Lucy's Journey Home (Hunter's Ridge) Read online

  Molly kept her over the desk for thirty minutes. She wanted Lucy to not only think about her behavior, she also wanted to give the little red bottom time to cool before she underwent her Papa’s chastisement. When it was time, she called Lucy to her and wiped her face with a cool cloth. “I want you to be a good girl for your Papa, Lucy,” Molly said as she wiped the tear tracks from Lucy’s cheeks. I know you are truly sorry for how you acted but must submit properly to your Papa’s discipline.”

  “Yes, Nanny,” Lucy said quietly, her time over the table allowing her to calm and get herself under control again. Molly pulled Lucy’s drawers up, tying the ribbon tightly around her waist in a neat little bow. Lucy flushed again knowing her drawers would soon be discarded yet again. Molly smiled knowing that part of a good punishment was in taking the time to slowly bare the naughty one’s bottom for her or make her bare it herself. She turned Lucy around and brushed her hair until it shone before braiding it. It would not only make it less likely to tangle when Lord Huntington tended to his little one’s bottom, it would already be prepared for when he put the punished little girl to bed. Taking her hand, Molly led her to the door. Taking a deep breath, Lucy didn’t fuss when she was pulled into the corridor and to the door where she knew her Papa - her angry, disappointed Papa was waiting for her arrival. Molly entered after knocking and hearing Lucas call out his permission to enter.

  Lucy found she couldn’t lift her eyes, her shame far too great to face her Papa. Though she knew he would forgive her, for the very first time she felt a deep need to be punished before he offered her any such forgiveness.

  “Thank you, Molly,” Lucas said as he stood from where he had been seated at the small desk. “I’ll take it from here. Lucy shall be confined to this room until dinner. You are free to do as you please until dinner after which you may return to your duties.” Molly curtsied and nodded.

  “Yes, Sir, thank you,” Molly said and released Lucy’s hand. She turned to leave and shook her head when she saw Lucy’s small hands go behind her to cup her aching bottom. She reached down and gently guided Lucy’s hands away from her bum, pressing them to her sides. “You know better than to rub your naughty spanked bottom, Lucille. I expect you to be a good girl for your Papa.”

  “Yes, Nanny,” Lucy sniffled and nodded, her cheeks flaming as pink as her bottom at the correction. Once Molly had departed, Lucas took his seat again.

  “Come here, Lucille,” he ordered. Lucy instantly went to him, her eyes watching every step her bare feet took across the small room. When she saw her husband’s shiny black boots beneath her gaze, she stopped, her hands moving of their own accord to fold behind her back, each hand cupping the opposite elbow. Lucas was extremely pleased as he had also seen her drop her hands to cover her bottom. “Turn around and present your bare bottom so that I might see Nanny Molly’s handiwork,” he said softly. Lucy flushed but obeyed, turning from him and untying the bow at her waist with trembling fingers. Lucas saw the fabric loosen and waited, his eyes on her bottom. “Lucille, lower your drawers but hold them just beneath your bottom cheeks,” Lucas instructed. He saw her take a deep breath before she slowly began to pull her ruffled drawers down. She sniffed loudly, her eyes filling with shame as she was made to present her spanked bottom to her husband. Once the fabric was tugged over the rounded hillocks, she stopped, the fabric bunched right beneath her plump, still pink cheeks.

  “Bend forward,” Lucas instructed and Lucy did so, her face flaming brighter knowing the picture she was making. “Push your bottom well out, young lady.” Lucy moaned but again obeyed and felt her husband begin to trace his fingers across her bottom. “Lower your drawers to your knees,” his voice said softly. Lucy shuddered as she obeyed discovering that being made to slowly expose her punished bum and legs brought back the memory of every stroke her nanny had placed upon her skin. She stood before her husband, bent over, her braid falling over one shoulder as her hands held her drawers awkwardly at her knees. Lucas didn’t speak but was satisfied that Molly had definitely given his little one a very sound hair-brushing on her bottom and thighs. Even after the time spent bent across the desk, the entire surface of Lucy’s small bottom was still blushed with a dark pink color that he was sure would ensure his little one’s memory of her first spanking under her nanny’s hand would remain with her for a very long time. Lucas remained still and Lucy began to grow extremely uncomfortable knowing he was simply looking at the evidence of her spanking. She found herself wishing he would speak or do something but when he stood, she couldn’t stop a whimper from escaping knowing her punishment was beginning.

