29 | Spare The Rod...

**SIENNA**

“Harper, you leave,” he instructed in a stiff tone. But she was still rooted to her spot, not by choice but compulsion because I could easily read the fear etched on every inch of her skin. She was as afraid for me as she was for herself a moment ago.
I nodded in assurance, putting up a false bravado because I genuinely wanted Harper out of harm’s way. She did not deserve to be punished for the crime I committed.
“Harper,” came the second warning, harsher than the first.
“Go!” I mouthed, setting her to speed.
She tossed me one last sympathetic look before hobbling out of the room. And it was just Gabriel and me then, as I looked at his intense gaze piercing me like a dagger from where he stood.
There was something in the way he held my gaze that said that dire consequences awaited for me. My glutes tingled apprehension prickling through all the layers of my skin. He snapped a finger and then beckoned me closer. The longer I stood there, the more that sensation intensified until I made a move with trembling legs and complied with his silent demands.
“Eyes on me,” he ordered.
Apart from me wanted to obey, but then the other part of me wanted to see him flex his authority and make me look at him. Mortification burned me, and all that dreadful tingling that had been playing across the surface of my bottom suddenly relocated and clenched the V between her legs.
*God, since when did I turn so kinky?*
“Sienna.”
*That tone.* That same decibel with which he rolled out my name. Somewhere, it felt fucking personal and yet terrifying. And I had no idea how to name this unknown feeling.
Gingerly, I moved towards the table where he stood with an implacable expression, and as I neared, he extended an open palm, demanding something.
My brows scrunched in confusion, and he pointed at the cane I was holding so tightly in my fist that I almost forgot. Apparently, fear triumphs pain and in his presence, being afraid was so much underrated.
I fought back the urge to throw the cane at him but scowled in full measure when I handed it over. He took it from my hands, the implacable expression replaced by a sly smirk now as he tapped the object on his other palm as if to imply the dreadful impact it could cause.
But I was not someone to back off. I simply tipped up my chin in challenge.
“Have you ever had the phrase, ‘six of the best before?” he asked almost conversationally, tapping the end on the wooden table now.
“No.”
“Well, then it is a good thing because you will be experiencing it first hand.” His smile broadened by a stretch. “It is a little old school, but six of the best with the cane was routine. It won’t do any long term harm; in fact, it will correct unruly behaviour in the unforeseen future. A necessary measure in your case, if I may add.”
A chill ran down my spine at the thought of him flexing the cane. And for a man of his stature, it could really do more harm than I could anticipate. But he would not hit me hard, right? Shit.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and steeled my voice. “You know, in some countries, criminals are only caned. And even that is prohibited by the United Nations now because that is against human rights.”
Gabriel merely raised a brow as if I was blabbering shit. “And your point being, Miss Emerson?”
“That, what you are doing is illegal.” Apparently, we crossed that line a long time ago.
“As long as it sends my message loud and clear across you.” He paused for a while, looking up from the cane and directly at me, and all that casual look disappeared. “What were you looking for in my office?”
“Will that save me from caning?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I might choose to be lenient. But I will not make any high promises until I have my answers.”
*Jerk*.
Snorting, I found a sheet of paper lying nearby as I scrunched it into a ball and threw it at him. “You are an asshole!” I huffed, half in frustration and anger.
The thing bounced off his chest and rolled away somewhere on the floor. Gabriel remained standing, merely looking up from his chest and meeting my eyes. And all of my irritation died when I noticed the expression on his face. Everything about him seemed dark all of a sudden; that smirking arrogant headmaster was gone and in his place was a tense and frowning man with a scathing look in his eyes.
The warning bell rang too late inside my head as I quickly paddled a few steps back. “I-I am sorry…so sorry,” I uttered in a meek voice, feeling particularly apologetic for the reckless act.
Gabriel tsked and began to fold the sleeves of his black shirt over his arms, revealing the well-sculptured biceps I have already seen before.
“I believe you have already made a choice,” he said, looking up at me and then tapped his finger on the glass-top of the table. “I want you to bend over the table, belly flat and palms on either side of your head.”
