Enrolling Little Etta by Alta Hensley, Allison West Page A

your nightgown and climb into bed."
    "I am not tired," Etta said, whining. It was nearing dinner time and her stomach grumbled for food. She didn't dare remind him that the bottle had been forgotten.
    "Do not disappoint me," Papa said, his tone stern and sharp. He walked into the nursery and found a light pink nightgown for her to wear to bed. "Arms up."
    Etta did not fight him. Perhaps if she did as she was told, he'd see that she did not need another nanny, that she could be trusted to be on her own. She was a grown adult, even if he seemed to forget that about her. Lifting her arms into the air, she let him guide the soft pink nightgown over her head and arms.
    "Come." Papa guided Etta to the bed and pulled back the covers. "Lie on your tummy," he said, instructing her on what to do.
    She climbed atop the mattress, burying her fingers under the pillow as she laid her head down, her bottom facing the ceiling.
    "Seeing as you are not ill as we first thought, I think it is best to leave the cold bath away."
    "What is wrong with me?" Etta did not understand why she felt so warm. Her quim burned and the clothes felt too hot and restrictive, even just a simple nightgown.
    "You are aroused, Etta. Nanny Mae should not have done what she did, but I hear you were a naughty girl, touching yourself. Is that what started it?"
    Etta did not answer.
    Papa lifted the hem of her gown, exposing her round bottom as his fingers moved over the plush curves. "Naughty girls get paddled."
    Etta snapped her head around to study Papa's stern expression. "Paddled?"
    Papa reached for the drawer of the dresser beside the bed and opened it. Etta gasped when she watched him pull out a wooden paddle.
    "What happened between you and Nanny Mae deserves a punishment. You are not to touch yourself, and you most certainly are not to allow anyone to touch you unless I say so."
    Without hesitation, he laid the paddle on her backside so she could feel the cool wood against her heated bare flesh. Etta had never been paddled, but undoubtedly this experience was not one she would enjoy. But before she could plead for mercy or even come up with an escape plan, the paddle raised and then came crashing down on her arse with a stinging blow.
    "Ow! Oh, Papa!" Another searing swat landed on her bottom. "It hurts!"
    "Yes, my little love, I'm afraid a proper paddling is indeed going to sting."
    He continued to paddle her bottom without pause, and Etta could do nothing more but wail in pain. The thud of each spank almost took her breath away, as her papa delivered a paddling she would not soon forget.
    "I am so sorry, Papa. I will never do such things again!"
    The paddling continued.
    "Yes, little Etta, I will make sure of that."
    The paddling continued.
    "Ow! Ow! I cannot take anymore. I simply cannot!"
    The paddling continued.
    "I do not like punishing you so harshly," he said as he landed two more swats on each cheek and then stopped. "But it is my duty, as your papa, to do so when it is deserved. You nearly cost a woman her job, Etta. Her livelihood is not a game."
    Etta sniffed and tried to dry her tears. She knew she indeed deserved her paddling. Her behavior had not been that of a lady.
    Papa put the paddle down and caressed her bottom gently. "Do you understand why you are at the Ashby Chateau, Etta?"
    "I am to find a suitable man to marry." That was why her Uncle Jack had sent her away. He did not seem to know anything about girls or young women, so he had pushed her out of the door as fast as she had come into his home.
    "You are to learn to submit, Etta. I want you to recognize the power and give it up entirely to me. I am going to claim you as my wife when the time comes, my little love."
    Etta swallowed nervously. "You wish to marry me?" Had he lost his mind? She had suspected as much because of the talk from Nanny Mae, but she had pushed it aside and could have sworn that he would never want someone like her.
    "Everything about you is perfect, except your