Chapter 8
AXEL
“You nervous?”
Surrounded by my brothers, I tug at my tie and try to ignore the way my heart is indeed beating a bit too fast as I meet Dane’s gaze in the mirror. “What’s there to be nervous about?”
He and Colt share a look and Colt rolls his eyes. “Just our entire lives changing. No big deal.”
“Nothing has to change. We’ll still be running the company, chopping wood, and you and Bram will still beat the shit out of each other on a regular basis. There will just be another person in the house.”
“A Little girl,” Ford says, his tone reflecting the worried expression in his eyes. “I know we’ve talked about it, prepared for it, but now it’s just so… real. What if we fuck it up?”
With my tie as good as it’s likely to get, I turn and clamp a hand on my youngest brother’s shoulder.
“You’re a great uncle to the girls on the island, Ford.
And I have no doubt you’ll be an amazing uncle to my Little girl.
I’m sure it’ll take some getting used to, but we’re in this together, just like we always have been. ”
Bram smirks. “Besides, if we don’t put those nurseries we all insisted on including in the housing plans to use soon, Gray is likely to have all our heads on a platter.”
Everyone but Ford laughs. Because Bram is absolutely correct.
When we first started planning the giant house we now all call home and I first put forth the idea of including nurseries for the Little girls we all hope to have some day, Gray was the holdout.
Not because she doesn’t want a Little one of her own, but because it was significantly more expensive and Gray watches every penny we spend like a hawk.
If we went through all that expense only to not actually use the nurseries, she would be likely to murder us all in our sleep at some point.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to see Gray’s name on my screen. “Speak of the devil,” I mutter as I swipe the text open. “Gray says she and Melanie are on their way down. Time to take our places, boys.”
We all head for the living room, where the couches have been pushed to either side to make an aisle of sorts for my Little one to walk down. Elias is waiting for us at the end of the “aisle”, gripping an old worn Bible in his hand.
He cocks a brow as I take my place beside him while the rest of our brothers settle on the couches to bear witness. “Nervous?”
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Seems like a thing a man should be at least a little nervous about. Taking on a Little one is a big responsibility.”
“And it’s a responsibility I’ve been preparing for my whole life. I’m fine.”
“Glad to hear it. Because here comes your bride.”
I turn to look toward the stairs where Gray has a grip on my Little girl.
She’s worked some kind of magic on Melanie’s hair, twisting the braids up into a style that hovers that line between sweet Little girl and gorgeous woman.
They descend the stairs together, with Melanie’s dress trailing behind them.
I don’t even care that she bought it with the intention of marrying another man.
She’s mine now, and that’s all that matters.
Arm in arm with my sister, she makes her way down the aisle, fear flickering over her delicate features. And I know then that I am as depraved as our brothers on the island, because her fear only makes me more eager to finally claim her as my own.
But when they pause in front of me, Gray makes the mistake of loosening her hold on my Little girl to pass her off to me. And that half second is all it takes for Melanie to break free, gathering her skirts in her hands as she takes off at a run.
Sighing, I shrug out of my suit jacket and toss it to Gray. “Looks like I need to go chase down my little runaway. Again.”
Melanie
Just like it did that first time I tried to run from Axel, my heart feels like it might actually beat out of my chest. But unlike that first time, I have no clue where I might run to.
Leaving the house is out of the question, because not only do I not want to get lost in a blizzard, I’m also not eager for a repeat of my earlier punishment.
I just need somewhere to hide until I can think of a better plan.
Glancing over my shoulder, I let out a shocked squeak as my heart slams into my ribs at the sight of Axel just a few feet behind me.
Instinct takes over and I head for the stairs, racing up to the second floor and down the long hallway that leads to Auntie Gray’s room.
Slamming the door behind me, I lean against it, dragging air into my burning lungs as I look around the room.
I can’t hide here forever. Auntie Gray already told me she’d spank me herself if I tried. But maybe it will give me the time I need to think.
Behind me, the doorknob jiggles, followed by Axel’s booming voice. “Melanie. Open this door right now, little girl.”
“Sorry! This is a No Boys Allowed area!” Fucking hell, I sound like a child.
“Little girl, you have until the count of three to open this door before I decide you need your naughty bottom spanked red again. One.”
Trapped. I’m trapped, with nowhere to go. I don’t know what I was thinking, running from him. There’s nowhere in this house I could hide where someone wouldn’t find me.
My frantic gaze lands on the window beside Auntie Gray’s bed. Maybe I should just take my chance with the elements. There’s always the possibility I could stumble across someone willing to help. Another house, a town, something.
“Two. I am running out of patience, Melanie.”
And I’m running out of options.
Fuck.
“Three. Gray, open the door.”
