Page 7 of Snowbound Princess

The implications behind his statement caught her so off-guard that she was left completely speechless. How did Bastian always manage to cut through her bullshit? She stared slack-jawed.

“Now, we are either going to have a serious conversation or we are going to enjoy the holiday, but you're not going to tease me.”

Regaining her senses, Kay dipped her head to meet his mouth, her lips hovered about an inch from his, but he caught her chin and tilted it away from him. “What's your problem?”

“I said no teasing.”

“You asked me to move in with you but you consider kissing a form of teasing?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in a dramatic way. “You’re really in some mood today.”

“No, Kay. I’m not going to hook up with you for the holidays and then say good-bye to you without so much as a glance back. I'm ready to go all in, sweetheart.”

“You sound awfully sure of yourself and your ability to give me what you think I need.”

“Yup.” He smiled. “I've been paying attention, but you're all over the place in this conversation. What do you really want to talk about?”

"I'm done talking." She leaned into him again, but he put his hand in front of her mouth.

“Oh, sweetheart, you don't even know the path you're headed down. You're pushing buttons to get a reaction, but it's not going to be the one you're expecting.”

“Listen, Bastian, all I wanted to do today was curl up on the couch and wallow in my own damn misery, then you pranced in here like a fucking jolly elf. You even tried to make my idiotic wishes come true."

She didn't mean to take anything out on him or push his buttons. How could he know what she had been through the past year if she didn't share? Bastian was right, she was all over the place. It was so hard to admit she needed him and all of the wonderful things he could offer her.

"I might be a lot of things, but I promise I'm not an elf, and I'm not feeling particularly jolly anymore, though I do have an idea on how to fix your attitude."

His tone tightened something in her belly, and butterflies fluttered around suddenly. For all of her snark before, the threat of repercussions thrilled her as much as scared her.

“I don't need my attitude fixed.”

“Oh, yes, you do.” He pushed her off of his lap and rummaged around through the holiday decorations on the coffee table. Plucking a coin off the table with flair along with the hand-carved hairbrush, he smirked.

“What are you going to do with my Santa coin and my pretty hairbrush?”

Sebastian showed her both sides of the coin as if she hadn't seen it before. Santa's face smiled on one side, and his hindquarters and boots were stuck in a chimney on the other side. It had always made her laugh as a child, but she didn't feel like laughing at the moment. What was he going to do with that? She raised an eyebrow, her interest thoroughly piqued.

"Call it. Heads or tails?" He twirled the coin as he spoke.

"Why?"

"If the coin lands on heads, then I'll brush your hair. You can tell me everything on your mind, and we can move on with the day. If the coin lands on tails?" A grin broke out over his lips. "Well, you'll still tell me what's on your mind, but it will be after I've applied this brush to your behind."

"You can't do that."

"Call it." He flipped the coin in the air, caught it and slapped his palm over it.

"Heads. Duh." She’d picked what was the obvious choice was in her mind, but the odds were stacked in his favor. If she called heads and it landed on tails, a spanking occurred. If she called tails and it landed on tails, a spanking still occurred.

A logic equation would have worked wonders here.

“Tails."

"Best two out of three?" She pouted, but deep down, she'd been wanting this for so long. Kayleigh had tried to get other men in her life to spank her for fun, but they all had failed miserably. Her ex-boyfriend had occasionally swatted her ass before they had sex, but nothing related to discipline. No, Bastian's method of correction had stayed on her mind all these years, and no one else could match it, but then why had she been fighting him so hard on this?

"Nope. Take off the pajamas." He gestured for her to hurry. "The fabric is so thick you won't feel a thing."

Heat flushed over her face, but she did as he commanded. She bit down on her lip as she stood nearly naked in front of him, wearing only ruffled panties with gingerbread cookies printed all over them.

"Panties too."

---