Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Isla shuddered.
“What has the building manager done?” he asked.
“He just looks slimy,” Marcus said. “And he has smelly feet. And he burps a lot.”
Isla chewed her lip.
“Isla?” he asked. “Anything else?”
“He stares at me a lot. It makes me uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t tell me that, La-la! I would have made you move out before.”
“He never did anything,” she insisted.
“Just as well you’re out of there. She lives with me now,” Marcus told him.
“Good,” Eliot said.
That could also explain her jumpiness.
She moved around again, wincing.
“Have you got some painkillers with you? Have you seen a doctor?”
“I’ve been checked by an EMT,” she assured him. “And there’s some in the bathroom.”
“I’ll get them.” Marcus jumped to his feet and rushed off.
“Eliot?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, little one?”
“You’re sure you’re okay to do this? It might… it might upset you. Will you say if it gets too much?”
Damn. This girl.
She wasn’t breaking him into small pieces. She was picking up each of those pieces one bit at a time and patching him back together.
“Here it is!”
He looked up just in time as Marcus rushed back in. To his shock, he jumped onto Eliot’s lap and held the bottle up triumphantly.
“I have the pretty!”
And it wasn’t just Isla who was starting to mend those jagged pieces. It was the man sitting on his lap as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Staring up at him with eyes that saw far too much.
“Thank you. But be careful you don’t hit anything important when you’re doing that.”
“Ooh, yes, we wouldn’t want to hurt squirrel and his nuts.”
Isla groaned.
“Squirrel? Really?” Eliot asked.
“What? More like an elephant trunk? Or is it rather sasquatch down there?”
Dear. Lord.
“Right. I think you’re due some corner time.”
“Me? What for? I was just trying to help.”
“You were also naughty before, weren’t you?”
“Me? Never.”
Yeah. No one was believing him.
“You were told to stay quiet for five minutes and eat your dinner. Now, you’re going to try again. Five minutes in the corner. No talking. Understand?”
Marcus jumped off his lap, staring down at him. He couldn’t quite decipher that look on his face. Was he upset? Mad? Relieved?
A mix of all three?
“For real?”
“Yes.” Then he pointed to a free corner of the room. “Nose in the corner, hands behind your back, bottom out.”
Marcus stared at him for a moment, then at the corner. Then, as though in a trance, he turned and walked over to the corner.
Well, that was actually easier than he’d thought.
Chapter 16
Marcus hated standing in the corner.
It. Sucked.
He sulked. Silly mouth. Sometimes it just got away from him. And really… who could stay quiet for a whole five minutes?
He’d set him up to fail!
Although he had to grudgingly admit that Eliot had gotten Isla to talk about her needs. Which was actually a hard thing to do.
So, he guessed he had to give him kudos for that.
But this wasn’t cool. Nope.
He’d actually thought he’d gotten away with disobeying Eliot when the other man didn’t immediately punish him. Seemed he’d just been waiting.
“Here, little one. Take some painkiller. I’m going to get you a heating pad. And perhaps rub some cream on your back. If there isn’t any in the First-Aid kit here, I can call for some.”
“Oh no, I don’t think that’s necessary. The painkiller will be enough.”
Marcus waited for his reply. Would he listen to her? Let her get away with pushing aside her needs?
“I think I best look at your back to see what you need. I don’t like the way you keep wincing.”
“She’s bruised all over,” Marcus told him. “The cream might be a good idea.”
There was silence.
Oops. Too late, he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to talk.
“Marcus, what are your hard limits?”
“Uh, no humiliation. No whips. I don’t like the noise they make. No diapers. I don’t like to be ignored.”
“All right. Safeword?”
“Beans.”
“Good. Little one, you?”
“My safeword is red. I wanted something easy to remember.”
“And your limits?” he asked.
“I don’t much know. Definitely no humiliation. Or blood. I don’t know about spankings yet, but definitely no implements like whips or canes or anything. I don’t think I could be tied down. Or blindfolded or gagged.”
“Good girl. More things might come, but that’s a good start. And no matter what, you can both say your safe word and I’ll stop. Understand?”
“Yes, Sir,” Isla said.
“Yep, Sir.” It didn’t feel right to call him Daddy. Not when this was temporary.
“Marcus, for talking while in the corner, you’ve earned yourself five spanks.”
Eliot watched Isla carefully as he said that.
He’d debated whether to push this early on. Whether he’d be scaring her. But perhaps she needed to see this. What it was like with two consenting adults.
“Five?” Marcus asked, turning.
“Yep. But I can make it ten if you keep talking,” he warned.
Marcus glanced at Isla before giving him a tiny nod. Okay, so he understood what he was doing. What he likely didn’t understand was that Eliot wasn’t just doing it for Isla. But so Marcus would know what he would always follow through when he said he would.