by Jane Henry
“The hell you are.”
And before she knew what was happening, he was practically carrying her kicking and screaming to where the door of his car was already open. He plunked her bodily in the seat, buckled her, and locked the door.
“You’ll thank me later,” he said. “Now behave yourself and tell me where to go.”
“You can go to hell!” she screamed, with half a mind to unbuckle herself but she knew even in her half-crazed state that fighting him would delay the necessary speed they needed. The faster they got to Nora the better. So instead she resorted to muttering under her breath and sending him glares and furious vibes.
His jaw clenched. “Stop acting like a brat. The longer you prolong this, the longer it takes us to get to Nora.”
He was right, of course. So she complied, reluctantly.
The whole time they drove, she kept dialing Nora’s phone, to no avail. As he pulled down the street that led to her house, she felt the familiar twisting of her stomach and the shallow breathing begin. Just getting closer to her house would set her on the edge of an anxiety attack.
“There it is,” she said. They pulled up to the side of the road, and Tessa was out of the car before he’d parked. While Tony yelled her name, she ignored him.
The front door opened, and to Tessa’s immense relief, Nora came out, clutching books and clothes to her chest, her blonde hair flying out around her wildly. She was crying.
“Oh, God,” Tessa said. “Nora!” Nora looked up, startled, dropping all her belongings on the ground. Nora dropped down and tried to gather up her things and then Tony was there, helping her.
“Tell us what’s going on, Nora. Now,” he said, head still bent down picking up stacks of papers that had fallen out of Nora’s bag.
“She went on a rampage. This is the last straw,” Nora said with a shaking voice. “After this and what happened last night, I just can’t live here anymore.”
Tessa felt her heart constrict as she looked to Nora. No telltale signs of abuse. Just tears. “Did she hurt you?” she whispered.
Nora shook her head. “No. She wouldn’t. I told her the last time that if she ever laid a hand on me again I’d go to the police.” Her sister’s eyes met hers with steely determination.
Tessa nodded, and Tony murmured, “Good girl,” as he continued to pick things up.
Nora stood, and Tess wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders.
“Last night, R-Roger said…” Nora’s eyes filled with tears. “He said it was time I started paying my way around here.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Tony demanded.
Nora shook her head. “I don’t know exactly. But I think I can guess. He’s been bringing his friends around the house more and more often. They all crash in the living room and get high as kites, and then sit around talking about scores and deals and revenge like they’re some kind of mafia kingpins. I thought it was all just stupid talk. That those guys were too stupid to be criminal masterminds, you know?”
Her voice broke as she continued, “But the way they look at me, Tess. And then last night, one of them, the guy they call Chalo, had a gun.”
“What?” Tess said, gripping Nora’s shoulders tight. “You’re okay?”
Nora nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “Yeah. I’m okay. He didn’t fire it. He just laid it on the arm of the chair, and then…”
“What?” Tony asked gently, standing with Nora’s belongings in his hands.
Nora swallowed. “He told me to kiss him.” Nora looked from Tony to Tess and continued, “Like maybe he’d shoot me if I didn’t.”
“Jesus,” Tony whispered, his eyes flashing as he clenched his jaw.
“This other really scary guy, Diego, told him to shut the fuck up and remember they didn’t need trouble. They kinda got into it. I ran back to our bedroom and locked the door, and I think they maybe forgot about me.”
“And what did Mom say?” Tess cried.
“She wasn’t home last night. But when she got back this morning, I told her. She said Roger knew what was best for me. She said I needed to stop pretending I was better than her like my…” her voice dropped. “Like my stuck-up bitch of a sister,” Nora confessed. “She said she knew I’d been working for you at Cara. And then she destroyed my stuff, Tess. Smashed my cell phone. Tore my school books. Threw all my clothes—”
Of course her mother would destroy everything that gave Nora hope of ever leaving, of ever having a better life. Tessa’s fists clenched with the need to commit violence.
“It’s just stuff, baby,” Tessa said softly, angrily. “I’ll replace all of it. But where is she now? Do you know?”