  “Hush, Lucille,” Lucas said his voice firmer than she had ever heard. “You have caused a great deal of trouble, young lady. You not only threw a horrid tantrum, you accused a woman who loves you of things for which she was totally innocent.” Lucy’s eyes closed in shame as she listened to him, her heart aching with the knowledge that every word was the truth. “I would have thought that the last time you were punished for cursing would have cured you of the nasty habit,” Lucas continued and Lucy’s bottom clenched involuntarily when she felt a single finger dip into the divide of her bottom. “Drop your drawers and put your palms on the floor,” he instructed and Lucy shuddered but again obeyed. Once her drawers puddled at her feet, her palms flat against the carpet, he knelt and guided her feet from the garment, her tear-filled eyes momentarily meeting his in the awkward, submissive position.

  Lucas stood and laid the drawers aside, walking to stand in front of his wife. “Spread your cheeks for me, Lucille,” he commanded. Lucy moaned deeply, her submission consuming her even as her small hands moved to obey. She couldn’t help but clench as she felt her bottom-hole being exposed and saw her husband moving to return to stand behind her. She let out her first sob when she felt her husband’s finger moving to tap at the small tightly puckered opening. “You will learn, little one, I promise that no matter how long it takes, or how many times your mouth must be soaped and your bottom filled, you will learn to bite your tongue instead of screaming vulgarities at the top of your lungs.” Lucy didn’t think she could ever feel as ashamed of herself as she did while he quietly listed all of her transgressions, his finger continuing its steady tap against her flower. “I can’t imagine how the other passengers felt when those words flew from your mouth, but, Lucille, I know how Nanny Molly felt. I know exactly how I felt, young lady,” he said, putting one arm around her waist to hold her in place as he drove his middle finger into her back passage without warning. Lucy yelped loudly and attempted to twist away until he tightened his grip at her waist telling her to be still. As he began to pump his finger in and out of her, he continued his lecture. “I felt ashamed that my wife, my precious little girl could stand there spewing such filth. I felt exposed as a man unable to teach his little one how to behave.” He pushed his finger as deeply as possible and then stilled it. Lucy felt mortified, her heart aching at the disappointment she could easily hear in his voice. He paused for so long she almost opened her mouth to beg for his forgiveness but remembered his order to hush. Her legs began to shake just the tiniest amount as she was forced to remain absolutely still, the finger in her bottom seeming to swell with every silent moment that passed.

  “When you tried to run off the platform, you were running from me, Lucille,” Lucas said and Lucy’s heart stopped. She sobbed once wanting to deny the fact, wanting to reassure him that she had not intended to run from him.

  “Papa, no…I wasn’t run…”

  “Be silent!” Lucas steeled his heart against her pain. “You didn’t stop to think, didn’t care if you fell off the platform, didn’t know if another train was coming on the track. Lucy, you could have truly harmed yourself. I told you once that you cost me years of my life when I saw you teetering on that ladder. Well, young lady, I’ll be old and gray within a month at this rate. Don’t you ever, I mean ever, do something like that again.” His finger had begun to pump again with his words and though it caused an ache d
eep inside her bottom, Lucy’s heart ached far more. Lucy so wanted to promise she wouldn’t, so wanted to throw herself into his arms and tell him how sorry she was, how much she loved him and hated that she had caused him such pain. Lucas saw her shaking harder and knew she had listened to everything he said and had taken it to heart. He popped his finger from her bottom and ordered her hands to take hold of her ankles.

