Tanner really hoped he hadn’t laid his cards down too soon, but she’d asked and if he wanted a chance at being her Daddy, he’d have to be honest and answer her questions.
“I do..” Arabella’s cheeks turned pink, and her hands fidgeted as she stumbled over her words. “I mean,… I’d… Oh hell, I already trust you. So much so that I’ve agreed to a punishment. That is the epitome of trust for me, Daddy.”
Daddy.
Arabella had called him Daddy, and it had been deliberate, while she was coherent.
“Just so we’re clear here, does that mean what I think it means, Little Hurricane?”
“Do you think it means that I want you to be my Daddy, and for me to be your little girl?”
“Yeah, baby. That’s what I was hoping it meant.”
“Oh, good! I was worried for a minute that it might have sounded like I wanted the Yankees team statistics or something.”
“You little brat.” Tanner laughed, “Get over here!”
He reached for her and plopped her on his lap, where he proceeded to tickle her until she relented.
“Okay! Okay, yes! Yes, that’s what I meant!”
She was laughing so hard, it came out in short bursts of panting words, but it was everything Tanner wanted to hear.
“Okay, Little Hurricane. Now, let me go get ready for your punishment.”
He was halfway across the room when he heard her mutter, “Damn.”
Chapter Eight
Arabella was nervous. She’d assumed she would never find anyone with whom she would feel comfortable enough to submit. Not after her experiences with James. But there she was, sitting nervously on her hands, waiting to find out which of the punishments they had discussed Tanner would choose. He’d not told her, saying instead that the anticipation increased the effectiveness. She had to admit, he was right. She was certainly thinking about what she’d done, and what kind of punishment it would have earned her.
As much trouble as she’d given him about it, she couldn’t deny that she had disobeyed a direct order and put herself in danger. She reluctantly admitted, at least to herself, that she’d earned it. She wondered if maybe she’d done so on purpose. She’d been missing the structure of good rules and proper punishments. She’d worried that, after James’ abuse, punishments might be a thing of her past, but they’d talked about several that seemed they would be effective without physical pain.
Arabella wondered if she’d been pushing boundaries. She’d known from her short time with Tanner that safety was important to him, and she’d knowingly put herself in a situation that could have ended with her hurt. Had she done that purposefully, to see what Tanner would do? It was certainly possible. She’d always been one to toe the line between behaving and being a brat. She got a rush from seeing just how far she could go. It was amazing how fast she could fall into old habits.
It seemed she’d been waiting forever, and she was just wondering what was taking so long, when Tanner reappeared, arms crossed and towering over her with the look she was beginning to think of as his stern Daddy look.
“What are you being punished for, Little Hurricane?”
Arabella knew the answer to that question, but did she give the correct answer? Of course not. Her stupid mouth spouted, “Being a better distraction than you?”
The growl that emitted from Daddy should have warned her not to push, but she was in it now. She decided to find out how far she could take it. “Because I used woman logic, instead of caveman intuition?”
“Little girl, you’re only making this worse for yourself. Why are you being punished? If I have to ask again, I guarantee you won’t like the result.”
Arabella paused at that, and some of her not-so-old fears surfaced as she questioned whether she should just do as he asked. But the best way to test her theories was to test his temper.
She was fairly certain Tanner would never really hurt her, but if he would she’d rather find out sooner than later. Besides, she needed to start this how she intended to continue, and she was a girl who wouldn’t be meek and biddable. He should learn that straight off, so she took a deep breath and plunged herself into more trouble.
“Because you’re a big meanie?”
She used her sweetest voice and batted her lashes at him. He just rushed across the room to grab her, but she was faster than him. She hit the ground running. Arabella laughed all the way to Tanner’s room with him hot on her heels. She hurried to scramble under the bed, hoping Daddy would be too big to fit under there and get her out.
Tanner caught her leg just as she was certain she would get away with it. He pulled with care not to hurt her and dragged her out from under the bed. When she turned to see his face, she recognized the glint of humor in his eyes, but it was almost drowned out by the thunderous expression on his face.
Uh, oh.
Arabella was certainly questioning her own wisdom. Daddy had told her she was standing in the corner for ten minutes and that if she hadn’t sassed him, she’d have been barefoot instead of wearing her heels. He’d told her that if she hadn’t run, she might not have her skirt hiked up and her panties around her knees. She was currently wondering if all that was worth it now that her toes were aching, and her cheeks were hot with embarrassment, because he was sitting across the room able to see her ass, and who knew what else, clearly.
Surely it had been ten minutes… She turned her face to him and asked, “Is it over yet?”
“It was almost over but now the timer restarts. It will do so every time you move your nose from the corner, Little Hurricane. I’ve already explained this.”
Shit, he had said that.
Arabella had forgotten that detail. She didn’t want to push so much right now, but she was more than ready to come out of this corner. She decided to be a good girl, for now.
“Yes, Daddy.”
She turned her nose back to the corner.
“Without moving your nose from the corner, please tell me why you are being punished.”
“Because I put myself in danger.”
“Good girl.”
That brought a rush of warmth to Arabella’s whole body. She didn’t think she’d ever heard anyone call her a good girl before. Well, maybe her father and mother had when she was younger, but if they had, she couldn’t remember.
“As a reward, I will stop the timer and you may remove your shoes. You will do only that and then get back in position. Then, and only then, will I start the timer back where it left off. If you do anything besides remove your shoes, time will restart.”
Arabella was more than happy to get those toe killing heels off her feet, so she did exactly as instructed.
“Good girl.”
That warm feeling flooded her system again and Arabella thought it was almost like the heat after taking a shot of tequila. She decided then that she hoped he’d call her that often. It wasn’t so very likely, however, since her mouth seemed to often run away from her.
She’d promised herself three years ago that she was going to live life on her own terms from now on–never being a doormat, and most importantly of all, never keeping silent. She just hoped she could keep those promises and keep her Daddy, too.