Chapter 7
DANE
There may be a sight in this world more intoxicating than that of my Little one’s eyes going wide with horror, but if there is, I haven’t found it.
“Please, don’t do this,” she whispers, that same horror echoing in every syllable of her protest. “If you let me go, I swear I won’t tell a single soul about you guys. I just want to go home.”
“This is your home now, little fox. And we are your family. I promise it won’t be all that bad.” Turning, I gesture to my nieces standing quietly by, a mix of excitement and apprehension brimming in their eyes. “Look at how happy your cousins are.”
As one, the three Little girls who have stolen all our hearts nod enthusiastically and I send up a prayer of gratitude for them.
Vanessa, however, does not seem swayed. “But I have a job. Friends. A real family who will worry about me when I don’t return home.”
Around me, my siblings shift uneasily at this news. But it’s Josie who catches my eye. The corners of her mouth have dipped down into a frown and she’s watching Vanessa with what looks almost like disappointment in her eyes.
Making a mental note to have Bram ask her about it later, I flash a comforting smile at my own Little girl. “We’ll make sure everyone knows you’re safe and sound in your new home when the time is right, little fox. For now, we need to get you ready for the ceremony.”
She glances to the side, and I can already see the wheels turning as she gauges the distance from where she stands now to freedom. Or at least, what she perceives as freedom.
“Don’t even think about it, Vanessa Marie.”
“Dawn,” my sister supplies cheerfully. “Her middle name is Dawn.”
The look Vanessa shoots in Gray’s direction is full of betrayal, but Gray only shrugs. “We don’t keep secrets in this house, little girl.”
Huffing out a breath, Vanessa crosses her arms and glares up at me through her lashes. “I wasn’t even doing anything.”
“You were trying to figure out if you could make it to the front door before I caught you. Which you could, if I let you, but this isn’t the time for games. Daddy will play with you as much as you want after the wedding.”
“But I—”
Taking advantage of her inability to stay silent, I pull a pacifier gag from my pocket and slide the rubber tip between her teeth.
Vanessa jerks her head back, seemingly trying to dislodge the paci from her mouth, but I’m both faster and stronger than she is and it takes little effort on my part to buckle the gag behind her head even as she fights me.
With the gag in place, I turn to ask one of my brothers for a fresh diaper, but Colt is already holding one out for me, a smirk on his face. “Maybe you should let Bram tie her wrists first.”
“That’s not a bad idea, actually. Bram?”
My second eldest brother—and Colt’s identical twin—steps forward with a length of blue rope stretched between his fists. His smile is less smug than his twin’s, but only marginally so as he approaches my babygirl. “Come here, little Vanessa.”
Whipping her head from side to side, Vanessa steps back, but her progress is halted by her Uncle Elias. Easily the largest of us all both in height and musculature, he blocks nearly the entire entryway.
“Little girl, you’ve already caused more than enough trouble today,” he grumbles, crossing his arms and glaring down at her. “I suggest you listen to your Uncle Bram.”
I’m sure it would piss some Daddies off to see someone else scolding their Little ones.
But all I see is my baby being cared for by my family—our family—and my heart swells with affection for my younger brother.
“Thanks, Eli. Would you mind keeping a hold of her so Bram can wrap her wrists and I can get this diaper on her?”
At the mention of the diaper, Vanessa’s green eyes manage to grow even rounder and the shaking of her head even more violent. Muffled screeching noises emanate from her mouth, and I have a feeling if she didn’t have the pacifier in she’d be giving me plenty of reasons to wash her mouth out again.
It’s good for her I’m such a thoughtful Daddy, helping her stay out of trouble.
Taking hold of her shoulders, Eli pins her in place while Bram reaches for her wrists. But my little fox is a fighter and she kicks out, her foot connecting with Bram’s shin.
“Fuck!” Leaning down, Bram rubs at the spot she kicked. “She’s strong, Dane. You’re gonna have your hands full with this one.”
I am, and I can’t wait. But I also can’t allow her to get away with such behavior. Pinning her with a stern look, I land a sharp swat on the outside of her thigh. Vanessa instantly goes still, her wide eyes shimmering with tears as she stares up at me.
“That was very naughty, Vanessa. Do you want another spanking?”
Whimpering quietly, she shakes her head again, slower this time but just as firmly.
