TLR Chapter 49

July 4^th  Cont.

Shorty took Jacob and Jarrod by the scruff of their necks and hauled them back to the bunkhouse.  Once in the house he placed little Jake in his corner in the living room and Jare in his corner in the kitchen. 

Bo was leaning with his hips against the counter.  He watched Shorty but didn't say anything.

Shorty walked past Bo, found a glass, filled it from the pitcher in the fridge and gulped down the juice before he said anything

"I need to address a couple of things here, Bo," He explained.

"I have to go check on the horses." Bo said diplomatically. 

"Thanks." The Vet said to Bo.

"I'll be back in a little while." He said as he walked out of the kitchen, closing the door softly behind him as he left.  He didn't want to be there to witness his little brothers, as he'd begun to think of them, being punished.

"You two stay where you are." Shorty instructed.  "I'll be back in a minute."

"Yes sir," they answered in unison.

Jacob and Jarrod exchanged sad looks before turning back to their corners.

Shorty knew he needed to calm down.  He walked over to the kitchen sink and splashed water on his face.  Then walked out the back door. He stopped just outside the door so he could hear if the boys moved or talked to each other.

"Jake," Jarrod whispered, "What were you thinking? Why on earth would you go and shoot off fireworks with Torren of all people? You have more sense than that."

"It wasn't me. I saw the sparks and headed toward them.  I knew it wasn't the main fireworks display so I wondered who was doing it."

"Yeah, but I saw you about to light one. You'd have done it if I hadn't stopped you."

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. It just looked like fun." Jake said sadly.  "I've never set off any fireworks before."

Shorty started to stop the boys from talking but decided to listen instead.

"And you didn't tonight, but that's not what Greg walked up on, so you're in trouble, and I'm in trouble just because I got to you before Greg did.  This is a mess." Jarrod hissed.

Hearing enough Shorty walked down the steps pulling his cell out as he walked toward the stables.

"Eric?" he said when the other man answered the phone.

"Yeah, Shorty?  What's up?"

“Sorry to bother you but have you had a chance to talk to Torren yet?"

"I was just doing that now. I was going to call you once I got the whole story.  From what he tells me he was entirely at fault for the fireworks fiasco.  He said that Little Jake didn't do anything other than watch and that Jare came up on them just as Greg did, so neither of them is at fault for what happened."

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say Jacob is innocent.  He could have tried to stop them." the vet replied.

"I don't know. Torren can be pretty intimidating, and Little Jake isn't a confrontational sort."

"What about Spence? Is Tor saying he didn't do anything either?" Shorty asked.

"I just asked him about Spence's involvement but he's not giving me straight answers, so from what I can tell, Spence is as guilty as Tor is.  Torren knows better than to lie to me, but if I corner him he clams up, which is his tell that he's not admitting everything he knows."

Shorty looked back at the bunkhouse then leaned against the corral rail.  "Well, let me take care of my two and you and Warren can fill me in in the morning."

"Will do, Shorty.  I'm sorry about Tor getting your boys involved in this mess."

"Like I said, they aren’t completely innocent.  Talk to you tomorrow.”

Bo saw Shorty leaning on the top rail and walked over.

Shorty heard his footsteps and looked up.

"Is it all over?" Bo asked.

"No, we haven't even started yet.  But you can go back to the bunkhouse if you want, Bo." The big vet answered.

Bo gave Shorty an enquiring look but figured that if it were his business, Shorty would have told him.  He nodded once and walked back to the bunkhouse, only mildly surprised to see two guilty looking brats staring into their corners.  He walked past with his gaze glued to the ground and went upstairs to his room.  He shut the door and put a CD in to drown out any conversation or noise.

Shorty followed Bo back to their home.  "Little Jake, grab a seat at the table." He ordered.  "You too Jare."

Jacob felt a small sense of relief when Shorty called him Little Jake. He rarely did that and it usually meant he wasn't in trouble.

