CHAPTER 6
Angel had placed a long list of tasks on his agenda for the day. The event really had been short notice, and he had to make sure he kept to the schedule. He’d carefully calculated how much time he’d need for everything and had been confident that he could get it all done on time.
Timing was essential when you were working with chocolate. Candy was a science, and even a few seconds or a few degrees off could cause chemical changes. He was adept at self-discipline and planning because he had to be.
And because he was a professional with long years of experience in his craft, he always made sure to cushion his preparations with extra time. He knew something always went wrong. There was always a last-minute problem to fix. Chocolate that didn’t temper correctly, an accident, or some other issue that hindered the plan.
But he never could have predicted that a gang of Littles would get into a locked room and devour part of his creation. It was the kind of thing that couldn’t be planned for. When he’d first seen the disaster, he’d been furious, and also, oddly, hurt.
He understood about Littles and their shenanigans. Bratty behavior and pranks were part of the whole experience of being a Little, but he’d really thought that they understood his work was an artform. The idea that they had considered it just a convenient sugar snack… well, that was painful.
In that first moment of shock, he would happily have given all three of them a spanking that would have them standing up for the rest of the day, and he had seriously considered banning them from ever eating his chocolate again. That latter, he suspected, would have been the worst punishment imaginable for Littles with a sweet tooth.
It wasn’t the first time one of his creations had been broken. A jealous woman on the kitchen staff had destroyed his chocolate haunted house a few Halloweens back. She’d tried to frame an innocent Little, and his work had just been collateral damage, which made it no less painful.
It was still a sore spot. That, on top of all the stress he was under, had led to the surge of emotion.
But an accident he could understand. Pippi had clearly been telling the truth, and the regret on her face was so obvious that a lot of his anger had dribbled away. He made things that were fragile and temporary. That made them no less art, but it did mean that they were easily broken and… eaten.
In all fairness he couldn’t even be angry that the other girls had decided to eat the broken pieces. Annoyed yes, but not angry. Once his centerpieces had been seen and admired, eating them was a natural progression. He was careful to make sure everything was edible for that reason. The Littles (and not only them) always waited eagerly for the chance to grab a chunk later.
So before they’d even gotten to the punishment, he’d lost the anger and hurt. It had been replaced by simple frustration over how easily it all could have been avoided. He blamed himself for that. If he’d just stopped to make sure the door had closed properly… but maneuvering the cart had been awkward and he’d been in a hurry.
So he did have to take some of the fault.
However, the punishment they got was fairly earned. They’d known the room was out of bounds. They knew the door was usually kept locked. They’d certainly understood that the failure of the door to lock behind him didn’t mean the rules suddenly changed either. But he’d taken the mitigating circumstances into account when he’d delivered the spanking.
Mindy was fairly new to the Ranch, and he’d had few interactions with her before this. But that didn’t stop him from being thorough. She knew the Ranch rules the same as all the other Littles.
He’d given her a round dozen swats on the back of her uniform skirt, before flipping it up out of the way. For punishment he tended to keep his warm-ups short, if he gave one at all, so another dozen on her panties were enough, before he got down to the real spanking.
Spankings were always best on the bare bottom, so he could see exactly what he was doing to her skin. The last thing he wanted to do was cause any damage, especially when using an implement. Besides, rubber had a much fiercer sting when it was used directly on the bare skin.
So the panties came down. He left them bunched up just below her quivering bottom cheeks. He took a second to admire the rounded-rectangle red marks the spatula had already left… and then he began to swing his arm again. Soon the individual marks blended together, leaving no skin untouched.
Mindy was very expressive throughout the entire thing. First, she made excuses. Then she apologized, and then after that it was mostly a lot of “oh no!” and “owie!” mixed in with inarticulate cries of pain. He ignored most of that, focusing instead on the way her body reacted to each stinging swat.
He let Derek set the pace of the spanking. After all, the Ranch owner spanked a lot more Littles than he did, but he kept a close watch on Mindy’s reactions, letting the spatula fall lighter when needed, and even pausing now and then to give her a chance to catch her breath. As a result all three punishments reached a conclusion at pretty much the same time.
It wasn’t until they were done that he remembered Heaven Leigh was watching. His first thought was concern that she might be upset. Some people didn’t like to share, and while Heaven knew it was part of his job, she’d never seen him doling out a spanking to someone else before. Not a real over-the-knee punishment anyway.
In all his time at Rawhide he’d rarely needed to give a serious punishment. Of course, he’d delivered a swat here and there, as needed. But he could count on one hand the number of times he’d had another Little across his lap. It felt more personal. More intimate.
