Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Polly

I was pretty sure Cas was joking about spanking me with his belt. At least, I had been until we checked into the first hotel we came across, a roadside mess with outside doors, and a metal roof that looked like something out of a horror film. I couldn't fault him though. The rain was still coming down too hard to see, and Cas had been pretty much driving blind with a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel all the way here.

When we pulled up in front of our room for the night, I reached back to grab my things, and Cas shook his head. "They'll just get soaked. Let's get inside and see if the rain eases up."

I didn't bother pointing out that we had no dry clothes to change into and this wasn't exactly the type of place to have robes in the bathroom.

We ran for the door, using a keycard to unlock it and slammed it shut behind us, pressed up against the door as if to block the wind from pushing it open again.

Then our eyes met, and Cas' were dark and needy. "I swear to god, babygirl. If you ever do that again…"

"Do what, Daddy?" I blinked innocently, but I knew exactly what he meant. Cas brought out my inner brat.

His only response was a feral growl as he whipped my wet shirt over my head and pushed my soaking jeans down to the floor, ridding my body of both them and my boots with one hard tug as he pushed me backward onto the bed.

His clothes came off next, and he climbed on the bed, kneeling over me, as he covered my body with his. My lips parted, his hot breath warmed my cheek, and butterflies filled my tummy as my pussy became as drenched as the rest of me.

I pushed my legs open, a clear invitation, and ran my hands over his shoulders, around his front, across his abs, and down, until my fingers were centimeters from his hard cock. I could almost taste him, that's how horny and ready I was.

And the next thing I knew, his hands were gripping my waist and I was flying through the air, landing face down across his wet, naked thighs.

"Aaahhh!" I screeched, immediately throwing my hands back to cover myself. My reaction was instinctual.

Cas just pushed them out of the way and held them tightly to the center of his back in one of his as he brought his hard hand down across my dewy damp skin.

The books were right. Spankings did hurt worse on a wet bottom. "Daddy!" I shrieked, attempting escape.

Cas scissored my legs between his, holding me tightly in place as he brought his hand down again and again. There was nowhere for me to go.

"Daddy," I cried. "Whhhyyy?" I was pretty sure I knew, but I thought if by some miracle he didn't remember, maybe the punishing blows would stop, or at least let up while he thought about it.

They didn't.

Instead they fell relentlessly and in case I had any qualms about how I'd ended up in my current position, Cas began to lecture. "Little girl, you do not, ever, put yourself in danger. You do not, ever, jump a safety guard on the edge of a cliff to get a better picture. Especially not in a storm. A picture of a fucking storm cloud is not worth your life."

I probably should have agreed with him. That would have been smart. Apparently smart is something I'm not.

"Pfft," I said instead. "The guard rail was more like a suggestion, or like, there for children. It's nearly a whole-ass football field away from the edge."

"A football field is three hundred and sixty feet," Cas responded. "The guard rail to the cliff was ten at best."

"Same thing," I muttered. "I'm not an idiot, and I wasn't in any danger."

I braced myself for a fresh volley of smacks. Instead, I found myself sliding off his lap and being deposited face first down on the thin, pilled bed covers, while Cas rustled around behind me.

Shock whooshed the breath from my lungs as I looked over my shoulder to see Cas pulling his worn leather belt free of the loops of his discarded jeans.

Eep!

Without Cas' hold on me, I was free to get away, and I quickly rolled onto my back, staring up at him with wide eyes, just as he freed the belt, doubled it over in his hands, and whipped it through the air.

He wasn't close enough to hit, just… testing it out apparently? It made a whizzing sound as it cut through the air.

"Daddy," I whimpered.

"Daddy told you what was going to happen, babygirl."

"B-but…" I blinked up at him and puffed out my lip as tears filled my eyes. I wasn't afraid of him, but I wasn't going to make it easy for him either.

"Roll over," Cas commanded. His eyes were dark. His voice was hard and brooked no argument. My resolve withered and my stomach clenched as I slowly turned over.

I clenched my bottom tight—I couldn't help myself.

"You aren't supposed to run off from me, babygirl. We made that a rule on day one." The atmosphere in the room shifted as Cas stepped closer. "And you definitely aren't supposed to do it on a mountain in a storm."

