Christ. That hurt.
And it was bleeding like a motherfucker.
Damn it. He pressed the towel to his nose to stop the bleeding. But it just kept going. He turned to check on Juliet.
Where the hell had she gone?
Shit. No doubt she was feeling bad about hitting his nose. But it hadn’t been her fault. She’d been trying to jump off the counter, which he’d have to speak to her about since she could have hurt herself. Grabbing a fresh towel, he moved back into the bedroom.
“Duchess? Where are you?”
Alarm filled him. But she couldn’t have gone far. Clearly, she wouldn’t have left her rooms again just wearing pajamas.
He wasn’t taking very good care of her. He should have at least gotten her clean and dressed before kissing her like his life depended on it.
“Duchess? Where are you?”
He moved out into the playroom, checking the sofa. Not there. Crap. He walked back into the bedroom. Where would a scared Little hide?
Well, there was one obvious place and he called himself an idiot for not thinking of it straight away. Crouching down, he stared right into the face of his girl, crouched under the bed.
“Hey, Duchess. What you doing under there?”
She flinched then whimpered. He frowned. She shouldn’t be this upset.
“Duchess, it was just an accident.”
She shook her head. What did that mean? That she didn’t want to come out?
Or that it wasn’t an accident?
Had she hurt him on purpose? But that didn’t make any sense. Why would she do that?
He reached for her, but she backed away from him. Tears welled, spilling down her cheeks.
“Christ, don’t cry. Please.”
A sniffle. A sob.
Enough.
He wasn’t putting up with this bullshit. He wasn’t going to sit here while she suffered alone.
“Juliet. Out of there. Now.” He used his Dom voice. The one that garnered instant obedience from any sub close by.
So, no one was more shocked when she defied him.
Damn. Talk about a blow to the ego. Maybe he was out of practice.
Or perhaps she was scared he would hurt her? Surely, she knew he wouldn’t. The girl that never spoke to anyone she didn’t know for years and trust implicitly, had spoken to him.
That was huge. He wasn’t underestimating how huge.
So why was she under the bed?
Fuck.
“Okay, Duchess. We’ll do it your way,” he said in a soft voice, then he lay down and rolled under the bed. He heard her gasp. He’d expected to find dust and stray hair ties and bits of rubbish under here.
But it was spotless.
He rolled to his side. The cot-bed was far enough off the ground to give him some room, although his shoulders brushed against the slats of the bed when he was on his side. She was pressed up against the wall, watching him with wide eyes.
“This would make a good fort. You like playing in forts?”
She shook her head slowly.
“What?” he gasped theatrically. “You’ve never built a fort?”
Her thumb moved up into her mouth as she shook her head again. Great. They were back to her being silent.
He could deal. Just stay patient, calm.
An idea occurred to him about how he could ease her anxiety. He reached out slowly to tug her thumb out of her mouth. Then he ran his fingers over her lips.
His nose felt stuffed and he couldn’t breathe through it. So, a long sigh left his mouth as she took two of his fingers into her mouth and suckled.
“That’s a good girl. Take what you need from me.”
To his relief, she moved a bit closer. Then she chewed lightly on his fingers. His dick hardened and he closed his eyes.
Think unsexy thoughts. Think unsexy thoughts.
They lay there for long moments until he felt the tension ease from her body. Thank fuck.
“Ready to come out from under the bed?” he asked quietly.
She jolted then shook her head, nearly losing his fingers. She let out a whimper and he made soothing noises, pressing his fingers into her mouth again.
“It’s all right. You’re all right. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Eventually, she was the one that moved. He lay there, motionless, waiting on her, like she was an injured animal he was going to coax closer. Then she pressed herself against him.
Please don’t feel the hard-on I’m sporting.
Letting his fingers slide free of her mouth, she buried her face into his neck and breathed him in.
That’s it. Take what you need.
Slowly, so he didn’t scare her, he put his arm around her. Putting his hand on the back of her neck, he held her against him.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“What for?” he asked.
“Making you bleed. I hurt you.” She had her hand wrapped in his shirt and he felt like a fucking King. He knew that was insane. Here she was, scared because she’d hurt him, and he felt this surge of arrogant satisfaction because she was curled up around him, clinging to him like a life preserver.
“Did you do it on purpose?”
“No,” she gasped. “Of course not.”
“Then why do you feel so guilty? It was an accident.”
“I hurt you.”
“And you apologized. That was all that was needed. So why did you hide?”
“I . . . I . . . felt so stupid. Can’t do anything right. Couldn’t even kiss you without hitting you. Idiot.”
A growl rumbled out of him. Jesus. What was that? He sounded like a fucking animal. He half-expected her to crawl away from him in fear, but she was still clinging tightly to him.
“You’re in trouble now, baby girl.”
Okay, that time, she did stiffen up.
“But not for making me bleed or hurting me,” he added hastily. “It was an accident. You hurt me. You apologized. It’s forgotten.”
“Really?”
“Really,” he said firmly. “You know what’s not easily forgiven?”
“What?”
