by Maren Smith
So did Patel and his men.
So did Donnie, for that matter.
“Put your guns down!” Brian ordered, and although he must have sounded like a superhero to everyone else when he did it, to me, he just sounded like Daddy. Super stern, super pissed Super Daddy, and I’d never been so happy to be this close to my next spanking.
Donnie recovered first, but instead of lowering his gun, he shot at Patel.
And then all hell broke loose.
Patel’s body jerked and his grip let me go just as his men opened fire. Some shot in the air, others shot at Donnie, and all I saw was the jerk of his body as he fell over backwards onto the ground. Somebody screamed. I did too as I was smashed into from behind and knocked over facedown on the ground. My hands tied behind my back, I yanked into a fetal ball so as not to get trampled as Patel’s men bolted in all directions.
Some were still firing, most were just running, and all I could do was shout and kick when a henchman tried to grab me to use as a human shield. Brian really was fast when he wanted to be. All I glimpsed was the desperation on the face of the man as he seized me, followed by his shock when he was grabbed in turn, and suddenly that man was airborne, snatched right off both me and the ground, and whisked straight up by an angry Brian-like blur.
Donnie coughed, his body convulsing.
Forgetting everything else, I kick-crawled my way to him, only to be grabbed again. This time by Patel, bleeding from the nick on his forehead where Donnie’s bullet had grazed him.
“Let her go, Patel,” Brian said from somewhere in the surrounding darkness. “Your time has run out.”
Dragging me backwards with him, Patel turned everywhere, trying to find him. Daddy’s suit really did blend him seamlessly with the night. I couldn’t see him and neither could Patel, who wrapped his arm around my neck instead and shoved the cold muzzle of his gun against my temple. “Show yourself or I turn her head into a canoe.”
A whisper of wind, followed by a soft thump, had Patel jerking us both around just as Brian stepped into the dim yellow glow of the nearby streetlamp.
He held his hands up in the air in a placating manner. “Do you really want to do that? You want to add murder to your rap sheet?”
“You think it’s my first one?” Patel replied, calm and unconcerned. “Thanks to my sister and her shit-heel of a husband, I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison no matter what I do here. At the very least, I could spend it knowing I got my revenge on the men who put me there.”
“You’re going to take your revenge on a girl who had no idea Donnie was even her brother? Where’s the sense in that?”
“Who the hell cares about Donnie?” Patel’s body tightened as he pulled me closer and the cold metal nozzle of the gun shoved that much harder against my temple. “How about I take it out on the cape-wearing asswipe who stole my freedom and ruined my life? Cause and consequence, my friend. You want to be a superhero in my city? How about I shoot your bitch in the head?” I could all but feel Patel’s shrug in the way he held me. “Somebody has to pay,” he said.
Brian’s reply was every bit as calm as Patel’s, but I could see the anger and determination in his eyes. “We still have the death penalty in this state, you know that, right? You kill her and I will make damn certain that you get it. Is that the gamble you want to take?”
“Cause and consequence,” Patel tsked. He pressed the gun hard into my flesh and I closed my eyes, awaiting my fate.
There was no reasoning with this man. I had already seen that. It was over.
Then everything changed. Patel’s grip around me suddenly vanished as he kicked backward, grabbing at Donnie’s arm around his neck. They both fell over backwards, but Brian was on them both before Patel could wriggle free.
Panting, bleeding from a bullet wound in his shoulder and another in his chest, Donnie fell back in the dirt and let Brian wrestle Patel to the ground. “Just to be safe, let’s secure your legs too,” Brian said, using cable ties to hogtie him, wrists and ankles and then wrists-to-ankles, behind his back. “Cause and consequences, asshole. You tied up my girl, it's only fair I return the favor.”
With Patel secure and what henchmen he hadn’t already bound in other places running from the yard, Brian came to me next. He cut through the ties that held me and gently removed my gag, wiping the sides of my mouth and chin. “Are you okay, little angel?”
