Last Chance

by Tabitha Marks

  Even more surprising was that they’d actually talked about their problems and she’d been open and honest, admitting to some difficult truths. Following Bobby’s advice and taking the upper hand from the beginning really seemed to work. Nate had been afraid he’d come off as an arrogant asshole but Connie really responded to him being more dominant, not letting her resort to excuses or hide from the truth, even if it was painful. Bobby said there was a difference between being a domineering prick and a loving dominant man. He needed to listen to Connie and respect her feelings and opinions, while at the same time showing her that she had to do the same for him. That’s what Bobby and his wife did. Darcy was her own person, she didn’t report her every movement to him. Bobby consulted with her about decisions and valued her opinion, but at the same time Bobby was ultimately in charge and disciplined her when she didn’t fulfill her end of the deal. Or when she was stressed and needed an emotional release. Nate hadn’t understood the last part until reading multiple websites the day before explained how some women needed the spanking to get rid of their tension and stress.

  He had no way to know if Connie would be like that, but given some of the things she did in bed and her need to be in constant control, he’d taken a chance and leapt into the proposal without looking back. If he would have waited a few days and given himself more time to think he would have talked himself right out of it. The bottom line was he couldn’t live like this anymore, with Connie ignoring or avoiding him and being disrespectful and sometimes downright nasty at times. He didn’t deserve that.

  Several hours later Nate was still on the couch when Connie emerged from the office. He sat up and searched her face for any indication of her thoughts. She didn’t look disgusted, and he relaxed slightly in relief, but she’d mentioned that she knew what DD was. Then again she wasn’t exactly smiling either as she passed by the living room and headed to the kitchen, completely ignoring him. That wasn’t a good sign. Though he couldn’t expect her to change her behavior immediately he thought their talk this morning would have at least resulted in some common courtesy. Then he heard the fridge open she yelled, “Do you want a beer?”

  Nate glanced at the clock, just after noon but they both had the day off so, what the hell. They hadn’t hung out on a Saturday and had beers in forever, but did that mean she wasn’t ready to make a decision?

  “Yeah sure, I’ll have one.” He called back, trying for nonchalance so she wouldn’t know how much he wanted her answer. Fuck, he needed to stop thinking like a teenage girl. He’d made his decision, made his proposition and now he had to live with the outcome. No way was he backing down now. And he needed to give her some time. He was asking her to willingly submit herself to him, to agree to be disciplined by him. If she needed more time to think then he could give her that. For a little while at least.

  Connie entered the living room, handed him an already opened beer and plopped down in the arm chair across from him. Nate watched her take a long pull off her icy bottle and couldn’t help be mesmerized by the way her lips wrapped around the glass and her throat worked when she swallowed. Then she lowered the bottle and caught him staring.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Nothing, just watching you.” He replied not caring if she knew he watched her. She was his to watch all he wanted, just as she could watch him any time she had the urge. Nate needed full openness and honesty, and from the blush that rose in Connie’s cheeks she needed, and wanted, a strong man to lead her, not someone who’d roll over and give her everything she asked for, or ignore her outbursts and irresponsibility. Those days were over.

  He spoke honestly earlier when he said he didn’t want a servant or doormat, or to change anything that made Connie who she was as a person. The wonderful women he fell in love was in there still. He just wanted the meanness and bad behavior to stop, and he knew it was partially his fault. He’d have to change his behavior too. They both had issues to work on.

  Connie cradled her beer in both hands, eyes intently watching her nervous fingers pick at the label. He could tell she didn’t know where to start or what to say but he didn’t help her. Didn’t begin the conversation that could hopefully save their relationship even though he knew she desperately wanted him to. But he’d already done that this morning, and it was the scariest fucking thing he’d ever done in his entire life!

  Asking your fiancée if she’d allow you to spank her if she misbehaves was one of those things he never imagined himself doing. Luckily he found a ton of helpful suggestions on the Internet of ways to approach the topic. He learned a lot last night, mostly about what he didn’t want in this new aspect of their relationship.

  He knew he didn’t want to be her daddy, didn’t want to make her an exhaustive list of rules that he then had to make sure she followed every day. He wanted a woman who acted like a grown up, and when she didn’t she’d pay the consequences. The thought of the various consequences he could come up with made his dick hard and his gut clench in anticipation. Not that he wanted her to screw up, but he’d be a liar if he said the idea of having her over his lap, panties pulled halfway down her thighs, reddening her behind with his hand didn’t do anything for him. The reconnecting afterwards was definitely something he looked forward to.

  “Okay,” she finally started, then paused. But that was fine with Nate, he could wait all night. “I checked out the sites you bookmarked, and a bunch of others, and I have some questions.”

  “I’d be worried if you didn’t.” Nate smiled, trying to calm her, soothe her. It seemed to work since she gave him a tentative smile in return.

  “You said earlier there’d just be those three rules for me…honesty, respect and responsibility, right?”

  Nate nodded in response, wondering where she was going with this.

  “I guess I’m just concerned that the rules are pretty vague. That you’ll use them as an excuse to yell at me for any little thing.”

