Chapter 5
JOSIE
No. No, no, no.
This can’t be happening.
As I look around the table, seeing Bram’s resolve reflected in the eyes of his siblings, I shake my head. “Absolutely the fuck not. You can’t just keep me here. I’m not your hostage and I am sure as fuck not your Little girl.”
My voice hitches on the last few words, humiliating me. Because somewhere deep inside, I want everything he’s laid out for me. I want to be his girl again, to have my family back, even if it means getting my ass spanked on a regular basis.
Hell, maybe some part of me wants it because I’ll be getting my ass spanked on a regular basis.
Bram’s expression hardens at my outburst. “I’m trying to give you some grace right now, little girl, because of everything you’ve been through. But you are dangerously close to getting your bottom spanked right here at the table before I wash your mouth out with soap.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
But he absolutely would dare. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s spanked me in front of his family, and that was a million lifetimes ago, before he became the hardened, rough mountain man in front of me.
Shoving away from the table, I stumble backward, my head whipping from side to side as I search for an exit. “I am not staying here with you. And if you try to force me, I’ll—I’ll—I’ll call the cops!”
To my shock, all of his brothers grin and glance over at a scowling Gray. “Been a couple weeks since Gray got to see the sheriff,” Colt quips. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind an excuse to come up here and hassle us.”
“Fuck off, Colt.” Gray’s voice is an annoyed growl, making me wonder what’s between her and this mystery sheriff.
Not the point. Focus, Mercer.
Okay, calling the cops doesn’t seem to faze them so I need a different approach. “People will be looking for me. I have a whole team of employees who will be wondering where I am.”
My stomach sinks when they all share another meaningful look.
Laying his hand on my shoulder, Bram squeezes lightly as if to comfort me.
“Josie, baby, we know nobody is expecting to see you or really hear from you for at least a month. Nobody is going to come looking for you, and if they do, we’ll just have our friend send them an email letting them know you’re perfectly fine and hard at work on your next book. ”
Fucking hell. I gave them everything they needed to not only trap me, but keep me, without anyone knowing I’m in danger. There is no cavalry headed my way, which means my only choice is to save myself.
Spinning on my heel, I dart out of the dining room, back through the living room full of oversized furniture and straight for the front door.
It isn’t until I yank the door open and step outside that I realize I’m only wearing the t-shirt and panties I went to bed in.
Which is not nearly enough protection from the bitter cold and the snow surrounding the cabin.
I’m in the process of debating if it’s worth risking frostbite to escape when an iron band wraps around my stomach, lifting me into the air. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, little girl?” Bram growls in my ear as he hauls me back inside.
“Let me go, you bastard!”
“Enough.” Back in the living room, he sits and yanks me unceremoniously over his lap, my panties once more tugged down to my knees to expose my ass.
“I’ve been as understanding as I can, given the circumstances, but I will not allow my Little girl to use such naughty language. Gray, would you bring me your brush?”
Someone sighs, heavily, before Gray answers. “Yeah. I’ll be back.”
Oh, hell no. I’m no stranger to a hairbrush across my ass.
Or a belt for that matter. And I have absolutely zero desire to experience either again, especially at his hands.
I don’t even bother to scream now, instead putting all my energy into fighting him off as he wrestles me over one knee, his other leg coming up to lock over my calves, effectively trapping me in place.
Grabbing both my flailing arms, he pins my wrists to the small of my back, holding them there with one large hand while the other smacks down on my bare ass.
Hard.
Fuck, that hurts. But if anything the pain only makes me more determined to escape and I fight even harder against his hold while his hand rains down on my poor, defenseless backside.
“You can fight me all you want, little girl, but you have more than earned this spanking and I am not stopping until I am convinced you’ve learned your lesson.”
“I hate you! Get off me, you asshole! I fucking hate you!”
“That’s a shame, babygirl, because I never stopped loving you.”
His words knock the wind right out of me and for a moment I go limp over his knee, my entire body shaking as I drag in deep, ragged breaths.
My whole ass is on fire from the scorching punishment he just delivered, but I barely notice as I try to come to grips with what he’s just said.
“You don’t mean that,” I whisper hoarsely.
“I do.” Another half-dozen swats land across the very bottom curve of my ass where I know I’ll feel them the most when I have to sit down later. “You were always my endgame, bug, and I’m sorry I had to leave you behind. But you’re mine and this time you’re going to stay that way.”
My mind is still reeling with disbelief when the spanking pauses. “Ah, thank you, Auntie Gray,” Bram says, his voice warm with affection and, if I’m not mistaken, a hint of amusement.
Asshole.
“You’re welcome,” his sister answers, sounding distinctly less amused. “I’m going to take Lanie and get everything else you’ll need for the… ceremony.”
Ceremony? What ceremony?
Before I can ask, the hard, cool wood of the requested hairbrush taps against my aching ass and I forget all about whatever ceremony they might be planning. I have much more immediate concerns to worry myself with.
Like escaping the dreaded hairbrush.
