Guardian Domination (11 page)

He rested his hand on my blazing backside while he reminded me of the importance of obeying his requests and emphasized that fighting, especially as a result of a stupid or thoughtless comment, was never appropriate behavior for a lady. I only heard half of it, anticipating the feel of his hand on my bare, bruised skin.

The spanking began in Jace’s typical methodical fashion. His rhythm was slow, deliberate and forced me to acknowledge every swat that I was given. It was like he was playing a song in his head as he gradually reddened every inch of my bottom and upper thighs, progressively increasing the intensity as I ceased my struggle and began to drift into that place between reality and a dream. He wanted submission, and knowingly and with precision, took me there. Only when I was limp and resigned to his control did he stop the spanking.

Jace had me stay in that position for several minutes with his hand resting on my bottom. He reached down to pull my panties back up then stood me up to face him. “Love you,” he said, wiping my face.

I hugged him. “Love you too. I’m sorry I keep getting into trouble. It just happens.”

“I wish I could say you will grow out of it, but I’m starting to have my doubts. Especially now.” He smiled, snuggling me close. He knew that I had disappeared into that strange place and he was pleased!

“Yeah, me too,” I sighed, happy in his arms, his warm breath against my cheek. “Me, too.”

“Wanna talk about what happened in that brain of yours just now? It’s called Subspace,” he asked, tapping my temple.

I just smiled and shook my head, purring with an odd, warm afterglow of contentment. Somewhere in the process, the pain had again turned to pleasure and I was not quite ready to analyze the
how
s and
why
s.

Chapter Eight

Thanksgiving

The air was finally cooling down and was tinged with that crisp autumn scent that makes you just want to curl up in front of a fire with a cup of hot cider. I kept inhaling deeply as I sat outside with Mark for class. Even he couldn’t resist the change of weather and kept interrupting our lessons with stories of the East Coast and “real seasons”. He was in the middle of memory lane when Gayle drove up.

“Hey you guys,” she said, smiling.

Mark stood up with a frown, slowly removing his glasses and looking down at her. “Haven’t I told you not to disturb me when I have classes?”

“I, uh…” She looked at me, then back at Mark with urgency. He tapped his foot, waiting. “Yeah. But….”

“Excuse me? Even my kid here knows the proper way to answer,” he said in a low voice, causing her to break into a deep red blush. I tried so hard not to laugh as she started to squirm under his stare.

Gayle looked down. “Yes, Sir.”

“Hmm, I thought so. Go inside and let Jace know how you disrupted class and when he’s done with you, go to the cottage and wait for me.”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, turning on her heel to go.

Mark rejoined me on the grass, slipping his glasses back on. “What are you laughing about?” he asked.

“You are too funny. Love the emphasis with the glasses. Good show, Dude. So, is this your way of repaying Jace for all the goodies he gets you?” I asked in a smart-ass tone.

Mark peered at me over the top of his glasses. “I have no idea what you are talking about. Go on, read that paragraph…
en francais
…”

“You do too. I know how you two are. Since Jace’s been too busy lately to find girls on his own, you're playing matchmaker again. Oh, don’t look at me like that. You lend Gayle to Jace when he needs to get a spanking fix. And since I’ve been SO perfect, he’s getting itchy.”

Mark stared at me opened mouthed. Did he really think much got by me? I voiced my observations very matter-of-factly in that Jace’s studio might be sound-proof, but I know he wouldn’t escort a girl down there for sex.

“It’s not quite like that. There’s a lot you don’t understand… I think he and I need to be a little more discreet.” He colored.

I snickered, “Why bother now? I look at it this way… better them than me.”

“When did you become such a smart-ass? Now read.”

I promptly obeyed and practiced basic conversation with him. We both looked up when Gayle approached us, her eyes a little red and puffy. Mark stood up, hand on his hips, glasses once again in his hand. “Yes? I thought I told you to go wait for me at the cottage.”

“Um, yes, Sir. Jace told me to come straight to you and give you this,” she handed him a large, thick paddle. She then turned to me, “I’m also supposed to apologize to you for disrupting your lessons. I’m sorry, Celeste.”

“No problem. Sorry you had to go through that. I know how it feels,” I said kindly. Gayle smiled shyly and excused herself.

