“Emma,” Dani whined as her backside continued to throb.
“Stop that,” Emma scolded, turning Dani and giving her another quick swat. “I told you, you weren’t in charge tonight.”
Dani frowned, but stopped dancing. “Sorry,” she managed, wishing that Emma would let go.
Emma gave her a look and then did, this time not saying anything as both of Dani’s hands went to her rear.
Dani gave it a good rub, almost sighing in relief. “I’m sorry,” Dani repeated. “I won’t leave again. I promise.”
“That’s good to hear,” Emma nodded. “However, we’re not done yet.” Again Emma reached for Dani, this time grabbing her hips and steadying her. Dani reluctantly stopped rubbing as she was forced to put her hands on Emma’s shoulders for balance as Emma helped her step out of her pants entirely.
The panties came next, and then Emma started on her shirt. Dani stood still and let her. This was not the first time Emma had undressed her, but Dani had serious doubts this time was going to lead to a steamy make-out session. Emma was all business, and unfortunately for Dani, the only body part Emma seemed interested in at the moment was her backside.
When at last Dani stood naked, Emma stood and again took her hand. Dani didn’t protest as Emma led her into the bathroom. She did hiss as her backside came in contact with the warm water. Emma had never bathed her after a spanking like this, not freshly spanked anyway. After the initial shock, Dani settled. She had to admit the warm water felt good. It helped melt away some of the tension, and as Emma moved and begin to wash her, Dani felt herself calming even more.
Emma had found a plastic cup from somewhere and was using it to pour a steady stream of water over Dani’s back. Encouraging Dani to turn one way and then the other, Emma managed to lather up a washcloth and scrub Dani clean. Emma was gentle, but still all business. Usually they had more fun with the soap.
When she was apparently clean to Emma’s satisfaction, Emma helped Dani back out of the tub. She wrapped Dani in a towel and then insisted on drying her, paying extra attention to her still pinkened backside. Taking away the towel, she then guided Dani back out to the bedroom, ignoring the fact that Dani was stark naked. Dani was again disappointed when Emma didn’t even give her body a second look.
Emma instead made herself busy and redressed her partner, again not letting Dani help. She slipped a clean pajama shirt over Dani’s head, and then helped her step into her bottoms, not even bothering with panties, making Dani frown when she realized that they’d probably only get in the way anyway.
“Alright,” Emma finally spoke, again sitting on the bed and pulling Dani closer by her hands. “I’m going to send you back to the corner, Danielle. I’m going to spank you again, but I’d like you to think about it first. I understand that you just needed to get out. The spanking earlier was because you broke both my grounding and Zio’s rules.
“Now, though, we are going to deal with the bigger picture. It’s not just about breaking rules, Danielle. It’s about your safety, and about you being careless with your own life. What you did today was not safe. You understand that, right?”
Dani swallowed, but nodded. She was fighting the tears and Emma hadn’t even started yet. She couldn’t help but sniffle as Emma led her to the corner and left her, nose to the wall, to think.
Dani hated the corner, but sometimes leaving it was worse. It seemed all too soon before she heard her name being called and knew that she was soon going to be even sorrier than she already was. Again, Dani found herself standing in front of Emma. She almost felt like a prisoner in front of a firing squad, and half-thought about asking for a diet soda as her last request.
Seeing the tweak of amusement on her partner’s lips, Emma frowned. “You find this amusing?”
“No, I’m sorry, I really am.” Dani shuffled from foot to foot, her eyes suddenly going wide. “It’s not funny at all.”
“Good.” Emma’s voice dropped. “Risking your life for something as frivolously as an ice cream sundae is not funny, Danielle.”
“I know.” Dani looked down.
“Good,” Emma repeated. “I’m glad you realize that.” Emma then wasted no more time, reaching out and pulling Dani’s bottoms to her knees. Before Dani knew what happened, she found herself back over Emma’s knee. This time her backside was bare and the cool wood from Uncle Sean’s hairbrush was rubbing small circles across her still tender cheeks. She winced as Emma tapped her with the brush.
