She rubbed her stinging thighs and offered him a pathetic look. "Caine…"
"Be still, young lady," he ordered sharply. "Put your hands by your sides."
"I'm sorry! They aren't mine."
"Really, May? If the cigarettes are not yours, then why are you sorry?" Layton asked, crossing his arms.
"I mean, I'm sorry because I know I shouldn't have them, but I found them at the practice yard and picked them up so the horses wouldn't eat them. I forgot to toss them away."
"Are you seriously going to stand there and lie to my face?" Layton asked. "Besides the half-filled pack, there are two empty packets and a lighter. Did you just happen to find these laying around for the horses to chew as well?"
Caine swatted her thighs again, popping them several times, and sending May into a yelping dance as she tried to avoid his hand. "I want an answer right this minute, young lady."
Big wet crocodile tears dripped down her face. May was tired of the interrogation and worried about how bad things were going to get for her.
"Answer me," he growled.
"I don't want to answer any more questions," May announced, lifting her chin,
"I've learned my lesson and I swear I won't do it again," she promised.
"Do what, Maybelle? Pick up trash or smoke?" Cainesighed loudly, and reached for her underwear.
"Nooo," she pleaded, grabbing her panties so he couldn't pull them down. Her attempt to block him was useless, and the little protection and modesty that she had was ripped out of her fingers and pushed down to the floor to meet her pajama pants. "Daddy! I am sorry," May wailed, as she tried to reach back down to pull her panties back up.
Instead of letting her go, Caine grabbed her upper arm and pulled her over his lap. He locked her in place and released a flurry of very hard smacks to her dodging bottom.
"Owww! Please stop. Owie! I'm sorry!"
Caine lifted her from his lap, and held her hands tightly in front of her to prevent her from rubbing. "Are you ready to tell us the truth? Were you smoking? "
"Yes, sir," May admitted weakly.
"What on earth would possess you to do something so stupid?" Caine demanded. "After everything I've told you about taking care of yourself, and knowing how livid I would be if you did something like this. Why?"
May shrugged. "I don't know. The guys at the yard were all smoking, and I wanted to fit in. You know, so I could be looked at as just one of the boys."
"We signed you up to take lessons so that you could get back into barrel racing, not so you could fit in. I bet everyone's going to think you're 'one of the boys' when they hear about the spanking you're getting. Maybe I should bring them all in here to watch it," Layton snarled, his face red with anger, "What do you think about that?"
"No! Layton, please!" May panicked. She looked at Caine. "Please!"
Caine shook his head at her and released a sad sigh. "I'm so incredibly disappointed in you, Maybelle," he said. "So very disappointed. You are smarter than this." He paused. "Pick up your pajama pants and underwear, and take them to my room. When we come up there, your nose had best be in a corner."
Defeated. May said, "Yes, sir," and turned away to obey, trudging up the stairs.
She hated the corner. It filled her with both dread and boredom, and was a place for her thoughts to wander regarding her impending punishment. She tried desperately to distract herself by drawing imaginary animals in her mind using the indistinct lines and marks on the walls. The trick did not work. Nothing did. May was certain that she was about to receive the worst spanking of her life, and knew that neither Caine nor Layton would afford her the opportunity to allow her endorphins to take control. Yes, she was going to really feel this one.
She heard the sound of dual footsteps coming her way. The door creaked, announcing their presence, but May did not dare look over at them. Her imagination soared, taking over the image that her eyes could not see. Were they going through her bag again, hunting for more contraband? Was Layton going to use his infamous belt the 'right way', a punishment she had managed to avoid until now? She lamented over her careless, thoughtless actions, and her stomach twisted with guilt for her lies.
Their silence disturbed her. Her mind was plagued with paranoid thoughts about how she had failed them both, and fear that the consequences would go beyond this spanking. Would they ever forgive her?
"Maybelle?" Caine said, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes, Daddy?" May said sweetly, praying that he would find the need to be merciful. After all, it was her first offense. Granted, an offense that Layton would describe as 'unpardonable'.
