“Oh. I see.”
“Excuse me,” he said. He drew Amber away, taking her back up to her room. He set her down in her bed and sat beside her. “Teacup, you can’t do that.”
“I had a bad dream,” she pouted, resuming with her lie.
The look he gave her told her he didn’t believe her. He stood up and looked down at her very sternly. His voice was rough, and loud, so much louder than normal. “You will not interrupt me when I’m with a woman. Do you understand?”
Tears sprang to her eyes. She nodded, sniffling. She really was sorry, but on the inside she couldn’t help but to blame that other woman. If she hadn’t come along, none of this would be happening.
It was all that… that skank’s fault!
Daddy went back downstairs, firmly shutting her door behind him. At that time, Snowflake ran on her wheel, the clattering and clinking helping to disguise the sounds of what went on downstairs.
But Amber knew.
She knew. She turned over and cried into her pillow, until she fell asleep.
As per usual, Daddy came to wake her up in the morning. She leaped out of the covers and into his arms, pressing kisses all over his face. He stayed hard and rigid against her, unyielding to her attention. He grabbed onto her and pushed her back, and looked down sternly into her face.
Oh, no.
Tears stung her eyes again. She already knew what he was going to say. She silently begged him not to, but he started talking anyway.
“Amber, Lucy spent the night. She is going to have breakfast with us before she leaves.” He squeezed her shoulder and leaned down to speak low into her ear. “You will be kind. Or I’ll spank you for being bad.”
She swallowed hard. “I promise I’ll be good. I promise.”
If that skanky, gross woman is good too, then I will be.
“Come down when you’ve gotten dressed,” Daddy said. He got up and left her there, went downstairs to be with that woman who had disturbed their routines.
Amber rubbed her tears away and blew her nose. No, she decided, she would not get dressed. That wasn’t how they did things. She wouldn’t let that Lucy disrupt things any more than she already had.
She went downstairs to find that Daddy and Lucy already sat at the table. Lucy was in Amber’s spot, all cozied up on Daddy and ignoring the delicious omelet on her plate.
Amber made a ton of noise on her way into the dining room. Lucy looked up and an unpleasant scowl crossed her features. “Oh, hello, Amber.”
“Hi,” Amber said coldly. She sat down on Daddy’s other side and yanked her plate to her. She did the opposite of everything she normally did, clanking her fork obnoxiously on her plate and reaching way over in front of her rather than asking for what she wanted to be passed to her. Lucy was undeserving of her manners.
Lucy spoke loudly over the dragging of Amber’s fork along her teeth. “Chris, dear, do you have salsa? Your omelet is a little plain.”
“It’s a French-style omelet,” Amber said, sneering at the other woman. “You’re supposed to eat it plain. But you wouldn’t know that. I bet the Frenchest thing you know is fries!”
Lucy’s eyes widened.
“Amber,” Daddy warned.
Amber couldn’t stop herself. “And salsa is disgusting! Lumpy ketchup. Daddy went through all this hard work and you want to ruin it? I guess you’re so used to getting what you want. Did Daddy give you what you wanted last night?”
Lucy turned to Daddy. “Chris, can you control your spawn?”
Amber giggled bitterly. “He didn’t even tell you his real name. You were just a convenient fuck!”
She almost gasped and covered her mouth as the terrible word emerged. She resisted. She didn’t want this woman in Daddy’s life, didn’t want any woman near him. They weren’t good for him. She was going to protect him like he protected her.
Lucy leaped to her feet. “Well!” she cried. “I thought the ‘special circumstance’ with you was you were mentally disabled. Now I know he must be keeping you here because no one in their right mind would want to deal with you!”
“You can leave anytime,” Amber snarked. She also stood up.
So did Daddy.
Amber’s eyes flicked to him.
A whirl out of the corner of her eye registered just before a burst of pain. Amber leaped back, holding her hand to her slapped cheek.
“Crazy little bitch,” Lucy gasped. Her hand was red. “You made me do it. Go to your room now.”
