by Susan Thomas
Sarah composed herself. She was near to tears herself, but now was the time. It had to be faced.
"Jacob, you will want a traditional marriage just as our parents have. You go out to work and provide and I run the home and have the babies. Am I right?"
"Well, yes, but you have told me..."
"Yes, I want that too. I would want a garden to grow vegetables, and I would bottle and preserve stuff. Old-fashioned things I know, but..."
He was eager again. "But I have an eye on a property. I can just about manage it. It wouldn't be like our parents' homes just yet, but we could get it there, and it has a huge wonderful garden."
Sarah wanted to move on and Jacob reluctantly let the house go for the moment.
"And you would wish to be the leader, the head of the household, like our fathers are..."
"Well, yes, but I sort of took that for granted, and you've never objected to that belief before in any conversation."
"No, I haven't. I accept that no ship can have two captains. You would be the leader, and I would follow."
Jacob wanted to scream but held himself in with his usual patience, knowing that that would achieve nothing.
"Sarah, please tell me what it is."
"And if you're captain then I must obey; it would be no use a captain giving the order to turn port if the first officer just ignored it and turned starboard."
"Well, it is scriptural, Sarah. Colossians 3:18, for example, tells wives to submit to their husbands as that is fitting to the lord."
"Oh yes, I do agree. It is right, and I know you will be a wonderful leader. You are so thoughtful, so sensitive and kind."
Jacob groaned deeply. "Oh, Sarah, for pity's sake, tell me what it is that worries you. Everything you bring up, you promptly say you are comfortable with; even the marriage bed is not worrying you which I could understand might be the issue. So what is it?"
"What happens, Jacob, if I do disobey you? What if I do turn starboard and not port?"
Jacob couldn't think what she was getting at. His mind would no longer work; it lay in pieces along with his dream. "I don't know what you're talking about Sarah. Just say what bothers you and we will discuss it."
"Well if your mum is disobedient what does your dad do?"
Jacob's mind reassembled itself and stuttered back into life. His father would spank her of course, something that they, as children, all hated. His father would say, "Abigail, there are some matters we must discuss. Please go to our bedroom and I will be up shortly to discuss them with you." The sounds of the spanking would percolate downstairs and their mother's cries and wails with them. They all of them cried and wailed when spanked, it was part of life, but harder when it was your mother.
"Well, Sarah, that is difficult. If you don't wish to be corrected it would make life harder for us both to live a godly life. It isn't just disobedience of course..."
"No, I do understand, Jacob. There's disrespect. My mother is horrified how some of the women she meets run their husbands down and mock them for silly trivial mistakes. We were in a restaurant the other day and this woman started berating her husband for being a bit slow to choose. She even snatched the menu from him and decided what he would have."
Jacob nodded. "It works for men too, Sarah. Husbands shouldn't belittle their wives in public or in private. They must love them as they love themselves. But what if a woman is disrespectful or disobedient or several other things... you know the usual D things talked about in church. You can't ground a wife or dock her allowance or take away her toys."
"Have you thought how hard it is for a woman, Jacob? That part of submission where you have to be treated like a child and get spanked or worse. I have seen what your father did to Julia's bottom when she...."
"Julia's really changed since then. She's lovely now."
"Oh, I know and she's my best friend, but your dad is so severe."
Now he understood and she was right, his dad was severe, much more so than her father. Now she was frightened he would be like his father.
"Sarah, I am my father's son, not the man himself."
Sarah's voice dropped low again, but not with embarrassment this time, it was just too awkward and sounded so critical. "Jacob, boys learn from their fathers. I respect your father, he is a good man in so many ways, but he is stern and he is hard and unbending in punishment. I know Ruth did wrong but her punishment was one I don't think I could have borne."
Jacob knew what she meant. He had suffered his father's hairbrush and cane himself many times, but she wasn't seeing the other side of the man: the man that would give you all the time in the world, that would listen for hours to your hopes and fears, the man that would show endless patience when you didn't understand something. It was not possible to explain all of that to her, you had to have been brought up with it and see the man as a whole.
He thought for a moment before speaking. "Sarah I cannot promise you that I, as your husband, would never punish you. I would fail in my duty as a husband if I let disobedience or defiance go, and soon you would not be able to respect me. I would be that man in the restaurant.
"I will promise you three things. The first is that I will only spank you when it really is necessary to do so; if there is a sensible alternative, I will not. The second is that I will never spank you without first discussing the whole matter with you. I won't just send you to our bedroom and then come up and start spanking. We will talk and pray it through first. The third is that when I do spank it will be moderate and proportionate to the offence.
"My father is a very good man, but I agree he is severe and quick to spank. I long ago was sure that I would not be so severe. I am sorry you have feared me. I wish I had known, we could have discussed this earlier, but now I can only offer you those promises but those promises are faithful and true."
Sarah looked down for a while, ashamed of her fears, and when she raised her eyes it was to say, "I love you, Jacob. I am so ashamed of my lack of faith. Do you still wish me to be your wife?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then I accept."
