Being Their Baby (7 page)

“You’re saying that like subspace is a bad thing,” Charlie replied in a drawl.

“It is when a girl actually could
benefit
from a little discipline, yeah,” Josh replied with fervor. “And Lacey needed a
lot
of it. She was a brat, and not the cute, fun kind. She was out of control. Mean-spirited. I was glad to see her go.”

Charlie didn’t reply for a second; he felt a desire to defend Lacey, but at the same time, he was still stinging from being dumped. He eventually griped, “I think Liz is being pretty high-handed about this new girl, honestly. I can’t believe she just brought her in here without talking to us about it first.”

Josh responded with a look that was one-hundred-percent judgmental. “It’s called being a good Samaritan, bro,” Josh explained curtly. “You know Liz has been banging her head against the wall for forever trying to figure out how to give the kid a leg-up. When she found a way, she took it. Good for her. Besides, I can find more deserving things to gripe about than our girlfriend bringing home a young, innocent, spankable, virgin girl.”

“We don’t know anything about her. She could be… I don’t know. A psycho or something,” Charlie reminded peevishly.

“Well, just keep an open mind,” Josh replied. “I mean, yeah—Liz sometimes steers us around by our noses. But let me ask you this: has she yet steered us
wrong
?”

Chapter Four

Sophie had never cried so hard in her life, even though she had been in more pain than this.

Spanking heralded a different sort of pain; one where she didn’t feel angry, or even abused and nervous. Actually, she was surprised to find herself filled with relief
.

Elizabeth, although she had proved to be a disciplinarian extraordinaire when she’d made her bottom feel like it was on fire (a burning, pulsing fire), now was shushing her, making cooing noises, and rubbing her hand across her lower back soothingly. When Sophie’s sobs quieted slightly, Elizabeth said gently, “You’re not going to keep anything in now, are you? You’re going to let me take care of you?”

Sophie gave out another breathy sob as she said, “Yes, Ma’am, I
swear
.”

“Good girl.” Elizabeth rubbed her fingers against Sophie’s burning bottom for a second, then she helped Sophie off her lap and had Sophie stand in front of her briefly. However, when Elizabeth saw that Sophie was standing on wobbly legs, Sophie was ushered back onto her lap, only right-end-up now, practically cradling her in her arms. Sophie’s bottom was killing her and it was impossible to get comfortable, but in moments, Sophie didn’t care. Elizabeth rocked her, kissed her cheeks and forehead, and assured her that she’d be protected and kept safe like the treasure she was.

Sophie almost felt herself drift off to sleep, and surely would have if her stomach didn’t growl.

Elizabeth patted her bottom softly and said, “I want to get some food in you. And then you’re going back up here for a nap, young lady. You look pooped.”

Sophie chewed her lip nervously. She really couldn’t bear the thought of meeting two men right now. She was too tired, too vulnerable, her ass throbbed, and the fact that they’d know what had just occurred in here would cause her humiliation galore. “No, no… I’ll just nap right now,” she replied, rolling off Elizabeth’s lap and onto the bed, where she promptly began cleaning the tears off her face with her sleeve.

She didn’t fool Elizabeth for a second. The woman only stood up, ironed out her skirt with her hands, and sighed, “Sophia, it’s time to meet the guys. They’re not going anywhere. When you leave this room, they’ll still be there, and they’ll still know you were spanked. If you don’t like them knowing it, then be a good girl. Now, come on. Move it, missy.”

Elizabeth’s hurry-inducing hand-clapping made Sophie sniffle and slowly slink unhappily off the bed. Elizabeth looked at the ceiling, obviously exasperated, grabbed Sophie’s hand, and then walked her into the bathroom where a washcloth was wetted and Elizabeth cleaned the dried tears off Sophie’s face. Afterward, she turned Sophie around and put her hair up in a fishtail braid so quickly that Sophie was in awe by it—she couldn’t tie her own shoes so quickly.

After knowing her for two years, Sophie understood that Elizabeth was very choosy about what she would let Sophie compliment her on, and fishtail braids, or the ease of their making, was not something she’d let Sophie invest her time in talking about. Elizabeth turned Sophie toward the door and patted the back of her skirt before Sophie allowed her to lead her out of the room and down the stairs. “Who’s Lacey?” she asked, pointing to the door.

