Page 5 of Daddy's Lesson

I wanted to take the sad broken woman in front of me and restore her to her former glory. No, scratch that. I wanted to make her better. I hoped she’d let me.

When she turned from the first page to the second, I rapped on the table with my knuckles and captured her attention.

“Lying on the first application was very naughty. You kept us from being able to give you the help you truly needed. If we are going to move forward in a more honest way, you’ll have to be punished for it.” I kept my tone even, but I was inwardly sweating, praying she wouldn’t notice the way my heart was pounding in my chest or how I was trying not to choke on every word I spoke. I couldn’t let her know that I was already picturing her ass-up across my lap, with her plump, naked bottom turning pink beneath my hand.

She looked up with a deer-in-the-headlights expression and I knew I’d managed my feat.

Clearing my throat, I met her gaze. “You need to agree to that. You control a lot of what happens in this situation by controlling what you write in there.” I nodded toward the packet. “But this one thing is non-negotiable.”

I could almost see the war going on in her brain. She was at odds with herself. She was nervous about saying yes; anyone would be, but she also knew she couldn’t say no. Not if she was going to heal her heart and make her life better.

Finally, she sighed deeply, nodded her agreement, and turned her attention back to the packet with a flush creeping up her chest and neck and onto her cheeks.

I could be spanking her tonight. Even if it was the only thing I was ever allowed to do, even if every possible option on the application form was a no-go, I would get to do that, and soon.

I hoped it wasn’t the only thing I got to do. I could see that she was getting to the section about sexual preferences and limits, and I couldn’t watch. I needed to give her privacy to be honest without the pressure of me reading over her proverbial shoulder. “Coffee? Muffin?” I asked her, pulling myself to a standing position, ready to head to the front counter to order.

“Chai latte please, and a blueberry muffin,” she answered without looking up. She was fully engrossed in the task at hand, and somehow I could tell from her expression that she was putting real time and thought into her second application. No rote, misleading answers this time around.

I got in the back of the line that led to the register and waited my turn, glad that they were understaffed and the morning was starting to pick up. I needed to be out of her hair for more than a few meager moments. When I came back, breakfast offerings in hand, she was just finishing. Slamming the packet closed, she pushed it across the table, and started to unwrap her muffin. I sipped a strong house coffee but said nothing. I was dying to read her answers, but instead I slipped the stapled-together papers back into my bag.

I could tell my current move shocked her.

Good. I had her right where I wanted.

“Don’t you want to look it over?” she finally asked.

Picking up the brightly colored mug, I nonchalantly sipped my espresso. “I'll look it over after,” I said, being deliberately vague.

Zoe’s brows crinkled. The corners of her mouth turned into a frown. “After what?”

“I told you you were naughty. What do you think happens to naughty girls?”

She tried to act indignant, but I could almost see the shiver that ran down her spine. “You can’t do that!” she gasped. “We don't have an agreement or anything yet.”

She was right, but it didn't faze me. We were doing things my way this time. “Agree that you were naughty and need a spanking, and then we’ll have an agreement.”

“It's not that simple!” Again with the fake outrage.

“It could be,” I countered.

“There are procedures and protocols that need to be followed.”

I rolled my eyes. “A fat lot of good that did you last time.” Feeling a smidge of guilt for dismissing her protests, I opted for reason. “Look, you are technically still under contract. Your contract isn't with Archer specifically, it's with the club. And until you cancel it, you and I are good to operate under the same contract. I was the one who wanted to redo everything.”

“And now you don't? Because it's convenient for you?”

She scowled but she wasn't upset. She was pushing, testing. Whether she realized it or not, she already knew this arrangement would be different, and she was already responding in kind. She never would have argued with Archer the way she was with me.

“I still want to redo everything,'' I stated simply. “Before we do, I want to make sure that I have made it very clear that this will be different than before. I want you to understand that lying to achieve the end you think you need will not be tolerated. I personally believe this dynamic, even in professional terms, is one that can be life- changing, but only if you let it. If you’d rather make do with the bare minimum, get a fake, emotionless spanking every weekend, then so be it. I can give you some references to people who can provide that for you.”

“You can?” She looked for a moment like she was going to ask for them, and I feared I’d blown any chance I had with that little tidbit. But then she seemed to think better of it, sighed, and shook her head. “Life-changing, huh? You really think so?”

“A hundred percent.”

“What do I have to do?” She was picking at her muffin and hadn’t touched her latte.

I pointed at them. “Finish your breakfast. Think about what I’m requiring and what I’m offering, and when you are ready, if you decide to go forward with it, we will leave here together. We can go to your place or mine. But wherever we go, you will submit to the spanking you deserve, and when it is over, then and only then, will I look at your paperwork and discuss how we are going to move forward.”