Chapter 51
W ell, in hindsight he realized that he should have expected this.
Still, he hadn’t thought she would move quite that fast. Or that she’d be so eager to get another spanking after having one this morning.
But when he’d turned to her, she was already gone. In the wind. Shaking his head, he put his hands on his hips for the moment. Then he let himself grin.
These last few days had been some of the best of his life. Just him, his girl, and her pets. It was the first time in years that he hadn’t had that restless urge to move on. That he felt . . . settled.
At home.
If this is what having a home could feel like, then he was all for it. He was already looking into renting a house in Billings for them all until he could sort out something more permanent. Even if her house wasn’t smoke damaged, there was no way that he would allow her to move back into it.
Nope. His girl deserved far better and he was going to give that to her.
But first things first.
He had to find her, spank her, then stick a thermometer up her bottom.
His grin widened. Yep, this was definitely what life was about.
Stepping out of the playroom, he found Tank and Big B standing in front of the door that led to the main bedroom.
“In there, is she, guys?”
Tank eyed him for a moment before sniffing at the door.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” he reassured them before opening the door. “Hmm, I wonder where Maya could be? She seems to be hiding. Running away was rather naughty so I hope she knows that she’s going to get her bottom spanked.”
There was a squeak from the bed where she was clearly hiding under the covers. Not very well, of course. She was basically a large lump under the bedspread.
That was rather adorable.
Unfortunately, he was going to have to get a bit stern with her. It wasn’t all right to run off like that when he was trying to take care of her.
“Yep, she’s going to have to go over my knee and get her bottom heated. Which isn’t going to feel very nice when she already got spanked this morning. You would think she would behave herself.”
He made certain to close the door behind him. He didn’t need Tank or Big B trying to interfere.
“You know, I’m really tired after walking all the way here while trying to find her. I think I’ll sit on the bed.” He sat down on the lump and she let out another cry.
“No, Papa! No! I’m here!”
“What?” He stood and turned, drawing back the covers. She glared up at him. “That’s where you were hiding?”
“You knew I was there, Papa!” she cried. “And you tried to sit on me!”
“I wouldn’t sit on my girl. But I would like to know what she was doing hiding in the bed?” He gave her a stern look.
“I don’t want that thing in my butt, Papa!”
“And I told you that Papa is in charge of your health. So you need to listen to me and do as you are told. What you are not allowed to do is run away from Papa. That was very naughty, wasn’t it?”
She pouted. “Sorry, Papa.”
Picking her up, he put her on his hip and then walked out of the room with her. Tank and Big B had disappeared.
He strode into the playroom and shut the door. Then he carried her to the bed and laid her on her back.
She was dressed in a cute tracksuit. It was green and slightly fluffy. There was a large strawberry on the front of her top.
Grabbing hold of the top of her pants, he drew them and her panties down. She was allowed panties since she was dressed in Little clothes.
Even her panties had strawberries on them.
He took them off completely.
“This isn’t very nice, Papa!” she told him as he grasped hold of her ankles and drew her legs up, pushing them against her chest.
“No, what isn’t nice is you running away from Papa when he’s just trying to look after you.” He stared down at her. Her bottom was slightly raised off the bed, her pussy completely bare and extremely pretty.
He could feel himself growing hard, but this wasn’t the time for that.
Raising his free hand, he smacked it down on her bottom.
It was clear that she hadn’t expected him to spank her in this position as she stared up at him in shock, her mouth open and eyes wide.
“Papa! What are you doing?” she cried.
“Spanking you,” he replied as he smacked his hand down several more times. “You are not to run and hide from Papa. Especially not when it involves your health. Or your safety.”
“Papa! You can’t spank me like this!”
He paused, staring down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Excuse me? Why can’t I spank you like this?”
“B-because! You just can’t!”
“I think you’ll find that I can. And that I am.” He landed several more spanks. “Now, what are you not going to do next time that Papa tries to take your temperature?”
“I’m not going to run away. Ow! Ow! Papa, stop!” she cried as he continued to spank her.
“Hmm, no, I don’t think I’m ready to stop just yet.” He spanked her several more times until she relaxed and stopped trying to fight him. Then he stilled and started rubbing her cheeks.
“I’m s-sorry, Papa,” she said as she sniffled.
“I know that not everything is easy to accept, Bébé,” he told her soothingly. “And you’re still my best girl. Such a good, perfect, beautiful girl.”
She smiled up at him and he let her legs drop before gathering her into his lap and kissing her softly. Then he grabbed a tissue and cleaned her up.
“My amazing girl.”
Maya knew she could get used to this.
She wasn’t sure what she liked more. Being held by him or being praised by him?
Both felt amazing. He rocked her back and forth.
“Now, it’s time to finally take your temperature,” he said firmly.
She pouted, but didn’t fight him as he laid her back on the bed on her side, facing the wall.
“Draw your legs up to your chest,” he instructed.
Dear Lord.
Could this be any more embarrassing?
“Papa,” she grumbled. “I don’t wanna do that.”
“Do you want a redder bottom than you’ve already got?” he asked.
“Nooo, of course not.”
“Then do what you were told.”
Drat. She couldn’t really argue with that, could she?
She slid her legs up and then felt him run his finger down the seam of her ass before pulling the cheeks apart.
