“And what will you do if I don’t?” she challenged.
“When you’re better, I’ll strip off your panties and lay you over my lap for ten smacks of my hand. Then when your ass is pink, I’ll put you in the corner of the room, your bottom pushed out and on display for me to study. When you’re feeling apologetic for disobeying me, I’ll have you come over, kneel between my legs, and suck me off. Then if I feel you’ve been a good girl in accepting your punishment, I’ll get you off with
my face between your legs.”
Her mouth was open as she stared at him. “So, I guess I’ll sit forward then.”
“Interesting choice.” But he did up the bib and as she sat back, she wondered if she hadn’t made the wrong choice. She wondered if all that intensity and thoroughness with which he did everything else would cross over to giving punishment and pleasure.
Holy. Crap.
Wolfe reached over and pushed Aleki’s feet off her bed.
“Hey!” Aleki complained.
“Feet don’t belong on a bed,” Wolfe told him.
“Yeah? Then how do you sleep? With your feet over the edge?” Aleki asked.
Wolfe narrowed his gaze. “Shoes don’t belong on a bed.”
Aleki grumbled but kept his feet off the bed.
Wolfe sat on the bed facing her. He spooned up some soup and blew on it before checking the temperature. “Nearly too cold. Try it. I can reheat it.”
She opened her mouth and he fed her a spoonful. Okay, that was surprisingly good. She wasn’t sure how he was managing to make meals like this. But it was Wolfe. He was capable of just about anything.
“It’s fine. It’s good.”
“Here, give me a taste. I said I’d eat some if she did.” Caleb held out a hand for the bowl and Wolfe gave him one of the spoons. He ate some then nodded. “Not too bad.” He handed the bowl back to Wolfe.
She wasn’t sure if she should encourage Wolfe’s obsession with that list of doctor-approved food.
A girl couldn’t live on healthy food alone.
“Where did you get this bib?” she asked.
“The nurse had it. Apparently, they have had other patients who need help eating.”
Finally, she was full and she shook her head. Setting the spoon down, he walked into the bathroom and returned with a wet, warm washcloth which he used to wipe her face and hands.
Oh. That was quite nice. Feeling full and relaxed, she sat forward so he could undo the bib without a word of protest. Then her gaze met Caleb’s and she stiffened at the serious look on his face.
“Ready to tell us what’s going on?”
No. But she had to tell them. Some of it anyway.
13
“I don’t know where to start.”
“At the beginning,” Wolfe said, pulling over a chair.
Right. The beginning.
“All right, well, you all know my mom died when I was six?”
They all nodded.