by Livia Grant
He had to catch himself, to keep from getting angry. Was this just a game to her, a weird fetish of sorts? He had never heard of such a thing, but it sounded plausible. Was she getting into trouble on purpose and then getting off on the pain of his punishments?
He didn’t know what to think, they were not sexually intimate, by her own choice, so the theory made little sense. He would have to work harder to make his punishments less enjoyable to her, he resolved, yes that must be it.
With that settled, he plucked the bamboo spoon from his front shirt pocket, and with renewed vigor resumed her spanking. Up and down, left and right, the spoon beat an uneven scattered path across her tender flesh. Again, and again, Josiah struck, wincing at the sound of wood on flesh, but more determined than ever to make his point on her backside. He blocked out the sound of the spoon, focusing only on watching the reddening flesh of her butt cheeks, taking great care to mete punishing blows across each square inch, that the skin would be the same beautiful throbbing red throughout.
So focused was he on his task, he almost failed to hear the moment her muffled sobs began, and had they not been pressed against his thighs, he might have missed them. Forcing himself to pause and recognize that she was reaching a point of nearing her limit, he slowed.
“Are you going to be late tomorrow, naughty girl?” he asked, punctuating his question with a blow with the spoon across the already flaming flesh of her tender sit spot.
She did not answer with words, instead shaking her head emphatically in response.
“Will you be late for your maintenance on Friday?” Another question, another strike of the spoon. He repeated the process several times until he was satisfied that the lesson had been well and truly learned.
She lay across his lap, not sobbing, but drawing long, shuddery, tear filled breaths as he rubbed her fiery flesh in lazy circles. When her cry subsided, he helped her stand, and platonic status aside, drew her close to him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head softly.
Chapter Eight
By Friday night, as the agreed upon time for their dinner/maintenance session approached, Lannea felt no less conflicted than she had upon leaving Josiah’s house Wednesday night.
She liked Josiah, and he was certainly like no other man she had dated before, which undeniably factored in his favor, and he was certainly dominant in his way, but he still had a sort of backwards innocence she found to be more than a little off putting at times. He didn’t quite seem to be enough for her, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on the reason why. Their platonic arrangement, much like the one she had once had with Mac, was strangely awkward, and she didn’t like it. At the same time, she craved his chastisement, and the punishments that followed. It was exactly what she needed, and she didn’t want to think about giving it up.
Undeniably, the effects of the second spanking he had given her had been much more thorough and long lasting than the first, and she still felt twinges of pain in her sit spots when she sat for too long. Rubbing her bottom as she walked from the restaurant to her car after work, she idly wondered what tonight’s session would be like. Would he continue to improve with each consecutive spanking, or had Wednesday just been a fluke? If it was the former, well, she could certainly live with that. It was the ill-fated initial spanking that had given her doubts to begin with. Perhaps it was the first, and not the second time that had been the fluke.
Unlocking her car, she paused once inside, shooting off a quick text to Josiah to let him know she was on her way. He had insisted that dinner be included as part of their Friday night arrangement, and had asked her to meet him at Endelé. She had agreed initially, but was now having second thoughts. She didn’t want to date the guy, for goodness sake, she just wanted the benefits a spanking relationship would give her, but she didn’t need a real relationship for that. Oh well, she sighed as she turned the key in the ignition. At least I’ll get a margarita out of the deal.
It was a short drive to the restaurant, and she found Josiah waiting for her outside of the restaurant. She quickly checked her watch to make sure she hadn’t somehow managed to be late again. That would have been a disaster she knew. But, she saw with relief, she was in fact a good five minutes early.
Josiah greeted her warmly, and she allowed him to step in for a quick hug, although the action annoyed her greatly.
With his hand resting on the small of her back, he escorted her into Endelé where he already had a table waiting for them. It was a good thing too, as the place was packed, even for a Friday night. Josiah must have called ahead, she realized, and the thought irritated her. He was contentious and organized to a fault, where if it had been up to her they would have likely been waiting thirty minutes for a table.
The waitress materialized as soon as they were seated to take their drink order. Josiah ordered a beer, and Laney one of their famous margaritas. Josiah nodded his consent, not that she needed it.
Their drinks came only a few minutes later, and they gave their order quickly, both having already known what they wanted without so much as a glance at the menu. Once all that was taken care of, they settled into an awkward silence. The tension was palpable, and Laney struggled to find something to say. As hungry as she was, she still wished they could skip over dinner and get straight to the spanking portion of the evening. Pain, and correction she could handle. Small talk, she could not. With nothing else to do, she downed her margarita in record time and began scanning the restaurant for their waitress to order another. Josiah caught her motion, and stopped her.
“One is enough,” he said firmly.
“Excuse me?” Laney saw red at his edict, and immediately jumped on the defensive. “Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what I can and can’t drink?”
His eyes darkened. “I’ll tell you who I am,” he said darkly. “I’m the one paying for the meal, and incidentally, I’m the one spanking you afterwards. I’d like you to have your wits about you when I do, and be sober enough to feel the effects of your spanking. If you can’t, it loses its effectiveness, and if it’s not effective, then what is the point of this?”
