Chapter 8
Ruby
Beckett
As soon as you’re done with your hair, come across the hall. I already cleared the timing with Lottie and Frankie.
Swallowing hard and praying her face didn’t look as red as it felt, she tapped out a response.
Ruby
Uh, maybe we should wait until after the ceremony. You know, pictures and stuff. Don’t wanna hold anyone up.
Beckett
Ruby.
God, she hated it when he just responded with her name. It always made her feel like a naughty little girl being scolded. Which she imagined was exactly why he did it.
Ruby
Yes, Daddy. I’ll be over in a few minutes.
Beckett
Good girl. I love you.
Ruby
Love you, too. I’m really sorry about this morning.
Beckett
I know, baby. We’ll talk about it when you come over here.
The only thing worse than a punishment was waiting for one, as far as she was concerned. For the rest of her time in the stylist’s chair, her stomach insisted on twisting and untwisting itself in and out of complex knots as her brain ran through a list of potential scenarios.
A spanking seemed most likely. Beckett loved to spank, especially when she was naughty. But he wasn’t above using one of the many toys in her arsenal to edge her the rest of the day, either.
Ugh. She might actually murder him if he tried that. Walking down the aisle with a sore ass was one thing. Walking down the aisle with a vibrator in her pussy while she tried to pretend like nothing was wrong… well, she couldn’t imagine anything much worse than that.
Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how she was feeling from one second to the next—she was only in the chair for another fifteen minutes after his text.
“Gotta go talk to Beckett,” she murmured to Silver, who gave her hand a hard, reassuring squeeze.
“Good luck. I’ll be here if you need to talk after.”
“Thanks.”
Without bothering to say anything to the rest of the crew, she slipped out of the suite and across the hall, where she stood and stared at the closed door for several long moments, trying to get up her courage.
“Stop being such a baby,” she muttered to herself. “You’ve been in more trouble than this and handled it just fine.”
But this felt different, for ways she couldn’t explain.
Maybe because she didn’t even remember her bratting, so she’d been unprepared.
Maybe because she’d actually caused the man she loved so much distress without meaning to.
Whatever the reason, she was more nervous than she could remember being for a punishment in a long, long time.
Dragging in a deep breath, she reached for the door and gripped the knob, giving it a slow turn. Heat flooded her cheeks as she pushed the door open and several sets of eyes swung her direction.
Jesus, that was a lot of potent dominant energy in one room.
“Um, hi,” she managed to squeak out. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Rising from his spot on one of the couches, Beckett crossed the room, and relief nearly made her knees weak when he smiled. “You are always welcome in any room where I am, Ruby Red.”
And with that, the knots in her stomach completely unraveled. Yeah, she was in trouble. But she was still his, and that was all that mattered.
Taking her hand in his, he pulled her forward, and she was so unprepared for the move she ended up stumbling straight into his rock-hard chest. Which only made him smile even wider as she stared up into his dark gaze.
“Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse us, I have a naughty little girl to deal with.”
More heat rushed to her cheeks as he led her past the smirks and the stares to the bedroom. Where he immediately yanked her into his arms, his lips hovering a breath away from hers.
“Am I going to ruin your makeup if I kiss you?” he murmured, the words a caress that had her trembling in his arms.
“Yes. But I don’t care.”
“Fuck.” The word came out as a low moan and he dropped his forehead to hers. “No need to piss off the bride. But as soon as the ceremony is over, you’re mine.”
“I’m always yours, Daddy.”
“Good girl,” he murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. And with that, he shifted, changing right in front of her eyes, everything about him hardening, becoming sterner.
Becoming more Daddy.
The change never failed to thrill her, even as butterflies exploded in her stomach. “We need to talk about this morning,” he said, his voice as hard as the rest of him.
“Yes, Sir.” Another apology trembled on her tongue, but now wasn’t the time. She’d already said she was sorry a hundred times. The best way to show true contrition now was to accept whatever punishment he had in mind with as much grace as she could muster.
“You know I don’t mind you being a brat, Ruby. And I know that what happened wasn’t really your fault. But being too drunk to remember doing something naughty doesn’t absolve you from the naughty thing you did, does it?”
