Chapter 27
COLT
“What the fuck is taking them so long?”
Gray hasn’t stopped pacing since we left Reese alone with my babygirl. Truth is, I’m wondering the same myself, but I know that trying to rush the good sheriff will only make us look more suspicious in her eyes.
So I sit. And I wait. Even if it feels like it might kill me.
Movement from the doorway catches my attention and I look over to find Reese standing there, hands in her pockets, her expression carefully blank and my heart slams into my ribcage.
Silence stretches, so fraught with expectation I can feel it crawling along my skin.
“Well?” Gray drawls. “Are we all under arrest?”
“Not this time,” the sheriff shoots back easily. “But I’m sure there will be plenty of other opportunities.”
Aggravated with their constant sniping, I clear my throat, drawing Reese’s attention to me. “Where’s Tabby? If you’re done interrogating her, I have some questions for her myself.”
Reese’s lips twitch as if she’s fighting a smile. “I’m sure you do. But before you go in there, I need you to promise me you’ll listen to her before you dole out whatever punishment you have planned.”
Her words have the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end and I carefully smooth any emotion from my face. “Who said anything about punishment?”
“Please.” Rolling her eyes, Reese snorts out a humorless laugh. “You really think I haven’t figured you all out by now? You’re not exactly subtle, and I have the internet.”
Not a single one of us cares if the entire town knows about our lifestyle. But the sheriff could make things difficult for us if she wants. “I promise to hear Tabby out before we discuss her disappearing act.”
“Good.” Everything about Reese seems to soften, ever so slightly. “She’s a good girl, Colt. She just needs to know her Daddy loves her.”
“Trust me, Sheriff, I plan to make sure she never doubts that again after today.”
“Then I'll leave you to it.” She rakes her gaze over all of us, a smirk tugging at her lips as she shakes her head. “I’ve heard of kink running in families, but this is something else.”
Leaving us all with that parting shot, Reese turns and strolls out the door, whistling the whole way.
“What the fuck just happened?” Gray asks as soon as the front door slams shut behind Reese.
“I don’t know. But the sheriff isn’t my concern right now.”
Pushing away from the table, I head for the living room, where Tabby is still curled up on the couch, her eyes already rimmed with red from crying.
The anger that had felt so all-consuming just a few minutes ago has faded somewhat, and my heart trips in my chest when she lifts her head to stare bleakly up at me.
“Please don’t hate me!” she blurts out before bursting into tears.
“Fuck,” I mutter, moving to sit on the couch and scooping her up to cradle her on my lap. “Shh, baby. Daddy’s right here. Nobody hates you, little one.”
“But you were s-so m-mad!”
Closing my eyes, I pull her to my chest, burying my face in her hair and savoring the scent of her. That unique mixture of baby powder and something else that is just Tabitha. “I was mad. Do you know why I was so mad, baby?”
“Because I was hiding and you had to look for me.”
“No. Well, yes,” I concede with a sigh. “But I was mad because you scared me. You scared us.”
Lifting my head, I glance up at my family and they all grumble in agreement. “You scared us because we didn’t know where you were, baby. We didn’t know if you were safe or hurt or if someone had taken you.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispers, so quietly I almost don’t hear her. “I just… I needed to know.”
“Needed to know what, babygirl?”
“That you really loved me. That you wouldn’t just send me away like the last time.”
Confused, I nudge her away so I can stare down into those golden eyes. “What last time, baby? We’ve never sent you away.”
“Not you. There was… One of the families I stayed with for a bit.
I wandered off one night and they never even noticed.
And when the police officer brought me home, they were so mad.
But not ‘cause they were worried. They said I could have gotten their license taken away. And then they sent me away. Because I was too naughty.”
I’m going to fucking kill them, just like I did her father. I don’t know who they are or where they live, but I will find out and I will end them for making my babygirl doubt my love for her for one single second.
“You listen to me and you listen to me good, little girl.” Eyes wide, Tabby nods.
