"I'm putting this around your pussy," Hayden said, pressing a urinal against her. "Pee."
"No!"
"Jake? Help me here," Hayden requested.
Jake rested his hand on the back of her thigh. "Pee, Baylor."
"Absolutely not!"
The smack she received against the back of her thigh released a string of profanity, and resulted in another fifteen minutes with the plug. Jake smacked the back of her thigh again, leaving a perfect imprint of his hand.
"Nice thigh turkey," Hayden complimented. "Pee."
"You can't do this," Baylor cried. Another smack and then another vibrated against her tender thighs until, desperate to achieve relief from both the pain of the spanking and the fullness of her bladder, she released a stream into the container. When she was done, Hayden dabbed her dry with a tissue, patted her bottom and left to flush the contents of the container away.
"Why do you keep fighting us?" Jake asked, as Hayden walked away. "Are you testing our limits? Do you even realize how much trouble you are in? No one has cared enough about you in the past to take you in hand," he went on. "We do. We want the best for you, and for us. We made a mistake in our last relationship when she pulled the exact same things that you did. We were too lenient when she clearly needed strong, consistent boundaries and discipline. She grew to hate us because she thought we were weak and could easily be manipulated. She provoked Terry constantly, trying to get him to take control of her behavior because she felt out of control. Out of respect for us, he kept his hands to himself, and she turned ugly. It almost cost us our friendship with him."
"I'm not her. It's wrong for you to act like I'm the same way."
"No, baby doll, you aren't her. But the behaviors are the same, and so is the disposition. We don't want to fail you the way we did her, nor do we want to lose our family. What did you think would happen when you took off like you did?"
"Not this!" Baylor cried. "Please, let me go. I swear I won't think badly of you or Terry or Hayden or anyone. Please. I can't live in another abusive relationship with people who only care about their own needs."
Jake grew silent. Finally, he said, "Very well. Gentlemen? I'm letting her out of this."
"I guess it's over then, huh?" Matt asked sadly.
"I guess so." Jake untied her from the bench.
"What do you mean?" Baylor asked, standing uncomfortably with the plug still buried inside her.
"It's not important. Go home, Baylor."
She looked at the four of them in confusion. "I really don't know what is going on."
"Did she use her safe word?" Hayden asked, returning from the bathroom.
"No, she did not."
"Then why did you let her up?"
"Because I couldn't take the tears anymore. Excuse me," Jake said, walking quickly up to his room and shutting the door behind him.
"What happened?" Hayden asked. "What did you say to him?"
Baylor told him and watched his face grow hard.
"Damn, B," Matt said quietly, watching as Hayden also left the room, wincing as the door slammed behind him. "Could you have picked anything more cutting to say? Those were the exact same words their ex said about them."
"How would I know that? Do any of you really expect me to pick and choose my words carefully when I have a goddamned tree trunk up my ass and am tied over a bench to be beaten?"
"No one was going to beat you, Bay. You were going to get four paddle strokes and it would have been over."
"You terrified me into believing that you were going to disable me for life!" she pounded her fists against Matt's chest. "How could you?"
"We have all spoken to you about trust. We trusted you to keep your promise and not put yourself in danger. You claimed you trusted us not to harm you. We said that we trusted you to understand our lifestyle, and to use that word as a safety valve before things got out of control. You said that you trusted us to dish out an appropriate punishment for endangering yourself. It seems that trust was lost on both sides."
Baylor looked at him and stepped back. "It's over, isn't it? All the stuff you promised me is done. I guess my ex was right. I am a worthless shamoota—a skank whore who likes it up the ass."
"Bay…" she heard Matt call out. She hobbled as fast as she could to her house, locked the doors behind her, then went into the bathroom to remove the horrid plug from her body. What surprised her was that the one she took out was not the one Jake had shown her. In fact, it wasn't even as hefty as Hayden was.
"You idiot," she told herself in the mirror. "You should have known that they would never really hurt you. Now see what you did? You lost the best thing that has ever happened to you. And, what's worse is that you're stuck here, knowing that they are right next door and are no longer yours. I'm such a stupid fool."
She fell on the floor, wishing she knew what to do. On impulse, she reached for the phone.
"Mr. Paterson? My name is Baylor, and I am in love with both of your sons. I need to tell you something…"
Chapter Seventeen
"Hello? Anybody home?" a man's voice called from the garage door.
Baylor yelled back, "I'll be there in a minute." She shut down her equipment and left the darkroom, the place that had been her sanctuary for over a week. She had neither seen nor heard anything from either of the boys since she had walked out of the session, and had returned to the isolated state that she had been in before the whole relationship had begun. She had not eaten and lost a tremendous amount of weight, her face was drawn, and she was pale and listless.
"Can I help you?" She snapped the ever-present gum.
"Are you Baylor?"
"Yes," she answered, looking at the older man. He seemed vaguely familiar.
"I'm coming in," he announced, pushing past her with a familiar sense of bossiness.
"You must be Jake's dad. What are you doing here?"
The man closed the door behind him and plopped down on her sofa, patting the seat. "Sit your butt down, girl, and tell me what you have done to my boys."