A burning anger surged out of Amber’s control, a fire that colored everything in her vision with a bloody redness. She cried out, a yell without words, and threw herself at Lucy.
Lucy grabbed onto her and fell back. They collapsed to the floor. Amber grabbed onto Lucy’s brunette hair and yanked hard.
Lucy shrieked and snatched up a big handful of Amber’s hair. There was just so much of it. She wrenched it around like crazy.
Pain pulsed through Amber’s skull. She yelped and writhed, thrusting out her hands. She clawed out at anything she could reach, scratching fabric, the floor, and -finally- skin.
“Chris!” Lucy screamed.
Amber’s nails slashed over her open mouth. Through the glaze of anger, she saw blood appear on Lucy’s lips. Satisfaction pulsed through her. She rolled to the side to get away from Lucy and then threw herself back on top of her, clawing, scratching.
A hand clamped down on the back of her neck and hauled her away.
Daddy stood between the two of them, his face smoldering with anger unlike anything Amber had ever witnessed. “Amber, go to your room!” he yelled. “Now!”
Amber wriggled to get away from him and ran as fast as her legs could go, tripping and stumbling over herself. Tears soaked her cheeks and she sobbed, knowing she had made a mistake and not regretting it one bit. Not at all. But would Daddy still love her after this?
From downstairs, Lucy yelled, “You need to get that psycho daughter of yours under control.”
“Goodbye, Lucy,” Daddy said harshly.
The condo door slammed.
Amber threw herself into bed and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.
Daddy came up to her and stood in her doorway, looking down at her with anger and pity.
“I’m sorry!” she cried, before he could say a thing.
“Lucy is partly at fault,” he said, voice tight. “Imagine, a grown woman giving in to the taunts of a little girl. But you were very bad to start such a thing. You were a bad girl.”
“I’m sorry,” she wept. “I only wanted to protect you! She’s no good for us!”
“It was only sex! Nothing could ever break you and myself apart, Amber.”
“Do you forgive me?” she whispered.
“Of course, I forgive you.” His expression softened, momentarily. “But I can’t condone your behavior. I have to punish you. You know that, don’t you? You won’t do this again.”
She trembled all over, afraid, and somehow, in a very weird way, excited. “What are you going to do to me?”
“Bend over the bed. Feet on the floor.”
She understood then what was about to happen. She’d had this same punishment as a child.
“Amber,” he warned. “If you are going to act like a spoiled brat, you are going to be treated like a spoiled brat.”
She trembled more and did as he asked, getting in position.
Daddy pulled her pajama bottoms and panties down, exposing her butt. “Five spankings. You will count them. If you don’t count them, I’ll add one extra for each one you miss.”
“Daddy… Please. I’ll be good!”
He said nothing. Her pleas fell on deaf ears.
The first spank came, so swift and unexpected she hardly felt it. Then the pain rushed in and she gasped and sobbed against the mattress. Somehow, she remembered what she was supposed to do. “One!”
He spanked her again, six times total, because she was so busy crying at number four that she couldn’t speak. When he was
done, he drew back and went to stand in her doorway again. Her butt was so sore she had no idea how she would ever be able to sit down again. She’d have to stand for the rest of her life.
“I’m so sorry, Daddy,” she whimpered. “I love you.”
He sighed, long and deep. “And I love you. That’s why I did this. Do you understand?”
“Yes…”
“Good. Now, I’m going to go and clean up the breakfast table. Since you thought fighting was more important than eating, you will get no breakfast. I want you to take a shower and then stay in your room until lunchtime. And then you will come to me and apologize one last time, and we’ll both forget this ever happened. Do you understand?”
She nodded against the mattress, wet from tears and mucus.
Daddy left her then, left her to think about what she had done. She cried until she had no more tears left, and then went to shower.
Lunchtime came swiftly, because Daddy was an early luncher. She crept out of her room to find him in his study. He ignored her presence, typing away at a very important email. It must have been important, for him not to turn around to see her.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
No response.
Remembering what she was supposed to do, she said, “I apologize for how I acted.”