He stepped closer still and his bare legs brushed up against the backs of my knees. "You don't understand, babygirl, how dangerous and deadly storms like that can be." His rough knuckles dragged against my sit-spots.

Guilt filled me because I did know. It hadn't been a storm that took my parents, but nobody understood better than me how quickly an unexpected moment could change your whole life. I sucked in a ragged breath and tried to push past the pain. It wasn't physical pain—Cas hadn't started spanking yet—it was the emotional pain that always came when I tried to process my parents' death and the turmoil it had caused in my life.

Maybe Cas knew what I was thinking, maybe he didn't, but the leather lashing across my skin was a welcome distraction. For a moment. Until the pain hit. White-hot and blinding, it cut through my memories. I reared up, and threw my hands back, knowing even as I did it that the act would be futile. Cas would make me take it, and not only would I eventually get there, but there was a part of me that craved his control—that wanted him to hold me down and force me to take the punishment I knew I'd earned.

Of course that was exactly what he did, but not with physical force. Cas held me captive with his words. "Stay, babygirl. You move and that belt is gonna catch you across your thighs next. I promise you it won't be pleasant."

I let out a strangled cry, pretty sure it couldn't get worse, but not willing to test the theory. The spanking, I knew, was justified, but it didn't feel fair.

"Nothing was going to happen," I whined, just because I could. Maybe I wanted to hear something more. Maybe I was fighting him because I knew our time was coming to an end, far too early. Maybe I was fighting him because I hated the unknowns of what might happen next.

These were things we would have had to face eventually; I just hadn't expected to be dealing with them so soon. And yeah, I was scared and acting out. Was it mature of me? Of course not. Could I help myself? Also no.

And maybe Cas knew what I was doing; he seemed too smart not to, but he answered as if he didn't. "I didn't realize you were psychic, babygirl, and knew there was no danger."

I'd have scoffed at his sarcasm, but the belt lashed across the fleshiest part of my bottom, and Cas held me in place with one hand in the center of my back.

He bent down until our bodies were almost touching and whispered in my ear. "You've been a very, very bad girl, Polly. Now be a good girl and take your punishment. Or at least, the first part of it…"

His lingering threat closed my throat as I wondered what he could mean. My brain thought about the things he'd bought in Las Vegas and how he'd threatened me with forced baby time. Was that what he meant, or was he just going to use a different implement once he was done with the belt? All our stuff was still in the car, and judging by the noise level, the storm still hadn't died down.

I didn't have time to ponder too hard before he straightened, and the belt striped my skin once more.

"Mmmmfff!" I cried, shoving my fist in my mouth. The rain was muffling noise and seemed like all anyone would be able to hear, but I was pretty sure this hotel didn't have the thickest walls.

Again, the belt lashed. The pain was intense and delicious and awful all at once. My pussy wept in hopeful anticipation of what would follow.

"You need to stay with Daddy, babygirl. You do not run off, and you do not jump guardrails."

"Yes, Daddy," My agreement came on the end of a deep sigh that turned to a screech when the leather whipped across my sit-spots.

It suddenly felt like a real punishment and the guilt I'd felt earlier came rushing back as the belt hit my sit-spots again and again.

"I'm sorrryyy, Daddy!" I cried.

The belt stopped. Cas rubbed my lower back, then my aching bottom. "Ten more, baby."

A low whimper escaped my lips as the throbbing between my legs returned. This definitely felt like a punishment, but also didn't. I was really hoping for relief later, and really anxious to see what his vague threat earlier had been about.

I knew better than to ask or to say any of that right now, though.

"Count them, baby."

He moved his aim back to the center of my ass, the fleshiest part, and I did as I was told.

"One!"

Counting made it worse–the pain, the anticipation, even the humiliation, and certainly the aching of my pussy.

"Two!" I cried when the fire striped my butt again.

"Good girl, baby. Let this remind you not to run from Daddy in the future. You stay by Daddy's side and be a good girl, okay?" He didn't give me a chance to answer before laying down another stripe.

"Three! Yes, Daddy!" I didn't say that I wouldn't have a chance to run off or even call him Daddy after tomorrow. Neither of us did. That particular reality was too painful and neither of us knew quite how to deal with it. But it was there in the room with us, in the air between us. I could feel it with every breath I took. I welcomed the pain because for a split second, it could make me forget.

