She sat there for several seconds, mortified that the sound of her urinating was the only noise in the bathroom. Struggling for something to say to mask the obviousness of what she was doing, she blurted, “Is this the women’s bathroom?”
“It is indeed.”
“Um…are you allowed to be in here?”
“Technically, legally, no. However, I am fortunate enough to have a female staff who understands I am not a pervert, and these are extenuating circumstances.” His voice echoed. “Were you a good girl doing your homework for me, princess?”
The quick change of subject distracted her from what she was doing. Maybe, just maybe, she’d gotten carried away with her coloring—which was awesome, and she loved so much—and forgotten his decree of one coloring page for every two homework sheets…
“Alicia,” he drawled slowly. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”
She stuck her tongue out at the door, then clapped her hand over her mouth. What was she thinking? Atticus probably had X-ray vision. “Um…no?”
“Mmmn-hmm, and when we go back to pick your things up, what will I find?”
The incessant peeing trickled to a stop, mercifully. She pressed her hand to her stomach, blessedly relieved that the pressure was alleviated. Deciding to try and get at least partially redressed, she wriggled her underwear and pants back up her thighs as high as she could get them. With her butt perched on the very edge of the seat, she managed to hitch herself up and almost get them high enough to cover herself.
“Well, there’s Mr. Bear…and some pretty pictures…oh, shit,” she muttered, yelping loudly as she lost her tentative balance on the toilet seat and her unmentionables bounced on the cool tiles.
The door eased open bumping against her feet. “Lisha, what the hell are you doing?”
Crap, now she was jamming the door with her doorstop feet. It was about all they were good for. Huffing in annoyance, she gripped one leg and pulled it up, then the other so her Daddy could open the door and glower down at her. She refused to acknowledge the ache at the bottom of her back that reminded her of what an idiot she was. “I’m seeing how clean your floors are, what do you think?”
“Aw, poor baby,” he said with no sympathy at all for her plight. He reached down and plucked her off the tiles, his hands hooking under her armpits. For a moment, he held her aloft, eye to eye. “Are you hurt anywhere, princess?”
She pouted. “Why do you care?”
“Oh, someone is asking for a timeout. How am I supposed to kiss it better if I don’t know where you’re hurting?”
Alicia felt her mouth drop open. Did she care that her clothing was now down around her feet? Absolutely not. It was like it was meant to be—one salacious comment from the man she craved and poof, her clothes accommodated him without hesitation.
“Um…maybe my butt?”
“I see. That’s unfortunate, isn’t it, considering you sit on it.” Wicked amusement lit up his eyes, matching the smile curving his mouth. “Should I kiss it better before or after I spank it for your attitude?”
A spanking, too? Warmth spread through her like a drug. She remembered the feel of his big hand smacking down on her ass in the bath, the sharp sting and the blissful heat that came after it. Who was she to say no to that? “Whichever Daddy prefers?”
“Good answer, princess.” Atticus backed out of the stall and swung around, settling her back into her chair. He quickly returned her clothing to normal. “You have until we get back to the conference room to decide if this is what you want, Alicia. I need your explicit consent.”
“You do?”
“I do.” He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze, then moved behind her and got the chair in motion. “I won’t ask every time, because I won’t need to.”
“But you already spanked me once,” Alicia replied in confusion, lowering her voice as they left the bathroom with some maneuvering. “In the bath, remember?”
“Princess, that wasn’t a spanking. That was a couple of smacks on your bottom.”
“There’s a difference?”
She heard the purr in his voice when he said simply, “Oh, yes.”
The journey back to the conference room was slower than the one to the bathroom. She took note of all the different doors, some of which were open with people working hard on computers or talking into headsets. She saw the elevator that Anarchy had brought her out of earlier, and knew that she had only a minute before Atticus would need an answer.
In some respects, it seemed as though yesterday had never happened. The deep ache in her heart that stated he’d broken her trust irreparably had waned. She could put it down to hormones, or the fact she was completely insecure around a man like him. Hell, she’d be insecure around any man who paid attention to her, because she didn’t believe any man would want her.