“N-no, Sir.”
“You’ve probably figured out you’re getting that pretty bottom of yours spanked.”
“Yeah, I figured,” she mumbled. Strong fingers gripped her chin, and her heart stuttered as she forced her gaze up to his.
“Is that how you respond to me when you’re in trouble, little girl?”
“No, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“Much better.” He ran his thumb over her chin, sending little ripples of pleasure coursing through her body.
“I want you to know I’m not angry. I understand you were just playing a prank and it was simply a comedy of errors.
But I also know my naughty girl will feel much, much better after she’s been punished. Won’t you, Ruby Red?”
“Yes, Daddy,” she whispered, blinking against the tears burning in her eyes. Like kissing him, crying was a surefire way to mess up her makeup and they didn’t really have time for her to fix it.
“Then let’s get this taken care of.” His grin flashed, quick and boyish. “We have a wedding to get to.”
Swallowing hard against the sudden lump in her throat, she let herself be guided over to the bed, where he sat and pulled her down over one knee. The silk of her robe caressed her skin as he pushed it up over her bottom to settle around her waist.
“As I said, you are getting a spanking. And once this bottom is a nice, bright red, Daddy has a special plug just for his naughty girl.”
Fuck. “A special plug?”
“Well, it’s not so much the plug as it is the lube I brought with me. Do you remember when we tried the lube with the ginger in it?”
If she lived a thousand years she’d never forget the burn of that damn lube, and her stomach rolled at the memory. “I thought you said you weren’t mad!”
“I’m not. But I want this particular lesson to stick, because as much as I may enjoy your mischievous ways, today could have ended very differently.
So the next time you’re tempted to go moving important things around, I want you to remember how sore your bottom was, inside and out, the last time you played games. Understood?”
The guilt she’d been struggling with all day welled up inside her chest, threatening to suffocate her. “Yes, Daddy,” she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears.
“That’s my good girl.”
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he held on tight as his free hand connected sharply with her bare ass, drawing a hiss of pain from her lips.
He wasn’t starting off easy, the way he did when they were playing, or even when she was just in the fun kind of trouble they both enjoyed.
This was very clearly a punishment, right from the start, and she knew without a doubt she’d be feeling it as she walked down the aisle with her friends.
And as much as she hated to admit it, she needed this. Needed him to be harsh and unyielding. The heavy rock of guilt in her chest wouldn’t be eased by a fun, sexy spanking. Only the pain of a serious punishment would give her the cleansing she craved.
A fact her Daddy, unfortunately, was all too aware of.
Even though they’d been together less than a year, nobody had ever seen her as clearly as Beckett Stone did.
Nobody had ever given her the space to be her playful, mischievous self while also holding her accountable in a way that made her feel both loved and cherished.
So that was what he was doing. With every scorching swat, he was reminding her that she knew better.
That being drunk wasn’t an excuse for nearly ruining her friends’ wedding.
That playful mischief was one thing, but her Daddy expected her to know where the lines were drawn, and that when she stepped over those lines, she would be punished.
Because she knew she'd earned this spanking, she tried her hardest to bear it with some kind of grace and dignity. Pressing her toes into the carpet beneath her, she held back the tears and pleas for mercy clawing at her throat. But when he shifted his attention to that extra-sensitive spot where her ass and thighs met, she couldn’t hold them back any longer.
“Daddy, please! I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise!”
“What won’t you do again, babygirl?”
“Play pranks with important things! I’m sorry!”
Two more heavy swats landed right at the tops of her thighs, drawing a long wail from her lips as she slumped over his thigh, her breaths coming in shallow, shuddering pants.
“There we go,” he murmured, easing the ache in her chest as he ran his hand over her scorched flesh. “I know you didn’t mean to cause so much stress, baby. But as I said, I want you to remember this punishment. Reach back and hold your bottom open for your naughty-girl plug.”
Groaning not just at the thought of more pain to come, but the utter humiliation of exposing herself for her own punishment, she forced herself to reach back and grab hold of her aching bottom cheeks.
It never failed to amaze her how embarrassing this whole process could be, especially since he’d seen all the most intimate parts of her on pretty much a daily basis for the past several months.