Chapter 22
DANE
It’s actually kind of hilarious, watching all four of our babygirls freeze in place at the sound of Colt’s voice. Someone flips a light on, and they all throw their hands up like tiny vampires hiding from the sun.
Lifting my own hand to my face, I rub my palm over my beard, more to hide my laughter than for any other reason. As funny as the situation is to me, I know my brothers won’t appreciate me “undermining” them by laughing at our Little ones’ dramatics.
“Daddy!” Looking panicked, Tabby glances around before shoving the wine bottle behind her, as if we haven’t already seen it. “Wh-what are you doing down here?”
Arms crossed, Colt raises a brow at his babygirl. “We could ask you the same thing, little girl. Where are you supposed to be right now?”
Tears pool on Tabby’s lashes, and my heart does a little twist at how sad she looks. “Upstairs,” she whispers, so quietly I almost don’t hear her.
“Uh-huh. So why are you down here raiding Uncle Eli’s snacks and Auntie Gray’s wine?”
Four worried Little girls look around at each other.
And in what I consider a completely predictable turn of events, it’s my own Little one who jumps to her feet, arms and legs spread as if she’s attempting to block her cousins from their Daddies’ wrath.
“It was my idea! They didn’t do anything wrong! ”
“Thank you for admitting that, little fox.” Excitement pulses through my veins as her gaze whips toward me, her eyes going wide as the color drains from her cheeks. “I will make sure your punishment takes that into account.”
“As for the rest of you.” Axel takes over, pinning all of our naughty Little girls with a stern glare. “All four of you are getting two spankings. One from your Auntie Gray and one from your Uncle Eli. And Lanie, what are the rules when another adult has to punish you?”
Nobody has even gotten spanked yet, and already Lanie’s bottom lip is trembling and her eyes are filled with tears. “I get a spankin’ from Daddy, too. But that’s not fair! That’s three whole spankin’s!”
“I think it’s very fair, actually. You all know the rules and you chose to break them.
You snuck out of Auntie Gray’s room while she was sleeping, breaking the trust she put in you when she invited you to spend the night with her.
And then you broke into Uncle Eli’s snack cabinet, which is something every single one of you knows is against the rules. ”
Gaze dropping to the floor, Lanie hunches her shoulders. “We’re really sorry, Daddy.”
“I’m sure you are, little runaway. But that isn’t going to stop you from getting your bottoms spanked.” Stepping aside, he gestures to the gaggle of nervous-looking Littles. “Gray, Eli. They’re all yours.”
Gray looks over at Eli. “I’ll take one while you take one, and then we can switch?”
“Sounds good to me. Lanie and Josie first?”
“Yup.”
But my Little one isn’t having it. “No!” Eyes blazing, she spreads her arms and legs even wider somehow. “You can’t spank them! It was my idea, I’m the one who should be punished!”
“Dane,” Axel says quietly and I nod.
“On it.” Striding forward, I scoop my babygirl up over my shoulder, ignoring her screams of protest and the pounding of her fists at my back.
“Let me go! Let me go!”
Once we reach the living room, I sit on the couch, shifting her until she’s trapped on my lap. Her diapered bottom presses against my cock and I have to grit my teeth against the flashes of painful need each wriggling movement sends shooting through me.
“Stop. Moving,” I manage to grit out between my teeth.
Surprisingly, Vanessa does as she’s told and freezes on my lap. But my growled command has not dimmed the anger burning in her gaze as she glares up at me.
“Let me go. I need to help my friends!”
As if on cue, the sound of palms connecting with naked bottoms echoes throughout the house, followed by Lanie and Josie’s pitiful wails.
“Your cousins,” I say, making sure to emphasize the correct word, reminding her that we are indeed a family here, “are getting the punishments they earned for following your lead.”
I almost feel guilty about the way she practically deflates before my eyes. “I didn’t mean to get them in trouble,” she whispers, sounding so heartbroken I don’t have it in me to continue being a hardass.
Wrapping my arms around her, I pull my Little girl in for a tight hug. “Can you tell Daddy what happened?”
“Will you spank me if I tell you?”
Hmmm. That’s an interesting question. “That’s going to depend on what you have to tell me, little fox.”