But his Little girl didn’t seem to be upset about it. A bit flustered perhaps. Her expression was… interesting, but she looked fine. She went off to get the replacement chocolate going, which was a big help since he had a sobbing Little to take care of.
The comfort was just as important as the punishment was, and he had no intention of skimping on that. Though it did remind him that after-care could be as individualized as a spanking needed to be, and he wasn’t sure what would work best with Mindy.
Doctor Denten had already helped Pippi up and was cuddling her in her lap, as she whispered reassurance. He couldn’t hear what was said, but it seemed to be working. Pippi’s sobs had trailed off into sniffles.
Becky was on her feet, rubbing her bottom with both hands, as Master Derek wrapped her in his arms for a long hug. He spoke to her in a low voice, and she nodded her head every so often as she listened.
That left Mindy, and Angel didn’t know her well enough to know what she needed, so he decided to just ask. He tugged her panties back up into place and smoothed her skirt down, as he said, “Mindy?”
“Y-yes, S-sir?”
“The punishment is over. You’re a good girl for taking it so well. What would you like to happen next?”
“S-sir?” The confusion was clear in her tone.
“How would you like me to comfort you, chiquita ? Would you like to sit in my lap? Or maybe…” He left the question open-ended, allowing her to decide what would be best.
“I-oh!” Understanding dawned on her and she whispered, “Can I sit in your lap please?” so softly he barely heard her.
“Of course you can.” He helped her to turn over and sit up, one arm wrapping around her waist in a light hug. “How’s that?”
She squirmed a little, trying to find a comfortable spot for her sore bottom, but eventually relaxed and leaned back against his chest with a soft sigh. “Better thank you, Sir. I… I really am sorry I ate some of your castle. I didn’t realize you could fix it. I thought you’d have to throw it away so…” She trailed off, sneaking a look up at him.
He nodded. “I understand, little one. Next time you’ll know better, right?”
She nodded firmly and then sniffled and wiped at a stray tear as it rolled down her cheek. “Next time I won’t eat your work.”
He cleared his throat in a pointed way. “Or go into rooms you’re not supposed to be in?”
“Uh, that too.”
Angel gave her a gentle smile and patted her leg. “Good. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is to learn from them.” He held her like that until the tears were gone and her breathing had settled.
“Do you think you’re ready to go back to class now?”
She hesitated, as if going back to class was the last thing she wanted to do—and it probably was. But finally she drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Yes, Sir. I think so.” She slid out of his lap, getting to her feet, and he stood too.
“Would you like a hug for the road?” He held out his arms, letting her choose if she wanted to step into them or not.
She did, but just quickly, before she pulled back. “It really was beautiful… the little people and animals. I’m sorry we ruined it.” She ducked her head.
“It will be beautiful again. Maybe not all I had envisioned… but we’ll fix things up. You’ll hardly notice it was broken,” he assured her. At least that was what he hoped. It was going to depend on how quickly he was able to work.
“Really?” She looked up, eyes widening as her mouth turned up just slightly.
“Well, you’ll get to see it tonight, so I guess you can judge whether it’s still beautiful. But I do need to get back to work. Otherwise I’ll run out of time to get it all fixed,” he explained, as he turned her around and gave her a gentle push toward the door. “Back to class, young lady.”
Derek, standing by the door with Becky, waved her over. “Come along, Mindy. I’ll check you both back in.” He looked over at Catherine. “Shall I take Pippi too?”
Catherine looked up and shook her head. “I have some free time in my schedule, and I believe Miss Pippi is still suffering a little residual guilt about being the one to cause the damage. So, I’m going to take her home to see if we can’t clear that up.”
She nudged her Little girl, and Pippi slid out of her lap, eyes down. She snuck a quick look at Angel before they dropped again. “I’m sorry, Sir. I really am. I’m just so clumsy sometimes, and I?—”
“Uh-uh, young lady,” Catherine said, interrupting her. She stood up and wrapped an arm around Pippi’s shoulders. “None of that. Come on, let’s head home.” The doctor flashed Angel a slight smile, and then guided Pippi out of the room after the others.
Alone, he turned to the castle and let out a long sigh. So much work ruined, and so little time to fix it. He took a deep breath and moved in to see what could be salvaged. Removing all the broken and flattened pieces was the first step and that took time. As he cleared away the debris, he sorted things into three piles: the things that hadn’t been hurt, those that were beyond repair, and some that he might be able to fix.
The few small chocolate pieces that had made it through unscathed, would look awkward scattered in the empty space, and he wasn’t sure he was going to have time to fix many of the slightly broken pieces. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if it wouldn’t just be best to let the castle stand alone, without all the little people and extras.