  “I’m not going to yell at you at all Connie.” Nate replied, “We’re talking about discipline, not me screaming at you. We can clarify what those rules mean a little better but like I said earlier, I don’t want to make a huge list of nit-picky do’s and don’ts. You’re not a child.” He paused. “You know what honesty means. Don’t lie to me or hide things from me.” She nodded in agreement but an embarrassed blush stole up her cheeks, so he continued on. “Responsibility is taking care of the things we decided were your jobs, and by respecting me I just expect you’ll treat me with the same courtesy you’d give anyone else. I won’t be your punching bag when you’re in a bad mood. But I’m not going to take advantage of your trust, I won’t use any little thing as an excuse.”

  “What if I’m cranky or have a bad day?”she asked, distressed. “I can’t promise to be perfect.” She looked so worried Nate feared she was on the brink of saying no and walking out the door. Luckily he’d done lots of preparing for this conversation.

  “How about if you’re in a mood and I feel like you’re pushing the limits of the rules I’ll tell you? Give you a warning so that you back off or calm down before there’s any consequences?”

  That seemed to make her feel a little better. “I guess that would work, but it still seems like you’re treating me like a child.”

  “Connie, if you were acting bitchy enough that I had to tell you to stop being disrespectful don’t you think you deserve to be treated like a child? Think about how you’ve been towards me the last few months. That’s the behavior I want to change.” He took a breath before he said what he had to say next, and reminded himself there was no way to start this new relationship without total honesty. “If I gave you a warning and you were still being mean you’d definitely be punished. Connie I want to be clear about that. If we do this I’m not going to shirk on my end of it. And I’m going to expect an apology from you. If I hurt your feelings or disrespected you, you’d certainly want me to apologize and I deserve no less.”

  Connie got a mulish look and he thought she might arg
ue with him but then changed her mind, though he could tell something else was troubling her. Nate prepared himself to deal with her next concern, whatever it was. This was still going far better than he’d expected. She wasn’t questioning anything he hadn’t anticipated. Her willingness to discuss the finer details made him think she was leaning towards a yes, but he didn’t allow himself to become too confident of that outcome yet. They weren’t finished talking, and if her next question was what he thought it was going to be, it could flush everything down the toilet.

  “About this discipline, what are you talking about? Spanking me?” Nate was watching her closely so that was the only reason he saw the faint blush that rose to her cheeks when she said the word. Was it because it embarrassed her, or because the thought turned her on? He suspected it was a little bit of both.

  “Yes I would spank you.” Her blush deepened and a faint tremor ran through her at his words. “But I’d use other punishments too, as I saw fit. If you’re the one being disciplined you don’t get to pick.”

  “I understand that, but can we set some hard limits right now?” Nate smiled to himself. Here was his smart, forceful Connie. She’d gotten over her embarrassment and was ready to get down to business and negotiate. Nate had to watch himself here, one wrong move and she might walk away.

  “What kind of limits do you mean?”

  “I don’t want you to use a cane on me. I looked at some pictures online of people who were bloody from those.” She grimaced.

  “I would never draw blood.” He could agree to that. He had no desire to scar her. “But if we ever did use a cane, or any other implement, I probably would leave some marks. I’m not talking about hurting you for the sake of pain. I’m talking about disciplining you when you need it. You have to trust that I will never take it too far.”

  Connie let out a relieved breath. “Alright that makes me feel better.” Then added quickly. “And I don’t want any videos of us on the internet.”

  “No of course not.” He assured her. “This is between you and me.” He hesitated then asked. “But would you mind if I discussed it with Bobby? He won’t tell anyone since he does it himself and I’d like to be able to ask him questions if I have any.”

  Her eyes narrowed but she didn’t immediately say no. “Only if I can talk to Darcy about it. I might have questions, too.”

  Nate did a silent cheer. They were really going to do this! They were coming to an agreement. He felt the nerves and tension that gripped him yesterday fall away. “I’ll have to check with Bobby to make sure she’s okay with it, but I don’t have any problem with you talking to Darcy.” If anything it had to help him. Bobby and Darcy had been doing this for a while. Maybe having a female perspective would make Connie fell better about it.

  “What other kinds of discipline are you going to use?” she asked, sobering his excitement. His mind ran through the mental list he’d made last night of what he thought would be most effective. But he wasn’t going to tell her. That wasn’t how this was going to work.

  “If I’m the one in charge and I’m the one punishing you I will determine what punishment fits the crime, so to speak. We’re not going to discuss each one. You’re not going to call the shots when it comes to your discipline.” He knew he sounded stern but he needed to show her how serious he was. “If you earned a punishment you are just going to submit to the discipline. Not question me or argue with me about it.”

  Nate braced for a fit, or for her to get up and walk away from their discussion, like she’d done so many times in the past. But Connie surprised him. She stayed in her chair and instead of indignation he saw resignation. Like she’d expected that answer but thought she’d try anyway. Then, he swore he saw a flash of arousal. Could it be that she liked when he took charge? He hoped so, because he really enjoyed being the boss. More than he ever thought he would.

