The Art of Discipline: Dani’s Discovery (The Mockingbird Chronicles) (23 page)

“Um, what are you doing here?” Dani tried unsuccessfully to hide the surprise in her voice.

“I could ask you the same question. Coulda swore you were supposed to be in bed,” Emma returned, her eyes flashing.

Dani grimaced at the tone before grabbing onto her chair to keep herself from falling over. “Can you yell at me later, please?”

“Dani,” Emma’s tone instantly softened as she quickly crossed over to her side. “You’re burning up.”

“Head is killing me too. Wish I had a soda.”

“Don’t you think you already had enough today? Come on, let’s get you back to bed,” Emma insisted, letting Dani use her to steady the dizziness as she walked.

“Emma, I haven’t had any soda today.”

“Great, now you’re delirious. I know you had at least three giant cups this morning, plus the one at the gas station,” Emma chastised, as she helped Dani back into the bedroom and encouraged her sit on the edge of the bed. Leaving her for a moment to grab some aspirin from the bathroom cabinet, she handed it and a small glass of water to Dani before helping her out of her jacket. Upon meeting her eyes, though, Emma couldn’t help but notice the tears that had suddenly appeared. “Hey now, why the tears?”

“You don’t believe me,” Dani suddenly blubbered.

Emma sighed, helping Dani with her shirt and her bra before slipping her pajama top back over her head. “Tell me then, Dani, what don’t I believe? I saw you drinking those with my own eyes.”

“It wasn’t soda. It was iced tea.”

“Dani, you don’t even like tea,” Emma gently scolded as she pulled down the covers and encouraged Dani to scoot under them.

Settling down into the pillow, Dani shook her head. “I don’t like hot tea. Not a huge fan of iced tea, but I’ll drink it. I mean it’s not soda…”

“Dani. Why were you drinking iced tea instead of soda?” Emma cut to the chase as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Dani frowned. “Promise not spank me?”

“For what?” Emma suddenly snapped. “Pushing yourself too far when you are sick, or maybe for directly disobeying me when I told you to reschedule that conference call? Or maybe the defiance in the store, not to mention the pillow I saw on your chair? And now you’re telling me that you purposely misled me into believing that you were drinking soda, when you actually weren’t? So what is it, Dani? What shouldn’t I spank you for, ‘cause I have a whole list of things that I could.”

Dani quickly looked down at her comforter, chewing on her lip nervously. “I’m sorry,” she sniffled.

Emma reached out and captured Dani’s chin, forcing blue to meet green again. “I’m not going to spank you, honey, at least not tonight. You’re not feeling well, and that wouldn’t be fair to either of us, or our relationship.” Watching Dani visually relax, Emma rubbed her hand against her cheek. “I do want to know, though, why you suddenly have taken up an interest in iced tea.”

“Last night,” Dani started in almost a whisper, “you told me you weren’t going to punish me for drinking too much soda, so I decided that I’d ground myself and not drink any soda today.”

Emma tightened her jaw but allowed Dani to finish her explanation before she reacted.

“I tried to go without it, but then the headache started, and I knew I had to have some caffeine. I thought the tea would help, but the headache wouldn’t go away. I guess the caffeine wasn’t the only reason for the headache though.”

“No, and I suspect wandering around in the chilly air and no jacket last night didn’t help either, but it’s not all your fault. I should have been more aware of how your body was reacting. I should have seen this coming on.”

“Emma, how are you supposed to know when I’m sick? You’ve never seen me sick before.”

Emma couldn’t help a small smile. “True. Okay, I’ll give on that point, this time.” Emma’s voice dropped a bit. “But I have to ask, didn’t I explain why I didn’t ground you last night? I didn’t want you to suffer with headaches, and that’s exactly what happened. I shouldn’t have to keep saying this, Dani, but you’re not in charge. I dictate when, where, how, and
if
you are going to be punished. You have to learn to trust me, and it hurts that you can’t seem to do that.”

“But… I’m sorry Emma, I didn’t mean…”

Emma sighed. “I know. We still have a lot to learn… especially about each other. Now, I want you to rest for a little while. I’ll come get you when it’s time to eat.”

Dani frowned, the hopes of Emma staying with her dashed. Turning on her side, she realized that the clock only read 4:56 p.m. “Going back to the store?”

“No, I closed down for the night. It’s been slow anyway. I’ll probably stay closed tomorrow as well.”

