Olivia watched as Grace obediently disappeared into the bedroom and then she pressed her cell phone to her ear.

"Benson."

"Hey, Captain, Carisi got a warrant for Melissa's personal belongings and we found her cell phone, and we got lucky and found Maureen's cell phone still intact. As I suspected, the text that freaked Maureen out came from Melissa. Also, Morales was able to get into Melissa's phone and the last call that was received was from Chad Roper at exactly the time Melissa had taken Maureen to the brothel." Elliot's voice came over the line.

"Which means we can be almost one hundred percent certain that Chad Roper is the one who has been working with Melissa, which is how she was able to have so much personal information on all of us, and if that's the case then I'm pretty much convinced that he's the one who forged Nabeel's signature too. Go pick him up again, and let's see if we can make something stick this time. Oh, and go down to the morgue and find out if the ME has identified the man Rollins shot." Olivia instructed.

"Copy that, Captain." Elliot agreed.

Olivia placed her cell phone on the coffee table and walked down the hall to the bedroom where her sweet little submissive was waiting for her, lying naked on the bed on her belly exactly as she had been told.

"All right, let's see what kind of reward I can come up with for my good girl." Olivia stated as she reached into the bedside table to retrieve a blindfold, a bottle of lube, several silk scarves, and a small velvet drawstring bag. Knowing that gags were a hard limit for Grace, Olivia left the gag in the drawer. "What's your safeword, my baby?"

"Red, Ma'am." Grace replied.

"Such a good girl. You can use that word at any point for any reason and I will stop immediately, I promise." Olivia explained.

Watching carefully for any sign of fear, Olivia took one of the scarves, gently picked up Grace's fully healed right wrist, and carefully tied it to the bed with expert skill. She then repeated the process with Grace's fully healed left wrist. Grace silently watched Olivia tie her up, but she didn't fuss. Olivia then walked down and tied Grace's ankles to the bed in a similar fashion.

"Poor baby, all tied up with nowhere to go." Olivia teased lovingly, giving Grace's feet a gentle tickle and making the young submissive giggle. Olivia tickled her feet again, listening to her giggle.

Olivia reached into the velvet bag and showed Grace one of its contents. Grace intently examined the butt plug. She had never experienced such a thing before and wondered how it was going to feel.

"In just a minute I am going to put the blindfold on you, and then I am going to insert this into your bottom and you are going to hold it inside of you for a few minutes, not too long since this is your first time. This is a small plug, if you decide you like it, then next time we'll try giving you a bigger one, and each time it'll be a little bit easier to take a bigger one until you can take this one." Olivia showed her the largest one, "Do you have any questions?"

"Can it get stuck inside?" Grace asked with concern.

"No, my baby. The plugs I buy have this flat part right here to keep them from getting stuck inside. You'll probably feel a little bit full, but it shouldn't be uncomfortable. If it is uncomfortable or if you decide you don't like it, just use your safeword and I'll take it out right away." Olivia explained kindly.

Grace descended into darkness as the blindfold was placed over her eyes, and then she heard some rustling.

"I want you to breathe nice and steady for me now, my baby. Deep, even breaths, in and out." Olivia instructed, and Grace breathed steadily as she was taught.

Grace squeaked in surprise when she felt Olivia gently applying lube to her bottom, and she could tell that Olivia was wearing gloves. Olivia then coated the butt plug with lube and very carefully and slowly began to insert it into Grace's body. Grace squeaked again when the cold metal plug reached its widest part.

"Just keep breathing, my baby. You're doing so well." Olivia soothed. She paused for a moment to allow Grace's body to adjust to the sensations it was experiencing, and then she continued to insert the plug.

"Oh." Grace moaned softly when the plug settled into its proper place inside of her.

"Such a good girl." Olivia praised as she took off her gloves and tossed them into the trash.

Grace began to softly giggle, gasp, and coo as the tips of Olivia's fingernails began to lightly and slowly tickle up and down her sides, from her waist to her armpits and back again. Everytime she squirmed or jerked, the plug inside of her stimulated her arousal. Olivia listened carefully for the one word Grace could say to bring the session to an end, but she smiled upon seeing that Grace seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Do you like that, my baby? Do you like it when I tickle you nice and lightly right here? And right here? And here?" Olivia whispered teasingly in Grace's ear.

"Oh! Please… please, Ma'am… please…" Grace begged, feeling her arousal growing.

"Not yet, my baby. You have to wait for my permission." Olivia denied her darling's request.

Even as she continued to giggle as she was tickled, Grace's eyes filled with tears in her effort to be a good girl and not orgasm without permission. She attempted to remain still so that the plug wouldn't stimulate her when she moved, but she found that remaining perfectly still was impossible as Olivia's pesky fingers danced on her sensitive skin. When Olivia finally gave her permission, Grace screamed and pulled against her restraints as she exploded with an orgasm and collapsed on the bed in post-orgasmic bliss, panting in exhaustion. Grace felt Olivia very gently removing the plug from her body, untying her ankles from the bed, and then Olivia walked up and gently removed the blindfold from Grace's eyes. Grace blinked in the brightness as her vision was restored, and was greeted by the loving face of her Mistress smiling proudly. Olivia took Grace's face gently in her hands and stroked her cheek.

