Chapter Text
It wasn't easy to be England's captain.
Really, Leah had no idea how Steph had done it for so long. But, then again, Steph hadn't been thrown in at the deep end, her first tournament in charge hadn't been a home Euros. The pressure was closing in as they got closer and closer to the final, squeezing Leah like a vice.
On one of their recovery days, she awoke to the sound of her phone buzzing. Never mind that it was seven in the morning, she couldn't get a moment's peace. Everyone needed something from her- in this case, thankfully, it was nothing that needed her immediate attention. However, what it did was make her want to scream. All she had wanted was to fucking sleep, but no. Even that was too much to ask.
She was awake now, no matter how much she wished she wasn't, so she might as well get on with her day.
Several hours and several meetings later, and the vice hadn't loosened. If anything, it had only tightened, to the point where the next thing that someone needed from her was liable to make Leah scream. She didn't quite know what she was thinking when she pulled out her phone, texting the one person who might be able to help. Within minutes, she had received a text back. Knowing that she shouldn't but wanting to anyway, Leah walked out the front doors of the hotel.
Sitting down on Kim's couch felt almost like stepping into an alien world. Yes, she had been here before, but it was an uncommon enough occurrence to make her slightly uncomfortable. The Scot handed over her tea with a searching smile.
"What's bothering you, Leah? Talk to me."
Leah shrugged, second-guessing herself. It was an honor to be chosen to captain the Lionesses, and here she was, ready to complain about it!
"It's nothing," she said, taking a sip of her tea so quickly that she burned her tongue.
"It's clearly not nothing, Leah," said Kim. "You've never once texted me that you just want to talk before today."
Looking across the couch at Kim's raised eyebrows, all the feelings overwhelmed the young defender at once.
"I can't do this! I can't," she shouted. "They want so much from me, I just- why can't they all fuck off and give me ten minutes' peace?! I just can't, I can't!"
As she continued her rant, punctuated by swears and self-deprecating phrases, Leah didn't notice Kim's eyebrows migrating further and further up her head, her eyes narrowing and her mouth folding into a frown. As much as she could understand Leah feeling overwhelmed by all of this, what she couldn't accept was how little faith the defender seemed to have in her own abilities. And she knew that she needed to put a stop to it, especially as Leah's words got louder and louder, bordering on yelling.
"That's enough."
The shift in Kim's tone was audible, stopping Leah's monologue in its tracks. The Scot's eyes narrowed, examining Leah as if under a microscope, taking her time to see what exactly she was dealing with. Whatever she was looking for, she must have found, because she raised a stern eyebrow.
"It seems to me," she said. "Like you need to re-center yourself. Would you agree?"
Leah was able to catch herself before she responded with obviously, or something equally disrespectful. Instead, she nodded. Kim repeated the gesture, hand on Leah's knee.
"I think you need a spanking, Leah," she said. "Would that help?"
Leah knew that everything in her should want to reject that idea- she wasn't a child, after all, and so she certainly shouldn't need a spanking! But deep inside her mind, the desire to be taken in hand was rearing its head. She knew what she wanted, no matter how humiliating it was to admit.
Leah nodded again, eyes fixed firmly on the floor as she flushed bright red.
"Words," said Kim, taking Leah's chin in her hand and forcing her to meet her eyes.
"Yes, ma'am," she whispered, eyes wide and lip already trembling a bit.
"There's a good girl," said Kim. "Telling me what you need. How many do you need, Leah?"
Leah whined, shrugging. Kim's hand tightened as she looked at her club teammate, unimpressed.
"Words, little girl. I won't tell you again."
"I... I need you to decide," whispered the defender, seeming to collapse in on herself as conflicting feelings of need and embarrassment flooded her. Kim nodded, letting go of Leah's chin and cupping her cheek for a moment.
"Okay," she said. "So, until I think you've had enough. Good girl, thank you for telling me. Over my lap now."
Leah hesitated for a moment- even though this was what she needed, it still wasn't easy to fully drop the mantle of Captain, and give it back to her club teammate. Her cheeks were flushed as she stared down at Kim's lap, anticipating the humiliating predicament she was about to face.
Kim let her take her time, and Leah eventually spread herself carefully out over the shorter woman's knees. Clinically, her club captain pulled her bottoms down until her ass was bared to the otherwise empty room. One of her hands came down to rest on the small of Leah's back, sliding under her shirt to rub comfortingly against the bare skin beneath, fully capable of not only soothing but restraining.
"You can make noise and cry if you need to. But I don't want to hear any more bratting, Leah, is that understood? Or else I'll get out a paddle instead of just using my hand, and that will be much harder to hide in the lockers."
"Yes, ma'am," whispered Leah, cheeks flushed as she fidgeted, the threat of the paddle redoubling her determination to take her spanking like a good girl, so as to avoid the others finding out anything about this. Kim let her shift for a moment, getting herself as comfortable as one could possibly be when spread across someone else's knees like a naughty little girl who had thrown a tantrum.
The first hit was gentle, right to the middle of Leah's right cheek. The same blow followed to the opposite side, taps barely strong enough to leave any discomfort behind. Leah wriggled automatically, only to be met with renewed firm pressure to the small of her back, warning her to stay still. The next few swats grew in force steadily, Kim silent except for the sound of her palm coming down against Leah's skin, letting the young defender stew in her humiliation.