  He walked around her until he stood directly in front of her. Lucy saw a tear drop onto his shoe but didn’t dare move or make a sound. Her heart ached even more than it did from losing Cleo. She felt as if she was losing the love of the one man that made her life worth living. Lucas saw the tear as well and reached out to put a finger under her chin, slowly lifting her face until her eyes met his, hers swimming with tears, her face red from being bent over so long. She made the perfect picture of a naughty little girl in her abject misery.

  “And, little one, every naughtiness, every hateful and vulgar word, every disobedient act was for nothing,” Lucas said. Lucy blinked her eyes, causing more tears to slide down her cheeks, her eyes also filling with confusion. Lucas stepped away and motioned to the bed. Lucy gasped and then forgot his order to remain still and threw herself onto the bed where Cleo, the cat she was positive had been lost, was sleeping, curled up on a pillow. Lucas allowed her to gather the kitten into her arms and watched as she buried her face in its fur and sobbed her relief, her guilt and her joy evident.

  When the cat began to mew and struggle to remove itself from her strangling hold, Lucas gently took Cleo from her, stroking its back to calm it again. “Back as you were,” he said softly and was immensely pleased when she immediately obeyed. “Cleo was in this room, on that pillow when I came back after looking for her. I suppose she left Molly’s room when you, young lady, carelessly left the door open. I don’t know exactly how her she got into our room but I am very happy that she did.” Lucy felt as if a huge weight had lifted from her soul and knew she would never, ever be so careless again. She watched as Lucas put the pillow where Cleo had been sleeping on the floor of the closet and set the kitten down before closing the door. Lucy’s eyes slid shut when she saw him pick up the leather strap from the closet shelf. He returned to the bed, piling two of the thick pillows against the very edge.

  “Place yourself over the pillows, legs wide, heels turned out, up on your toes and properly present your bottom,” Lucas directed as he also picked up her pacifier that he had threaded a strap through while waiting for her arrival. Lucy walked to the bed and was soon presenting her well raised bottom to her husband, her arms folded behind her back. Lucas appreciated the obedience as well as the fact that she was keeping her arms in the proper position. However, he knew that she would not be able to maintain that position by the time he was finished strapping her bottom. He walked to the bed and laid the strap down beside her head, knowing she could see it and would anticipate its use. She could not stifle a moan when she saw him reach to retrieve something leaning against the edge of the desk. It was a thin switch he had cut while looking for Cleo which he had left outside Molly’s door when he first checked on the two. He has spent the time waiting for his naughty wife trimming the leaves and twigs from the thin branch and now laid it next to the strap. He knew she understood exactly why he had done so. Lift your head,” he instructed and when she did, he picked up the strap and pressed it to her lips. Lucy obediently kissed the leather, her lips tingling knowing how the leather would tear into her bottom. Lucas lowered the strap back to the bed and picked up the switch. Lucy shuddered as she pressed her lips to it as well.

  “I…I didn’t mean to run, Pa…Papa…I don’t want to…to run from you,” she said, her eyes imploring that he believe her.

  “And yet you did, Lucille,” he said though his eyes softened at her words. “Open your mouth, Lucy,” he said, and when she did, he introduced the pacifier which she accepted willingly, immediately suckling hard as if to comfort herself. Lucas said nothing as he buckled the strap securely around her head.

  Lucas pulled the two lengths of rope from his vest pocket. “Put your arms in front of you, Lucille.” Lucy did and lifted her head to watch as he quickly tied her wrists together with one of the ropes and then attached the second to the rope around her wrists before securing the other end to somewhere beneath the bed. Her heart began to pound as she was bound for punishment for the very first time. Lucas looked into her face and saw the acceptance as well as fear in her eyes.

  “Don’t be frightened, little one,” he said gently as he stroked his finger down her cheek before turning her head to press her cheek against the mattress. “I don’t want you to have to worry about your hands nor do I wish to strap them if you should reach back. The bindings are for your safety. Understand?” She nodded, though her eyes closed when he picked up the strap. Lucas walked to stand at her side and lifted the strap. He placed his free hand at the small of her back to hold her firmly in place. He watched as the woman he would offer his life for, lifted her already reddened bottom higher, pushing it up as she accepted her need for discipline and his authority in providing it.

