Being Their Baby (24 page)

“Young lady,” Liz said, tensing. Normally Sophie was a little savvier as to when to stop digging. “I
will
wash your mouth out with soap. Is that what you want?”

Sophie replied snippily, “Ass isn’t a bad word anymore. It’s PG.”

Charlie, as always, was on Liz’s side. He’d never let a little’s language get out of control, and with Sophie he was a bit more on the strict side than usual. He had strived to be consistent with her, and because of that, he was firmer and less likely to let Sophie get away with much of anything. The edges of his mouth tilted down as he looked at Sophie, who was already sulking. “Last I checked, baby girl, the MPAA doesn’t make the rules in this house, do they?” He put out his hand for the paddle. “Besides, we’re not riding that beautiful, bare little bottom of yours. You’re riding
ours
; we deserve to go on an exclusive date every now and then.” After she didn’t hand the paddle to him, he took it out of her hand.

She gave an unhappy little whine of disagreement. “But…”

Charlie stood up and arranged a chair away from the table. “But?” he challenged, his look assuring her that she would not want to continue arguing about it.

She rubbed her hands down the side of her skirt, possibly considering how bizarre and helpless she felt to be in front of a man like Charlie without panties. Liz couldn’t imagine, but the humiliation factor did seem to put littles in their place. “Nothing,” she pouted.

“Good, then we’re done talking?” he ascertained, sitting down.

She nodded unhappily, and then Charlie grabbed her hand and guided her over his knee. God help her, the girl was already squirming. She didn’t take a spanking gracefully like Charlie’s past littles had done, but then Sophie wasn’t a masochist. She certainly tended to get aroused during a spanking, but Liz had no doubt that it hurt. Sophie felt pain, and that pain in itself obviously wasn’t pleasing.

Charlie adjusted Sophie over one of his knees and wisely locked down her legs with his other to control her eventual kicks.

“Why are we in this position again?” he asked her like a lecturing school master. Liz found herself smirking into her coffee.

“God help me,” Sophie fumed. “I have no idea. Because you hate me?”

She got a loud slap on the ass that made her cry out. “Because of your attitude,” Charlie reminded firmly. “If you think throwing tantrums is
cute
, think again, young lady!”

“Well, I’ll just go write that down in my notes!” she snapped back angrily.

And, as Liz could have guessed the second she saw Sophie that morning, Sophie had signed herself up for a sound spanking.

Charlie was spanking her harder than usual, shown not just by the echoing slaps of the paddle against Sophie’s squirming bottom, but because Sophie was only four spanks in and already she was protesting against the onslaught of pain.

“Daddy!” Sophie cried, ending the angry little chirps and already going into a plead. “Stop! Stop, you’re hurting me!”

“I’m not hurting you,” he gritted as he methodically brought down the red paddle firmly against one squirming bottom cheek and then the other. “I’m making sure you
feel
this. I don’t care if you don’t sit down all day—you will not snip at us, you will not throw tantrums! It’s one thing to be spoiled; it’s another thing to act like it! I will not let you become a brat! You’re a sweet, smart, savvy, and understanding young lady and you will start acting that way!”

Liz swallowed, somehow feeling sympathy for Sophie, who was already red-faced, miserable, and beginning to wail. Sophie deserved this—she was acting like a brat. In the first few months, sometimes Sophie would push Liz and Charlie’s buttons or brat them just to see if they’d do anything about it. Littles did that often in the age-play community; they tended to act out when they were in the need of attention or love. Really, they weren’t very different from adults that way. Still, it was a call for Liz and Charlie to put their foot down and make sure that Sophie felt loved, cherished, protected, and guided. That they loved her even at her worst.

Only God forbid Sophie ever did more than throw a tantrum every now and then, because she could barely handle a spanking as it was. She was trying to reach back, but she had to arch up and twist around to get her hand anywhere she wanted it.

Charlie had a habit of drawing out spankings with long, measured swats, but probably because of the morning’s time restrictions, he was lighting into her fast, barely giving her time to breathe. Liz was unsurprised when Sophie quickly broke into the first sob, her breathing now caught up in her own crying. “Puh-
lease
! Stop it!”

