“How come you always wanna talk when it’s stuff about me.”
“I want to know everything about you,” he told her. “More I know, better I can take care of you. And baby, that’s what I was put on this Earth to do.”
She sniffled. “Damn. Just when I didn’t think you could get any sweeter.”
He snorted. She fidgeted on his lap.
“Talk. Now.” And there was her bossy ogre again. The honey voice was gone. In its place was firm steel.
She wasn’t getting out of this.
“I’m weird. The Silvers don’t do weird. The Silvers are the epitome of social breeding. The Silvers don’t fall over their own feet. Or spill food while eating. Or snort while laughing.”
“I think that snort is cute.”
“A Silvers is never less than perfect,” she said in a voice that imitated her mother.
“Those fucking assholes. Listen to me.” He raised her chin up. “Imagine if we all had no flaws, nothing that made us different? Am I perfect?”
“Umm.”
He grinned. “Honesty.”
“No.”
“No, I’m not. I don’t give a fuck. Am who I am. Abrupt, sometimes brutally honest, don’t care much about social niceties. Do I embarrass you?”
“No! Never. You’re loyal and smart and I kind of like how honest you are. I never have to worry about what you’re thinking or saying behind my back.”
“You are smart, kind, talented and beautiful. They couldn’t see all that then that’s on them. So you stumble and snort when you laugh? Who are they to say that’s a fucking flaw?”
She cupped his cheek with her hand. “You’re a special kind of guy, Bain Grady.”
“Heard that before.”
“I mean it. Can’t believe you’re here. That you want me.”
“Feel the same fucking way about you.” He leaned his forehead on hers. “You’re not getting rid of me easily. I warned you. Once I’m in, I’m all the way in. You don’t have to be perfect for me.”
She sighed.
“Give me all of you. Not going to be annoyed or get sick of you or expect you to behave in a certain way. Know you’ve been holding back on me.”
“You do?”
“Seen you pull back a few times when you’re Little. Usually right before I’m about to hand down some discipline. Just be yourself, angel. Don’t want who you think you should be. I want the real Ari. Because she’s amazing and kind and worth far more than she could ever imagine.”
17
“Oh drat! I’m so stupid! Why can’t I do this?”
“Arianna, that’s enough.”
She heard Bain call out a warning in a low voice. But she ignored him. This was a child’s crossword. It should be easy. Why couldn’t she get it? She was procrastinating. She knew she should ask Bain for her phone back. There had to be messages and emails she needed to deal with.
But instead, she was trying to figure out this stupid game that even children could do.
“Urgh!” She thumped the crossword down on the floor where she was sitting. “I’m such a moron!”
“Enough.” Bain rose from his seat then walked over and grabbed hold of her around the waist, pulling her onto her feet.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He sat on the sofa then drew her over his lap.
“Daddy?” she asked.
“What’s your rule about putting yourself down?”
“I’m not allowed to say bad things about myself. But I wasn’t!”
“Heard you call yourself stupid and a moron.”
“But you didn’t give me any warnings! Shouldn’t you give warnings?”
“Gave you one warning. From now on, that’s all you’re getting, little miss. You should already know not to call yourself names. I’m going to pull your pants and panties down because this is a serious transgression. Understand me?”
To her mortification, he tugged off her pants and underwear. This was the first time she was going to be partially naked around him. And she was not expecting it to be like this.
“Want me to hold your hands?” he asked.
“No! Daddy, don’t spank me!”
“Sorry, baby. Putting yourself down isn’t acceptable. Ever.” He smacked his hand down on her bottom. “Don’t want to hear you speak about yourself like that again.”
Smack! Smack!
“My girl does not call herself a moron.”
Ouch.
Smack! Smack!
“Or stupid.”
Smack! Smack!
Ow. That hurt!
“If she gets frustrated, then she can ask her Daddy for help.”
Two more smacks. By now her backside was throbbing. And this was just from his hand! What would it feel like if he was to use something else on her poor bottom?
He stopped, rubbing her butt.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said, guessing that was the end of it. Thank God! That was awful.
“Glad to hear that, baby girl. How are you doing?”
“I’m sore! That was horrible!”
She tried to push herself off his lap. But he kept a heavy hand on the small of her back, keeping her in place. “Stay there, angel.”
“But. . .but. . .isn’t that the end?”
“No, afraid not. Just paused to check in on you since this is your first spanking. This is in no way the end. If it’s too much for you in one go, we can finish up tonight before bed.”
Wait for the rest? That sounded even worse than taking it all once.
“I don’t want any more!”
“Of course, you don’t,” he soothed. “This is punishment. It shouldn’t be easy.”
It certainly wasn’t that. He rubbed her cheeks again. “Continue or wait?”
“Continue on.” She sniffled. Waiting would be awful. At least now he might feel slightly tired. If she gave him until tonight, then he’d probably regain some energy.
His hand landed again without warning. Over and over until she was kicking her feet, her cries so loud she had no doubts that Dominic could probably hear them.
Which made it all even more embarrassing.
“D-daddy, no! Please!”
“Sorry this first punishment has to be such a strict one, angel. But you were very naughty.”
