didn’t dare let her. The risk to her health was simply too great.
“No,” Derek said, sad but firm.
Her smile turned sad, too, but she didn’t argue.
“Tell the elves, they suck,” she said, waving the Loopy Johnny at him.
“Tell Jenkins not to spare your hide.”
Tsking and with his steadying hand under her elbow, she got up off his knee. Mumbling “dang it” under her breath, she limped away in search of the Headmaster, then there was no one left but Sadie.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to come to him. He could tell by the wistfulness in her eyes as she’d watched him with the others. He knew she wanted to come closer, that she was every bit as drawn to him as he was to her. It was that damn part of her head that didn’t want to be thought of as silly or childish, not at the grand age of eighteen, that kept her back.
He held out his hand.
Her right knee buckled, her leg wanting to take that forward step, but her uncooperative feet keeping her rooted where she was.
“Go on,” Nanny J said, giving her a physical nudge. “How will you ever get what you want if you’re always too afraid to take it when it’s being offered to you?”
How indeed?
She blushed, her gaze dipping to his waiting fingers. The fingers he’d spanked her with and loved her with, and with which he had every intention of taking her to the very brinks of her limits tonight as soon as they got home. Was she thinking about that?
The flush of pink in her cheeks grew brighter, and his cock stirred against his thigh. Rolling her lips together, she ventured closer and shyly took his hand.
The heat of her bottom as she lowered herself to sit on his thigh was both a torture and a delight.
“Hello, Sadie,” he said, husky and low, only just resisting the urge to command her to stand again if only long enough to sweep her little girl skirt up far enough, so when she sat again, only the thin barrier of her cotton panties would stand as a barrier between his roving hand and her bare, smooth skin.
She swallowed hand, her breathing already rapid and shallow.
“Hello, Daddy.”
His heart leapt at her choice of greeting.
She rubbed her hands against her thighs before pointing at the nearly empty bag at his feet.
“Do you have a lump of coal and a bag of switches in there for me?”
He gave her a sneak peek at the pair of bunny slippers he’d specifically picked out for her. Her eyes lit up when she saw them.
“Oh!” She reached for them, but he quickly shut the bag and dropped it almost behind his chair to keep it out of her reach.
“I don’t know if I should give them to you now. Why do you think you deserve switches and coal? Have you been a naughty girl this year?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t been,” she quipped.
He lost a bit of amusement.
“No,” he corrected. “We’re not even going to joke about that. That was someone else’s misbehavior that did that, not yours. Say that to me again, and I’ll put you over my knee, and I don’t care where we are or if there’s an audience.”
That she’d been half-joking was obvious in her surprise at the verity of his response, and the thought of being spanked that way, without regard for whether they were in public or private, turned her on was every bit as obvious. She squirmed, her soft bottom clenching on his thigh.
“Have you been a naughty girl this year?” he asked again, challenging her.
She blushed bright red, looking furtively from him to the others—both bigs and Littles, all gathered in groups, talking, laughing, some showing off their toys, and others going back to decorating.
“C-Can we go somewhere private?”
“Stand up.” He more patted than swatted her bottom. “Take your panties off right now and give them to me, and the next time a Master at the Ranch asks you a question, you will answer promptly and honestly. Is that clear?”
She stared at him, her mouth gaping, and a heady mix of mortification and arousal on her face.
“You’re still not answering,” he warned.
“N-No… I-I mean, yes, Sir!” She jumped to her feet, and darting a self-conscious glance for anyone who might be watching—there were more than a few—she obediently shimmied out of her underwear. She was beet red when she handed them to him and only got redder still when