A Short Leash by Loki Renard Page A

and she had enjoyed the doctor too. She would not apologize for satisfying her instincts.
    “Bad girl,” he chided, his palm landing on one bare cheek and then the other, imparting physical sting that would not abate the moment the stimulation stopped. “You’ve really been testing the limits lately,” he said. “But what you have to learn is that limits hurt when they’re enforced—and I always enforce them.”
    “I don’t care,” Sierra squealed as she squirmed. “I would do it all again! All again!”
    “Defiant little brat,” Kade growled, upping the intensity of his swats until each of them made her feel as though a fresh fire was being lit against her bottom. “I have let my good nature get the better of me with you.”
    He tipped her up to a standing position and told her to stay put whilst he went for his leather strap. The mistake was in telling her what he was going to do, for Sierra had no intention of waiting to be strapped. The moment he was out of eyesight she wiggled underneath the couch, taking refuge beneath the leather skirt, which hid her to perfection.
    “Sierra. Come out. Now.”
    His tone was clipped and stern. He was not finding her disobedience amusing, but Sierra was riding high on a combination of residual chocolate and the excitement of the day. She was also fairly confident that he had absolutely no idea where she had gone. She had picked her hiding spot weeks earlier and saved it for a situation that might necessitate it. This was such a situation.
    “Sierra. If you don’t come out this instant, I will put this leather strap away…”
    Sierra liked that idea.
    “…and take a cane to your bottom instead.”
    A cane. Aside from the collar, Sierra had never encountered such an implement before. She gathered by the fact that he was threatening her with it that it was supposed to be somewhat fearsome. Thinking back over her experiences with Kade, she did not think it would be so terrible. He was not given to cruelty, no matter how much he growled. She stayed still, her breathing shallow as the room fell silent.
    Had he left? The carpet muffled footsteps so it was quite difficult to tell where he was precisely. The leather skirts of the couch also blocked scent fairly effectively, so she was completely unable to tell where he was.
    A hunter’s forte was in being able to wait out its prey, Sierra knew that. She was prepared to wait as long as was necessary to… hm. It occurred to her that she hadn’t really come up with an end game for this gambit.
    “You’re going to have to come out eventually,” Kade said, catching her thought. “And when you do, I will be waiting, as will my cane. I’m going to get dinner started.”
    How anticlimactic. Sierra pouted at the carpet. Her bottom hurt and was going to hurt more and now she wasn’t even getting the thrill of Kade’s attention. They had played this game before of course; last time she had given in to his little game. This time she was not going to. This time she was going to stay under the couch until such time as he had to come looking for her.
    Waiting Kade out was not the most interesting thing Sierra had ever done. The first hour or so she spent thrilled with herself and the excitement of getting away with something. The hour following that was a little difficult as she grew hungry and thirsty, but those sensations faded as she fell asleep.
    It was dark when she woke up, still under the couch and with the insistent need to relieve herself.
    Risking Kade, she crept to the bathroom. She emptied her bladder successfully, but the moment she stepped outside the door, Kade took hold of her, his hand snaking out of the darkness and wrapping about her upper arm with serpentine swiftness.
    “What are you doing?” Sierra squeaked with surprise.
    “It’s three in the morning,” he said. “As good a time for a caning as any.” Looking into his face, Sierra saw that she had perhaps gone a little too far. His expression was