Page 27 of Lion's Little Scamp

“Worms in your tummy, eh? Sounds serious. Did you eat worms when I wasn’t looking?”

“No, Daidi. I don’t like worms. Not even the gummy kind.”

Irish gave a little shake at the thought of touching a dirty, slimy worm. Sailor had once told her about all the bugs and beetles that could be eaten if there was no food around, but she would rather go hungry than eat wiggly worms or bugs.

Harrigan looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you think you might be feeling guilty about yesterday’s naughtiness and that’s causing your tummy to be upset?”

Irish shrugged then slowly nodded. “I think so. You didn’t punish me last night, Daidi.”

“No, I didn’t, did I? Well, we don’t have time this morning for a spanking, unless you want to go to class with tears on your cheeks.”

Irish shook her head. “No, thank you, Daidi.”

Harrigan hummed for a moment as he carried his dishes to the sink and washed them. He turned and leaned against the counter and crossed his arms.

“How about this? After lunch, I will meet you at the barn and you will apologize to Sullivan for leaving before he released you. Then he and I will decide on your punishment and carry it out then. How does that sound?”

Irish swallowed hard before she whispered, “You won’t let him hurt me, will you, Daidi?”

“No, little one. From here on out, I’ll be the only one administering physical punishment. He might assign you lines to write or extra chores, but you don’t have to worry about that until this afternoon. Right now, though, you need to eat those eggs before you end up in class sitting on a hot ass.”

Now that her punishment had been decided, even though it really hadn’t, Irish picked up her fork and dug in. A glance at the clock told her she had about three minutes before they needed to leave in order to get to class on time.

Even though the eggs were cold, she shoveled them in, eating as quickly as she could. As soon as she swallowed the last bite of egg, she stuck the last piece of toast in her mouth, then carried her plate and fork to the sink and washed them.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she said around the piece of toast.

Harrigan chuckled as he looked her up and down as he did every morning. He then held out his hand for her to take, just as he did every morning. “Yes, you are.”

Even though she would be punished, Irish skipped all the way to the administration building. At the door to the classroom, she stopped and then pulled Harrigan down the hall a few steps.

“Scamp? What’s wrong?” he asked.

She looked around, but thankfully there was no one around. “I was wondering if you could kiss me before you leave. I mean, now that we’re mates and all.”

Harrigan smiled as he pulled her in for a long, deep kiss and tight hug.

She wobbled when he finally released her and stepped back.

“Now, get to class before Diego beats me up for delivering you late.” Harrigan turned her toward the door and gave her ass a sharp smack. “I’ll be back at the end of class so we can have lunch together.”

Still befuddled by his goodbye kiss, Irish nodded and waved over her shoulder as she staggered into the classroom.

After meeting with Lonergan to let him know that he had finally mated Irish, Harrigan left the administration building. He had almost four hours to kill before returning to collect Irish for lunch. He would remain off his patrol detail until Irish graduated, but he was not used to doing nothing.

Heading toward the barn, he stopped and turned toward where the rarely used road that led out of Bratburg broke through the forest. His lion went on alert as a figure slowly limped into view.

A visitor? Or were they looking for help?

In any case, Harrigan’s hackles went up and he began to stalk toward the figure. He could tell by the size and build that the stranger was a man, but why would a man come to Bratburg? Especially on foot?

He was not surprised to see Kodiak, the head of security, and several of the other staff members approaching as well. The visitor had no doubt tripped one of the alarms they had set up to give them advanced warning of incoming vehicles. He did not realize they would also work on people walking in.

“Hello?” he called when he was a dozen yards away from what was definitely a man.

The man was heavily built, muscular, and looked as if he had been through some tough times.

“Hello, I’m looking for Irish McCullough. I understand she was sent here a couple weeks ago,” the man returned even as he continued walking.

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