Chapter 21

Riley

When I came out of the bath that afternoon, Maxim had already come home. I found him standing in the kitchen, drinking a glass of vodka. His expression was unreadable and that made my tummy clench tight in sudden nervousness.

Had he somehow found out who I was? I told myself that wasn't possible. Ada hadn't even known when we'd gone out dress shopping together, so the chances were slim.

But not zero…

"Hey," I ventured, trying to hide the nervous tell in my voice that always came out when I was anxious.

"Hey there, Riley-girl," he answered softly. He sipped at his vodka and lifted his gaze to meet mine. It was heated and that was enough to make me blush just a little bit. He put down his glass and crossed the room until he was standing in front of me.

With his body so close, I felt so small and dainty. Tentatively, I reached for his hand, and he quickly ensnared mine with his.

I gazed up at him, his blue eyes searching mine. He brought a hand up to cup my face, his thumb brushing my cheekbone.

His gaze darkened, his touch possessive.

"You and I have something to discuss, little girl," he warned, and I started, taking a step back, but then his hand whipped around and wrapped around the back of my neck, pulling me back to him.

He tilted my chin up and lowered his head so that his lips were only a whisper away from mine. I could practically taste the alcohol on his tongue.

My pulse skyrocketed.

"What's that?" I replied, trying to keep my voice steady so I didn't give away just how nervous I was right now.

"Did you lie to me, Riley?" he asked.

"I don't know what you mean," I ventured, dropping my gaze from his to the floor. I couldn't meet his eyes. Guilt spread from my core and swirled up, blanketing me in it like a terrible winter storm.

Maxim didn't say anything for a long moment, and the silence stretched out between us until it was tangible. My skin prickled and the urge to flee was nearly overpowering, but instead, I forced myself to stay.

"I'm going to ask you a second time and I want you to think carefully, little girl. Whether or not you're truthful with Daddy is going to be very important tonight," he continued, and my heart practically palpitated right out of my chest.

I swallowed hard, and I could hear the sound of it echo in the suddenly silent room.

My stomach was a bundle of nerves.

What if it wasn't what I thought? What if I admitted to lying to him about my identity and he had something else over my head and I would get in even more trouble than I already was? I had to figure out what he knew first.

So I didn't come clean.

At least, not yet.

"No," I replied softly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's unfortunate," he said. His expression turned dark. "Because if you did lie to Daddy, there's going to be a lot of trouble in store for you tonight."

My nerves nearly imploded.

"I didn't lie—" I began, but he quickly cleared his throat and cut me off.

"Don't lie to me for a second time, moya malyshka."

The firm tone of his voice set me on edge. The deep rumble was enough to roll down my spine and settle in my stomach. I was certain he knew something now. There was no getting around it.

I swallowed hard and dropped my eyes back to the floor, trying to stay focused anywhere else, as if not looking at him would somehow save me even though I knew it wouldn't.

"Yes, Daddy," I replied, my voice soft.

"Now, Daddy gave you a chance to tell him the truth and you refused to, little girl, so I want you to remember that when I punish you tonight."

Punish?

This was definitely not good.

"Wait, Daddy, please," I tried, and he shook his head. I shivered.

Maxim's fingers tightened around the nape of my neck, and he pulled me toward him, his mouth claiming mine. The kiss was deep and intense, and I moaned against his lips. Wanting to try to distract him from whatever was on his mind, I pressed my body up against his.

He was hard.

Very hard.

I reached a hand down and cupped his cock through his jeans, caressing him through the thick denim fabric. His gaze held mine as I stroked him up and down, but he didn't say anything. He remained stock still and lifted a single eyebrow in my direction.

I bit my lip.

Fuck.

This wasn't working. I tried harder. This time, I pressed my lips against his and moaned his name. He kissed me back with just as much fervor, but there was something holding him back and I had a deep sickening feeling that I knew what it was.

With a hard swallow, I pulled back and stared into the darkness of his eyes.

"What's your real name?" he asked, his tone brokering no argument.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I opened my mouth.

