Daddy's Little Cowgirl Page 4

  “I wandered away and walked into the water. But I was just trying to get the perfect stone to skip across the water.”

  “And you fell into the water. I told you that creek is freezing cold.”

  “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

  He gathered up her jacket and wet jeans and walked over to get the picnic blanket from the saddlebags. He put her wet stuff in the backpack. After wrapping her up in the blanket, he pointed a finger at her.

  “Stay here, little miss. I’m going to get your boots and socks. You move and not only will you get yourself a spanking now, but you’ll get a second one with your bad girl paddle when we get home.”

  Her lower lip trembled, but he wasn’t going to be swayed. Gigi knew that when she broke a rule, then she was going to get punished. And he didn’t mess around when it came to her health.

  He stomped over and picked up her boots and socks. When he returned, she gave him a sad look. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I wasn’t thinking that I might slip over and fall in.”

  “That’s why I made the rule. And that’s why you obey my rules, now, isn’t it?”

  She nodded. “Are we not going to go on any more picnics now?”

  What?

  He immediately reached out and grabbed her chin, raising her face up so he could see her eyes.

  “Hey. Why would you say that, sweet pea?”

  “Because I was naughty and didn’t follow the rules.” She gave a forlorn sniffle. “Now you might decide it’s not worth taking me again.”

  “Baby girl, I would never think that. Ever. I will take you on as many picnics as you desire. I would never stop doing things you enjoy just because you broke a rule. Remember, if you’re naughty you get punished and then all is forgiven. Right?”

  “Right,” she whispered, looking more hopeful.

  “Let’s get your socks and boots back on to keep your feet warm.” She sat on the ground and he knelt in front of her. Grabbing her feet, he rubbed his hands over them to warm them.

  Then he drew on her socks. The sky had darkened even further. Right, they weren’t going to be lingering.

  “Your punishment is going to have to wait until we get home. I want to beat the rain and I don’t want you growing any colder.”

  He stood then held his hand out to her, pulling her onto her feet before leading her over to Beast. “You can’t ride on your own all wrapped up and you’ll be warmer with me.”

  Unsurprisingly, he didn’t hear any arguments.

  She was trembling non-stop when they entered the mudroom that led onto the kitchen of their small cabin.

  Macca pulled the door shut behind them. They’d hadn’t quite made it back to the stables before the rain had arrived. And it had come down in buckets. Even though they’d only been a few minutes away, they’d quickly become soaked.

  Thankfully, Linc had offered to run them both back to Macca’s cabin in his truck. He was such a nice guy. She’d felt bad about getting the seat in his truck all wet, but he’d waved off her apology, giving her worried looks as he’d turned on the heat, blasting her.

  “Right, sweet pea. Let’s get you inside and take off the rest of those clothes. I’ll run you a bath.”

  Macca was just as wet as she was, yet he didn’t seem to be affected at all. Her teeth chattered together as she reached for her jacket with chilled fingers.

  “Not in here, baby. Just take your boots off and leave the blanket. Go inside where it’s warmer.”

  “We’ll get the floors all wet.”

  “That’s what a mop is for. Inside. Now.”

  She shuffled into the kitchen.

  “Clothes off. I’ll start a bath.” Macca quickly pulled off his shirt and jeans and strode into the living room in just his boxers. That was a sight she would have admired more if she wasn’t so chilled.

  He quickly returned and picked her up in his arms. He held her against his chest with an arm under her bottom, her legs dangling free.

  “H-how can you b-be so warm?” she asked, her teeth still chattering as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “It’s all my muscle,” he boasted with a wink. “Poor baby, you’re like a popsicle. The bath is filling and the heater is on.” He set her down in the bathroom, which was toasty warm, so he could test the temperature of the water. Then he turned off the taps and helped her climb in.

  “Ouchy,” she mumbled as her cold skin encountered the warm water.

  “Hurts?” he asked with sympathy.

  “Like little pins pricking me.” Not the best feeling in the world.