"Come here."
May turned around, suddenly self-conscious. She covered herself as best as possible.
"I don't know why you bother with that," he said, gesturing towards her movements. "We've been intimately involved for over two months. I've seen it all before, remember?"
His comment, just that simple observation about her discomfort, sent another warm flush into her face. Caine pulled the straight backed chair away from the wall and May felt her heart tumble into her stomach. It was not the pain she feared as much as his disappointment. The AP relationship she shared with him was precious to her—even on the occasions where she didn't use the title of 'daddy', it was always an underlying theme between them. She looked at Layton pleadingly, swallowing dryly as she met his cold, unwavering gaze. He was Dom through and through, and she had no doubt that the pain he would likely deliver was something to be fearful of. Her eyes dropped to the wide, heavy strip of leather that sat snugly in the loops of his jeans, and May knew that this was one stupid mistake that she would never repeat again.
"Bring me the wooden hairbrush that Layton purchased for you, May."
May screwed up her face in confusion. Caine never used implements! It dawned on her what he intended. She could not grasp why the concept of Caine using the hairbrush on her was so frightening, given Layton's penchant for paddles, but she felt her chest tighten.
"I'm begging you, Caine. Please! If you have to spank me, just use your hand. I swear, I've learned my lesson."
Caine maintained an unsympathetic expression, and pointed towards the bathroom. "You have to the count of three, Maybelle."
Tears began to fall again and she stayed put, frozen in shock and anxiety. "Please Daddy..." she begged. "I'll be good. I promise. Please don't use the hairbrush!"
"You do realize that calling me 'daddy' is not going to make me change my mind about this. In fact, it helps to remind me of my responsibility to you. I warn you, May, it would not be wise if you forced me to get up and fetch it myself."
She stood crying and wiping the tears away, still pleading weakly.
"You know him better than that, Maybelle," Layton said darkly. "Once his mind is made up, nothing will sway him."
"If I count to three, and you still haven't brought me that hairbrush, it's going to be much worse for you. One..."
May released a louder whine. "Daddy pleeease!"
"Two..."
Sick to her stomach, May ran to the bathroom and grabbed the brush. She glanced at herself in the mirror. She truly looked pathetic, with wet tears streaming down her cheeks and a still pink bottom.
"Two and a half..."
"Coming!" May yelled, returning to the bedroom. She chewed on her lower lip as she looked at Caine, who was sitting in the chair and tapping his foot impatiently. She tiptoed towards him, knowing in her heart that there was no delaying the inevitable.
"Hand it over, young lady." The brush was transferred from her hands to his, and he pointed to an invisible spot on the carpet. "Stand right here in front of me."
May sniffled as she stared at the floor, clicking her fingernails nervously.
"So you understand why I am so upset with you?" he asked, lifting her chin to look into her eyes.
"Yes, sir."
"I want to hear it."
May's lips quivered. "Because you care too much about me for me to do something stu
pid with my health."
"Why else would we be upset?" Layton asked, his voice the lowest that she had ever heard from him.
May gulped. We? Oh shit… "Because I lied to you about it."
"I don't know how many times I've commented on how smart you are, Maybelle. But to succumb to peer pressure at your age? I said to look at me when I am talking to you." Caine took her hands, turned them over, and kissed both her palms. "Life is not kind to those who go around doing dumb things in order to feel like they fit in. Sweetheart," his eyes filled with tears, "the last time you did something to fit in, you were raped. Don't forget that lesson. Ever."
"I won't. I swear."
"I don't want to lose you," Caine said. His chin quivered and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Neither of us do. Not to peer pressure and not to disease."
Guilt surged inside of May's heart. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"I know, sweetie. I love you." He hugged her tightly.
"I love you, too," May said. She looked at Layton. "You too. Please, forgive me."