“Talking about yourself like that. It’s unacceptable and I won’t put up with it.”
“Sorry,” she said hastily.
He moved his hand to her ass, tapping it softly. “Unfortunately, saying sorry doesn’t wipe that clean. That’s ten.”
Maybe he was making a mistake. After all, she’d just been hiding under the bed and barely responding to him. He could send her running again.
But he had a feeling he wouldn’t.
He thought she probably needed his rules and consequences. That they’d give her a feeling of security that she was desperate for.
“Ten what?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He’d read her books to her. She might not have had a relationship with a Daddy before, but the Little in the book he’d started reading to her had been spanked plenty.
“You wouldn’t,” she breathed out.
“Oh, I would, baby girl. And that isn’t the worst punishment you’re owed.”
“You’re going to punish me for hurting you.” She said it like it was a foregone conclusion. Did she think he was a damn monster?
“Never. It was an accident. Understand?”
She nodded.
“Nope. Words.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Fuck. His balls were going to be blue by the time he got to take care of this hard-on.
“Soon as you’re over this hangover, you’re going to be punished for disobeying me and coming downstairs. I specifically told you to stay up here, Juliet.”
She trembled.
“Don’t care if it was Santa Claus,” he told her firmly. “You were told to stay upstairs. Then, when we were downstairs, I heard Elias tell you to stay away from us, and what did you do?”
“Threw water and flowers over you.”
“One of us could have accidentally hit you when we were fighting. Do y
ou know what that would have done to me?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to harm him.”
“That’s not your concern. Your only job is to obey me. Understand?”
“I’m not sure I’m going to be very good at that job,” she said forlornly.
Ridiculously, despite the seriousness of the conversation, he felt like smiling.
“Maybe you’ll get better once you realize the consequences. I also owe you a punishment for not obeying me when Kiesha skated out in front of the truck.”
“You can’t! We weren’t, um, anything then.”
“Was still your bodyguard,” he growled.
“You spank all your clients?”
“Course not. But none have been naughty like you.”
She gasped, clearly offended. “I’m not naughty.”
“You absolutely are.”
She huffed out a breath.
“Ten for just talking badly about yourself. Fifteen for the other day. Twenty-five for today.”
“What? Are you trying to kill me?” she groaned. “I won’t sit.”
“Kind of the point. Since you’re new to this, I’ll split it up. Fifty over two nights.”
She moaned dramatically.
“Come on, it’ll wait until you feel better. I need to get off the floor. Too old for this shit.”
She giggled as he moaned and groaned his way out from under the bed.
“How about a bath, then we’ll build a fort, and you can play in it while I make some lunch?” he asked her.
“Sounds perfect, Daddy.”
20
“Duchess, time for lunch.”
“No,” she called back from the depths of her fort. This thing was awesome! They’d managed to find some large blankets which he’d put over the table and a few chairs. He’d grumbled about it not being big enough, but Juliet loved it.
And she wasn’t leaving it.
“Excuse me?”
She trembled. In desire, not fear. Because his voice was deliciously deep and dominant.
Just what she liked.
She’d managed to spend the last hour playing in her fort. It had helped her keep her mind off everything that had happened earlier that morning with Xavier.
They’d had a bit of a stand-off when she’d wanted to bring some iced coffees in with her. Finally, Brick had relented and let her take one as long as she drank some water as well.
Which . . . oh barnacles. She picked up the water bottle, shaking it. Nearly full. Hm. Angelique looked like she needed some water. Naughty girl was getting dehydrated.
She grabbed her doll and attempted to give her a drink of water. It ran down the sides of the doll’s face and she tutted at her.
“Naughty Angelique, drink your water.”
A flap of the blanket was pulled back and she quickly put the water bottle behind her as Brick poked his head into the fort.
“Now, I must be hallucinating, because I could have sworn that when I called you for lunch that you told me no. But I know that my girl wouldn’t have told me no. Would she?”
“Certainly not, Daddy,” she said with mock-surprise. “Although it could have been Angelique. She is very naughty.”
“Is she just? Well, she must be if she says no to her Daddy.”
“Definitely. I should put her into time-out.”
“Hm, do you think she’ll learn anything in time-out?”
“What would you suggest then, Daddy?”
“Maybe what she needs is a smack on her bottom.”
“Daddy! That’s just mean!” She hugged Angelique tight.
“Come on, my naughty girls. Time for lunch.”
“I don’t think Angelique is hungry, though.”
“Well, Angelique can stay in here then, and think about her behavior.”
“But she might not like being in here alone.”
“Pass her to me. She can sit in time-out out here while Juliet eats her lunch.”
A huge sigh passed her lips, but she handed Angelique out.
“Baby girl?”
“Yeah, Daddy?” she asked as she crawled out into the room. Urgh. Too much light. She liked her dark cave better.
“Why is your dolly wet?”
Warning. Warning.
“Maybe she peed her pants?”
“Hm. Except it’s her face that’s wet. Where is your water bottle?”
“I don’t know, Daddy. It must have gotten lost.”