Panic sends me scrambling and I run straight for the door on the other side of the bedroom, yanking it open and—
What the actual fuck am I looking at?
A nursery, from what I can tell, though everything in it is far too large for your average baby. The crib looks almost large enough for me to climb in myself, and I can’t for the life of me think of what that might mean, though I can feel the answer hovering there just out of reach.
Behind me, the door flies open, and before I can run again, a large hand clamps down around my upper arm. Horror fills my chest as I stare up into Axel’s dark, glinting eyes.
“There you are, my little runaway bride. It was very naughty to hide from Daddy like that.”
“I am not your fucking bride!”
Fire flashes in his onyx gaze as his grip tightens on my arm. Hauling me up against him, his voice drops to a low growl that crawls up my spine with every word. “You are. More, you’re my Little girl. And it’s high time you learned what that means.”
Without giving me a moment to protest, he hauls me up over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
And no amount of kicking or screaming seems to deter him as he carries me down the stairs.
My fists feel like they’re beating against concrete, but I can’t give up.
Can’t just give in after I went through all that trouble to escape one arranged marriage only to end up trapped in another.
Back in the living room, he sets me on my feet again, but he doesn’t release his hold on me. “Gray, help me get her out of this dress.”
My clothes feel like the last barrier between me and whatever comes next, and fear tightens around my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs as someone tugs at the zipper, exposing my back to the air.
“Please don’t do this.” I’m begging now, my voice thick with tears, but I’m too desperate to be embarrassed by it.
“Sorry, little one. I wanted to give you the wedding you deserved, but you’ve forced my hand. So now we’re going to start our marriage exactly as I mean to go on, starting with you learning exactly what it means to be Daddy’s Little girl.”
My dress is wrested from me with ease despite my struggles, leaving me standing in front of a room full of complete strangers wearing nothing but a strapless bra considering my panties were confiscated after my first spanking.
Tears fill my eyes as I try to cover the most important bits, but there’s only so much my arms can do.
And then even the protection of my bra is stripped from me, leaving me completely exposed to these giant, brutal men.
Fuck.
Dropping down onto one of the sturdy dining room chairs someone so helpfully moved to the living room, Axel drags me down over his left knee.
Unlike before when he spent time squeezing and rubbing my ass before my punishment began, now he starts spanking right away and I’m hit with the horrible realization that he was holding back before.
Like, a lot.
Pain explodes across my backsides as the swats fall, hard and fast, turning every inch of my exposed skin into an inferno as I kick and struggle over his knee.
“We could have been having a nice ceremony,” he lectures, and if I didn’t know any better I might have said he sounds almost disappointed.
“But clearly I need to have a firmer hand with you, my naughty little runaway. So instead you are going to get your bottom spanked bright red and then Daddy is going to wash those naughty words out of your mouth again.”
Even with the hot cocoa I haven’t forgotten the taste of the soap and my brain immediately shifts to damage-control mode. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I won’t say any more naughty words I promise!”
To my shock and relief, the spanking ends and his large hand settles on my burning bottom. “We can talk about your swearing in a moment. But for now, your Auntie Gray is going to loan me her hairbrush so Daddy can make very, very sure you’ve learned your lesson about trying to run from me.”
Something cool and hard taps against my bottom a moment before a million stinging bees attack my skin. At least, that’s what it feels like, and the pain pulls a long howl of agony from deep inside me.
“I’m sorry! Daddy, please!”
The words slip from me without thinking, a desperate bid for mercy that is only met with another blazing swat from that infernal hairbrush.
“That’s what you said not two hours ago when I had you over my knee. Clearly I didn’t make my point then, but I won’t make that mistake twice.”
Over and over the brush falls, scorching my skin with every swat. The ache goes deep into my flesh and it doesn’t take long for all the fight to simply drain out of me. Collapsing over his knee, I let the tears come, great big gulping sobs that rack my entire body.
“There’s my good girl,” he murmurs, picking me up to cradle me against his chest. “Daddy’s right here, baby. Go ahead and cry it all out.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I bury my face in his shoulder as I weep, my tears soaking his shirt. Warmth spreads through my chest as he holds me close, rocking me gently as he whispers words of comfort and praise.
At long last, my tears run dry and I slump against him with a sigh, sniffling pitifully as his large hand pats my bottom. I’m so sore even that gentle touch reignites the ache from my paddling and I can’t help but wince.
“Are you ever going to run from Daddy again, little girl?”
The first fucking chance I get once the snow stops. But I’ve learned my lesson about speaking such things out loud, so I give him the words he wants to hear. “N-no, Daddy.”
“Good girl. Now we just need to deal with those naughty words. On your knees, little one.”