I nodded, before the importance of what really mattered hit me.
“Donnie!” I scrambled around Brian to reach my fallen brother, but he was already giving me a thumb’s up.
“I think…” he wheezed, his eyes clouded with pain, “…the bullet… went through.”
I turned to Brian, but he was already talking into his watch, ordering Marshall to send an ambulance our way. Police were on the way. In the distance, I could just make out the high-pitched wail of their sirens.
I hovered over my brother until the ambulance got there, doing my best not to meet Brian’s gaze the whole time. His jaw was tight, that tic of muscle jumping in his cheek when he clenched his teeth. I could tell he had a lot to say to me. I was grateful that he seemed content to wait on most of it until we were alone.
“Are you hurt?” he asked instead.
Taking stock of myself, I shook my head. “Nothing serious. Bumps and bruises, for the most part. And my wrists and shoulders really hurt. My hands are tingling, like they’ve been numb for a long time.”
He reached for me, and I dutifully held out my hands so he could see. Tracing his thumbs over the dark lines where the ties had cut into my wrists, he cursed under his breath. “You’re going to be feeling this for a while, little angel, but I don’t think any permanent damage was done. Still, we should get you to the hospital, too.”
“I’ll be fine,” I argued. I hated hospitals and doctors. “It’s just circulation. Everything will flow fine now that you’ve untied me.” I tried for cute and flirty as I batted my eyelashes at him, in a calculated attempt to get my way. When I saw that it clearly wasn’t going to work on him, I sighed. “I just want to go home.”
“Oh,” he said grimly, his jaw clenching again. “Don’t you worry. Just as soon as the police and ambulance arrive, home is exactly where I am going to take you.”
And just like that, I found myself doing my best to sooth Donnie’s obvious discomfort and hoping it took the police all night to arrive.
It didn’t. The first of seven cop cars drove through the gates of the slaughterhouse exactly two minutes after Marshall called them. The ambulance arrived in seven, and within thirty-three minutes of his making that thinly veiled threat, the paramedic who was checking me over turned to Brian and said, “She should be fine. Nothing a little Tylenol and rest won’t cure.”
The look Brian gave me clearly said a little Tylenol was not going to cut it tonight.
My ass was about to be grass.
Chapter 12
Angela
“Marshall, where’s Brian?” I asked as I left my bedroom where I’d been forced to stay for the last hour because, according to Brian, I ‘needed to rest.’
The doom that awaited me when he decided to deal with me was all encompassing. I could feel it in every fiber of my being. On one hand, I wanted it to be over. On the other hand, I would have liked nothing better than to fast forward through the whole smack-my-ass-lobster-red fiasco and get to the good part. The part where he took me to bed, and thought up some super embarrassing and yet sexy line for me to say while we got lost in each other’s arms, and forgot that the rest of the world existed.
Yes, that sounded divine.
But it wasn’t going to happen like that.
Brian wasn’t that kind of Daddy. If forced to tell the truth, I don’t think I wanted him to be. As bad as I knew it was going to be, I wanted to clear the air between us. I wanted him to show me that I was worth it and that he would not give up on me like everyone else had. I more than wanted it; I needed it.
I just hated hav
ing to wait for it, too.
“He’s working,” Marshall answered, interrupting my thoughts. “Is there something I can do for you? You are supposed to be resting.”
“I rested,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “Where is he working?”
“He’s in the lab, but I do not think you’re supposed to leave your bedroom.”
“Are you going to lock me in again?” I scowled, ready to have that argument, even though I knew it was one I could lose.
“Are you going to pour water on me again?” he countered, killing my attitude every bit as effectively as Daddy wielding the wooden spoon.
“No,” I said softly. “No, I’m not, and I’m sorry. I won’t ever do that again.”
“I won’t ever lock you in your room again either, then,” Marshall replied. “Unless Brian tells me to.”
