Talon drew her away from the other club members and sat on a bench outside the repair facility. Scooping her up to sit on his lap, he rocked her slowly. “I’m sorry, Buttercup.”
“I’m used to people threatening me at work. I’ve never had someone come after me outside of the courthouse. And why? I don’t know this guy. I’ve talked to him twice now and he’s just a bully.”
“The Devil’s Jesters are a club very different from ours,” Talon told her, brushing her hair back from her face.
“They’re all violent assholes?” popped out of her mouth.
Talon chuckled. “We have our share of that type, too. The difference rests in our focus. The Jesters thrive on chaos. The Guardians thrive on protection.”
“They protected me tonight. I was never so glad to see a horde of motorcycles speeding toward me as I was tonight.”
“I’m glad. I’m sorry I couldn’t get there faster.” Talon hugged her hard and looked so sad, Elizabeth couldn’t help but jump in to take away the guilt he felt.
“I bet you were at your house making dinner for us. You were trying to take care of me that way. Who knew this jerk was going to show up at the courthouse?”
“I do have some cheesy potato soup in the crock pot.”
When her stomach growled in response, Talon asked, “Did you eat the lunch I sent with you?”
“I didn’t have time. My day was packed. A case spilled over into my lunch break.”
“Shall we go home and feed you? Or would you rather stay here for a bit longer? Gabriel or Bear will have food ready for the MC.”
“I want to go to your house.”
“Let’s go.”
In a few moments, they departed through the gates with Talon following Elizabeth home. When he escorted her into his house, she sighed with pleasure.
“I could love this house,” she admitted, shrugging out of her blazer and folding it carefully over the couch.
“I’m glad. I’m hoping you will decide to make your home here with me,” he told her as he took her things from her hands. “That’s too much to think about tonight. Come eat.”
Eagerly taking his hand, Elizabeth allowed him to lead her over to the table. She could tell how he’d literally dropped everything to come after her. “You broke a bowl,” she said, pointing to the shards.
“I did. You were more important than the bowl. I didn’t like these anyway,” he told her. Talon dropped a kiss on her head before efficiently cleaning up the mess and dishing up a big bowl of soup for them.
When they were settled at the table with Elizabeth on his lap, he blew on the surface of the hot soup before holding it to her lips. “Here, Buttercup. Let’s fill that tummy.”
After swallowing, Elizabeth looked at him gratefully. “That’s wonderful.”
“Do you like oyster crackers?” he asked, opening a bag of small, round crackers meant to go in chowders.
“By themselves. They’re fun to snack on.”
“Here.” He poured a few on a small plate for her and pushed it close.
After popping two in her mouth, she chewed happily as he tried the soup. “These are good.”
“Let me see.” He snagged a few from her plate before she could pull it away.
“Mine, Daddy. Get your own.”
“You won’t share with Daddy?” he asked with a hurt expression.
She thought about it for a minute and nodded. “I’ll share. Just don’t eat them all.”
“I promise, Buttercup. Here, eat some more soup.”
Talon’s phone rang, making her jump. He finished feeding her the bite before picking up the device. “Talon here,” he answered.
Elizabeth listened carefully, trying to hear. She signaled Talon to put it on speaker, but he shook his head no. Pissed, she pulled the bowl of soup in front of her and ate without him. This was her life. She was entitled to know what was going on.
When he finished the call, she pushed the soup back toward him. “I’m finished.”
“Let me tell you what happened,” Talon began.
“Whatever you want to do. I know it’s Shadowridge Guardians business,” she answered airily as she stood up and snagged the bag of oyster crackers to take with her.
“Come here.” Talon pulled Elizabeth back onto his lap.
“You’re going to spill the crackers,” she warned.
“I don’t care about the crackers. I care about you,” he said firmly, holding her in place.
“Harrumph,” she snorted.
“I will spank your bottom if you don’t settle down, Little girl.”
The look on his face told her he wasn’t joking. With a last big sigh of protest, she stopped struggling.
“Kade and the guys are home. They met with the president of the Devil’s Jesters. He wasn’t happy to hear from Kade. Our guys were the second set of visitors to their compound tonight.”
“Who was the first?” she asked curiously.
“The police. Several people called when they witnessed the group harassing you.”
“Good for them,” Elizabeth announced, sitting up straighter. She hadn’t been all alone. There had been people trying to help her.