"I don't want you to do anything like this again, do you understand?" Layton said, his voice solemn as he locked his arms across his chest.
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, come on then. Get your bottom over here." Caine patted his knee.
"But I've learned my lesson. I promise!"
"I'm going to make sure of that," Caine responded, taking her wrist and moving her to his side before depositing her over his lap.
"And when he is done, I will reinforce it," Layton added, his arms still rigidly crossed.
"Daddy please," May begged as he positioned her bottom high in the air. "I'm begging you…"
"Maybelle Corrine, I give you my word that if I ever find out you've done something so stupid again, this will seem like nothing. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," May said, gripping her fingers around the legs of the chair. She squeezed her eyes shut, and held her breath as herested the cool wooden hairbrush on her backside.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"No. Not that it matters anyway."
"True. Maybe you should spend some more time in the corner and come out to me when you're prepared to accept your punishment. What is your opinion about that?"
"It sucks," May said quietly. "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes, it certainly is." Caine patted her bottom with the brush, lifted it in the air, and presented her with the first, shockingly painful, swat.
"Fuck!" May screeched, trying to levitate off his hard thighs.
"You are not going anywhere," Caine said, accentuating each word with a smack of the brush.
"That hurts! Stop! Oh, MY GOD!" Tears spilled in pools from May's eyes. She kicked furiously, flailing her legs wildly to make her bottom an uncatchable moving target. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Her backend felt as though a bag of smoldering coals had been dumped upon it, and she desperately wanted to put several miles' distance between her rump and that evil hairbrush. "I'm sorryyy!"
He shifted the hairbrush down and clapped it heavily on her delicate sit spots. No longer able to keep her grip on the chair legs, May reached back in a futile attempt to avoid another stroke. "Please Daddy, please. No more," she begged, her sobs shaking her shoulders.
Caine grabbed her hand, and held it to the small of her back, without once breaking the rhythmic pounding of the hard brush to her jiggling flesh. Her screams melted into defeated whimpers as the brush continued to accentuate the lesson that Caine was determined to teach only once.
"What have you learned today?" he asked her, finally pausing the spanking to allow her to speak.
May panted for her breath, suddenly filled with intense anger. The words "I learned you are a fuckfaced dickweasel" slipped from her lips, followed by an angry scream.
"Are you insane, girl?" Layton asked. "Unbelievable. Caine, allow me—"
"No," Caine said, "not this time. She is going to learn this one lesson if it takes all day. And she will learn it from me. I will not have any woman of mine behaving this way."
"Nooo," May howled when he began spanking her hard and fast again, this time using only his hand. It felt like a wooden plank! "I'm sorry! I was angry!"
"Angry or not, that type of disrespect is never allowed in this house." He spanked with more intensity while maintaining a tight hold, and moved his hand down to thoroughly paint her sit spots and thighs a bright scarlet.
"Owww. Please, please, please Caine!" May pleaded, despite knowing how futile it was to beg.
"Please what?" he asked, taking a break to grab her ponytail and pull her hair slightly so as to lift her head to look up at him. "Please let you drift into subspace, like you do when Layton punishes you? Absolutely not. I know exactly what you are doing here and it won't work."
"No, Daddy. Please no more spanking. I swear, I won't ever pick up another cigarette again," May begged.
He picked up the pack of cigarettes to show her. "If I ever find out that you're touching this shit again, I swear to God, this paddling that you are feeling right now will feel like nothing compared to what I'll give you. Do you understand me?"
He looked so serious, more serious than May had ever seen him. His blue eyes glared at her with such intensity that she wanted to puke. May gulped, sniffling again before hiccupping out, "Yes, sir. Please, tell me you are done. I can't take it anymore."
"No. I am not done here. You will be lucky if I don't keep this up all night and turn your little butt to hamburger. Could you please hand me a leather paddle?" he asked of Layton.
"No!" May protested. Just the thought of the untried leather upon her ruby red bottom terrified her.
