Chapter Twelve

Discipline

Ella

Hearing his light tread on the carpet, her eyes flickered open to find him standing before her. If it was possible, she’d forgotten how absurdly tall he was in the short amount of time he’d been away. Dragging her focus along the length of his body, she noticed her pulse quicken its beat.

“Well done.” There was genuine affection in his tone as he neared. “You stayed where you were told.”

“Thank you, sir.” She resisted the urge to say she’d told him so, reveling instead in his praise and shining eyes.

“Look what I found.” He lifted his hand to reveal the black hairbrush. Fleetingly, she contemplated whether she should be worried that he’d brought the brush to a spanking, but then she recalled she was the one who’d asked for it.

“Thanks again.” She reached forward, expecting him to pass the brush to her, but instead, he hovered over her with an amused expression.

“Since I washed your hair, I’d like to brush it.”

“Oh.” She hadn’t seen that one coming, but she didn’t like to contradict his beaming smile. “Okay, sir.”

“I’ve never brushed anyone else’s hair before.” He confessed his inexperience as he took the seat beside her. “But I’d like you to be the first.”

What was she supposed to say to that? She’d never imagined a scenario like this—one where such intimacy could bloom with a man who’d been hard and unyielding to her—but then she could never have envisaged anything about the last few days. Tucker had been kinder to her since they’d left the cabin, taking care of her needs and bestowing untold pleasure, and she wanted to seize that momentum.

Ella searched his face for any sign of ill intent that he might hurt her with the brush, but she found nothing except his enthusiasm for the task at hand. Deciding that she needed to trust the gleam in his eyes, she nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Sit on the rug for me.” He gestured to the soft white rug at their feet.

“On the floor?” Her brow furrowed as her heart hammered inside her chest.

Why does he want me on the floor?

“Yes.” His tone was sardonic but unhurried. “On the floor, little girl.”

She slid to her knees unthinkingly, her palms tingling as she settled into the pile of the rug.

“Turn around and face the door, please.” His hand glided along her damp locks, surveying her long hair. “Keep your hands in your lap, little girl. I have an important job to do.”

She shuffled into place, fighting to calm her racing heart as he pulled the brush from her crown and down through her damp hair.

“That’s lovely, sir.” She was surprised at how comforting it was to cede such a basic task, but as he tugged the bristles back through her tresses, she realized she was actually enjoying the closeness of the act.

Tucker was right behind her, his feet on either side of her body as he worked on her hair, and she knew, without needing to look, that all of his focus was on her. Her lips curled at the warming thought.

I have all of his attention.

Even though the reality had been true for a long time, she liked the sound of that a lot. Tucker was the kind of man whose company she could definitely get used to.

Time lapsed as the brush ran through her hair, her eyes closing at its rhythmic motion until he found a small tangle.

“Ow!” she whispered, wincing as he worked through the knot.

“Sorry, little girl.” He parted the curtain of her hair and kissed the back of her neck.

“It’s okay.” The feel of his lips at her nape was astonishingly good. “It does tangle easily, sir. That’s why I wanted to brush it sooner rather than later.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

Hearing the smile in his voice as he continued guiding the bristles, she pressed her hands into the soft robe at her thighs. What did that mean? Was he taking notes about how to brush her hair because he intended to perform the task himself from now on? She didn’t know how she felt about it. She was reveling in the understanding developing between them but couldn’t imagine losing the ability to perform such a rudimentary function as brushing her own hair.

“There.” Pride echoed in his voice as he placed the brush down at his right side. “Your hair is brushed, and if it’s possible, you’re even more beautiful.”

She inhaled at his compliment. “Thank you, sir.”

“And now to your spanking…”

She tensed, as though she’d somehow forgotten the reason they were in the lounge in the first place.

“Do I really have to be spanked?” It was easier to ask now that she wasn’t looking his way. “I mean, I know you love your cabin, but it doesn’t exactly hold many good memories for me.”

The sound of his sigh filled the air around them.

“That’s as it may be, but you were still intentionally disrespectful about the home you know I love.” He paused, as if he was waiting for his verdict to sink in, but he needn’t have bothered.

She’d heard him all right, and she understood. Time stretched out around them as she tried to decide how much trouble she was really in.

“It wasn’t my intention to be disrespectful,” she started, although even as she spoke, she sensed that wasn’t right. What was closer to the truth was that she’d underestimated how sensitive he was about the bloody place. Her analysis had been nothing more than a flippant jibe. She hadn’t expected him to take offense.

“I disagree.” His hand arrived at her chin, twisting her attention back to his face. “You were rude about the only home you knew I had.”

His frown told her that he was serious, so she swallowed the next protest that rose at his accusation.

Rude? She glanced down at the rug under her knees. Is that what I was?

“Okay,” she croaked. “I’m sorry.” As heat rushed to her cheeks, she realized that she might actually be contrite. She hadn’t meant to be bad-mannered, especially to the version of Tucker who was finally taking her away from his blasted cabin. She guessed she would have to think more carefully before she joked at his expense in the future.

