Chapter 5
DANE
“Well? Do we need to take her to a hospital?”
Worry beats frantically at my chest as my brother closes the door to his exam room behind us. But Ford no longer looks worried. If anything, he looks downright… amused.
“No, I don’t believe we do.”
“Why not? She got all the questions wrong.”
Nodding, Ford holds up the baby monitor he grabbed from the room and switches it on. “She did get them all wrong. Every single one. Without hesitation.”
The implication sets in as I watch Vanessa slide from the table, her head whipping around without a hint of the pain she showed just a few seconds ago.
“Clever little fox,” I murmur, taking the monitor from Ford’s hands as I watch her run her fingers over the window frame.
“Very clever. I had a feeling she was faking it, but I didn’t want to play around with a head injury. But clearly, she is feeling much better.”
“Clearly. Thanks, Ford.” Shoving the monitor back into Ford’s hands, I stride toward the front door, making my way around to the side of the house just in time to see my brave Little girl shimmy out of the window.
With silent steps I hurry forward, positioning myself beneath her as she tumbles toward the ground—and lands right in my open arms.
Eyes wide with shock, she stares up at me. “Fuck.”
“I’d say that about covers it, my naughty little faker.”
“I wasn’t faking!” she protests as I toss her over my shoulder and make my way back toward the front of the house. “Ohhh, my head! I need to go to the hospital!”
“What’s wrong?” Gray appears seemingly out of nowhere, worry twisting her expression as she takes in my moaning babygirl. “I thought she was in the exam room with you and Ford.”
“She was. Until she faked a concussion and tried to climb out the window.”
My sister’s mouth forms a small “O”, mischief sparkling in her eyes as she tries to look stern. “Well, that was very naughty.”
“Very. Did you get your hairbrush for me?”
“I did. It’s in the living room, along with everything else we’ll need for the ceremony.”
“Perfect.”
From her position over my shoulder, my little fox struggles, fighting against me with everything she has. “No! No hairbrush! Let me go, you sadistic bastard!”
I have to admit, I’m a bit impressed with her fight. Not that it’s going to stop me from giving her the discipline she needs, but I am impressed, nonetheless.
The rest of our family is gathered in the living room, watching the proceedings unfold with varying degrees of alarm.
My nieces, of course, look the most worried while my brothers are smiling rather smugly as I drop onto the dining room chair someone so thoughtfully moved into the middle of the room.
With Vanessa still kicking and fighting, I flip her over my left knee, using my right to pin both her legs down.
I’m not taking any chances this time.
“You were a very naughty Little girl, Vanessa Marie. But don’t worry, Daddy is going to teach you to be his good girl.”
Wriggling her shoulders, she fights against my hold. “That is not my name!”
“Yeah, well, my name isn’t ‘sadistic bastard’, so I guess we’re both wrong.”
An impressive snarl curls her upper lip as she twists around to glare up at me. “Fuck you.”
“Gladly.” Holding my hand out to my sister, I take the wooden brush she’s offering and tap it against the leggings covering my Little girl’s bottom. Normally I would bare her, but I can’t risk loosening my hold on her even a little bit. “As soon as we say our vows.”
Vanessa
Pain explodes across my right asscheek, momentarily distracting me from the terror that’s lodged itself firmly in my chest. The thin material of my leggings seems to offer no protection from the heavy wood of the hairbrush and a howl rips from my throat before I can swallow it down.
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” my captor mumbles before laying down a second searing swat on the opposite cheek.
“Let me go, you asshole!”
Two more swats land, lower than the first, along the sensitive crease where my ass and thighs meet, the area I know is called the “sit-spots” thanks to Marjorie’s books. And I’m dismayed to realize it hurts just as much, if not more, than she described.
“Keep racking up those punishments, little fox, and you won’t be able to sit comfortably for a month.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. As much as I hate to admit it, he makes a good point. Pissing off the man who has me trapped over his lap isn’t going to get me anywhere. Especially when that man is wielding a heavy implement of ass destruction with military precision.
Swallowing my pride, I force myself to go limp over his lap. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, praying my tone sounds properly penitent. “Please, Sir, I’m sorry. I’ll be good.”
His stomach vibrates, and it takes a moment for me to realize the motherfucker is laughing at me. “Oh, my clever little fox. You really think I’m going to fall for that?”
“It’s not a trick!” The lie rolls easily off my tongue, though my tone is a bit too sharp. Hopefully it sounds less like I’m furious and more like I’m holding back tears, especially since both are equally true at the moment.