“Tell me again why I’m spanking you, Danielle.”
Dani grimaced, but relented. “I put myself in danger for no good reason. I should have found a better outlet than sneaking off. I didn’t think it through, and I’m sorry.”
“Good girl,” Emma praised. “And are you going to leave again without permission?”
“No way,” Dani quickly answered.
Emma smiled before pulling back the hairbrush and letting it fall numerous times. Dani started out with a grunt, which quickly escalated to groans, squirms, and yips. Dani’s backside was tender from both the earlier spanking and the warm water, and she knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Emma’s lecture was serious and she realized that life-and-death decisions, especially careless decisions, were never easy.
Emma continued with the crisp, smart spanks until Dani started to cry. Once that barrier passed, she set the brush down and continued with her hand. Another dozen or so swats was enough for Emma to make her point.
When she was finished, Dani was crying freely. After helping Dani to replace her bottoms, Emma let her cry for a couple of minutes before finally coaxing Dani off her lap and up into it. Emma gladly held Dani, rocking her and letting the sobs turn into sniffles and the occasional hiccup. “Think you can listen now?” Emma asked, giving Dani a kiss on the forehead.
Dani sniffled, but nodded.
“We’re almost done. I want to make sure you get this, and make sure we don’t have to repeat this lesson…”
“Not a belt, please,” Dani cut her off.
“Danielle, don’t interrupt,” Emma scolded. “And I’ll remind you that the when, where, and how isn’t up to you. I’m the adverb, remember? If I decide you need a dose of a strap, you’ll get one, understand?”
Dani sniffled. “I know.”
“Good. Now listen. I have something special I’m going to share with you tonight. It holds special meaning for me, and I hope that you’ll appreciate the symbolism as well.” Emma paused, letting Dani slide from her lap as she stood. “Now don’t let this scare you,” she continued, leaning over and reaching under the bed, “but I think its perfect way to end our discussion,” she finished, pulling out a full length sorority paddle.
Dani balked and tried to scoot away, but Emma put a hand on her knee, signaling to Dani to stay where she was. “When I was in college,” Emma began. “I joined a sorority. You have to remember I was alone back then. My family deserted me, so my sisters there, they became my family. I’m still close with some of them, even though we’ve drifted apart, they will always be part of me.
“The Gamma Zeta Pi’s, that’s my sorority, have a code. I didn’t find out about this until later, but they take these things seriously,” Emma said, pointing at the paddle. “You’re expected to keep your grades up, and if you do things like pull pranks or stupid stunts, you’re sure to feel one of these.”
Dani’s eyes went wide at the description. “Did you feel it often?” she couldn’t help but ask.
Emma chuckled. “Often enough to learn to respect it. I hope that is what you get out of this too, Dani. I want you to realize what you did was incredibly irresponsible. You’re lucky, we’re lucky, nothing happened to you. I love you so much, I can’t even think about how hard it would be to live without you. You understand that, right?”
Dani bit her lower lip and nodded. “I’m sorry, Emma. I never meant to worry anyone, or put myself in danger. I wasn’t even thinking…”
“No, you weren’t thinking,” Emma cut her off. “B
ut I promise you this, you will be thinking about it every time you sit down for the next few days.”
Dani sniffled. She could only image what that paddle was going to feel like and she already knew she wanted nothing to do with it. Still, in a way, even though she was scared, she was glad to be getting this over with. Determined to keep her dignity in check, she nodded. “Okay, Emma. What do I have to do?”
Emma looked at Dani for a moment. “If we’re going to make a point, we might as well go all the way. Stand up, honey. I want you to pull your bottoms down and bend over. Put your hands on your knees.”
Dani sighed and after a moment of debate, got up and did as Emma asked. The hardest part was pulling her own pants down. She never did that. That was Emma’s job. Once that was done, however, then she realized it was easy compared to the waiting.
Dani felt almost silly standing in the middle of the room, her backside exposed as her hands rested on her knees. If it wasn’t for the dull throbbing already in her backside, she might have even found the situation funny. It wasn’t funny though. In fact, she was nervous. Her palms were sweaty and threatened to slide off her knees.