“The police also arrived at the Shadowridge compound right after we left. They want to talk to you tomorrow.”
“I’ll stop by the station.”
“We’ll stop by the station—together,” he corrected her.
“I don’t need you to help me with this,” she stated firmly. “I interact with the police frequently. It’s part of my professional life. I won’t have you give them the impression I’m weak.”
“If you hadn’t been through so much tonight, Little girl, you’d be standing in the corner now with your pants down.”
Indignation struck her and her spine stiffened. She loved submitting to him in their personal time, but he was just going to have to learn that she could handle most things on her own. She hadn’t put up with a husband who didn’t respect how hard she worked to chisel out a space of her own as a lawyer. Elizabeth knew she was an independent, capable woman. She’d make his game backfire on him.
Dropping a few more crackers in her mouth, she stood to walk nonchalantly to the corner and pulled her blouse out of her slacks. With a few deft moves, she unfastened her waistband and pushed her slacks and panties down to the floor.
She looked over her shoulder at Talon and sneered, “This looks pretty stupid, doesn’t it? I could stand here all night long.”
Her bravado deserted her when he stood up to stalk forward. She turned around quickly to face the corner. He stopped just behind her.
“It appears you’re asking for a time out so you can think through your choices,” he growled from behind her.
“Perhaps you need a hearing test. This is totally not effective in any way. I’m not going to do what you want just because my b-u-t-t is on display,” she blurted and wished she hadn’t said a word when he chuckled after she spelled the word out.
“I was wrong. For a sassy Little, there is a special thinking stick for her to hold onto.” Talon turned on the heel of his worn motorcycle boots and walked away.
A thinking stick? What the hell is that?
Before she could decide and act on the impulse to flee so she didn’t find out, Elizabeth heard his footsteps returning.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The boots stopped behind her. He lifted the hem of her blouse up and tucked it in the neckline. That hand pressed her forward, pushing her now fully exposed butt toward him. Without explaining, her Daddy separated her buttocks and pushed a well-lubricated plug into her bottom. In the corner, she couldn’t escape.
When she reached back to pull it out, he quickly gathered her hands in front of her and wrapped them together with a fur lined restraint. Elizabeth looked up as he lifted her hands over her head. Her jaw dropped when she spotted a hook fixed into the wall above her head.
Seeing the flaw in his plan, she started to turn in a circle. She heard the thump and felt the vibration that shook the plug inside her. Instant heat flooded her body. She tried again and froze, biting her lip. What had he said? A thinking stick?
She looked over her shoulder to see what looked like a thick wooden rod emerging from her bottom. “Take that out!” Experimenting, she quickly confirmed if she turned, it would strike the wall, reverberating through her bottom.
“Not going to happen until you stop reacting and start talking to me. What’s going on, Little girl?”
“Nothing. I could stand here all night,” popped out of her mouth.
“Good. I don’t think you’re done thinking.”
She peeked back over her shoulder to see him move two wooden chairs from the kitchen table to occupy the space behind her on each side. Immediately, the object he called a thinking stick whacked one chair, making her knees wobble in reaction.
“You let me know when you cool off enough to not think the worst of me and I’ll finish telling you what Kade said,” Talon told her in an even tone.
After a scrape on the floor, silence filled the house.
What was he doing?
Elizabeth started to turn around but a vibration on the plug filling her bottom made her stop. Something had tapped the long shaft of the thinking stick extending behind her. She tried just turning her head, but a new vibration made her stop.
“Think, Little girl. That’s what the thinking stick is for.”
“I don’t like this,” she wailed.
“Only you have the power to end this. I’m just going to sit here and tap on the thinking stick in your bottom every few minutes to remind you what you’re supposed to do while you’re in the corner.”
“This isn’t fair. I just had a scary encounter…”
Talon interrupted. “The police need to know what happened. I will be there only to explain what happened behind the scenes while you were driving.”
He tapped the thinking stick again. “You may be interested in what happened at the Jester’s compound.”
“What happened?”
“After you finish thinking,” Talon assured her and tapped the rod again.
“This is so unfair. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be thinking about,” she hissed.
“How about why you’re lashing out at your Daddy? Or why you needed to challenge me? Do you not think I’m your Daddy anymore? Do you need someone else? There’s something going on in your mind that you’re not sharing with me.”