“Good girl. Because if Daddy has to spank you again, you are going to learn there is more than one way to punish a naughty little bottom. Am I understood?”
Now she nods, and the tears pooling on her lashes slip free.
God, she’s beautiful when she cries.
Satisfied she’ll behave herself at least for a bit, I reach for the hem of her shirt. Between Eli and me, we manage to wrestle her out of both the t-shirt and her bra. Once she’s fully nude, I gesture for Bram to continue with his task. “Hold your wrists out for Uncle Bram, little one.”
More tears slide down her round cheeks, dripping onto the floor as she holds trembling hands out for my brother.
Bram rewards her with a smile and tells her what a good girl she is as he wraps the rope around her wrists, binding her arms together with an intricate pattern only he truly understands.
Once her wrists are bound, Eli helps me lay my little fox on the floor so I can wrap her up in a clean diaper.
She doesn’t fight me, which is both a disappointment and a source of pride, but she does glare at the ceiling the entire time as if the house itself has betrayed her.
“There.” Sitting back on my heels, I beam down at her. “Something old, mama’s tiara. Something new, the diaper and the pacifier. Something blue, the rope. Now we need—”
“Something borrowed,” Gray finishes for me, handing off her hairbrush.
“Thank you, Auntie Gray.” Taking the brush from her, I nestle it between Vanessa’s clasped hands before helping her to her feet. Standing before me, clad in nothing but a diaper, rope, and the glittering tiara all of our babygirls have worn for their wedding ceremonies, she is breathtaking.
Absolutely perfect.
It’s my turn to blink back tears as I cup Vanessa’s elbow and guide her down to the end of the living room, where Eli stands in front of the long buffet-style table we consider our altar. Clutching a worn family Bible in his hands, Eli meets my gaze with sober eyes.
“We are gathered here today to witness our brother, Dane Thorne, wed in holy matrimony to Vanessa Dawn. Dane, do you take Vanessa to be your wife and your Little girl, to have and to hold, to cherish and to punish? Do you promise to protect her against any threat to her health, safety, or overall wellbeing? Do you promise to be the Daddy she needs, providing for all her needs, physically, mentally, and emotionally, as long as you both shall live?”
Looking down at my babygirl’s auburn hair, I grin before nodding to my brother. “I do.”
Vanessa jerks her head up, glaring daggers at me from those bright-green eyes, her mouth working around the pacifier even though nobody can understand a word she’s saying. Hands still bound as if in prayer, she lifts a foot and stomps it against the ground, her head whipping back and forth.
Adorable.
Completely ignoring my babygirl’s temper tantrum, Eli rolls forward with the vows. “Excellent. As is our tradition, we shall forgo the bride’s vows since her mouth is otherwise occupied. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now claim your bride.”
And just like that, I’m a married man. Scooping Vanessa up into my arms, I carry her to the makeshift altar while all around me cheers of excitement ring out, along with the familiar banging of pots and pans that accompanies every wedding ceremony in our family.
“Chivaree!” Colt yells, his cry echoed by all the others as they begin to dance in a circle around us.
My blood pumps faster in my veins as I reach for the tabs on my Little one’s diaper. But I’m distracted by my family’s celebration, and I catch the intent on her face a split second too late.
Her leg shoots out, her foot connecting painfully with my nose and I stumble backward, clutching at my face as blood pours from my nostrils.
Chaos erupts around me as Vanessa rolls off the table and stumbles toward the entryway of the dining room. Unfortunately for her, she’s wildly outnumbered and Axel easily catches her round the waist.
“Fucking hell, Dane. Let me make sure she didn’t break your goddamn nose.”
Waving aside Ford’s concerns, I focus in on my babygirl as Axel and Eli wrestle her back into place.
“No,” I tell them, the word somewhat warbled thanks to what I’m pretty sure is a broken nose. “I want her bent over the edge of the altar.”
My brothers share a glance tinged with sympathy for the Little girl trapped between them, but they do as I ask, flipping Vanessa over so her torso is pressed down against the smooth wood and her diapered bottom is presented high for my discipline.
“Take the gag off. I want to hear her cry for Daddy when I punish her.”
Watching as Eli unbuckles the pacifier gag, I reach for the buckle on my belt, pulling the leather free with a hiss that has my little fox going still.
“Six with Daddy’s belt, little girl. And then Daddy is going to show you how naughty girls get fucked.”