Chapter 30
Edie
Every single inch of her was so deliciously sore. Grant had more than kept his promise to show her who was in charge, and she had a feeling she’d have some lovely marks when she looked in the mirror.
If she could muster up the energy to drag herself out of his bed.
As she was lying there, watching the early morning sun dance across his back as he slept, she caught the sound of tires on gravel and smiled. Jesse must be home.
Worry started to creep in through the lovely morning-after glow. Even though Jesse had clearly been pushing them together, how was she going to react to actually finding them in bed, naked, having clearly enjoyed the fuck out of each other the night before? It seemed like a recipe for jealousy, so maybe if she just snuck over to her room…
But before she could do more than gather her clothes from where they’d been strewn around the room the night before, the front door slammed, followed by the sound of Jesse’s footsteps racing up the stairs.
She skidded to a stop in the doorway, a wide grin stretching across her face. “Well. Looks like you two enjoyed yourselves.”
“Ah…”
“Oh!” Mischief danced in her eyes as her gaze landed on the bed. “Is Daddy still sleeping?” she asked in a loud whisper.
“Yes. Probably shouldn’t wake him.”
“Right, right.” But there was a telltale glee in her expression as she crept closer. “Definitely don’t want to wake him up. He’ll be grouchy. And we definitely shouldn’t wake him up by tickling him. He hates that.”
It wasn’t often Edie found herself actively wanting to be a brat. Usually, it was just her instinctive reaction to the situation at hand. She rarely went out of her way to torment her Doms. But the desire was there, tugging at her, and she found herself torn between being the responsible adult in the room and following Jesse’s lead.
She was so going to regret this.
Dropping her clothes to the floor again, she climbed back into bed as Jesse crept around the opposite side. When Jesse was in place, they locked eyes over Grant’s prone form, and Jesse mouthed, Three… two…
On one, they both pounced, attacking his sides with their fingertips. Grant came alive beneath them with a shout and soon the room was filled with shrieks of laughter from her and Jesse, punctuated regularly with rather inventive swears and threats from their Daddy.
Grant rolled, reaching for Jesse, who noticed what he was doing a moment too late. A second later she was flipped onto her back between them, with their Daddy pinning her to the bed.
“Run, Edie!” she screamed through her maniacal laughter. “Save yourself!”
But before Edie could do more than scramble to the edge of the bed, Grant’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “Freeze, pixie.”
Again, she was caught between brat and good girl, but this time self-preservation won out and she froze in place, turning to look up at him with a sheepish grin. “Morning.”
“It does appear to be morning, yes,” he drawled, one dark eyebrow raising. “Which is far too early for surprise tickle attacks.”
“But Daddy, we—” Whatever explanation Jesse had been about to give was cut off by a single warning glare from Grant.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom. I suggest you both do the same if you haven’t already, because it’s going to be a long morning for my two naughty girls.”
“Shit,” Edie mumbled as he rolled off the bed and stalked to the bathroom joining her two guest rooms. “Do you think he’s really mad?”
“Nah. But we’re still in so much trouble.”
Like a true brat, Jesse’s happy tone didn’t at all match her words. Or the knots forming in Edie’s stomach as she contemplated exactly what ‘so much trouble’ might entail.
Then again, Jesse had been with Grant long enough to have a pretty good idea of what was coming next. Edie was still in that discovery phase, learning Grant’s hot buttons and where the lines between playfully naughty and disrespectful actually were. It was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying.
Because she did have to use the bathroom as well, she hurried across the hall to her bedroom and did so as quickly as possible. The last thing she wanted was to make Grant any madder than he already was.
When she rushed back into the guest room, he was standing at the end of the bed in all his naked, chiseled glory, and Edie couldn’t help but stop to admire the view. God, he was pretty.
“If you’re done drooling, little pixie, you can join our naughty babygirl on the bed.”
Embarrassment threatened to flood her face, but Edie willed it back. Why should she be embarrassed by her enjoyment of his body?
“Yes, Daddy.” Flashing him a cocky grin, she strode over to the bed and sat beside Jesse, who was watching the exchange with wide-eyed wonder.
“Daddy?” Jesse asked, and again Edie felt that worry inching up her spine at her uncertain tone.