Then a cool, wet finger slid slowly inside her bottom.
“That’s it, don’t tense up. Deep breath in and out. Such a good girl for Papa.”
Darn it.
She had expected to feel awkward and embarrassed. What she hadn’t thought she’d feel was turned on.
But as his finger went in and out of her bottom, she could feel herself growing warm, her breathing becoming faster.
“That’s it. Now for the thermometer. Papa is so proud of his girl.”
She let out a small whimper as his finger drew out of her bottom, then the thermometer was pressed inside her. It wasn’t that it was big or anything. It just felt a bit odd. Cold and hard.
“That’s it. Hold nice and still. We want to get an accurate temperature, don’t we?” he murmured. “Or we’ll have to do this all over again.”
Ahh, yeah. She didn’t want that.
“There we are,” he said, pulling the thermometer out after what seemed like twenty minutes but was probably only thirty seconds. “Your temperature is perfect. Just like you. I’m just going to clean up, you stay like that until Papa can help you get dressed. Then it’s time for a nap.”
“Nooo, Papa, I’m in the middle of vet school,” she grumbled as he walked away.
“Well, it’s nap time,” he said.
When he returned from the bathroom, he rolled her over and pulled her panties and pants back on.
As he was helping her sit, his phone started ringing. Frowning, he reached over and grabbed it off the side table. She tensed. Every time his phone rang she got nervous for some reason. She wasn’t sure if she was nervous about getting the news that Vince still hadn’t been found.
Or that he had.
Because once he was found, they’d likely go back to Billings. And she wasn’t sure that she was ready for that.
But she also wanted him found. Because right now, he was a threat to her and her babies.
“It’s Ink,” Matthieu told her before answering the call. “Hey man . . . are you serious? Trussed up like a turkey? Yep. Yep. Wait, she’s here. I’ll put you on speaker.”
He set the phone down on his knee and turned the speaker on.
“Right, we’re both here. Say that again,” Matthieu said.
“Vince has been found. Or, I should say, Vince was delivered to us. Trussed up like a turkey on the front steps of Callahan Security early this morning.”
“What?” she asked. “Who would do that?”
“Well, I know who did it because he left a calling card. But this is the tricky part, I can tell you because he obviously wanted me to know by leaving his calling card. But it would be best if no one else knew. Especially the cops. Can you do that?”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said.
“Not even your brother?” Ink pressed.
Marlin had been in touch several times. But even though their relationship was slowly repairing itself, she didn’t feel the need to tell him everything.
“No, I won’t.” Who would do this?
“It’s a guy who calls himself the Fox. You could call him a friend of ours. Over these past few years, he’s helped with a lot of cases and he’s kept our women safe. Several of them, he helped rescue. Including Betsy.”
“Why can’t we talk about him? Why would he go after Vince?” she asked.
“The Fox doesn’t always stick to the law. In fact, he usually doesn’t. He plays by his own rules and the cops would love to arrest him. But even though he doesn’t follow the law, he doesn’t harm innocents.”
Okay, this Fox guy sounded interesting. She swallowed and glanced at Matthieu who was frowning.
“Why would he help me? I don’t know him.”
“He knows you,” Ink replied.
“What the fuck?” Matthieu said, jumping up. Luckily, she grabbed his phone before it could be knocked to the floor. “What do you mean, he knows her?”
“Matthieu, remember that I told you a bit about the guy Brody is with?” Ink said.
“Yeah. The one who was listening to our conversation that day with Detective Reeves?” Matthieu asked.
“Yep. That’s the Fox.”
Matthieu froze. “Brody is with a guy who doesn’t always stick to the right side of the law?”
“Yep.”
“Maya wasn’t there during that conversation, though,” Matthieu said. “How does he know her?”
“Brody admires her. He thinks she’s amazing. And the Fox loves Brody so we think he’s done it for him.”
“He found Vince and brought him back because Brody thinks I’m a good person?” she asked, incredulously.
“That’s what Brody thinks. Also, the Fox probably enjoyed the hunt. Vince is so scared that he’s singing like a canary. He’s full of information about the key corrupt players in the Billings PD who are taking bribes and terrifying the public.”
“Is he . . . is he working for my dad?” she asked.
“Well, he said he is, but I’m not sure I buy it. He looks a bit off when he talks about your dad. However, I do believe what he said about Robert and Malcolm, your stepbrothers, being involved.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“I’m about to call Reeves. Unless there’s anything you want me to ask him,” Ink said.
“Who could the kingpin be if it’s not the Chief?” Matthieu asked.
“I don’t know,” Ink replied. “And why lie when he’s spilling his guts about everyone else? But Vince did confess to throwing that fire bomb and he said it was because he was told to do it, to scare Maya into leaving the city. He said that’s always been his aim, to get rid of her.”
“I don’t think my dad would want me out of the city, would he?” she asked. “I’m so confused by what is going on.”
“Give him to the cops,” Matthieu said. “I know you’ll have gotten everything you can out of him, and while I would like a go at him, you can’t compromise their case by keeping him.”
“My thoughts too,” Ink said. “We’re getting closer, but I’d stay away a bit longer if I was you. I have a feeling that things are going to get messier before they get clearer.”