She could hear the tight rein he held on his emotions. It was killing him to ask her these questions. Hearing them out loud from him made her sick as well. Tears spilled from her eyes. Elizabeth tried to conceal them, but her breath hitched, revealing her sobs.
Immediately, everything stopped. He removed the plug and released her from the elevated hook in seconds. Gathering her onto his lap, Talon rocked her gently as he used his shirt to wipe her tears away.
“Talk to me.”
“My ex-husband didn’t think much of me in any way. He interfered with so many things, making it look like I was incapable of taking care of everyday things as well as my job tasks. I almost lost my position after I took him to the end of the year holiday party, and he regaled the senior partners with stories that made me look like an idiot and him the superstar.”
“That sucks, Buttercup. I’m sorry. Someone obviously didn’t fall for his bravado.”
“There were two women partners and one man who I’d worked with on cases. They stood up for me. I was under extreme scrutiny. My divorce actually was a boon. The others realized that he was obviously not a supportive partner.”
“Lawyers are pretty perceptive, I would assume.”
“We definitely learn human behavior and motivation,” Elizabeth agreed. “When you said I couldn’t go to the police station by myself, all that stuff came back up.”
“Do you think your ex-husband and I are similar?”
“Oh, good heavens, no! You’re about as different from each other as possible,” she assured him.
“I’d hope so. You scared me tonight, Little girl. First with the Jesters and then with your anger toward me,” he told her with a very serious expression.
“I’m sorry.” Tears welled again in her eyes.
“This was a very difficult day. You worked a long shift at work, dealing with things and people I can’t imagine. You had some assholes chasing you down.”
“This ranks in the top five of my worst days ever,” she admitted.
“I’d hate to see what the other four are,” he commented, and Elizabeth just shook her head. She didn’t even want to think about anything else negative.
“Let’s see if we can make the evening end nicely. It’s past your bedtime. How about a warm shower with Daddy and a bedtime story?”
She lifted her eyebrows in a silent question before asking, “Does bedtime story mean something else?”
“No, Little girl. Bedtime story means I read you a book and you go to sleep.”
“Is it going to be boring?” she asked.
“Of course not. Now up.” He quickly removed her panties and slacks so she wouldn’t trip as he said, “Let me put the soup away. Would you like to take some for your lunch tomorrow?”
She started to say an enthusiastic yes, but reality dawned on her. Elizabeth knew she’d never be near the refrigerator in her office or a microwave to heat it up. “No. It would be too hard to eat.”
“How about cheese and some oyster crackers?”
“I’d love that,” she confessed.
“Go get two plastic bags from that drawer and put crackers in one. Take all you want. I can pick up more.”
Happy to help, Elizabeth stood, tugged her shirt down over her bare hips, and followed his directions. With a bag filled with the tasty oyster crackers, she wondered what cheese he wanted her to take.
As if reading her mind, Talon moved to the refrigerator and pulled out a package of cheddar cheese cubes and a few sticks of mozzarella string cheese. “These will do fine without refrigeration during the day. Take whatever you like or a combination.”
With the treats stored in the fridge overnight, Talon finished in the kitchen quickly. He draped her clothing over his shoulder before wrapping his arm around her waist to guide her out of the kitchen and family room area. Turning off the lights as they passed, Talon double checked that the doors were locked.
“Is it safe here?” she blurted.
“It’s safe, Buttercup. No one is going to harm you here.”
“That thinking stick was…” Her voice died out as she tried to think of what to say about it.
“Effective? I thought it might be. We’ll use that again with a wider plug.”
“Wider? That’s not necessary,” she protested as they walked into the master bedroom. Elizabeth smiled automatically at the sight of Puff and Borscht tucked into bed.
“To keep your thoughts corralled to that moment in time—it’s important. Thank goodness, one tip comes off and can be replaced by another. I picked it up a few years ago in preparation.”
“For finding a Little?” she asked.
“For finding you,” he corrected her gently as he pulled her close to take off the rest of her clothing.
Soon, he had washed all her troubles down the shower drain. Tucked into bed, Elizabeth had rolled as close as possible to her Daddy, snuggling against him as he lounged against the pillows to open a colorful book. All the struggles of the day seemed to disappear as he read in his deep voice. Puff especially loved the story because it was about flying in the sky. At least, her last thoughts were about the pretty clouds drawn in the illustrations.