  Chapter 5

  The next few days after their conversation passed smoothly and uneventfully. Both agreed to keep the lines of communication open and if either wanted to talk more they would. Connie didn’t see any need to though; they’d pretty covered everything. So she spent the time coming to terms with the fact that she’d agreed to subject herself to Nate’s discipline and that the idea of being pulled over his knee for him to redden her ass made her panties wet and her stomach quiver. In fact, those thoughts consumed her every waking moment except when she was thinking about what her first punishment would be like. Then anticipation warred with dread. The competing emotions did battle in her gut and drove her to distraction. But still she managed to stay out of trouble and follow Nate’s simple rules. Maybe just the threat of punishment would save their relationship and he’d never actually have to punish her.

  Then finally it happened.

  Connie overslept Thursday after staying up too late the night before sharing a bottle of wine with Nate. She woke up so late she had no time to shower before running off to school, just a quick brush of her teeth and hair and out the door she flew. So quickly that she forgot her sunglasses and her purse and who knew what else. Luckily there was a ten dollar bill floating around in the bottom of her bookbag so she could buy a coffee and some lunch.

  She finally perked up midway through her third class and managed to get all her homework for that night done before she even left for the day so she didn’t have to worry about it later.

  After four hour and half long lectures and only a half of a sandwich and cup of soup to eat, all Connie could think about on the drive home was the dinner that would be waiting in the Crockpot - a pot roast she’d assembled the night before with Nate. They’d opened the wine and chopped and sliced together in their cozy kitchen, joking and laughing like they hadn’t done in months. Then they put the crock in the fridge for Connie to start in the morning and snuggled on the couch for a while until things got a little hot and heavy and…

  Connie’s foot slammed on the brake, seconds before running the stop sign at the corner of her street. Shit. There would be no tasty dinner waiting for her at home, no rich scent of roast hanging in the air. She hadn’t turned on the machine. In her rush to make it to school on time Connie had completely forgotten about it. What was worse was that Nate had specifically asked if she would remember, and if not he’d offered to start it when he left earlier, just at a lower setting. Connie grimaced remembering how she’d assured him, repeatedly, that she would remember. ‘No problem’ she’d said.

  Now there was a very big problem. She was pretty sure that double checking that she wouldn’t forget to start dinner fell into his ‘specifically asking you to do something’ category of rules. And that meant Connie had earned a punishment.

  She waited to feel upset, for a protest to spring into her mind, for righteous indignation to flare to life, but nothing happened. She’d said she would do something and she hadn’t done it. According to their agreement she deserved to be punished. He’d kept up his end of their bargain by working less and making an effort to put their relationship first and spend time with her. Now she had to deal with the consequences of her failure.

  The question was, what would Nate think? And more importantly, what would he do? Her body tingled just imagining it as she pulled into the driveway and parked behind his truck. Nerves made her hands shake when she opened the door, but not solely from fear. Nate wouldn’t injure her. Hell he’d probably barely spank her this first time. She comforted herself with that thought as she opened the door and went to face the music. But Nate wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room waiting to confront her as she’d expected. She headed down the hall and dropped her book bag in the office before finally finding him in the bedroom, sitting on the bed reading a sports magazine. A strange spot to find him in though he looked completely relaxed. Usually he was sprawled out in front of the television immediately after work. She felt her shoulders loosen seeing him like this. He didn’t look angry or disappointed. Maybe there would be no punishment after all. Why that thought made her depressed wasn’t something she wan
ted to think about right now.

  “Hey babe”, she said, making sure to sound extra cheerful without a hint of the guilt that was clawing at her. “How was your day?”

  “Pretty good. How was yours?” he replied without lowering his reading material.

  Connie tried to pick up any hint or stray clues about where his thoughts lay, but her fiancé was studied picture of nonchalance. She didn’t know what to do. Pretend everything was fine and wait for him to bring it up? Or face it head on and admit she’d made a mistake? The first option would have been her choice just last week, but now it seemed childish to try to ignore the elephant in the room. And isn’t that exactly what caused their problems in the first place, at least partially? No, she decided, better to face the music…but she wasn’t just going to blurt it out.

  “Actually my day got off to kind of a rough start,” she said tentatively, watching his response like a hawk. He didn’t pounce on her opening like she thought he might. Instead he set the magazine down and patted the bed beside him.

  “That’s too bad. Why don’t come sit here and tell me about it?”

  Happy to relax on the comfy bed with Nate, Connie toed off her sneakers and pulled the bulky sweatshirt she’d worn to ward off the draft in her lecture halls over her head. She crawled onto the bed and sat in the spot he’d indicated. Once she was situated he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close. This was a good way to start the evening she thought. Any disappointment at not being spanked slid away as she relaxed into Nate’s warm body.

  “So,” he said after a few minutes of silent companionship. “Tell me what happened this morning.” Connie blinked in surprise at the demanding tone that seemed to come out of nowhere. At the same time her pulse leapt in her throat and she fought the urge to squirm when he shifted to stare down at her. He still didn’t look angry, but he did appear to mean business. Stern and forceful, and waiting for her to answer. It made her breath stutter and her stomach flutter. There was no option but to answer truthfully when he commanded her like that. Connie suspected that she would be getting her first spanking after all.