Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Polly

We didn't have sex. Our food came, interrupting our passionate devil-may-care embrace and the moment was lost. The night wasn't a total loss. Cas dressed me in the new pajamas and gave me the stuffie he'd bought before tucking me into bed. My ass hurt, my pussy throbbed and I didn't want to be alone, but somehow, I'd managed to make it through the night without touching myself.

And I slept so good. The combination of hangover plus spanking plus emotional release must have been the ticket because we took a nap after dinner and I didn't wake up until the next morning, when the sun was streaming through the blinds and Cas was telling me it was time to go.

As we stood out front of Utopia, bags in hand, ready to start the next leg of our trip, I sighed and looked over my shoulder at the resort. I hadn't seen any more of it, and it was hard not to feel like I'd missed out.

"What's wrong, babygirl?" Cas laid a hand on my shoulder.

"I just… Vegas is really cool. And I missed it. The parts I saw, I barely remember, and the memories I could have made, I didn't. I'm disappointed, that's all. Aren't you?"

He shook his head and looked me up and down. His gaze lingered first on my breasts, then on my lips. "You know…" he said slowly. "I don't think I am. All in all, I'd say I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out."

He gave me a wink and my whole body heated.

"But if you want to see more, maybe we can come back sometime."

The valet pulled up with his vehicle before I could answer. The thought of coming back to this place with Cas was going to be fuel for my fantasies for a really long time, even if it never happened.

Cas loaded our bags into the car; apparently he'd gone and gotten them while I slept, and opened the door for me, even going so far as to buckle me in before getting in himself.

As we headed down the strip, he glanced over at me. I was already shifting uncomfortably, not looking forward to a long car ride. "So what's the first stop on the itinerary?"

I shrugged. "I mean, I thought I knew, but someone went and added stops, messing with everything," I teased.

"I don't regret it," Cas said. Was he flirting? The way he looked at me, I was pretty sure he was flirting.

Last night seemed like forever ago, and I wasn't actually sure where we'd left things. Nothing else had happened between us. We hadn't even made it to heavy petting before we were interrupted.

The whole thing felt like a confusing emotional mess that I didn't want to talk about, much less think about.

So I did the only other thing I could think of. "Does Cas stand for Cassandra?" I always thought of Cassandra as a girl's name but maybe that was why it was a big secret. Cas was a total dude- bro in public. I could see him not wanting anyone to know he had a girly name.

He furrowed his brow and tossed me a funny look. "No. Keep guessing."

"You know," I mused, "maybe we should make this game a little more interesting."

"Oh?" Cas looked intrigued. "How so?"

"Well, maybe we should add a little wager…"

"I'm listening."

"I think if I guess your real first name by the end of the trip, I should get a prize."

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "What kind of prize?"

"Sex" and "your cock" were the first things that popped into my head, but if I gave them as prizes, then would I have no real hope of getting them before that? It seemed like it could be shooting myself in the foot, a risk I wasn't willing to take.

Did I go for the big guns, assume the rest of the trip was going to go the same way last night was, and bet big? Was ‘we tell Jared about us' a fair term? I didn't think so, and it was making a pretty big assumption that there would be something to tell. Those were the things I thought I wanted the most, but there were too many unknowns this early on in the trip.

"Winner's choice?" I ventured.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "Winner's choice, huh? Sure, why not? You're never gonna guess it anyway."

"Don't be so sure about that." I was determined now. "Casper?"

"Casper? Like the friendly ghost?" He laughed. "No. Try again."

"Cash? Casmir? Casein?"

He barely glanced at me. "No."

"Castro?"

"You're never gonna get it, babygirl."

I sighed and turned my head to stare out the window. "Where are we going first?" The first stop on my itinerary had been Horseshoe Bend in Page, Arizona, but I felt like my plan had been thrown out the window and I had no idea what to expect.

"Oatman," Cas grunted.

"Oatman? Where is that?" I'd done a lot of research but I'd never heard of Oatman.

"Arizona. Only a couple hours away."

"Okkayyy… What's in Oatman?"

"It's a wild west town where wild donkeys roam the streets and let you pet and feed them." Cas shrugged. "Sounded interesting."

"Huh." I looked out the window again, not sure whether to be thrilled or annoyed that Cas had taken such an interest in the trip that he'd done research and added stops along our route. But maybe I could really trust his excitement about a different kind of vacation. That was starting to feel genuine.

"Are we still going to Horseshoe Bend?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." Cas grinned.

"Tomorrow?" I frowned. Horseshoe Bend had been a short stop on the way to New Mexico. How much had he changed the route that we wouldn't even get there today? And how long was he planning to be gone? We were already three days behind schedule. It was a good thing I hadn't booked hotels. I preferred to be spontaneous and land where I may, in case something came up or we needed a day of rest. "Where are we going to sleep tonight?"

"The Grand Canyon." Cas looked at me with excitement sparkling in his brown eyes, and I melted. "Have you ever been?"

"No," I lied. It was only a half-lie. My parents had taken us when I was about seven. I barely remembered it, besides a few pictures.

"Me either. I hope you brought your hiking shoes."

I sighed. I liked seeing things, and taking pictures, and making memories, and sometimes hiking was a necessary evil. "Yeah, I brought them. So we're staying… at the Grand Canyon? We're not… camping, are we? Cause I didn't sign up for that."

"Ha. No. I'm not that much of a sadist. We're staying at Maswik Lodge. Inside the park. I thought waking up and having my morning coffee with a view of the sun rising over the canyon sounded pretty cool."