  “It’s a good thing. Means you’re warming up.” He grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in the water.

  “Do you want to get in the bath with me?”

  “I’ll take care of you first, sweet pea. Not sure we’d both fit in that bath. All the water would probably end up on the floor.”

  She nodded solemnly. “You are pretty big, Daddy.”

  “Big!” he protested with mock-outrage.

  “Uh-huh, it’s all those muscles.”

  “Good save, sweet pea. Now lay back. Do you want me to wash your hair?”

  She shook her head. Her hair had stayed relatively dry under the big hat. A reason to be pleased he’d insisted on her wearing it.

  “I’ll get your shower cap.”

  Her hair was in pigtails so he could have just pinned it up. But her shower cap was so cute she didn’t mind wearing it. It was pink with eyes at the front and a unicorn horn at the top.

  Macca grabbed it from a bathroom drawer as well as some of her toys. She grabbed her bath crayons with excitement. They were her favorite.

  He pulled her pigtails up into the shower cap then started bathing her. She was used to him washing her in the bath and didn’t pay him much attention. Bath crayons were far more interesting. She turned to the tile on the wall and drew a picture of a horse and then a stream and some trees.

  “What do you think, Daddy?”

  “I think that’s very good, sweet pea. You’re very talented.”

  “Bath crayons aren’t as good as paints.”

  “We need to get you some paints then. And some canvases, since using bath crayons on tile is fine but using paint on walls is a big no-no.”

  “Aww, Daddy, don’t you want me to paint a mural in the living room?” she teased. “It could use a bit of decoration.”

  He snorted. “You can paint a canvas and I’ll put it on the wall, but you put paint directly on the wall and your little tush is toast.”

  “Tush.” She giggled.

  “What’s wrong with the word tush?” he asked with mock outrage as he gently pushed her so she was lying back in the bath. He ran the cloth along her legs.

  “It’s something an eighty-year-old granny says about a baby’s bottom.”

  “Eighty-year-old granny!” He started tickling her and she flailed around in the bath as she laughed.

  “Stop, Daddy! Stop! I gotta pee.”

  He immediately stopped tickling her. “Let’s finish getting you clean. And you are a baby. You’re my baby.”

  And she thanked God for that every day.

  5

  She was curled up on the sofa in her pajamas with a blanket around her, a mug of hot chocolate held between her hands as she watched the flames of the fire flicker. Queenie was nestled up at her feet. Macca had insisted she get into her pajamas since she apparently had to have a nap.

  Naps. Sheesh. Total waste of time.

  She wondered if she could distract him until it became too late for her to have one. Hmm, possibly not the best idea considering all the trouble she was already in.

  Her butt cheeks clenched together. She hugged Kiki, her stuffed koala. She had lots of stuffies now, but her two favorites remained Kiki, which she’d had since childhood, and Bunnykins, the first toy that Macca bought for her.

  “Maybe he’s forgotten about me falling in the creek, Kiki,” she said to her koala, before taking another sip of hot chocolate.

  It had
little marshmallows floating in it and was the perfect temperature. Only thing that would have made it better. . .Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup creamer. But Macca had refused to put it into her hot chocolate, claiming the hot chocolate had enough sugar on its own.

  But whoever invented that creamer. . .genius. Pure genius.

  Kiki gave her a skeptical look. Well, as skeptical as a stuffed koala bear could look.

  She sighed. “That’s what I thought too. My butt is in so much trouble.”

  “What was that, sweet pea?” Macca asked as he stepped into the room. He’d dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. He picked up Queenie, setting her down on a blanket near the fire they’d set up as her temporary bed then he sat next to Gigi. She snuggled into his side.

  “How’s the hot chocolate, sweet pea?”

  “Yummy.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair. He’d untied her pigtails after her bath. When she’d sipped the last of the hot chocolate, he took the cup from her hand and set it down on the side table.

  “Are you feeling warmer?”

  She nodded. “I feel good, Daddy. Nice and toasty.”