“Our love for you is not dependent on how good you are. You are my babygirl, which means you are part of this family. Forever, whether you like it or not. Even if you tried to leave me, I would track you down and drag you back here. I’d tie you to my bed.
Chain you to my arm. Whatever it took to make sure you stay with me.
Because you are mine. Do you understand me, Tabitha Grace Thorne? ”
“I’m trying. I promise I’m trying, Daddy, it’s just so hard. Nobody has ever… I’ve never had a forever family. My head says you’re telling the truth, but my heart” —she taps her chest— “isn’t so sure.”
“Then we’ll keep working on your heart. And if you need to act out, if you need to be naughty every day of the rest of your life so that your heart believes it’s safe with us, then that’s okay. But I need you to promise me something, baby.”
Her brows draw together. “What?”
“No more hiding. No more disappearing. You can be as naughty as you want as long as you never, ever scare me—scare us—like that again. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy. I really am super sorry.”
“I know you are, baby. But you are still getting your naughty bottom spanked.”
Worry flickers over her face. “Are you gonna use your belt again?”
“Oh, no, little girl. Daddy has something very special in mind to help you remember exactly how much your family loves you.”
Tabby
Worry tangles my tummy into knots. What does he mean?
I don’t have to wonder long. “I want you to go upstairs and get the paddle Uncle Axel made for us, and the stuffie Uncle Dane gave you, and come right back downstairs. Do you remember where Daddy put the paddle?”
How could I forget? It’s sitting on his dresser, proudly displayed for anyone to see. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good. You have five minutes. If you aren’t back down here before the timer goes off, Daddy will add one day of no orgasms for each minute over. Go.”
The threat of not being allowed to come for a whole day spurs me into action and I hurry for the stairs as quickly as I can without running.
Luckily for me, my toys are all well-organized, so it only takes me a moment to grab the stuffed triceratops Uncle Dane gave me as a wedding present.
With her in hand, I hoist the paddle from its display stand, my heart sinking at the heavy weight.
But I don’t have time to contemplate how much it will hurt with the clock literally ticking, so I clutch the handle and make my way back downstairs.
Relief nearly makes my knees weak when Daddy smiles at me. “Good girl. Give your Auntie Gray the paddle, please.”
I offer it to her, unable to look up and meet her gaze before hurrying back to stand in front of Daddy. Taking my hand, Daddy pulls me over his lap so I’m stretched out on the couch, my bottom high over his knee.
“Daddy is going to warm you up a bit. And then every one of your uncles and your Auntie Gray is going to give you five swats with the paddle. Do you know why?”
Clutching my stuffy to my chest, I sniffle back tears. “Because I hid and I scared you.”
“Yes.” There’s a gentle tugging as he pulls the tabs of my diaper free. “But it is also to help you remember that you have so many people who love you and who would be devastated if anything bad happened to you.”
My diaper disappears, exposing my bare bottom once more to my entire family and I bury my face in my stuffie’s soft fur with a groan. But Daddy isn’t done.
“And once our family is finished punishing the outside of your bottom for hiding and worrying us all to death, Daddy is going to punish the inside of your bottom for going out on the roof in the first place. I do not ever, ever want to see you pulling something that dangerous again. Am I making myself clear, Tabitha Grace?”
The inside of my bottom? What does that even mean?
“Y-yes, Daddy,” I say, swallowing my questions. I have no doubt I’ll find out soon enough what he means by punishing the inside of my bottom and I’m honestly in no rush to get there.
“Good girl. This is your warmup and then you can have your paddling.”
Daddy’s hard hand connects with my bare skin, knocking the air from my lungs. Over the past few weeks, he’s spanked me plenty hard, but never this hard.
Or fast. It feels like I don’t even have time to think or breathe between swats, and it’s all too soon before it feels as though the pain is going to consume me whole.
Right before it hits that point, however, Daddy stops, his heavy hand coming to rest on my aching bottom. “You are so very loved, my little firecracker. And now our family is going to show you exactly how much. Stand up.”