He waited. The barn smelled like alfalfa and snow and the faint peppermint on her breath. Finally, her voice cracked the quiet. “You fell asleep. When you did, the room was too big and the fire was too loud, and…and I couldn’t breathe because what if you found out everything? You’d realized I’m too much trouble and too dangerous. Not that I’d blame you.”
The words gutted him.
He leaned over her, mouth near her ear. “Look at me.”
She turned her face, cheek against the skin of his chest.
“Daddies are always there for their little girls.”
She gave the tiniest, saddest head shake. “Not always.”
The anger that flashed through him wasn’t at her. It was at the heartless bastard who’d taught her that lesson. He swallowed it, kept his voice level.
“Always, Kip. That’s a real Daddy’s job. I promise.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
His little fox used the word dangerous. Wrapped in his arms, he wondered how in the world she could ever consider herself dangerous. He didn’t know, but figuring it out was the key to everything.
CHAPTER 8
Trace lifted her off his lap and looked at her sharply, his face taking on a stern expression that made her lady parts quiver. “Now we need to have a different kind of discussion, young lady. I think your actions require consequences. This would be a sample of what you can expect in the future. What do you think about that?”
A sample? Just the thought of sampling the kind of discussion he was talking about sent goose bumps up the backs of her thighs. She had never been this close to getting what she wanted… what she needed.
As always, he was so calm and friendly, comfortably at odds with his proposal. This “sample” might be what she needed to calm some of her nerves, but it might also erase the guilt of how she'd come to the ranch and snuck out of Trace’s bed in the dead of night.
Funny how, all of a sudden, standing here in front of him like this, in borrowed pajamas, nervously tracing the candy canes on the pajama bottoms with her finger, the sample took on a whole new perspective.
She wiggled on his lap, half convincing herself he wasn’t serious. One look at his broad, thick, masculine hands made her eyes widen at the prospect of getting a “sample,” they could light a fire in a Little girl’s backside.
Those goose bumps on her thighs spread to the curve of her backside as Kip shrugged her consent. “OK. Sure. I guess.”
Trace shifted his feet apart, drawing her attention from his hands to his very capable lap. She already knew how firm his thighs were. The thought of being over them rather than on them sent the flutters back to her stomach. She pressed her hands over it, trying unsuccessfully to quiet them.
“Kip.” His deep voice made her stomach go from flutters to cartwheels, tumbling all the way down to her toes. “To be clear, I'm going to spank you. You have until I count to three to get across my knee or say your safe word, which for now is red. If you don’t, I'll do it for you, but you will not like the consequences of that on top of what you’re already getting. One.”
Her stomach flipped from cartwheels to back handsprings. He sure looked serious, but looks could be deceiving. Her Little shouted for her to do as he said. But what if she hated it?
He said this was just a sample, right? So, she could have a small taste and still change her mind. That wasn’t how it worked in the romance books. Did that mean he wasn’t serious? That flicker of doubt was crippling.
Please let him be serious. Daddies needed to read the same books Littles did. That way, they would all be on the same page, and no one would have to worry about looking stupid. She’d done enough stupid things in her life. She didn’t need to add one more.
She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “You know, you sound very serious.”
“That’s probably because I am serious.” He proved his point by adding, “Two.”
The back handsprings in her stomach grew into doublebackflips. “Wait!” She held out her hand like a traffic cop. “You have to give me time to think about what you mean!”
“I mean, I'm going to spank you, Kip,” he explained with that same deep, stern voice. “You asked for this when you snuck out of the house in the dead of night, traipsed your little butt all the way to the barn in knee-deep frozen snow, and climbed up to the loft to draw out escape routes. Do you know what would have happened if you had slipped and hurt yourself on that icy snow? You would have frozen to death, that’s what. I have no idea what possessed you to do that, but I know how to keep it from happening again. I’ll be generous. Two and a half,” he said.
Yep, her stomach dropped straight to the uneven bars, spinning around and around the high bar. Those goose bumps traveled all the way from the back of her knees to the top of her butt.
She needed more time. “But…but…”
“This is just a sample. You say you're a Little, and I believe you are, too. And when Littles do the crime, their Daddies ensure they pay the fine. That’s how it works. And, Foxy, you have a serious fine to pay. So you have to decide, over my knee or safe word out. And this hesitation just cost you your panties. Three.”
“Wait,” she squeaked.