Cas must have felt the same way, because the fourth and fifth strokes were delivered swiftly and close together.

It was getting harder to stay in place, so I wiggled my ass at him and reveled in his answering chuckle.

"Careful, babygirl, you have to take the end of your spanking first."

"But whhhyyy, Daddy?"

Cas didn't answer, but the question was rhetorical anyway and as the leather flew toward its target, the hotel room door burst open, the cool air bringing a chill across my hot bottom.

I assumed it was the storm, and the worn-down hotel not quite being strong enough to hold up. Still, I didn't want to moon anyone who happened to be brave enough to be out in this weather, so I quickly gasped and rolled onto my back until Cas could shut the door.

What I saw instead of the wind threatening to pull an old door off its hinges was… my brother. Jared stood in the doorway, soaking wet, with his arms folded over his chest.

Chaos ensued. I screamed and tried to wrap my naked self up in the blanket. Cas moved in front of me to shield me from Jared's view, and practically threw the belt across the room.

I screamed again, and once I was covered, pulled myself to standing and flattened my body against the wall, while Cas advanced on Jared with one hand up in the air in front of him and the other clutching a pillow in front of his junk.

"Listen, bro… it's not… uh… it's not what it looks like."

Cas was nervous, I could tell. He didn't sound like himself.

Maybe I should try to explain. Woman up and pull up my big girl panties. Deal with my brother head on. Intent on doing just that, I licked my lower lip and took a step toward the center of the room.

Cas did the same thing, and started again. "I was just… we were… its just… see it's like…"

Fuck. He was really struggling.

Taking three giant steps, I walked up to my brother, looked him straight in the eye, got ready to speak my truth and what I hoped was also Cas' and realized something.

Jared didn't look angry. His face wasn't red. His hands were not in fists at his side. The vein in his forehead wasn't throbbing the way it did when work stressed him out. In fact, he was just standing there, smirking.

I cocked my head, trying to figure out what to make of it when Cas interjected again no more eloquent than he had sounded before. "Jared, man… it's not… what it looks like."

I rolled my eyes. My brother had the same reaction.

"Really, Cas? It's not? It's not what it looks like? ‘Cause it looks like you finally pulled your head out of your ass, and gave my bratty sister the discipline she's been needing for the last eight years, subsequently realizing that you guys were fucking made for each other and have had a serious ‘thou doth protest too much, enemies to lovers' vibe going on for the past three."

Cas and I stared at each other, wide-eyed and open-mouthed while Jared continued.

"So is that not what it is? Because I'm telling you right now, if it's anything else, like some sort of convenient vacation fling, then and only then, are you and I going to have a problem."

I stared at Jared, blinking rapidly, trying to make sense of the words coming out of his mouth and the things that had happened. There was something niggling at my brain, but I couldn't make it connect, couldn't make sense of it. "I… you… you're not mad?"

My brother widened his stance and uncrossed his arms, staring pointedly at Cas. "Depends. Which thing is it? The first, or the second?"

Cas took a step forward, and gulped. His face was flushed, and he looked like he was in shock. To be fair, I was pretty sure we both were. "The first… it's the first."

"Okay, then. Good." Jared visibly relaxed. "I started to feel bad and thought I needed to come check on you guys, just in case my intuition had been wrong because, let's face it, I'm far better with numbers than people."

What the what? What was happening? It sounded like Jared was saying…

"Jared?" I sunk down on the sheet covered mattress, feeling like my legs could no longer hold me up. I shook my head, trying to clear the muddled mess of confusing thoughts running through it. They raced through one after another. I caught one and latched on. "How did you get here? I thought you were going to fly into Denver and meet us in Colorado Springs tomorrow. How did you even know where we were? Which room?"

"It's like a five-hour drive. I'd be stupid to fly. I thought about it, but the more I did, the more I just wanted to get here so I hopped in my car and hit the road. I wasn't expecting to catch a storm the last thirty minutes or so, but…" He shrugged.

"But how did you know where we were?"

"Location. Polly, I've been tracking your location for eight years. FYI… I still get updates on your Amazon and online history too. Well, I mean… I was. I shut that off a few years back, but only after I noticed a similarity between your reading material of choice and Cas'... shall we say… preferences?"

