Daddy's Watching, page 7
“Fane, this information is classified. It can’t just go in the dumpster.”
“I’m back, Fane. I finally got that last load wrangled away. What do you want me to take next?”
“Thanks, Colby. You’re earning your money today. I think that’s the last of the duplicate files there in that box,” Fane said, pointing to the box at Elaine’s feet. He gently took the file from her hands and put it back on the stack.
“No way!” Elaine spread her arms and positioned herself as the guard to the sensitive information.
“Go get the rest of anything you took from this office and bring it back immediately,” she demanded of the employee with the wheeled cart.
“Ma’am, I can’t do that…”
“You will figure out a way,” Elaine interrupted him coldly.
“Elaine, you don’t understand,” Fane tried to explain.
“I understand your job is in jeopardy.”
Elaine turned back to the man in uniform. “Go get those files. Now!”
“Colby works in the shredding department,” Fane said quickly, before she could say anything else. “He will take these also to shred if you will allow him. Everything is being destroyed per company policy.”
Elaine’s mouth closed with a snap. She stepped away from the papers with a shake of her head. Fane watched her as Colby picked up the papers and stowed them securely on his cart.
“Thank you, Colby. I appreciate you making a field trip to come pick these up. My fault that I hadn’t shared my plans with Ms. Rivers. She’s been in a meeting all day with Mr. Edgewater. If we’re lucky, they came up with some spectacular plans to boost our profit sharing this year.”
“No problem, Fane. I’m always glad to return a favor.” He pushed the heavy cart through the door and disappeared.
“I have work to do,” Elaine pushed through gritted teeth. She turned and walked into her office, closing the door behind her, leaving Fane staring at the wooden barrier.
Walking forward, he paused by the door to listen. A squeak of her office chair, the sigh of the leather chair as Elaine sat down, and a soft sob drifted to his ears. Fane twisted the door handle to find it locked. She really was being naughty.
After locking the outer door, Fane grabbed a paperclip from his desk and uncurled it. With a quick flick of his wrist, he opened the door and walked in quietly. Laney lay draped over her computer, crying. Fane closed and locked the door behind him and walked across the floor to draw her chair back.
Her tearstained face brought out his protective instincts with a roar. Fane chose to console her first. Punishment would come later.
“Go away.”
“Nope.” Fane scooped her wriggling body out of her chair and pinned her arms to her sides. Controlling her easily, he sat down in her place and held her against him. Slowly, he felt her rigidity ebb from her body, until her head rested in the hollow of his throat.
Releasing her arms, he rubbed the length of her spine. “It’s okay, Laney. Daddy’s got you.”
“You’re going to run so far away from me. I screw up everything in my personal life. It’s just easier to be alone,” she bemoaned.
“That’s not an option for you now.”
Silence answered him. Fane knew she was thinking so hard he imagined he could feel the vibrations emanating from her brain. He rocked her slowly back and forth, allowing her to take her time.
“You’re not leaving? Going to work for someone else?”
“The only person I want to work with is you—when you listen and don’t jump to conclusions.”
“I was awful. It’s not a good excuse, but I’ve had so many assistants, I never know. And that folder held critical information.”
“So critical that there were three copies of it. Each a bit different from the rest. My eyes are going to bleed if I find another copy squirreled away somewhere.”
“That’s not safe.” She peeked up at him.
“I don’t think anyone could find anything in the mishmash of files in there. They just made a new copy with whatever they could find when you requested it. While you were in your meeting, I pulled everything out and started organizing. The mess you see in there is important stuff that will go back in the file cabinet. Colby took away all the outdated and duplicated information. He was great to bump us up in the schedule for shredding.”
“What favor did he owe you?”
“I showed his son a few magic tricks and did a show for his birthday party. I rock a top hat.”
“You do magic?”
“Every day.”
“I messed up so bad.”
“You didn’t listen. You jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“Trust,” she whispered, remembering that word from the list they’d created last night.
“You’ve earned your first consequence. I won’t punish you here. I have about an hour of work to do. You said earlier you wanted to make some notes about your meeting with Easton. We’ll leave when we’re ready and take care of your behavior when we get home.”
“You still want me to come to your house?” she asked, looking at him with wide eyes.
“Little girls make mistakes. Their Daddies punish them, and everything disappears. I’m not going to walk away from you, Laney.”
Fane boosted her up from his lap. “Get your notes done and then we’ll go.”
Chapter 9
“This is nice,” Laney complimented, using the manners her mom had instilled in her at a young age. She looked around the casually comfortable home curiously.
It looked like Fane. It was clean, but not fussy or rigid with everything in a regulated spot. A big fluffy blanket draped over the couch, inviting her to come curl up. He’d piled puzzles and games on the kitchen table. There were magnetic letters on the refrigerator spelling out phrases like Play More and Junk Food Alert.
She considered Fane’s hard physique. He didn’t look like he lived on snacks or fast food.
