Liars and Tigers (19 page)

Misha
looked at him through red-rimmed eyes. "I can't believe you are saying
that while I'm sitting on porcupine quills."

"There
are different types of pain, sweetheart," he dabbed her eyes with a clean
tissue. "I spanked you because this path you take will eventually hurt
both of us. I love you, but these outbursts and fits of rebellion need to stop.
As much as you hate it, we all have to live by rules of some sort. Rules are
designed for safety, and to keep peace. My rules are to help both of us be
happy. Do you understand?"

Misha
nodded, looking down. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Yeah,
well I'm sorry I had to follow through with this. You need to learn to trust me
to keep my word to you, even if it is a promise to blister your ass when you
are out of line."

He
allowed her to cry against him until she began to compose herself. "Go to
the bathroom and rinse off your face, and I'll stay here and watch Rodin. When
you get back, I'll grab us something to drink and then we will be on our
way."

"He's
going to need to go for a walk," Misha muttered.

"I'll
take him. There aren't a lot of people around to stare, and we are inside
California state limits, so the permit is good in case a cop sees us. I love
you." Alex kissed her forehead.

"Can
I pull up my pants now?" Misha pouted.

Alex
nodded, and watched as she gingerly dragged the material over her swollen
moons. He opened the truck's door and stepped out, and then helped Misha to the
pavement. Before she left to go the restrooms, he hugged her.

"You
can hug me back, you know," he said softly, as she stiffened in his arms.
Slowly she lifted her hands to wrap around his waist, and returned the embrace.

"I
love you, too. I'll try to watch myself."

"We
will just deal with it every time it comes up. Eventually your mouth and your
backside will start to communicate."

"You're
such an optimist."

"I
certainly am. One more thing," he held her at arm's length and sternly
looked down at her. "You are grounded for the next two weeks, Misha. When
you come home from work, you are to go straight to your room."

"But
Rodin…"

"I
will take care of him. Don't argue with me. I am not going to budge this time,
got it?"

"Yeah."
Misha looked down at the pavement. "Two weeks?"

"Two
weeks. I will be looking in after you, so don't try to sneak out. If I catch
you, I will get wood to use on your bottom. My hand is nothing compared to that."

"I'll
be back in a bit," Misha said quietly, limping uncomfortably in the
direction of the bathrooms.

"I'll
be waiting."

Alex
placed Rodin's collar around his neck and carried the cub around the side of
the building to avoid attracting attention. Several children exiting the café
pointed at them and ran in his direction.

"Look!
Mommy! Look!"

"Easy,
boy," Alex said, as the cub hissed and raised his hackles. "Quiet
down, you guys. You're scaring him," he said to the youngsters.

"Is
that a baby tiger?" a little boy asked, squatting on the ground. "Can
I pet him?"

"He's
a baby and doesn't know you, so—"

"Sure
you can pet him," Misha interrupted, joining them. "Give me a minute
to calm him down. Be real quiet, okay?"

"Mish,
this isn't a good idea. If he hurts them…" Alex whispered in her ear.

"I
know what I'm doing, Alex."

"You
are taking a chance with someone else's safety this time. No."

"I
thought you wanted to get something to drink."

"Keep
Rodin away from those children. Disobey me and you will feel the hairbrush when
we get home," Alex warned her.

"You
wouldn't! Not after this!"

"Watch
me."

Alex
rolled his eyes when he returned with the drinks and saw Misha propped on a
bench with Rodin on her lap, surrounded by a small group of people. She was
stroking the cub, keeping him calm, as she answered questions about her job and
the little animal. She introduced Alex as her boss and the one responsible for
saving the lives of wild animals, and shared how they could each do their part
in making the world a better place for both humans and animals to live side by
side. She handed out her business cards, scooped the anxious Rodin in her arms,
and took him to her truck.

"Why
are you giving me that look? I didn't let anyone touch him and kept him tight
on his leash next to me."

"Drawing
attention to yourself and the cat is not wise. I have a permit for caretaking,
not public handling. Fish and game would slam me good if we were busted."

"I
can't do anything right, can I?" Misha snapped. "You always have
something to criticize me for, even if I do something good. I am
so
over it."

"Calm
down, baby. I'm sorry. I got you this," Alex said softly, handing her a
bottle of root beer. He poured some water in his hand for Rodin to drink.
"I have some control issues that I need to evaluate."

Misha
stared at him, her mouth hanging open. "Say what?"

"You
used a situation to better our cause. I shouldn't have scolded you."

His
admission threw her off guard. "I didn't mean to make you worry. Those
kids already saw him and were calling people over."

"This
wasn't anyone's fault. I want you to take my truck, and I'll take Rodin in
yours."

"Are
you mad at me?" Misha asked suspiciously.

"No,
honey. Not at all. Let's go home. Misha?"

"What?"

"I
love you. Drive carefully. I'm right behind you. Oh, and Misha?"

"Yeah?"
she turned before climbing into the truck.

"Next
time I have to spank you in a public place, you will drive home sitting on your
bare bottom."

"You're
mean."

"Yes,"
Alex smiled. "I know."

The remainder of the drive
home was uneventful. Jack was sitting on the couch in front of the big screen
TV and watching a game when they walked in. Rodin ran straight to him and
jumped onto the old man's lap.

"I can't believe he
actually is greeting me," Jack laughed, as the cub wrapped his paws around
his head and licked the top of his thinning hairline.