And since fighting him didn’t work, that really leaves me with only one other option. “Benny, please. I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”
“It’s Bram now, baby. But that’s okay because you won’t be calling me by either name.”
“I won’t?” Great. Just what I need. A secret third name to trip me up.
“No, bug. From this point forward, you will be calling me by one name and one name only.”
“Yeah, what’s that? Assface?”
The brush taps again, a warning this time. “No, and I suggest if you ever want to sit comfortably again that you drop this habit of calling people nasty names, little girl.”
“Fine. Then what name do you want me to call you?”
“You already know what name I want to hear from you, Josephine Elise.”
I do. But even now, my brain skirts around the edges of it, refusing to actually latch onto something so ridiculous. “I’m not calling you that.”
“You will unless you want your mouth washed out every single day.”
“I can take it.”
His entire body heaves with his sigh. “Have it your way, bug.”
And with that, the heavy wooden brush cracks against my bare bottom. The sting is a million times worse than I remember, though I’m still not sure if it’s because I’m just not remembering correctly or because he spanks so much harder now.
Probably both.
All I do know is complete and utter agony as the brush falls again and again, pain exploding across my skin with every swat.
“As soon as you’re ready to apologize and be Daddy’s good girl, this spanking can be over, Josephine Elise.”
“F-fuck you,” I manage to choke out past the tears clogging my throat. Tears I’m determined not to shed no matter how hard or how long he spanks me.
Unfortunately for me, I’m fast losing that battle. Every inch of my ass aches, so badly I can hardly think through the burning pain. And with each swat, my determination is chipped away.
Until it shatters altogether and I collapse over his lap, choking around giant, body-shuddering sobs. “P-please.”
Instead of another swat, all I feel next is his hand, rough and callused, cupping my poor abused ass. “Are you ready to be Daddy’s good girl now, Josie?”
I’m not. Not in the least. But I’m also not in any condition to take more punishment so I force my head up and down in agreement. “Y-yes.”
“Say it.”
My brain is too muddled with fear and grief and agony to properly process the command. “What?”
“Say it. Say ‘I’m ready to be your good girl, Daddy’.”
Bastard. But whatever self-preservation instincts I still have must be kicking in because I manage to hold myself back. “Please don’t make me,” I whisper instead, humiliated beyond reason by the pitiful sound of my voice.
The hand on my ass tightens, flooding my body with more agony than I can bear and another sob rises up in my chest. “Say it, or it will be Daddy’s belt across your bottom next.”
Oh, god. I may not fully remember how badly his belt stings, but I remember enough to be absolutely certain I don’t want him to whip me on top of the paddling I just got.
Which leaves me with only one horrific choice.
“I-I’m ready to be your good girl.”
“Josephine.”
My name is a warning growl, and it’s all I can do not to whimper in response. “I’m trying!”
“Not hard enough.”
God, when did he become such a hardass? The Benny I knew was sweet and poetic and kind. Nothing like the rough, demanding man currently pinning me over his lap.
And then it hits me. He really isn’t my Benny anymore. He may look like him, sound like him, even share his DNA. But the version of him I knew is long dead. Gone.
Now there’s only… Daddy.
Surprisingly, thinking of it that way helps unstick the words from my throat.
“I’m ready to be your good girl… Daddy.”
Bram
Daddy.
God, that word is music to my ears. Even more so because it’s my Josie saying it. The woman I thought I’d lost forever when we fled our home all those years ago.
Gently, far more gently than I’ve treated her so far, I lift her up to cradle her on my lap. And just like when we were younger, she curls into me, sniffling and whimpering as she shifts to find a comfortable position for her aching ass.
“My sweet little bug,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I promise it won’t always be this way. You’ll get used to being my babygirl again, and I won’t have to punish you as often.”
There is no doubt in my mind that I will have to punish her on a regular basis, if she’s anything like she was when we were younger.
Back then she was a spitfire, always pushing the limits to see what she could get away with.
And she thought nothing of putting herself in harm’s way, which was bad enough back in New York.
Out here, it’s exponentially more dangerous for her not to follow the rules, so for a time I will need to be even stricter than usual. But that knowledge won’t ease her mind at all, so I keep it to myself for the time being.
For now, I focus on comforting her as she cries and whimpers in my arms. Rocking her gently, telling her what a good girl she is, how proud I am of her for taking her punishment so well.
At that last comment, she lifts her head, her green-gold eyes shimmering with tears and hope. “You’re proud of me?”
“So proud, bug. I know this is all a lot to take in, especially for a Little girl. But you took your spanking well and now you’re being such a good little baby for me.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I’m not a baby.”
“Oh, but you are, Josie-Posie. You’re my baby.”
“But I’m not,” she whines, and I can’t help but chuckle at the irony of her insisting she isn’t a baby while sounding so very Little.
A flash of white catches my eye and I glance over to see Gray holding up the items she brought down for our ceremony. Locking gazes with my sweet little bug once more, I let a smile curve my lips.
“As I said. You are my baby, Josephine Elise. From now until the end of time.”