“I’d love to know what’s going on in your mind, Little girl,” Fane commented, wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Oh, nothing,” she assured him quickly. “I was just thinking, this house looks like you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” He turned her toward him and cradled her cheek in one palm. “This is a safe place, Laney. You don’t have to follow the same social rules as you do in the office. Here you can be yourself.”
Laney nodded as her mind whirled, trying to process his words.
Fane added, “Let me give you the grand tour.”
Fane waved a hand around the large, open area. “This is the great room and kitchen area. The laundry room is just off the kitchen. Let’s go down this hallway. There are three bedrooms: the master, the guest room, and your nursery.”
“My nursery?”
“The nursery I created over the last couple of years for my Little girl. I tailored it to you when I found you. So, yeah—it’s your nursery.”
A thrill zinged through her. Fane was so sure she was his. She liked it.
“We’ll go there last. Here’s the guest room.” He opened a door to reveal a comfortable bedroom in tones of gold and brown.
“Pretty.”
“Thanks. I don’t have guests very often, but I want them to sleep well and enjoy their time here. Next is the master bedroom,” he said before opening that door.
An immense bed dominated the center of the room. Here, the colors were shades of blue and brown. It looked masculine, but welcoming. Not dark, but the light was toned down inside as if he slept better without streaming light to disturb him.
“There’s an enormous bathroom through there with a super large tub. I had to upgrade the water heater to have enough hot water to fill it when I moved in, but now you can be toasty warm inside.”
“I like to soak in the bathtub,” she smiled.
“Would you like to see the nursery now?” he asked, studying her face.
She nodded, unable to talk. Torn between wanting to see it and fear that she’d make a fool of herself, Laney didn’t know how to react.
Fane led her back down the hall. He pushed open the door and guided her inside. “Tell me if there’s anything you’d like to change. I want you to be happy here.”
Looking around in amazement, Laney walked into the center of the room. At the end of the room, a twin bed with a mound of pillows and fluffy bedding sat with a guard rail up on one side while the other side lowered to invite her to jump inside. An elaborate dream catcher in brilliant gemstone colors decorated the wall above the head of the bed.
On the right stretched a large closet with accordion doors. One was partially open to reveal a few garments hanging inside.
“Someone already lives here?” she asked.
“No, Laney. I picked up a few things for you. I wanted you to be comfortable. There’s another set of yoga clothes and some play clothes.”
“Oh!” she said softly, feeling ridiculous for having jumped to a negative conclusion.
“Ask any questions that pop into your mind. I hope I’ll have the right answer that puts your mind at ease. I’ve worked for Edgewater Industries for three years and lived here for two. I started putting together the nursery when I discovered my side of our connection about sixteen months ago.”
“Really? You’ve waited to meet me for that long?”
“It was hard. But I needed to be able to step into your admin’s role. I want to support you at work as much as I take care of you at home.”
“You’ve been very focused.”
“I like to enjoy life, but I am dead serious about things that are important to me. You are at the top of that list, Laney. I think it’s time for us to talk about your behavior this afternoon.”
“I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions. Asking a few questions would have easily set my mind at ease,” she said quickly.
“Yes. I’m glad you’ve already figured out a better way to deal with concerns. That will eliminate your time in your thinking corner this time.” Fane pointed to an undecorated corner next to the closet.
“Thinking corner?”
“All Littles need time to process through negative behavior. I’ll never send you to the corner to stand. I’ll send you there to think. When you’ve had time to cool down and come up with a better way to handle problems, you can come out.”
“So, everything’s okay now?” she asked with a smile.
“Not quite. Now, I need to address your behavior. You violated a key component to our guidelines.”
“I didn’t trust you, but that takes time,” she said quickly to excuse her behavior.
“Trust will build,” he agreed before adding, “Did you even consider perhaps I had made the right decision, or did you jump to the conclusion that I’d majorly screwed up?”
“Well… Okay, I figured you were like everyone else. I’m not used to relying on anyone,” Laney tried to explain. Even to her ears, the excuse sounded lame.
“It’s time to change that.”
Fane reached around her and unfastened the waistband of her skirt. When she clutched the front to keep it from dropping, he met her gaze. “Laney, it’s time to trust your Daddy. How badly do you feel about judging me negatively this afternoon?”
“Really bad.”
“Then let’s wipe away that guilt. Let it go.”
“Are you going to spank me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want a spanking,” she whispered, feeling tears already gathering in her eyes. Laney blinked furiously, trying to ward them off.
“I know.”
He held her gaze steadily until, finally, she released her hold on the crisp material. When he nodded his approval, she relaxed a fraction. Fane hooked his fingers into the sides of her panties and knelt in front of her to pull them down to her ankles.
Half dressed in front of him, Laney suddenly felt very Little. Knowing she shouldn’t hide from his view, she clasped her fingers behind her. “Daddy?”
