Ducking my head, I follow my Little one into the car. Once the door shuts behind us, I open my arms to her. “Come here, my love. Let Mommy hold you.”
With a quiet sob, she launches herself at me, burying her face in my neck. Wrapping my arms tightly around her, I rock her gently, quietly shushing her just as I would a fussy baby.
“Shh, baby. Mommy’s right here. You’re safe and loved and Mommy is going to make sure this never happens again.”
At my words, she whimpers softly, pressing herself even more tightly against me. “I’m s-sorry.”
“I know, baby. And I know you only ran away because your heart was hurting so very badly. Will you tell Mommy about it?”
“Will you promise not to be angry?”
A complicated question. “Mommy will never be angry at you for having big feelings,” I explain slowly, choosing my words as carefully as possible. “I am very angry that you put yourself in danger and that you took your locket off and that we wasted hours searching the woods for you. But you can always be honest with Mommy about how you’re feeling and I won’t be angry about that. Do you understand the difference, baby?”
“I–I think so.”
“My smart little girl.” I press a kiss to her hair, closing my eyes to savor the smell of her. Even under the chlorine and dirt and sweat, she still smells likemine. “Now, tell Mommy why you were so upset.”
“You spanked me,” she says, so softly I almost don’t hear her.
“I’ve spanked you lots of times and you’ve never run away.” Confused doesn’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling. My stomach is churning with a riot of emotions and my heart feels like it might actually beat out of my chest.
“Yeah but you spanked mereally hard. And you were so angry. I thought… I thought you spanked me so hard because you were upset that I hurt Tori. Because you love her best.”
And with that quiet confession, my heart shatters. “Oh, baby. Baby, baby, my sweet babygirl. How could you ever think I love anyone more than I love you?”
“Because you should.” I can hear her pain, echoing in her voice, and my arms instinctively tighten around her. “She’s smaller and cuter and she doesn’t get in trouble all the time like me. I tried so hard to be perfect like Tori so you would love me more, and it didn’t work because I’mawful.”
“Alexis Paige. Sit up and look at me, right now.”
Shifting her weight, she looks up at me, worry shimmering in her emerald eyes. Worry I can hopefully ease.
“First things first, let’s get something straight. Victoria is far from perfect. She is more well behaved than say, Natalie or Juliet, but that doesn’t mean she never gets in trouble. You’veseenher get her bottom spanked, so you know damn well she isn’t perfect.”
Eyes widening, she opens her mouth to speak, but I press a finger to her lips, quieting her. “But that’s not the important part. She could be the sweetest, most well-behaved Little girl in the history of the world and I wouldn’t care. Because I loveyou. I love the way your face lights up when you see me. I love the little happy noises you make while you’re nursing. I love your big heart and your quick wit. You are the most beautiful Little girl I’ve ever known, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing about you, even all the naughty parts. Do you know why?”
“W-why?”
Wrapping her messy ponytail around my fist, I yank her head back, those dark parts of me delighting in the fear that flickers in her eyes. “Because you’remine, Alexis Paige.”
I crush my lips to hers, savoring the way she yields, her body softening against mine with a soft whimper. Indulging the monster inside of me, I lay claim to her mouth.
And soon, I’ll lay claim to the rest of her, leaving my mark on her in a way she’ll never, ever forget.
Lexie
The ride home both feels like it takes forever and not nearly enough time at all. As anxious as I am to be home again in my own crib, I also know I’m in for a very, very big punishment and I am not atalllooking forward to that.
But instead of leading me straight up to my nursery the way I’d expected, Mommy passes right past my room and my tummy flutters with excitement. “Are we going to your room?”
I’ve only slept in Mommy’s bed a few times, usually after she’s fucked me into absolute oblivion and left me utterly unable to move afterward. Being allowed to sleep in her bed now feels like a reward I don’t deserve after how naughty I’ve been, but I am not going to point that out to her.
“We are, my observant Little girl,” she says, looking over her shoulder to smile at me. “For my own peace of mind. If you’re in my bed, then I know you aren’t off sneaking onto another boat somewhere.”
Shame heats my cheeks. “I’m really sorry, Mommy.”
“I know you are, baby. But Mommy still needs to take precautions.”
I don’t really have a defense against that, so I keep my mouth shut as I follow her into her pretty bedroom.