“All right.” He taps the brush against my burning backside.
“Daddy’s going to let go of you, just long enough to get these leggings off so you can be properly punished.
If you cooperate, I will stop once your paddling is done.
But if you don’t, I promise this will be much, much worse than a few swats with your auntie’s hairbrush, little girl. Do you understand me?”
I understand, and I hate him for forcing me to choose between letting him strip me naked in front of a house full of strangers or some terrifying hypothetical punishment.
But because I have no doubt that hypothetical punishment really will be worse than a spanking, I force myself to choose the lesser of the two evils presented to me.
“Yeah. I understand.”
A low hiss escapes my lips as he swats me twice more with the brush. “Say ‘I understand, Daddy’.”
Asshole. “I understand, Daddy,” I manage to grind out between gritted teeth.
“Good girl. Daddy’s going to move his leg, and I want you to stand right in front of me.”
Rage pours through my veins as he slowly removes the pressure pinning me down over his thigh. I scramble to my feet, my eyes darting from side to side in desperate search of an escape.
But I’m surrounded by his six impossibly tall siblings, every one of whom looks ready to tackle me to the ground if I so much as breathe wrong. The little dolls—including Marjorie—are all watching me with wide, pleading eyes, as if it’s vitally important to them that I submit.
Until my dying day, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive them for that.
Closing my eyes, I try to pretend I’m anywhere but here as he tugs my leggings down over my hips, followed by my simple cotton panties, exposing me to his family. Tears slip down my cheeks as he pulls me back down over his thigh, once again trapping me in place between his legs.
“This is for lying about having a head injury, trying to escape again, and continuing to use all those naughty, grown-up words.” He heaves a dramatic sigh and taps the brush against my bare bottom. “You certainly know how to make a first impression, little fox.”
With that, he snaps the brush against my unprotected skin, and for a split second all that registers is the loud, echoing crack of wood meeting flesh.
But then the pain hits, a thousand bees stinging me all in the same spot, and I instinctively throw my hand back to protect my ass from this brutal assault. Holy fuck, it hurts so much worse without my jeans.
Thick fingers intertwine with mine as he anchors my hand to the small of my back, trapping me so effectively I can barely wriggle my hips as a second swat falls. “Oh, fuck! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I promise I’ll be good! Please stop!”
“Stop?” His laughter echoes in my ears, loud and wicked. “Why would I stop when I’ve barely gotten started, little fox?”
It’s all the warning I have before the paddling takes off with a vengeance, the unforgiving wood of the brush cracking against my bare skin over and over again without so much as a breath between strokes.
And as strong as I like to think I am, as determined to fight as I may be, I am no match for this constant onslaught of pain.
All at once, the fight seems to drain from me and I once more slump over his knee, though this time it isn’t for show. Now, I actually am sobbing, my entire body heaving with the force of my tears as the pain overwhelms me.
“Poor little fox,” he murmurs as he scoops me up into his arms, cradling me on his lap. My abused flesh presses against the stiff denim of his jeans and I cry harder as fresh pain shoots through my veins.
I don’t want his comfort. But I find myself curling into him anyway, soaking his shirt with my tears as he rocks me gently and whispers soothing words in my ear.
“It’s all right, little one. Cry out all those yucky feelings. Daddy’s right here.”
By the time my tears slow, I feel… empty. Completely drained, far too exhausted to fight him when he presses a kiss to my temple and helps me stand on my feet in front of him.
“If I leave you with your Auntie Gray and your cousins, are you going to behave yourself, little fox?”
Despite my exhaustion, hope once more takes flight in my chest. I can’t fight off all the Thorne siblings, but surely I can take his sister.
With that in mind, I nod, making sure to add a pitiful little sniffle that isn’t as unrealistic as I would like it to be. “I’ll behave.”
A grin spreads across Dane’s face. “Good girl. Your auntie is going to do your hair while Daddy changes into something more appropriate for a wedding. I’ll be back down in a bit to finish getting you ready.”
“Okay.”
Rising to his feet, Dane presses a kiss to my forehead, and something inside me shifts. Almost as if I find the gesture sweet, but I know that can’t be true. Nothing about this man or his family is sweet.
I watch as all six brothers stride from the room, several of them pausing to clap Dane on the back and congratulate him. When they’ve gone, I force myself to turn and face the little dolls who are all watching me with sympathetic expressions.
But it’s the smug, confident smile on Gray’s face that captures my attention and nearly knocks the air from my lungs again.
“All right, little girl. Let’s get you ready for a wedding.”