by Megan McCoy
Jake shook his head at Katie when she looked like she was going to start talking again. This was a mess, as he’d predicted, but he didn’t want his new friend to get in any more trouble by arguing with her older, obviously pissed off boyfriend. Jake stood and followed Nick, who was leading Katie by the arm out to the waiting car. The three passengers got into the backseat. As Nick closed the door, he directed the driver to take them back to the hotel.
Katie could see that Nick was furious. She didn’t want to dig her hole any deeper, but she had promised Jake that he wouldn’t get into trouble for taking her to the club. “Please Nick,” she started. “He was just doing me a favor. If his boss finds out that Jake was with me at the club, he will get fired, and it will be all my fault.”
“You’re right about that, little girl. If your friend loses his job, it will be your fault.” Nick paused to let that sink in to Katie’s stubborn head. “I have no doubt that you dragged him into one of your reckless schemes. But he is old enough to know better.”
“Please, Nick,” Katie was crying now. “He needs the money for college. Don’t get him in trouble.”
“Well?” Nick said, turning his attention to Jake. “Am I right? Did she drag you into this mess?” Nick was a confident he knew exactly how this little adventure got started. He was certain that Katie had engineered the whole show, but he wanted to hear how the boy would respond.
“No, sir,” Jake answered hoarsely, before clearing the lump in his throat. “Katie didn’t drag me into anything. It was my own fault. I knew better than to take a guest out to a club. It’s against the rules, and I never should have taken her to a place like that. I’m truly sorry.”
Before Nick could respond, Katie jumped into protest. “No, Nick! He’s lying. I made him take me. Don’t tell his boss.”
Jake winced in sympathy for the younger girl who was clearly oblivious to the older man’s anger, as well as the hole she continued to dig for herself.
“Katie!” Nick snapped. “That is enough, young lady! One more word. One more word from you, and I will take down your pants and spank your little butt right here with your friend watching.”
Katie felt her face get crimson, and she was grateful for the darkness. She started to open her mouth, but stopped herself before any sound escaped. She sank back into her seat, staring out the window at the passing people and cars and managed to keep quiet for the remainder of the ride back to the hotel.
Nick was impressed with the young man for taking responsibility for his actions. The kid didn’t blame Katie, even after Nick had offered him the easy out. He told the driver to stop a block from the hotel where Jake could get out without being seen and raising questions at the hotel.
Katie was silently trying to hide her tear-streaked face and hold on to what little dignity she had left.
When Jake climbed past her to exit the car, he tapped her knee gently and said, “Have a safe trip home and a great Christmas, Katie.”
Katie refused to make eye-contact with the older boy, but she quietly replied, “I hope you have a nice time with your family.”
Jake looked back at Nick before he shut the door, watching as the older man put his arm around Katie and pulled her close. Seeing Nick gently kiss the top of her head as she burrowed into his side, Jake knew that Katie was safe with this man. Relieved that his new friend would be fine and that he was still employed by the hotel, Jake walked quickly toward the subway station where he could catch a train back to his apartment on campus.
Chapter 4
When they arrived back at the hotel, Katie was still silent. Knowing that his girl would have plenty to say soon enough, Nick didn’t push her to talk. Instead, he quietly told the obviously upset younger woman to take a shower and get ready for bed. She disappeared behind the bathroom door, sniffling and clearly filled with remorse. Nick fixed himself a drink and sat down heavily in the large chair facing the fireplace. He loosened his tie and sank back with his eyes closed. “I’m too old for this nonsense,” he whispered out loud to himself.
It had been a long day, and an even longer week. He was angry with Katie for sneaking off to a club without his permission, after he had spent the entire week trying to make her vacation special. The part of Nick who loved his girl’s spunk and free spirit battled with his more disciplined alpha male. He knew that her behavior was impulsive and dangerous. She had also lied by pretending she was happy to spend a night alone in the suite.