“You already apologized.” His hand rose to her cheek, skimming her flaming skin. “And I accepted that apology, little girl. This is only your punishment.”

“You’re going to spank me.” She already knew that much.

“That’s right.” His fingertips trailed over her jaw. “A good, old-fashioned punishment over my lap.”

The words swirled around her head as though they wanted to mock her.

He’s going to spank me!

Her heart rate accelerated at the certainty. He was going to spank her, and secretly, she knew it was what she wanted. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be waiting at his feet. She’d be up, screaming about the indignity and looking for a way out. After all, she wasn’t stuck in the forest anymore. She could be out of this high-rise in a matter of minutes and into the city. She could attract help and finally be free. Even if his elevator locked, there had to be a fire escape.

So, why aren’t I running?

She exhaled at the troubling query, the answer more than abundant in her mind. She wasn’t running because she didn’t want to run. She didn’t understand Tucker’s desire to spank her or her need to undergo more of the brunt of his palm, but she couldn’t deny her simmering excitement at the prospect.

She did want this, but she wasn’t sure how she’d been so calm about the idea only a few moments before.

“With your h-hand, sir?” She risked meeting his eyes.

“Yes, with my hand. What else?”

Instinctively, her focus flitted to the hairbrush still sitting by his thigh, and she cursed the reflexive response.

Oh God. She stiffened as his attention followed her stare to the plastic brush. Oh God, why am I looking at the damn thing? I’m giving him fucking ideas!

“The hairbrush?” His tone was inquiring. “Is that what you’re worried about?”

“Y-yes,” she stammered. “I mean, no… sir.” She forced herself to look away, not wanting to reinforce the concept.

“You thought I’d use the hairbrush on you?”

What was that in his voice? Disgust or delight? She couldn’t be sure from her place on the floor.

“I didn’t know if that’s what you meant, sir.” Her brows knitted as she tried to fathom how she’d allowed this to happen. It seemed as though Tucker hadn’t even been thinking about the brush until she’d raised the matter, but now that she’d thrown the premise out there, who knew what he’d choose to do?

“It wasn’t what I meant.” His expression was knowing. “But thank you for the imaginative idea, little girl.”

“Sir, no!” Something akin to genuine fear resounded in her chest as her imploring eyes met his. How could she have been stupid enough to have given him the odious suggestion? “I don’t deserve the brush.”

“This is a punishment, Ella.” He leaned closer until his damp hair grazed her temple. “I decide what you deserve.”

Her breaths were ragged as she was forced to accept the truth of his words. There were only two choices. She could get up and run, risking the destruction of the blissful symmetry they’d both worked so hard to create, or she could stop permitting her terror to dictate to her and just succumb.

Give in to him.

She blew out a long breath at the humbling thought. She’d done so before, and Tucker had rarely allowed her to regret her submission. It was true that he’d torn through her limits in the barn, but ever since, he’d brought her enormous pleasure as well as being increasingly attentive to her needs.

“Okay.” Her shoulders slumped as acceptance washed over her.

This sensual compliance was what she wanted. Sure, she didn’t especially want another punishment, but a part of her acknowledged that she might merit the pain. Whether she’d intended to or not, she had upset Tucker, and she was sorry for it. The sooner she acknowledged both the spanking and the fact she enjoyed capitulation, she could stop working so hard to resist both. She’d wager they’d be happier then.

“Okay?” His eyebrow cocked in that same tantalizing way it did when he was unimpressed with her.

“Yes.” Her voice sounded tiny in the expanse of the enormous room, and she had to force out the final confirmation. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He yanked at the front of her robe. “Get rid of this and get your wonderful ass over my lap.” Releasing her, he sank back onto the seat, his gaze expectant. “I’m waiting, little girl.”

She swallowed at the hard, uncompromising look in his eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was inspire a more ferocious spanking than he already had in mind. Loosening the tie at her waist, she shrugged out of the robe and knelt naked by his feet.

This was it. The moment she proactively consented to his spanking, and even though it wasn’t the first time she’d ceded to him, it was different from before. The warm light of day spilling through the window confirmed the point. They were no longer in the deep, dark forest. He wasn’t making her do anything. This time, she chose to submit, and the dynamic between them had shifted as a consequence.

No longer his captive in the barn, she was more than the bound woman he’d found in the woods. Briefly, she considered the irony of that thought. It was her assessment that his cabin was ‘crappy’ that had landed her in the hot water she currently faced. Tucker was a softer man than before, but sitting on the couch waiting for her, he was still the same granite giant who’d captured her, and, on some level, she knew she was still his prisoner. Her eyes widened as the thought reverberated. Her new cell might be his plush penthouse, but she supposed it was every bit as much a prison as his hut had been.

With one deep breath, she climbed to the seat above her and draped herself over his lap.