Emma walked around Dani and then stopped in back of her. “Okay, Danielle,” Emma said, standing to Dani’s side and centering the paddle across her backside. She let it rest there for a moment, gaining Dani’s undivided attention.
“If we are going to be traditional about this, I’m going to go all the way. I’m going to give you five strokes,” Emma announced. “The first one will only be half-strength. Since you’ve never done this before, I want to give you an idea of what to expect. After that, the next four will be serious. If you take your hands off your knees or otherwise break position, the stroke will not count. Likewise, if you curse, it will not count. Any questions?”
“No,” Dani grimaced as Emma rubbed the paddle back and forth across her backside. “I’m ready.”
“Good,” Emma returned, pulling back the paddle and letting it fall at half-force.
Dani yipped, her eyes going wide, but she managed not to move. Just the one ‘practice’ stroke reignited the fire. By the time Emma was done, Dani was sure she’d never sit again.
“Remember,” Emma bought Dani back to the moment with her voice, “don’t break position, and no cursing.”
Dani swallowed, but nodded, gritting her teeth and waiting for the next stroke. It came quickly and solidly. Dani let out a full yelp this time, taking deep breaths and trying to blink back the tears. The third stoke came a few seconds later, and Dani couldn’t help the dance, hopping slightly between one foot and the other. It was only sheer willpower that kept her hands on her knees.
Emma rested her hand on the small of Dani’s back, giving her a moment to recover before she encouraged, “I know it hurts, Dani; halfway there.”
Dani sniffled and nodded, not being able to get any words out.
Emma then pulled back for the fourth stroke. When it hit, Dani couldn’t help it. Her palms were sweaty from nerves, but it was the pain that caused them to travel to her backside. Putting them protectively over her throbbing cheeks, she turned toward Emma and shook her head. “No, no, no, no more!” she sputtered, still trying to rub the sting away.
Emma gave her a moment to compose herself, before she encouraged Dani to move her hands by pulling them away with her own. “You need to get back into position, Danielle. Now that stroke doesn’t count.”
“No way, I’m done,” Dani argued, her hands going right back to her rear. “I swear, Emma, I won’t ever do anything stupid ever again.”
Emma, paddle still in one hand, managed to cross her arms. She studied Dani for a moment, and then shook her head. “Back in position, Danielle,” she repeated. “I’m going to give you ten seconds.”
Dani’s jaw dropped as she stared in disbelief at her partner. She couldn’t exactly see her own backside, but she was sure smoke had to be coming off it by now. “Emma,” she tried.
“Seven seconds,” Emma responded. “Six, five…”
“It’s not fair,” Dani grumbled, but managed to turn around and resume her position.
Emma exhaled slowly before lining up the paddle again. Pulling back, Emma then repeated the last stroke, wincing herself as Dani yelped and then started to cry. Wanting to get it over now, she let Dani have the last and final stroke, and didn’t hesitate before she dropped the paddle and pulled Dani into her arms.
“Don’t ever make me do that again,” Emma scolded her as she pulled Dani close and let her cry into her shoulder.
It took a long time for Dani to calm down, but eventually she found herself curled up next to Emma on the bed. Somewhere during the sniffling, her pants had been righted. She still didn’t have panties on, but for once she didn’t care.
Dani sniffed as Emma held her. Shifting, she buried her face in Emma’s chest. “How did you get the damn sorority paddle here without anyone knowing what it was?”
Rubbing Dani’s back, Emma smirked, “It was in the large duffel bag. The boys didn’t ask questions.”
“But you said it was an advanced toy; maybe my backside wasn’t ready for it yet,” Dani protested. “Why did you even bring it?”
Emma chuckled. “I told you, it’s special. I’ve had it for a long time, and I didn’t want to risk losing it.
“Losing it?”
“Last time we went away, my apartment caught on fire.”
“Technically, that was the time before last.” Dani frowned again. “It’s just too bad that out of all the things to survive that fire, that damn box had to be one of them,” Dani continued to whine.
