by Jodi Bella
"No problem."
"I'm sure after tonight you won't have any reason to pull her over again."
Luke hung up the phone with a quiet click that was completely at odds with the rage that boiled in his blood. His fists clenched as he stalked to the window that overlooked the drive, waiting to see Alicia's car winding its way up. A muscle ticked in his jaw as he tried to rein in his temper. He couldn't explode on her the second she showed up, though it would be hard not to. He had to give her a chance to tell him about the ticket first. It was important that she feel she could tell him about things like this. But in order for her to tell him, he had to first give her the chance.
He took a deep breath, in and out, and started counting backwards from one hundred to try to calm down. He had reached sixty-two when Alicia's car appeared in the drive.
Alicia walked slowly into the house that Luke shared with Missy, hoping that her expression was normal. She had a sinking feeling that Brian may have already called to tell Luke about the ticket that now burned like a hot coal in her coat pocket. She knew she would have to tell Luke what had happened. Even if Brian hadn't called, they were sure to see each other soon and the topic would come up then. Plus she knew better than to try to keep something from Luke. He was going to be her husband and she needed to be honest with him about everything. No matter how scared she was to face his disappointment and anger.
He was waiting for her in the dining room with an odd expression on his face, like he was fighting to control his emotions. She knew it then, for sure, that Brian had already contacted Luke about her ticket.
The elegant table setting, the candles, and the aromas from her favorite take-out restaurant weren't missed as she took in the scene before her, and fresh guilt hit her hard as she realized what a wonderful evening Luke had planned that was now completely ruined.
Alicia sucked in a huge gasp of air before she spoke. "Luke, I have to tell you something."
A look of pure relief crossed his face and her own hammering heart beat slowed a bit as she realized he'd been hoping she would come to him on her own. "What is it, angel?" he asked, taking her hand.
"Luke, I got a speeding ticket today," she admitted quietly. "I was going eighty-five in a forty zone. And…" She studied the carpet under her feet. "And I wasn't wearing my seatbelt."
He nodded. "Why?" he asked.
Alicia blinked. She hadn't anticipated that question. "I was late opening the store and I had a customer due right at open to pick up a large order," she answered. "And… oh, Luke, it's so stupid. I didn't have my belt on because this blouse is silk and I didn't want it to get creased or wrinkled!"
When she dared glance up into her fiancé's face, his eyes were dark and angry. He led her into the living room and all but pushed her down onto the sofa.
"Do you know why it's so important to me that you wear your seatbelt, Alicia?" he asked, pacing in front of her, hands on his hips.
"Because it's the law? And it's for my own safety and protection?" she guessed.
Luke nodded. "Those reasons are good, but there's another reason too. One I should probably have told you about sooner. It's just very hard to talk about it…" He paused and turned to pin her with his gaze. "My brother and his wife probably would have survived the accident that killed them—if they'd been wearing their seatbelts at the time."
Alicia gasped softly at this horrible revelation.
"And it probably also would have helped if the guy who hit them had been doing the speed limit, instead of going thirty miles per hour over it."
"Oh, God…"
Luke's pacing had stopped. He stood staring at Alicia now with hard, hurt eyes. "So, you see, Alicia, it's very important to me that my fiancée keeps her promise to wear her seatbelt. And it's also very important to me that she obeys the speed limit. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Luke. Oh, God, Luke, I'm so sorry. I didn't know…"
He held up one hand. "It doesn't matter that you didn't know. You're not stupid, Alicia. You know better than to speed like you did today. And you know you need to wear your seatbelt. Yet you don't. And this isn't the first time we've had this conversation, is it?"
"No…"
He shook his head in exasperation. "Well, I'm telling you, it's going to be the last." He pulled her up by her hand and marched her down the hallway to his bedroom. He piled three pillows, one on top of the other, in the middle of the bed, then turned to her and said, "Take off your pants and underwear, Alicia, and lay over those pillows with your bottom up good and high."
"Luke, please…" she started, a sick, sinking feeling skittering around in her belly.