Jarrod looked at Shorty, surprised, but sat down at the kitchen table.

Shorty placed a glass of juice in front of each twin.  "Who wants to start?" he asked.

"S-start?" Jacob said, choking a little on his juice. 

Jarrod leaned over and thumped his brother on the back.

"Yes, start.  Tell me why you were at the dog park."

"He didn't do anything." Jarrod said quickly.  "Neither did I."

Shorty arched his eyebrow.

Jacob blushed slightly.  "I... I just... kind of came up on them while they were lighting them off.  I... I'd never seen fireworks that close up before... so I... watched."

"And you never thought you stop them or call for help?”

Jacob lowered his gaze to the table top.  "I thought about it, but, Torren can get pretty scary sometimes.  He's not violent but he can be mean, and I didn't want to get a reputation as being a snitch on the resort." He said quietly.

"So that explains what your brother was doing there Jare." Shorty said turning his attention to Jarrod.  "Why were you there?"

Jarrod blushed hotly. "I heard about what was going on. I saw Jake going toward the lodge. Torren and Spence disappeared after the flag raising. I put two and two together, and I was worried about Jake being in the wrong place at the wrong time, so I went to find out if he was there and get him out before Greg showed up, but I was too late." He admitted.

"If you got there after Greg, why did he grab you too, little boy?" Shorty asked.

"I meant, I was too late to get Jake out of there," Jarrod clarified.  "I got there before Greg did but I wasn't fast enough to get Jake out."

Shorty leaned back in his chair.  "Jarrod, you can go on up to bed."

Jarrod shook his head.  "Jake didn't do anything wrong, Shorty. He shouldn't be in trouble either."

"Jarrod, please go on up to bed." Shorty said again.  "Little Jake and I need to talk."

Jarrod looked once more at his little brother who sat dejectedly at the table. He looked up at Jarrod and gave a little nod.

"Yes sir." Jarrod said before he left the room.

"Thank you, Jare."

Shorty waited until he heard the bedroom door close before he looked back at Jacob. 

Jacob continued his study of the kitchen table and remained silent.

"Let me ask you something Jacob, if your brother hadn't of showed up, would you have lit that fuse?" Shorty quietly asked.

Jacob remained silent but gave a slight nod, and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Little Jake, look at me." Shorty said.

The boy reluctantly looked up into Shorty's face. He saw only kindness there so he did as he was told and looked at Shorty maintaining eye contact.

"Did you listen to all the things that James said could have happened?" he asked.

“Yes, but... we were at the dog park and there's a lot of open space there.  I didn’t think... I didn't think we'd start a fire or anything. That never crossed my mind."

"Did it cross your mind that any of you could have been hurt?" Shorty demanded.  "You could have lost a hand or an eye."  Shorty said, trying to scare the boy.

"No," Jacob admitted, his eyes wide with worry. "I just... it's just that I don't really spend that much time with Torren, or Spence, and what they were doing seemed like fun. I just wanted to... I dunno... fit in, I guess?  I don't know, Shorty," the boy said sadly.  "I guess I just wasn't thinking of anything, really. I'd never shot off a firework before and it just looked fun.  I'm sorry."

Shorty reached across the table and took the boy's hand gently pulling him around to sit on his lap.  "I know, little boy."

Jacob leaned his head on Shorty’s shoulder. He knew that sorry wasn't going to be enough and that he was in trouble, but he appreciated Shorty's kindness and care.

"You can't let Torren control you, son." Shorty whispered.  "And you do fit in.  Look at all the friends you have."

Jacob shrugged. "I know." he said quietly. "But Torren is so cool compared to me.  I'm... I dunno, boring I guess. Tor has so much life in him, I sometimes feel like an old fogey compared to him.  He does things, you know?" He made a sound of disgust.  "I know I'm not saying it right."

