Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
“Still, I know better,” he said. “You’ll need time to heal.”
He cut off my protest by giving me a wry smile and running his fingertip along my jawline. When I winced slightly, I would have kicked myself except not even I was going to pretend my ankle still didn’t throb. That didn’t mean I was going to give up though.
“Maybe I’m one of those submissives who like pain,” I suggested.
His eyebrow arched and my flesh broke out into goosebumps. I felt all tingly inside until he said, “Then I won’t have to worry about going too soft on those spankings you’ve got coming.”
“Spankings? As in plural? I thought that fourth swat just…”
“Just what?” he asked as he moved to the tub to start filling it.
“I don’t know. Hung out until it was joined by a couple more? Though I’m going to be such a good girl it probably will just get lonely,” I suggested, though my attention had already found a new subject to latch onto. It was fascinating watching Lincoln move about the room gathering towels and what-not then returning to the tub and checking the water temperature before lifting the lever to put the stopper in place. It wasn’t that I’d never done the same exact things, but somehow seeing a rough-and-tumble rancher filling the cap of the pink bottle and then pouring the contents into the stream of water from the faucet affected me in an unexpected way. It was just so super sweet until I realized he was putting the cap back on the bottle.
“No, Daddy! One cap isn’t enough!”
“Are you sure? Maybe it wants to just hang out and get all lonely too.”
It took a second but I got it. “Is there supposed to be some sort of life lesson in there?”
Lincoln chuckled. “Not supposed to be, pixie, there is because that little roll of your eyes just sent a new friend to hang out with number four.”
“Hey! How is that fair? I haven’t seen a single rulebook stating it’s okay to trick me into getting my own butt smacked.”
He shrugged. “First of all, I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about tricks. I’m pretty sure you’ll be perfectly capable of managing that task all on your own.” He returned to me and planted his palms on the counter on either side of my hips. “Second, nobody ever said life is fair, but just to make sure we do this right, we will sit down and write up a list of rules and consequences in your notebook for you to refer back to at a later date. You can even use your colored pencils and draw illustrations if you need. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
I huffed and caught myself from completing another eyeroll; when I saw his lip begin to curl. “What I think is that you just want to see if I can draw anatomy, Mr. Tricky Cowboy. But to borrow a page from your own book, first, I’m a very fast learner so no need for illustrations when I won’t ever have to refer to that list again, and second, I’d say I hate to burst your bubble but can’t as there won’t be enough bubbles in our bath to burst.”
Lincoln barked out a laugh and then ran his fingertip up my bare arm and then slid his palm beneath my hair to cup the nape of my neck. “What’ll it take for at least one original Livvy drawing of my pixie bare assed over my knees?”
“At least two more capfuls of bubbles.”
“And if I wanted to commission a bit of color to that drawing, say a nice rosy shade of red?”
How my bottom cheeks could be tingling when he’d not even touched them was a mystery but the rest of me seemed willing to betray that part of my anatomy because I said, “Add five caps and you’ve got a deal!”
Lincoln bent to kiss the tip of my nose and then rested his forehead against mine. “I’m so grateful you’re back where you belong that I’ll give you six.”
“I only earned five!”
This time when he laughed, he did so while walking back to the tub to start adding the negotiated bubbles. “I was talking about caps, but since some Little girl seems to feel the need to include that ‘almost eyeroll,’ far be it for me to deny her so we’ll make that count six as well.”
I just sat there wondering how I could now owe him not one but two trips over his knees when we hadn’t yet been together even an entire day.
“I need to talk to Kate,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“For what? Pointers in how to pad your behind? I’ll save you the effort, all spankings are given on the bare so trying to shove a towel into your undies or pulling on three pairs of jeans isn’t gonna fly.”