“An old girlfriend. She doesn’t live here any longer,” Elizabeth replied simply, and she continued down the stairs, stemming away any other questions about whoever Lacey was and where she was at this moment. Elizabeth merely told her to stop stalling and led her into the kitchen.

When Sophie made it into the kitchen, she froze, suddenly very intimidated. She simply wasn’t used to seeing such attractive people everywhere she went. The men in the kitchen were ridiculously handsome. It was almost offensive—both men looked like gods who got lost in Liz’s kitchen on the way to Mount Olympus. Judging from their build and their size, they had to be athletes. There was one sitting on a stool at the kitchen island who had broad shoulders and highlighted, tousled hair. He was a little scruffy and younger than the other one and he was sporting the just-got-out-of-bed look.

The other was standing at the sink with a dishcloth slung over his shoulder. He was big enough to swallow her whole; she probably wouldn’t even get caught in his gigantic neck on the way down. Still, he was dressed impeccably well in a pink tie and a three-piece suit, had his hair combed and slicked back, and his face was perfectly shaven. He looked familiar, somehow, like she’d seen him a few times before, but she couldn’t place where. How she could have forgotten meeting someone who looked like that, however, was the true mystery.

“Sophia, this is Charlie,” Elizabeth quickly introduced as soon as they walked into the room, pointing at the man who’d been washing the dishes, “and this is his brother, Josh Hobbes. Guys?” She gestured, smiling, at Sophie. “This is Sophia Lynn Benny.”

“No way is she eighteen,” the one with highlights, Josh, cried while slapping his hand on the counter. He smiled, exposing pearl-white teeth. “No
way
! Look at her—she’d fit into overhead storage!”

Sophie frowned and blushed, stepping closer to Elizabeth, who snapped, “Shut up, Josh!” She turned to Sophie, grabbed her hand, and pulled her close, putting an arm across her waist. “I’m sorry about him,” Elizabeth said. “Josh isn’t housebroken yet. That’s why we make him live in the back yard.”

Charlie, however, looked like he hadn’t blinked since he saw Sophie. He looked confused for a second, and then he pursed his lips together, not looking happy, and stepped toward her. He put his hand out and said, “Sophia,” in greeting, although he didn’t smile.

Sophie shyly put her hand into his, saying, “It’s really just
Sophie
, actually.”

He didn’t respond; he seemed very intent at looking at her hand, which he hadn’t let go of. In fact, he used his other hand to grab her gently at the wrist so that he could press her palm against his own. Her whole hand fit into his palm. He was a behemoth.

He and Elizabeth exchanged a look that Sophie couldn’t read, but eventually he dropped her hand and talked right over Sophie’s head at Elizabeth. “All right, all right,” he said with a defeated sigh. “If you’re sure she’s eighteen? Because that would be bad…”

“Positive. I saw her ID at the station,” Elizabeth assured with a slight laugh. She patted Sophie on her back. “What do you want for breakfast? Eggs? Pancakes? Froot Loops?”

“Oh,” Sophie said, surprised at the list of options. “Froot…” She stopped there because, in the excitement about eating, she’d forgotten that chewing was painful. Her excitement suddenly died and she realized Froot Loops weren’t meant to be. She hadn’t eaten solid food since she was thrown out of the house. “Pancakes,” she said, disappointed.

“Are you
sure
?” Josh seemed to be extremely amused by her change of mind; he was even chuckling.

She nodded, closing her arms around herself for comfort.

“Well, we’ll give bunny whatever she wants.”

She shot Josh a look of confusion, and then realized he was calling her by her last name. “It’s
Benny
, not bunny.” Her face twisted. With her South Boston accent, those two words came out nearly identical. Her cheeks went red. “I mean…”

Charlie appeared to be strait-laced, but he was even snickering.

“She looks like a cute little bunny; it works,” Josh replied, saluting Sophie with his coffee. He waved his hand at her, got up from his stool, and moved over to sit down in the breakfast nook. “Come on and sit down here and we’ll have Charlie do all the work. That’s how we do things here,” he informed her with a wink, patting the seat next to him. He looked up at Liz. “And you too, woman.”

“Give me a moment,” Liz said, holding up a finger. “I think I forgot a bunch of work documents up in Sophie’s room when I got home. I should go get them before I forget to—”

Sophie bounced into attention. “I’ll go get them!” she said, grateful to get out of the room for a breather. Too much attention in too little time.

