Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Vasiah
When I’d awakened this morning, I expected cuddles, time with babygirl, and to make me some really good coffee. I wasn’t expecting mischief. There was a knock on the door and it was the beginning of–well…
Renee, Sadie, and Elara stood on my porch with guilty, grinning faces and too much sparkle in their eyes for ordinary visitors.
They looked like trouble in pretty clothes.
They’d been around Sera a lot more since the tea party and the movie.
I wasn’t opposed to it, but there was something about their presence that said something was up.
Sera had texted me earlier that day saying she was going to work on her “assignment” and would be busy here; she hadn’t said anything about company.
My body hummed with a careful curiosity I hadn’t admitted to myself.
“Afternoon,” I said, when I opened the door to greet them. My voice must have held an edge because both of them straightened a little.
“We’re here for rehearsal.” Elara waved a hand like that explained everything. “Sera recruited us. Master E’s assignment—lean into being naughtier—turns out it’s a group project this week.”
“Naughtier?” I squinted, wondering what they were playing at. Then, I looked over at Sadie. Fuck!
Sera loved theatrics; she’d find a way to turn a homework brief into theatre. I let the corner of my mouth lift, trying not to let the three of them know that I was on to them.
I said, “Come in.”
Renee tossed a small card onto the coffee table with the kind of flourish that made me smile as she entered. The card was handwritten and, of course, dramatic:
Mistress Vasiah, if you wish to find your Little, follow the giggle trail. No peeking. No shortcuts. Each clue will lead you closer. When you find Sera, perform the consequence written in the red envelope. She has consented and signed below.
— Seraphina James
My eyes snagged on the last line—her signature. I flipped the card to read the fine print pasted on the back:
Safe word: red. I accept any consequence you choose up to three strikes. If you decide on time out, glitter will be involved.
— S.
The audacity of it made heat slide along my skin. I felt Sadie’s stare and I refused to look over at her.
“Did she… write that?” I asked, the question more statement than request.
All three girls nodded while trying to hide their mischievous smiles.
“She taped the first clue on the TV,” Sadie said, incapable of standing still,
That clue made me both tender and sharp. I could feel the prickle of ownership stitch into my spine. I set my jaw and rose from the stool. “Good. I’ll follow the trail.”
They did not stand in line of sight. That was deliberate. If Sera wanted to be found, she would let herself be found. All the fun was in the hunt.
The first clue was folded and placed on the backside of the flat screen. I opened it:
Step 1: Find the napkin with a lipstick kiss. Don’t use it to wipe. It’s for later.
The handwriting was tiny and looped like it had been signed without much breath.
I smiled against my restraint. The napkin with the lipstick kiss lay above my sink, tucked under a cookbook.
Why was there a cookbook in here? I swallowed and carried it like evidence of affection—the sight of it tightened something in my chest. When I lifted my head, Renee and Elara were pretending to argue over which sitcom to stream on the living room speaker.
But then they would laugh and I kept hearing the word mirror. Where was Sadie?
That’s when I looked up to see the second clue was on the inside of the bathroom mirror, a small star-shaped sticker with a note folded behind it:
Step 2: Follow the music. A cassette will point the way.
I found the tiny mixtape beneath the record player—an old thing kept here for nostalgia’s sake—but the label made me laugh out loud: Daddy’s Fave (Totally Not A Trap). The joke landed; my eyes burned unexpectedly.
The third clue made me step slower. Taped to the back a card read:
Step 3: A feather will point you. We advise caution: glitter is forever.
The boa, ridiculous and pink, slumped over the guest chair like an injured bird.
It was tied in knots around my suit jacket.
Each knot had glitter resting on it, bright mini piles of it all over the place.
I searched for a way to untangle it without touching it and then froze because there was a faint giggle—not loud enough to be obvious, more like a pretense of childishness that couldn’t be contained—coming from the closet.
Not to mention, this wasn’t in here when I left the room.
I suppose I now knew why Sadie had disappeared.
Seraphina wasn’t standing in sight. Good. The thrill of discovery settled into my throat.
Renee, Sadie, and Elara went quiet. They were dangerous in their loyalty; I respected that.