For a while it seemed that his romantic dream had reassembled itself as they kissed properly, passionately, for the very first time. When finally they broke free of their embrace, Sarah cuddled into him, her head on his chest. All seemed well, but Jacob with the empathy that was his gift, knew the issue was still there. He held her close, enjoying the soft perfume of her body, and revelling in this new level of physical intimacy, but all the while he was thinking and then he began to understand.
"Sarah, when did your father last spank you?"
She was ashamed. "When I was sixteen."
Three years! No wonder she was scared of going back to it now, especially with his father's spankings in her mind. He had two sisters at home, Julia and Sophia with another, Maria, away at university. Only Julia was slightly younger than Sarah and yet all three were still spanked. When Maria had been home in the summer, he had heard her being spanked three times, not that she didn't deserve it. He alone was no longer spanked, not because he was a man, but because he was so successful in his father's business it was far too awkward to spank him. In the home, though, he was still expected to obey and show respect.
"Sarah, you must have done something wrong in all the time since then. I love you deeply, but sixteen? My sisters were always in trouble at that age."
"Yes, about five weeks after he said he wouldn't spank me any more I was late home."
"How late?"
"Three hours."
He whistled out loud. Had one of his sisters done that, she would have been sitting on a soft cushion for a month.
"Don't be cross with me, Jacob, it was three years ago. After that I was mostly with your family, and your father always made sure I was home on time."
Now it was clear to him, but her fear was still there, he could feel it. His father had ensured that she didn't break curfew, and she had imagined herself being spanked by him if she was late, and had transferred her fear
of his father to him. She hadn't dealt with it, only suppressed it. An idea came to him.
"Sarah, that three hours was deliberate disobedience and defiance wasn't it?"
"Yes, Jacob it was. I wanted to see what he would do, but he just ranted at me. Nothing happened."
"I thought so, and yet it was never dealt with properly, was it? This is just an idea because I can tell that this is an issue with you still. We have just enough light left before we need to get back to the car. I could spank you now for that, properly but you'd know that I am not my father, and then when we are married it wouldn't be there as a fear of the first time it would happen. Perhaps it never will happen."
She became quiet and thoughtful, and the silence began to worry him. What was she thinking? Now he thought about it, the idea was utterly mad. What had he been thinking!
Sarah began to speak, she was quiet and reflective. "I think you may be right. I tested dad and he just ranted. I would probably test you when we are married; I can see me doing it. I'm really scared about this, but if you did it now all the unknown would be over, wouldn't it. OK, please do it, but can it be our secret?"
"Yes it can, I don't see why anyone else need know. Very well then, Sarah, prepare please."
She was very red-faced now and nervous. She stood up off the bench, and turned her back to him before lifting her skirt and beginning to pull her tights and knickers down. The sight made him stiffen and he was horrified. Not now he thought, and prayed hard that he not have an erection while she was over his knee. The erection melted away and he focussed on the punishment. She came and stood by him and for the very first time he guided her over his lap and carefully raised her skirt.
"Will it be very hard?" Her quavering voice made him want to stop and just cuddle her.
"It's just my hand, but it will be a proper spanking."
Her whimper tore his heart, but he brought his hand down hard on her right cheek. The bounce of her bottom enthralled him so much that he didn't notice her yelp. He copied his father's methods and smacked his hand down hard on the same place over and over again, building up the sting on that one place to unbearable levels. Sarah began to screech with the fierceness of it, and it cut right through to his heart. He paused. Was he enjoying this? That mustn't happen. Spanking a wife or child was about their good not his pleasure. He was ashamed and stilled his mind and focussed on the spanking.
He moved to a different spot and began again, while Sarah wriggled around on his lap and fumbled for something to cling on to. His father took his belt off if there was any reaching back to protect the bottom. After the main spanking, he would then use his belt to punish the reaching back. Sarah knew this and he saw her hands finally grab the bench and hold on tight. It made him feel sick. He was not his father. He must learn how to hold her so she couldn't reach back. He moved to a different spot and then another and the noise she was making grew louder and more frantic. She was really wriggling now, and he struggled to hold her in place. He wanted to hold her in a loving way, not like this.
He began to spank randomly. He had thought to spank her for two minutes but spank hard. However, when the two minutes were up she had not yet started crying. He sensed she would need to cry for it to mean anything to her and he spanked on. At two minutes and twenty seconds she began to cry, and after a further twenty seconds she cried out, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Her bottom was fire red all over, even down to the tops of her thighs, and he stopped.
He was astonished at his feelings. He had experienced pleasure at one point. It was going to require tough discipline on his part to do this kind of thing. He helped her up onto his lap and she clung to him still crying. He stroked her hair and whispered loving things to her. He had spanked her properly he knew but not brutally. What would be the result? For him, it was the realisation that this was hard to do.
