He tapped something smooth and hard against her sit spot.
She craned her neck around to see.He held a large wooden hairbrush in his hand.Her bottom clenched reflexively.
“Little girls who disrespect their director, co-stars and self get spanked with the hairbrush.”
Her belly flipped.He brought the back of the brush down against her sit spot and she jolted forward, trying to crawl off his lap.It hurt.Way more than his hand.This was not fun.Not at all.
He clamped an arm around her waist and hauled her back into position, pinning her two legs under one of his to hold her in place.
“Wait,” she shrieked, alarmed.
He said nothing, just started spanking at a quick pace, alternating one side and the other in quick efficiency.
“Owwww,” she howled, still struggling.
“You have been a mess ever since we left New Mexico.You are on the path to throwing your entire career away, and I’m not going to let you take the movie down with you.”
“I am sorry!”she gasped.“Ouch, please!”
“I know you are, sweetheart.But I have to keep spanking until I’ve decided you’ve learned your lesson.”
“No-o,” she wailed.She wished she had not offered herself up like this.She’d been picturing something totally different.Something that didn’t hurt so much.Something sexier.This wasn’t sexy.Well...it sort of was, but she didn’t have time to enjoy it because she was too busy paying attention to the pain exploding on her poor bottom.
“Marissa, I’m sorry about your boyfriend, if that’s what this is all about.But you are better than this.”
Just his mention of Billy made her cringe.How freaking pathetic was she?Was she really going to ride this train till it hit bottom over that loser?No.Maybe he had been the impetus for her irresponsible behavior, but here, in the presence of a real man, he seemed completely insignificant.And she sure as hell didn’t want to admit to Joel that she’d let some loser rock boy sink her ship.
A sob of frustration welled up in her throat and she held it, drawing a fluttered breath.
“Don’t hold it in, sweetheart.I want your tears.”
Fuck.That.Except his request seemed to summon exactly that—a wall of emotion surged from her chest into her throat and came out in a cough, which turned into sobs.The tears weren’t far behind.She tried to hold it in—she didn’t want to cry in front of him, certainly not bent over his lap being spanked with a hairbrush.It was too humiliating.
She held her breath, then choked on a sob erupting from her chest.
“That’s it, Marissa,” he said, his voice rich with warmth, even though he continued paddling her throbbing bottom.
She kicked her legs.“Please,” she wailed.“Please stop.”
“Let it all out, baby girl,” he said.
She collapsed over his legs, crying like a baby, surrendering to the idea that he’d never stop spanking her.And that was when he finally did stop, circling her bottom with the brush, its smooth wood now a caress.
“Oww,” she sobbed.
The brush disappeared and his hand massaged her swollen ass, the heat making her flinch.
She continued to cry.Insecurity blasted through her.How would she ever look him in the eye again?What if he pushed her out the door with awham, bam, thank you ma’amand never let her back on the movie?What if he told everyone?
“Don’t...don’t leave me,” she blurted with a sob, then froze, wishing she could pull the words back into her foolish mouth.She hadn’t meant to say that.Leave her?How could he leave her when he wasn’t even dating her?She held her breath, wanting to slither off his lap and hide under the sofa.
Joel lifted her up to cradle on his lap.“Of course I won’t leave you.Daddies don’t leave their Little’s just because they’ve been naughty.”
She covered her face in her hands.
He pried her fingers back.His gaze was warm and loving, as if she were his beloved child and not an unreliable co-star with a huge cold sore on her lip.He kissed her wet cheek.“The spanking’s over and you’re forgiven.”He pulled her head against his chest and stroked her hair.
She leaned into his warmth, his gentleness soothing her raw emotions.It was a surreal moment.“Did you enjoy that?”she asked, not angry, just trying to understand him, or what just went down.