She may have seen his point but it didn’t matter. She was on the warpath, and he must have seen it in her face. As she opened her mouth to spit out a scathing response, he cut her off immediately.
“Go ahead. Be your stubborn self and argue your stance. God forbid someone limit your alcohol intake for your own good. Don’t forget I’ve already seen how you get drunk, and it’s not something I wish to see again tonight.”
“I was not drunk!” she yelled vehemently, and admittedly, slightly louder than was probably necessary.
“Keep going,” he told her with a calmness in his voice that belied the flashing she saw in his eyes. “Keep arguing, throw your little fit, call me names, and riddle me with scorching insults as I know you are dying to do. But keep in mind, that once you cross that line, the simple maintenance you have coming turns into a full fledged punishment.”
Her mouth flattened into a straight line, and her eyes clouded. “I just don’t see why we have to do dinner. We’re not dating, we have an arrangement, and this seems pointless,” she replied sullenly.
Josiah was not backing down. “We do dinner because I would like to get to know you. I do many things for you, and it would be nice if you could do this one thing for me without having an attitude and making me and everyone around you miserable. I’m not really asking for much, Lannea. This was part of the arrangement that you agreed to. If you really didn’t like it you should have said something then. This is the agreement you made, and this is the agreement you will keep, at least for tonight. How would you feel if I acted like this when it came to keeping my end of the arrangement? It’s time you thought of someone other than yourself, Lannea. I know you’re better than this spoiled, selfish little act you put on.”
Laney scowled at him as she realized she really had no good comeback for that. As always, Josiah was unflappable, and reasonable, an
d no matter what potshots she took at him, he refused to act in kind. It drove her crazy that she couldn’t get to him that way, yet the straight forward dominance with which he handled himself no matter what she threw at him went to her heart, and then straight down to her aching sex.
The man was an enigma. So dominant and yet so innocent. Almost too much, and yet not quite enough. She couldn’t decide if she wanted him to bend her over and screw her brains out or if she wanted to run away and find a real dominant man with no past emotional baggage, whose nice side didn’t melt her heart every time he opened his mouth. Not that it mattered one bit what she wanted. They agreed to a platonic arrangement, and that was what they had. Anyone could see Josiah was bound and determined to stick to each and every item on their original agreement. He would spank her, and discipline her and help her deal with her issues, but he undoubtedly wanted a woman who was more like him— innocent and sweet, and not laden with responsibility issues like she was. He would want a woman who could take care of herself without having to find some handsome stranger to spank her out of her issues. She was practice for him, a place holder and nothing more. The thought brought tears to her eyes. Josiah had barely been in town a week. Soon word would get out about the hot single new policeman, and the single ladies of Corbin’s Bend would swarm. Then where would she be? No self-respecting woman would let her new man keep up a platonic spanking relationship with another woman. Mac’s girlfriend sure hadn’t.
It was best for all involved, if she didn’t get too attached. She had to keep in mind that this was undoubtedly temporary. She considered backing out now, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Their arrangement actually was helping her after all, and she wasn’t ready to lose that yet. I’ll just have to keep my guard up, she told herself.
“Lannea, Lannea, Laney!” Josiah’s voice shook her from her thoughts and she realized that their food had arrived. “Are you okay?” he asked, never anything but thoughtful and considerate.
“Hmmm?” she murmured, slowly coming out of her trance. “Yes, I’m fine, Josiah. I’ll be okay.” Her voice sounded far off and distant even to her, and she could only imagine what Josiah would think.
His features were laced with concern as he gazed at her. “Lannea, I’m sorry if I upset you at all. We don’t have to have dinner if it bothers you that much. I just thought it would be nice to have some sort of relationship beyond spanker and spankee. I didn’t think dinner once a week was too much to ask, but if I was wrong, please tell me, and we’ll go right now.”
“No, Josiah, please don’t apologize. I was wrong, not you. I’m struggling with a few things, and I am taking it out on you when you have done nothing but be kind and helpful to me. If there’s anyone who needs to be sorry, it’s me. Please, accept my apology, and let’s move on and enjoy this lovely dinner, which I assume, you’re paying for, since it was your stipulation.” She winked and gave him a snarky half smile as an attempt to lighten the mood.
Josiah’s eyes twinkled in response. “Oh, of course,” he said graciously, winking back at her. “I accept your apology. Now, let’s eat!”
* * * * *
Dinner had not gone as smoothly as he had hoped, especially in the beginning, but after he had laid down the law with Lannea, she had snapped out of her bad mood and they had actually had a decent time. Conversation had lagged at times, but overall, it had been everything he had hoped for. And now, it was time for Act Two of the evening. Laney’s Maintenance Spanking.
Josiah had never conducted a maintenance spanking before, of course, as he had never had anyone to spank, but how different could it be from any other spanking? It was all pretty basic and self-explanatory, he told himself. Raise hand, bring hand down on bottom, and repeat process as needed. Nothing to it.
At least that’s what he hoped. The expectant way Laney was looking at him was making him a bit more nervous than he had been in their previous sessions.