So, he did know.

Then I closed it.

And then I opened it again. It was like I'd lost the ability to speak. The words were caught in my throat and my tongue felt dry as cotton.

"Little girl, I'm warning you," he said, and my belly did the thing where it flip-flopped and nearly somersaulted right out of me.

"Please," I whimpered, but that didn't stop him.

"Answer the question," he said, and it wasn't a suggestion.

It was an order.

I licked my lips, trying to think of anything and everything to stall whatever this was, but nothing came to mind.

Finally, I opened my mouth and told him what he wanted to hear.

"My name is Riley," I began.

"Little girl," he warned, his tone even firmer than I thought possible, and my ass clenched knowingly.

"Riley… Murphy," I finally continued and for a moment, it was dead quiet between us.

"Not Riley O'Brien," he ventured, cocking his head as his hand squeezed a bit tighter on the back of my neck. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't escape his grip and it was getting even tighter.

"No," I answered, and then I dragged my lower lip between my teeth. Every inch of my body was showing how incredibly nervous I was now. My pulse pounded in my ears, and it was so deafeningly loud that it was difficult to draw in my next breath.

For a long moment, Maxim said nothing, and then, all of a sudden, he released his grip.

"The Murphys called me to a family meeting today. To say that I was surprised that they knew that my future wife was their cousin when I did not is an understatement," he scolded.

"They… told you?" I stammered, and he nodded.

It was then that I noticed that he had a manila folder right beside him. He grabbed both it and my wrist, dragging me to the kitchen table where he tossed it down.

"Look," he demanded.

I reached for the file and flipped it open, holding my breath the entire time.

I glanced down at the papers. It was all there. Everything. All of my juvenile records were present, and the fact that I was a Murphy was front and center.

"You lied to me, Riley. You had every chance in the world to come clean to me, yet you didn't. You chose to keep me in the dark," he continued and with every word, I felt smaller and smaller.

He was right. I had had plenty of opportunities to come clean to him, but I hadn't.

"But… Daddy…" I began, and he shook his head. Immediately, whatever I was about to say died on my tongue.

"So, tonight, you and I are going to have a very long discussion about what happens to little girls who lie to their daddies instead of the sweet movie date I had planned," he warned, and I took a step back.

My stomach nearly leapt out of my throat.

"Can't we just skip all that and go right to the movie instead?" I tried and he shook his head, the movement slow and steady and definitive.

"I will happily watch a movie with you tonight, but I have a feeling that I'm going to need to put you to bed a very sore and very sorry little girl by the time I'm through with you," he answered, and my mouth went dry.

My ass clenched at the same time.

"I didn't mean to lie," I said, chewing the inside of my cheek.

He raised a single brow and my face instantly heated. It was like he could read my mind and that made me even more nervous than I was already.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Then, after, it became too difficult to tell the truth.

"Okay, so maybe I did, but I just… Daddy, please, can we not talk about this and instead talk about something else? We could watch that movie, or do something else… anything else," I pleaded.

I was rambling and I knew it, but the words were flowing from my lips before I could stop them.

Maxim just shook his head.

"No. We can't do that."

My tummy clenched in anticipation.

"Yes, we can. I promise," I tried, but he shook his head again, the movement firm and unyielding.

"Not this time. Now, tell Daddy why you lied to him about who you really are," he answered.

"I-I wasn't sure I could trust you yet," I stammered.

"Do you trust Daddy now, little girl?" he asked, his eyes holding mine, the warmth in them unmistakable.

"Yes, Daddy," I whispered.

"Then why keep this from Daddy for so long, baby girl?"

"I don't know," I muttered, feeling guiltier by the second.

In that moment, the fact that I was going to be punished tonight became crystal clear. I took another step back, wanting to flee, but also knowing that there was nowhere to go even if the opportunity presented itself.

"No running, baby girl," he chided, and I looked at the floor again before glancing back at his tall ominous form.

"I don't want a spanking," I said, my voice sounding as small as I felt.

"Come here, Riley-girl," he coaxed.