“No you can’t do that. Saturday is our busiest day. I’m sure I’ll be feeling better tomorrow,” Dani tried.

“We’ll see,” Emma returned. “Now, get some rest, I’ll check on you in a bit,” she continuing, leaning down and kissing Dani’s forehead.

Seeing Emma stand, Dani couldn’t help but ask, “Emma? Will you stay with me, please?”

“Not right now, honey. Get some rest, I’ll be back soon.”

Dani turned away from the door, not wanting to watch Emma leave. She suddenly felt alone and empty inside. Reaching up, she wiped a tear off her cheek. “I’m sorry, Emma,” she whispered into the darkened room.

Chapter Thirteen

Emma added a fresh primrose that she had handpicked from the small green area in the back of the store to a mini vase on the tray and then stood back to admire it. Mentally checking the tray once more, she was satisfied with its contents: two bowls of chicken noodle soup, spoons, napkins, and a large glass of water for each of them. Picking up the tray, she walked toward the bedroom, where she hoped that Dani was actually resting.

Dani had thrown her for a loop earlier with her confession about the iced tea. In a way, she was proud of Dani for trying to correct her own behavior, but as a top, it went against how things were done. At a loss, she’d called Stevie for advice but didn’t exactly agree with what her employee-turned-friend had suggested. Emma agreed that Dani should have some sort of consequence, but to crack down as hard as Stevie suggested would only cause Dani to rebel. Dani wasn’t as submissive as Anna, and Emma knew if she didn’t give her some freedom, she might lose her.

Pushing the conversation from her mind, Emma continued into the bedroom, where she noticed Dani still had her back to the door. Placing the tray on the dresser, she sat on the edge of bed. Reaching over to brush the hair off Dani’s face, she frowned when seeing her tear stained cheeks.

Bending slightly, she kissed Dani’s forehead, noticing that she was still quite warm. “Sweetie, wake up. I brought you some soup.”

“Not hungry,” Dani groaned, trying to pull the covers over her head. “Just leave me alone. I’m sure you have better things to do anyways.”

“Don’t be silly, Dani. Why would I want to leave? I brought dinner in here to eat with you,” Emma said before gently rolling Dani onto her back. “Come on, time to sit up and eat.”

“I told you, I’m not hungry!” Dani snapped before trying to turn back over away from Emma.

“Danielle, I know you are not feeling well, but that doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful. Now sit up,” Emma commanded.

Glaring, but deciding not to push her luck, Dani reluctantly sat up. She propped her back up against the headboard and watched as Emma retrieved a TV tray, placing it between them. Noticing the flower, she almost smiled but caught herself just in time, forcing her expression to sour. Letting a pout form on her lips, Dani crossed her arms. “I told you I wasn’t hungry.”

Emma frowned and disappeared into the bathroom for a moment before returning with a thermometer. Before Dani could protest, she found the device firmly pressed against her ear, and Emma’s flashing green eyes demanding that she hold still.

“One hundred and two,” Emma quietly commented. “The aspirin isn’t helping. After dinner, we’ll draw a nice warm bath for you.”

“Like hell,” Dani responded. “I don’t feel like moving, and there’s no way I’m getting into a tub.”

“We’ll see,” Emma responded, handing Dani the spoon for her soup. “You need to eat.”

“Don’t do that!” Dani exploded, grabbing the spoon and throwing it across the room. “Don’t patronize me, Emma! I am not a child, and I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it my whole life. Now, just take your tray and go.”

Raising her eyebrow, Emma said nothing, but slowly removed the tray and placed it a safe distance from her irate patient. Turning back to Dani, she put her finger and thumb on Dani’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “That’s twice, Danielle. Sick or not, if there is a third time, you will regret it.”

Dani rolled her eyes and tried to jerk her head from Emma’s hand. “Yeah, right. Suddenly you care—when it’s convenient for you.”

“What does that mean, Danielle?” Emma asked, releasing Dani’s chin but holding her gaze with her eyes.

“Nothing. You wouldn’t understand anyway. Just spank me and get it over with,” Dani suddenly turned over, lying on her stomach. “There. That should be easy for you,” she muttered into the pillow.

Sighing, Emma watched Dani for a moment as she ran the conversation back in her head. Frowning as she realized there was something much more going on with Dani then just being sick, she decided to probe a little deeper. “Turn over and sit up, Danielle, we need to talk.”