“That’s you in seven years,” Mark commented, watching her bottom as she walked away. “I need a break. It’s Friday and there is nothing more we can do. No homework this weekend. Mind if we shut down early?”

“Horn dog,” I said, grinning. He pulled me up and landed five fast swats across my grass-covered shorts, making me squeal and laugh loudly as I tried to escape his hand.

Jace hollered from his bedroom window to be quiet, threatening to come down and kick both our asses. Mark sobered up and dragged me with him to the front door of the main house. “Get inside and stay out of my hair for an hour or four. And don’t bother Jace. He sounds tired,” he ordered with a wink before turning in the direction of the cottage.

Resisting the temptation to follow and peak in, I mulled around inside the house finding absolutely nothing of interest. Deciding the next best thing would be a nap, I snuck into Jace’s room and climbed into bed right next to him, snuggling my body close to his. I felt his arm slide around my waist and he pulled me tightly up against his chest.

I also felt something disturbingly hard pressing into the crease of my shorts. With a smile, I wiggled closer to him and, now safely nestled, I quickly dozed off.

Several hours later, Jace woke, startled to find me in his arms. “What are you doing in my bed?” he demanded.

I opened one eye. “Sleeping,” I responded.

He pointed to the door. “Out, and don’t do that again.”

“You’re cranky. Go back to sleep,” I snapped, quickly leaving. He was even crankier when he came downstairs, rubbing his head.

Mark was sitting on the couch, reading the paper. “Headache?”

“Yeah, plus
our
friend Kandace called and woke me. She thought it would be a good idea to have Thanksgiving here with the band. I
loathe
entertaining.”

“I never thought I would see the day when I met a genuine anti-social drama queen. I’ll take care of it and the weasel can help me.”

“Who said I wanted to help? I hate entertaining too. And I
loathe
Kandace,” I answered back, mimicking Jace.

As Mark began to pull off his glasses, Jace spoke. “Not tonight, you two, my head is killing me. How about if I just take everyone out, in separate cars, so I can leave early?” Jace requested as he plopped on the recliner and rubbed his temples.

“We’ll talk about it when you’re feeling better. Celeste, go get him a coke and some migraine stuff.
No arguing
, Young Lady!” Mark barked.

I stuck my tongue out at him and went into the kitchen to get the stuff for Jace. Mark snapped his fingers, pointed at me, his tongue, then to Jace. Instead telling Jace about my little transgression, I decided to massage his neck and head.

“Mmmm, feels good. Did you know I had someone sleeping in my bed?” Jace asked Mark and he leaned back into my hands.

“And it was
just right
, Papa Bear,” I said, kissing his cheek.

Mark frowned again. “I told you to leave him alone.”

“I didn’t bother him. Besides, Jace can speak for himself.”

“J, she’s awfully mouthy today. I think she’s cruising for a refresher course in manners,” Marl commented with a dark look.

“Celeste, cut the shit. I’m not in the mood,” Jace grumbled, eyes still closed. I made a face at Mark and went back to hugging Jace’s neck.

Mark rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’m going to bed. Young Lady… I will deal with you tomorrow for your attitude.”

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t help but mimic him.

Jace grabbed my wrist. “Headache or not, I don’t ever want to hear that again. Understand?”

Mark said good-night and left as I pried my arm from Jace’s grip, muttering, “Yes, sir.”

Jace was quiet for a minute. “Wanna tell me what that was about?”

“I dunno.”

“I think you are forgetting the fact that he’s an adult, your teacher, your legal guardian, and my best friend. He’s not your playmate. Do I need to remind you again?”

I shook my head.

He sat me on the edge of the chair and held my hand. “Maybe he’s right about getting you into a school.”

“NO! I swear, I’ll…”

“Yeah, I’ve heard it before. You’ll burn it down. My little pyro. And stop yelling, my head hurts. Let’s talk about how we can get out of doing Thanksgiving.”

Jace and I stayed up late watching TV in the theater, but never succeeded in devising a way out of hosting the upcoming dinner. Jace admitted that one reason he hated holidays was because they seemed to bring out the worst in people.

