Sadie's Little Christmas - Maren Smith Page 0,5

and several classrooms, and with each new decorative revelation, her grip on the strap of her duffel bag got a little tighter, and the twists in her stomach tied another knot.

She was almost afraid to ask.

“Where are you going to put me?”

“Fortunately, we’re not at full capacity right now,” Derek answered. No longer leading the way, he’d slowed his step until he seemed more to be walking alongside her, giving her ample time to look her fill into the rooms they passed. He was watching her, studying her. “We’ve set up a dorm for you. You’ll get it all to yourself.”

She swallowed back another tickle of misplaced disappointment.

“That sounds… nice.”

“Is that all right?” he asked, both his expression and his tone utterly neutral. “Do you want to be in the Little program?”

“No! God, no!” The laugh that escaped her was as knee-jerk a reaction as the blush that rose to burn her face. “Because, you know… I’m not like… like…” She stopped walking and talking, not just because she didn’t want to be rude but because they were halfway past the room, the teacher and her charges had filed into.

It was a nursery, complete with nap mats on the floor and snack plates of apples, milk cartons, cheese, and cookies laid out on two round tables with brightly colored chairs gathered around them. More than that, it had toys on the floor, books in a reading corner that had plush beanbags comfortably provided, and a giant armoire by the desk where the teacher was standing. A young lady in a school uniform stood with her, nervously wringing her hands as she was scolded. For what, Sadie had no idea, but her breath caught, and her heart leapt for the other girl. She knew what was happening, not because she’d seen it before, but because she’d imagined it for herself, oh… she couldn’t count how many times.

Opening the armoire, the teacher took out a paddle. It was long and thin, more of a ruler than a real paddle, but the poor girl likely could have cared less what it looked like. Sadie gulped for her, her mouth uncomfortably dry, and her bottom clenching in sympathy.

Her tummy tightened, those butterflies going wild, anything but sympathetic for the other girl’s situation. Butterflies were heartless bastards, filling Sadie with quivers of excitement as the teacher gave a command she couldn’t quite hear over the playing, laughing, and talking of the rest of the people in the room, none of who so much as glanced their way as the girl raised her uniform skirt, holding it up around her waist.

Bending, the teacher took hold of her white cotton underwear and yanked them down to the girl’s knees. When she let go of the elastic, gravity took the garment the rest of the way to her ankles.

For all that Sadie couldn’t feel herself breathing, her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow pants as she watched.

Silent at her side, Derek tipped his head as he watched her face.

The teacher gave another command, the stern point of her finger, letting Sadie know exactly what she said.

Turning around, the already crying girl presented her bare bottom and even more slowly, bent over.

Locking an arm around her waist to help steady rather than hold the girl in place, the teacher raised the paddle and without further scolding, filled that cheerfully painted nursery room with the sharp whack-smack-cracks of wood swiftly and sternly meeting bare bottom skin.

The girl yelped and arched, dancing onto the tiptoes of her Mary Janes, her face a twist of woeful anguish before she burst into enthusiastic tears—real ones this time.

She didn’t reach back, didn’t even try to twist or break away, which surely wouldn’t have been difficult since she was only being held tucked up against the other woman’s hip.

“Please, Nanny J!” she wailed. “My bottom hurts! My bottom hurts!”

“I imagine it’ll hurt a good deal more before our dear Nanny J is through,” Derek said beside her.

Sadie ripped her gaze away while the spanking continued mercilessly. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t stand here.

“Sadie.”

Her gaze jerked up to stare at him, her eyes wide, her chest heaving, her bottom tingling, that heated place between her legs tingling even more and burning hotter than her furiously blushing face. She touched her cheeks with both hands, but the coolness of her fingers did nothing to kill the flames.

“Sadie,” Derek said again, his deep voice calm, but the dark of his knowing eyes saw right through her. “It’s