Shit. Shit.
Tears flooded down her face, dripping on the wooden floor. Her bottom was hot and throbbing painfully. Sobs racked her body, making it hard to catch her breath.
She vowed to never, ever say another bad word about herself again.
Then the spanks slowed, and he stopped, laying his hand on her lower thighs. Thank God, because she didn’t want anything touching her backside. Ever. Again.
Bain let out a small chuckle. “That’s a shame. I’m quite fond of touching this bottom. It’s so cute.”
“It hurts!” Whoops. She hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud.
“Good. It was meant to. I never want to hear such words coming from your mouth again, understand me?”
“Y-yes, Daddy.”
“Good girl.” He turned her over then lay on his back on the couch with her sprawled over him on her stomach. She continued to quietly sob as his hands rubbed up and down her back, careful not to touch her hot butt cheeks.
“Cry it out. You’ll feel better if you get it all out. That’s my good girl.”
“That. . .that was m-mean.”
“I wasn’t being mean. I was correcting you for saying terrible things about my girl. Who is certainly not stupid or a moron.”
She sobbed in another breath before rubbing her face against him. There, that was better.
“Did you just wipe your face on my shirt?” he asked
“Yes.” He deserved it. He’d caused the tears after all.
His chest moved as he chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.” He went still.
She leaned up, resting her forearms on his chest so she could stare do
wn at him. “Daddy.”
He ran a hand over his face, looking sheepish. Okay, now she really had to know.
“When we first came here, you seemed so untouchable. An ice princess. Like you’d never even have a snotty nose let alone wipe it on my shirt.”
“I didn’t wipe my snotty nose on your shirt!” she protested. “It was my tears.”
He grinned at her.
“I’m not an ice princess. I’m just not very good at meeting new people. I’m awkward. And you’re gorgeous and intimidating and I didn’t really know what to say to you. I was scared of saying something weird.”
“I know. You’re my quiet, sweet princess.” He leaned up and kissed her nose. “Now that you’ve calmed down, it’s corner time.”
“What?” She gaped at him. “But you just punished me.”
“I also want you to stand in the corner and think over all the—”
A knock on the door interrupted him and she gasped, trying to reach back to cover her bottom with her hands.
“It’s okay. He won’t come in.”
“Bain?” Dominic called out.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, man. But I need you to come out here. We’ve got visitors.”
Bain helped her stand and pull on her panties and pants. Ouch. She was going to have to start wearing skirts if he was planning on spanking her often.
Funny thing was, as painful as it was, she actually felt a bit lighter. He didn’t like her calling herself names. He really did think she was special.
“Who do you think it is?” she asked. She never had visitors.
“I don’t know, but I want you to stay behind me until I give you permission to move.”
Permission? Seriously?
She just shook her head at him as he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor with a nod at Dominic. “Who is it?”
“Ahh, well, it’s Caleb Pierce and a couple of other guys. They were entering the building when I was coming in, so I brought them up with—”
“Arianna!” Bain snapped as she flew past him. But she ignored him in a rush to see her best friend. She raced around the corner and opened the door, throwing herself at the big man standing in the foyer. He caught her, turning in a circle with her held tight against him.
Caleb was tall, just a few inches shorter than Bain but not nearly as wide. He had white-blond hair and a fair complexion. He was her best friend, pretty much her only friend growing up, and she’d missed him so much. She sunk into his embrace.
“Arianna!” Bain growled. “What do you think you’re doing!”
She turned her head. “It’s all right. I know these guys. It’s just Caleb.”
“Just Caleb?” the man in question asked.
She smiled up at him then kissed his cheek, ignoring the rumbling noise from the big man behind her.
“Hey, what about the rest of us? Got some sugar for us?” Aleki asked, stepping forward. She leaned out of Caleb’s embrace and Aleki caught her easily.
Aleki’s mother was Samoan and he had black hair that curled when he let it grow and cocoa-colored skin. A big, tribal tattoo wound its way from his hand up his arm. He was the shortest of the three, but the most muscular. And he always had a grin on his face.
Wolfe stepped forward. He was quieter. More thoughtful than the other two. He always made her feel calm and centered. She entered his embrace, and just breathed him in. With his glasses, lean build and messy, blue-black hair people often underestimated him. But that’s the way he liked it. The man could move like a ghost when he needed to.
“So, Arianna,” Caleb said, turning her back to him. “Want to explain why you haven’t been answering my messages? Why there’s a big dude glaring daggers at us? And why the hell you’ve been crying?”
Bain was livid.
About to breathe fire, livid.
And it was all aimed at the three men who were daring to touch his woman. Caleb actually pulled her behind his back while the other two moved in to surround her.
“Easy, man, calm down,” Dominic told him. “They’re Ari’s friends. Caleb knows Kent, remember?”
“Someone better fucking explain to me what is going on,” Caleb demanded. “We’ve been trying to get hold of Ari for days. We’ve been traveling for over twenty hours. I’m on a very short fuse and getting here to find she’s been crying; the match is about to be lit.”