Nora shook her head. “She knew I was calling you. That’s why she broke my phone. And I bet she knew you’d come for me, which is why she left.”
“All right,” Tony said. “This is what we do. You and Tessa go upstairs and get the rest of the stuff you need. I’ll stay here to make sure you’re left alone. You’ve got your phone, Tess?”
Tessa nodded. “I do.”
“Be reasonable, Nora. Only what you need, okay? We can replace things.”
We. Tessa felt her heart constrict.
“Be quick about it. Then we’ll bring your stuff to our place.”
Our place.
Nora nodded. “Okay,” she whispered.
“Go.”
Tessa and Nora trotted up the front stairs.
Tessa grabbed grocery bags from the table in the kitchen where empty beer cans and pizza boxes were scattered haphazardly. She raced back to Nora’s bedroom, ignoring the living room where more liquor bottles lay tilted on their sides and cigarette butts lay scattered around the tables. She helped Nora shove in some clothes, her school books, and the few things of hers that had meaning before her cell rang. Tony.
“Yeah?”
“Let’s go. Quicker, Tess.”
“Okay, okay,” she said. “Let’s go, Nora.” She took a deep breath, and said what she’d wanted to say for so long. “You’re coming home with me, honey.”
* * *
Nora was dead asleep in Tony’s spare room. Tony had called and made sure everything was situated at Cara, explaining that they wouldn’t be back in that night. Hillary had called Tessa and asked if everything was okay.
“No, but they will be,” she’d said.
“You call me and Matteo if you need anything, babe,” Hillary had said. “Anything.” And Tessa felt her eyes well up with that, because she knew it was true.
Tony had taken the two of them back to his place, their place. After they’d determined their mother was not an immediate threat, Tony had insisted Nora get in the car, and he took her to the store to get a new cell phone. Tess wanted to pay for it, but Tony said it was a bonus for his employee. Tess hugged his arm while he helped Nora pick out a new phone and a case. By the time they’d gotten home, it was dinner time. Tess made a salad while Tony grilled chicken and Nora did her homework.
Tess liked that. It felt normal and natural, Nora sitting at the table, one leg tucked under her while she worked math problems in a notebook, while Tessa tossed veggies in a bowl, and Tony hummed along, grilling up chicken. Tony told Nora that she was there to stay, and his tone of voice left no room for argument. Tessa was in complete agreement, of course. Nora had to stay. She’d wanted Nora with her safe and sound forever, and now that she was here, Tess wasn’t going to let her go.
“We’ll have ground rules,” Tony had said, pointing the tongs he was using to flip the chicken with at Nora. “We’ll want to know where you are, and set up basic rules for living here. Nothing crazy, but we’ve gotta be on the same page. But we’ll talk about that tomorrow.” Nora nodded.
Tessa felt her heart warm at that. He hadn’t asked her. He hadn’t suggested it. There was something protective and sweet about how he was with her baby sister.
And now it was nighttime and Nora was snoring softly in the other room while Tony cleaned up the kitchen. She could not, woul
d not ask him for the spanking she needed, even though she needed it now worse than ever.
Tessa’s nerves were on edge. Her hands shook. Other people would reach for a drink, or go for a run, or do something normal to relieve the stress. Tess felt her hands shaking as she hiked up the skirt she was wearing. She could feel the scars. Her hands itched to take something sharp and scrape it along the edge of her skin, feeling the pull and tingle of a blade, her heart pounding in fear before the release she would get.
Fuck it. Tony was doing his own thing. Nora was in the other room asleep.
Neither one of them would know. She pushed all thoughts of this is fucked up and tell him before you do something stupid and you’re beyond this now right out of her head as she made her way to the bathroom. She couldn’t take the tension anymore. She couldn’t handle the knot in her stomach and the lump in her throat. The idea of hurting her mother, of ending her, was powerful and scary. But as she stared in the medicine cabinet, her razor gleaming in the light, she couldn’t do it. Her hands shook as she shut the cabinet.
