Well, if he wants a fighter, then I’ll give him a fucking fight.
Twisting around in his arms, I lunge for him, sinking my teeth into the first bit of flesh I can find. He hisses, but still doesn’t let go of me.
“That just earned you two extra with Daddy’s belt, little girl.”
The blonde woman sighs as we pass her. “I’ll go get the cocoa started. She’s going to need it when this is all over.”
Why that statement should fill me with more dread than anything else that’s been said or done to me since I woke up here, I don’t know. But the horror settles heavy in my stomach, making me want to vomit, and I shift gears again.
“Please, you have to help me. You can’t let him do this to me!”
I’m under no delusions that women can’t be just as cruel and sadistic as men. But I cling to the hope that maybe,maybethere’s some sense of sisterhood lurking beneath those cold, dark eyes. Some shared desire to uproot the patriarchy buried deep in her DNA I might be able to tap into.
No such luck.
“Axel.”
With that single word, the man holding me hostage halts and the woman steps closer, once more leaning in until we are nearly nose to nose.
“Let’s get something straight right now, little one. There is no one in this house who would ever step between a Daddy and his Little girl, especially when that Little girl has earned herself a punishment for something as foolish as running straight out into a blizzard without a jacket on. So you can put any idea you might have about me or anyone else here hiding you from your Daddy’s discipline right out of your head.”
A soft smile curves her lips and she cups my cheek in her hand, a surprisingly tender touch that unsettles me more than her promise that she won’t help me. “Now, your Daddy is going to teach you an important lesson about safety and naughty words, and afterward you can snuggle with Auntie Gray and drink cocoa if you want. But right now, you have a very well-deserved spanking coming your way.”
Straightening, she nods at my captor. “Maxwell sent us some of those mini bars of soap they use on their Little ones. All the bathrooms are stocked with them.”
“Thanks, Gray.”
And with that, we’re moving again, toward a small room just off the cavernous living room. The man I now know as Axel sets me down on the closed toilet seat and pins me with a glare. “Don’t even think about trying to run again, little girl.”
He may have me cornered in a small room with the only door blocked by his massive frame. But that doesn’t mean I have to give in so easily. “Or what?”
“Or, I will go get some of the rope your Uncle Bram enjoys and tie you up so you can’t move a muscle while I punish you. Up to you, little runaway.”
The thought of being tied up with no chance of escape is even more terrifying than the threat of having my mouth washed out and my butt whipped with a belt. I’m not quite ready to tellhimthat, however, so I settle for huffing out an annoyed breath. “I don’t have an Uncle Bram. None of these men are my uncles.”
“They are now,” he says simply. “But that’s beside the point at the moment. Are you going to be a good girl or do I need to go get the rope?”
“How about you drive me into town, drop me off at the local motel and forget I ever existed?”
His sigh seems to fill the whole room. “The rope it is, then.”
Finally the panic wins out, overriding everything else. “No! Don’t tie me up!”
It feels like forever we’re locked in a silent battle of wills in that bathroom, him staring me down with those onyx eyes. Until, finally, he nods. “No rope. For now. But if you try to run, that will change. Understood?”
“Yeah.” My voice is shakier than I’d like it to be, betraying the fear trembling just beneath my bravado. “Yeah, I understand.”
Something shifts in his expression, a dark, churning kind of emotion I can’t quite place. “Say ‘Yes, Daddy’.”
Fuck no.I manage to bite back the words just in time. No need to get myself in any more trouble than I’m already in.
But I’m not about to give in to such an outrageous demand, either. “No.”
My pulse spikes even higher as his eyes narrow. To my shock, however, he doesn’t press the issue.
“All right. There will be time for that later.”
When he opens the cabinet beneath the sink, my self-preservation instincts kick in. “Wait!”
