Ice looks at you, his eyes soft and tender, and brushes a gentle kiss against your lips. And even though you push up towards his mouth, he ignores your unspoken request for more. “You know why,” he says instead.

“Because I’m a damn good lay.” The words are supposed to be light. Humorous. But the tone sounds completely different, even to your own ears.

Ice’s eyes narrow and then, he sits up. You shiver, abruptly bereft of his touch, and prop yourself up on your elbow to look at him. “What did I say?”

“Is that really all you think you are to me? A good lay?” His voice hitches; only slightly, but you hear it. His eyes are far too bright and shimmer when he looks at you.

Shit. A caustic retort springs to your lips. The Iceman has feelings. He can hurt. You force the words down, knowing you’ve already hurt him with your careless, thoughtless words. And even if you want him to hurt you, you won’t push him into it by deliberately causing him pain. “Ice, I’m….” Your voice trails off. How can you say you’re sorry? It’s not the first time you’ve said something without thinking it through. But it might be the first time you’ve hurt Ice with your thoughtless words.

You know that he’d have taken you over his knee to help you let go of the stress and guilt that always plagues you after a nightmare. Ice is currently sitting up and you breathe in deep, then crawl forward and position yourself over his lap. Vision blurring, you whisper, “God, Ice, I’m so sorry. I know what I deserve. Will you…can you…please just punish me so you can forgive me for being an inconsiderate asshole?” you beg.

Ice’s hand rubs slowly over your back and you relax, only to tense up when his hand settles on your backside. “I’m sorry.” You force yourself to relax, slumping in place.

The first smack takes you by surprise with how much it stings and you squeeze the bedsheets, so you don’t risk throwing your hands back to protect your backside. The subsequent smacks are just as hard and you twist your hands in the sheets, breathing in deep.

It doesn’t take long for your entire backside to start stinging. Ice is silent, which just leaves you stuck in your own head, thinking about how thoughtless you are. How you could so easily lose what you have with him fills your head and it’s that, more than anything else, that drives the tears out of your eyes.

Ice’s hand delivers several harder smacks to your sit spots and the tops of your thighs and you choke out on a sob. “Ice, I’m sorry!” you burst out, voice coming out high-pitched and almost raw with emotion. “Don’t give up on me.” You fight to get the final words out through your tears and then slump over his lap, sobbing softly.

It takes you a few moments to realise that the spanking has stopped and Ice is rubbing your back. Sniffling quietly, you push yourself up off his lap and find yourself wrapped in a warm, tight embrace, head resting on his shoulder.

Being cuddled so tightly goes a long way towards calming you down and you finally quiet down to soft sniffles, but still stay snuggled in Ice’s arms.

After a few moments, he speaks, hand rubbing down your back. “Would you like to stay here for a bit longer? Or get dressed and get in some flight practice?”