"Unhand me, you oaf!" I shouted again.
"Not a chance, darlin’. You were given every opportunity to eat the breakfast you were offered like a good little girl, but you chose to do other things."
"I hate green beans!" I shouted.
"It's all I have left," he snapped back. "I'm almost completely out of seeds, with no way to ever get more and no other food source, and I'm still trying to share what I have with you so you can get your strength up and get home!"
He sounded like he was mad at me for wanting to go home, and that frustrated me. I didn't know his story, but he had listened to mine with an open mind, and I knew it sounded crazy.
"Fine then! Spank me and force feed me green beans and send me on my way like you can't wait to do. Just get it over with, already!"
I heard his sputter of surprise, followed by his low growl. "Fine, then."
No other words were spoken, and the room fell completely silent, until the silence was broken by a loud crack of the spoon against my nightshirt-covered behind, followed by my cry of pain.
"Ooooowwww! Oh my god, that hurts like hell!" I shouted, throwing my hands back behind me in an attempt to shield myself from any further swats.
"It's a spanking. By definition, it's supposed to hurt," Todd informed me, nonplussed, moving my hands out of the way and pinning them to the middle of my back.
"Noooo," I wailed. "Stop. Please Stop. I'll eat the stupid green beans. I'll plug my nose; I'll swallow them whole."
"And you can do that," Todd conceded. "After you take your spanking."
Before I could protest any further, the stupid giant spoon bounced across my ass for a second time. The bowl of the spoon covered the entirety of my lower bottom cheek, which wasn't exactly small.
It took my breath away and before I could catch it, he spanked me again, and then again, in a hard and fast rhythm alternating from one cheek to the other.
"You will eat the food you are given," he commanded as the spoon peppered my ass with what felt like round welts. "Starving yourself is not an option. I am very sorry I don't have anything else to offer you, but you must eat. Refusing to eat is childish behavior and it will result in childish consequences. Do you understand?"
"Y-yes," I sniffled. His no nonsense lecture was getting to me in a way I hadn't expected. My whole life I had been constantly corrected, demeaned, belittled, and spoken down to, but I had never been treated like this. I had never been calmly but lovingly corrected and disciplined. I had never been scolded without being put down. Despite the pain, I liked it, and it was doing funny things to my insides, as well as my nether regions.
"You will eat your green bean mash like a good girl?" he questioned. "Every single bite?"
"Y-yes, I promise." I would have promised to eat snails at that point. Anything to get him to stop spanking me. I just wanted to cuddle in his arms and be hugged and told I was a good girl. I would eat anything to have that, just for a minute.
"If you don't, you'll be right back over my knee again, and I'll bare your bottom next time."
"No, you don't need to!" I wailed. "I'll eat them, I promise." Maybe later when I no longer hurt, I’d laugh at how ridiculously compliant I sounded. I had always wondered how Grayson managed to command obedience from Arianna with just the threat of a spanking. It had never sounded that bad to me. Now I knew better.
"Okay, little one, so long as you promise." Todd dropped the spoon and just like that, the spanking was over, much more quickly than it had begun.
I laid frozen over his knees, afraid to move. What if I got up, and it was just over? No hugs, no cuddles, no words of praise that I so desperately needed to hear… just green beans. Flavorless mushy green beans. That would be worse than the spanking itself.
After a minute, a large hand covered my bottom, rubbing gentle circles across the tender skin through my nightgown. It felt weird, but good, and I couldn't help but moan.
He stopped then, and large hands lifted me into bulky muscular arms as he cuddled me against his chest. "Good girl, Maren," he whispered.
I melted against him.
"I'm sorry, Daddy," I whispered. I couldn't help myself. It just felt right.
Chapter Four
I held her in my arms like one would hold a baby for a long time, until her tears stopped falling and her stomach growled.
"Okay, little one,” I said, setting her finally on her feet. "It's time to eat your breakfast. And because of your shenanigans, you're going to have to eat it cold."
"Yuck." She wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips in disgust. "Can’t you nuke it?"