But he did. He’d broken a promise to his friends for her, given up the chance to have sex, because it had upset her to the point of insanity. No, not insanity. Being heartbroken wasn’t the same as crazy, was it?
Her hands trembled as she flipped back and forth with the decision. One half of her was jumping up and down, giving him a huge thumbs-up in agreement, while the other half was edging toward protecting herself at all costs.
Her heart jumped as Atticus steered her into the conference room, then paused to close and lock the door. She needed to hurry up and make the choice.
“Well, princess, what’s it to be?”
Chapter Twelve
Be brave. You can do this if you want it.
Alicia blew out a long, steady breath and steadied her nerves. “Okay.”
“Good girl.” Was that a touch of surprise in his voice? “Let me see what kind of spanking you’re going to get.”
Confident as ever, he walked away into the smaller room, and Alicia watched him gather the sheets, coloring book, and Mr. Bear. She swallowed hard as he returned and took a seat at the table, choosing one close to her.
Mr. Bear sat on the glossy top, mocking her as if to say, should’ve done your homework. Those black eyes were quite judgmental, which she didn’t appreciate as Atticus started scanning the sheets.
“One, two…three sheets of writing exercises done,” he murmured absently. “Still struggling with your S’s, aren’t you. Never mind, we’ll work on that. Generally,” he mused, his expression pleased, “you’ve made some improvements here, Alicia. I’m very happy with this. Good girl.” He pulled another sheet out and passed it to her. “Read the first couple of sentences please.”
Was this a prelude to the spanking? The abrupt switch from mentally preparing herself to have her bottom exposed and smacked to focusing on the words on the page threw her. Wetting her lips, she frowned in concentration.
“Mary had a little lamb,” she began, trying to squish the b onto the mmm sound of the m.
“Lamb, princess. Silent b.”
Stupid words and their stupid silences. “Mary had a little lamb,” she repeated carefully. “It’s flee—fleece was w-white as snow. Ev-er-y-where that Mary went, the lamb was su-re to go.”
“Sure,” Atticus corrected. “Not su-re. Very good, Alicia. We’ll work on that some more, but you’re gaining confidence. I’m impressed.”
She preened inside, a little giddy at his praise. It made her want to work harder, practice more, so that he could be doubly proud. The page in her hand crumpled as he picked up the coloring book, knowing what he would find would not please him.
“These are pretty, Lisha,” he told her, smiling as he traced his fingers over a purple and blue butterfly dancing amongst some gaily-colored fairies. “Did you enjoy coloring?”
“It’s soothing,” Alicia admitted. “Like going to my quiet, happy place.”
“So I see. All seven…eight pictures reflect that,” he said with a chuckle, finding the last completed coloring on the next page. “What’s eight multiplied by two, princess?”
She winced. Her mathematic skills were disastrous compared to her readi
ng and writing. Wrinkling her nose, she guessed, “More than three?”
“By quite a bit.” Atticus set the coloring book aside, then plucked the sheet from her hand before she damaged it further. “I’ll add mathematics to your lessons, Alicia. Now, I’ll give you a choice—thirteen spanks with medium force, or six hard.”
Oh, she hated this decision-making kick he was on. It gave her anxiety. What constituted a medium-force spank, for God’s sake? Would thirteen of those be easier to take than six hard ones? So many stupid questions with answers she didn’t know and couldn’t add to the choice. “Can you choose? Please?”
“I can, of course. Thirteen, it is.” He stood and dragged his seat away from the table, apparently oblivious to her stunned squeak. “Over the knee should work, I think. You’ll be safe, Lisha. I won’t let you fall.”
Well, that was reassuring. She’d hate to land on her ass again, this time with her bare bits on full display. When he sat again and gestured for her to come to him, she gripped the wheel rims and pushed herself over to where he directed. He wasn’t making this easy for her.
She rolled up beside him, her knees almost touching the side of his thigh. Shakily, she set the brakes, then waited for her next instructions. He didn’t make her wait long—he held out his arms, catching her as she leaned forward, and pulled her over his lap. A little fuss, some small adjustments, and she was hanging upside down over the side.