Oh my god. The violation hit me hard, my gut sinking to my feet. But it wasn't really a violation at all. I'd been a child, and his sole responsibility. After the loss we'd experienced, overprotectiveness made perfect sense, and I certainly couldn't fault him for it. But that meant he knew a lot more about me than I would have wanted him too, even if he turned it off the second I turned eighteen.

As if he were also stunned by Jared's words, Cas sunk onto the mattress beside me, still holding a pillow to cover his junk. Only then did I realize the error in our earlier plan. We had no dry clothes to put on to go out to the truck to get our clothes.

Knowing this was going to take a serious conversation and some hardcore truth telling and negotiating, I sighed. "Jared, we left our clothes in the truck. Could you get our suitcases, so we can get dressed?"

I stood and crossed the room, peeking out the window to find that the rain had died to a drizzle, and the skies were clearing. The storm was over. Outside at least. The one in this room felt like it was just beginning.

My stomach growled. Nerves or hunger, I didn't really know. "Then maybe we can find a nearby diner, and we can get some food in our stomachs while we all talk this out, because I have a feeling there's something you're still not telling us."

Jared sighed deeply, raised his eyebrows and with a terse nod, grabbed Cas' truck keys from the dresser and pulled the door open, returning several minutes later with Cas' duffel and my hard plastic suitcase. He set them just inside the door. "There's hot coffee in the hotel office. I'm gonna go warm up. Meet me there when you guys are ready."

The door closed behind him, and Cas and I were alone once again. My heart was pounding, my stomach was churning, and I felt like I was going to throw up, but I stood and started rummaging through my suitcase. For some reason, I couldn't even look at Cas. His answer, and Jared's implications, had shocked me, though I didn't know why. Cas said it wasn't just a fling. That was what I wanted, and even what we'd talked about, so why was I so surprised?

Grabbing my favorite sweatshirt and a pair of leggings along with a fresh bra and panties, I headed toward the bathroom to change.

I didn't make it more than a couple steps before Cas came up behind me, grabbed my shoulders and pulled my naked body against his, before laying a soft kiss on the curve of my neck.

"Babygirl. Stop."

"What? Why?" I shook him off. "I need to get dressed. Jared is waiting."

"Jared can wait. We were in the middle of something, babygirl."

His hard silky cock pressed against my bottom and for the first time since the interruption, my ass twinged with pain. My adrenaline levels were dropping.

"I…uh…" Did he mean to continue? I was sure I couldn't get back in the headspace. "I'm fine. It's okay."

Cas turned my body so I was facing him and cupped my chin. "You may be fine, but I am not okay. I don't know what's going to happen when we sit down with Jared, and my last memory of us together will not be your brother breaking in and interrupting us mid-spanking."

"I… oh…" It didn't feel like the last time to me. I didn't think that was what Jared was going to say, but I was often wrong. My brother could be awkward and hard to read.

Cas took my hand and led me across the room where he sat down on the bed, grabbed the discarded belt and patted his naked thighs. "Come here, baby."

I obeyed as if in a trance, the events of the last ten minutes felt surreal as if they'd been a nightmare I'd conjured in my head. Dropping across his lap, I stretched out. I didn't want—shouldn't want—to finish a spanking that had really hurt, but there was a part of me that craved the absolution that would come with the ending, and a larger part of me that needed Cas' touch.

"Where… What number were we on?" I asked thickly.

"You have five more to go, babygirl." Cas' touch across the curve of my bottom and lower back was gentle, almost reverent.

"Yes, Daddy." I sighed, hoping it wasn't the last time I got to call him that.

"Five more."

The belt still hurt, but being across his lap instead of bent over the bed, with the belt looped short like a strap in his hands, made the pain different. It still hurt, and the emotions coming with each lash across my skin were heavy and confusing. They fell slowly with nearly a minute between them while his free hand danced over my tender skin. My ass, the curve and inside of my thighs, the outside of my pussy lips. I pushed my legs together then tore them open again, needy for him. Every time I was about to beg for his fingers inside me, he'd bring the belt down again.

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, in a delicate dance between two people who didn't know what the future held.

When he was finished, I tried to force my way off his lap, but it was as if I was held in place by an invisible force. I couldn't move, didn't want it to end.