He reached his hand out toward me, and I instinctively reached back, slipping my palm into his. He wrapped his palm around mine, squeezing tight, and I shivered, a little tremble moving straight through me.

He pulled me toward him, and I instinctively knew that the moment had come.

"Daddy…" I tried one last time, but he didn't relent. Instead, he just shook his head again.

"I know you're scared, but trust me, Riley. It's going to be okay. I promise you," he said softly and even though I was afraid, my nerves seemed to lessen in that moment. He wrapped his arms around me, and I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of his warm security all around me.

He held me, cradling me against his chest as we just stood there together. He was warm and the steady cadence in his heartbeat was soothing. Then, finally, he cleared his throat.

"It's time, moya malyshka," he said firmly, and I nodded against him. "Now, I want you to strip. You're going to be fully bare when Daddy punishes you."

With a heavy heart, I reluctantly pulled away and glanced up at him one last time, my eyes pleading. He just stared at me, and I knew the moment had finally come.

Slowly, I began to undress, pulling off my clothing piece by piece. I began with my shirt, slowly tugging it up and over my head before I tossed it aside on one of the kitchen chairs. I elected to take my jeans down next, unbuttoning them and yanking my zipper down in a nervous rush before I pushed them down past my thighs. I kicked them off, nervously glancing his way almost to ask if this was enough while also knowing it wasn't.

When Maxim didn't respond, I hooked my thumbs into the waistband of my underwear.

I had chosen a pair of pink ones for tonight, and they were quite pretty.

Slowly, I peeled the satin down my legs and let them fall to the floor. Then I reached behind my back and quickly unclasped my matching bra. The cups fell away from my body as I bowed forward, and I shivered hard.

My nipples were already stiffening into tight little buds and the cool air made them even tighter.

I stood up, tossing my bra onto the pile on the chair and then straightened my shoulders, taking a deep breath as I tried to steel my nerves.

It was difficult.

I was shaking, and the worst part was that I didn't know if I was trembling from fear or excitement, or maybe a bit of both.

My thighs brushed against one another, and I blanched when I realized that I was wet.

A whole lot wet…

"Come here, malyshka," Maxim commanded, and I obeyed, slowly padding toward him. When I was in front of him, I stopped and waited.

"Good girl," he praised. His praise made my heart leap in my chest. "Now, go and bend over the table."

I did as he instructed, placing my palms down flat on the wooden table, leaning forward and putting myself on display for him. My pussy was bare, and I was so exposed that I could feel the air against my sensitive skin.

My thighs pressed together, trying to hide myself from his probing gaze even though I knew it did no good. I heard him move around the kitchen and I jumped a little. Turning my head to watch him, I nearly whimpered out loud at what I saw.

He was rummaging through the kitchen drawers. When he pulled out a heavy duty looking wooden spoon, I blanched.

That thing looked really scary.

"Daddy…" I began, but he shushed me.

"Don't worry, malyshka," he purred. "Everything will be alright. Daddy is going to punish you and then it will all be over with, once and for all."

I nodded, trying not to let my emotions get the best of me. He walked over to me and ran a hand over my naked bottom. I shuddered at his fiery touch.

"Spread your legs," he commanded, and I swallowed hard, doing exactly what he told me. As the cool air wafted between my thighs, I shivered. His fingertips grazed against my outer thigh, then under the lower curve of my bottom to the slickness between my legs.

"You're awfully wet, Riley-girl," he observed out loud, and I blushed hard.

"I'm not—" I answered but he clicked his tongue in warning.

"By the time I'm through with this naughty little ass tonight, you're never going to lie to me again."

My backside tensed and I pushed up on the table, but his hand settled in the middle of my back. Gently, he pressed me back into place and I hummed nervously.

Without another word, he placed the wooden spoon down in front of my face before he pressed the flat of his hand on my left bottom cheek.

I stared at that spoon and gulped.

"Please, Daddy," I pleaded, feeling the need to beg before he started, even though I knew it was going to accomplish nothing.