Nick was most angry about the lying and sneaking around behind his back. He fully intended to give his girl a spanking that she would not forget. As much as he hated to see Katie hurting, a long day of travelling back home while sitting on a sore bottom would be powerful medicine. He had no doubt that after they took care of business tonight, his little lady would be as good as gold for the rest of the holiday season.
Nick heard shuffling and turned to see the girl he loved standing in the doorway with red-rimmed eyes.
“I’m really sorry, Nick,” she whispered.
It softened the older man’s heart to see her looking so pitiful, but he knew there was no way he could excuse tonight’s behavior. He told himself that if he had given her little butt the good smacking she deserved for nearly ruining the fancy rug, she would have been on her best behavior for the rest of the week. She would never have even considered lying about her plans and scamming the pool boy to take her out to a club.
Nick was no longer angry with his little spitfire. He had to force himself not to laugh at the image of her convincing that poor kid to risk his job, just to make her happy. He knew what Katie did was wrong and self-serving and dangerous, but Holly was right about this girl having him wrapped around her little finger. As much as he wanted to excuse and indulge, tonight he had to man-up and give Katie what she really needed.
Nick had once again rescued his girl from the wolf. Now he would have to teach her a painful lesson about what happens when impulsive little girls go off wandering where they don’t belong.
The older man stood and walked to where Katie was hovering in the doorway, afraid to enter and hear the official word that her fate was sealed.
“I’m sorry for tonight,” she repeated, looking up into his dark green eyes.
Reaching down to stroke her cheek, Nick tucked a stray hair back behind her ear. “I know you’re sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry too. But baby girl, the fact that you feel sorry, doesn’t change your behavior tonight. And my being sorry, doesn’t change that I have to punish you for that behavior.”
Katie looked down at the floor to avoid her lover’s eyes.
Nick sighed. “It’s been a long day, and I need to take a shower.” Walking across the room, he took a chair from the dining table and turned it to face the wall. “Young lady, you can park your little fanny right here,” he said pointing to the chair. “I expect you to do some hard thinking about the choices you made tonight.”
“Nick!” Katie protested. “I’m not a little kid. I shouldn’t have to sit in a naughty chair. It’s humiliating!”
“Well, honey,” Nick replied calmly. “When you act like a spoiled, naughty little girl, you can expect to be visiting the naughty chair.”
Katie stomped over to the chair and sat down with a huff.
As the older man turned to take his shower, he looked back at his sulking girl and tried not to smile. “By the way, honey,” he added ominously. “If I were you, I’d enjoy your time sitting in that chair. It’s the last comfortable sitting you will be doing for the next few days.”
Katie’s stomach dropped at the official announcement of her impending spanking. Now she was forced to sit like a naughty child in the corner, while she waited for her dreaded punishment. She could hear the shower running, and all too soon the water stopped.
A few minutes later, Katie looked over to see Nick emerging from the bedroom. He was wearing sleep pants and an old worn out tee shirt. No longer angry, he was the picture of cool, calm determination.
Katie, on the other
hand, was close to panic. Her tummy was churning, and she knew from painful experience that soon she would be lying helpless across her lover’s knee waiting to get her butt scorched. The worst part was that Katie knew she deserved exactly what she was getting. Nick was right. He had planned this wonderful Christmas adventure just for her, and she’d repaid him by lying and sneaking off behind his back. She was selfish and impulsive, and she almost got Jake fired from a job he needed. Katie hung her head in shame and stared down at her lap trying not to cry.
Katie hadn’t been watching Nick, but she looked up when she heard him searching through a drawer in the kitchen. Her eyes were like saucers and she watched in horror as the man she adored stood in the doorway with a determined look on his face, slowly smacking a long wooden spoon against his open palm. Katie thought miserably it was just her luck that her beautiful apartment in the sky would be equipped with its own spanking spoon.
Walking to where she was sitting, Nick took her by the arm and pulled the young girl out of the chair, before turning it to face the room and sitting down himself. He stood Katie between his legs to keep her still while he explained exactly why she found herself in her current predicament.