  And kind of tired, but she wouldn’t tell him that.

  “I’m glad, sweet pea. I wish I could just let you go to sleep. But we have a little matter to take care of, don’t we?”

  She tensed. Drat. Seemed she hadn’t gotten away with it.

  “Isn’t falling in the creek enough of a punishment, Daddy?” she asked.

  “No.”

  That was it? Just no. She sat up and looked at him. He gave her a stern stare back. Then he reached up and cupped the side of her face. “You know how much you mean to me, Gigi. You’re my whole world. I know I’m a bit obsessed with your health. But when you had that Lupus flare-up and ended up in the hospital, I was so worried about you. I wanted to bundle you up and put you somewhere safe where nothing bad would ever touch you. I still want to do that sometimes. I know I can’t. But the urge is there.”

  “But nothing really bad happened. I just got a bit wet and cold. And that would have happened on the way home anyway when we got caught in the rain.”

  “Except if you hadn’t fallen in the creek then we would have gotten home before the rain hit us,” he pointed out.

  Drat. She hadn’t thought about that. Okay. He might have had a point.

  “If you’re sure you’re warm enough now, I want you to stand up and push your pajama pants and panties right off then go stand in the corner while you think about what you did today and why you should follow the rules I give you.”

  Bummer. She hated corner time. She stuck her lower lip out. “Shouldn’t we skip corner time, Daddy? I have to take a nap, after all.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry, we have enough time to fit in both.”

  “What if someone comes to the door, though?” she added.

  “Do you really think someone is going to be out in this weather?”

  Hmm. He had a good point.

  “But I’ll lock the door so no one can walk in. Not that they would without knocking.” He stood and walked over to the door and locked it. Shoot. She was well and truly out of arguments.

  With a loud sigh, she stood, pushing away the blanket. Then she grabbed the waistband of her pajamas, pushing them down her legs. Just as well the fire had made the cabin toasty and warm.

  She stepped out of them and her panties then moved her way to the corner. She stuck her nose in and pushed her bottom out. She kept her hands at her side since her pajama top was short enough that she didn’t have to hold it up for her bottom to be on display.

  She didn’t know how long she stood in the corner. It felt like forever. In reality, it was probably just a few minutes.

  “Okay, come here, baby girl.”

  Turning, she walked back to where he sat on the sofa, his legs parted.

  “Stand here.” He pointed at the floor between his spread legs. She blushed, knowing the sight she made, with her bottom half completely bare as she stood there before him.

  “Now, why are you being punished, Gigi?”

  “Because I broke the rules. I moved too far away from you and I walked into the creek when I wasn’t supposed to go close to it.”

  “And what’s going to happen now?”

  “You’re going to spank me.”

  “That’s right. It’s twenty with my hand.”

  Twenty! Owie!

  Her hands reached behind her bottom to cup it.

  “Move your hands, please, and lay yourself over my knees.”

  With great reluctance, she positioned herself over his lap. He moved her so her legs and torso were supported by the sofa, her stomach pressed against his legs.

  He rubbed her bottom with firm strokes of his hand, before he gave her butt a sharp smack.

  Ouch!

  Two more smacks. He certainly wasn’t holding back. Each spank landed heavily. He didn’t pause to scold her. He just kept up a steady barrage until her breath was coming in sobs and tears were dripping down her face.

  Her bottom throbbed. The pain grew into a burn. She drummed her feet against the sofa.

  “Ow! Daddy, no more!” she cried out.

  Smack! Smack!

  “Five more,” he told her. “These are going to be hard and fast.”

  Like the others hadn’t been?

  By the time he was finished, she’d slumped on his lap, and the couch beneath her face was wet from her tears.

  He gently turned her over, holding her tightly with her bottom off the edge of his lap. He reached down and grabbed the blanket, pulling it around her even though she wasn’t cold. But the feel of being cocooned helped her to feel more secure.