“Yes.” Grant’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, little outlaw. I should have discussed that with you before I asked Edie to address me that way. Is it alright with you if she calls me Daddy?”
Jesse’s gaze flicked between them several times before she gave a small, hesitant nod. “I think so…”
There was something in her tone that said it wasn’t entirely alright. “What is it, babygirl?” Edie asked.
“It’s just—nothing. It’s nothing.”
“That doesn’t sound like nothing.” Grant’s tone was the low, soothing notes she’d noticed he used when Jesse seemed especially Little. “Tell us what’s going on up here.” He tapped Jesse’s forehead, making her giggle a little before her worried expression returned.
Nibbling at her bottom lip, Jesse picked at the comforter and shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I was just wondering… if Edie is calling you Daddy, does that mean she’s staying with us forever?”
Ah, fuck. Judging by the look on Grant’s face, he hadn’t expected that question, either. Edie forced a smile, hoping it covered some of her own uneasiness. “I don’t know, baby.” It wasn’t much of an answer, but it was an honest one. “I think it’s more like, this is part of trying to see what works for us. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. It’s okay. I was just kinda hoping…”
When she trailed off again, Edie ran a hand over her hair, offering comfort and support. “What were you hoping, baby?”
Jesse glanced at her, then Grant before dragging in a deep breath. “I was kinda hoping it meant you would be ours forever and I could start calling you… Mommy.”
Jerking back slightly, Edie looked up at Grant, who held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I haven’t said a word about it.”
“About what?” Jesse’s brows drew together in confusion.
“About you calling me Mommy.” This wasn’t a conversation she’d been prepared to have just yet, but it didn’t seem like she was being left with much of a choice. “Your Daddy and I talked about it before, and I explained I’m not really ready for that. It’s a really big step for me, even bigger than calling Grant ‘Daddy’, and I-I think I want to wait until we’re absolutely sure our relationship is going to turn into something more permanent before you and I take that step. Does that make sense?”
“It does.” A smile tugged at Jesse’s lips. “You really already talked about it, though? And you think you’d be okay with it, eventually?”
“We did. And I think, when the time is right, I’d love to be your Mommy. Just not right now. Okay?”
Relief filled Jesse’s eyes, warming the gold of her irises. “Okay, Edie.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that settled…” Crossing his arms, Grant raised an eyebrow, sending butterflies dancing in Edie’s stomach. “I believe we still need to have a discussion about the acceptable ways to wake up your Daddy.”
Pink slashed across Jesse’s cheeks, and Edie had a feeling she had matching color on her own face. “It was just a joke,” she mumbled, but one look at Grant’s expression told her it was the wrong thing to say.
Not that he looked mad. Far from it. If anything, he looked positively delighted at her response. So much so that it sent a shiver of anticipation up her spine.
“I enjoy a good prank as much as anyone, little pixie, but there are always consequences. Which is obviously a lesson our naughty babygirl still needs to learn.”
The knots in Edie’s stomach tightened. Why was he zeroing in on Jesse?
“Me?” Judging by the way Jesse’s voice rose to a squeak, she hadn’t expected to be singled out, either. “But, we both?—”
“Trust me, little girl, I’m well aware you both participated in this little wake up call. Just like I am well aware it was most likely your idea. Am I wrong?”
Cheeks turning a darker and darker pink, Jesse squirmed under her Daddy’s hard gaze. “Well… not exactly.”
“That’s what I thought. Which is why I’m going to let Edie teach you a lesson about dragging her into your naughty pranks.”
“What?” Edie and Jesse demanded in shocked unison.
Grant turned his attention to Edie, the corner of his mouth kicking up in a smug smile. “You’re going to give our naughty girl the spanking she’s earned. And I suggest you don’t hold back, or there will be consequences for both of you.”
“But that’s not fair!” Jesse cried. “She was part of it, too!”
“That’s right. It’s not fair.” Crossing her arms, Edie leaned back against the headboard and glared at him. “I can’t spank her for something when I was just as guilty! It’s not right!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, the realization hit and her eyes narrowed even further. “Wait. That’s the point, isn’t it? That’s my punishment.”
“Such a smart little pixie,” Grant answered with a low, wicked chuckle.
“What?” Outrage colored Jesse’s tone. “How is spanking me a punishment for you?”
“Because. He knows it’s not fair, and he knows it’s going to be torture for me.”