“Oh little boy, you are the coolest man I know." Shorty chuckled.  "Did you ever think that Tor thinks he is not cool and causes trouble to get attention?  Something you don't need to do."

Jacob looked up at Shorty from beneath his eyelashes.  "I never thought of it like that." he admitted.

"It's true." Shorty said kissing the top of Jake's head.  "You don't need to model yourself after Tor or anyone else for that matter.  You just need to be you."

"I'm a bookworm, a sci fi freak, a computer nerd. I'd rather play with an RPG than blow up condoms and put them into a balloon bouquet." He laughed. "Now that was funny."

He clapped a hand over his mouth and looked wide eyed at Shorty.  'Please don't let him ask. Please don't let him ask!' He prayed silently.

Shorty pushed Jacob back so he could look in his eyes.  "Condoms?  Are you talking about the ones at Jax's party?"

Jacob didn't say a word, but the expression on his face told Shorty all he needed to know.

"So you knew about them?" he chuckled.  "Did you also know that Tor payed a price for adding those condoms to the balloons?"

"I didn't actually see Torren do it." He hastily amended.  "I just saw them when I was leaving. I thought it was funny." he ended lamely.

"Luckily not too many saw them." Shorty remarked.  "But do you really think it was a good idea to do at Jax's party?"

"No sir." Jacob replied quietly.

"Good," Shorty said pulling Jacob back to his chest.  "Now what are we going to do about tonight?"

"Let it go and I promise never to do it again?" Jacob asked hopefully.

"Nice try, little boy, nice try."

Jacob sighed and leaned his full weight on Shorty's chest.  "I guess that's up to you." he said softly.  "What... what are you going to do to me?"

"I'm not going to spank you." Shorty answered, "Unless you think you need me too?"

"No!" Jacob was quick to assure the older man, "That's not necessary, I don't need you to."

Shorty's laugh filled the bunkhouse.  "Ok, then I think you can stay in tomorrow and write a letter to James assuring him you will try your best to not be influenced by others and that you are sorry for your part at the dog park."

Jacob looked up at Shorty and smiled like the condemned man who'd just heard he'd been pardoned.  "Yes, I can do that! I promise!"

"Ok, good, why don't you head up to bed and let your brother know I didn't kill you."

Jacob got up from Shorty's lap and hugged the old vet.  "Thank you, Shorty!" He grinned.  "Thank you. I'll get started on that letter right now."

"No, little boy, the letter can wait until tomorrow," he said swatting the young man towards the stairs. "Up to bed for you."

Jacob grinned, "Yes sir." He said happily before running upstairs to his room.

Shorty put the juice glasses in the sink too tired to wash them tonight.  When he turned Bo was watching him.

Bo grinned.  "Sorry, Little Jake came running upstairs like a herd of elephants and grinning like a fool.  All he'd say was that you didn't kill him." he laughed.  "That was really nice of you, Shorty."

"Thanks, Bo," Shorty grinned back.  "He didn't really do anything except for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Shorty put his hand on Bo’s shoulder, feeling that little tingle that was becoming common place whenever they touched, and guided him back to the stairs.  “Let’s get some sleep, Bo.  Tomorrow's a new adventure.”

<<<<>>>> 

Eric and Torren walked home in silence.  There was no immediate need to talk or ask questions. Eric knew his brat better than anyone else and knew what had driven him to do something so stupid.  As soon as they got to their bungalow, they went inside, Torren’s head down and his shoulders up.

"Corner."  Eric ordered.

Torren stood in the corner of the kitchen as he'd been told and stood there with his head down.  He didn't need any corner time to think. He knew what he'd done.  James had been very specific on that.  He just wished that Eric would let him out of the corner soon and do what he had to do and get it over with.

After about fifteen minutes a soft voice startled him.  "Explain." Came the quiet command from behind him.

Torren began to turn toward his Top but was stopped by two strong hands holding him in place.  Torren sighed and resigned himself to talk to the wall.