His point was proven when, the next morning, he and Mark argued regarding to cater verses potluck and sounded like an old married couple as they carried on. Mark
loved
parties, Jace hated parties. Mark wanted the old-fashioned, down home family feast— especially since he couldn’t make it home this year. Jace said we could do it with
our
family, but not everyone else. It went on and on.

Since I’ve never really heard them argue, I found it very amusing
and
very enlightening. Mark never peered down his glasses at Jace, nor did Jace puff himself up like a blow fish and try to appear larger than life. They fought respectfully with no name calling, insulting, or raising their voices, providing me with an example of a normal, healthy, adult disagreement. It ended with the compromise of having it catered with everyone there, but no drinking or smoking, and with Jace stating that I was not to help unless I really wanted to. Mark agreed and began to write down ideas, not even glancing at me.

Mark and I were avoiding each other that morning. That happened rarely, and when it did, it drove Jace crazy. As much as he complained about our banter, it also made his house a home. Finally, after about an hour of neither of us saying anything to each other, Jace spoke up.

“Okay, you two. Kiss and make up. Mark, act like the mature adult here. Either deal with her attitude or get over it. Celeste, you already know my feelings. Stop this shit now.”

“He’s right. Come on, let’s go take a walk,” Mark said to me after shooting Jace a bird.

Glaring at Jace, I followed Mark outside, refusing to take the offer of his hand as we walked around the grounds.

“I’m really hurt by your disrespect,” Mark said gently, “I know you don’t mean it, but it really goes overboard sometimes. You would never talk to Jace the way you speak to me.”

“Sorry,” I muttered. I knew I hurt his feelings. I guess I tended to take him for granted sometimes because he wasn’t as strict as Jace and usually let me get away with murder.

“Maybe it was a mistake to move in and be so close,” Mark said softly.

My heart stopped and I grabbed his hand. “
No
! It’s my fault! I take advantage of you and I’m sorry. I can’t help it sometimes. Please, don’t leave us!” Fear of abandonment reawakened in me, sending me into a panic.

Mark’s eyes widened; he had no idea where this reaction had come from since he hadn’t been involved when I first came to live with Jace.

Without thinking, I sped away as fast as I could— from him, the house, everything. Scrambling over the Plexiglas retaining wall, I inched my way along the cliff side. I was deaf to Mark’s fear-filled voice yelling for me to come back. I just had to get away before they left me. I had to escape… I had to… sit and cry.

“Hey, Baby Girl, what's happening?” Jace’s voice whispered softly in my ear as he settled down next to me on the cliff side about fifteen minutes later.

“Mark’s moving out and it’s my fault,” I sobbed. “I chase everybody away.”

“What are you talking about? Mark’s not going anywhere, and neither am I. I thought we had this all settled a while ago,” Jace said gently, stroking my leg.

Mark sat next to me on the other side. “Sweetie, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry,” he said before quickly explaining to Jace what had occurred. He patted my leg. “You need to realize that families fight. We won’t always get along and we will push each other’s buttons at times, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love each other. Jace and I fight like two real brothers. Hell,” he smiled at Jace, “we’ve had some real knock-down, drag outs….”

“Which I won,” Jace interrupted smugly.

Mark ignored him. “But that only reinforced the commitment to our friendship and to being there to help you. I guess I was also a little taken aback by the little talk we had yesterday concerning Gayle, and was going to try to avoid that issue with you for a while. I was wrong. I should have just given you a good spanking for your big mouth and let it go.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled, accepting his hug.

“Now that that's settled,” Jace said, “let’s get off this cliff before it crumbles. Whatever possessed you to come this way?”

“I can’t climb over the brick wall to the road,” I answered, letting him carefully raise me to my feet and escort me back to the house.

Without hesitation, Mark excused himself, took my hand firmly, and led me to the guest house. After grabbing a couple of bottles of water, we sat on the cushy couch.

“I think we need to remember some things, Kiddo,” Mark began. “Jace was right. I’m supposed to be a proper example of an adult to you. I try to be a little easier because he’s so stern, but he has his reasons and has been right all along. You need solid structure and boundaries, and need to learn how to conduct yourself appropriately. While we’ve been letting you face consequences, we have not been consistent with the rules. Therefore, as far as I’m concerned, you and I will start concentrating on our relationship as guardian, teacher, brother, and then friend. In that order. Got it?”