“Lie,” he corrected.
I looked down. “I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up, I promise.”
“Why didn’t you just call me and tell me? I would have sent replacements for you.” His voice was low and he was clearly disappointed in me.
“I didn’t want to ruin your gig either.”
“That, my dear, I don’t buy a bit. I do understand not bothering Jace for that reason, but this was different. You’re going to have to tell him.”
“Oh God, no. Please don’t make me. I’m begging you,” I pleaded, tears coming.
Mark shook his head. “Sorry, Baby Girl, but he needs to know. What are you so afraid of, anyway?”
“The bare bottom paddling she’s going to get,” Jace firmly announced as he approached us and looked down at my reddening face.
Mark nodded grimly. “Can’t say I blame her. Or you. She deserves it. How much did you hear?”
“Just about the assignment. There’s more?”
“Mark, you know darn well that I am way too old to be spanked like a little kid! Come on, be serious,” I begged, clutching his hand.
Mark shrugged. “Can’t agree there. I have a nineteen-year-old sister who still finds her way over my dad’s knee and it works wonders every single time she is in need of an attitude adjustment.”
Jace sat on the recliner, looking at me sternly and drumming his fingers. Without further encouragement, I told him everything… that is, everything about Kandace, the cigarettes, her friends, and her failure to show up or return my assignments. I ended my discourse with the emphasis of how I desired to prove my ability to care for myself and not distract him from his work. He listened quietly before picking up the phone.
“Kandace, its Jace….” I held my breath as he pounded her with question after question, his face growing darker the longer she spoke. He finally hung up and glanced at Mark’s amused expression, before turning to me. “She admits to the smoking but said she caught you doing it too.”
“I didn’t, I swear. It’s nasty and stinks, and her friend burned the couch. You know that I have never, ever smoked.”
“She also said you threatened her with the security cameras.”
“That is true. You can see what she did.”
“Oh, I’m going to, don’t you worry. Mark? I have a suggestion,” Jace said warily as his stood up.
“Yeah, J?”
“Why don’t you take care of the assignment issue while I go and check on our little girl’s story. I had the tapes running from the minute I left home. I’m not in the mood to deal with anymore lies today and want to see for myself.”
My heart stopped, realizing he would see the puppy mess. Think quick…
“Jace, I can tell you exactly what date and time it happened so you don’t have to waste time looking. I called her right after she left from my cell phone.”
“Okay, I’ll check it out. Mark, what do you think?”
“It depends on what you're planning to dish out. A school-related problem should occur in school.”
Jace nodded in agreement. “Very well, you are the Headmaster in this situation. I leave this to your decision. I will be right back.”
I hung my head in nervous anticipation. Would Mark take pity on me?
“Celeste? Pay attention, I’m speaking to you.”
“I’m sorry, Mark. What did you say?”
“I asked you if you feel you deserve to be punished for not doing your assignments and lying to me about it.”
“Yes sir,” I whispered.
Mark sighed deeply. “I am so disappointed in you. I don’t know what I’m going to do. We’ll wait until Jace returns and talk with him.”
So we sat silently, awaiting my doom for a good hour before Jace reemerged from his office. “Very interesting findings, Mark. First, I will say that our girl was telling the truth about Kandace and her friends. And yes, Kandace did pick up the folder under her bag.”
“See, I told you…”
“And, prior to her coming over, there was a puppy party in which all three of our little ones got into some mischief that the two-legged one tried to cover up. Care to explain, Miss?”
I sunk into the couch and told them everything, even how I thought the cigarette burn could be blamed for the hole in the couch. When I finished, there was silence. Mark looked at Jace’s face. “J? Maybe I should go home now.”
“Up to you, Buddy. I’m sure you will be witness to this once you move in.” Jace’s face was clouded.
“Would you rather I stay or go? I’m okay either way.”
Jace hadn’t taken his eyes off me for a moment. “You’re a member of this family now. Stay, please.”
I was horrified. What was wrong with these men?!