Automatically, she grabbed his leg and clung to it for balance as he quickly divested her of her panties and trousers for the second time in ten minutes. Cool air brushed over her cheeks, between her legs, letting her know, in no uncertain terms, that she was naked from the waist down.
“Just relax, Lisha. I will not let you slip off or fall.” His arm roped around her waist, securing her against him. She could feel something poking her in the stomach area and her thoughts winged immediately to the giant snake in his pants. “I’m going to rub your bottom now and warm it up. While I do that, I’ll let you know the rules for what comes next.”
Oh fuck, there were rules?
Alicia jerked as the rough heat of his palm rested on her lower back. Slowly, it drifted over her skin, circling over her buttocks, down the backs of her thighs. If she hadn’t been so damn nervous, it would have been relaxing.
“Feeling okay, princess?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she mumbled. Okay was a slight understatement. She might kill him if he stopped arousing that beautiful tingle under her skin.
“Such a good girl. The rules are you can stop this at any time, even if it’s a punishment. I don’t know your pain limits, and my spankings are legendary. Safewords are based on trust—I need to trust that you will use one if you’re in more pain than you can handle, and that you won’t use it needlessly. But this is for you as well—you can’t trust me if you don’t realize that one word from you can bring everything to a halt. Immediately.”
Fingertips trailed up the inside of her thigh, coming perilously close to that place between her legs. She stiffened, not wanting him to discover her shame. The wetness was back, despite the thing inside her.
“Red is the word that will shut everything down, Alicia. Yellow means I’m pushing you close to your limit, and you need a moment to regroup. Say yellow, and we take a break and talk about what I need to change to make you comfortable again. Green tells me everything is just fine.” Those fingers paused, then brushed back down her leg. “I can read your body language, the noises you make. I’ll endeavor to use all my skills to not force you into saying red, but you say it if you need to, okay?”
She nodded. Her ass and thighs no longer felt the chill of the air, they were basking in the slow circles he’d started again. “I-I understand.”
“Repeat them back to me, princess.”
“Red for stop. Yellow for wait. Green for good.” A moan escaped her.
“Perfect. Can you count for me, princess?”
Surely he was joking. The way her body hummed when it was in contact with him, she’d be damn lucky to remember her name in the next five minutes, let alone stupid numbers. “I think so?”
Atticus chuckled darkly. “Let me rephrase that. Count the strikes for me, babygirl.”
“Yes, Daddy.” There was no other answer.
The circles slowed down to nonexistent, which made her sad. The tingles remained even as the comfort of his hand vanished. She tensed, waiting for the first smack, but nothing came. Waited and waited with her body quivering tightly, her fingers digging into his calf.
A minute passed, and she dared to relax. The muscles in her back and butt went lax, too exhausted to remain taut, and she took a breath.
The paddle-sized hand came down sharply on her right ass cheek with a crisp, clear slap of flesh on flesh. She choked on her inhale, fire spreading under her skin and burning into her flesh. Her upper body jerked, and for a moment, she was convinced her legs kicked.
“Count them, princess. Don’t lose track.”
“One!” Fuck, this was medium?
More fire erupted in the opposite cheek with the second blow, and she barely refrained from screaming, “Two!”
Three through six were distributed carefully over both sides, never landing on the same spot. The fire was all-consuming, simmering down to a radiant heat that transferred directly between her legs.
“Such a good girl, Alicia. This pretty little bottom is turning a wonderful shade of pink. Just lovely.” He smoothed his palm over the train wreck of her butt, rubbing the sting deeper. “Seven to go. You’re doing very well.”
Her head was starting to swim. Blood pulsed in her ears, her eyes were watering. Her body was revving harder than it ever had, gearing up for something she didn’t understand. To her embarrassment, a string of drool was forming from her open mouth, barely disturbed by her lips forming numbers.
The next six were applied to the back of her thighs. The sensitive skin screamed, but the pain transformed before it fully enveloped her senses. It became…sweeter, if that was the word. A humming sweetness that grasped that pain in both hands and molded it into origami.
