Page 97 of Under Daddy's Spell

“And we’ll ensure you don’t forget in a minute, but I have to confess something, too.”

Her head came up, and she braced. Was this the part she’d been expecting, when he said it was over between them?

“I never had any of your peace offering.”

Of all the things she thought he might say, that wasn’t one of them. “I’m confused.”

“I never had the peach muffins you brought over.”

“What?”

“Not a single bite.”

“But... You said they tasted wonky.”

“Not exactly. I said it was the consensus that they tasted wonky, but I was just repeating what the guys said. You can’t leave food at the gym. Seth managed to save me one. I was in a hurry and took it to eat on the plane. While juggling my phone and carry-on at check-in, I dropped it.”

Her shoulders slumped as it struck her. “I went through all of this for nothing.”

His hands slid into her hair. “Yes, but the spell you think you cast, which is bullshit, honestly, turned out to be a big nothing, too.” His smile flashed, and there was nothing half about it. “That means the peace we found was real. We got there naturally, without spells or voodoo magic.”

“Please say my stupidity hasn’t ruined it.”

“It didn’t, baby. This was a minor blip in the road. We’ll get past it and move forward. I will have your promise never to scheme behind my back again—”

“You have it, Daddy. I swear.”

“Good, and you’re still getting spanked.”

She swallowed hard but nodded in agreement. “I deserve it.”

“And we’ll proceed with everything else on the agenda today.”

“Can I ask about corner time?”

He angled her face so they were nose to nose. “After your spanking, spending time in the corner thinking about all that has happened will help reinforce the lesson. While you’re there, you can think of ways to avoid falling into this same sort of trap again. Understand?”

“Yes, Daddy. I really am sorry.”

“I know you are, Tessa.” He released her and patted his thighs. “Let’s get this done. We have another item on the agenda this morning that I refused to short-change by a minute. Then, this afternoon, we have to go into work because I’m dying to see this book.”

He helped her into position, facedown, angled across his thighs, her head on the padded bench, and her toes on the floor. With one hand steadying her, he massaged with the other, from the crests of her bare cheeks to mid-thigh. It felt good, and eased some of her tension, but it was the calm before the storm.

The warmth of his hand rubbing and circling was replaced by something cool and smooth. Then, it came down with a splat followed by three more. The sting was fierce, and, by the last one, she was hissing and wiggling over his lap.

His arm tightened, keeping her in place, if not still, for the four stinging swats on the other side.

He resumed circling, with the coolness of rubber rather than the warmth of his hand, so she didn’t figure he was done.

“Not a terrible choice for a beginner. Here’s a tip for future reference, baby girl. Lightweight means better maneuverability and speed, which equals sting. Heavy will produce more of a thud on impact and can leave deep bruises. If you’d have returned with something like that, I’d have sent you back to choose another.”

“Sting is good, and thud is bad?” she asked to confirm because lying over his thighs with a burning behind, sting wasn’t all that.

“For this daddy it is.”

He resumed spanking with a flurry of lightning-fast spatula swats to her cheeks and thighs. The only time he stopped was to catch her hand in his and pin it to her hip. “Can’t have any little fingers getting hurt.”

When he resumed at the same velocity, Tessa’s wiggling and squirming meant a few caught her inner thighs and, once or twice, the wet plump lips in between them.

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