  The strapping was as awful as Lucy had anticipated. Stroke after stroke landed across her bottom, searing her skin every single time. By the third stroke, she was tugging against the rope, and by the sixth, her head was thrown back and she was making inarticulate pleas for mercy. Lucas ignored her cries and was grateful to Eleanor for providing the gag which kept the sounds of her pain confined within the walls of their room. When he had placed ten strokes across her bottom, he walked to stand at her other side and lifted the strap again. Her eyes opened to find him looking at her, her face stained with her tears but able to see nothing but love in his. “Present,” he said softly and though she felt as if she was sitting directly on a burning fire, she forced herself to stand as required and lift her bottom again. Lucas was proud of her obedience but made sure she understood that every single time she repeated naughtiness for which she had already been punished, that naughtiness only served to earn her an even harsher chastisement. The leather cracked loudly against her bottom until ten additional strokes painted her bottom crimson. Lucas laid the strap back onto the bed, exchanging it for the switch.

  “Legs together,” Lucas said and waited until Lucy slowly pressed her legs together as tightly as possible. The switching was fast and without pause until twenty red lines vividly marked her skin. Their fire instantly reminded Lucy of how horrid a switching on her legs could be. Lucas was disappointed that he had to switch her as her previous welts had almost totally healed. However, he had promised to switch her legs if she ever ran from him and he would never give her a reason to doubt his words be they ones of promised love or ones of promised discipline for misbehavior. Lucy was sobbing, her body shaking as he unbuckled the pacifier and gently removed it from her mouth. She buried her face in the mattress, gasping to draw in oxygen and sobbing at the same time. Lucas walked away and returned with a cool cloth, using it to wipe her face gently until she began to calm a little.

  “Breathe, Kitten,” he said gently and stayed right beside her until she was able to breathe without gasping or choking. Lucas released the rope from the bed and then removed the rope from her wrists. He gently massaged her wrists as she continued to regain her composure. When she was much calmer, he once more presented the strap and switch to her lips and she kissed them obediently.

  “Th...thank you, Papa,” she said and finally felt the suffocating sense of guilt flow from her body.

  “You are welcome, Kitten,” Lucas said softly and then sat beside her. Lucy didn’t move knowing he had not given her permission to do so. “Do you remember the other day when I first had cause to switch you, Lucille?” Lucy nodded and managed to answer even as she hiccupped with the last of her sobs. “I told you then that a different penance is required than the one you must offer when I’ve had cause to spank or paddle you. You should have made the proper penance the first time but I allowed you to use your mouth as I’ve yet to truly
prepare you for what this penance requires.” Lucy kept her eyes glued to his, her heart racing as she listened to his voice.

  “Lucy, you will make a different penance when I’ve had cause to switch, strap, birch or cane you for more severe offenses.” He was calm, his voice low and steady and yet she somehow knew whatever penance he would require would be difficult to accept. Lucas reached out to stroke her cheek with his fingertip. “You will be taught how to make such a penance the next time you are as naughty as you were today.” Lucy felt a rush of relief sweep through her, her eyes closing as she swallowed back her anxiety. Lucas waited until she opened her eyes and met his again. Once they had, Lucas moved his hand to rest on her hot bottom. “Your penance will be made with you in the position you are in, Lucy. You will make that penance with your bottom. I never expected my good girl to give me cause to require that penance so soon. I will never hesitate to punish you, little one, but I will also not harm you. I will begin training your little bottom-hole so that if your naughtiness earns you the need to bend and present your bottom flower for your penance, you shall be better prepared to do so.” Lucy felt her entire body flush at his words, understanding flooding through her, both grateful for the postponement of such an awful, embarrassing penance and quivering with the knowledge that her bottom-hole was going to undergo training of some type – training she was quite positive she would not enjoy. Lucas didn’t speak further. He simply stood and helped her to stand and led her to the chair where he had been sitting. He sat and then guided her to her knees.