Please don’t look in the fort. Please don’t look in the fort.
She should have known her luck wouldn’t be that good. He crouched down, then searched through the fort. When he came out, he held a nearly full bottle of water. “What did Daddy say about drinking your water?”
“Um, my memory is a bit faulty, Daddy.”
“Oh, I think your memory is just fine,” Brick replied sternly. “Daddy told you that you were to drink all of this water, didn’t he?”
“But Daddy, it was a lot of water and I only have a little belly.”
“That you do. But I bet if this bottle were filled with that iced coffee crap you drink, then you wouldn’t have any bother.”
He might be right about that. But she wasn’t going to agree with him.
“What was the rule?”
“If I drank the coffee, I had to drink all the water.”
“And did you?”
“No, Daddy.” She thought that was obvious.
“What do you think we should do about that?”
“Get a smaller water bottle?”
“No. Although I think we should get you a special water bottle. I’ll order one online.”
“I have lots of bottles, Daddy.” She led him to a cupboard and opened it.
Brick’s eyes widened as he took in the mermaid-themed drink bottles, baby bottles, plates, cups, and cutlery. He drew out one of the larger bottles. “This might work. Can I write on it?”
She nodded curiously.
“Got a marker pen that won’t rub off?”
“Um, I think so.” She skipped over to her desk. Because why walk if you could skip? She found him a permanent marker, and he drew lines on the bottle then wrote numbers going up in twos beside each line. Then he did the same on the other side.
“This shows you how much water you should drink by ten a.m. up until eight p.m. We need to refill the bottle at two p.m. Understand?”
She wrinkled her nose. “What’s up with your obsession with water, Daddy?”
“It’s good for you.” He tapped her nose playfully. “Come and eat lunch, then we’ll deal with your naughty behavior.”
“I wasn’t naughty.”
“You were trying to make your doll drink your water.”
“She looked thirsty,” she defended.
He gave her a look. Then he took her hand and led her to the table, where he’d set a plate of sandwiches.
They were cut into triangles and the crusts were trimmed off. There was also a bowl of chopped strawberries and grapes.
He pulled back a chair. “Here you go, Duchess.” He did an elaborate bow which had her giggling. She sat and he pushed her in, then he went back to the cupboard and grabbed a mermaid plate and sippy cup. He put some sandwiches on her mermaid plate. Then he poured some water into her sippy cup. She sighed but took a few sips of water in between a couple bites of sandwich. By the time he’d eaten two huge sandwiches, she’d managed one small triangle.
“Eat more,” he insisted.
“I don’t want anymore, Daddy. If I eat too much at once, my tummy gets sore. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
“It is when you’re already so small a stiff breeze would blow you over.”
A flush of embarrassment filled her. Did he not find her attractive like this? Maybe he wanted someone with curves?
“Come here.” He pushed his chair back and lifted her onto his lap. Then he tilted up her face. “It’s only because I worry about your health. Your happiness, health, and safety are my number one priorities
. We need to make sure you eat well because you’ll need all your energy once I get you naked and under me.”
“Daddy!” she protested, growing red.
Then he reached over and picked up a strawberry, feeding it to her. “Good girl,” he praised as she ate it. He fed her a few more plus some grapes before she shook her head. She didn’t want to feel too uncomfortable.
Kissing the top of her head, he set her on her feet. “Tummy sore?”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Good.” Standing, he took her hand and steered her towards the only corner in the room that didn’t have stuff in it.
“Nose into the corner, bottom poking out.”
Corner time? No way. She wouldn’t survive.
“Can’t you just spank me, Daddy?” she whined.
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, you’re getting a spanking. But corner time comes first.”
She was wearing her favorite mermaid onesie, which had a drop seat. When he had her positioned in the corner, he lowered the drop seat then started to draw down her panties.
“Daddy!” She stiffened.
He quickly tugged her panties back up. “Too much? Fuck. Sorry, Duchess, I—”
“No, no, it’s all right. I just . . . I wasn’t expecting it, I guess.”
“No, it’s my fault. I need to go at your pace. Sometimes I don’t always think. Is it okay for me to bare your bottom during punishments?”
She let out a deep breath.
Be brave.
Picking her up, he carried her to the sofa and sat with her on his lap. “Baby girl?”
“Nobody has ever seen me naked.”
“Are you worried about what I’ll think of your body? Because I can tell you right now, you could have a third hairy nipple and I’d think you were the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”
“Ew, that’s kind of gross.”
He cupped her face with his hand then laid a soft kiss on her lips. “The point is that nothing you can tell me or show me will change how I feel about you.”
“Are you sure?” she asked in a voice that sounded lost. She wrapped her hands in his T-shirt, needing him to anchor her.
“Positive.” He brushed her hair back off her face. “I want you to choose a safeword. Something you wouldn’t normally say. It can be used at any time. Doesn’t have to be during punishment. You’re to use it if you’re in pain or scared or uncomfortable and you need me to stop what we’re doing to talk. Okay?”
Her Daddies’ Saving Grace Page 20