"No!" he barked. He took a step back from her and she could see that he was visibly fighting to control his anger. "No. I warned you the last time what would happen if you forgot your seatbelt again. And not five minutes ago, you told me that you didn't just forget, but willingly left off using it to keep from wrinkling your blouse. So, I don't want to hear a word from you. You knew what I'd promised you, and you still did it. So, believe me, Alicia, you're going to get the whipping of your life tonight. Now do as I said!"
Tears were flowing down Alicia's cheeks already, just from the hurt and truth in his words. She knew he was right, that was what was the worst of it. That, and the knowledge of how she'd let him down by breaking her promise to him.
She unbuttoned and pushed down her pants and panties, stepping out of them with a flaming face. She was eager to hide her face and her body from his searing gaze and bent herself, bottom up, over the pillows as quickly as she could. She shivered in the slightly cool air of the room, feeling more exposed and vulnerable and frightened than she ever could remember.
"Turn your head towards me," Luke told her. Apparently he wasn't going to let her hide her face from him during this punishment. She turned her head to the opposite side, tears sliding down to wet the coverlet beneath her.
Luke looked down at her with this sadness in his gaze that was worse, somehow, than the earlier anger. He placed a small pillow under her neck and let his fingers linger a moment on her damp cheek. Then he took a deep breath, seeming to gather himself together, and stepped back.
In a sort of horrifying dream-state, Alicia watched as Luke unbuckled his belt and drew the length of wicked, wide, black leather through the loops in his jeans. He wrapped one end of it around one hand, leaving a good length dangling free. It was easily long enough to strike across both of Alicia's buttocks at the same time, each and every time.
She watched as he drew his arm back, but squeezed her eyes shut as the leather flew forward again. There was a loud SNAP! as the strap met her bare flesh and a burning blossom of pain fired up along the line the leather left in its wake.
"Oww!" she cried, unable to contain her surprise and discomfort. But the second lash was already descending by that point, followed rapidly by a third, and so many, many more.
Luke paid no attention to her wails or her pleading, just kept up the whipping with slow, deliberate measures of his belt. Each time the leather danced against her backside, Alicia bucked and cried out against it. Her flesh felt seared, burnt, and swollen. Yet still he snapped the belt down on her upturned cheeks, bent on making his point known and felt for days to come.
"You—are- a- smart—woman—Alicia Marie!" he said, using his licks to punctuate his words. "I—will—not—tolerate—foolish—dangerous—behavior—from you. Not—ever. Do—you—hear—me?" he demanded.
"Yes! Luke, please, stop!" In her desperation, one hand shot back in a futile effort to cover her burning bottom.
"Move your hand, Alicia."
"Luke, pleeease! I can't take anymore…" she sobbed.
"Yes, you can. You've earned plenty more and you will have it. Now move your hand unless you want me to start over from the beginning."
Good Lord, she didn't want that. She snatched her hand back immediately, hardly believing that he would make such a threat, let alone carry it out. But she wasn't about to test him on it,
either. Her reward for obeying was a fresh, smart lick from the belt that made her gasp.
"You—could—get—killed—if you had an—accident—going so—fast—and—not—wearing—your—seatbelt. Do you realize that, Alicia?"
"Yes," she hissed.
"Then you'd better wake up—and stop acting—so—stupidly!" SNAP! CRACK! "If I have to—I'll take—this—belt—to you—every damn night. Anything—so that you—remember to—wear your—seatbelt—and obey the—speed—limit when you drive."
The coverlet beneath Alicia's face was soaked from her tears. Her hands ached from being balled into fists and her legs were exhausted from kicking and struggling. She lay limply over the stacked pillows now, no longer fighting the punishment, only jumping from time to time as each new stroke fell. She wondered when……if, he was going to stop. Surely she had to be purple and bruised by now. She couldn't imagine sitting down for a week, at least.