“You’re being a very good Little girl, Laney. Daddy’s proud of you. Step out of your shoes,” he instructed, running his hand down the outside of one calf. When she lifted her foot, he removed the pump and eased her panties off on that side. Quickly, he repeated his attention to her other leg.
Fane smoothly rose to his feet and kissed her forehead. “Come lie over my lap, Laney.”
Without waiting for her answer, he walked a short distance to a large, armless chair. Fane sat down and held up one hand for her to join him.
It was up to her. Can I do this?
Laney forced herself to take one baby step forward and then another. His gaze held hers, silently encouraging her to accept her correction. Finally, she reached him. Swallowing hard against the lump in her throat, she leaned across his lap as he helped her move into position. One of his hands pressed firmly into the small of her back as the other rubbed over her exposed skin.
Before she could take a breath, he swatted her bare bottom sharply. The sound rang out in the silent room and the sting made her rear up to look back at him.
“That hurt!”
Fane lifted his hand and dropped it again on a new spot as he calmly instructed, “Drop your fingertips to the carpet, Little girl.”
His restraining hand shifted further up Laney’s spine to move her back into the correct position. The other continued to pepper her bottom with stinging swats. Tears welled in her eyes as her skin heated.
“Daddy, no!” she pleaded.
“You’re taking your punishment very well, Laney. I’m proud of you.”
“Nooo!” she wailed, wiggling to scoot off his lap, but Fane held her in place.
“Your spanking will stop when you accept the correction,” he said gently.
“Accept?” she repeated, trying to figure out what that meant. Tears streamed from her eyes to soak into the carpet below her.
Finally, she collapsed over his lap, unable to think of anything but the fire building in her skin. “I’m sorry!” she sobbed. “I’m sorry!”
Immediately, his hand switched from spanking her to rubbing the punished flesh. “That’s my girl,” he praised.
Slowly, he lifted her to sit on his lap. Laney hissed as her fiery skin touched the fine wool of his slacks. She collapsed against his chest, crying harder than she had in years.
“You’re okay, Laney. Everything is wiped away now. Just let me hold you,” Fane crooned to her as he rocked her in his arms.
Laney buried her head against his dress shirt, tangling her fingers in the material. Her sobs eased, and she rubbed her cheeks over his shirt to wipe away the moisture from her face.
“Did you just blow your nose on Daddy?” he teased.
“No,” she denied, horrified. Sitting up, she met his laughing eyes. He wasn’t mad at her. Suddenly, Laney’s guilt at jumping to the negative conclusion in the office disappeared.
Flinging her arms around his neck, Laney hugged her Daddy close.
“Feel better?” he asked.
“Yes, Daddy. All but my butt.”
“A punished bottom will remind you to think twice. You’ll probably have red cheeks under your skirts for a while.”
“No. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Laney stared at him when he chuckled. She was determined to be a good girl to prove him wrong.
Chapter 10
“Eat two bites more,” Fane encouraged as they sat at the kitchen island. Too wound up, she hadn’t eaten much of her dinner.
“I’m done. Thank you. It was delicious,” she complimented as she pulled away the napkin that he’d tucked into the neck of her new T-shirt. Her breasts bobbled. It felt weird not to be wearing a bra, but he’d assured her she didn’t need it here.
“Two more bites,” he repeated, drawing her back out of her thoughts before giving her another option. “Or you can drink a bottle if you’d prefer.”
“A bottle?” she echoed in surprise.
“I think that’s a good idea, too. Let me get these dishes put away and I’ll fix you Daddy’s special concoction.”
Laney stared at him as he moved to the other side of the island to open the dishwasher. Her memory flashed back to that list. She’d agreed to try different things. Squirming on her sore bottom, Laney knew she didn’t want any more punishments.
“What’s your favorite reptile?” he asked, drawing her attention back to him.
“That’s a weird question.”
“It’s strange question time. I’ll ask one and you ask the next. So, reptile?”
“I like iguanas. I saw a video clip of one falling out of a tree when the temperature dropped too low. They’re like me. I don’t like cold, either.”
“I’ll remember to put a blanket around you so you don’t fall out. Your turn.”
“What’s the thing you like least about being my admin?”
“That’s not a weird question. I’ll make you go again, but first let me answer. I don’t like not being able to do more to take the pressure of your job off your shoulders.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I actually thrive on the daily challenges,” she answered with a smile.
“I’m glad you enjoy your job. Now, weird question,” he directed, sending her a serious look.
“What do you put on your peanut butter sandwiches?”
“Dill pickles.”
“Pickles? Yuck!” she exclaimed, scrunching her nose in disgust.
“Have you tried it?” Fane asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Well, no. But that’s an awful combination,” Laney protested.
“We’ll try it tomorrow.”
“Not me!”
“More for me then,” he answered, closing the dishwasher.
Laney watched him open a cabinet and pull out a large plastic container that rattled as he moved it. When he opened it, she stretched taller to see inside. Glass bottles and other bits filled the bin. He selected a smaller bottle with a matching nipple and ring.
