Page 37 of Daddy's Reckoning
But again, he cut me off. “If you can’t do it for me, and you can’t do it for yourself, then you do it for our child. Because our child, my son or daughter, deserves two happy parents. Two healthy parents. Two fulfilled, successful parents.”
Straight to the point. For the money shot. He delivered the one argument he knew I’d have no counterpoint for. Just like any good businessman would.
Tears filled my eyes. I exhaled deeply. I thought about Theo and the kind of man I knew he was, and allowed myself to recognize the truth in his words. And because he was still punctuating his edict with a flurry of hard swats, and I just wanted to make them stop, I tearfully agreed.
“Okaaaayyy.” My agreement came out in a tearful, agonized wail. “I p-promise.”
As soon as I said it, I realized I meant it. I would try to remember. I did realize that I could trust him. At least to that extent, with this. The truth was, I probably trusted Theo more than anyone else in my life.
With the promise extracted, the swats got softer, fewer, and farther between, and he seemed to remember the real reason I was over his knee.
“Biochem is an important class for your degree. You need to pass it to become a doctor. Now, at a time when you most need a break, you have to think about taking it again, or doing it later, when it will be even harder.”
“I knowww…” I was sobbing now, my shoulders shaking with shame because I knew what a shitty situation I’d put myself in. “It’s just r-really h-hard. And it’s a morning class, and I w-was s-so sick!” I hated the way I sounded, full of excuses. I was supposed to be made of tougher stuff.
I hated even more when Theo abruptly stopped spanking and pulled me up and into his lap, allowing my bottom to rest in the space between his thighs where my stomach had been.
“I’m sure it was really hard,” he said, wiping my eyes. “And I do wish you would have told me what was going on, but I do understand why you didn’t.”
I nodded woefully. It would have been easier with someone to lean on, but I’d been doing it all by myself, the same way I’d always done everything.
“Do you understand why you can’t do that anymore? We have to be a team, you and I, from now forward. I know it goes against everything inside you to lean on someone that fully, but I need you to know you can trust me, and I will do my best to not let you down.”
“I k-know,” I stuttered, still on the verge of a fresh wave of sobs. Theo’s spankings and lectures always made me cry, but the pregnancy hormones weren’t helping.
Theo just wiped the tears still falling down my face and pulled my body against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, and I couldn’t help but melt into them. So much for keeping walls up.
He let me cry until my sobs faded to whimpers, and the front of his expensive dress shirt was soaked. Thank god I hadn’t been wearing mascara, or it would have been destroyed, too. Finally, when I was all cried out, he pulled my body away from his, and used his sleeve to dry my face.
“Now, little one, how’s your bottom?”
“H-hurts,” I admitted with a rueful smile. That might have been the pregnancy hormones, too, but even with just his hand, this felt like the worst spanking I’d ever gotten from him, and I knew it wasn’t, not by a long shot.
“I figured.” He grinned. “I’ve never spanked a pregnant woman before, but I heard the hormones make you extra sensitive. So it's easy to get a point across without harsh implements or long spankings.” He took my chin between his fingers, pulling my gaze to his. “Did I get my point across?”
“Y-yes, Theo.” My voice was still weak and shaky even though my tears were dry.
His eyebrows shot up, and I instantly realized my mistake. But it wasn’t a mistake. The spell had been broken. The correction was over. The walls had to go up. Distance had to be restored. It had to, or I wouldn’t survive.
“What was that? What did you call me?” Theo prompted.
I shook my head. ‘Daddy’ was on the tip of my tongue. I felt it so deeply, in a way that made not saying it physically painful. But I couldn’t. I had to keep the promise I’d made to myself. Didn’t I?
For a moment I wasn’t so sure.
“Babygirl, you need a Daddy. That’s how we met, that’s why you hired me. Isn’t it?” He held my gaze, and memories of our first meeting played on repeat in my brain. He was using my words against me. I knew it, but it was working.
Everything felt so hard right now, and I needed the support. From the one person I knew I could actually count on. So when he continued, it was easy to fall into his trance.
“You don’t have to be with me. It can be platonic. I don’t want it to be,” he stressed, making his own intentions very clear, “but it can be, if that’s what you want. But I want to be your Daddy. I don’t want to lose that.”
His voice was thick and strangled-sounding, and when I looked into his eyes, I saw that they were wet, shining with unshed tears. Seeing how emotional he was made it even harder to resist. He had me feeling some kinda way.
“I want, no, I need to make sure you are taking care of yourself. To make sure you’re happy. To make sure you’re healthy. To know I’m supporting you in every way I possibly can.” His eyes shuttered, and he swallowed hard. “Can you… could you do that for me, baby?”
He stopped abruptly and I could see the struggles play out on his face. I licked my lips, transfixed by this version of Theo I’d never seen before. My big, strong, tough Daddy was overcome with emotion and close to tears.
“I need… I need to be…” He trailed off, swallowing again. His eyes squeezed shut. He drew a shaky breath and popped them open. “I need to… For my kid, I need to make sure I am what I never had.”