I eased open the closet door, something dusted over me from above, and I found Sera crouched behind the hanging coats, knees tucked beneath her chin, eyes bright and wide.
She’d done the little finger-in-mouth wide-eyed thing, completely undone and trying to hold back a grin.
She’d painted a tiny pink heart on the back of her hand.
She looked like mischief moved into flesh.
I touched whatever was on my head to find silver glitter on my hands.
I growled at Sera. Do you know how difficult it was to get glitter out of hair?
Let alone dreadlocks? I’d be trailing silver and pink fairy dust for years.
She smiled like she’d been forgiven before she’d confessed. “You found me,” she whispered, words fragile as lace.
The last card was taped to her shirt. I peeled it free and read aloud because the ritual deserved a voice:
Final: Daddy — you caught me. I have been very, very naughty and I’m not sorry.
– Sera.
The breath left me in a soft, private sound. Everything she’d written—her consent, her clarity—grounded the fizz of irritation from the glitter and desire into something steady and dominant.
“Kneel here.” I pointed to the ground in front of me.
She came out from the closet on shaking legs and dropped to her knees where I told her to. Her posture was holy. When she folded her hands and looked up with that unabashed shyness of hers, I felt the rest of the world narrow until it was only the two of us.
“You staged this,” I said, though my voice lacked accusation. It had the amusement of someone who’d walked into her own trap willingly and was about to show her babygirl just what she’d earned herself.
“Yes, Daddy,” she breathed, the single word a surrender and a demand both.
Her trust was a live thing—bright and dangerous. I ran my hand through her hair and made the command she waited for: “Over my knee. Hands to the floor. Chin down.” I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, shaking glitter from my hair as I walked.
She looked toward the living room where the girls were.
“Eyes on me.” I reminded her.
She obeyed with the kind of obedience that made my chest both ache and swell.
I placed her across my thighs with care, feeling the warm, soft line of her skirt at my palm.
The sting I planned would be precise, not cruel: three strikes, exact and measured, each one a punctuation that taught and owned all at once.
It would remind her who she was under my care.
The first strike landed, sharp and bright.
She yelped, a delicious sound, then pressed into me as if to anchor herself.
The second burned hotter, and she squirmed, the sound she made threaded with laughter, shame, and relief.
By the third her breathing had changed—the hiccupping breath of surrender—and when I set my hand on her back to soothe her, the trust in that small body quieted me.
I drew her up into my arms, cradle-claiming her against my chest with the post-spanking softness I reserved only for her. Renee, Sadie, and Elara clapped like proud conspirators in the kitchen doorway; their laughter was a warm soundtrack to my pleasure.
“Own it,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. Her whole body relaxed into me; the shape of her against my ribs made the world right.
Sera wiggled out of my lap and bowed toward her friends with a curtsy or two thrown in there. I chuckled as they cheered louder.
“Next time,” I warned lightly, because a corner of me enjoyed the reprimand, “tell me you intend mischief ahead of time if we’re involving glitter.”
“I will.” She sniffled, mouth quirking into a grin. “Maybe.”
“Which of the four of you are going to get that damn glitter off my very expensive suit jacket and out of my hair? I’m positive that all of your respective Dominants would love to hear about you needing spankings as well.” I spoke loud enough for the other three to hear me over their applause.
The clapping stopped and Elara, Sadie and Renee bolted for the door, closing it soundly behind them.
Sera squeaked and made a run for it, much quicker than I thought she would be, she made it out of the cabin and onto the trail before I caught her.
I threw her over my shoulder and spanked her very exposed ass as we walked back inside and to the bedroom.
“Daddy!”
“Do you know what happens to Little girls when they run?” I spanked her again, making sure to hit her warming cunt as I did.
“They get ice cream?” she teased.
I chuckled and threw her on the bed.
She squeaked and turned into a fit of giggles until she saw me removing my clothes. Shirt first, shorts next, and then I walked into the closet not letting her see a thing that I was doing.
“Daddy… you’re not coming out with a belt are you?” I heard movement on the bed as if she was trying to run again.
“I would advise you to have your ass where I put it. And if there is anything that you don’t want ruined, to be removed from your body. Leave the skirt on.” I yelled out to her as I continued fastening my harness to my waist.