“I don’t feel like talking,” Dani muttered.

“And I don’t really feel like getting the hairbrush, but if you’d rather…” Emma trailed off, seeing blue eyes look over Dani’s shoulder. “Please, Dani. I just want to talk to you about this. I don’t want to fight with you.”

Dani rolled back over, crossing her arms once again and quickly averting her eyes back to the bedspread.

Emma crawled up on the bed, kneeling next to Dani. “Look at me, Danielle,” she commanded.

Slowly looking up, Dani bit her lower lip in nervousness for a moment before feeling Emma take her hands and giving them a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth, understand?”

Dani nodded, not trusting her voice.

“When you were little and got sick, who took care of you?”

Dani shrugged and looked back at her hands, now intertwined with Emma’s.

“Danielle, answer me, please,” Emma’s pleaded with a gentle but firm voice.

“My nanny, or another member of the staff, or myself,” Dani admitted. She looked up with tears in her eyes. “My grandparents would check on me occasionally, if I was sick enough to stay in bed. Maybe bring me a toy, but they never stayed when I asked them to. They were always too busy with other things.”

“What about Uncle Sean?”

Dani shrugged again. “You know how he was. I mean he tried, but well, he wasn’t really the type to cuddle.”

Emma bent over and kissed Dani’s forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t stay with you earlier. I didn’t know it meant so much to you.” She paused. “I needed to make a phone call and thought you could use the time to sleep.”

“I didn’t sleep at all,” Dani whined. “I thought you didn’t want to be bothered with me.” The tears came, and Emma released Dani’s hands and held her arms open, gladly accepting Dani into them. “Let it out, Dani, I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

Sniffing, Dani pulled out of Emma’s embrace. “I got you all wet,” she commented as she saw the state of Emma’s shirt.

Emma smiled. “I think I’ll live. You, however,” she winked as Dani cringed, “may not,” she teased. “And since you’re not hungry, you might as well get into that bath. Maybe your appetite will be better afterwards.”

Dani stiffened again. “I don’t wanna take a bath,” she whined and kicked a leg in protest.

“Two and a half,” Emma half-kidded. “But you don’t have a choice. You are going to take a bath.” Pausing for a moment, she tapped Dani’s leg. “Let me start the water. I’ll be right back.”

Hearing the water run, Dani’s lip slipped into a small pout. She knew she’d get the bath whether she wanted it or not. Laying her head back on the pillow, she closed her eyes and waited for Emma to come and get her. Feeling Emma above her, Dani opened one eye and quickly closed it again. “Can’t I just sleep?”

“No. Come on, young lady, bath time for you,” Emma instructed as she helped Dani out of the bed and to the bathroom.

Feeling a bit dizzy, Dani steadied herself on the towel bar before standing upright again.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Emma,” Dani growled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I can do this myself.”

“Alright,” Emma conceded. “If you’re sure? If you need anything just holler. I’ll be changing the sheets on the bed.”

Dani watched Emma close the door and then smiled to herself; same trick the nanny use to fall for. Dani sat on the toilet lid and threw a washcloth into the tub. Making sure to occasionally make splashing noises, she was just about to drop the towel in the tub to wet it when she heard the bathroom door open. “Emma! What are you doing?” she demanded as Emma opened the door with a set of clean pajamas in her hand.

“Apparently I’m interrupting your bath,” Emma answered as she fully entered the bathroom and threw the pajamas on the counter.

Dani gulped. “I was just about to get in?” she tried.

“Nice try. Now how about you strip before I skip three and go straight to five.”

Looking up in shock, Dani shook her head. “Come on, Emma.”

“Let’s go,” Emma commanded, pulling Dani to her feet. “Time to get undressed.” Taking charge, Emma helped a now blushing Dani undress and step into the tub. Kneeling beside it, she picked up a clean washcloth and gently began washing Dani’s back.

Both women were quiet for a long moment, until Emma said quietly, “I’m sorry that I didn’t know how much you wanted me to stay with you earlier, Dani. I should have picked up on the signals.”

Not replying right away, Dani continued to let Emma wash her. It felt good, and it had been a long time since Dani had been this open with anyone. Working up the courage, Dani sought out green eyes. “I’m sorry, Emma.”

“I know,” Emma returned with a soft smile.

“Emma?”