Chapter 15
COLT
Poor little firecracker. Her eyes are still leaking tears as I wrap a fresh diaper around her and untie the rope from her hands.
I’d considered making her sit through dinner in her wedding “finery” but she’s been so good for me and I know how much she loves her pretty blue dress, so I sit her up on the buffet and help her back into the poofy creation.
But when I pick her up to carry her into the dining room, she doesn’t drop her head onto my shoulder the way she normally does, and a niggle of worry pricks at the back of my brain.
That niggle grows into something more when I take my seat at the table with her perched on my lap and she stiffens, pulling away as if she’s desperate to put as much distance between us as possible. Which isn’t much considering I’m holding her on my lap, but I can feel every agonizing inch.
What the hell is going on?
My family streams in around us, taking their places at the table, with Lanie and Josie buckled into their highchairs beside their respective Daddies.
There’s one to my right for Tabby, but for our wedding feast it’s tradition for the groom to hold his bride as he feeds her.
Even if it wasn’t tradition, there’s no way I’d be letting her go, not when there’s something so clearly wrong.
From the head of the table, Axel clears his throat, drawing everyone’s attention to him as he beams out at us.
“Now that Tabby is officially a Thorne, I believe some actual introductions are in order. Tabby, I know we’ve somewhat met already, but I’m your Uncle Axel and this is my Little girl, Lanie. We’re very happy to have you here.”
Lanie waves and bounces excitedly in her chair.
But the pain from her earlier spanking clearly hasn’t faded because she immediately pauses and winces.
I can’t help but chuckle at her adorably pained expression, and when I do, Tabby turns her head to glare at me.
And again I find myself wondering what’s gotten into my Little girl.
I watch her face as my family introduces themselves. There isn’t any visible anger, only a sort of flatness that worries me. By the time we’ve worked our way through the alphabet all the way to G for Grayson, I know without a doubt there’s something very wrong with my babygirl.
Maybe she’s just hungry. It’s been a very long time since breakfast, and considering she slept most of the plane ride to Colorado, her tummy must be extra empty.
Part of me recognizes that I’m gaslighting myself, but hunger is something I can easily fix. And even if that’s not the core of what’s bothering her, she does need to eat so I unbuckle the pacifier gag from around her head.
But when I try to pull the paci from her mouth, she jerks her head away, furiously sucking at the rubber tip in her mouth.
“Tabitha.” All around us, my family slows their movements as they focus on my suddenly rebellious babygirl. “Daddy needs to take the paci out so you can eat.”
Meeting my gaze with a boldness that nearly has my own mouth falling open, she sucks hard on the pacifier.
If I wasn’t so worried that something was very, very wrong, I would be thrilled by this show of brattiness. I want her to feel comfortable being herself here, whatever that looks like, but instinct tells me this isn’t her simply embracing her inner brat.
So I try a different tack. “Tabby, baby. Don’t you want to try some of the yummy food your Uncle Eli made for us? He worked really hard all morning to prepare our wedding feast and you’ll hurt his feelings if you don’t eat.”
Uncertainty flickers across her face, but then her jaw firms again and she gives the pacifier another stubborn suck.
All right. Apparently I’m going to have to get mean.
Gripping her nipple through her dress, I give it a light squeeze. Not enough to hurt, not yet, but enough to let her know I mean business. “Give Daddy the pacifier, Tabitha Grace. Right now.”
Her chin wobbles and fresh tears glimmer over her bright hazel eyes. And still, she refuses to yield.
Despite my worry over her sudden stubbornness, a dark thrill races through me. I am, at my core, a sadist and I truly do enjoy hurting sweet Little girls like my Tabby.
So when I squeeze her nipple harder, giving it a little twist at the same time, my cock twitches in anticipation as her shocked cry rings out through the dining room. I release her breast to grab the pacifier before it hits the ground and stuff it in my pocket.
“Are you going to let Daddy feed you, or do I need to punish you again?”
“No!”
Before I can react to her blatant defiance, she does something that shocks me to my very core. Grabbing hold of the plate in front of me, she picks it up—
And sends it flying.
Silence descends on the table, my own shock reverberating through my siblings and nieces as we stare at Eli’s pot roast dripping down the wall.
It’s my babygirl’s gasp that jolts me out of my shock as she slaps her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide and staring at the mess she’s made.
Rising from my chair, I hoist her up into my arms, fury vibrating through every cell in my body. “Clearly my Little girl is overtired from her big day. You all enjoy our wedding feast, I’m going to take Tabby to bed.”
A chorus of “Goodnights” follow us out of the room as I carry my naughty Little girl up the stairs to my bedroom. “You were very, very naughty just now, Tabitha Grace. I am tempted to take my belt to your bottom until you can’t sit right for a week.”