“Are you ready to start speaking nicely and respectfully toward us?” he asked her.

Normally questions occurred at the end of a spanking, and Liz could see that Sophie perked slightly up, her sobs ceasing quickly to cry, “Yes!”

“Well,
I
don’t think you are. I think you’re just telling me what I want to hear.” The spanking continued; Charlie was raising his arm high up before swatting the implement down.

Sophie’s tears increased at that; fear covering her features when she realized the spanking might not even be at the halfway point. “Please, Daddy, stop!” she sobbed again. “Please, I’ll do anything! Anything!”

“Behave and be respectful, then!” he replied.

Her response was one Liz hadn’t expected. Sophie opened her mouth, took a deep, rattling breath, and screamed, “
Josh!
Josh!
” as if Charlie were killing her.

Liz was so surprised that she stood up, looking nervously toward the pool house. “Sophie!” she reprimanded.

“
Josh!
” Sophie croaked, still calling for help.

Josh was suddenly spinning out of the pool house, looking like he was still trying to zip up his loose-fitting khakis. His hair was wet and he didn’t have a shirt on yet; it appeared that he might have just gotten out of the shower when he heard his name being screamed from the main house.

He slid the glass door open, then looked around like he was expecting a murder scene. “What?” he asked, concern etched all over his features.

Liz stood in Josh’s way as he strode to Charlie, who had yet to lighten up on Sophie one measure, despite all the caterwauling that was going on.

“Joh-oh-osh! Help me!” Sophie begged, reaching her hands out desperately, tears dripping down her face.

Josh literally picked up Liz, who had her hands on his chest, and moved her out of the way. He marched over and grabbed Sophie off of Charlie’s lap. “What the hell, Charlie?” Josh demanded firmly, giving Charlie a good shove back into his chair as he tried to stand up and grab Sophie back.

Josh slung his arms around Sophie, who cried against Josh’s bare stomach.

“She just cried for you because she knew you’d come in here and stop it,” Liz replied, stepping forward.

“Well, I hope she does when you’re going overboard!” Josh responded, tilting his head up as if proud that he was called in at all. Then he turned to Charlie, accusing, “What happened to
consensual
?”

“This is a consensual non-consent relationship, Josh!” Charlie argued, slamming the paddle down on the table. “She’s agreed several times that I can discipline her—the only time she wants to take it back is when it’s currently going on. She
always
cries; she’s just trying to manipulate her way out of a punishment she asked for! I used the red paddle, and she’s only a little pink!”

“It
hurt
!” Sophie cried, pulling her face away from Josh.

“It’s supposed to hurt, it’s discipline!” Charlie boomed, his face redder than Liz remembered it being in a long time.

Josh stepped back from Charlie. “Come on, Soph,” Josh told her softly as if speaking to a frightened animal. He bent down and picked her up easily before turning and walking toward the stairway.

There was silence in the kitchen. Liz slowly approached to Charlie, although she could feel the intensity shooting from him. She carefully put her hands on his shoulders. “She’s young. She probably doesn’t understand how this could have hurt your feelings or your bond. You know she adores you… When she’s not over your knee.”

He grunted and turned around. “Sometimes I think I’m trying to press a square peg into a round hole.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Is there something wrong with me? I mean, it seems like I turn all the littles into vanillas, and then I have a vanilla and am stupid enough to turn her into a little.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “She
is
a little, Charlie. She’s just coming into herself.” She stepped forward and straightened his tie for him. “Be patient with her.”

Charlie let out a heavy sigh before Liz felt his hands rest on her hips. “How have I gotten so lucky to have found a woman so perfect for me?” He leaned in to kiss her, and her stomach swirled with warmth.

The fact was, Liz wasn’t perfect for him… Charlie was perfect for
her
. He wasn’t even into age-play until Liz admitted that she had a “mommy” thing she wanted to explore, and then he found his inner daddy dom. He was absolutely decimated when he found out the first time that she had slept with his younger brother, but then he decided that he’d rather share her than not have her at all. Before that, he had been monogamous.
After
that, he’d continued sharing her with his brother and another woman.

She realized, just then, that for such a well-qualified, good-looking, rich guy like Charlie, he had had a pretty tragic love life. And all he’d ever asked was to marry her.

She frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, gently squeezing her arms. “You look extremely thoughtful.”

She shook her head and smiled sweetly at him. “Nothing. I was just thinking about you in a tux and how you always end up staining it whenever you put one on.”

He laughed. “That’s not true.”

She raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged and stepped away, seeming happy to change the subject. “All right, so maybe it is true, but it’s not law. Tonight, you’ll see my grace.”

She blinked. “You mean… I’ll finally see the grace you keep talking about?” she teased.

He slapped her on the bottom and sat down at the table, grumbling, “Wise ass.”

“Fifty bucks says you can’t go through a gala without spilling something on yourself,” Liz laughed.

He grinned. “You’re on.” He looked toward the ceiling, letting himself get distracted again. “What are they doing up there, anyway?”

Chapter Eleven

“Blow,” Josh ordered, trying not to sound like he had an edge to his voice. He held up a tissue over Sophie’s nose after sitting her down on the edge of her bathroom sink.

After a second’s hesitation, probably because it was quite an intimate and childish gesture, she did was she was told. He threw away the tissue, wet a washcloth in hot water, and wrung it out. “Can you tell me what that was about, please?” he asked her, frowning.

She dropped her gaze and shrugged.

“No, no,” he chided as he carefully cleaned up her tear-stained cheeks, keeping a hand under her chin so she couldn’t look down too much. “Why’d you call me into your corner?”

“Because it
hurt
, Josh,” she replied, a blush reddening her cheeks. “They were spanking me just because I don’t appreciate being cast aside like I’m a toy they don’t want to play with.”

“Well, if
I
spank you in the next two minutes, it would be because of the exact opposite reason.” Her eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and fear, and then he added, “That way you can’t claim you’re not getting attention.”

Sophie was drop-dead gorgeous. He’d thought she was pretty—mostly just adorable—when Liz had first brought her home, but
now
…

She didn’t have to wear makeup; her dark eyelashes and pink lips did plenty on their own. She was healthier than she’d ever been, especially since she’d been going ice skating with Josh nearly every day. She was actually sexy now, although she wouldn’t believe it because whenever he told her that, she would point out her small breasts like they were the single things keeping her from feeling all grown up.

“It’s not about
attention
—” she argued nervously.

He lifted his eyebrows. “So it’s about not getting what you want and throwing a last-shot tantrum hoping it would garner you a third-wheel position on their date?”

She opened her mouth in protest, although it took a second for a sound to come out. “No!” she finally denied. “I wasn’t throwing a tantrum! You weren’t even there.”

“I didn’t have to be,” he replied, throwing the washcloth in the hamper behind him. He helped her down off the sink. “I know you.” He put his hand around her upper arm and guided her out back into the bedroom.

He hated her bedroom—it reflected absolutely none of her personality. He and Charlie had been secretly trying to remodel Lacey’s old bedroom while Sophie was in school. She was easy to distract while Charlie tried to get the smell of fresh paint out of the house—all Josh had to do was offer her a driving lesson and take her to an empty parking lot, and she would be as happy as a cat in catnip for as long as it would take him to come close to losing his lunch.

“All right, bend that pretty butt of yours over the bed and pull up your skirt,” he ordered, ushering her toward the bed.

She turned, putting her hands protectively over the back of her skirt. “No, Josh…” she whined, her bottom lip pouting out.

“I want to check out the damage,” Josh told her.

She shifted on her feet a little, looking extremely awkward, but then eventually walked to the bed, pulled her skirt up to her waist, exposing the most glorious backside on the planet, and then bent over. He thought about getting on his knees and worshipping it.

Instead, he walked over and traced his fingers along a couple of welts. Charlie was right; it was only a little pink. In fact, even Sophie had gotten worse. Just last week, when Charlie learned that Sophie had been over a week late turning in an important English paper, Charlie had given Sophie a bottom so heated that she had trouble sitting on it for the rest of the weekend—she sat on a pillow so she could finish that English paper with Charlie as her personal writing coach. Josh didn’t quite know what she had considered the worse punishment: the spanking or how Charlie was on her like white on rice.