Page 23 of Jade

There was nothing more guaranteed to bring her the healing pain of absolution from her actions through her own tears. She fell limp against his lap, breathing in the pain, feeling the weight of the guilt from her poor choices.

“I’m sorry, Daddy! I’m sorry!” The tears began to fall in earnest and she struggled to speak clearly between her sobs.

“You should be sorry, little one. You were very naughty, but you are being punished and then you’ll be forgiven.” He brought the paddle down again two more times on each side and then he stopped, resting the cool word on her scorched ass as he rubbed her lower back, letting her hiccup out her cries.

She strained against his hold, wanting to be done, wanting to climb into his lap and cry into his chest, but he stopped her.

“Where do you think you are going, little one?”

“I’m just… we’re done. I want… to be held. I want a hug. I need…” She left the thought open, unable and unwilling to put her needs into words.

He clicked his tongue and tightened his hold. “You will get all of those things, but not yet. We aren’t yet finished here. There is still the issue of your defiant attitude. I promised you extras, didn’t I?”

She’d forgotten in the moment, with her bottom throbbing and her pussy aching. She wanted to be done. She wanted to find out what came next. When she realized the answer to that question was more spanking, she let out a mournful wail.

Ryan must have decided enough was enough and it was time to get this over with. He lifted the paddle from its resting place across her bottom.

“You’re getting ten more. Count them, and after each one, I want you to say, ‘I will obey with a cheerful heart’.”

It seemed like an odd sentence, but Jade was past the point of caring. She’d do anything to have the punishment over with and be in her Daddy’s arms.

“Yes, Daddy,” she answered meekly in case he was waiting for her agreement before he would continue.

He must have been because as soon as she spoke the words the paddle fell across the center of her bottom. “One! I will obey with a cheerful heart.”

She certainly didn’t sound cheerful with her voice cracking and tears falling from her eyes. But each time he smacked her bottom with the paddle, she managed to count and somehow get out the expected promise. He’d wait just long enough for her to get the last word out before spanking again, and though it was hard and painful, she was thankful for how quick it went.

“Last one,” he said when they got to the end, poising the paddle in the air above her throbbing backside.

“I’m ready,” she squeaked, knowing she probably wasn’t. If this was anything like any other spanking she’d received, the last one would be the hardest.

The paddle seemed to fly toward its target and she felt her bottom flatten under its weight. “Ten!” she cried. “I will obey with a cheerful heart!”

And then the paddle was discarded, and his hands were on her shoulders, pulling her into his arms. Her bottom ached and it hurt to sit on his hard lap but being in his arms felt so right.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and held her while she cried. “Daddy, I’m sorrry!”

“Hush, little one,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s all over. You’ve been forgiven. Your slate is wiped clean.”

Those weren’t the questions burning the forefront of her mind. She knew the punishment was over and she knew she was forgiven; that was how this worked. The question pulsing in her brain was bigger and more encompassing, and she didn’t know how to ask it. It was simply, what now?

As he rubbed her back, letting her sob out the worst of her cleansing tears, she breathed in the scent of him and memorized the way she felt in his arms. Her cries quieted and her breathing evened to match his.

He pulled away, just enough to see her face, and took her chin between his fingers, asking the question she couldn’t get out of her head.

“So, little one, what now?”

Chapter Nine

Ryan

He wanted her. He wanted to be her Daddy. He felt like he was, and this punishment following their date had been the final step in making it official. He hoped he was right. But he didn’t know how she felt or what she was thinking.

His mama always said you never know until you ask, so that was what he did.

Holding her chin in his hand, and staring deep into her eyes, he asked the pressing question. “What now?”

Her face softened and her eyes refilled with tears. She didn’t speak, but he didn’t let that stop him pressing further.