Apparently, neither did Cas. He forced my thighs apart, and dove in, at first with soft teasing touches, that soon became more insistent, until he was fucking me with his fingers. Harder, deeper, faster. But I didn't want his fingers.

"Daddy," I whimpered. "Take me. Make me yours."

"Oh, babygirl, you are mine. All mine."

Standing while cradling me in his arms, Cas moved, laying me down in the center of the mattress. I thought he would stay, but he got up and rummaged through his duffel. For a condom maybe?

I scrunched my eyes shut, trying not to think, and when I opened them, Cas was leaning over me, his erect cock sheathed in a condom and the vibrator he'd purchased in Vegas in his hand.

"Baby… I want to make you mine. I want to fill all your holes. I want to fuck you so hard and own you so completely that there can be no question where we go from here, no matter what your brother says. If you don't want that, baby, tell me now."

All my holes? Did that mean… My stomach flipped and twisted, and my eyes locked on his. I bit my lip and nodded. "Yes, Daddy. That's what I want too."

"Good girl."

Before I could even allow another question to slip through my brain, Cas was lifting my legs onto his shoulders, pressing the cool silicone against my pussy, and his cockhead against my tight entrance.

"Daddy!" I gasped.

"I want to fuck this tight little ass, babygirl. I want to claim it as mine, and I want you to go to dinner with the memory of my cock in your bottom."

God. Cas was good at dirty talk. "Yes, Daddy," I squeaked.

The vibrator buzzed to life as it filled me, the bunny ears pressing against my clit. I instantly tensed, close to the edge before we'd even begun.

From somewhere on the bed beside him, he produced a bottle of lube, and slathered it against my tight hole, breaching me with his fingers. I was shaking with anticipation of what was to come. I'd had his fingers inside me, and a plug, but for the first time Daddy was going to fuck my tight virgin ass, claiming me as his, and I wanted it so badly I could hardly breathe.

The vibrator continued to assault my little bundle of nerves, and Cas gently eased his cockhead between my cheeks, pressing against my hole.

"Daddy," I whimpered. "Take me. Make me yours."

"Oh, babygirl. You already are mine," Cas said, entering me with one swift thrust and a burst of deliciously demeaning pain. His eyes locked on mine, and I swear I melted into a subby pile of goo right there.

"Yours," I whispered. Because in that moment, no matter what happened later, outside this room, it was true. Cas Duncan was my Daddy and he owned me heart, body and soul.

He continued to thrust, claiming me, whispering sweet nothings and possessive declarations with each thrust, alternating between adorable mush and delicious possession.

"Daddy's sweet girl. Mine, babygirl, forever. You be a good girl for Daddy, and never run off again. I'll take this tight little ass every time."

I was an actual pile of wonder and goo by the time he flipped me over, sandwiching the vibrator between me and the mattress, and came in my ass.

I couldn't form a coherent thought until Cas collapsed, spent, his naked chest against my back, his cock softening until it fell from between my cheeks.

"Oh god," I panted.

"God." His strangled gasp matched mine.

We laid there for a few minutes, our hearts beating as one as we tried to regain control of our bodies. Finally, he rolled to the side and caressed my cheek. "I love you, babygirl. And I don't know what's going to happen, I don't know what your brother meant, or what he's going to say, but I know this. That's not changing."

I nodded, squeezing my eyes shut. "What if…?"

My brain raced with worst-case scenarios, but I couldn't bring myself to say them out loud.

"I'll fight him. I'll move out. I'll do whatever it takes."

I didn't think it would come to that. I prayed it didn't. I couldn't let either of those things happen.

My eyes filled with tears as I forced myself to nod. Cas and I lay there staring at each other, too caught up in the what ifs to get moving.

I was about to say we needed to get dressed when there was a pounding on the door to our room, and Jared's voice cut through the silence.

"What's taking you two so long? I'm starving, and it looks like it might rain again."

Cas and I both jumped into action. A quick rinse-off shower, fresh clothes, dry hair, and eleven minutes later we gave each other one last longing look, squared our shoulders and walked to the office, ready for the meal that could very well change the course of our lives.

Correction: It would change the course of our lives. The question was, would they be changed for better, or for worse?