Instinct told her that pushing any harder would only feed into that defiance. So she held him there, her fingers holding his chin firmly in place until he sighed, his gaze lowering. “Yes, Mommy.”
“That’s my good boy,” she murmured, leaning in to reward his obedience, however reluctant, with a kiss. “Get your coat so we can go see the nurse.”
She released him so he could do as she’d instructed, which he did with obvious resignation. Once he was bundled into his coat, she took his hand and reached for the door that would lead them back out to the shared common area of his dorm.
“Do I have to hold your hand?”
“Yes,” she said simply, tightening her grip. “Big boys can be trusted to walk places by themselves, but Little boys cannot. And clearly you are not a Big boy, judging by your actions today.”
“Iama Big boy,” he whined as she led him out to the common area.
“Clearly not. Big boys are responsible and go to class and answer people when they text to check on them. And they do not lie to their friends and their Mommies about being sick.”
“If you know I lied, why are you taking me to the nurse?” There was no true regret in his voice, not yet at least. Only the sulky tone of a Little boy who was upset he got caught being naughty.
That would change.
“I am taking you to the nurse so we can be very, very sure it was a lie.” Looking over her shoulder, she let her lips curve in a slow, wicked smile. “Mommy wants to make sure you’re in perfect health for the punishment you have coming to you.”
Danny
He was in so much trouble.
Worse, he was in trouble and being led through the dorms and across the field to the main building like a naughty Little boy. Which, he supposed he was. Because Mommy was right, he’d acted like an irresponsible Little, and now he was being treated like one.
Knowing she was right didn’t make it any less embarrassing, though. And maybe everyone wasn’t actually looking at him, and maybe they didn’tknowhe was in trouble, but it sure felt like it. With every step they took, he swore he could feel the weight of a thousand stares on them.
It was almost a relief when they finally made it to the infirmary. But then he took one look at stern Nurse MacIntosh with her hair pulled up in a bun while she peered at him over thetop of her glasses and he wished it had taken them alittlelonger to get here.
“What seems to be the problem with your boy, Professor?”
Ugh. Of course the staff would all know he was Professor Renard’s Little boy already. There was something about being talkedaboutrather thantothat ramped up the humiliation he was already feeling.
“He missed class this morning because he claimed he wasn’t feeling well. According to him, that wasn’t true, but I would like to beverysure he isn’t sick, just in case.”
Nurse MacIntosh raised a brow and Danny wished with everything he had for a hole to open up in the ground and swallow him hole. “Is that so? Well, Mr. Hollis, let’s take a look at you. Clothes off.”
All the blood seemed to drain from his face. “All of them?”
“Yes. Your Mommy has requested an exam, and I plan to be incredibly thorough.”
Oh, god. If his face got any hotter he might actually spontaneously combust. He’d read about that phenomenon once in a book, and he’d brushed it off as nonsense. But standing there in that exam room, stripping his clothes off as slowly as he dared, he was rethinking his position entirely.
When he was fully naked, his clothes folded and stacked neatly on a chair per his Mommy’s instructions, Nurse MacIntosh gestured to the exam table. “Lay down on your stomach. I assume your Mommy wants your temperature taken the proper way?”
“I do, yes. Thank you, Nurse MacIntosh.”
Which meant in his bottom. Although he’d only ever had his temperature taken orally since he didn’t live as a Little on the Ranch, he’d heard enough stories to know what came next.
It was almost poetic, in a way. He’d skipped class to avoid having something shoved up his ass, and now here he was, about to have something else shoved up there instead.
Feeling more Little than he ever had in his life, he hesitated, eyeing the table warily as he shifted from foot to foot. “Is it going to hurt?”
His Mommy’s voice was surprisingly gentle when she spoke. “No, baby. It will feel a little uncomfortable, and there might be a bit of a pinch at first, but it won’t hurt. And you always have your safe words if you need them.”
The reminder that he could put a stop to everything if it was really more than he could handle helped to settle his nerves and give him the boost of courage he needed to climb up on the exam table. Pillowing his head on his folded arms, he looked over at his Mommy as she ran her fingers through his hair.
“I’m scared.” The confession came easier than he expected it to, helped by his Mommy’s soothing presence. Which seemed counterintuitive since she was the whole reason he was lying there, waiting to get a thermometer shoved up his butt.