He didn't answer me. Instead, his hand lifted from my left cheek, and then it came down hard. My back arched instinctively, and I yelped, the sting spreading over my backside like wildfire.

Then his hand rose again.

This time, he smacked my right cheek. It hurt, but I knew this was only the start. My ass was going to sting a whole lot more before he was finished with me.

The first few blows were hard and fast. The ones that followed those were even fiercer. His hand scalded my bare cheeks, smacking from the tops of my cheeks all the way down to the middle of my thighs. He spanked me hard, his palm burning into me as if molten lava had singed my flesh. The sensation was relentless, a fierce and unforgiving assault that radiated outward, leaving me breathless and trembling.

And still, he didn't slow down.

He thoroughly thrashed my backside. I tried to stay quiet, but it was nearly impossible from the very start.

When he spanked me hard enough to leave my ass feeling like it had caught fire, I couldn't help it. I cried out, a long, agonizing sound, but that didn't stop him.

Instead, he just spanked me harder and it wasn't until my eyes watered and my cries grew desperate that he paused for even a single moment.

I used it to catch my breath.

He used it to pick up the wooden spoon.

In an instant, I was begging him for mercy.

"No, Daddy, please! Please don't spank me with that! Please, I'm so sorry," I whimpered, my voice thick with desperation.

"You were a naughty girl, and naughty girls get spanked very hard," he warned and that was the only warning I received before the spoon came down.

I had thought his hand had stung.

His belt had been bad too.

The wooden spoon was so much worse.

It smacked against the bare skin of my bottom with a sharp sting, and I yelped, jumping up onto the tips of my toes. The bite was sharper than I expected, and he wasn't even using all of his strength yet.

But then, the next smack came, and it was twice as hard.

My toes curled against the kitchen tile as I tried to hold in the sound of my cries. I told myself that I would take this as gracefully as I could, that I deserved this spanking for keeping my true identity from him, but I knew I could only take a few more at best.

"Daddy," I whimpered, and he answered with a smack of the wooden spoon against the lower curve of my right bottom cheek and then he did the same to the opposite side. I screeched and stepped from foot to foot, the sting far more than I thought I could take, yet I took it anyway.

He spanked me hard and fast, the sting becoming sharper with each swat. I couldn't even count the number of blows that came down across my bottom, but it didn't matter.

Soon enough, the entire world centered on my bare ass and that awful wooden spoon. I sputtered one apology after the next. I vowed to be his good girl and to never lie again. Eventually, words became too difficult to manage and the only thing left was the terrible sting of that heavy wooden spoon.

I cried out.

I whimpered.

I screamed.

The wooden spoon kept falling and my eyes watered. I tried to blink back tears, but that only worked for so long until one escaped and slipped down my cheek. Another followed and then another until I was openly sobbing and still the spoon continued to punish me.

Then he placed the curved backside of the spoon against my pussy, and I panicked.

"Daddy, please! Not there. Please, not there!"

He didn't listen to a single word I said.

Without a word, he smacked the spoon between my thighs and the sting was instant. My vision went white with exquisite agony, and I keened.

Oh, God.

Quickly, he snapped the wooden implement between my thighs once again. This time, the sting was fiercer, harsher, and I sobbed.

He smacked between my legs several more times and that made me cry even harder.

By the time he finally put down the horrid thing, I was one very, very sorry little girl.

For several long moments, I wasn't capable of words. I simply wept until the sting began to lessen. Eventually, I sniffled and lifted my head.

"I'm so sorry, Daddy," I whimpered. "I won't ever lie to you again, I promise."

"Shh," he soothed, gathering me in his arms. His hands ran up and down my back and over the curve of my punished bottom. He held me like that, rocking me back and forth as the burn continued to sear through me. When my sniffles had quieted, he pressed his lips to the side of my head and kissed me gently.

"Bend back over the table, little girl. It's time Daddy dealt with that naughty little asshole of yours," he dictated, and my heart skipped a beat.

Fuck.

My mouth dropped open and I wanted to protest, but he didn't give me the chance.