“I don’t fucking care,” Bain snapped back. “Hand her over now.”
“It really would be best if you let Arianna out before he explodes,” Dominic said calmly.
“Aleki, let me go. You guys all need to calm down. I’m sorry I worried you. It was inexcusable of me. I just needed a break, but I should have called you. I’m so sorry. And now you’ve made a long journey for no reason. I feel terrible.”
“It’s okay, Ari,” Caleb told her soothingly. “Calm down, sweetheart. We’re not mad at you. I’ve never known you not to answer the phone, so yeah, we were freaked. But I’m guessing there’s a reason you didn’t have your phone on.”
“I took her phone and laptop,” Bain told him. “She was stressed. She needed a break. Let her go. Now.”
“No. The two of you can now leave. You’ve done the job I hired you to do but we’re here now. We’ll take care of Arianna.”
“Over my dead fucking body,” Bain snarled, taking a step forward, his hands clenching into fists.
“All of you stop it!”
It was obvious Arianna was getting more upset, which just fueled his anger. But then the dark-skinned guy let out a small grunt.
“Ouch, Ari, what’d you kick me for?”
“Out of the way!” She slid past him, but Caleb grabbed her as she went to go past him.
“Let her go!” Bain yelled.
“Bain! Stop!” she snapped at him. Then she turned to Caleb. “And you stop too!”
“You wouldn’t turn off your phone unless they made you. And you’ve been crying! You never cry!”
“I was crying because. . .” she paused and took a deep breath. “Bain spanked me, okay?”
“What?” Caleb roared, stepping forward.
“He’s my Daddy!” she yelled out before he could reach Bain.
Caleb froze. “What?”
He turned towards Arianna. She pressed her hands to her cheeks with a groan. “I can’t believe this is happening. You wanted me to find a Daddy Dom? Well, I did.”
“Him?” Caleb gestured to Bain.
“He’s a good guy, Caleb.”
“What was he spanking you for?” Aleki demanded to know.
“Do we have to talk about that?” she asked.
“Yep,” Caleb drawled, crossing his arms over his chest.
Bain stared back at him. “She was putting herself down. Calling herself unacceptable names.”
Caleb continued to stare at him, then to Bain’s shock, he stretched his arms above his head with a yawn. “Yeah, she does that. What happens when you grow up with her fucking pitiful excuse for a family.”
“Caleb,” Arianna protested.
The other men all started to relax. Caleb walked over to him, holding his hand out. Bain scowled down at it but shook it.
“Just so you know, I’m still gonna be calling Kent for information on you both. You hurt her, at all, and we will hunt you down and make your life hell. It won’t be a quick kill. It will be torture. For years.”
“Caleb!” she said, looking horrified.
But Bain just grinned. “We’re gonna get on just fine.”
She couldn’t believe that they were all basically best friends now. They seemed to have bonded over their shared beliefs about her. And her tendency to misbehave.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want them to get along. It was just that after that little performance earlier; she hadn’t expected them to do a one-eighty.
Now they were all gathered around the kitchen counter while Bain fixed them all some food, because apparently there was a game coming on so
on.
“So, anyone want to tell me what’s going on with these letters Ari has been getting? And why the fuck did Larry give a press conference on them?” Caleb asked. “Who thought that was a good idea?”
“He did it without consulting us,” Bain growled. “Fucking prick. Never even told us about the other letter before he did it.”
“I hope you damn well fired him, Ari,” Caleb said to her. Before she could answer, though, he turned back to Bain. “I’ve never liked that asshole. Her parents hired him. So that they could control him and Ari.”
Bain frowned at that piece of information.
“He’s good at his job, Caleb.”
This was an old argument.
“He’s not good for you, Ari,” Caleb insisted. “He pushes you too hard.”
“That’s the industry.”
“Yeah? So it’s normal to collapse after doing ten concerts in less than three weeks across five different states? You were dehydrated, you hadn’t been eating properly and you were completely exhausted. You spent five days in the hospital, Ari.”
“What?” Bain barked. “When was this?”
“Last year.” Caleb took a sip of beer. “Larry pushed for that many concerts. And Ari, not wanting to let him or her fans down, drove herself to breaking point.”
“That won’t happen again,” Bain growled.
Caleb smiled, looking entirely too smug. Bastard did that on purpose. She glared at him before kicking him in the leg.
“What! Ari, that wasn’t very nice. You shouldn’t kick people. Especially when they’ve flown halfway across the world, terrified out of their minds that something has happened to their best friend, only to find she’s holed up with her new man and getting her ass spanked for being naughty.”
Her face flamed hot even as guilt filled her. “I’m sorry. Really. I feel terrible.”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Bain told Caleb, giving the other man a look.
It was, though. She should have realized Caleb and the others would be worried about her. It was inexcusable.
Aleki placed his arm around her shoulders, ignoring Bain’s possessive glower.
“Don’t let him fool you. Truth is, Kassim has been dying for an excuse to visit the states. He got himself a new private jet. More lux than any five-star hotel you’ve been in. He was only too happy to fly us over here.”
Daddy's Angel (Montana Daddies Book 7) Page 15