“Daddy, no! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Carrying her through my bedroom to the door that connects my room to her nursery, I set her down in front of an empty corner. “You can think about how sorry you are in the corner while Daddy figures out a fitting punishment for my naughty girl.”
Tabitha
I’m gonna be sick.
Or, well, I would if my tummy wasn’t so empty already. It didn’t occur to me when I was refusing to eat a moment ago that it’s been hours since I had any real food. Now I’m wishing, for so many reasons, that I hadn’t thrown my plate against the wall.
Not least of all is the fact that I am, no doubt, about to be on the receiving end of a very painful punishment.
That’s assuming Daddy doesn’t just decide I’m more trouble than I’m worth and send me away.
Even as angry and betrayed as I felt after our “wedding” the thought of being sent away still makes my stomach twist with terror.
Then and there I make myself a promise that no matter how upset I get in the future, I won’t ever do anything so naughty again if he lets me stay.
“Come here, Tabitha Grace.”
Daddy’s stern voice makes me jump, and my vision goes black at the edges as I force myself to breathe, breathe, breathe. Gathering every bit of courage I have, I force myself to turn around to face my furious Daddy.
“Wh-what’s that?” I ask, pointing to the empty bag in his hand.
A cold smile curves Daddy’s lips. “This is an enema bag. While you were in the corner I remembered a conversation I had with my friend Doctor D once. He explained that sometimes when Little girls get backed up, it can cause them to act out of character. And you, my sweet little Tabitha, have been acting very out of character.”
I can feel the blood drain from my face as I back up toward the corner, my hands behind me as if that might somehow protect me from this horrible punishment. “I’m not backed up, Daddy, I promise!”
“Well, just in case, Daddy is going to help clean you out so you can be his good, sweet girl again.”
Fresh tears blur my vision as I shake my head. “No, please, Daddy, I won’t do anything naughty ever again!”
Daddy raises a brow. “Funny, you said the same thing when you were getting your bottom spanked earlier. Clearly I went too easy on you then. That’s not a mistake I plan to make twice.”
As if to punctuate his dire declaration, someone knocks on the door of this strange room he’s locked me in.
“Come in,” Daddy calls out without taking his eyes off me.
The door swings open and Uncle Ford steps in, a sympathetic smile stretched across his face. “You said you needed my help?”
“Yes. I’m thinking my Little girl might have a tummy ache and that’s why she acted out the way she did at dinner. I was thinking a good soapy enema might help.”
Uncle Ford nods along as if this is indeed sage wisdom. “Ah, yes, that can happen when Little girls get backed up. Do you need me to mix up the solution?”
“Please.”
Stepping forward, Uncle Ford takes the enema bag from Daddy’s hand. “I’ll add a good bit of soap, too, so we can be sure all of that naughty behavior is properly washed out of your Little girl.”
Judging by the smirk on Daddy’s face, the soap does not bode well for me.
I’m so screwed.
“Please, Daddy,” I whisper. “I really am super-duper sorry. Please don’t do this.”
“Show me you’re sorry by being a good girl and accepting your punishment. Come here, Tabitha Grace.”
The absolute last thing in the world I want is to let this sadistic man put anything up my butt. Just the thought of walking over to him and willingly putting myself at his mercy has my heart racing again.
If this keeps up, I’m going to give myself a heart attack before I hit twenty-five.
But those old fears rise up, choking me. The fear of not being loved, of being abandoned. Even if I didn’t choose to be here, even if I wish I was anywhere else right now, apparently that’s not enough to override my desperate need to belong.
So I step forward and place my shaking hand in Daddy’s outstretched palm. And I must be even more screwed-up than I ever realized, because my heart immediately calms when he smiles approvingly down at me.
“Good girl. Do you want to know what’s going to happen next?”
Just the fact that he’s offering calms my nerves a little bit more, so I nod silently.
“All right.” Hoisting me up onto his hip, he carries me over to a tall table like the one he used on the plane to change my diaper and lays me on the soft mattress.
“Uncle Ford is mixing up the enema solution right now. When it’s ready, Uncle Ford will hold your legs while Daddy inserts the nozzle from the enema bag into your bottom. ”
“W-will it hurt?” I manage to whisper as he tugs at the tabs of my diaper to open it.
With my diaper stripped off, Daddy reaches across me and pulls a thick leather strap across my waist, buckling me in place on the odd table.
“You’ve already had Daddy’s finger in your bottom, and the nozzle is much more slender than that.
So that part might pinch a little, but you can take it, can’t you, baby? ”
I nod up at him. “Yes, Daddy.”
“My brave girl,” he praises, beaming down at me, and I have the fleeting thought that I would do just about anything to have him smile like that at me forever. “Once the nozzle is inserted, Daddy will open up the hose, which will fill your insides with the solution Uncle Ford is mixing up.”
“Will that hurt?”
“Oh, yes, little one. That part will hurt very, very much.”