Instead, he gently lifted me off his lap and put me on my feet. Then, he placed his hands on my shoulders and nudged me forward, guiding me back into position. The moment my palms brushed against the table, I started to tremble just the slightest bit, but when his hand brushed against my lower back, I felt my body relax, his touch a small comfort.

Then he pulled his hand away, rounded the table, grabbed something off the counter and sat down in the seat opposite to me. With a heavy swallow, I watched him pull several items out of the bag, one of them being a knife and the other being a chunk of ginger.

"Daddy?" I asked, gazing back at him with a bit of confusion. Was he going to cook dinner for me? Why did he need so much ginger?

He didn't say anything at first. Instead, he grabbed the knife and the piece of ginger and began to peel off the outside layer. I watched the knife carve along the surface, my confusion growing as he carved it into a point. It wasn't long before the scent of it filled the kitchen, sharp and spicy and almost like cloves.

Gradually, he carved the root down to a long, rounded shape with a bulbous end. It soon became clear what he was doing.

Oh, fuck…

It was the same shape as a butt plug.

I may have been innocent before Maxim, but I was well versed enough to be able to recognize that. I'd grown up in the era of the internet and television.

I pressed against the table and shot up.

"Back in position, naughty girl. Don't make me tell you again."

I shook my head, my nerves getting the best of me. I didn't want that thing inside me. I hadn't taken anything more than his thumb in my ass before and I wasn't ready to.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He slowly scored the ginger root with the knife, and I got a sinking feeling that whatever he was doing wasn't going to be good for me.

"It's ginger, Riley. Now if you had been a good girl and told Daddy about your real identity when he asked you the first time, you would simply be getting the bottom fucking you still have coming, but you didn't, did you?"

My heart seemed to be permanently lodged in the back of my throat. I didn't want to answer, but his expectation seemed to carry through the air between us and I found myself speaking even though I didn't think it possible.

"No, Daddy."

"No. You didn't," he said, appraising me with a dark look. He dragged the edge of the knife along the ginger root. "So, let me tell you what's going to happen next. Daddy is going to put this ginger in your naughty little asshole and then we're going to wait."

"That's it?" I asked before I could stop myself.

He raised a brow, his expression stern.

"Well, I am going to fuck that tight little ass of yours after the ginger has done its job," he answered.

"Daddy, please," I tried, finding myself begging when I didn't really know what I was pleading for just yet.

"Since you were especially naughty, Daddy is going to score the ginger root quite thoroughly, that way this punishment will be far more memorable for you," he continued.

"What does that mean?" I asked shakily.

"That means that more of the juice from the ginger root will seep into your naughty little bottom hole," he explained, but it still didn't make much sense.

Why would that be a bad thing? Didn't the use of more lubricant make things easier for anal?

"I don't understand," I admitted.

"I know, little girl. You will soon," he said, and the ominous tone of his words made my stomach curdle with nervousness.

I wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't give me a chance. Instead, he put the knife down and grabbed the ginger as he strode toward me.

I wanted to run.

Maybe I should have.

Just when I was about to flee, his hand slid down the length of my spine, lightly pressing me down and instantly I settled.

"Daddy loves you, little girl. It doesn't matter who you are or whatever naughty thing you do, Daddy's always going to be there for you," he said softly, and my heart practically melted in my chest.

A sudden feeling of warmth and acceptance flooded me, and my knees buckled just the slightest bit.

Then he moved behind me and his hand settled on my backside. I shifted back and forth from foot to foot, my nerves getting the best of me.

"Daddy…" I whimpered.

"It'll all be okay, little girl," he reassured me. Without another word, he used a single hand to spread my bottom cheeks wide open. I yelped, knowing how exposed I was right now, my embarrassment hurtling up from the tips of my toes to wash over the rest of me.

The coolness of the tip of the ginger root pressed against my asshole and I bit my lip, trying to keep quiet. I remembered what his thumb felt like and that it had hurt a little bit, so I tensed. When he pushed the root inside me, the copious juice along its surface was enough to ease its passage into me. I tried to tense against it, but he pressed it inside me, stretching my reluctant hole a little, which burned some, but not as much as I expected it to.

