A spankingandwriting lines? “But that’s not fair!”
“Fair?” His voice dropped, and every nerve she had went on alert as he approached her with slow, lethal grace. “Would you like to tell me what’sfairabout knowing that the woman I love is out there, putting her life at risk because she was ‘distracted’? Tell me, Francesca, what’s fair about your friends and family getting a phone call saying we’ve lost you because you couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to the speed limit or to put your seatbelt on when you got in the car. What, exactly, isfairabout any of that?”
Guilt sat in her chest, a lead weight that refused to budge no matter how deeply she tried to inhale. “I’m sorry,” she managed to whisper.
“That’s a good start. Stay right here. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Mind racing with worry over what terrifying implement he might be fetching, she stood in the middle of the kitchen, waiting for what seemed like an agonizing eternity for him to return.
When he did, she could only stare in stunned surprise at what he held in his hand.
“What’s that for?”
Carrying the brown mat over to the table, he pulled out a chair and draped the mat over the seat. “This is your naughty girl mat. After your spanking, you are going to sit here and write those lines for me.”
It was one of those welcome mat things, the kind people used to wipe their feet on before walking in the house. With a million little prickly things that she imagined would feel like hell on her freshly spanked ass.
Pulling out another chair, Holden sat and despite knowing how much trouble she was in, her mouth watered at the sight of him rolling the sleeves of his dress shirt up to his elbows before crooking a finger at her. “Come here, Francesca.”
She didn’t want to. As much as she enjoyed playing the brat, she was starting to realize how much she hatedreallybeing in trouble. “I’m really, really sorry. Can’t we just say the ticket is punishment enough?”
“Absolutely not. And if I have to come get you, I’ll double your count. Come. Here.”
Somehow, she managed to force one foot forward, then the other, until finally she was standing by his side.
With a deep sigh, he reached for her, pulling her over his lap and flipping her dress up so he could tug her panties down to her knees. “I’m very disappointed in you, Francesca. No matter how distracted you are, that is no excuse for putting yourself and other drivers in danger. You’re getting a count of twenty, one for each mile over the speed limit you were driving.”
Disappointed.The word was like a knife to her heart. She hated disappointing him, even more than she hated disappointing her own parents.
And the worst part was, he didn’t even have the count right. The cop had clocked her at thirty miles over, not twenty. If he knew the truth, would he be even more disappointed in her? Or would he be proud of her for telling the truth?
She should keep her mouth shut. After all, it was really the cop who’d lied, right?
But she couldn’t. Even if he never found out the truth,shewould know, and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to live with herself. “Um. It was actually thirty. I don’t know why the cop fudged the numbers.”
Cupping her bottom, he gave one cheek a surprisingly gentle squeeze. “Thank you for being honest with me. Since you told the truth, we’ll keep the original count as a reward.”
Relief flooded her system. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“The count is twenty, and I want you to count each one out loud.”
His hand left her bottom, only to come crashing down a second later, the sting so intense she gasped as it radiated through her flesh. “One!”
“Good girl. Just like that.”
Fuck. Her pussy obviously hadn’t gotten the message this was a punishment, as it spasmed at his praise. Another swat landed, and she just barely managed to hold back a groan as pain and pleasure mingled together inside her. “Two.”
Just like everything else he did, the spanking was measured, methodical with every swat perfectly placed to add to the fire engulfing her skin. And when they finally hit the halfway point, he paused to rub his large hand over her throbbing bottom.
“I do not ever want to have this discussion again, Francesca. I’m going easy on you this time because it’s a first offense, but if it ever happens again, you will receive the same count with the large school paddle hanging in my office. You are far too precious to me, and so many other people, for you to be so reckless with your safety.”
As far as the actual spanking went, it was far from the worst she’d had from him. But his words, and the knowledge she’d disappointed him, weighed heavy on her heart.
“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
“For your sake, it had better not, little girl.”
The next ten were harder, focused mostly on her sensitive sit-spots and tears were streaming down her face by the time she managed to gasp out the final count. “Twenty! I’m sorry, Daddy, I’m sorry!”