“Celeste,” Jace’s deep voice was cold, “You are to go into my bedroom and look in the top dresser drawer on the left. Bring me the hairbrush.”
I, once again, froze in place. My feet wouldn’t move.
Jace lifted an eyebrow. “You either do it by the count of three or you will also gather what’s in my second drawer. One- Two—”
I ran up the stairs and down the hall to his room… the very place where I had sought comfort for my loneliness. The second drawer? After picking up the dark wood lethal-looking hairbrush, I peeked. There were canes, a wide strap and several paddles in there! He had a whole arsenal of torture devices!
Meanwhile, Mark was questioning Jace’s reference to the second drawer and was met by a laugh and an admission of collecting implements for discipline to keep his girlfriends out of trouble. “I find that a good spanking is a lot healthier than fighting,” Jace chuckled.
Mark added his own hearty laugh. “No wonder we get along so well. I do too. Nothing brings on good behavior like a warmed bottom. Speaking of which, here is our little delinquent. Oooh, that’s a nasty-looking brush you have there, Miss Celeste,” he teased.
Embarrassed and humiliated, I foolishly spouted the first thing that popped into my mind, “Fuck you.”
Oh my God… did that come out of my mouth?
Mark raised his eyebrow and tilted his head while Jace simmered. “Care to rephrase, Young Lady? This is not a school-related offense.”
Stupid, stubborn, scared; call it what you want, but nothing escaped my lips. Not an apology, an excuse, an admission of temporary insanity. Not that anything would help me now. I just hung my head shamefully, truly despising myself for how disrespectfully I was treating Mark, who I loved almost as much as Jace.
“Mark, if you like, feel free to check out the second drawer,” Jace said hotly.
Mark considered it. “If you don’t mind, I think that hairbrush will do quite nicely since it brought about such an admirable response to my person.” He held out his hand to me, a severe look on his face.
Terrified, I silently offered the brush to him, trembling as he gently removed it from my hand.
He stroked the smooth wood with his left hand before slapping his palm twice with it. “Hmm, nice equipment, J. Quality stuff. Okay, you; over my knee and be quick about it.”
I felt my heart skip as I scrambled to obey, unaccustomed to this stern and commanding side of my teacher. I reassured myself that, after having experienced Jace’s hand, nothing could ever be that bad and that this little interaction would be easy to deal with.
Mark rested the brush over my jeans. “Ordinarily, I would not allow you this protection; however, seeing that you will be receiving quite a lot of attention to the bare portion of this bottom this evening, I will give this reprieve. However, let it be known that it will be the absolute last time I let anything in the way of your punishment. Am I clearly understood, Miss?”
I groaned, realizing that life as I knew it was over now that I had both of them watching my every move. He tapped my bottom with the brush. “I am to hear a ‘yes, sir’ out of you from now on, Celeste. And no eye-rolling.”
“Yes, sir,” I whimpered, unprepared for the loud CRACK that echoed against the livin
g room walls, or the sharp, grueling bite of pain that shot straight through my bottom. “OW!” I howled, immediately attempting to escape.
Mark captured my hands behind my back and smacked me a second, third, fourth and fifth time, turning me into a puddle of bawling repentance. He paused for a moment. “You will receive one stroke for every letter in FUCK YOU. In fact, let’s have a spelling lesson. Spell it out for me.”
Sobbing, I spelled, “F—Owe! U—Stoppp! C—No more, please! K—Ooowwe! Y—I’m sorrrryyyy! O— I’m sorrryyy! U—I'm sooo sorry!” I blubbered, laying there pinned helplessly over Mark's lap.
He patted my back and slowly sat me up, placing the brush on the couch next to him to free both his arms to hold me against his chest. “I’m sure you won’t forget this little lesson for a while. No more name-calling.”
I could only cry weakly, knowing that my ordeal had only just begun.
“Celeste, go upstairs and get changed for bed, then come back down. You have ten minutes.” Jace ordered firmly.