"Me neither,"
Misha grumbled, following Alex's finger and stomping in the direction of her
room. She slammed the door behind her.

"What's with the
kid?" Jack asked.

"We had an incident.
Unbelievable," Alex said, as Kena raced to greet the cub and then ran
toward Misha's room. "My own dog is ignoring me. Did the breeder take the
puppies?"

"Yep, he was thrilled
with them. Commented that they were as cuddly as a kitten, too." Jack
chuckled. "What happened?"

Alex explained the
situation, and that he had grounded Misha for two weeks. He frowned at Jack's
hysterical laughter.

"You
grounded
her? That is the funniest thing
I have ever heard of."

"Why? She behaved like
a spoiled child and she is going to be disciplined like one."

"Oh, I am not laughing
at the punishment," Jack said. "I'm laughing at the presumption that
she will respect it. I tried grounding her once. She was out of her room within
ten minutes, and I didn't even know it."

"Where did she
go?"

"I found her at the
bar sipping a cheap beer. She smiled ever so sweetly, and offered to buy me a
round."

"No remorse for
disobeying you?" Alex asked.

"Not a bit. If
anything, she was doing that tail twitch the cats do when they are annoyed.
Figuratively speaking."

"Misha won't run off.
Not after the promise of a hair-brushing."

"I'll bet you ten
bucks that she won't go twenty-four hours without taking off."

"I'll take that bet
and raise you one hundred," Alex said confidently.

"Then you owe me some
money. She just ran across the lawn."

Alex growled as he caught
sight of Misha running into the woods. "That girl…"

"Give her some time to
cool down. She'll come back. She has a baby to come home to."

***

Alex was sitting patiently
in Misha's bedroom when she climbed back in through the window two hours later.
She froze, her leg halfway over the window sill.

"Oh, shit," she
said, her face going pale.

"That would sum it up.
Go to my room."

"I'm dead meat, aren't
I?"

"More like cat chow.
Hurry now, we have a date with the hairbrush."

"Alex, please. You
know I can't stand being caged up."

"Move your rump, young
lady." Alex smacked her backside as she scurried in front of him. "I
can't believe your backside isn't tender enough to remind you of what happened
this afternoon. Must be due to all the horseback riding you've done in the
past."

"I am tender!"
Misha argued, stomping up the long staircase. "Just because I'm not
complaining doesn't mean it doesn't hurt."

Alex shook his head and
took her wrist in his hand, leading her to the chaise longue in the far corner
of the room. She hesitated at the sight of a broad-backed, wooden hairbrush
lying on the antique telephone table.

"Alex…"

"I warned you that if
you didn't mind me, things were going to heat up. Starting on your bottom. Get
over here and put yourself across my lap."

"No!"

"Do it now or I'll
take off my belt. Which is it?"

He slid her pants to the
floor, followed by her panties, picked up the hairbrush and brought it down
full force on her right butt cheek.

Misha yelped. "Aren't
you even going to give me a warm up first?"

Alex's only reply was to
give her a few fast whacks on the back of her thigh with his hand, just below
the swell of her bottom, demonstrating that he was not pleased with either her
response or her attitude. "Ow! I hate when you hit me there! No! Not with
that damn hairbrush! Owie!" She protested when he returned to using the
brush in lieu of his palm.

"I've learned one
thing about you, my darling," Alex said calmly, "If I spank a nice,
fresh spot every few minutes, your bottom never gets a chance to go numb. So
this is a course I intend to take this evening."

"No!" Misha
whined, kicking her legs to escape.

Alex ignored her, moving
the brush to the backs of her thighs, bringing her a whole new level of pain.
"Since the thighs are more sensitive than your bottom, it really doesn't
take much to get my point across, does it?"

Misha closed her eyes tight
and clenched her teeth, as her bottom turned from a light pink to a dark,
steaming red.

"I'm going to keep
this up until you decide to give in and stop your fighting. I am tired of this
rebellion, Misha," he stated. "You are not a child. It's time to take
some responsibility for yourself and your actions."

"I'm sorry. I won't do
it anymore," Misha sobbed. "I'll listen to you."

"You promised that
just this morning when I took you home from Nevada. Why do you keep lying to
me? Do you think I will keep letting you get away with it?"

"I didn't lie!"

"When you make a
promise that you don't intend to keep, that is lying. I'm tired of it. Jack is
tired of it. You've proven that my hand is not effective enough to discourage
you from your old habits. Go ahead and stand up," he ordered, lifting a
wide wooden paddle and pointing to the bed. "Get on your hands and
knees."

Once she had done as he had
asked, he asked, "Why do you feel the need to lie to me, Misha?"

When she stubbornly refused
to answer, he lifted the paddle. With a high, forceful swing, he struck her
square on the bottom.

"Why do you lie to
me?" he asked again, landing another hard stinging blow to her backside.
"I'm not going to ask again."

"I don't know,"
Misha wept as he increased the force of the paddle, applying quick shots to her
crimson sit spots. "Aleeex!"

"I will keep going
until I get an honest answer. Why do you keeping lying to me?" he
demanded, splatting the paddle over and over across her cheeks.

Misha tried to crawl
forward to escape the blows and ended up lying flat on her tummy on his bed.
"
Stop!
I don't know! I just
do!"

"You had best come up
with an explanation before this little backside turns purple," he said
firmly, watching as her skin began to blanch with each hard stroke.

"I wanted to see if
you would still want me around if I was so terrible," she screamed out,
wriggling as she tried to avoid the wood landing in the same spot.