Somehow, it was easier to take than his thumb and when it was finally fully seated inside me, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

For a long moment, there was nothing. I shifted again from my left to my right foot, confusion spiraling through me.

How was this supposed to be a punishment? Sure, it had stung a little bit going in, but it hadn't been that bad. I tried to think about what the point of this would be. Maybe he was just trying to arouse me or something. I chewed the inside of my cheek. Maybe this was supposed to ready me for the bottom fucking he'd already alluded to, which was certainly going to hurt.

I was already quite wet, and I was very reluctant to admit that maybe a deep part of me liked having something in my bottom.

Running my tongue along my lips, I tensed, hoping he'd let me orgasm after this was all over.

Then the slightest warm tingle began around my asshole, and I clenched around the ginger, slightly taken aback. It was faint, but it was also slowly growing.

What was happening right now?

The sensation began to spread through my body like a heatwave inching over me. As the seconds passed, the burning heat began to escalate, growing hotter and hotter until my asshole felt like it was on fire.

It was so uncomfortable that I had to move, but as I shifted from foot to foot, the sting only got worse and worse. I whined, shifting even harder and faster, but it didn't make the slightest bit of difference. My body tightened around the ginger root, and the burn only grew worse.

"Every time you clench around the ginger root, little girl, you squeeze more of the juices out and the more it's going to burn," he warned, and I whimpered.

"Daddy…"

"You lied to Daddy, little girl, and Daddy wants to make sure it never happens again," he continued.

The burn grew so much worse.

I couldn't breathe.

The pain was like a living, breathing thing.

My hands balled into fists. I was practically shaking with the force of trying not to cry out. I worked hard to keep my muscles relaxed, but as time passed, it became more and more difficult. I could feel the juice dripping down my sensitive folds and before long, my pussy was burning just as much as my asshole. My eyes watered as the heat spread to my pussy and then he reached between my thighs and lightly brushed my clit.

The fire between my legs turned into an all-out inferno. With a whimper, I closed my eyes. But that only seemed to make things worse.

Oh, God.

"Daddy, please, take it out," I begged.

Then, his fingers wound around the base of the ginger plug and instead of taking it out, he pumped it inside of me.

Roughly.

It was as just as thick as one of his fingers, so it pinched just the slightest bit, but there was a part of it that felt pleasurable despite the never-ending sensation of fiery heat blazing between my thighs.

The fingers of his other hand found my clit and then he started rubbing it a bit harder and I gasped, the fiery pleasure ripping through me before I could even think to try to fight it.

He played with my sensitive little nub, the motion of his finger slow and steady, but then he rubbed it a bit harder, and I couldn't help myself as I flew into an orgasm that was as unexpected as it was sudden.

It wasn't the type of pleasure that I was used to. Instead, it was almost as if the fire had consumed me, and my pleasure had morphed into an inferno that was so intense, it bordered on an incredible kind of delicious pain that cut through me like a hot knife through butter.

My body rolled and I gasped, my fingernails digging at the table yet finding no purchase. My toes curled and I moaned as my entire body clenched around the ginger root. My inner walls fluttered as his finger plunged inside of my pussy and then I was full in both holes, and I was coming once more.

I came so incredibly hard that it scared me. My knees buckled and my eyes rolled back in my head. I moaned, the sound lewd and desperate, but I didn't care.

When my orgasm finally began to crest, I slumped against the table with a loud sigh.

Then the burn from the ginger grew worse.

And worse.

And worse.

Before long, my clit was swollen and sore, and the juice had spread to every single nerve ending that made up the sensitive places between my legs. Every last inch of me blazed with the fires of hell. My eyes watered and I bit my lip, trying to keep it together and not cry.

My orgasm had left me weak though, and before long I was crying out.

"Daddy! Please! It hurts. Take it out!" I begged.

"Are you ever going to lie to Daddy again, little girl?"

"No, Daddy. Never!"