He clicked his tongue and shook his head. It was going to drive him nuts to leave it so plain, but there might not be any other choice. With the cart loaded up with all the loose and broken pieces of chocolate, he started for the kitchen. He stopped to make sure the door was closed and locked behind him this time. He’d learned his lesson about that.
“Hey, Daddy!” Heaven Leigh greeted him with a bright smile. She was sitting on a stool with a pan of flat chocolate pieces in front of her. “The chocolate wall is chilling. I did the stone impressions while it was half-hard, like you did before. I think it will look the same as the others once we airbrush it.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek gratefully. “I’m so lucky to have you. That’s going to save a lot of time.”
She laughed. “It’s why I’m here right?”
“One reason anyway. What are you working on now?” He leaned over her shoulder to take a look at the neat rows of chocolate squares and rectangles.
“Well, I’m… not very good at sculpting chocolate yet. And there’s no way I’m up to making people and animals, so I can’t really help with that.”
“Right. I might just need to leave the courtyard empty, Heaven.” He waved a hand toward the cart full of misshapen chocolate pieces. “There’s not really enough left to fill the space, and time is…”
“I thought about that too, and I had an idea.” She hesitated, and then rushed in to explain. “I know this isn’t what you’d envisioned but, I thought maybe we could fill the space with a little market? The stalls would be all square pieces cut and joined, so that’s easy. I have enough now to start making them. I was just waiting for you to come back.”
He frowned. “I don’t know…” But then he took a second to really consider it. A little courtyard market wouldn’t be out of place. The stalls, as she’d said, would be simple to make, and airbrushed with bright colors they would look nice.
“Stalls would be interesting, but we can’t have them empty. How are we going to fill them?”
“I thought we could use the broken pieces to give the vague idea of goods. If we roll up some balls and paint them green and red, people will automatically see fruit,” she suggested.
That was true. When it came to small accent pieces a lot of it was just about presenting an illusion. Angel struggled with the changes from what he’d planned. It was especially hard that he couldn’t really hold the picture of what she was describing in his mind, but he had to agree it sounded better than leaving the blank space in the courtyard.
He’d planned the whole setting to frame that scene and without it… his castle was going to look lackluster. He was sure no one would blame him, especially after what had happened, but he wanted his last in-house project to be amazing.
“That could work. Can you handle all of that, while I try to fix some of the people? The royal family survived on top of the tower, so they’re fine. One knight and horse made it too. I can have him overseeing the market.”
“Yes, Daddy. Piecing the chocolate together is easy enough, I should be able to whip up five or six stalls and then get them painted.” It went without saying that her airbrush skills were on par, if not better, than his. It was something she had used with her realistic cake business a lot.
“ Mi corazón , you may have saved the day.” She looked up at him, and he planted a kiss on her smiling lips before she could say anything. They usually tried to keep public displays of affection to a minimum while working—they were both professionals after all, but in this case… they both needed that kiss, and it went on somewhat longer than he’d planned.
He broke it off with reluctance and straightened. “I feel good about this. I’m going to use the molds to make more villagers. That will be faster.”
Her eyebrows went up, but she didn’t comment.
Molds were a normal part of a chocolatier’s toolbox. They were necessary for creating anything major. But those were generic casts needed to build the necessary underlying shapes. He used them on a larger scale, but he preferred to do the detailed work by sculpting.
The small features were what caught the eye and made his creations special. They weren’t “dessert” they were art. Using molds for those fine details felt like a cheat code. It was fine for popping little animals on top of cupcakes, but not for detailed expressions of his creativity.
Even though the small silicone molds were custom-made, by him, it felt like they took some of the artistic flair away from creation. It turned his work into an assembly line. And he was well aware that he was privileged to have the freedom to be a snob about shortcuts, because he had only one client and usually plenty of time to work.
Going forward, with their own shop to keep stocked, along with supplying Rawhide with everything they needed chocolate-wise, he was going to have to be less picky about how he got the work done. But he still intended to do things by hand when it came to the expressive pieces.
And, all of that aside, even the small molds were still very basic. He had people shapes, but not peasant villagers. Using the molds would only give him a little more time, because he was still going to have to customize them. But every second counted right then, and he’d take what he could get.
With Heaven being the absolute best help she could be, he was able to focus on turning plain old chocolate figures into something that resembled people from the Middle Ages. He was able to finish a handful, plus fixing two of the handmade ones from the accident, before he noticed the time.
“ Chiquita ? Is the market ready? It’s about time to go set up.”
She looked up from her work and grinned. “Five minutes and I’ll be done painting. And I used up a lot of the broken pieces, so not much went to waste. People aren’t going to be able to get too close to the market, not with the chocolate moat and the buffet in the way, so it doesn’t need to be perfect.”
