Chapter Ten
Tobin
That was unexpected.
I watched Charlotte do the first ten lines, neatly numbering each row and ending each sentence with a period before moving on to the next. Her eyes were on the page, but I could tell her mind was a million miles away. Probably trying to process what just happened.
I needed to do the same.
She didn’t look up when I left the dining room and went into the kitchen. I took two bottles of water out of the fridge and set them on the counter, then turned and leaned against it.
I ran through the last twenty minutes in my mind—I returned from picking up the pizza to find her insulting herself left and right, I called her out on breaking her number one rule and gave her the lightest punishment I could think of that would reinforce positive behavior, then she refused to do what I said, so I spanked her ass.
My plans of proceeding slowly and gently with Charlotte had flown out the window once her stubborn attitude appeared.
For a second, I thought she was backing out of our arrangement and the disappointment and regret almost gutted me, though I would have had no one to blame but myself if she did. Thankfully, I’d misunderstood, but that moment of thinking I’d lost her made me realize I needed to try to move our relationship forward. We’d established a great friendship and partnership over the last few weeks as I helped her get her business and finances back on track, but I wanted more. And I believed she did, too.
What I could barely believe was how well she took her spanking. I didn’t take it too easy on her, and even though she kept her clothes on, her bottom had to be sore. Charlotte’s ass was a thing of beauty—tight and round. It didn’t take but a few smacks to cover the whole thing. I wanted to check and make sure I didn’t do anything but turn her skin red, but I didn’t know how she’d react to that.
Maybe I’d have to find out.
I grabbed the waters and returned to the dining room, finding her halfway through the back of the first page. Again, she didn’t look up at me, so I took the opportunity to study my little fairy.
Her hair was coming out of the braid she put in before we went to Kenny’s, which felt like it was days ago, not just a few hours. The end of her tongue peeked out from between her lips as she concentrated on writing her lines. Her face was still slightly flushed, and I wondered what she was thinking about.
Was she angry and working herself up to pitch a fit as soon as she finished?
Was she embarrassed and fighting the urge to run and hide in her bedroom?
Or was she aroused and wanting to get closer to me?
I certainly hoped it was the last option, but I sat down on the couch and prepared myself for either of the other two to happen.
Five minutes later, she set her pen down and took a deep breath. I waited while she closed her eyes and exhaled, then sat up straight and looked over at me.
“All done?” I asked softly. The time for discipline was over and now I wanted to show her what happened after.
She nodded hesitantly. “Do you want to see?”
“I don’t need to see; I trust you,” I said, then backtracked when she appeared disappointed. “But if you want to show me, bring it here.” I patted the cushion next to me.
She padded over on bare feet, notebook in hand, and sat down, leaving at least six inches between us, and that wouldn’t do.
“Come here.” I opened my arms, and she immediately scooched over and leaned into my embrace. “I need to give you a hug.”
“You do?” She popped back up and looked at me in surprise.
“Yes. We need to be close after discipline. Always.”
Relief spread over her face, and she relaxed back into my arms.
“I got a little messy at the end,” she said, drawing my attention to the notebook in her lap. “My hand hurt.”
“Mine did, too, at the end of your spanking.” Rather than stiffen and get uncomfortable, she laughed at my joke. A good sign. “How does your bottom feel?”
She wiggled a little. “A little tender and still warm, but it doesn’t feel like it’s on fire anymore.”
Another good sign.
“Did you feel like that was unbearable or more than you could handle?” I needed her input so I knew what to do next time. I always wanted to make my point, but not harm her delicate little body. And I was certain there would be a next time. My little fairy wouldn’t be able to be good all the time.
“In the moment, I definitely wanted it to stop, but it wasn’t unbearable.” She paused and flipped through the notebook for a second. “It was just enough. Between that and the lines, I won’t be calling myself names anymore.”
Her admission made my chest expand. This was going to work. We would work.
“Next time you get spanked, it won’t be over clothes.” She glanced up at me but said nothing before looking back down. Since there was no time like the present, I took a deep breath before taking a leap. “I want us to move forward and be a couple, Charlotte. I know we will be great together.”
I waited for her to speak, but she just kept staring at that damn notebook. This wasn’t working the way I wanted it to, so I took the notebook out of her hand and set it aside, then pulled her to straddle my lap.
“Look at me, Charlotte.” It was a command but delivered in a whisper. She obeyed. “Do you want to go on a date with me on Friday? Dinner and a movie, maybe? Let’s build on the friendship we already have. Let’s become more.”
She wanted to agree, I could tell, but something was holding her back. I wanted to demand she tell me so I could fix it, but she had to share her concerns with me on her own time. I couldn’t boss her into falling in love with me.
“What’s holding you back, Charlotte? I can’t fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“I’m afraid of losing myself to you. That you’ll have more rules and more demands until I’m nothing but a puppet for you to control,” she finally whispered.
If I ever met her father, I was going to knock the guy into next week, but I hid my anger from Charlotte.
“That’s not going to happen. Do you want to know why?” She gave me a small nod. “Because all I want to do is lift you up, help you be successful, and make sure you’re happy and loved, and that’s all I want from you. We’ll be partners, Charlotte. I might have a slight majority over you, but I’ll never ask you to do something without explanation, and I won’t ask you to sacrifice yourself for my benefit.” She nodded again when I paused but didn’t appear convinced. “We’re going to keep up our weekly meetings and after we go through the business stuff, we’ll have a relationship meeting where you can talk freely and tell me if anything is bothering you, and I’ll do the same.”
“Weekly relationship communication meetings?” She pondered that for a moment. “And I can say anything I want?”
“As long as you say it respectfully, little fairy.” She grinned and I knew she was teasing me. “But yes, we’ll communicate the shit out of our relationship. I want us to always be on the same page.”
“Not like our first meeting, then?” she asked, but with much less reservation.
“That will never happen again,” I promised her. “How about it? Go out with me Friday night, as more than friends?”
She didn’t make me wait any longer. “I’d like that, Tobin.”
I pulled her to my chest and tucked her head under my chin. She wrapped her arms around me and sighed contentedly.
“That makes me very happy, Charlotte. Very, very happy.”