“Thanks.” I tried not to smile, because frankly, that was better than I currently deserved. “Is he in his lab?”
“Yes,” Marshall admitted. I wrung my fingers as I made my way through the silent house to the door of Daddy’s lab. When I passed the front door, I eyed it too. I could stop right now and try the lock. If I did, I knew the door would swing open. The case was over, the bad guys had been dealt with. I was no longer a prisoner in this house. I was here now of my own volition and that meant I was free to roam and come and go as I pleased. I could leave anytime I wanted to. I just didn’t want to. Not really.
What I wanted instead was Brian.
As crazy as it seemed, I was done feeling like a rubber band about to snap. I needed him and everything that came with him—his strength, his authority, his severity, and his forgiveness. I needed him to hold me first over his lap and then in his arm while he dried the tears he made me shed, and then kissed me until I was breathless and sobbing and needing him all over again.
I wanted to tell him I was sorry.
I wanted a lot of things, but I couldn’t have any of them because when I peeked through the door into his lab, despite Marshall’s assurances, Brian was nowhere to be seen. Shoulders slumping, I started to leave again.
“You’re supposed to be in bed.”
Hesitating, I stepped back into the lab and found Brian standing in the shadows of an open wall panel, where he was doing something a hell of a lot more techie than I could figure out to a computer bank that was taller and wider than he was.
“I was in bed for an hour,” I offered. “I couldn’t sleep.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and I wrung my fingers tighter.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Do you want to do this now?”
My bottom clenched, suddenly seized by an awful prickling, crawling sensation. “Yes, please.”
“Come here.” He pointed to a spot on the floor in front of him and without my permission, my feet moved to obey. He hooked a finger under my chin, gently urging me to look at him.
When I did, I melted. His eyes were so warm and when he looked at me like this it was as if he could see all of me. In spite of all my efforts, he had broken through the walls I had fought all my life to hide behind and he had made me his.
“How are you feeling?”
His question caught me a little off guard. I don’t know why. I swallowed hard, not knowing how to answer so I shrugged.
Eyebrow arching, he shook his head slowly. “That’s not going to fly, angel. When Daddy asks a question, he expects an answer. A truthful answer.”
Whenever he called himself Daddy, it did all kinds of crazy things to my insides. My stomach fluttered, my heart pounded in my chest, and my voice shook as I confessed, “I-I don’t know the answer.”
If he wanted the truth, then he was going to get it. I was all sorts of twisted up emotionally and he was the only one that could fix that.
He seemed to accept that as a valid answer because he nodded and kissed my forehead. “I know, little one. We have some things to discuss, don’t we?”
I nodded.
“Are you sure you are ready?”
“No, but I just need it to be over. Please?”
He pulled me into his hard body. Wrapping his arms around me, his hand trailed up my neck and into my hair where he gently massaged the back of my head. It felt so good. Comforting and possessive, all at the same time. It was exactly what I needed to strengthen me for what was about to happen.
“Go to my room, take off your pants and panties and put your nose in the corner. I need to finish up one more thing, and then I will be done for the day and can fully focus on my naughty little angel.”
“Can you just hug me a little longer?” I asked, barely recognizing my own voice. I felt so small and unsure. This was all so very foreign me. Or, at least it had been until the day I met my Super Daddy.
“I will happily hug you until the end of time, but that’s not what you need from me right now.” He kissed the crown of my head and gave me a tight squeeze before letting go. “Go on. I’ll be right behind you.”
My shoulders drooped. Wrapping my arms around a stomach that felt full to bursting with butterflies, I trudged out of the lab and into Brian’s adjoining bedroom. Suddenly, my body energy seemed to drain, and I found myself regretting whatever lunacy had forced me to rush into this. That nap I was supposed to take seemed like a much better plan right now.
But no. It was not time to nap, it was time to pony up and pay the piper. I unbuttoned my pants and slid them and my panties all the way off. Nervous as I was, I took the time to pick them up and meticulously fold them before placing them on the dresser and selecting my corner.