"Beg pardon?" Baylor asked warily, lowering herself next to him. His overt familiar disposition actually brought her comfort. How she missed them!
"Those idiots are in love with you, and I want to know why."
Baylor lowered her eyes. "I don't know, Mr. Paterson. I really don't. I don't deserve them or their love. I betrayed their trust and fucked up everything."
"Watch your language, young lady."
"You sound just like Jake," she muttered.
"No, he sounds just like me. Listen to me, girl," he said, pointing a finger in her face, "unless you went messing around on them, there is nothing you can do to betray them. Piss them off, yes, but not enough for them to let you go."
"I didn't mess around. I would never do that to them. I love them. I know you don't agree with what we had, but—"
"Do you think I would have come all the way here to yell at you if I didn't want my boys to be happy? When you called me to introduce yourself and tell me what you had done, I was shocked. Not because of your relationship, but because you loved them enough to make sure that I didn't make them feel alone in their pain. That, girl, is the type of love I want for my children. The last woman they had only cared about herself. She didn't even think twice about the suffering she put them through, nor did she bother to make sure they were cared for after she just took off."
"I didn't tell you everything, Mr. Paterson. Only that I didn't fulfill a promise I made and that I hurt them because of it," she said.
"I called them right away to check on them, and was told exactly what happened. Don't look so surprised, I know the stuff they are into. Doesn't bother me a bit, either. You panicked. Simple. And they should have been men enough to reassure you, and then strapped your little rump until you couldn't sit for a week."
"I said some awful things to them and they told me to leave." She stared at the floor.
"Did you stand up for yourself and the relationship? Did you g
et in their faces and refuse to go?"
"No sir." Baylor was confused.
"And they didn't come after you, did they?"
"No, sir."
"Why do you think that is?" Mr. Paterson asked gently.
"I don't know."
"Sure you do. Those boys want someone they can trust, and who trusts them. They are also incredibly stubborn and set in their ways. You left secretly wanting them to come after you, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah. Of course."
"Just like they wanted you to refuse to leave," he said.
"They did?"
He rubbed his face with both hands. "Kids today are so frustrating. It's a game of cat and mouse, only you are the pussy."
"Mr. Paterson!"
He laughed, smacking her thigh. "So you'll give me a reaction but not them? Get your backside over there and tell them how you feel. Scream and yell if you have to, but tell them."
"I can't do that. It's over. They even said so. I agreed to whatever punishment they dished out, and then chickened out."
"So you are damning yourself and those boys because you are human and got the living hell scared out of you?"
Baylor stared at the man. "What happened to the no-swearing policy that you and Jake seem to obsess about?"
"It's not convenient for me right now. Answer me, girl."
"My name is Baylor, not girl," she snapped.
"There's the spunk I was looking for. Why are you running from something that makes all of you so happy?"
"Mr. Paterson, you are confusing me. Are you actually condoning a polyamorous relationship?"
"Not just condoning it; in fact, in your case, I am encouraging it. I would do anything for those boys. They are my family. I don't have to agree with them or adopt their beliefs to love them unconditionally. I had issues with their ex-wife because of how she treated them. She constantly played them against each other to provoke jealousy, lied to them, and used them without caring how they felt. You have done nothing but worry about their hearts and their happiness. Even with your actions, you proved that you cared more about them than for yourself. You called their daddy to help them. How can I not love you to pieces for that?" He smiled.
"You do?"
"I do," he said softly. He took her trembling hand in his. "So much so, that if you were my daughter, I would put you across my knee for some old-fashioned discipline for being so stubborn, and then hug you until you couldn't breathe."
"You could still hug me," Baylor said shyly.
"Come here, sweetheart," he said, embracing her strongly. "You're a good girl. Let's make this right, okay? All of you deserve happiness."
"Do you think we can?"
"Baby doll, when there is love, all things are possible. Now, go get yourself prettied up. I'm going to let those boys know that daddy is here to make it all better. Then I'm taking you all out to a nice dinner."
"I don't know…" she said.
"Do you want that old-fashioned spanking? I would be happy to give it to you right here and now. And if my eldest son is remotely capable of matching the strength of my palm, then you are in for a sorry night if I have to take you across my knee. Well?"
"No, sir!" Baylor quickly shook her head.
"Then do as you are told. Also, spit out that gum. I can't believe either of my boys have allowed you to chew it. They both despise it as much as I do." He held out his hand.
"You know, Jake is as bossy as you are," Baylor said, slapping her wad of gum straight in the center of his palm. He didn't even flinch as he stood, wrapped it in a napkin, threw it away and washed his hand.
"Do you have a problem with that? It's never going to change. Being bossy is a requirement for a Paterson." He placed his hands on his hips and looked at her.
Baylor raised her eyebrow and reached to kiss his cheek. "No problem at all. Thank you."
"Oh, before you go, there is one more thing I want to discuss with you."
"Am I in trouble?" she asked uncertainly.
"It depends on your answer…"
***
"Dad! What are you doing here?" Jake exclaimed when his father stormed into the house.
"Hello to you, too. Gimme some sugar." The two embraced heartedly.