He turned around in his chair and held out his arms to her. She ran to him and straddled his lap and kissed him and kissed him. He rubbed his cheek on hers and then stood. “Time for lunch, now.”
Lunch was something she didn’t like, probably on purpose. Meatloaf sandwiches, open-faced and covered in mushroom gravy.
But after dinner, Daddy brought her ice cream and a warm brownie, and they watched a movie together. Her butt still ached and she shifted around a lot, and her cheek stung from the Lucy-woman smacking her, but those were a small price to pay for peace in the condo.
Really, everything had turned out fine.
I don’t regret anything, Amber thought, cuddling close to Daddy. I will always do what I think is best for us.
Maybe next time she needed to be a little more subtle, though.
Chapter 17
Promise you'll never leave me
“I think it’s very smart of you to have dropped some of your classes if you were feeling overwhelmed, Amber.”
Amber lounged on her back, listening to her Mom. They didn’t talk often. They had different ideas about the way the world worked. Her Mom was of the Cherry-variety mindset, very modern, believing less in relationships than in doing what was right for her. If that meant using relationships to keep herself off the street, then she would do it.
It was still nice to chat every now and again, though they usually had to restrict their conversations to late at night, like this one, because of how busy her mother had become.
“You’ll do better focusing on a few subjects than spreading your efforts so thinly. But that makes me wonder, is it worth it to continue living on campus? Surely you could find a cheap apartment nearby.”
Amber said, “Actually, I don’t live on campus anymore.”
“Oh, good! I know it can be a big adjustment. How is living alone treating you?”
“Actually,” she said for the second time, “I am not living alone.”
“Roommates? Give me details, baby! Don’t be so mum or I’ll worry.”
Amber smiled and toyed with a sheet, twisting one corner. “I’m living with a man.”
Her mother gasped. “A boyfriend?”
Agreeing was easier than explaining. Amber nodded, then remembered Mom couldn’t see her. “Of sorts, yes. Actually, I’ve been with him for several weeks now.”
“Are you sure this is the right decision? I mean, living someone can be very distracting and detract from your studies.” Her mother paused, then spoke with a note of suspicion in her voice. “Wait a minute. Is this man the reason you cut down on your classes in the first place?”
“No way. I already did that even before I met him.”
“Still, this had to have all happened very recently. It hasn’t been that long since we spoke and you didn’t say anything about a boyfriend at all.”
“Maybe it has all happened kind of fast,” Amber admitted. “But you don’t have to worry about me. This guy is amazing. I love him so much and he loves me. He’s polite and sophisticated and has an amazing job.”
“All of that sounds fine,” her mother said, though doubtfully, “but please be careful. Maybe you don’t remember when I dated Kristoff. You were only 8. We lived with him and we both loved him, but he had to leave for work. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over that. It felt like my world tumbled. If that happened to you, I would feel so awful, like I let you make the same mistake that I did.”
Amber winced. Sometimes she could forget that Daddy was her mother’s ex and had broken her heart all those years ago, when she was spending time with him alone. The world beyond them didn’t seem to exist for her in those moments. “I won’t make that mistake, I promise. You don’t understand. What we have is special.”
“That’s what I thought, too.”
Maybe I should tell her. It’s not too late. I can let her know that I’m with Kristoff and now he’s in a position where we can be together always.
She nibbled on her lower lip, debating how much she should say. Guilt roiled in her stomach like a witch’s brew, a black and inky liquid full of gross things. It was a potion no one should ever have to taste. She pulled in a deep breath and started to speak.
Mom yawned directly into the speaker, interrupting her. “Goodness!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry, Amber. I guess I’m more tired than I thought. I wish I could stay up more to talk with you, but I have work tomorrow morning.”
It looked like the choice had been made for her. Anything she said now would unnecessarily keep her mother awake, and most likely ruin her chance at getting any work done the next day. No matter how guilty Amber felt, she couldn’t disturb her mother’s life like that. As much as she disliked it, she’d wait for a better time.
“That’s okay, Mom. We’ll talk again soon.”