Nothing was more humbling than being made to stand bare-assed in a corner while waiting for a spanking. I tried, but I couldn’t hold back the tears as I reminded myself of every misstep and mistake that had landed me here. It was a long list, and it came with a lot of heavy of guilt.
Sniffling, I wiped my nose on my sleeve and a panel on the wall next to me opened up, providing me with a box of tissues. I almost laughed. “Thank you, Marshall.”
“You’re welcome, Angela.”
I wiped my eyes and blew my nose, and tried to put my mind where it ought to be, but I never got the chance. That’s when Daddy came into the room with that dreaded wooden spoon in his hand. I tried to be good and keep my nose in the corner, but it was hard to stay focused when everything inside of me just jumped with dread. I couldn’t stop looking at that spoon. I was so caught up looking at it that I almost failed to notice the bottle of lube that he fetched from the bathroom and put on the nightstand, right next to the two condom packets he set out as well.
The spoon made my bottom clench. The others planted a bloom of pulsing warmth in the middle of my stomach that made the tips of my nipples tighten and my pussy flutter.
I heard him sit down on the edge of the bed, and then he called to me. “All right, let’s get this over with.”
Clutching my hands tightly, I made my way from the corner to the bed until I was standing right beside him. He had such big hands. I don’t know why he thought he needed the spoon. Suddenly, I was more than ready to forget just how much more that awful thing hurt when he was wielding it and how much I’d felt I deserved it back when I thought I was about to be killed. But that was then and this was now, and now that it was here, I really wouldn’t have minded putting it off a little bit longer.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re getting this spanking?” he asked, cupping my hips between his hands and bringing me to stand right directly in front of him.
I fidgeted with my fingers, picking at my nails because I was just too nervous not to pick at something. “Because I got mad and threw a fit, and I blamed you for things instead of talking about them, and I sabotaged Marshall, and ran away, and put myself in danger.” Tears burned my eyes. I blinked, but try though I did to blink them back, they fell anyway. “And I’m sorry, Daddy. I knew better, but I did it anyway. And please don’t give up on me, because I don’t think I could bear it if y
ou thought I was too much trouble, because I think I love you and I don’t want to lose you. I’ll try so hard to be better if you’ll just keep me for a little while longer.”
I paused to draw a shaky breath, wiping my eyes on my wrist.
“What makes you think I want you to go anywhere?” he softly asked me, cupping my chin and making me look at him, even when it was hard.
Shrugging was a whole lot easier than trying to answer, even when I knew he wasn’t likely to let me get away with it.
“Do you need extra spanks for not answering when Daddy asks you a question?” he reminded.
“Because I’m too much trouble,” I said, giving voice to my worst fear.
He shook his head once. “No, you’re not. You’re my little angel and I can’t imagine what I would do if you weren’t here. Do you know how long it’s been since I last had someone living in my home? I had no idea how lonely I was until you came into my life. I—” He caught himself, shook his head again, and then said, “I don’t want to know what trying to live without you would feel like. You have no idea what it just did to my heart to hear you say you love me. I can only hope it does the same to yours when I say, in all honesty, my little angel, I love you too. And as much as I love you right now, that is how hard I am going to spank you for each and every one of those reasons that you gave me. You scared ten years off my life. I am going to paddle your bottom, first with my hand, and then with the spoon, and when you are so sore that you think you’ll never be able to sit down again, I am going to bend you over this bed and you are going to take Daddy’s cock in your bottom. I want you to remember this night for a very long time. Above all, I want you to remember that I love you, I will protect you, I will defend you, and you better believe I will punish you each and every time it becomes necessary. No matter what.”
My legs were shaking. So was the rest of me. I threw my arms around his neck, crawling up into his lap to straddle him, just so I could hold him and be held by him as close as any two people could get. I never ever wanted him to let go, but all too soon I felt that pat on my hips that said I’d delayed this long enough.