"Such a good girl. You did so well, my baby." Olivia praised, planting a kiss on Grace's forehead and then untying Grace's wrists from the bed.

Grace smiled, unable to speak properly at the moment. With control of her limbs restored to her, she curled up on her side. Olivia climbed up on the bed and pulled Grace up to cuddle in her arms with her back against Olivia's chest. Olivia guided Grace to drink a bottle of water and eat some chocolate-covered almonds to replenish her strength. Grace took Olivia's hand and placed it on her belly, and Olivia indulgently began to rub Grace's belly soothingly.

"Ma'am, I want to cry." Grace whimpered when she felt like she could speak properly, suddenly feeling strangely emotional.

"That's okay, my baby, you can cry. Sometimes that happens when your hormones crash, it's called subdrop. If you need to cry, I'm right here to hold you." Olivia spoke lovingly.

Grace slowly shifted her position in Olivia's arms so that she could cling to Olivia and lay her head on Olivia's shoulder while she cried. Olivia cuddled Grace close to her heart and gently stroked her long brown hair, rocking slowly and kissing Grace's temple while she cried. Luckily, Grace was easily soothed and only cried for a short while until her big blue eyes were dry again.

About two weeks later, Grace found her Mistress lounging on the couch with a stack of files. She assumed her proper place at Olivia's feet and waited to be acknowledged. She didn't have to wait long until Olivia looked up from what she was reading, set her files aside, and welcomed Grace to cuddle on her lap. Grace happily snuggled into Olivia's arms and laid her head on Olivia's shoulder while Olivia's gentle hand rubbed her panty-clad bottom to soothe her.

"Ma'am, can I… can I have a spanking, please?" Grace blushed lightly, speaking quietly after several minutes of silent cuddling.

"Why do you need a spanking, my baby?" Olivia asked kindly, still cuddling Grace close to her heart.

"I'm just scared and stressed out. Melissa's trial is coming up soon and I don't want to leave you." Grace whimpered.

"Do you remember what I've told you before, my baby? What have I told you about Melissa's murder trial?"

"That it isn't a placement trial." Grace replied.

"Good girl. Melissa's murder trial has nothing to do with your placement in my home. She has no legal right to you, and if for whatever reason she happens to skate by without consequences for her actions, you don't have to go back to her. This is not a placement trial, and therefore, the court has no interest in making you go somewhere you don't want to go. In fact, whether Melissa skates by without consequences or not, after the trial I plan to fill out the proper paperwork to make my temporary ownership of you permanent, so you never have to worry about the possibility of being taken away from me." Olivia explained, "Can you repeat what I just said in your own words?"

"Melissa's murder trial isn't a placement trial and the court isn't going to make me go back to her, and you are going to file for permanent ownership of me." Grace replied.

"That's my good girl. Now, let's go to the bedroom. Maybe if we spank it in, that will help you remember that you will always have a home here and you have nothing to fear." Olivia said kindly.

Olivia led Grace to the bedroom with a gentle hand on her back. Grace had never flat-out asked for a spanking before, but if she needed to cry out her stress and fear, then Olivia was willing to help her do that. Olivia sat down on the bed, pulled Grace's panties down to her ankles, and guided her to step out of them completely. Grace willingly settled comfortably over Olivia's lap and laid her head down on the bed, relaxing her bottom muscles when she felt Olivia's gentle hand lovingly stroking and caressing her tender bottom.

"Who does this pretty bottom belong to, little one?" Olivia inquired.

"It's yours to do with as you please, Ma'am." Grace replied.

"Such a good girl." Olivia raised up her strong right hand and brought it down sharply, "You just relax now, my baby, and remember what I said. I want you to associate the pain with what I said, and maybe that will help you remember that you have nothing to be afraid of. I will always protect you. You are going to lie right here over my lap, and when you need to cry, you can cry as much as you want to."

Grace winced and squeaked with each stinging spank on her tender skin, clasping her hands together as if in prayer to resist the urge to cover herself. She had asked for this spanking herself, and she wasn't going to do anything to resist it, she was going to embrace it. When Grace's bottom was a healthy shade of pink, Olivia reached over and picked up the hairbrush, and then continued to spank. Feeling the burn of the hairbrush blooming across her bottom, the first sign of tears appeared in Grace's big blue eyes.

"Thank you, Ma'am." Grace whimpered.

"I love you very much, my baby, I will always help you like this when you ask me to, and I am very proud of you for coming to me and asking for help properly. This pretty bottom belongs to me, and only to me, and I will spank it as I see fit."

As tears began to leak out of her eyes, Grace closed her eyes and drank in the loving spanking her Mistress was giving her, feeling completely safe and protected.