Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Ethan was perfect.
Maybe it was because she was out of her routine. Perhaps she was completely out of her comfort zone?
Or was it just her?
Frustration flooded her. Why couldn’t she get this right?
Picking up a cushion, she threw it at the floor. Okay, that actually felt quite good. Picking up another one, she threw it down too.
More. Why this felt so good, she wasn’t sure, but she ended up throwing all of the cushions off the sofa onto the floor. Then she tried to move the big sofa cushions that she’d been sitting on. But they were heavy, and she grunted in frustration.
“What are you doing? You’re going to hurt yourself. Cate, stop!” Ethan commanded.
But she wasn’t stopping.
To her shock, he picked her up around the waist and moved her back a few steps.
“Nooo!”
“Cate! What is going on?” he asked.
She kicked out with her feet, accidentally getting him in the leg as she tugged at his hands. “Daddy, let me go!”
Shock filled her and she nearly pushed her Little back. But Ethan set her on her feet, turning her toward him.
“Little girl, were you having a tantrum?”
It was building again . . . the frustration. The self-loathing.
Stop this.
It’s embarrassing. He doesn’t want to see you like this.
“I . . . I apologize.”
“Uh-uh. You’re not retreating from me now.”
There was a look on his face . . . he seemed determined?
“Catie-pie, if you wanted to build a fort, you should have asked Daddy. You aren’t allowed to move big things on your own,” he told her in a scolding voice.
“I wasn’t building a fort.” Although that sounded like a good idea. “I was frustrated.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so you were throwing a tantrum?”
Uh-oh. He’d just given her an out. And she’d ignored it. Unbidden, her hands moved behind to protect her bottom.
She wasn’t sure why, but she had this feeling that he was close to spanking her.
But that was just silly, right?
He wouldn’t really spank her, would he?
“Little girls sometimes throw tantrums,” he allowed. “But that usually results in them spending time in the corner or over their Daddy’s knee.”
“Um, I . . . maybe it wasn’t a tantrum.” She took a step back as he moved toward her.
But she wasn’t scared, exactly.
Just . . . wary. And perhaps even slightly excited. Which was odd. She wasn’t sure why she’d be excited about a spanking.
Maybe it was because she finally felt like she could let go. All of her adult worries and fears were drifting away.
“I don’t wants to spend time in the corner.”
“Hmm, well, luckily, I don’t think that corner time is a good punishment for you, Catie-pie.”
Whew. She let out a sigh of relief.
“You don’t need more time to think. That’s the problem, isn’t it? You need Daddy to ensure that you don’t overthink. That you don’t let that big brain of yours tell you all the ways this won’t work or it’s wrong or that you should be embarrassed.”
Holy. Heck.
He was good.
“So if corner time is out, that just leaves the spanking.”
“No, Daddy!” she cried as he backed her into a wall.
He didn’t touch her or reach for her, though. He simply stood there and held out his hand to her.
Did he seriously expect her to take it?
“Come here.”
“But I don’t wants a spanking.”
Wow. That was a very young voice. Where did that come from?
“You’re thinking again. Have to keep a close eye on you.” To her shock, he lifted her up at the same time as he bent, putting her over his shoulder.
She screamed and held onto his T-shirt for dear life. “Daddy, put me down!”
Smack!
Pain flared in her bottom.
“Stay still.”
Why? In case he dropped her? Was he going to drop her?
Wait. This was Ethan. He would never, ever put her at risk.
Although it turned out that he wouldn’t hesitate to slap her ass.
Smack!
Ouchie! That stung.
Then he moved her so she was right side up before he sat. With her sitting on his lap.
Whew.
“You spanked me,” she grumbled, trying to reach back to rub her ass cheek.
To her shock, he grinned.
Was he laughing about spanking her? That didn’t seem very nice.
“Why’re you laughing, Daddy? That’s not nice. You’re being mean to Catie-pie.”
Whoa. Had she just called herself Catie-pie?
“I wasn’t mean to Catie-pie.” He tightened his hold on her as she tried to climb off his lap. “But that wasn’t even close to a spanking. You’ll discover the difference soon.”
“I will? How? Ohhh.” She stared up at him, wide-eyed.
“Exactly.”
“But I don’t wants a spanking.”
“I think that someone still believes that they are in charge.” He tapped her nose.
“Is it me? Am I in charge? I think I am.”
“It’s not you. It’s me. And you need to fully believe that before you can completely let go.”
“And you think a spanking is going to do that? That doesn’t sound very reasonable. You shouldn’t spank someone for no reason.”