Mumbling a “Yes, sir,” I went up as fast as my poor backside would allow.
Jace turned to Mark with a chuckle once I was out of sight. “I never considered that a drummer could be such an effective disciplinarian. Good work.”
Mark laughed, flexing a muscle. “Gotta keep ‘em strong to keep up with you, monster guitar player. I imagine your strumming arm is in similar condition.”
Jace nodded, looking at his watch.
Changing quickly out of my jeans, I winced as the material slipped passed my poor backside. Glancing in my mirror, I was shocked to see some small bruises forming. Bile rose in my throat. This had occurred over jeans! How could I have been so stupid?!
I glanced at the balcony, wondering if I could find a way to escape… No, Jace would only find me. He had promised never to let me go and he was, if anything, a man of his word.
“Celeste, two minutes!” Jace yelled.
I washed my face quickly, grabbed a box of tissues and unwillingly trudged back downstairs to face my doom. Anger washed over me as the two of them leaned casually back against the couch and chatted lightly. Jace turned to look at me and suddenly I felt so small, so helpless, and so hopeless!
“Okay, Baby, my turn. How does that bottom look?” Jace asked, reaching for my hand before brusquely flipping me across his lap. He slid down my panties and exposed every part of me to both his, and Mark’s, eyes.
He had told me once that humiliation was an effective deterrent and I truly believed him. Flooded with embarrassment, I hid my face in his leg and wished with all my might that I could just disappear from both of them.
His fingers slowly traced the bruises along my bottom, touching me with practiced familiarity and causing me to wince. “Hmm, Mark did a good job, but I think I can do better.”
His heavy hand lifted and then fell with the loudest POP I had ever heard, followed by a scream that seemed to slip from my own lungs. Time became a blur and he scorched me with smack after smack, never once breaking the tempo he set for himself.
After the longest five minutes of my life, he paused to let me catch my breath and proudly showed Mark the color of my bottom, adding to the indignity of my situation and reinforcing my promise to myself to do my best to avoid ever being in this position again.
Mark humorously remarked that it only looked half-cooked and Jace, now having a co-conspirator, agreed. He picked up the hairbrush and rested it against my hot, bruised flesh.
“Twenty with the hairbrush and then you're done, Baby. You must promise to never lie or hide anything from either of us. We’re a family and have no secrets from each other, and we need to face the consequences of our mistakes together. Understand?” Jace said softly but firmly.
I could only nod, waiting for the inevitable. It came. Slow and methodical, Jace made sure that my bottom savored every stroke that fell upon it. Lost in shrouds of pain, foggy numbness began to seep over me. It was like my mind and body were in two different places. It was almost, I hesitate to say, pleasurable.
Oh Lord, what was wrong with me? Was I one of those masochists? It frightened me, that lack of control I felt over my body. I didn’t realize that Jace had stopped until I heard Mark’s whistle.
“Oh, Sweetie, you will not be sitting tomorrow,” Jace commented, sliding to the floor and holding me close like he always did after he punished me. “Would you please not lie to me again? I need to be able to trust you. It wouldn’t have been this bad had you just told us the truth. Please, promise me, no more lying or cover-ups.” He truly sounded miserable, making me break into a new tidal wave of tears.
“I promise.” I mumbled, burying my face in his neck. “Jace? I love you. I’m sorry I hurt you like this. Please forgive me.”
“You are forgiven, Hon, completely.” Jace glanced over at Mark, who nodded unhappily. “I think Mark agrees too.”
Mark came to sit next to us on the floor, stroking my arm and squeezing my hand before lifting it to kiss the back of it. “No visit to the Headmaster on Monday. You will have detention every day, however, until those assignments are completed and on my desk. Deal?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Do you think you are going to survive with another mean old man in the house?” Jace asked gently, his lips on my forehead.