She was right about that, although his pride still demanded certain standards. “I’m going to go and fix the castle. Hurry up on those pieces, please. We still have to set up the fountain and the food before the event starts.”
She didn’t need the reminder, but he was nervous. He had images of another disaster on his mind, and once he had the new wall in place, he took the time to make sure everything was stable. He tested every joint, just to be sure there wouldn’t be any more accidents. A simple table bump shouldn’t have caused such destruction, but most likely the chocolate seams hadn’t completely cooled and hardened yet, when the girls had come in.
Only when he was sure it wouldn’t happen again, did he relax and move on.
They had a little over an hour left, and they worked efficiently to make sure everything was in order before the door opened. Heaven had outdone herself on the buffet side. Not only were there sweet treats, but she’d also collaborated with the kitchen staff to make platters of fruits and vegetables that looked like famous puppets.
Round bowls of white dipping sauces (ranch for the veggies and something with cream cheese for the fruits) were placed as the eyes. A blue monster was made from different berries. A red character was made with cherry tomatoes and a pile of baby carrots for the nose. The familiar grouchy green guy came together with broccoli florets. It was one time the Littles might not complain when they had to eat some vegetables.
Well, they would probably still complain… but they wouldn’t really mean it.
Behind the buffet, a fountain pumped a milk chocolate moat that swirled all the way around the castle. Long skewers were provided so that people could dip their selections into the warm melty goodness.
And safely out of reach, behind the moat, was their castle. Not only his, because Heaven had put just as much work into it. He knew, of course, that up close it wasn’t quite as impressive, but from where the guests would be… it looked amazing. Perfect even if he did say so himself.
“What do you think, Daddy?”
“I think no one will ever know there was an accident,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Your market idea was perfect.”
“Aww, thank you, Daddy. I really enjoyed painting the stalls to look like fabric. I don’t think I got it quite right, but considering the time…” She shook her head.
“Maybe, but no one will be able to tell from here. Not unless they have amazing eyesight,” he said, laughing.
“Well… I have to say, Angel. You’ve really outdone yourself. I can’t believe you managed to salvage so much,” Derek said from behind them.
They turned to greet the Ranch owner, just as his wife, Sadie, shrieked, “It’s so beautiful!” and clasped her hands together under her chin. “I can’t believe how great it looks. Daddy told me what happened and… I can’t even tell!”
Angel smiled widely at her enthusiasm. “Thank you, Sadie. I agree it did come out better than I expected, but a lot of that is thanks to Heaven. Without her help…” He trailed off and shook his head.
“I only did a little,” Heaven protested.
Angel snorted. “No fibbing, chiquita . You did the whole market and the buffet too.”
Before she could say anything, Sadie noticed the fruit and vegetable platters and gasped. “They look just like television characters! That’s so amazing, Heaven!”
“Well, Heaven Leigh, sounds like you helped save the day then. I appreciate that,” Derek said, tipping an imaginary hat in her direction.
Heaven flushed and buried her face against Angel’s side, embarrassed. She struggled with accepting praise sometimes. Probably because she’d gotten so little of it as a child. He gave her a reassuring squeeze.
He kept her close to continue to offer reassurance throughout the night, because there was a steady stream of compliments. And they weren’t just for the chocolate castle and the market, but on the fun buffet she’d put together. Every time she tried to shift the praise to him, he’d nudge her until she learned to just say thank you.
There were three Little girls who were especially grateful that things had turned out so well. A spanking was one thing but having to stand there in a room full of people, knowing they’d ruined the centerpiece, would have been awful. They were all relieved to see that it had all turned out alright, though Angel couldn’t help but notice how careful Pippi was when she approached the buffet.
He caught her eye, as she was loading up her plate. “So, what do you think? Can you tell it was broken?”
She rolled her bottom lip under, chewing it as she carefully inspected the castle and the courtyard with its colorful market stalls and people. Finally she shook her head. “It looks even better now,” she admitted.
A lot of the complicated, detailed pieces were gone, true, but the market had filled up the space so that no one would know anything was missing. “I think so too. Luckily, I had Heaven to help.” He looked past Pippi, to where Heaven was smiling and chatting with Sadie, and happiness flooded his chest with warmth.
It was moments like this that he realized just how amazing it was to have a partner he could count on to help when things got rough. He enjoyed being a Daddy, being in charge, and he was fine with shouldering a lot of the responsibilities that came with being a Dominant, but Heaven was a perfect mix of Little, sub, and partner.
He still couldn’t believe he’d managed to find someone who checked every box for him. He might have used up all his luck for the rest of his life, but it was worth it.