that he’d realized.
    Because it was the sort of relationship he wanted.
    Although he didn’t enjoy punishing Frankie, it was something he believed to truly be necessary. And he never shied from giving one when it was needed. One thing he strived to always be was consiste nt. H e was sure Frankie considered him strict, but she thrived under rules and structure. It was how she’d been brought up and he knew she’d never respect a man she could walk over.
    Rubbing his eyes, he looked at his watch and realized he had five minutes before the conference started again. What they needed was a holiday. Some time away just the two of them , where he could work on getting Frankie to fully open up with him . T he only time she truly let go was when he disciplined her.
    Then often her emotions were so raw and real that she w ould shy away from them and retreat . He now realized that she was just as insecure as she had been when they’d first got together. His fault, he needed to spend more time reassuring her of his love.
    It was time to fully take charge.
    Except how was it fair for him to expect her to fully open up when he wasn’t doing the same. He’d never told her about Austin, not because he didn’t trust her or love her. But because he still found it so painful.
    But it was time to tell her.
    Tom scrolled through the contact s on his phone until he reached Heath’s name. His brother-in-law picked up on the fourth ring.
    “Hey, Tom, what can I do for you?” Heath’s voice was calm, unhurried. Tom admired the man a lot. He was the rock in his family, had been since h is parents death. He’d held his family together and kept them the strong unit they still were. Tom knew no matter what else was going on, any of them—Tom included—could go to him and he’d give them his full attention.
    “Hey, Heath. How’s it going? How are Ava and