I nodded, squeezing Mark’s hand back. “I think I can get used to having two people around who love me. I’ve never had this before. It’s hard to adjust to,” I admitted. I smiled as the little devil inside spoke up. “But having Mark here will almost be like having a mother around, too. Owe!” I squealed as Mark playfully pinched my thigh.
“Be nice, Brat. And, truth be told, I miss my sister and my family. I’m alone here in California, so this would be good for me too. I hope I don’t bug you too much, J.”
“Not worried in the least bit. I don’t have to hide anything from you now. Plus, I have a live in babysitter when I go out.”
“What about me going out? I have a social life, you know…”
I snuggled into Jace’s arms and held Mark’s hand to my cheek, seeing how lucky I was. Now, with two strong protectors, nothing and no one could ever hurt me. That is, with the exception of my bottom. I was confused, though, about what had happened at that point when everything blurred and became numb. I knew it would be something I would have to talk to Jace about, but now was certainly not the time.
Chapter Four
Summertime
Jace was terribly wrong when he predicted that my sitting privileges would be suspended the next day following our unpleasant “talk” after the Vegas gig. It was actually two days, with a lot of tenderness for several days after that. Mark pretended like nothing had happened, although I did catch him smirking at me when I had to use a pillow to sit on during class.
Jace was back to his typical self, being a tease and doing anything he could muster to elicit a reaction out of me. I truly adored that side of him, even though he would pester me relentlessly. The two men were quickly becoming my best friends and filled a void that we each had, and I was content and finally finding some peace.
It had also been over a month since I’d gotten myself into any serious trouble. There were a few minor incidents, such as forgetting to do my homework because I was watching TV. That earned me a short trip across Mark’s lap and, as he promised, he left nothing to protect my bare bottom as he practiced a drum solo on my backside. The remainder of class that day was not comfortable. Thankfully, he did not feel the need to tell Jace. Hey, for me, this was doing well. But, alas, all good things come to an end…
“Mark? Do we get a summer vacation? It’s June.” It was warm and sunny outside, the marine layer had burned off, and I didn’t want to be stuck within the stifling confines of the office.
Mark looked up from the desk and took off his glasses. “I’ll speak with Jace about it. Frankly, I don’t like extended vacation time. You forget too many things, plus it gives you more opportunity to find trouble.”
“Bu
t I’ve be so good lately!” I argued. “Can we have class outside at least?”
“No. Get back to your work.”
“How about shorter days?”
Mark looked at me again with the expression that warned me to not push him any further. Muttering under my breath, I returned to the boring assignment of sentence reconstruction. Unable to focus, I doodled in the margins, not paying attention to the shadow over my head.
Whack! A ruler landed on the desk in front of me, jarring me out of my daze. I wisely took that as my final warning and went back to work.
“I will be right back. Don’t stall, you’re almost done,” Mark said, leaving the office. I finished the assignment then retreated to the courtyard for some fresh air. Mark and Jace came in shortly thereafter.
“What’s this about taking a vacation?” Jace asked, leaning on the edge of the big desk and watching me return to my seat.
“I’m bored. Please, even a week of no school would be great.”
“No can do; you're too far behind right now. You missed almost a year transitioning between the unit, homes, expulsion and coming here. Not to mention our little tutor delay,” Jace answered.
Mark nodded. “I agree. I would like to have you back on track by September. I didn’t know if you wanted to consider private schools?” he asked Jace.
“I need to think about it. I’m inclined to continue this way for a while yet. I want to make sure we have no repeats of previous problems with the school system.” That was a very tactful way of saying that he didn’t want me to try to set another school on fire or beat up cheerleaders.
Mark shook his head. “I disagree. She needs to be around kids her own age. It’s necessary for socialization skills. Ones you have not mastered, My Love,” he said gently to me.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?!” I snapped, standing quickly.
Mark frowned. “Sit down. No, I am trying to help Jace decide which is healthiest for you. Being around two adults all the time isn’t good. You need to learn how to get along with your peers. You have had a little difficulty with that in the past, remember?”
Guardian Domination Page 4