"Dad! What brought you into the Armageddon of the nation?" Hayden shouted, tackling the man onto the couch.
"You're crushing me, boy. I'm too old for this." Mr. Paterson laughed. He brought both his sons into a head lock and knocked their foreheads together.
"OW!"
"What the hell did you do that for?" Hayden growled.
"Watch your language in front of a lady, mister," his father said.
"What lady… Baylor?"
"Hi," she said shyly. "He made me come over."
The room grew quiet. Still holding his sons' heads under his arms, Mr. Paterson cleared his throat. "Do I have to butt your heads together again? I taught you better manners than this. Stand when a lady enters a room."
"We can't!" Hayden protested. "You're holding us in a fucking headlock, Dad. Ow!"
"Hey! I didn't say anything!" Jake grumbled, after having his head banged against Hayden's a second time.
"Two peas." Mr. Paterson shook his head. "Are you both so stubborn as to let the one pod you both fit into get away? Go take care of your woman, you idiots."
Baylor suppressed her smile as she watched the pair interact with their father. What she would have given to have had a parent who cared about her like that.
"This isn't any of your business. Let go of my neck," Jake said.
"No. Not until you agree to tell her you are sorry," Mr. Paterson said.
"We didn't do anything to apologize for," Hayden grumbled.
"Mr. Paterson," Baylor said. "It was my fault. I'm the one who needs to apologize."
"Did they scare you?"
"Yes, sir, but—"
"No buts, young lady. Did they come after you?"
"No, sir."
"Right or wrong, a man is responsible for making things right in our household. You might get your bottom paddled when you act out, but they get to eat humble pie when they do. Do it," he ordered, pushing both his sons to the ground and knuckling their heads.
"It really was my fault though. Boys, I'm sorry," Baylor said.
Jake glared at his father, rubbing the back of his neck as he stood up. He helped Hayden to his feet.
"You can really be an asshole," Hayden grumbled.
"What did you say to me, boy?" his father growled.
"Nothing."
"I really should take a paddle to all of you for being so stubborn. Now, you three have five minutes to kiss and make up. I'm hungry, and we're going out for dinner at Ruth's Chris, where I am going to make you buy me the biggest steak they have on the menu. Since neither of you are working this weekend, I've made plans."
"How do you know we aren't working?" Hayden asked.
"I called your bosses and told them that we had important family business, and that I wanted you both to have leave for four days."
"Dad! You can't interfere with our jobs!" Jake scolded.
"No? Since I went to college with both of your superiors, I sure as heck can. Now, we are going to do this. After we eat, we are getting a couple of rooms and then going to Disney tomorrow. No arguments!"
"You want to go to Disney?" Jake almost choked with surprise. Hayden was simply speechless.
Mr. Paterson wrapped his arm around Baylor's shoulders. "She might be your little girl, but she is going to be my daughter. I've never had a daughter to take to Disney. Are you going to deny me this?"
"No, sir." Hayden and Jake looked at each other.
"Good. Five minutes to kiss and make up and then you two are to march your rumps up to your rooms and get packed while I take my girl back to pack her bag." Mr. Paterson held up his watch. "Countdown starting."
"Are you going to stay here?"
"Yup. I need to make sure you two don't screw this up."
"You know what, Dad?
Hayden was right. You really can be an asshole," Jake said.
He and his father glared at each other for several seconds before he broke. "Baylor, honey, I'm sorry. I should have come after you and talked this out. I'm also sorry for over-reacting to your comment. I know you didn't mean anything by it."
"Me too, baby. You aren't used to the mind-fu—games," Hayden said, eyeing his frowning father. "Please forgive me."
"I told you, it was my fault. Can we have a do-over, or is it too late?" she said softly.
"Do-over? Like in our relationship, or that day?"
"Both. I miss my daddies," Baylor whispered, looking up at both of them.
"No. No do-overs." Jake shook his head.
"What?" She stepped back, pain registering on her face.
"We will both spank you, if that is what you're asking us. However, we are not going to repeat that punishment," Hayden quickly said, pulling her to him. "I love you, and I missed my Ladybug."
"Gimme her," Jake said, pulling Baylor to him. "I am going to take a belt to your bottom for putting yourself in danger, and then I am going to make love to you until you scream for me to stop."
"No paddle?" she looked stricken.
Jake glanced at his father. The man looked amused and twirled his little finger. "I don't want to, but yes. You will get four with the paddle as promised."
"Oh." Baylor lowered her face.
"You need to know that what you did came with a very high price, and that we love you enough to follow through on our promises." Hayden stroked her hair.
"Can we just get that over with? It's making me sick thinking about it." Baylor looked at them pleadingly.
"That's reasonable. Dad? If you would please excuse us."
"No." Baylor caught his arm. "He's part of the family."
"If you think we will hold back because he is watching, you're wrong," Jake warned her.
She looked up at him. "I trust you."
"Go to the office and get the school paddle."
Baylor nodded and left, her stomach rising in her chest. Well, a little pain and humiliation was worth gaining trust back on both sides. She lifted the heavy implement from the closet and turned it in her hands. She had to trust. Simple.
Moving a Little Heart Page 21