Page 8 of Tiger's Little Waif

“Okay. Thank you.”

Shaw jumped when she felt him brush a kiss on the top of her head.

“Anything to make my waif happy and comfortable, he murmured. “Watch out, there are three steps here to the porch.”

When she tripped on the second step, she gasped when Marshall picked her up and set her on his hip before continuing up to the porch. He opened a door and walked inside, still holding her. Closing the door behind them, he flipped a switch and the lights flashed on.

Shaw looked around and could not help but say, “Oh, it’s beautiful,” as he set her on her feet.

Marshall knew she was lying but did not immediately call her on it. How could something as sparse and strictly functionally furnished be considered beautiful?

Then he thought about it for a moment. She had a bad habit of lying, trying not to draw attention to herself, not to hurt feelings, but he was tired of it.

Once she recovered, they would be addressing her penchant for lying. In the meantime, he would just keep track of her infractions and they would settle up once she was healed from her ex-husband’s abuse.

“That’s five. At least,” he said as he walked into the kitchen and pulled two bottles of water from the refrigerator.

They had just enough time to talk about rules and mates before bedtime.

“Five what?”

“Five lies I’ve heard you tell. Keep it up and you won’t be sitting comfortably for a long time once you’re healed.”

“What do you mean?” Shaw asked, her eyes going wide as she watched him warily.

“Little girls who lie to their Daddies get punished. I think five spanks for each lie should help you to stop. Lying also breaks trust between mates, and since I’m hoping to build trust between us, your lying will just make things harder.”

Marshall watched his mate closely as he spoke. Her eyes went so wide that he worried they would fall out of their sockets. “Waif? Is spanking a hard limit for you?”

Shaw blinked and focused on him, looking pale. “You want to beat me? No. Oh no. No, no, no, no, no.”

She started toward the door and was outside, frozen at the top of the porch steps before Marshall could catch her.

“Waif, no. I will never beat you. A calm, controlled spanking helps to recenter and correct behavior, and it should never leave bruises. The only thing that will hurt will be your bottom.” Marshal explained as gently as he could.

Shaw remained frozen in position, staring out into the night until he began to wonder if he’d fucked up so much that she would not allow him to claim her. After counting to ninety-nine in his head, he tried again.

“Waif, come back inside. We need to talk about things.”

Shaw turned her head just enough to show him her wide, deer-in-the-headlights eyes. “You won’t spank me?”

“No spanking today. Or any day until Kevin says you’re healed enough to take one. By then, I hope we will have built up enough trust in me to know I will never harm you as your rat bastard ex did.”

Holding his breath, Marshall waited. A soft giggle helped him relax just the tiniest bit.

“Rat bastard ex. I like it. I think that’s what I’ll call him from now on.”

“You can call him R-B-X,” Marshall corrected, “because Little girls are not allowed to swear.”

Shaw blinked up at him before smirking. “If I’m not allowed to swear, then neither are you.”

Marshall thought her comment over for a few seconds before nodding and shifting the hand he held out to her from palm up to facing sideways in a handshake position. “Deal?”

Shaw placed her hand in his with a grin. “Deal. And we’ll have a swear jar in the kitchen for when you forget. Because I bet you’ll forget a lot.”

“We will?”

“Yes, Chef, mate, Daddy. We will.”

---