In my arms, Vanessa sighs, a world-weary sound that has me fighting back a laugh. “I was trying to run away again.”
Ahhh. “How did the others get involved?”
“I don’t know. Tabby woke up while I was trying to find a way out of the fort, then she woke Lanie up, and Lanie woke Josie up.
I figured if I told them what I was really up to, they’d go running straight to you so I made up a story about wanting some water and the next thing I knew we were planning a midnight snack run. ”
“So this wasn’t really your idea.”
“I guess not. But it’s still my fault we’re down here and my cousins”—she rolls her eyes on the word—“are getting spanked.”
“No. Your cousins are getting spanked because of the choices they made. Maybe you were a bit of the ringleader, but they could have chosen not to go along with your plan at any given point.”
Vanessa jerks a shoulder. “I guess. I still don’t think it’s fair for them to get spanked.”
“Do you really not think it’s fair or do you just feel guilty and you think taking their punishments for them would help you feel less guilty?”
Eyes narrowing, she glares up at me. “You’re annoyingly insightful sometimes, you know that?”
“Mmm.” Gripping her chin, I run the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip.
“It’s very brave of you to want to take their punishments, but that isn’t how this works, little one.
Little girls learn best when they’re held accountable for their actions, so that’s what your Uncle Eli and your Auntie Gray are going to do. ”
“Do you have to let them spank me?” Her voice has pitched up, making her sound more childlike than ever before. “Please, Daddy, can’t you do it?”
There is a part of me that wants to give in. I would enjoy punishing her, spanking her naughty bottom raw and then fucking her there until she was a sobbing, pitiful little mess in Daddy’s bed.
But it’s important to follow through on a punishment once it’s been decided, and it isn’t fair to the others if my babygirl receives any different treatment.
“I’m afraid not, little fox. But once it’s all over, Daddy will hold you and snuggle you for as long as you want.”
Apparently sensing that’s all the concession she’s getting, Vanessa heaves another deep sigh.
“All right. Let’s get this over with.”
Vanessa
We return to the kitchen just as Josie and Lanie are swapping places.
They’re already sobbing, their bottoms bright red and covered with darker splotches from Auntie Gray’s hairbrush and Uncle Eli’s wooden spoon.
Righteous indignation wells inside me, but I swallow it down.
It’s my fault my friends are being punished, and I’m determined not to make it any worse for them by lashing out.
Once my cousins are in place, Uncle Eli and Auntie Gray pick up their weapons and tap them against the reddened bottoms over their laps.
“You already know why you're being punished,” Auntie Gray says, her voice sterner than I’ve ever heard it. “Hopefully the next time we have movie night, you’ll all stay where you’re put when it’s time for bed and not go rummaging around Uncle Eli’s kitchen.”
The sound of wood cracking against flesh echoes around the kitchen, mingling with the sharp cries of my cousins as they kick and squeal and sob.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Eli!” Lanie cries out, wriggling and fighting against our huge uncle’s hold. “I’m sorry!”
“Auntie Gray, please! No more, no more!” Poor Josie is barely even fighting anymore, instead laying slumped over Auntie Gray’s thigh, her loud sobs filling the air.
But neither our auntie nor our uncle even pause.
Not until both bottoms in front of them are a deep, angry red and the Little girls over their laps are sobbing too hard to even speak.
Only then do they stop and pull my cousins up into their arms, rocking them gently and whispering something the rest of us can’t hear.
Something twists inside me as I watch the scene play out. It’s an ache, almost like… longing?
But that can’t be right. I can’t actually want this.
Right? They haven’t broken me that thoroughly.
Or have they?
Whatever the feeling in my chest is, it grows even sharper when Auntie Gray presses a kiss to Josie’s temple and wipes the tears from her eyes. “All right, Josie-Posie. I think your Daddy would like a cuddle now.”
Taking their cue, Uncle Axel and Uncle Bram both step forward, lifting their sniffling babygirls into their arms and snuggling them close. My cousins drop their heads onto their Daddies’ shoulders, and I can’t help but notice how peaceful they look, even with tear tracks staining their cheeks.
“All right, Tabitha. Vanessa.” Auntie Gray’s stern tone draws my attention back to her and my stomach twists painfully at the determination I see on her face. “Time to pay the piper.”