"Luke… Luke… I swear I'll never do it again… Just please stop…"
There wasn't even a brief pause in the rise and fall of the strap. "You need to learn, Alicia, that I am the one punishing you. I decide how, where, and when to stop. I will stop when I think you've really learned your lesson. And this is a very serious lesson to learn. I want to make damn sure you get it this time around because if there's a next time, you could get hurt or killed if you're not as lucky."
After a pause, during which the only sound in the room was the swish-snaaap of the belt meeting Alicia's behind, Luke stopped the whipping and asked, "Now, am I going to have to repeat this lesson again, Alicia Marie?"
"No! No, Luke, I swear! I promise you. I'll always wear my belt and I won't speed again. I promise!"
He let the belt fly against her five more times in rapid succession. Alicia hissed and writhed in pain. When he finished, she heard the sound of the belt as he flung it to the floor.
"Stay there," he growled. Alicia heard the opening and closing of the door and knew a fresh, raw pain at the knowledge that Luke was walking away without comforting her or even saying he loved her or forgave her.
She sobbed out her misery, her bottom still thrust up in the air, throbbing with heat. She couldn't even fathom moving at that moment. All that existed for her was the awful pain and the horrible fear of what her foolishness may have cost her relationship with Luke.
A while later, she heard him come back into the room. She chanced a glance up at him and saw him flinch when he surveyed what he'd done to her backside. He sat almost timidly on the bed beside her and unscrewed a small jar he held in his hand.
"This should help minimize the bruising," he told her. A second later, she felt his fingertips spreading a cool lotion on her bottom. Even though he was being gentle, she still sucked in a breath at the light pressure of his fingers on her freshly leathered backside.
"Luke, I'm so sorry…"
"Shhh… it's over now."
"But, I feel so badly still…"
"I forgive you, Alicia. If you want to make it up to me and if you want to feel better, honey, just keep your promises. Okay?"
"Okay."
When Luke had finished with the lotion, he helped her to stand and presented her with one of his long tee shirts to change into. Then he ducked back out of the room.
Even the soft cotton of the worn tee shirt was abrasive to Alicia's tender skin, but she donned the shirt anyway, and padded barefoot after Luke. She found him standing in the kitchen, staring out the window at nothing.
She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his broad back.
"Luke?" she asked.
"Yeah?" He sounded weary, tired, aged.
"I love you."
It was the first time she'd said the words out loud and now she wondered why it had taken her so long. Luke turned around and hugged her tightly, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"You love me even after what just happened?"
She nodded. "I loved you before then, too. But I think I love you even more now."
His face was grim. "I'm sorry I was so hard on you."
She put one finger to his lips. "I deserved it. It's about time I realized that I have to take care of myself."
Luke pressed his eyes closed. He pulled her closer still and whispered, "God, Alicia, don't ever do anything like that again."
"I won't."
He breathed her scent in deep and caressed her back, then ever so gently smoothed a hand over her still warm bottom.
She pulled his head down and rose up on her toes to kiss him with all the passion and love she felt for him. She rubbed herself shamelessly against him and looked up at him through lowered eyelashes when their lips parted.
"I know I was just punished, but could you make love to me anyway, Luke?" she asked hopefully. "Please?"
Chapter 8
Luke framed Alicia's face and looked into her eyes longingly. "Sweetheart, you're too sore for that right now. There's no way I would do that to you."
Alicia placed her hands over Luke's and smiled up at him. "Please? I want you to make love to me, Luke. I need you to comfort me…"
Luke shook his head. "Your bottom is red and sore. No. We have all weekend, hell, the rest of our lives. I don't want to hurt you…"
"You won't, Luke…" Alicia closed her eyes briefly. "I can see what a romantic night you had planned for us. Can't we still enjoy a little of it? Please?"
How could he say no to her? When she was looking up at him with those big green eyes and that soft mouth, asking him to comfort her with his lovemaking? Especially after the hard spanking she'd just taken from him? He couldn't say no to her, he just couldn't make the word come out of his mouth.
Ever so slightly, Luke bent and kissed Alicia's forehead. "Okay," he conceded and was rewarded with a brilliant grin. "But, you have to promise to tell me if it hurts you. Understand?"