All too soon, Katie found herself lying over her lover’s knee, face to face with the fancy carpet. She was just where Nick had promised she would be, if she chose to misbehave again. Katie had been warned, and once again she had impulsively ignored the warning. With no further notice, Katie felt her pajama bottoms yanked down to her knees.
Struggling uselessly against the firm hold of the stronger man, Katie suddenly remembered that they were surrounded by fellow guests occupying rooms on either side as well as above and below. Katie’s magical apartment in the sky no longer seemed so wonderful. “Wait, Nick!” she called out, looking back over her shoulder at the man about to blister her butt. “The neighbors. They are going to hear!”
Shaking his head at her obvious attempt to stall the inevitable, Nick reached down to rub his girl’s soon to be blazing bottom. “What’s your point, honey?”
“My point is I don’t want everyone around us to know I’m getting a spanking!” Katie cried out.
“Well, sweetheart, that is something you should have considered before you broke just about every rule in the book,” Nick replied calmly.
“But Nick,” she cried, trying again to avoid the inevitable. “What if someone calls down to the front desk and they send someone up here?”
“Well then, honey, I guess that handsome bellhop who brought up our bags will have a sad story to tell the other boys about a very naughty girl with a bright red backside doing a spanking dance in her suite on the twentieth floor.” Nick was tired of fooling around and ready to take care of his unruly girl.
Suddenly, Katie was crying out loudly as Nick began to spank her hard and fast with his firm, calloused hand. The kicking and yelling did Katie no good at all. Truly sorry for her behavior, she could do nothing but wail in protest, as the man she depended on for everything, scorched her little butt. Katie lay across the older man’s knees bawling like a baby and promising never to do another naughty thing in her life.
Nick gently rubbed her red-hot bottom. It hurt his heart to hear his girl sobbing and he hated knowing that he was the one causing her pain. Reaching for the dreaded spanking spoon, Nick told himself that this was for Katie’s own good. He would not have her lying to him and putting herself into dangerous situations with random boys. If it took paddling her bare butt until it glowed in the dark to curb his girl’s reckless streak, then that’s exactly what Nick intended to do. Steeling himself, he lifted Katie up at the waist and tipped her forward so that her red fanny was sticking up high.
Realizing what was about to happen, Katie began to kick out wildly in all directions. She was trapped. Forced to cling to her man’s leg for support, she was unable to cover her bare butt which was hanging vulnerably in mid-air. Katie knew from painful experience that her already pink heinie was soon to be bright red and blazing hot.
“Katie, you know I love you more than anything in the world. The next time you decide it might be a good idea to sneak behind my back and put yourself in danger, I suggest you remember how you are feeling right now, and ask yourself if breaking the rules is worth the consequences. Tonight, you put yourself at risk and you almost caused that boy to lose his job. You acted like a spoiled, selfish brat and I am going to give you exactly what you deserve.” Nick had been gently rubbing his girl’s already warm, pink bottom to calm her down, before he gave her the paddling he knew that she needed.
“No! Nick don’t!” she screeched in horror, looking back over her shoulder at the wooden spoon in his hand. “I’m sorry! I swear I’ll never do this again!”
“Honey, being sorry doesn’t change what you did. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but I’m doing this for your own good,” he responded.
The next thing Katie heard was the sickening smack of the wooden spoon against her bare bottom. She had forgotten how much it hurt to have the hard wood stinging her butt over and over. Within seconds, Katie had completely lost control. She was kicking her legs up and down like some crazed swimmer who was trapped in a bowl, pressed against the glass and unable to escape. Nick had his strong arm wrapped around her waist, holding her in place with her top half hanging down clinging to his leg and her bare ass pointed up. The experienced disciplinarian smacked her quickly twenty-one times. One swat for each year of her young life. It was just enough to sting like crazy and leave her fanny cherry red, but not hard enough to really hurt his girl or leave bruises. The older man knew that when this spanking was over, Katie would be a very sorry girl on her best behavior for the foreseeable future.