"Adam and Mutt get to do everything." He replied sullenly.  "I should have been on that dock with them. I should have been allowed to light off some of the fireworks too.  What makes them so special?" He asked anger in his tone.

"They're no more special than you are, Torren." Eric said, turning Torren gently around to look at him.  "That's not why you weren't included."

"Then why?" Torren asked, near tears.

"Because of things like what happened tonight, Torren." Eric replied gently, pulling Torren toward the kitchen chair.  He sat down and pulled his brat down on his lap and put his arms around him.  Torren buried his face in Eric's shirt and let the tears flow.

Eric waited for Torren to calm down and then continued.  "You are a wonderful person, Torren; I couldn't love you more if I tried.  The problem is that you don't think before you act or say things, and that causes problems for yourself and the people around you.  You frequently do things without thinking ahead, like tonight.  Instead of staying with me and enjoying the fireworks display, you were jealous, and you allowed that jealousy to take control of your emotions, leading you to not only steal fireworks, but to set them off in an area that very well could have caught fire if the sparks had landed in the surrounding wooded area.  Not to mention that if something had happened..."

"But nothing did happen! We were doing fine, Eric, honest!" Torren replied.  "The only time I was even close to having an accident was when Greg showed up and scared me."

"That you knew of." Eric continued.  "You had no way of knowing if you or Spence would have gotten hurt. Experienced handlers have sustained burns, loss of limbs, eyes... I would have been devastated if you'd been hurt, if you'd lost one of those beautiful eyes because you didn't think ahead."

"But..."

"But nothing. All you could think about was getting your own way, somehow, so you and Spencer stole fireworks and went off on your own, unsupervised, and had your own little fireworks display.  And what would you have done if one of you had been injured? How did you plan to explain it?"

Torren looked away from Eric's summer sky blue eyes.  "We never considered that we might get hurt." He admitted quietly.

"How did you plan to explain any fires that occurred if there'd been a mishap?"

"But there weren't any!" Torren's dark brown eyes were wide and sincere as he looked back into Eric's eyes.

"For which you were lucky, hon.  But who knows what would have happened if you'd been able to continue.  If Greg hadn't stopped you.  How did you convince Little Jake and Spencer to go along with this?"

"I didn't convince anyone to do anything. It was all my fault." Torren replied, once again looking away from Eric's gaze.

"So what was Little Jake doing there?"

"He just walked up on us and was watching.  He didn't do anything."

"Greg said he was about to light one off."

"He didn't do anything." Torren repeated.

"Why was Jarrod there?"

"He was just coming to stop us and get Jake out of there.  He only just arrived seconds before Greg did. He didn't do anything either.  It was all my fault."  Torren repeated.

"What about Spencer?"

Torren didn't want to be the one to rat anyone out so he remained silent.  The fact of the matter was that Spencer had been a more than willing participant when he found out that Mutt and Adam had been given permission to help with the display that evening.  

"Torren Luiz, what about Spencer?"

Torren remained silent.  Spence had been the one to suggest taking what he called orphaned rockets to light up. Torren had been the one to decide on the dog park as the best place to set them off.

Just then the phone rang.

Eric clicked his fingers and pointed back toward the corner.  "Stay there until I'm done on the phone. We're not done here."

Torren took his place back in the corner and listened intently to Eric's side of the conversation.

"Yeah, Shorty? What's up?" 

After a short pause, Torren heard Eric say, "I was just doing that now. I was going to call you once I got the whole story.  From what he tells me he was entirely at fault for the fireworks fiasco.  He said that Little Jake didn't do anything other than watch, and that Jare came up on them just before Greg did, so neither of them is at fault for what happened."

"I don't know." Eric said, taking the phone outside where Torren couldn't hear.  Torren huffed a sigh of frustration. He really wanted to know what was being said.