"It sounds expensive," I grumbled. So far Cas had paid for everything, but I'd spent years setting aside money for this trip, and I intended to pay my way.

"It's not, and I'm paying."

"You can't pay for everything, you know," I grumbled.

"I mean, I certainly can, but I know you won't let me and it's not worth the fight. But I am at least paying for the stops I added."

"Fine," I huffed, hiding a smile. I kind of liked Cas taking control. I also liked that he knew me so well. Sigh. He was total Daddy material, but I couldn't think about that right now.

"Where are we going after the Grand Canyon?" I wondered if he even knew. I'd had my schedule all written down, but even if he'd done that, he couldn't look at it while he was driving.

"Horseshoe Bend, of course. And then on to Farmington and Aztec. What was it you wanted to see there?"

"Aztec Ruins National Monument and Bitzi Badlands."

"Oh. Right."

"We should be able to make all three stops in one day and stay the night in Farmington before we move on to our Colorado stops."

"Stops?" I questioned. I'd only had one on my list. The Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction.

"Colorado Springs has a zoo on top of a mountain. You can feed the giraffes." He turned long enough to shoot me a blinding smile. "Thought it might be pretty cool."

"How long are we planning to be gone?" I asked. Every time I turned around it seemed Cas was adding a stop.

"As long as we're gone."

I sighed. My job was pretty accommodating, so I could do whatever from wherever if I needed to, and Cas… well, I wasn't sure what Cas did, but he didn't have a regular nine-to-five. "You could have told me about the extra stops ahead of time," I grumbled.

"When? When you were stomping around, refusing to talk to me?"

I had been a bit of a brat leading up to the trip. I regretted it, but there wasn't much I could do about it now. I wasn't even sure if it was going to stop. Cas seemed to bring out the brat in me.

"Fine, whatever," I huffed in response.

"I think you meant ‘thank you Daddy'."

My eyes went wide, my throat went dry. And suddenly we were back to that.

"We should probably use this time to talk about expectations," Cas said.

"Expectations?"

"Well, I'd call them rules, but that didn't go over so well last time."

"Oh." My cheeks heated. "Okay. What… ah… expectations do you have?"

"Well, number one, it's pretty all encompassing. You do what you're told. Whether it be drinking water, going to bed early so we can get an early start or whatever, you do what I say."

"Whatever you say? No exceptions? No guidelines on that?" I glared. "How do I know you won't abuse your power?"

Cas glanced over long enough for me to see him roll his eyes. "It's hard to set expectations when I don't know how things are going to go. But sure, we can put guidelines on it, if you want."

I considered. The only guidelines I could think of were to say that he couldn't use the rules to make me do anything sexual, but if he did… that would be kind of hot.

"No thanks. I'm good," I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest.

"The second rule is you stay with me. At all times. No going anywhere without my permission."

"Not anywhere? Not even the bathroom?" I was pushing, being obstinate, but I didn't expect him to say yes.

"Not even there. Not when we're outside the safety of our hotel room. Daddy needs to know where you are at all times. We are not doing a Vegas repeat."

My bottom burned at the mention of Vegas as if simply saying the word was enough to reignite the sting. I whimpered. "Do you have any ibuprofen?"

Cas narrowed his eyes, his expression worried. "You got a headache, babygirl?"

"No. My butt hurts."

"Oh." He laughed. "Yeah, sorry, babygirl. No pain relief for a sore bottom. The lingering pain is an important part of the punishment. Helps remind you to behave in the future."

"But I will," I whined. "I don't need to be in pain all day. That sucks. I'll remember to behave, I promise."

The truth was, there was a teeny tiny part of me that was already plotting how else to get in trouble, just to see what would happen. Nothing extreme, nothing crazy like Vegas had been, but just something to get us back in the place we had been post-punishment, before we'd been so rudely interrupted by dinner.

Cas didn't dignify my whining with a response. "Next rule," he grunted.

My stomach did a little flip at his deliciously dominant tone, and I rolled my eyes at my own ridiculousness. My ass was on fire. Why was I looking for ways to get in more trouble?

"Another rule?" I asked, secretly pleased.

"Last one for now. Your phone. It should be charged and on you at all times. I call, you answer. I text, you text back."

"Why would you call or text if I'm not supposed to be out of your sight?"

Cas growled. "I'm just making sure to cover all my bases, babygirl. You know what? You seem to have a little bit of an attitude on you this morning. Maybe we should have an exercise in submission right now."

Yes, please. I licked my lips. An exercise in submission? What did that mean? Would he ask me to give him road-head or pull over at a gas station and put a plug in my ass? Would he stuff his cock down my throat and fuck my face until I was begging for air?

As it turned out, I read too many dirty books, and the answer was nothing even half as exciting. As if he'd read my mind, and knew exactly where my brain had gone, Cas turned to me with a knowing smirk, and pointed at my water bottle. "Drink your water, babygirl. It's hot out there, and you need to stay hydrated."

Stunned, and a little bored out of my mind from the bland request, I blinked at him. Oh god, how I wanted to fight. But I knew this was not the hill to die on. So, with my eyes locked on his, I picked up my water bottle and downed about half of the liquid inside before popping the cap back on, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, and saying ‘yes, Daddy' with as much sweetness as I could possibly muster.

Cas looked honestly surprised that I'd obeyed. "That's Daddy's good girl."

The praise was worth it.