Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Walt

Unable to decide if he wanted to spank Susan for putting herself in danger, or praise her for being so brave, Walt kept his thoughts to himself while she untied the rope holding the pillow to his stomach.

Hell, maybe he’d do both. He could praise her now and hold off on the spanking until he had his emotions in order.

He should have been careful about what he wished for. Although he’d wanted to see her stand up for herself, he wasn’t sure pummeling someone into a bloody pulp was the way to go about it. Then again, he couldn’t exactly blame her when he’d wanted to do the same thing. Judging by the state of the asshole’s face, she had a lot of pent-up rage to get out of her system.

“Thanks,” he finally said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Yes, Sir.” She looked down and chewed on her lower lip as her swollen fingers tightened on the pillow. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Actually…” After a quick glance at the bruise forming on her face, he added, “Go to the nurse practitioner’s office for ice packs while I’m changing. It’ll save us a stop.”

“I…” She winced as he took the pillow from her reddened hands. “Yes, Sir.”

After changing, he hung his costume on its hanger, then grabbed hers and exited the restroom. Susan was already waiting with the ice packs and two disposable coffee cups with lids.

“Um… I got us some hot chocolate.”

“Thank you. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, Sir.” Keeping her head lowered, she followed him to the truck and didn’t protest when he lifted her into the passenger seat after stowing their costumes.

Before he could think of what he wanted to say, she asked, “Sir, are you mad at me?”

“Yes, but I also want to praise you for at least two days straight.”

“Are you mad because I wouldn’t say I was sorry?”

“No.” He got on the road, heading toward his farm in Happy Jack. “I’m mad because you put yourself in danger, but I’m also danged proud of you for what you did. Right now, I’m trying to decide if I can tell you what a good girl you are at the same time I spank your cute butt until you promise never to do something so risky ever again.”

Instead of being frightened by the threat of a spanking, she giggled, then sobered and glanced at him from under her lashes. “I honestly don’t know why I kept hitting him. I could have let Kate deal with him, but I… That little girl was so scared, and he just made me so mad…”

Her words trailed off and she took a sip of her cocoa. “I feel bad, but also good. Does that make sense?”

“It does.” Careful not to hurt her, he enfolded his hand around hers, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin. “You feel bad for hurting someone, but also good because he really, really deserved it, right?”

“Yes, Sir.” She finished her cocoa, then put her hand back where it belonged. “That’s exactly what I feel, and he deserved worse.”

“I’m very proud of you, sweetheart.” He stroked his thumb over her knuckles, careful not to hurt her. “I’m still mad because you scared me though.”

She nodded and played with the hem of her jacket. “I still won’t say I’m sorry for hitting him, but I am sorry for scaring you.”

“Thank you, Susan.” He reached over and took the ice packs from her lap. “You need to put this on your face before it swells much more, and then we’ll talk about your punishment.”

“Are you going to spank me, Sir?”

“Not unless you ask me to.” Walt smirked at her, thankful to receive a smile in return. “You hurt your hands, so you’re not getting the riding lesson I was going to give you this afternoon.”

“Oh, I?—”

He held up a hand to stop her before her obvious disappointment made him change his mind. “In fact, instead of doing all the fun things I had planned, you’re going to spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch with a dog in your lap doing absolutely nothing.”

Her brow wrinkled and she shook her head. “That doesn’t sound bad.”

For Susan, a woman who wasn’t known for sitting still, it would be torture. He smirked inwardly, pleased with himself for finding the perfect punishment that would fit the crime, and soothe his need to protect her—not that he still didn’t want to spank her.

Groaning inwardly, he surreptitiously adjusted himself in his jeans. Just the thought of taking Susan over his knee…

“You might think that now,” he replied as he tried to ignore his thickening cock. “Just wait for it.”

Susan

“Stop that, Mittens.” She scratched the large tabby under his chin and, with limited success, tried to move eighty pounds of fluffy golden retriever out of reach of the cat’s vindictive claws. “There’s plenty of room for Charlie.”

She loved Walt’s house, with its exposed beams holding up a cathedral ceiling, hardwood floors, and a rustic fireplace made of stone. The furniture was dark leather designed for comfort and strewn with blankets and pillows in warm shades of russet and brown. Framed art prints were arranged in elegant groupings, drawing her eye to the staircase leading to the bedrooms.

Bedrooms, as in plural. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed that she wouldn’t be sharing his.

There were even floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in an adjoining room, with an honest-to-goodness rolling ladder, and plenty of space for her small collection of romance novels amongst his mysteries and suspense thrillers.

Although they were enforcing Walt’s punishment, his pets were the perfect addition, and both were almost overly friendly. According to Walt, they’d never met a lap they didn’t like, even though Mittens took up more than his fair share of the space on her outstretched legs.