“I’m sure we will. Take care of yourself. Love you.”
“Love you,” Amber murmured and turned off her phone. She sat up and rubbed her arms with her hands, her stomach filled with nerves now. Talking to her mother had brought up doubts, treacherous, traitorous doubts. She didn’t think Daddy would leave her, but what if something unexpected came up again and they had no choice but to part? She lived with him! He fed her and paid her school bills! She belonged to him, needed him.
Without him, she would…
She didn’t even dare think of it.
Amber thrust out of bed and hurried to Daddy’s room, shoving his door open. The room smelled like him, was so much warmer than her own. His nearness comforted her. She climbed up into his bed with him and wriggled her way under his sheets. The heat of his body surrounded her, as did his scent, so wonderful and relaxing it was like being in a spa. She pressed close to him to feel him against her. He continued to sleep, unmindful of her nearness.
Amber touched his arm. Soft, warm. Trailing her hand around him, she encountered the hair on the back of his arm, a new and tickly texture. She skimmed her touch over his body everywhere she could reach, exploring him, the width of his shoulders and breadth of his chest, and the soft curve of his side all the way to his waist. Her toes found their way to his. She rubbed her foot on his, then up his leg and to his knee before meandering back down.
The act of touching calmed her. She lay her head on his shoulder, her hair spilling all over the both of them.
How could I ever think, even for a moment, that we could be separated?
He loved her. He belonged to her just as much as she did to him. They needed each other.
A tingle in her kitty surprised her. She’d been so uncertain and now she was the opposite, so turned on by him. That had to be their love, kindling sparks between them no matter the hour - no matter if one of them was asleep
and the other awake.
Did he feel her, in his dreams?
Did he know in his subconscious that she was there?
Amber put her hand between her legs and rubbed herself. Her lips were wet, swollen against the palm of her hand. A little moan escaped her. She used her middle finger to part herself and pushed in, seeking her inner heat. Her scent, sweet and musky, mingled now with the warm sleeping scent of her Daddy.
Forcing herself to open her eyes, she checked to see if he had heard her. He remained motionless, still asleep.
Growing a little braver, she pushed her finger deeper into herself, feeling the inner parts of her shift and stretch around her. Her inner muscles quivered with her mounting need. She ventured even deeper, wiggling her finger around inside and pressing all over on different spots to feel the pleasure. Gradually, she worked her way back out and toyed with her clitty, rubbing up and down between two fingers. A jolt went through her. “Ah!” she cried, her back arching.
Just as the pleasure threatened to envelope her, she once again felt Daddy’s warmth beside her and turned to him to see if he had woken up yet. He still seemed asleep. She wondered how that could be? How could he lie there and not know what was happening, yet they’d had an almost psychic connection when their communication was restricted to texting? She’d be thinking of him and he’d text her a second later, or one of them would message about something the other had also been thinking of.
They always knew what the other wanted and needed. So how could he stay asleep?
Amber propped herself up on her arm and looked down at Daddy’s face, soft and regal from sleep. In the dark it was hard to tell, but she was fairly certain the edges of his mouth curved up. She touched a fingertip to his lips, ran it along the shape of them. Smiling. Maybe enjoying what he was dreaming.
What he thinks he’s dreaming.
An idea came to her, naughty and devilish. She’d give him a really good dream, one to remember for years to come. She used her body to nudge him onto his back and slid one of her legs over both of his. She slid her leg up and down his and pressed their bodies closer together. Growing breathless, she kissed his chin and then danced little kisses down, to his neck. Burying her face to him, she breathed in his delectable scent, then rubbed her lips on his stubbly skin. She wriggled her hips a little, rubbing her wet slit on his hip. Burning, tingling with need, her kisses grew to a frenzy. She pounced her mouth on his chest, found his nipple with her tongue. She hadn’t realized how man nipples were so different from the ones women had. With her lips and tongue, she explored the shape and feel of those velvet nubs. One thing became clear: Daddy’s nipples stiffened just like hers did.
Amber Stigmatized Page 14