By the time the spanking finally ended, Katie was howling at the top of her lungs, unable to form coherent speech. As she hopped up and down holding her blazing bottom in both hands, tears of regret and catharsis streaked her red face. Her pajama bottoms and panties long abandoned, she danced shamelessly in front of the huge wall of windows, bare naked from the waist down. Katie no longer cared if the neighbors and every bellhop in the building heard her spanking. Right now, all she wanted was to be held by the man she adored. Katie needed him to take her into his safe arms and promise that she was forgiven. That he would always love her, and never abandon her, even when she was sassy and bratty and downright bad.
Katie turned away from her view of the sparkling city lights, searching for the dark green eyes of her prince and protector. She found that while she was hopping around like some silly cartoon mouse who sat on a hot stove and found its little rump on fire, Nick had moved from his seat on her former naughty chair to the big cushy loveseat across from the fireplace. He had been watching her spanking dance and shaking his head, wondering if his girl would ever learn to think of the consequences before rushing full speed into trouble.
Catching sight of her red, puffy eyes and tear-streaked face, Nick opened his arms to his sad little wild child still remorsefully rubbing her sore bottom. “Come here, sweetheart,” he said gently, spreading his arms as invitation.
She did not need to be asked twice. Katie rushed across the room and stood between her guardian lover’s legs and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Holding on for dear life, the young girl cried softly into the strong shoulder of the man she loved. “I’m so sorry, Nick. Please don’t be mad. I love you, and I’m sorry I ruined our vacation,” Katie sobbed out apologies.
Nick chuckled softly at her youthful insecurity. “Shh, Katie,” he whispered. He gently rubbed her back and bottom. “Everything is fine, baby. I want you to calm down.”
“But, I’m so sorry,” she continued. “Really, I mean it, Nick.”
Pulling back slightly so that he could see her face, Nick held the younger woman’s arms and stood her up in front of him. He reached over to grab a box of tissues from an end table and proceeded to wipe his girl’s wet face. Aware of her fears and insecurities, and knowing that she was always vulnerable after a spanking,
the former soldier talked to Katie as if she were a frightened child. “Honey, I want you to take a breath and listen to me, okay?” he started softly.
When Katie took a deep breath and nodded, he smiled gently and continued. “I am not mad at you. I promise, I’m not.”
When Katie started to protest, Nick put his finger against her lips to stop her interrupting. “Honey, I mean it. I’m not mad. You were naughty, and I punished you for your behavior. Now, it’s over. And we are not going to worry about it anymore.”
Reaching over to pull the young woman into his lap, Nick continued to comfort and calm her fears. “And I don’t know what you are even talking about. You did not ruin our vacation. I don’t know about you, but I have had the best week ever.” He paused to tuck the loose hair behind her ear and kiss the top of her dark head. “You know the only thing I love, more than ice skating and singing waiters, is shopping for shoes,” he teased.
Katie snorted out a laugh and flung her arms around this man who had become her whole world. “I love you so much, Nick. I really do.”
Nick tucked his girl tight against his chest and continued to stroke her back softly. “Well, that’s good to know, sweetie. Because I love you too. And I will never leave you or let anything bad happen to you. I promise.” Nick held his girl in his arms, rocking and humming softly in her ear until she fell asleep. When he knew she was out for the night, he carried her back to their bed and climbed in behind her. The two lovers spent their last night in the city sleeping deeply, wrapped in each other’s arms.
The next morning, Nick woke early as usual. Years out of the army and he still found himself on military time. He made a call home to Rolling Hills and talked briefly with his best friend and partner, giving him the details of the successful meeting out in Connecticut. Nick shook his head, thinking that it seemed like more than one day had passed, since the drive out to meet with the grandfather looking to buy ponies. He laughed to himself that just a year ago, no one could have convinced the confirmed loner in him that he would allow an impetuous twenty-year-old waitress to take over his world. But somehow, it was true that Katie was exactly who he needed to make his life complete.
