Page 19 of Daddy's Claim
“It’s nearly ten, Leonora. Rise and shine.”
Who the hell was trying to wake me up anyway? Nobody on my staff had such a deep voice.
Michael.
The events of the day before crashed over me, and I burrowed deeper into the covers. “Go away, Michael!”
“Little girl, you can either start your day with a bubble bath or you can start it over my knee. Which would you prefer?”
The threat made the skin on my ass crawl and I rolled over to glare at him. “You’re a big fucking bully, you know that?”
“Sounds to me like you’ve chosen the spanking.”
When he reached for the button on the sleeve of his long sleeve shirt, I scrambled out of bed and raced for the bathroom. True to his word, the giant garden tub was filled with pink,sweet-smelling bubbles. As much as I wanted to just dive in, I couldn’t help the niggle of doubt at the nice gesture.
“What’s this all about?” I snapped when he joined me in the bathroom.
“Get in and we can discuss. It’s not going to bite, Leonora.”
Folding my arms, I lifted my chin and did my best to look down my nose at him. It wasn’t easy when he was a solid foot taller than me, but I hoped the effect was the same. “Discussion, then bath.”
Mirroring my stance, he lifted a dark brow. I had a feeling it was much more effective when he did it, but I didn’t back down. “Bath now, or bath with a sore, red bottom.”
The sting from his belt had faded during the night, but the memory hadn’t, so I reluctantly conceded. “Fine. Can I at least pee, first?”
“Sure. Go right ahead.”
It took a few seconds of us staring each other down for the implication to sink in. When it did, my face heated with embarrassment. “I am not using the toilet with you in here, you pervert!”
“I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice, princess.”
Pressure I vaguely recognized as panic built in my chest. “I can’t. Not with you watching!”
Apparently fed up with arguing about it, Michael sighed and hooked his hands under my armpits. I’d slept naked, as always, and a moment later my skin connected with the cold seat and I squealed at the uncomfortable sensation.
Crouched in front of me, Michael’s serious eyes met mine and I felt a coil of unease in my belly. “What did I tell you last night, Leonora? You’re going to learn to mind me, one way or another. Potty, and then bath.”
“Why are you being so mean?” I whined, tears burning at the edges of my eyes. Never in my life had I been so humiliated byanyone, never mind a man, and I was certain my father would have never agreed to this sham of a marriage if he’d known what was waiting for me at the DeCosta estate.
“You only think I’m being mean because you’re so used to getting your way.”
The fact that he was probably right didn’t ease the sting of the humiliation he was forcing on me. “Could you at least turn around?” Swallowing my pride, I added a quiet, “Please,” to the request.
“Since you asked politely, yes.” With a gentle kiss to my forehead that left me feeling more shaken than I cared to admit, he stood and turned his back to me.
It was still embarrassing, but at least he wasn’t watching me. I finished as quickly as possible and hopped off the toilet before he could pick me up again.
“Bath now, princess. Let me know if you need me to warm the water up for you.”
The switch from stern taskmaster bent on my humiliation to caring husband put me on edge. “What kind of games are you playing, Michael?”
A sharp, stinging smack to my exposed backside told me he was done with my stalling tactics. Hurrying away from his hard hand, I climbed the steps to the tub and slid into the blissfully warm water with a sigh.
I’d expected him to join me for some sexy fun, so I was more than a little surprised when he instead rolled up the sleeves on his shirt and sat on the stool by the edge of the tub. Picking up a loofah someone had left dangling from a hook, he squirted my body wash on it and lifted one of my legs from the water.
“I don’t want to fight with you, Leonora.”
The quiet confession had my stomach twisting into a guilty knot. “Then why are you being so pushy about everything?”