He shook his head quickly as if to clear it. She was just waiting for him to take charge, he told himself. It was up to him, not her, to get things underway.
“Lannea,” he called, patting the couch beside him. “Come here please.”
He was almost shocked when she obeyed quickly, just because she had seemed so contrary tonight.
“It’s time for your weekly maintenance,” he told her stiffly.
She just nodded and looked at him quizzically.
“Why, erm, why do you need this weekly spanking?” he asked her simply because he honestly had no idea. It was one of those things he had added, and it had seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, he struggled to remember why it had seemed so.
Luckily for him, Laney had a quick response. “Because a weekly spanking centers me and reminds me of the things I need to work on. It calms me from all the stress of the past week, and helps me get ready for a busy weekend.”
Josiah had nothing to add, so he just nodded encouragingly, and hoped she would continue.
“It brings into focus the things I struggle with and reminds me throughout the week to pay attention to what I am doing, and to remember that my actions have real consequences beyond the physical pain my backside may experience.”
It was a good answer. Josiah breathed a little easier now. He had a good idea what maintenance meant to her, and that helped him know how to proceed.
“Stand up, please, and remove your panties.” She wore a light flouncy knee length skirt that drew attention to her long, sexy legs. He had barely been able to keep his gaze from them all night, imagining flipping up the floral slip of fabric to reveal the creamy white flesh beneath. Having her remove the panties, and not the skirt was a move entirely for his own benefit and pleasure.
She gave him an odd look but complied, and stood awkwardly before him, waiting for further instruction.
“Go upstairs to my bedroom, and wait for me in the corner.”
He watched from his spot in the living room, as he had done before, giving her time to obey and have just a little wait before he joined her upstairs.
As he watched her, he considered his options, and it struck him that he really had no plan nor any idea what he was doing. Should he have her on the bed, bent over his knee, a chair? Should he have her bend over and touch her toes? So far, he had been changing it up each time, should he continue to keep her guessing? Or would they eventually find something that worked for them and stick with it? He really had no idea, and the whole quandary was simply over position. What about implements? That was a whole different problem of its own. What did one use for a maintenance spanking? Hand, belt, spoon, paddle? The possibilities were endless and as usual, he was clueless. He decided to wing it for tonight as he really didn’t want to keep her waiting too long less she somehow become privy to his inner dilemma. Maybe before next week, he would hop online and see if he couldn’t so a little bit of research. Were these even things one could find online he wondered. What did one do, simply google ‘How to properly spank your girlfriend?’ Surely that wouldn’t work. Maybe he should just talk to Matt. Yeah, that’s what he would do, he decided. He would talk to Matt. After all, Matt was his mentor, and to Josiah’s understanding this sort of thing was exactly what he was there for. On a whim, Josiah grabbed the paddle from its trusty hiding place in the kitchen before heading up the stairs.
Feeling brave, he walked up behind Laney and lifted her skirt with one hand, resting the cool wood of the paddle against her bare skin. Testing her reaction, he watched in awe as a delicious little shiver went down her spine.
“Do you know what I have here, Lannea?” he asked, giving her bottom a little tap with the business end of the paddle.
“Is it…the Corbin’s Bend paddle?” Her voice caught on the last word, her breath ragged and her tone almost reverent. Was that, a hint of desire he heard?
He tapped again, still holding her skirt up with one hand, admiring the luscious curves of her rear end. There it was again, that little shiver. Josiah watched as it started at the top of he
r spine, and worked its way down to the tips of her toes. It was the oddest thing really.
Letting go of her skirt, he crossed the room and dropped the paddle on the nightstand. Her reaction to the wooden implement was intriguing, but he didn’t think he would be using it tonight. To him, a paddle seemed more serious, not quite the right implement for a simple maintenance spanking. He didn’t know why he had grabbed it other than curiosity.
Pausing to ponder position once more, he came to rest on the bed in a sitting position. He really needed to get more furniture up here. A nice high back chair or a loveseat maybe. He made a mental note to add furniture shopping to his to do list. For now, he would work with what he had.
He called Laney over to him, beckoning her to stand in front of him. When she was there, her eyes wide with fear of the unknown, he turned her around so that her back was to him.
“Bend over and touch your toes.”
* * * * *
Josiah’s words sent a little thrill to her nether regions at the same time as they sent a flush to her cheeks. Asking her to assume this vulnerable position was so undeniably dominant, and at the same time so horribly embarrassing, especially without her panties. She knew he would be able to see everything from that angle, and she would be more exposed to him than she had ever been before. He lifted her skirt to rest upon her back, and she felt the cool draft of the fan blowing air onto her most private areas. The sensation, combined with Josiah’s unexpected act of dominance caused her to gush the telltale juices of her own arousal. Bent over, hands on knees, completely prone to his inspection, and she was wet already. He hadn’t even started spanking her yet, and without the protection of her skirt or panties, he was sure to notice eventually. She cursed softly under her breath. Josiah must have heard her because he responded with a resounding smack to her left bottom cheek.