Unfortunately, after watching what seemed like all the Christmas cartoons ever made, snacks, and a wonderful supper of pot roast with fresh bread, she was bored out of her skull.

Forget corner time. Couch time was infinitely worse.

Walt refused to let her help with dinner or the dishes. In fact, he didn’t let her move at all, except to go to the bathroom. Being lazy was nice in small doses, but she fairly itched to do something.

Anything—as long as it didn’t include being buried under pets with ice still pressed to her face. She couldn’t even play a game on her phone because he kept putting fresh cold compresses on her hands every time she tried to move. Worse, he didn’t let her help set up the cute little Christmas tree. At least he took pity on her and didn’t decorate it by himself.

She hadn’t known enforced inactivity would be so awful, but it seemed he’d figured out exactly how to make her regret worrying him.

It was such a Daddy thing to do. Darned tricksy Doms. He’d learned well from the Horsemen.

Susan lifted her chin and tried not to pout. She’d sit still long enough to grow moss before she apologized for hitting Noah. Then again, Walt hadn’t asked her to, which made her respect him even more.

“How are we feeling?” He set a tray containing mugs of tea and two slices of cake on the table next to her.

“I’m fine. Can I get up yet?”

“Maybe tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.” He held up a fork. “Want some cake?”

Ooh, that wicked smirk…

“Ahh!” After tossing the ice to the side, she wriggled out from under Charlie and Mittens, then stood with her hands on her hips. “I want this over with, Walt. I’ve been sitting still for hours, and it’s not fair! Just spank me already!”

Of all the things she thought she’d never say, begging for a spanking had to be at the top of the list. Even thinking about corporal punishment should have terrified her. Except…

She was nervous, but not the slightest bit scared. Walt wouldn’t hurt her, and if she was honest with herself, she wanted to feel his hard hand on her backside again and replace her memories of undeserved abuse with something else.

Something like a loving spanking from a man she trusted, whose idea of punishment was making her sit still with a cat on her lap.

And maybe if he spanked her, she could get up the nerve to talk to him about being her Daddy for real, because she wanted more than just a weekend.

Most of all, she wanted to prove to herself that she was ready for a Daddy, and to do that, she needed Walt to redden her bottom.

“Are you sure?” Still smirking at her, he returned the tray to the kitchen and shooed Charlie and Mittens off the couch before sitting down. “Maybe you should have a nap.”

“No naps, and definitely no more sitting still. I want a spanking instead.”

“Well, if you insist…”

Without waiting for her to reply, or even unbutton her jeans, he wrapped a long arm around her waist and tipped her face down over his knee.

“Walt!”

He rested his hand on her upturned backside, then coughed and cleared his throat as his abdominal muscles quivered against her hip. “You were saying?”

“Are you…” She put her hands on his muscular thigh and lifted herself up to see the skin around his blue eyes crinkled with mirth. “Are you laughing at me?”

“A spanking is no laughing matter, young lady.” He pressed his lips together, then snorted. “I am certainly not laughing.”

“Ugh!” Susan climbed off his lap and tried her best not to return his grin. “What does a woman have to do to get spanked around here?”

“Bratting will usually do it.” His smile faded and he tugged her down to sit on his lap. “But I’m thinking you’ll have a hard time with that.”

“I can be a brat.” Instead of allowing herself to cuddle against his warm chest, she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. “See?”

To her disgust, he burst into laughter loud enough to startle Charlie and Mittens. After calming himself, he hugged her and kissed her temple. “God, you’re too adorable.”

“Grr.”

“Especially when you pout.” Still smiling, Walt caressed her cheek. “I do want to spank you, sweetheart.”

“Then why won’t you?”

“Susan, when I spank you, I want us both to enjoy it. I don’t ever want you to associate a spanking with punishment when there are much better ways to make you behave yourself.”

“Except you did spank me.”

Sort of. She flushed and wished she’d kept her mouth shut. He couldn’t know how much that one swat on her butt made her want more.

“I shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry. It was inexcusable because I didn’t ask for or receive your consent.” He stroked her back, his strong hands easing her tension. Chuckling softly, he added, “You chose violence when you watched someone harm a child. My hot button is listening to you put yourself down, but I’m going to do better for you.”

“You wouldn’t let me move for hours,” she muttered, still annoyed despite the warmth blossoming in her heart. “I’d rather have the spanking and get it over with.”

He laughed softly and kissed the tip of her nose. “And that is exactly why you didn’t get one.”

“So mean.”

“Yup.”

Although she didn’t much believe in God these days, she prayed once more for Walt to be her Daddy. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she’d find someone so…

Perfect.

Gathering every last scrap of her courage, she turned to straddle his lap and put her hands on his shoulders, then nipped his ear. He gasped and tightened his fingers on her hips as his hardening shaft prodded against her core. “Maybe we should find out how much you can make me enjoy your spankings… Daddy.”