Torren heard the last part of the conversation as Eric walked back into the bungalow.  "Will do, Shorty.  I'm sorry about Tor getting your boys involved in this mess." Eric said before hanging up.  He picked up the phone again and dialed another number.

"Warren, I'm sorry to call you so late. It's Eric."

"Yes, that's what I was calling about." He said after a short pause.

"He did?"

Torren squirmed in the corner, wishing he could hear the other side of the conversation. He grimaced when Eric once again went outside to continue the conversation.

Eric made two more phone calls before replacing the handset back on its base.

"Now, you..." Eric said, "Come join me please."  Torren turned to see a placid looking Eric crooking his finger.

Torren advanced slowly, unsure of what was going to happen next.  A placid looking Eric could mean just about anything.

"Are you going to tell me about Spencer's involvement?"  He asked when Torren was finally standing before him.

Torren looked down and wouldn't look up again even after Eric asked him to.

"That's alright, hon. I didn't expect you to, to be honest.  The fact is that Spencer told Warren everything."

Eric tried not to laugh when he saw Torren's dark eyes widen, worry written clearly on his face. 

"He told Warren that taking the fireworks was his idea.  Is that true?" 

Torren's shoulder came up slightly and he touched his chin to it, another of Torren's many tells.

"That's encouraging, then. I'm glad it wasn't you."

"I didn't say anything!" Torren protested.

"You didn't have to."  Eric smiled gently.  "And it was your idea to go to the dog park?"

"It was all my fault." Torren maintained, taking a shallow breath and avoiding eye contact with Eric.

"How was it all your fault?"

"If I hadn't mouthed off... if I hadn't been angry and jealous... if I hadn't vented to Spence..."

"So he convinced you to take the fireworks and set them off?"

"I didn't say that. I didn't say anything."  Torren said staunchly.

"So, if I were to paddle you, do you think that would be a deserved punishment?"

"P-paddle?" the younger man asked, dark eyes nervously seeking blue.

"Yes, I hear it's a very good deterrent for this kind of behavior."

"No, Eric, please?" Torren begged.  Eric rarely used anything other than his hand, and Torren could count on one hand how many times Eric had used the paddle on him.

"Do you believe you deserve to be punished?"

"Yes, sir." Torren replied, somewhat breathlessly, "But please not the paddle.  There has to be another way? I'll do anything.  I swear no complaints, no backtalk, just tell me what I can do and I'll do it, but please, not the paddle."

"How many fireworks did you, yourself, set off?"

"Um, I'm not sure.  I think, maybe three or four?" Torren replied, confused.

Eric turned around and took a large wooden spoon out of one of the kitchen drawers.  He took Torren by the arm and landed four hard swats on his backside.

Torren went up on his toes, wincing in pain as the sting set in.

"That's for the fireworks." Eric said.  "Now we deal with the behavior that caused the night to be ruined for me, James, Jeff, and everyone else that was involved."

"W-what are you gonna do?" Torren asked fearfully.  The spoon wasn't as hard as the paddle, nor did it cover as much area, but it stung like the dickens and he wasn't looking forward to being smacked with it again.

"You, Torren Luiz Ruiz, are going to clean.  By yourself.  At the crack of dawn you're going to the dog park to pick up spent casings, so that none of the dogs get to them and possibly chokes.  That means you're going to check the surrounding woods as well."

"Ok," Torren replied, feeling relieved that that was as bad as it was going to get.

"Also, I just spoke to James, and he agreed, that you're going to clean the beach. By yourself."

"But that could take hours!" Torren protested.

"What happened to no complaints and no backtalk?" Eric asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry." Torren said quickly.

"Good boy.  Now, it's late and you have a lot to do tomorrow.  Go on up to bed."

"Eric?"

"Yes, Tor?"

"What's going to happen to Spence?"

"That's between him and Warren, hon.  If he feels like talking about it tomorrow then he'll tell you. Now, off to bed."

"Yes sir." Torren said, going up on tiptoe to kiss Eric goodnight.