“Go sit down, young lady. I’ll get—” Liz began, but Sophie was already scurrying by. Liz sighed and gave her a good swat on her already tender bottom that, even though it wasn’t hard, had Sophie reaching protectively back before she scurried out of the room.

“And I want to see an ID!” she heard Charlie boom behind her. She blushed. He really didn’t think she was eighteen? Sheesh!

* * *

“And the future Mrs. Hobbes leaves the room,” Josh announced after they listened to Sophie marching up to the second floor, taking the steps two at a time.

Liz turned and smirked at him. “Why?” she asked. “Are you gonna marry her, Josh?”

“Either that or Charlie will,” Josh replied, picking up his orange juice, then gesturing to his very flustered brother with it. “You just served us our wet dream on a platter. Good hunting, Miss Button.” Josh winked at her.

Elizabeth did not return the wink. Instead, she grew serious. “Guys, I’m warning you,” she cautioned, “she’s inexperienced, she’s young, she comes from a rough background full of neglect and abuse. So, I don’t know if sharing her is a good idea, or if she’d ever even
want
to be shared.”

“Shotgun,” Josh reminded, turning to Charlie.

“There won’t be any shotguns called!” Elizabeth snapped at Josh, sweeping her hand declaratively in front of her. “So stop it.” She turned to Charlie and said, jerking her thumb in Josh’s direction, “Do me a favor and punch him in the head? And why are you so quiet?”

Charlie was mixing up pancakes with a look to kill on his face, like he wanted to punish the batter.

“I’m just thinking that you’re an evil witch who apparently doesn’t listen to me when I said I wanted to end the whole daddy thing. What I should be doing is taking off my belt and giving
you
a dose,” he growled.

Elizabeth had been threatened before, but after a lifetime with Charlie, he had never spanked her. “You don’t have to be her daddy, Charlie. I’m not even saying I’ve put the option for you on the table. She’s a baby; she doesn’t know about age-play or D & S or anything like that stuff.”

“Honey, you just brought a chicken into the fox house and you’re telling us not to at least have a taste,” Josh reminded her. “Besides,
look
at that little thing,” he said, pointing toward the stairs that Sophie had disappeared up into. “She
needs
a daddy. She’s cute as a ball of kittens and pocket-sized for our convenience! She’s young, impressionable, in need of protecting, guidance, surely some spankings…”

“Josh!” came the growl from both Charlie and Liz at once.

Josh gave an innocent shrug. “Fine; I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” He quieted as they heard Sophie clamber downstairs, making a lot of noise on the steps like she was a herd of elephants and not a pipsqueak teenager.

She came into the room with a bunch of papers pressed to her chest and an ID closed into her fist. She pivoted a few times, as if unsure whether to deliver the papers or show Charlie her ID first.

Eventually she passed Elizabeth the stack of papers and walked up to Charlie, who was pouring pancake batter onto the hot skillet in front of him, and held out the ID.

As soon as he put the bowl of batter down, he grabbed her ID out of her hand and peered over it, then flipped it over and scanned the back. “What’s this?” he grumbled irritably. “Weirdest ID I ever saw. Where’s your driver’s license?”

“I don’t have a driver’s license,” Sophie replied tersely, as if he should have guessed that much. “I don’t have a car, and neither did anyone in my family. Getting a permit would have been stupid, so I just got my state-issued ID when I was looking for a job a couple of years ago.”

When he finally decided her identification wasn’t a fake, he passed it back to her. “How’d you get to work, then?” he asked grouchily.

“It’s called a bus, Mr. Hobbes. I know you’ve probably never actually ridden on one before, but they’re big cars that pick you up from one spot and drop you off in another.” The sarcasm was like syrup on her tongue. Liz watched as Charlie’s face reddened. Chances were that he’d never been treated like a snooty elitist before.

Josh snorted during his failed attempt to stifle his laughter and covered up his mouth with his hand so that there wouldn’t be evidence of his smile, either.

Charlie eyed his brother and then looked down at Sophie. “Any more sarcasm like that, young lady, and I’m not adding any chocolate chips to your pancakes,” he warned.

Her forehead smoothed as she narrowed her eyes with confusion. “Huh? Chocolate chips in pancakes?” she asked.