When she had calmed she thanked him in a whisper. She told him how much she loved him and that she would never, never test him as she had with her father. He felt taller and stronger all of a sudden, and as the light faded he led her back down the path. Now his dream was back. They would go first to her house and then his. The way she hung on to him, depending on him, looking up at him with adoring eyes, he had never felt so great in all his life. They reached the car just as the light went.
Up above, the flowers still lay where they had been placed, forgotten in the birth of their new relationship.
A Day at the Beach
When I left university I started work as a teacher. The school was a long way from home and I knew nobody so my colleagues were quite important to me. There was only one man on the staff who was not middle-aged, fat or married. He was tall and was a national champion at some sport I have now forgotten, and inevitably we started going out. He was a very opinionated man and took it that his championship made him right about absolutely everything, but he was good looking and I was envied by quite a few other girls.
Of course he wasted no time in trying to get into my knickers, but I wasn't ready for that and we started just going out. One free day in early summer we decided to drive to the beach, not being far from a long stretch of sandy beach that was only really crowded at the height of summer. We parked and found that we had the place to ourselves. Because of long shore drift it had groynes running down to the sea with the sand piled up high on the one side and lower on the other. At the top of the beach there were sand dunes, beyond which was a gravel road, and on the other side of that were some chalets. One of them had a shop attached selling snacks, drinks and beach stuff. The shop made me think of childhood with its smell of ice cream, rubber rings, candy floss and the salt from the sea. I think it must have had the same effect on him because when he saw the children's buckets and spades he suddenly suggested that we build a sandcastle.
With our newly purchased buckets and spades we went back down to the beach and found a spot above the high tide mark because we didn't want the tide to wash our work away. Naturally, he was chief of everything: chief architect, engineer, craftsman and workman. I was just the humble assistant whose main duty was to run into the sea and fill the buckets with water so that he could get the sand just right. I was only wearing a one-piece swimming costume and actually liked running in and out of the sea so had no complaints. He, to be fair, was in shorts and an expensive summer shirt that must have cost a packet and of which he was very proud, so going into the water was not an option for him. Also, I have to admit that his castle was a wondrous creation, and I could not have done half as well.
As time went on he became more and more bossy. At first I ignored it but then I tried to tease him out of his dictatorial manner but to no avail. Finally, when I arrived with yet another bucket of water he said something like, "Put it down there, girl, and be quick." I tried a sort of humorous response like, "Us workers will all come out on strike if you're not polite to us," but he was even more brisk in handing out his next order.
At this point I made my mistake which was to imagine he might understand my humour. I said, "You know, Boss, I think one of us workers might just throw a bucket of water all over your shirt if you don't treat us better."
He sat back on his heels and gave me a severe look. "That would be a mistake, young lady, because you would find yourself over my knee getting your bottom spanked." I now know that that is a clichéd line from almost any spanking movie, but I didn't at the time and it brought out the stroppy side of my nature. I thought there was only one thing to be done and I did it - I chucked the bucket of water straight over his chest. Do I hear a cheer from my female readers? ... Well, don't cheer yet girls, it was a big mistake. He was fast and strong and before I could blink he was on his feet, had grabbed me by the arm, and dragged me over to the groyne, where the height of the sand on our side meant that he could sit down comfortably.
He sat on the groyne and pulled me across his lap with ease, and then he started to spank me with his hand. My swimming costume was cut in such a way that it only just kept me modest, and in effect he was
spanking me on my bare bottom. He was big and strong and he spanked hard. The first smack alone made me yelp and the others followed so fast there was no relief. I was cross and fought him, but he was too strong, and soon I wasn't fighting him but just trying to get my bum out of the way. I wriggled and kicked and yelped, but nothing stopped the relentless stream of smacks and the stinging heat that just got worse and worse. There was no way I would beg for mercy, but truthfully I was beginning to panic and felt that he was just going on for hours. The heat in my bottom became so intense I could think of nothing apart from getting off his lap, but he had me in a tight grip.
Suddenly, he threw me off his lap and I stumbled to my feet clutching my bottom in both hands and desperately trying not to cry with the sting and anger of it all. His car keys were in a sort of waist bag that he had taken off and was near to his castle. I walked straight through his castle creation (yes, now you can cheer girls, and I admit I may have given it a few extra kicks on the way), picked up his bag, and went off to the car. He caught up with me before I could drive off and he drove me home.
Neither of us spoke on the way, and we did not refer to the incident again. Needless to say I never went out with him again, and I heard on the grapevine that he claimed we'd had a row because I had PMT.
Good Girls
In this, the twenty-first century, it is not at all unusual for someone to grow up in the United Kingdom without ever having experienced corporal punishment. In fact I had no experience of it at all until last year, barring the odd smack on the back of the legs when I was too tiny to reason with. I had to be away from home to experience it for the first time, and I can tell you that getting that punishment was some shock even though I asked for it and certainly deserved it. It was a doubly new experience because I got to watch my two closest friends being punished too.
