Chapter Nine
Tanner was happier than he probably should’ve been with Arabella’s sass. He might have added to her punishment for it, but that was simply setting his standard. He knew her sass meant she trusted him and he couldn’t be happier. His happiness didn’t mean she wasn’t going to get her comeuppance for it. Besides, he now had the best view ever with her ass on full display for him. The only thing that would have been better would be her standing there completely naked. It wasn’t time for that yet and he knew it, but her sass would give it to him one day. He was certain of it.
“Time’s up, Little Hurricane. You can come over here now.”
“Oh, thank God.” She muttered as her shoulders sagged and her feet flexed.
He’d ended up having to restart the time a few times so he couldn’t really blame her. She made her way to him. When she was within reach, he righted her clothing and pulled her into his lap.
“Will you be putting yourself in danger anytime soon, or have you learned your lesson?”
“Do you want the honest answer, or the one you’re hoping to hear?”
“I always want honesty, Little One. Even if it isn’t what I would rather hear, you should always be truthful.”
He cupped her cheek and had her face him fully, so she could see how serious he was.
“In that case, I’ve learned my lesson for now, but lessons don’t tend to stick with me very well and I usually end up doing it again.” She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a resigned look, “Am I going back in the corner now?”
“No, Baby. I’ll never punish you for being honest. I’ll just have to find more effective and creative punishments for each time you break the same rule.”
“Oh, yay.” She deadpanned and Tanner couldn’t help himself, he laughed out loud and hugged her to him.
Tanner and Arabella had just sat down for lunch and Arabella was once again sitting on a book in order to reach the table. He decided he was going to get her a booster seat, along with several other things for her to try. He didn’t know the age range of her little, but he’d find out.
Meanwhile, they needed to get her some essentials, including clothes. Ham was back on that fucktard, Brian Preston, and Tanner was taking Arabella shopping. As sexy as that pencil skirt and those heels were, they weren’t practical and at this point, the whole outfit was the worse for wear.
“We need to get you some clothes and more practical shoes.”
“Gan’, no gas,” thankfully, Arabella swallowed and tried again, “Can’t, I don’t have any cash left. I can’t use my cards. He can track them.”
“That won’t be a problem since I wasn’t planning for you to pay for anything.”
When Tanner noticed her mouth opening, presumably to argue as she loved to do, he gave her something better to argue about.
“We should probably discuss the rules if I’m going to be your Daddy.”
“Rules?”
Her face scrunched up and Tanner knew she wasn’t a fan of this topic.
“Without them, what would you have to break, Brat?”
“True.” Arabella took another bite of her chicken nugget, before giving him a sassy smirk and regally declaring, “You may commence.”
“That sass is going to land you in hot water someday, Little Girl.”
“I thought it already had, Daddy.”
Her impish smile made his heart beat faster. This girl was fucking perfect for him. He already knew he wouldn’t be letting her go.
“About those rules…”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Her pout was damn adorable. It was hard to keep his face stern, but he persevered.
“Rule one: Your safety comes before anything else. That means anything. Rule two…”
“What if you’re in danger, Daddy? Do I just stand by and let it happen? I don’t think I could do that.”
Tanner adopted his sternest face.
“Your safety comes before anything and that does include mine. I can take care of myself, Little Hurricane. What I can’t do is handle it if anything happens to you.”
“Daddy, there has to be something I can do. I can’t just stand around with my thumb up my ass, screaming like some damsel in distress.”
Tanner had to chuckle at that, but she had a point. He wouldn’t find himself standing around watching it happen, he couldn’t expect it of her.
“I’ll give you a few numbers to call if anything happens to me. You call them. You do not put yourself in danger.”
“I’d need a phone I can use to do that. The one I have is burned. I’m pretty sure it’s how James tracked me.”
She bit her bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth. Tanner almost lost focus. He wanted to be the one sucking that bottom lip.
“We’ll get you one. A burner that can’t be traced to you. I’ll program my number and the number of a few people I trust. You can’t reach me for some reason, you call them.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Okay?
That was too easy. If Tanner had learned anything about Arabella it was that nothing would ever come easy with her. He was instantly suspicious, but let it go for the moment.
“Okay then, rule two…”
“Oh, there was more?”
Arabella gave the fakest yawn he’d ever seen.
“I’m pretty tired from all that corner time, Daddy. Could we table rules in favor of naptime?”
Tanner growled, “No, Little Girl, we cannot. All the more, if you interrupt me again, you’ll find out exactly how tired corner time can make you.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
He didn’t trust that contrite tone for a minute.
“Rule two: Let Daddy take care of you…”
Chapter Ten
When she agreed to the long ass list of rules Tanner had laid out, which apparently included him taking her shopping and paying for it, Arabella was not expecting to have one of the stores they visited to be a sex shop. How did taking her to a sex shop equate to him taking care of her?
“You think I don’t know you’re going to break half of those rules before the week is out?”
He read her way too well. Especially with how short a time they’d known each other. How was she ever going to get away with shit, if he could take one look at her and know?
“Better make sure those cuss words floating through your head don’t actually come out of that tempting mouth of yours, Little Hurricane. Daddy’s got new toys!”
Yep, he is way too observant for my own good.
Arabella figured the best way to hurry this along was to be biddable… for the moment. She really was tired now, since they’d already been to a clothing store, a shoe store, a toy store - she’d actually enjoyed that trip and couldn’t wait to get Mister Fluffington home - and a supercenter. She just hoped this was the last stop. She really did want that nap now and new shoes or not, her feet were still killing her.
She zoned out while they roamed the store, just following where he led, doing her damndest to keep her eyes open and not paying a lick of attention to what he picked up. That is, until he put a graduating set of butt plugs and a bottle of lube in the cart. That got her attention and she found herself straining to see what else was in the basket, but every time she craned her head to look, he shifted the damn thing.