The first real whimper to come from between Leah's lips resulted from a smack to the space between her left cheek and her upper thigh. She knew that Kim still wasn't using her full strength, but that didn't mean it didn't sting, especially when the hand came down to hit the same spot again. From her helpless position, all Leah could do was wait until her club captain had decided that she'd had enough, and picture how red her ass must look from the spanking.
As Kim continued to spank her, bringing her palm down again and again to sting the sensitive spots of Leah's ass, the defender couldn't stop herself from sniffling, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Ahh," she gasped as another blow fell, lip trembling as she tried not to cry. She knew that her club captain had told her it was okay to cry, but whatever dignity remained in her current situation wouldn't let her accept that. Noticing the resistance, the Scot brought her hand down again onto the same spot once, twice more. It wasn't like she wanted to cause Leah real pain, but this wasn't her first rodeo- she knew how cathartic tears could be, and she could see them on the border of breaking free from the young defender's glittering eyes.
Another sharp gasp came from between Leah's lips as she jerked, trying instinctively to pull away, her world narrowing to this moment.
Only when she let out a wail, tears finally breaking free, did Kim finally stop, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Leah's shaking back.
"There, now," she cooed. "It's all done, love. You took it so well."
She let Leah have a moment, sniffling and trying not to sob, before she spoke again.
"Now, I want you to go stand in that corner for ten minutes, then we'll have a talk."
Despite how humiliating the position was, spread out across Kim's lap like a naughty child, Leah was still loath to leave it, to leave the comfort of another body touching hers. Especially when, deciding it was better to just get it over with, she went to pull her bottoms back up to cover her reddened ass only to be met with Kim's hand wrapping around her thin wrist, making it clear that that wasn't going to happen.
"Corner, Leah," she said, a combination of stern and gentle, no room for disobedience. "Now."
Leah obeyed, shuffling across the room to the indicated corner and staring at her feet as Kim started the timer. She could hear the older woman bustling around the kitchen, keeping herself busy while making sure to keep one eye on the young defender. Although Leah longed to turn around and see what she was doing, maybe spot how many minutes were left on the timer, she didn't dare take her nose out of the corner- her Captain had told her to stay put, so that was what she would do. She was going to be good.
The tears that had begun to fall during her spanking only redoubled as she stood still. When she reflected on it later, she would be surprised by the fact that the intrusive pressure of captaining her squad didn't enter into her consciousness. Rather, she was focused on the stinging in her red ass, on how embarrassing it was to be put in the corner and, surprisingly, how much weight seemed to be lifting off her shoulders.
When the timer dinged, Leah almost didn't register it. It was only when she heard Kim's voice, breaking through into her brain, that she realized her punishment had come to an end.
"That's ten minutes, Leah," she said softly, soothingly. "Come here now, darling, let's have a chat."
Tear tracks still visible on her cheeks, bottom half still bare, Leah walked back over to the couch and looked down, unsure where to sit, thinking that she really wanted the physical contact but unsure if she was welcome to it. Sensing the dilemma, Kim smiled softly, patting her lap invitingly. Almost sobbing in relief, Leah folded her long limbs to curl up on Kim's lap, keeping her weight off her sore ass as much as possible, burying her head in her shoulder and letting the tears fall.
"Oh, it's alright," cooed Kim, rubbing Leah's back gently as she cried. "There's a good little girl. You did so well for me. I'm so proud of you."
Ordinarily, Leah would have protested at being called little. But this time, the words just made her feel safer as she sniffled out the last of her tears.
"Now, Leah," she said, still running a soothing hand up and down the younger's back. "I need you to be honest with me. Were you hoping for something like this when you called me?"
Face scarlet, Leah nodded into Kim's shoulder. She hadn't admitted it to herself as she made her way to Kim's place, but everything in her had been crying out for this, for something like a punishment to re-center herself before continuing on with all the responsibility placed on her shoulders.
"How long have you been feeling this way, Leah?"
Leah's shrug gave Kim plenty of information, but she still wanted to hear the words from her own mouth.
"You're being such a good girl," she said. "Being so honest with me, telling me what's on your mind. Can you keep doing that? You're not in trouble," she reassured. "I just want to know so I can help you."
Head still buried in Kim's shoulder, Leah sniffled out her answer.
"A... A week or so."
"Oh, little one," said Kim softly. "That's much too long to leave it. Please don't leave it that long again. It can be me or someone else, but when you think you need to be re-centered I want you to tell someone. You don't need to try to deal with everything on your own, Leah. Can you do that?"
"Yes," whispered Leah, voice still teary.
"There's a good girl," said the older woman with a gentle kiss to her younger teammate's temple.
"You're staying here tonight," said Kim after a few minutes, running her hand through Leah's hair and continuing before she could protest. "No arguments now, little one. I'll take you back in the morning, but I need to keep an eye on you for tonight."
Leah, feeling very soft and vulnerable, nodded in acquiescence, pressing herself further into Kim's side. The Scot, after taking Leah's phone and putting it out of reach on the side table, gave her a small kiss on the top of her head. She knew that Sarina would be less-than-thrilled. But she also knew that, for the tough exterior of the Lionesses' coach, she would rather have a fully re-centered Leah to lead the team in their next match, as opposed to having her on edge and overwhelmed as they got further into the tournament. And if the coach had a problem with it, until the next morning, she would have to go through the Scot to get to Leah.
"There's a good girl," Kim crooned.