Page 33 of Guiding Little Gabi

That wasn’t exactly true. She wasn’t looking forward to how painful a spanking would be. At the same time, she felt so guilty. She had hurt him, and as a result, she hurt herself. Her guilt and anxiety were through the roof, but a spanking would reset the scale for both of them.

He gave a sad smile as he tossed her towel over one of the chairs and then sat to remove his boots. Gabi swallowed as he upended them and water poured out to pool on the patio. Raleigh just set them next to the sliding patio door, added hers to sit beside his and then looked at her. “Fair enough. Neither am I. Better to go ahead and get it over with.”

CHAPTER 10

Once they entered the room, he guided her to the kitchen table, where he pulled out one of the chairs.

“Have a seat,” he ordered.

His voice was firm to the point of being gruff. She didn’t remember him being so curt. Exasperated, yes. Frustrated, sure. But never cold and sharp. She’d done that to him. Sniffling, she tried to blink away the tears that blurred her eyes.

Before she could sit, he dropped into the chair instead. He pulled her to sit on his lap and gave her a quick hug. “Those tears aren’t going to help you. I’d save them for later when you’ll need them.”

“I know it won’t make a difference, but I really am very sorry. I know I hurt you, and it’s killing me. I wish I wasn’t me. I wish I didn’t do the things I do.” Her voice broke when she added, “Please don’t hate me. I don’t think I could bear it if you hated me.”

“Hey. Where’s this coming from? Of course, I don’t hate you. I could never hate you. And don’t you ever let me hear you say you wish you weren’t you again. That will get you a spanking so much worse than the one you have coming that your great-grandchildren won’t be able to sit down.”

The tears she was trying to hold back choked her throat, so all she could do was mumble. “Sorry.”

“I wanted to talk to you first, but I think we need to get this punishment out of the way, or you won’t hear anything I say. I’m not going to go easy on you. You know that, right?”

Of course, she knew it. She’d messed up more than anyone else in all of time. Her throat closed completely, so she nodded instead of answering him.

“All right then. I do want to say this one thing. I’m so proud of how you handled yourself in Master Derek’s office. I know that was hard, but you told the truth.”

“The only reason I could do it was because you stood behind me.”

“That’s what Daddies do, teacup. I’m your number one fan, even when you mess up. I will always have your back.”

His words were a balm for her heart. He never said things he didn’t mean. She wanted to give him something huge, but all she could manage was, “Thank you, Daddy.”

“Now, naughty girl. You are being punished for two things. The first is for breaking the Ranch rules and unintentionally damaging the resort property. The second is for continuing to lie about being a lawyer and not keeping your promise to Daddy about telling your friends the truth. Do you understand?”

What else was there to say but, “Yes, Daddy.”

“All right. I want you to take off your suit and go stand in the corner. Nose pressed in tight, legs apart, and bottom out.”

What in Charlie’s freakin’ chocolate factory was that about? “You want me to be naked?”

“As the day you were born, little girl. Your suit will only be in the way for what I have planned.”

Right. No scary overtones there.

She attempted to push down her suit but found out removing a wet suit was four hundred billion times more difficult thanremoving a dry one. Any chance for the fabric to even begin to dry had been ruined by sitting on her Daddy’s lap. Pool water still dripped from the fabric of his shirt, and the denim of his jeans was dark blue and absolutely soaking wet. Evidently she wasn’t the only one to notice the problem because his lips had turned up into a what looked suspiciously like a smirk.

“It’s not funny!” she silently chastised as she gave another squirm and gained a whole half an inch of skin being set free of the clinging suit.

Maybe he’s considering it as a research opportunity.

“Research opportunity? How in the world does that make sense?” Beetlebrenda’s comment was so ludicrous, Gabi paused in her efforts to strip only to hear her Daddy chuckle. Her eyes flew to his. Had he heard Beetlebrenda too?

“Makes sense if you consider it as a chance to discover if those books you devour are telling the truth about how getting a spanking on a wet behind hurts more than on a dry on,” her Daddy said.

Gabi could only gape at him as pages of such scenes she’d read flipped through her mind’s eye.

“Keep going,” her Daddy said, gesturing with his finger for her to continue. He didn’t offer to help either. Simply sat back as if he had all the time in the world while she fought with peeling herself like a hard-boiled egg.

Finally, she stepped out of the stupid flamingo suit and kicked it under the table, only to have her Daddy tutting at her. Gabi sighed and bent to retrieve the suit, all too aware of how he could now see her wet butt as she dragged the suit out far enough to grab it. Ignoring her Daddy, she carefully folded the sodden fabric and laid it on the table before she crossed the living room to hide her flushed face in the corner as ordered.

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