Page 65 of Daddy's Laws

“Still, I should have been more careful with you.” His gaze roamed her face, searching for something, although she wasn’t sure exactly what. “Will you tell me about it?”

Fear clawed at her chest, sending her heart racing. “I want to,” she said softly. “But I don’t know if I can.”

“What can I do, baby?”

The answer came to her with sudden clarity, but it took several tries for her to force the words past her lips. “I think I need a spanking.”

CHAPTER22

The denial sprang instantly to his tongue, but Bryant held it back. If this was what she felt she needed in order to process the nightmare, was it really his place to refuse her?

“Are you sure?” he asked, watching her carefully. She was still far too wan for his liking, and a part of him just wanted to tuck her back into bed and hold her until she fell asleep again. Hopefully, without the nightmare this time.

“Yes.” Lowering her gaze to her lap, she twisted the hem of her dress around her fingers. “I can’t explain it. But I think I need this.” She lifted her head again, giving him a look so filled with misery it nearly broke his heart. “Please, Daddy.”

The quiet plea broke down the last of his resistance. “All right, princess. Come here.”

She practically threw herself across his lap and he shifted to the side a bit so her torso could rest comfortably on the couch. Lifting the hem of her dress, he took a moment to appreciate the sight of her perfect, firm ass encased in the tiny bikini. He cupped one cheek, amazed by the way it seemed to fit in his hand as if she’d been designed to be his perfect match.

Or perhaps he’d been the one designed for her. Built to protect her, to correct her, to love her the way only he could. He wanted to tell her, but this moment was about her and her needs. What he felt, what he wanted, could wait.

“This is going to hurt, baby. But I want you to know that I am not angry with you, and you are not in trouble at all. This is all about giving you what you need, so if it becomes too much, I expect you to tell me. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.” Head pillowed on her folded arms, eyes closed, she looked more peaceful than he’d ever seen her. Hopefully, she’d be even more so once they finished.

He allowed himself to linger a bit longer, cupping and kneading her bottom until she had all but melted over his lap. When she was completely relaxed, he lifted his hand and brought it down against her bottom. Not hard enough to punish, but enough that she jerked a bit in response. A perfect pink handprint blossomed on her exposed skin, and he took a moment to trace the outline. She sighed softly, a small smile curving her lips.

Forcing himself to focus, he delivered a matching swat to the opposite cheek, earning him another little jump. It wasn’t long before he settled into a rhythm, steady and almost soothing, nothing like the rapid-fire spankings he was used to giving her when she’d earned a punishment. Other than a few whimpers and the occasional “Ow”, she took her spanking silently, barely moving as he warmed her bottom.

When the skin left bare by her bikini was a nice, uniform pink with a smattering of slightly darker spots from where his fingertips had landed, he paused to rub some of the sting out. “Ready to talk, baby?”

“Not really.”

“All right. Lift up.”

Uncharacteristically obedient, she raised her hips so he could slide the bikini bottoms down her long, lean legs, exposing the gorgeous pink the spanking had already left behind.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, stroking the warm skin. “I think I could spank you every day for a hundred years and never tire of watching your pretty little bottom turn pink under my hand.”

“Even when I’m all wrinkly and gross?”

“You will never be gross, princess. I can see us fifty, sixty years from now, shocking the nursing home attendants when they walk in and find you sprawled over Daddy’s lap just like this, getting your naughty bottom spanked to keep you in line. Knowing you, they’d probably thank me for it.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Of course, I do.” Ignoring the real meaning behind her words, he gave each of her cheeks a hard squeeze in turn. “Lord knows you’ll need someone to run herd on you, even then. Who knows what kind of havoc you’ll cause with nothing to do all day but make mischief?”

There was a long pause before she spoke again, so softly this time he almost didn’t hear her. “You want to grow old with me?”

The tremulous hope in her voice nearly broke him. Maybe it was the perfect time to tell her, after all. “Oh, princess. Haven’t you figured out you have my whole heart in your hands? I love you, and I want to build a life with you. I want to see your belly grow round with our children. I want to hold you when you cry at every little milestone. I want to walk our daughter down the aisle, to stand by our son as he vows to love someone his whole life just as I loved you. I want to spend every day for the rest of our lives learning to love you even better than I did the day before.”

Pushing up from the couch, she scrambled to sit up and straddle his thighs, her expression so serious it bordered on distressed. “You have to mean that, Bryant. You can’t say things like that if that’s not really how you feel.”

Oh, baby. Who hurt you?“I love you, Shannon Marie Wright, and I can’t imagine loving anyone else the way I love you. I meant every word and if I have to, I’ll paddle your ass every day for the rest of our lives until you believe it.”

Tears shimmered on her lashes as she closed her eyes, leaning forward to press her forehead to his. “I want to believe you. I want more than anything to believe every word of it.”

“Will you tell me why it’s so hard for you to believe?” It hadn’t escaped his notice that she hadn’t returned the words. But he could be patient when he needed to be. Some things were worth waiting for.

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