Emma laughed. “The paddle wasn’t in the damn box; too big, remember?” she teased. “And besides, when you do something like risk your life for an ice cream sundae, you get an automatic pass to the advanced toys.”
Dani frowned and stuck her lip out into a pout. Emma tapped her nose. “I love you, Danielle, now time to get some sleep.”
“But it’s not even 9:00,” Dani protested.
“No, it’s not, but get used to it. You will be going to bed by 8:30 every night for the rest of your grounding,” Emma stated gently.
“So not fair,” Dani mumbled as she began to relax in Emma’s soothing embrace. “I could make an extra half hour or so worth your while,” she tried to bargain.
“Maybe you can try tomorrow night,” Emma grinned as she continued to rub Dani’s back. “Tonight you’re going to sleep.”
Dani sighed, but didn’t argue any further. The only position she’d be able to be in tonight was on her tummy anyway. There was only so much fun they could have with that. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was tired. Emma’s hand on her back felt good, and the throbbing in her backside had settled into a warm ache. Exhausted, and no longer wanting to fight, Dani gave in and closed her eyes.
* * *
It was only a few hours later when Dani bolted upright. She was still on her tummy, which made the position awkward, but when she tried to turn, she winced and thought better of it. The moment had startled Emma, already reaching for the light when Dani realized that it had happened again. “Emma?” Dani whispered.
“Right here, sweetie,” Emma replied, pulling Dani close to her. “Nightmare?”
Dani nodded, her eyes tearing up automatically, “Yes, I was so scared.”
“It’s been a while,” Emma frowned. “Can you remember any of it?”
“Just a man in black and a loud noise.” Dani stopped for a moment. “I had on red socks and the moon was really bright.”
“It’s just a dream, honey. Try to relax,” Emma encouraged, helping Dani to settle back down on her tummy as she once again started to rub her partner’s back. “Just go back to sleep. I’m right here. You’re safe now.”
Dani let Emma’s words and touch soothe her. Her heart rate returning to normal, she closed her eyes again and let herself settle back to sleep.
* * *
Dani yawned once more. She was sitting, though not comfortably,
at Toni’s kitchen table. Picking up the cloth in front of her, she grabbed another knife and sighed. She’d been polishing the silver set for over an hour and there seemed to be no end in sight. Toni had told her that after the silverware was done, she’d move on to the rest of the set.
Hearing footsteps, Dani looked up to find Giuliana smirking at her. “What do you want?”
Giuliana glanced at her mother quickly before holding up her book bag. “Help me with my math?”
“Sure, just let me make sure it’s okay,” Dani replied, not surprised by the badly contained laughter coming from the teen. “Zia Toni?” she called, waiting for her godmother to look up from her chopping. “Is it okay if I help Giuliana with her math homework and finish the silver later?”
Toni nodded. “Of course, piccolina, you go ahead and work on that math. I know Giuliana appreciates it.”
Giuliana moved to head from the kitchen when Dani stopped her. “Uh, we need to work here.”
“Why?” The girl’s brown eyes suddenly registered the answer as Dani blushed and looked toward Toni. “Oh, my gosh, you are under total house arrest,” she crowed. Dropping her book bag on the floor, she took out the offending math book and supplies before sitting next to Dani at the table. “What the hell did you do?” she whispered.
“Never you mind what she did, Giuliana,” Toni’s voice was sharp. “Just remember that you’re never too old for your parents to correct behavior when needed.”
Blushing again, Dani put her head in her hands and groaned before turning her attention to Giuliana’s homework.
Giuliana was still trying to figure out the last math problem when Dani felt a gentle squeeze on her shoulder. Looking up, she smiled as Emma leaned down to give her a kiss. “Get all the silver done?”
Dani frowned and shook her head. “No, math took precedence,” she explained, pointing.
Nodding, Emma looked over Giuliana’s shoulder and stopped her. “Try it this way.” Picking up the pencil, she made a few calculations before pulling a chair up on the other side of the teen.
The Art of Discipline: Running Toward Trouble (The Mockingbird Chronicles) Page 22