It was devious. And diabolical. And, she was forced to admit, absolutely perfect.
Damn him.
“Better get started, little pixie.”
She didn’t want to. Because it really wasn’t fair for her to punish Jesse for something she’d done wrong, too. But her gut also told her refusing to play his game would only result in an even more diabolical punishment for both of them, so she sighed and shifted to sit up straighter with her back against the headboard.
“Come here, babygirl.”
“It’s not fair,” Jesse whined as she slowly dragged herself over Edie’s lap. “You should be getting spanked, too!”
Guilt was like a knife in Edie’s chest, twisting with every word of protest from Jesse’s mouth. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let you talk me into being naughty.”
Despite her own guilt and her frustration with Grant over the punishment he’d devised, she couldn’t help the stir of arousal as she tugged her babygirl’s leggings and panties down to her knees. Jesse’s ass was still just as perfect for a spanking as it had been when they’d first fallen in love, and her palm positively itched to make contact.
She did her best to sound stern as she began her lecture. “Is it nice to wake people up unnecessarily, little girl?”
“No, Ma’am,” Jesse grumbled in response.
“And is it nice to wake people up by tickling them, especially when you know they don’t like it?”
“No, Ma’am.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll both remember this the next time you want to prank your Daddy with something you know he doesn’t enjoy.”
Doing her best to push aside the guilt, Edie snapped her hand down across Jesse’s right cheek, making the naughty girl over her lap jump and gasp at the sting. Which was a bit dramatic, considering she hadn’t actually swatted her all that hard.
But when Edie swatted her again, still not nearly as hard as she had the last time she’d spanked her and Jesse cried out much louder than the spank called for, Edie had to fight back a smile. She knew exactly what her Little girl was up to, and she secretly hoped their Daddy was buying it.
That would show him.
Grant
It took everything in him not to burst out laughing at Jesse’s theatrics. And the look on Edie’s face as she tried to hide her glee at said theatrics.
They were going to keep him on his toes, that was for sure.
He let the charade play out a little longer, enjoying the show as Jesse howled and thrashed over Edie’s lap, despite her bottom barely turning pink. She was obviously pulling on her skill as an actress, and he had to admit she was doing a pretty decent job of selling it. If he hadn’t spanked her plenty himself and known exactly how much it normally took to get that kind of reaction out of her, he might have bought it himself.
Then Edie paused, running her hand over Jesse’s bottom, and he nearly lost the battle with his laughter at the concerned expression on her face. “Are you going to be a good girl for us now, Jesse?”
“Y-yes, Ma’am.”
Oh, she was good. There was the perfect amount of remorse in her tone, and the little catch of her breath that made it sound like she was holding back tears.
“Good girl.” Edie looked up, one eyebrow cocked as if daring him to challenge her. “I think she’s learned her lesson, Daddy.”
“Do you?” He let just a note of disbelief color his tone, enough to have Edie’s eyes widening slightly. “I hope you’re confident in that decision, because I’m the one you need to convince, little pixie.”
“Listen to her! She’s obviously sorry!”
“What were your instructions, Edie?”
Edie’s chin took on a stubborn tilt. “To spank her.”
“No. Your instructions were to give her the spanking she’s earned. And do you really think you’ve done that?”
Panic flickered in the deep brown of Edie’s eyes, but she still looked as defiant as ever. “Yes.”
“Hmm. Is that your final answer?”
“I-I think so. Why?”
“Because if you stop too soon, or if I feel you haven’t spanked her hard enough, not only will I give our little girl the spanking she really deserves, I will also give her the spanking you deserve.”
That got their attention. Edie’s mouth fell open in shock, and Jesse’s head whipped up, her eyes round and wide with betrayal. “You wouldn’t!”
“I absolutely would. So, I’m going to ask you again, Edie. Do you think you’ve given our little girl the spanking she’s earned?”
The struggle was stamped all over Edie’s face. She didn’t want to punish Jesse, but if she didn’t, then Jesse would get an even worse spanking, which would make her feel even guiltier. It was a mindfuck of the most delicious kind, and he was enjoying every second of it.
“No,” Edie finally answered with a sigh. “No, I don’t think I’ve given her the spanking she’s earned.”
“Good girl. You may begin again.”