Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
For a few seconds, Nova was flying high. Literally.
Her stomach turned excited somersaults as she cut through the air like an arrow. She fought her natural reaction to tense up, instead willing herself to live in the moment and watch the world around her through the goggles she wore as she soared.
Below, to her left and right, people were clapping and their cheers reached her ears.
Ahead, the Davis Mountains loomed in the distance, but at that moment it seemed as if she could fly right to them like some superhero from the movies.
But then she started her descent. Would it hurt when she hit the giant airbag? No one else who’d taken the flight indicated it would. Still, with the crash coming up quickly, she braced herself.
That ended up all being part of the fun, though.
The airbag flapped around her as she awkwardly climbed off it.
“That was the greatest thing I’ve ever?—”
Her friends were waiting on her, as she expected. But they were behind Daddy.
And Daddy was clearly not happy.
“What on earth were you thinking?” Xavier asked her.
They were in the living room of their rental house, with Nova on the couch and Xavier pacing in front of it.
He hadn’t said much on the drive there. And it had been more than a little embarrassing to have him escort her away with all her friends watching.
Asking for a ride back to the house from the marshal was humiliating too.
She knew she wasn’t the first Little to be in such a situation. But that knowledge didn’t make it any easier.
Now, as she listened to Daddy lecture her, she was partly regretting her brief moments of flight.
“Honey, I am trying to keep you safe. That’s the whole reason we left Vegas. The last thing you need to do is jeopardize your life by launching yourself off a building!”
“I didn’t jeopardize my life,” she argued. “Stryker was a professional stuntman. He rigged that up and made sure it was safe. I mean, they were thinking about making that one of the ways people exited the haunted house. How dangerous could it be?’
A voice inside told her to stop arguing. She was never any good at listening to such voices though.
Her tenacity was part of what had helped her build such large music empire. But now that she had a Daddy to answer to…
“Well, little girl, let’s say it wasn’t risking your life?—”
“I lived. Didn’t I?”
He cleared his throat.
She fell silent and listened.
“What if you would have broken your arm? Or your leg? How are you going to stand on stage for two-plus ours—let alone dance around up there—if you’re all hobbled up?”
Nova opened her mouth to argue once more but stopped before any words actually escaped.
The truth was that she hadn’t thought about that.
But Daddy was right. What if she would have busted herself up?
It wasn’t just her she had to worry about.
A lot of people—from backup dancers and singers to stagehands—depended on her show to make a living.
She couldn’t live in plastic bubble wrap her whole life.
Still, though, she needed to be more conscientious of her choices, though.
“I’m sorry. I need to worry about everyone that would affect.”
Daddy studied her for a moment before smiling softly and sitting beside her. With an arm draped around her shoulders, he said, “Honey, I’m not thinking about anyone else. I’m thinking about you. You’re so valuable. And it’s my job to protect you.”
The realization that Xavier was truly concerned about her and her money or not what she could do for others was comforting and she melted into his arms, putting her head against his muscular chest.
It felt wonderful as his lips gently landed atop her head for a soft kiss.
“That’s why,” Xavier continued, “I’m going to spank your bottom, honey. It’s important that you learn your lesson here. You mean the world to me. You’re infinitely more valuable than I can even articulate. I need you to move forward from this making a positive change.”
He stood and the sound of his belt buckle jingling as he undid it and then the swoosh as he pulled the leather free of its loops jarred her into wide-eyed dread.
Oh no! She’d always figured this was part of having a Daddy. She was fully prepared to take the fun with the not-so-fun aspects of the unique relationship dynamic. But now that she was actually facing her first spanking, she wondered if she could do this!
Xavier’s phone rang before anything else could happen.
Nova breathed a sigh of relief. Of course, she’d have to face the discipline whenever he finished checking the phone, but any second she could buy was good with her.
Or would it be better just to get it all over with now?
It didn’t matter. None of this was her call. Daddy had the right to discipline her as he saw fit. She’d given that authority to him. It was just the way she wanted things, even though this part of it all wasn’t very fun.
“I need to take this,” he said, a look of bewilderment on his face.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. You just sit tight, honey. Think about what you did and the spanking you’re going to get. In fact, hold this while you wait.”
She whimpered under the weight of the heavy leather now draped across her hands. That belt was so big! It was going to sting so bad!
Now she definitely wished they would have just gotten the punishment over. Because now she had to wait and dread it.
And dreading was perhaps even worse than the swats would be.