Gasping for air, tears streaming down her face, she tried to apologize. She tried so damn hard to get the words out, to say she was sorry for not doing her homework, sorry for drooling on the carpet. Sorry for being a burden, for causing him trouble.
“Last one, precious girl.”
It was all the warning she got. His hand cracked down on the underside of both cheeks, ripping a squeal from her lungs that had been poised for release. Her fingers clawed at his leg through his pants, her body revolted. Breath wheezing, she embraced the sear of heat, the sharp jolt of pain, then rose above it.
Atticus shifted her in his arms, twisting her so she faced his chest, without letting her tender butt touch anything. He stroked and cuddled her as she trembled, doing that rocking motion that made her feel so cherished. “Must admit, princess, you surprised me. I wondered if I was pushing you too far.”
Her butt certainly thought so. The rest of her was weirdly thrilled, riding a high she’d never experienced before. She swiped at the tears on her face, at the remnants of drool on her lips. “Your hand is hard.”
“It can be when needed.” He gave her a smile that lit her up. “Normally, I don’t give subs rewards after a punishment, but I think my little girl deserves one after taking her first spanking so well for me. Have you learned your lesson, Alicia?”
Her nod was meek. “Oh yes, Daddy. I’ll do my homework properly next time and won’t get distracted by coloring.”
“All right, then. Back into position, princess.”
Body limp, she let him turn her back over his knee. Hopefully her reward wouldn’t include anything touching her ass, which now resembled some kind of heat source. She wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t glowing neon.
“Before we begin, I want you to understand that this won’t hurt. Quite the opposite, Lisha. Safewords still apply, and I need you to tell me if you get worried.” His fingers curl
ed around her thigh, running up and down lightly. “Have you had an orgasm before?”
Alicia tried to lift her head. “A what?”
“Never mind. It’s much more satisfying to show you. Just relax and breathe. Relax and breathe.” With a firm touch, he eased her legs apart, careful not to unbalance her. “This gorgeous little pussy is all wet and needy, princess. Someone liked her spanking, even though it was a punishment.”
“Nuh-uh.”
“Uh-huh. Daddy knows best when it comes to needy little pussies, and this one needs some very special loving.” His hand cupped her, sending a jolt of that sweetness she’d felt before surging through her veins. “Mmm-hmm, just as I thought. When you’re more comfortable with me touching here, I’m going to lick and kiss your pussy until you’re begging me to come, Alicia. None of this lovely wetness will go to waste.”
“What?” she squeaked.
“I’m looking forward to tasting you.” His fingertips traced around her sex, sliding in the juices she couldn’t deny, then found a spot that jerked her hips. “Nibbling on this delightfully shy clit. Sucking on it, playing with it. Making it mine and mine alone.”
Sweet fucking God, what kind of devil had she released?
Alicia gasped, trying to twist as a lone digit teased the seam of her swollen lips, gliding through the wetness. The harsh burn of her father’s touch, Elliot’s groping, flooded her senses. It was going to hurt. How could she have been so naïve as to simply brush the memory of that pain aside and act as though she could do it all again?
“No, baby. What did I tell you not five minutes ago?” Atticus crooned softly. “It won’t hurt. Just relax and trust me, Alicia. Listen to my voice and just relax. Bad things happened to you before, but they’ll never be repeated. Feel how wet you are. Feel how your body responds to my touch. My touch, princess. Only mine from now on.”
Breathing like a steam train, she barely controlled the panicked whimper.
“I have a friend who rides horses,” he told her in an almost conversational tone, like she wasn’t about to break down over his knees. His touch returned to tracing the outside of her pussy—although she had no idea why anyone would call a vagina that—as he spoke. “He takes them on as babies, rears them, and when they’re old enough, he breaks them to ride. Now some of them are old souls—they’ve been here before, in a different time and place—but some of them are a handful. They shy and spook, and plant their feet at a leaf on the ground.”
Walk For Me: Club Avalon Book 4 Page 30