Eric put his arms around his brat and hugged him tightly. He kissed Torren gently and pulled him toward him so that Torren's head was resting on his chest.

"I love you, Torren.  Always remember that."

"I love you too, Eric. I'll always love you."  Torren replied, once again near tears.

"Then head up to bed. I'll be there soon."

"Eric?"

"Yes, Tor?"

"Where's Adam?"

"He's spending the night with Mutt and Jeff.  I called them just before I came back in here.  He says he's fine and that he loves you.  He's worried about you."

Torren blushed; he could feel his ears getting hot with embarrassment.  He always felt badly whenever he caused either of his partners to be upset or hurt, and he knew that his behavior had hurt many people that evening.

"It's alright, hon.  You know Adam isn't angry with you, any more than I am.  And after you've completed your punishment assignment, it's all over and done with, just like always. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Torren said, visibly relaxing.

With a final kiss, Eric sent Torren upstairs to their bedroom while he locked up and turned out the lights.

<<<<>>> 

Warren guided Spencer along the path to their bungalow.  He ordered in a stern tone, “Come on, Spencer. You and I have a lot to talk about when we get home. I want you to go straight to the corner in the living room. You are not to move from there or speak while you are there until I tell you that you may. Do you understand?

Spencer scowled. “You know I hate the corner!”

Warren raised an eyebrow. “You’re in enough trouble Spencer Gene and I’d advise you to moderate your tone and not complain or we’ll stop and we can have a discussion right here and you can talk to me facing the gravel path.”

Spencer cringed. “Yes Sir.” He said more respectfully.

Warren nodded. “I thought you’d agree with me. I want you to think about all you and Torren did tonight while you’re in the corner and then we’ll address it all.”

Spencer bit his lip and sighed. “Yes Sir.” He said and walked quietly the rest of the way home, glancing every so often at his top’s face and not being able to read it very well in the dark.

Warren put an arm around Spence’s shoulders. He pulled him close as they walked to their bungalow.

Spence figured that Warren couldn’t be too mad if he was holding him close as they walked. When they got to their bungalow Spence went straight to the corner as Warren had told him to do. He tried not to fidget as he heard Warren moving around.

After about twenty minutes Warren called, “Spence, come join me here on the sofa.”

Spencer turned. He didn’t see any implements and went to sit next to Warren.

Warren said, “I want to know what happened tonight. I want to know all of it and no skirting around or telling me half-truths. You know that will earn you extra punishment if you do that.” They had been working on Spence being more honest.

Spencer looked down at his hands and said quietly, “Torren was tellin’ me he was upset because Adam and Mutt were goin’ to be able to shoot off the fireworks this year. There were some fireworks that were not going to be used. I told Torren they were orphan fireworks and probably wouldn’t be missed.” He hesitated and bit his lip.

Warren arched an eyebrow. “What happened next little boy?”

Spence shifted a bit further away from Warren, but he put an arm around the younger man and pulled him close. “You know I love you and that you can tell me anything Spence?”

Spence nodded. “Yes, Warren…I know.” He said softly.

Warren waited patiently. He knew from the past in their relationship that pushing only made his brat more stubborn and things escalated and ended up worse than they had to be.

Spence sat quietly for a little bit and then said, “I suggested we could take them and shoot them off somewhere by ourselves.”

Warren arched an eyebrow. “So you decided to steal from James and the resort?”

Spencer squirmed. “Umm…”

Warren said in a warning tone, “The truth little boy.”

Spencer sighed. “I didn’t think of it as truly stealing, just taking something that wasn’t going to be used anyway."

Warren said in a stern tone, “Spencer Gene, anytime you remove anything that doesn’t belong to you without permission it is stealing. I’m going to impress that on you tonight.”

Spencer bit his lip and hung his head. “Yes Sir.” He whispered.

Warren asked, “Was it your idea to go to the dog park to shoot them off too?”