By the time she went to his room, Tony was sitting in a chair, his ankle across one knee with his arms folded on his chest.
Tess climbed into his bed and sat cross-legged, giving him a sheepish look.
Tony cut right to the chase.
“Someone needs a spanking.”
“You do?” she quipped. “Well, I don’t usually swing that way, but if you insist, I’ll give it a go. Might feel good to get some of this tension out.”
His eyes narrowed. “Thin ice, woman. Thin. Ice. Level with me. Do you need a spanking?”
Tess swallowed and shrugged. “Maybe.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe?”
She cast her eyes down. “Okay. Not maybe. Yes, I need a spanking.” She’d been spanked so many times she’d lost count, but it still felt really weird saying it out loud. She squirmed on the bed, not wanting to talk about it. She just wanted him to do it.
He stood, crossed the room, and climbed up in bed, pulling her over to him. “C’mere,” he said gruffly. “Been a long day, huh?”
She nodded into his chest as he held her. One of his fingers lifted her chin up. Their eyes met.
“You’re brave, beautiful. So brave.” He leaned down, his lips full and soft, meeting hers. She sighed into his mouth, as one of his hands snaked around the back of her neck and squeezed. The kiss intensified, heating up, as his tongue probed her mouth. One of his hands slowly meandered down the front of her blouse as his thumb gently massaged her nipple. She sighed, as both of his hands lifted and cupped her face. She rose up on her knees, meeting his insistent kiss. And then he pulled away.
“You need a spanking first.”
She almost giggled, because he was so cute and she was nervous. He hadn’t spanked her very much, but he was good at it. She knelt on the bed, waiting for his instruction, when he reached forward and tugged her over his lap.
“Like this?” she asked.
“Nope,” he said, grasping the hem of her skirt and lifting it up, before he pulled her panties down. “Like this.”
She gasped as his hand landed firmly on her naked skin. He was quiet for a minute, letting his hand do the talking.
“Nora will hear!” she hissed, but he carried on as if he didn’t care for a few more strokes. His hand rested on her bottom.
“Nope. I can still hear her snoring. Good thing your sister’s a snorer. Nora the Snorer. I can’t wait to christen her with that one tomorrow.”
“Tony!” she laughed, wiggling on his lap. “You’re not supposed to be cracking jokes while you smack my ass!”
“Oh yeah? Is that in the rule book?” he said, letting loose a particularly sharp swat.
“Yeowch! Ooooh, ow ow ow ow!”
“I think not yelling at your man in the parking lot of your workplace is also in the rule book.”
Whack!
“Pretty sure kicking your legs like a little brat in the grocery store whose Daddy won’t buy frosted Pop Tarts is also in the rule book.”
Whack!
“And I might be new to this? But telling your man how to spank you when you’re belly-down over his lap?” Whack! “Might not be in the rule book.” Whack! “But it’s most definitely in mine.”
He gave her three more swats. Her whole body was tense, braced for each smack of his hand, but with the next hard crack, she felt the air whoosh out of her. There was always a turning point during a spanking like this. It hurt at first, and she’d wiggle and squirm. But then as it continued, as she grew accustomed to the feel of it, and she was good and warmed up, she’d reach the point where she felt less pain, and a sort of calm would flood her.
“Ahhh,” she said, closing her eyes, as his hand paused, squeezing and gently massaging her hot skin. He dipped a finger lower, between her legs, and stroked upward. She gasped. It shouldn’t have surprised her how turned on she was, but it did. The immediate feel of his hand spanking her, then pleasuring her, made her squirm. But he only teased her for a minute before his hand was gone again, and she could feel him tense, ready to give her another swat.
Now that she was warmed up, the pain didn’t register so much as the warmth and flood of relaxation that tingled through her body. Occasionally, she would wiggle a little, hoping to encourage him. She could feel his erection against her belly, and hear his intake of breath every time she wiggled. With several seconds between swats, he continued, one firm swat at a time.