I honestly would have promised anything to get that horrid root out of my asshole. My entire world was on fire and nothing I could do made it any better, so I begged and pleaded until my words were nothing more than whimpers and cries.

"There's my good girl. You took your punishment so well," he praised and then his fingers finally wrapped around the ginger, and he gently tugged it out.

Once it was out, the burn didn't stop, at least not right away. Instead, it continued to blaze, and I squirmed, trying to make it better, but nothing worked.

It wasn't until Maxim placed a wet warm cloth in between my legs that it began to dull.

I was a quivering mess by the time he finished cleaning me down there.

He wrapped his arms around me and I buried my face in his shoulder, inhaling his masculine scent and reveling in the fact that it was finally over.

He held me close, his strong arms comforting as he murmured softly into my ear, words that I couldn't quite hear but that soothed me nonetheless.

With tender care, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me upstairs to our bedroom. I felt like a delicate, treasured thing in his grasp, and as he gently placed me down on the edge of the tub, a warm sense of safety washed over me. I watched him turn on the faucet, his hands steady as he filled the bathtub with warm, soothing water.

He caressed my naked body slowly, his touch lingering and gentle, his eyes filled with adoration as he helped me into the bath. The water enveloped me like a comforting embrace, and Maxim knelt beside the tub, his gaze never leaving mine.

I hissed the moment the water touched my punished ass, but soon enough the burn faded to a gentle ache and I slowly relaxed.

He didn't ask to bathe me. He just did.

He washed me with such care, his touch tender and loving as he cleansed me, the act so sweet and romantic that I felt cherished in a way I hadn't known was possible.

He ran his fingers through my hair, his touch gently washing away the remnants of my punishment. I closed my eyes, letting myself sink into the moment, feeling the love and affection radiating from him. When he finally lifted me from the water and wrapped me in a soft towel, I knew without a doubt that this was where I was meant to be.

Then he carried me to the bed. He laid me down on the mattress and curled his body around mine and we just lay there like that together for a long while.

Eventually, a different kind of burn began to simmer deep inside my core.

His large hand settled on my bare hip and his fingers grazed my skin. His touch was gentle and loving, but my need for him continued to grow bit by bit as the seconds ticked by.

I shifted, my thighs rubbing against one another, and I blushed when I felt the rampant wetness between them. There was so much of it, far more than I thought possible, but there it was.

If Maxim noticed, he didn't say anything.

Instead, he pressed a soft kiss to the side of my head and then he pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me, which felt infinitely good. His warm embrace only made the need between my thighs grow, a deep throbbing ache that seemed to reverberate from the very bottom of my core.

His fingers traced the underside of my jaw and then he gently turned my head to face his and captured my lips with his. His kiss was so sweet and loving that it took my breath away.

When he deepened the kiss, I moaned, a low, desperate sound, and the need between my legs throbbed that much harder.

"Little girl, you need Daddy to fuck you, don't you?" he murmured, and his hand slid in between my legs. My blush deepened when his fingertips brushed against the wetness seeping down my thighs.

"Yes, Daddy," I whispered.

"Daddy isn't going to fuck this needy little pussy tonight, Riley-girl, but you know that already, don't you?"

His words rattled me from within, but instead of the fear I felt before, anxious curiosity flowed through me. I wanted to know what it was like, and I didn't at the same time.

"Can't you just fuck my pussy instead, Daddy?" I tried, my voice hopeful, while also knowing that it was entirely likely for him to ignore my pleas.

"You know better than that, moya malyshka," he scolded and the heat enveloping my cheeks suddenly felt like a molten volcano.

A long, shuddering breath escaped my lips, and I tried not to whimper. I didn't want to push him, not after the way he had punished me earlier.

I was still sore and the idea of his cock sinking into my asshole so soon after the ginger made me shiver. Even still, the need inside of me continued to grow, an aching burn that I couldn't shake.

He kissed me once again, his tongue sliding against mine, and then his hand slid down the length of my stomach.

"Now, little girl, roll onto your belly. It's time for Daddy to take that tight little ass."