Spencer’s hazel eyes widened. “No! It was Torren’s idea!”

Warren nodded. “Well I’m glad it wasn’t yours, but what you and Torren did was very dangerous. How did the twins get involved?” He asked.

Spencer said, “They didn’t do anything. Jake came up just as we were going to send up another one. Torren was tellin’ us when to light them. Jake said he hadn’t ever done it before and I told him he could do the one I was going to. Then Jarrod showed up and then Greg so we never did get a chance to send it up.” He sighed.

Warren bit back a sigh of his own. “Spencer, what would have happened if one misfired and blew up and hurt you? If you ended up losing an eye or a hand? It happens, even to professionals. Why do you think James and Jeff do it every year? They’re familiar with it and they do it over the lake to prevent fires. Did you and Torren even have any buckets of water to use in case a fire started?”

Spencer shook his head. “No, we thought because it was an open area it would be safe, we never thought about having water ready, or the possibility of a fire.” He admitted.

Warren asked, “Spencer…is there anything else you need to tell me…I don’t want to find out that there were things you didn’t tell me afterward or you’re backside will pay for it.” He warned.

Spencer thought about all he had done and then shook his head. “I think that’s all of it.”

Warren had studied his brat and knew well when he was trying to hide something and knew Spencer was telling the truth and nodded. “All right.” He was just about to begin Spence’s spanking when his cell phone rang. He answered it and heard Eric on the line. He looked over at Spencer and said, “I need to take this call. Corner please.”

Spencer knew better than to sigh or complain. He went to his usual corner.      

Warren said, “Yes, Spencer told me all about it. It was Spence’s idea to take the fireworks and they both decided to light them off and it was Torren’s idea to go to the dog park.”

Spence squirmed as he heard Warren telling someone, he assumed it was James or someone about what he had done. He began to cry softly in the corner.

Warren walked away from Spence’s hearing and when he returned, his phone disconnected from the call he called Spencer back to him. “Come join me again hon.”

Spencer tried to wipe his tears away with his sleeve as he left the corner.

Warren pulled Spencer onto his lap and hugged him tight. “I love you Spencer. I’m not sure what I would have done if you had been badly hurt tonight. I need to take care of you.” He told him softly, running his hand through the short auburn hair.

Spencer snuggled close and Warren placed a kiss on the younger man’s lips. “What you did Spencer was very dangerous and it deserves the paddle.” He told his brat quietly.

Spencer bit his lip. He knew once Warren made up his mind there would be no changing it.

Warren said, “It’s late, let’s get this over with.” He eased Spencer to his feet. The paddle materialized as Warren pulled it from behind the cushion where he had hidden it.

Spencer’s eyes went wide and he began to unfasten his jeans, but Warren stopped him. “I don’t think that’s necessary this time, but if it happens again it will be on the bare.”

Spence sent Warren a grateful look, happy at least for this small reprieve, even though he knew it was going to hurt a lot. He had felt it before and knew its sting.

Warren saw the grateful look and placed a hand on his brat’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly before pulling Spence over his lap. “Six.” He told the young man.

Spencer almost found himself protesting, but clamped is mouth shut and held onto Warren’s leg tight.

Warren gave his brat six good smacks with the paddle, three on his under curves and three on his sit spots.

Spence jerked at the first swat and then yelped at the rest and by the last one was crying freely, his backside on fire despite his jeans.

Warren helped him up and held him in his lap so there wasn’t a lot of pressure on Spencer’s sore bottom and kissed him. “Now it’s over and done with. You will apologize to James tomorrow and it will be finished.”

Spence sniffled and took the handkerchief Warren handed him after wiping his eyes with it and blew his nose. “Yes Sir.” He acknowledged.

Warren smiled. “Let’s go up to bed.” He gathered up Spence in his arms and carried him up to their bed where he undressed him and they cuddled until they both fell asleep