"Yes!" She made an X over her chest above her heart and reached up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "I promise! Cross my heart!"
Luke chuckled and drew her into his arms for a long, warm hug. Their hands grew distracted and began to wander as Luke seared her mouth with his warm, firm lips. It wasn't long before they were groping and panting like too randy teenagers, and Luke drew back from Alicia for a moment to regain his head. She pouted prettily, fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. He leaned over her and whispered in her ear, "Now, let's see how hot things can really get!" And he scooped her up in his arms, mindful of her tender backside, and carried her off to his bedroom.
The room where Alicia had so recently been punished in now became a romantic little love nest for the two of them. Luke settled Alicia on the bed and lit all the tea candles in the room, giving off just enough soft light for them to see one another by. He pulled the tee shirt she'd only just donned right off again and tossed it over his shoulder to the floor, then traced the cups of her lacy underwire bra with his thumbs. She leaned back against the pillows she'd recently been draped over for chastisement, and watched in a drunken daze as he dallied with her breasts, bringing them to stand at hard attention inside their lace caps. When he bent his head to draw at first one bud, then other, through the fabric, they threatened to break free and Alicia let out a low moan of desire.
More sounds fell from Alicia's lips, lusty and shrill, but very different from the recent sobs and cries that had echoed in the room during her whipping. She tossed her head wildly back and forth as Luke took greedy sips from her, glancing from time to time up into her face with a wide, proud grin.
The bra, her only remaining piece of clothing, came off with a deft movement of Luke's fingers and he cupped her bare breast in both hands, making her near delirious with long, wet kisses traced along the outline of her jaw, neck, earlobe and collarbone. Alicia could feel the stiff member of him as it bumped against her stomach. But it wasn't enough—she wanted to feel him.
"You… you have on… too many clothes!" she panted as his kisses trailed down her neck again, through the valley bet
ween her breasts and down further still towards her navel. Her fingers snatched at empty air as she tried to snag his clothes to pull them off. Luke chuckled at her efforts and the frustrated sounds she was making, his warm breath fanning over her bare belly in a gentle tickle.
"Be patient, young lady," he advised in that no-nonsense 'I'm-the-spanker-here-and-don't-you-forget-it' voice. "Good things come to those who wait…"
"God, you're so conceited!"
Luke nipped her hip playfully with his teeth. His eyes were soft and serious when they rose to her face. "You're beautiful, Alicia Marie. Stunning."
As usual, the heat spread across her face and neck and Luke reached up to touch the blossoming blush. He grinned. "I just love that."
Alicia rolled her eyes. "I know!"
He laughed again and kissed her mouth, taking a long leisurely sip, obviously enjoying taking his time about everything and keeping her near hysteria with the wait. His hand traveled down the length of her side, then brushed ever so slightly over the curls between her legs.
He was still kissing her when one of his fingers touched her there, very gently, just like the flit of a butterfly wing. Yet, Alicia still tensed and their kiss broke abruptly. Luke pushed aside her curtain of hair and looked up into her face.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded immediately, though she didn't look all that sure of herself.
"Does it hurt too much?"
"No."
"Alicia, you can't hide things from me. Especially not in bed. If something's wrong, you must tell me."
She blushed again. "It's okay, Luke… It's just that… well, I haven't been with all that many men. That's all. And… well, it's been a while since the last man."
"Oh." Luke smiled. He moved his finger so he was once again just barely inside of her. She tensed, then seemed to relax when he stopped at that. "Well, angel, I kind of like that. Now, let's see, where were we?"
While Alicia wriggled and writhed, Luke once again worked his way down her body with kisses, rubbing small circles with his fingers inside of her. The stubble on his face that had grown since he'd shaved that morning was just enough of an abrasive on her skin to make the journey of kisses all the more exciting. When he got down to the patch of blond curls between her legs, he looked up into her face with a wide grin, like he'd just discovered the most wonderful thing in the world.