“Good girl,” he said softly. “God this is so fucking hot.” His hand paused, massaging her, before he continued again. “Your ass bared to me. The red on your skin. The way you wiggle those hips, and your moans. God.”
Swat! Her whole bottom was hot now, fiery and stinging, as he left not a single inch of her untouched. He continued to spank her and her head felt lighter now, like she was almost floating. She was drunk on the erotic release of it all, and her body hummed with need.
“That’s enough now,” he said in a husky whisper. She felt his large hand on her fiery hot skin, massaging and caressing, before he flicked his finger between her legs, plunging in and pumping. She gasped, grinding against him, her need instantly charged.
“I think you should thank me for your spanking,” he said with a chuckle as he released her and she rose to her knees, straddling him. She leaned down and kissed him as he fondled her breast with one hand and pulled her hair firmly with the other.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “That was perfect. I didn’t know if it would be perfect, but it was.”
He chuckled. “Well, you know what they say about practice, baby.”
He pushed up, flipping her over as he rolled over on top of her and pinned her down.
“Take ‘em off,” he growled in her ear. She shimmied out of the panties that hung around her ankles as she pulled off her tank top and skirt. He unbuttoned his jeans. Seconds later, they were bared and he was back, sliding on a condom and holding her in his arms as he entered her. Her hips bucked, the sensation of being full overwhelming her while the burning heat of her spanked ass revved up her need for him. He thrust into her, groaning as he built to climax, and she panted as her own ecstasy consumed her. She came hard, hips rising on the bed beneath his sturdy, husky body, his strong arms pinning her down.
“Baby,” he whispered, his forehead on her shoulder. She could see the faintest gleam on his skin from his exertion. She ran a finger along the scruff of his chin, and closed her eyes.
“You know,” she whispered softly. “I needed that.”
“I know you did,” he whispered back.
“I… was tempted to cut myself today, Tony. I made it so far as the bathroom, and when I opened the cabinet door, I couldn’t do it.”
He sat up so quickly it startled her. His eyes had darkened, his jaw clenched, and for a moment, she was frightened. He so rarely looked like this.
“You listen to me. Are you listening to me?”
She nodded, swallowing.
“
Those days are gone, Tessa. You don’t do that anymore. I’m glad you stopped yourself, but the fact that you even went as far as to go near the razor is not okay with me.”
Tears dampened her eyes, but not from sadness. She felt relieved.
He took her chin in his hands and his eyes bore into hers. “I might not be into this whole discipline thing? For us, I would much rather spank you to help you relax, or turn you on. I’ll help you with what you need, but don’t feel totally cool with punishing you for things. You get that?”
She nodded. “I do,” she whispered.
“But that is the one thing I will spank you for. Do you understand me?” His voice was so stern she could hardly look at him.
“Okay,” she whispered. “I get it.”
He held her eyes for another moment before he nodded, appeased. He was determined to make his point. “I won’t like it, Tessa, but if you ever do that to yourself, you will answer to me. I’m not some other dom. I’m not a club guy, or whatever. But I’m the guy who loves you. And that’s where I draw the line.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered, as he settled back down into bed and she crawled up onto him, one knee hitched up, her head snuggled up under his chin. “Thank you, Tony.”
She felt completely at peace, and content with everything. But Tessa had never had normal, and healthy, and good.
She wondered how long it would all last.
Chapter Eight
“God, that feels good,” Tony groaned, sinking into one of the big brown easy chairs in Matteo’s sunny living room and feeling his cramped muscles stretch. He saw Dom and Slay repeat the move, each claiming one end of the sofa adjacent to him and propping their feet on the stone coffee table in the middle of the seating area.
They had been painting and tiling and grouting and installing fixtures all day, four large men crammed into one bathroom—which sounded like the beginning of some really awful porn or the setup for a truly hilarious joke, if Tony hadn’t been too exhausted to think up a punchline.
Matteo retrieved four bottles of Sam Adams, Tony’s favorite beer, from his fridge and kicked the door closed.