  Macca brushed her hair back off her face, kissing her forehead. He whispered to her. Soft, gentle, loving words. She yawned. She felt sleepy, sated, yeah, her bottom was throbbing but there was a part of her that liked the fact that Macca always followed through with his promises.

  He might be a tad overzealous in his protection of her, but she’d lived most of her life with no one caring about her. His protectiveness was just a sign of how much he cared about her. Having rules and consequences made her feel secure.

  And that was something she needed.

  “Nap time, baby girl.”

  She sighed but didn’t protest. Truthfully, a nap sounded pretty damn good right about now.

  Not that she was going to tell him that.

  He easily carried her into the bedroom and settled her down on her feet next to the bed. She sleepily rubbed at her eyes, dropping the blanket to the floor and climbing into bed once he’d pulled the covers back. Her bottom half was still bare, but she didn’t feel like putting any pants on over her hot butt.

  He firmly tucked her in then kissed her forehead. “Here’s Bunnykins.”

  She tugged her bunny tight against her. Macca sat facing her on the bed and ran his fingers gently through her hair. “What did you think of your first picnic, sweet pea?”

  “It was eventful.”

  He let out a low chuckle. “It certainly was that.”

  “But it was still fun. Sorry I was naughty.”

  “It’s okay, baby. Everything turned out fine. I’m sorry I timed it wrong and we ended up out in a downpour.”

  “You couldn’t have known, Daddy. And if I’d listened, we would have gotten home before the rain.” She felt bad about that.

  “Hey, no beating yourself up with guilt. You’ve been punished. Just next time, try to remember to listen to Daddy, especially around water.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I will. I’ll be your good girl.”

  “You’re always my good girl. Now, go to sleep.”

  A big yawn caught her by surprise and she snuggled in. “Cowboys are cute. I think I want to be a cowgirl. Can I gets a real horse?”

  “We’ll see how your lessons go,” he said with amusement. “But if you like riding, I’m sure that can be arranged.”

  “Yay. I want a hors
e like Meg. She’s so sweet. And maybe a yellow cowgirl hat. Do they make yellow ones?”

  “We can look for one. Now, sleep,” he demanded, but she heard the laughter in his voice. He reached into the bedside draw and pulled out her pacifier. She suckled on it happily and closed her eyes.

  Since she was such a good girl, she immediately went off to sleep.

  6

  Gigi felt like crap.

  Her throat was burning. She had a headache and her nose was all stuffed up.

  She groaned and rolled over in bed, snuggling in under the covers.

  “Gigi, hey, wake up baby. I’ve made you some coffee.”

  He was so sweet, bringing her coffee in bed. She just wished she could drink it without feeling like she was swallowing razorblades. She didn’t move the blankets, hoping he’d think she was still asleep. Then maybe she could sleep off this cold.

  Please let it just go away.

  “Gigi. Baby, you okay?” The covers were ripped away from her. She groaned but didn’t open her eyes. “Gigi? What’s going on? Aren’t you feeling well?” A large hand was placed over her forehead. “Oh hell, baby. You’re burning up.”

  “It’s just a cold,” she rasped.

  “Just a cold, huh? You sound terrible. You’re pale except for these two red patches on your cheeks and you’re running a temperature. Wait there while I find the thermometer.”

  Yeah, she hadn’t been planning on moving anywhere.

  He tucked her back under the covers. She made some pretty pathetic whimpering noises. This sucked.

  “All right, sweet pea, I want you to lie on your tummy so I can take your temperature.”

  She whimpered. She knew exactly how he planned to take her temperature, having experienced it a few times before and she hated it. Why couldn’t he use an oral thermometer or one that went in your ear like at the doctor?

  “I don’t need my temperature taken,” she moaned.

  “Gigi, do as you were told,” he replied sternly.

  She rolled onto her tummy with a grumble. He pulled back the covers and she shivered despite the fact that her face felt roasting hot. She might be in trouble here.

  Macca parted the cheeks of her bottom. Something cool was dabbed against her hole. Lube.