“You know what would hurt more?” She takes aim at my sit spots and my howls of pain echo around the dining room. “The embarrassment your friends would have to endure if the world found out about this island. Not to mention what might have happened to your uncles. Trust me, little girl, you are getting off very easy.”
By the time she caps off my paddling with two hard swats to the tops of my thighs, I’m sniffling and whimpering at the ache in my bottom, tears pooling beneath my cheek on the table.
As much as it hurts, though, I know she’s right. A spanking, even one as long and painful as this, is a much lighter sentence than I deserve.
“Poor little thing,” she murmurs, brushing a lock of hair away from my tear-soaked face. “I’m all done. Auntie Cat forgives you, sweet girl.”
Pressing a kiss to my cheek, she returns to her seat and picks up her wine, sipping as I try to breathe through the pain in my scorched bottom.
“All right,” Daddy says from behind me. “Who’s next?”
Evander
It’s more difficult than I’d imagined, watching each of my brothers choose an implement to punish my naughty little kitten with. Perhaps because I’m not as in control of this spanking as I have been when Lucas has punished her in my stead, perhaps because my heart breaks with every cry they rip from her lips. Whatever the reason, it takes all my self-control not to step in as they each take their place behind her.
Maxwell chooses my belt, leaving six defined welts across my Little one’s backside before repeating Cat’s promises of forgiveness and absolution. Gideon, to my surprise, chooses the wooden spoon. I would have expected him to go for something with a bit more heft considering he had the most to lose if his secrets were revealed to the world.
Some people might be able to overlook Maxwell and Jasper’s blackmail. Outright kidnapping, however…
But it quickly becomes clear that even though he chose a lighter implement, he has no intention of going easy on my poor little kitten. By the time he finishes peppering her bottom with more swats than I can count, she is sobbing against the table, babbling promises of good behavior forever and ever, that none of us truly expect her to keep.
As soon as Gideon tells her she’s forgiven, I step in, scooping her up to cradle her in my arms as she cries.
“She needs a break,” I snap at Jasper when he raises his eyebrows in a clear question. “We can finish this in the morning.”
Well, later in the morning. After we’ve all had a good rest and her bottom has had a chance to heal.
“No!” Pushing away from my chest, Natalie shakes her head. “I don’t want to wait. I just w-want it over with so everyone can s-stop hating me.”
“Oh, kitten.” Again, my heart cracks in two at her words. “Nobody hates you.”
“Y-yes they do! And they should! I’m a horrible person!”
Her body shakes with the force of her sobs and it’s clear that she’s not crying so much from the pain in her bottom, but the ache in her heart. An ache that will only grow worse through the night if I don’t let her finish her punishment.
“All right, kitten. If you can calm down for me a bit, you can have the rest of your spankings.”
Curled into me, she drags in one deep breath, then another, until at last her sobs quiet to sniffles and she sits up on my lap, wincing slightly at the movement.
“Okay, Daddy. I’m ready.”
Though it kills me to do so, I help her back over the edge of the table. Jasper takes his place, and it’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him to choose something else when he picks up the large acrylic paddle.
But if I interfere now, Natalie won’t feel like she got the punishment she’s earned, and the guilt will eat her alive. So I force myself to stay quiet as Jasper delivers six surprisingly gentle swats to my babygirl’s red and welted bottom before dropping a kiss to her hair and murmuring something I can’t quite hear. Whatever he said though, it leaves a smile on my kitten’s face as he returns to his seat.
Stepping back up to the table, I run my hand over her heated flesh, soothing as much of the ache as I can. I meet Maxwell’s dark gaze and he nods slightly, encouraging me to continue.
“Okay, Victoria. Your turn.”
“What?” Natalie’s voice rises to a screech as she cranes her head around to look up at me. “You can’t be serious!”
From her spot on her Daddy’s lap, Victoria stares at me, her eyes round with surprise. “Me?” she squeaks out, looking around as though she might see another Victoria seated at the table with us.
“Yes, little thief. Natalie would have hurt you girls as well if she exposed us, so it’s only fair you get to punish her as well.”
“Oh, but… I’m not… I really think she’s had enough.”
“I don’t.” Sliding from her Daddy’s lap, Juliet scans the offerings on the table before reaching for the slim black cane. “I’ll take a couple whacks.”