"Yes. It will deliver the sting without the damage. Thank you," he said to Layton, accepting the implement. Caine dropped the cigarettes on the floor in front of her, released her hair, and resumed the punishment. The leather slapped mercilessly in the center of her bottom, and May began to sob again in earnest.
"Oh, dear Lord! I'm really sorryyy!" she bayed, her kicking slowing down as she exhausted herself.
"I'm sure you will be, if not now. You will never touch that crap again. You will never lie to either of us, either. Do you get my point?" Caine asked, embellishing every word with one or two harsh slaps of the leather.
"Yes! I do! Ow!" May bellowed.
"I don't think so. There is still too much fight left in you. A fuckfaced dickweasel?" Caine moved the flexible paddle to color the backs of her thighs.
"I'm sooorry!"
"I would never disrespect you like that," he scolded, working his way back to her bottom.
"Caine? I think she gets the point," Layton interrupted after a few more minutes. "She's close to blistering."
"You think she's gotten the point? Has she really gotten the message this time?" Caine said, almost mockingly. He pulled May's hair again to look into her eyes. She was barely able to focus through the cloudy tears, and unwilling to face the look of disappointment that was plastered on his handsome features.
"Yeah, you've been smacking her bottom for half an hour now. I think she's had enough."
"You should be wanting to help me," Caine snapped as he released May's ponytail and set the paddle on the edge of the bed. His voice choked with emotion. "Mom died of lung cancer. You saw how she suffered. You cleaned that hideous hole in her throat, and wiped up the blood she coughed up. You remember the chest pain she had after radiation, and the endless days of misery with her chemo. She started smoking when she was in her twenties. That is May's age! Do you want the same thing to happen to our May? You act like this is no big deal."
"Hey, calm down. I am on your side, remember? Mom's disease was the worst possible thing I could imagine anyone going through, and I completely agree that the girl definitely deserves to be punished. But," Layton said calmly, "I also I think we need to add a mental element, not just a physical one. May, you are grounded for one month. You are under house arrest, and won't even pee without one of us giving you the okay. Under
stand me? I am so incredibly disappointed in you. You not only hurt yourself, but you hurt us. The only other time I've seen my brother cry was when he delivered his first stillborn. It took him weeks to recover."
"I am so sorry," May blubbered, feeling as though she had failed both of them. With an anguished sigh, Caine helped her off his lap and pulled her trembling body in for a hug. She pulled back until he buried her face under her jaw. She could taste his tears mingled with hers.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she bawled. "I am so very sorry. Will you ever forgive me?"
"Yes," he whispered, holding her tightly. "Please don't ever push me to this extreme again."
"I won't. I promise."
"I love you so much," he whispered, his silent tears soaking her neck. "Don't leave me that way."
May held him tightly, wiping his face with her hand. "I didn't think you would be so hurt. If I did, I swear, I never would have thought of being so dumb."
"There are very few things that put me into this place," Caine sniffed, rocking her. "When someone hurts a child, and when someone I love hurts themselves."
"It's like committing slow suicide, baby," Layton explained, stroking Caine's back. "If you are that unhappy, it hurts us."
"It had nothing to do with me being happy." May looked up at him with red eyes.
"Our acceptance and approval wasn't enough for you, so you had to do this to get the attention from the other cowboys," Layton said, moving his hands to massage his brother's tense shoulders. "So, yes, you were unhappy."
"That never even crossed my mind. I swear," May said frantically. She dug her fingers into Caine's jaw and forced him to look at her. "I swear to God. Please believe me."
"I love you. I want to make you happy. I don't care about what anyone else thinks about you and neither should you," Caine said despondently. "We want to be the ones to fill the voids in your life, not any other men for any other reason."
She flung her arms around his neck and held him as tightly as she could, her heart breaking as she accepted the truth of his statement. Truly, they gave her everything.
"I'm so sorry."
"So am I, baby."
"I'll do anything you want."
Two Guardians for Little May Page 12