When I did not move an inch, he went on to add, “I am not going to tell you again, Sienna. You can obey me now, or you can choose to take this to the next level.”
The sight of him, sleeves folded and flexing a cane, on the other hand, made my stomach dip. The next level would be definitely worse.
“Will it really hurt?” I asked stupidly as my face burned and the pulse quickened.
I fully expected him to flash a triumphant smirk, but Gabriel remained indifferent. He was still unyielding to his demands, though, tapping the desk with the cane this time. “The faster you obey, the quicker it gets over.”
“Is it because I threw the paper? Look, I am really sorry! And—”
He silenced me with a shake of his head. “If you keep pushing your luck, it will only get worse.”
I stared at the cane with a long sigh and gingerly moved to face the table. Gabriel took my arm and steadied and then placed his palm on the small of my back, urging me to bend over on the glass top. And as soon as I positioned myself, I felt him coming to my right.
A long silence descended between us. “Lift your skirt.”
Whatever little breath I had left in my lungs whooshed out at the command. On instinct, I tried to get up, but a hand held me firmly in position.
“You don’t need to get up. Just lift the skirt out of the way.”
Once upon a time, I tried to seduce this man with no fear of repercussion, and yet the mingled dose of fear and excitement made my pussy tingle right now. The little shocks convulsed straight to my clit as I lay frozen there.
“I…I can’t,” I whispered.
“Let me help then,” he offered soothingly.
I felt the burning intensity of his gaze over my back, the warm touch of his palm against my spine as his hand lifted the fabric over my hip.
“Gabriel…please…” My voice cracked with anticipation.
“Shh,” he coaxed, leaning over me to whisper in my ears. “Obey me, little girl.”
Every nervous butterfly in my stomach flapped their wings at his seductive tone.
His fingers traced a line over the crack of my buttocks before hooking on the waistband of my panties and pulling them all the way down. A lip-biting moan quickly replaced the little gasp I emitted while Gabriel inspected every inch of my arousal.
*Fuck*, it was wicked and downright scandalous.
What surprised me more was the wanton way I wanted him to touch me—*there*. There was a complete lack of inhibition between us and nothing along the lines of our professional relationship.
“Breathe,” I heard him instruct as he slowly pulled his fingers away, and from his peripheral vision, I watched him straighten.
The haze of lust was slowly ebbing, now filled with the anticipation of the caning.
For better or worse, I did not have to wait very long. The first swipe of cane knocked the voice out of my throat, while the second one did make me shriek a little. By the third, I was crying as searing pain vibrated across my ass cheeks in impact.
Gabriel paused, letting me catch a breath and trailed the tip of the cane across my folds. He made it evidently clear that this man could do wicked things to me and still make me wet.
“Are you ready for the last three?” He asked.
*Was I? Hell no!* But I found myself nodding because the sooner it gets over, the better for me because escaping the punishment of Father Sullivan was next to impossible.
He flexed his arm and landed a stripe in the lower swell of my buttocks on the sensitive sit spot and then alternated between the thighs and ass cheeks. I knew that Gabriel did not use his entire strength to wield the cane, but whatever little he did made me dance on my toes.
By the time it ended, my body was complete drained of energy. Only endless tears streamed down the cheeks.
The air was filled with the sound of his harsh breathing and my sniffles as I heard the clattering of the cane on the floor. Gabriel pulled up my panties and adjusted the skirt, and then slowly helped me to my feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a surprisingly soft tone.
I wanted to scream no, but there was no sound beyond a shuddery hitch of indrawn breath.
Gabriel understood more than I could ever give him credit for and pulled me in for a long, tight embrace. The moment my forehead touched his chest, his arms bracketing me, I bawled an ugly cry. I just could not bring myself to hate him, but the throbbing ass disagreed with me.
Eventually, the storm petered away, leaving me hiccuping and sniffling. “That really hurt,” I mumbled into his shirt.
“Please don’t ever tempt me, Sienna. I don’t want to be the man I was before,” was all that he said as he held me in his arms.

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**Hey my lovely readers! What do you think of this chapter? Did Gabriel discipline her beacause he needed to or because Sienna needed it?**