by Maren Smith
The glance he gave her could have melted the paint off the walls it was so hot and deadly. He just pointed one long forefinger right at her and didn’t say a word. Then he climbed in his truck and left with Andi leaving Marlie practically hyperventilating in his wake.
The effect of his full commanding uniform, complete with dominant good looks, was having a terrifying melting effect on her bones. An impending sense of danger to her butt cheeks had her flying into the house to grab her car keys and her purse and then scrambling to vacate the premises. She’d only seen that look a few times but she knew from her experience with her dad’s hard hand what the outcome of it would be.
That was a, ‘You’re getting a spanking, young lady,’ look, if she ever saw one!
Approximately one hour later, Savannah, her beloved twin sister, was laughing her ass off after she brought her up to speed on the events of the weekend—minus the threat about Max spanking her. Some things she couldn’t even tell her twin, especially when she was already being unsympathetic to her plight.
“It’s not funny,” yelled Marlie. “I swear you’re a sadist. That man is coming back to beat me up most likely, and I can’t report him to the cops because he’s the head cop, and you’re laughing at me.”
Savannah tucked a riotous curl behind her ear, wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to stop laughing. “Okay, so let me get this straight. You have a hot new boarder with a sweet little girl, who warned you not to play the Grinch around his child, and you just had to do it anyway? What are you really afraid of Marlie? If he’s a cop I highly doubt he beats up women, and it’s a sure bet he isn’t going to murder you. So, short of scolding and yelling at you, what else can he do? You said you wanted him to leave, so that shouldn’t bother you if he packs up and takes off, so what’s got you all in a tizzy?”
“You got any wine coolers?” Marlie asked grumpily, ignoring her sister’s reasonable questions.
“Not when you’re driving home. You don’t want him to add drinking and driving to your list of shortcomings, he might actually arrest you,” snickered her sister. Then Savannah’s face softened. “You know, Marlie, this is the first time I’ve seen you not moping around in longer than I care to remember. Whoever this man is, he seems to have an enlivening effect on you. I can’t help but think that’s a good thing.”
“Not when he’s planning on spanking my ass,” protested Marlie, unable to contain it any longer. If she’d expected Savannah to be shocked, she was quickly doomed to disappointment.
“Aha! I knew there had to be more to it than you were telling me,” crowed her twin, her eyes twinkling. “Sounds like you’ve found an alpha male and you’re going to have to take your punishment. Running away won’t help you either, it will just make it worse.”
“Are you serious?” squeaked Marlie, her eyes turning into saucers. “I’m not letting that man spank me, he has hands like platters!” Her eyes narrowed. “Since when are you so all-knowing? Don’t tell me Luke has spanked you before.” She couldn’t imagine her take charge sister, with such a fiery temperament like her own, letting Luke spank her.
“A couple of times,” Savannah admitted, with a blush.
“And you let him?” Marlie couldn’t believe her ears.
“His mind was made up and... and I deserved it,” she finished quickly. She looked sternly at Marlie then. “And so do you from the sound of it. The man has been nothing but nice to you, cleaned up after you, invited you up for pizza, and this is the thanks he gets? You upset his child?”
“Well... I... I forgot about Andi,” Marlie responded lamely. “Besides, you know I hate Christmas.”
“You only hate Christmas because the holiday you used to love was ruined by that asshole,” corrected Savannah gently. “Now you’re taking it out on Santa and everything to do with Christmas.”
“Maybe,” whispered Marlie dully. “But I just can’t help it. It reminds me of Aspen. And that hurts so damned much, I just can’t face it.”
“You need to heal, Marlie. You’ve closed it all up inside you and refused to talk to anyone, not even me. Do you realize this is the first time you’ve spoken her name since you lost her? Whoever this Max is, he’s accomplished more in opening up your emotions in a few days than I have in three years. I’d say you are very attracted to him and you’re scared. You’re afraid he will turn out like Tristan.” She took Marlie’s hands gently in hers. “Not every man is like Tristan. He was a special kind of asshole.”
Marlie leaned forward and hugged Savannah. “I...I need to go.”
Savannah walked with her to the door and then tugged at Marlie’s chin to make her look at her. “You know, sis, I’ll tell you something that might help. Men don’t generally threaten to spank a girl unless they care.”
“Strange way to show it,” muttered Marlie, disgruntled. “How can he care about me when he just met me?”
“How can you be attracted to him when you just met him?” countered Savannah. “It just happens that way sometimes.”
“Um...yeah...sure.”
“Be careful driving home.” Savannah waved her away with a smile.
IF MARLIE HAD ANY DOUBT as to Max’s intentions, they quickly dissipated at the sight that greeted her on the kitchen table. Marlie the elf was laying over Max’s skinny cloth legs and his right elfin hand was resting in the general area of butt cheeks although there weren’t any outlined in her red tartan plaid dress. The note left under his other hand read: It’s coming.
She stood there biting her lip, unsure of how she was supposed to feel when she heard the slam of the truck door outside. “Oh no, he’s here,” she gasped whirling around and through the door to the living room. He must have been watching for her to return, the sneaky cop!
Quickly she gathered up her purse and grabbed her phone, then ran to the front door. When she yanked the door open with trembling fingers, she was shocked to see him standing there, a grin on his face and a steely look in those dark blue eyes.
“You... you,” she sputtered, then tried to close the door, but it was too late. He had the screen door open and one huge hand flat on the door pushing it further open. She whirled around and stopped dead in her tracks at his low growling command.
“Don’t run from me, Marlie.”
She turned slowly around, her body starting to tremble as she began a slow backward retreat. “I... I can explain,” she implored, dropping her purse onto the carpet.
He advanced on her for every step she took backwards. “I’d really like to hear that, Marlie. But I don’t think there is any excuse you can give me that will erase the look of horror on Andi’s face when she saw that elf hanging there like that.”
“But... but it’s just a doll, after all,” she replied desperately. “It’s not like it’s real or anything.”
“It’s real to Andi.”
She couldn’t deny that. Meep had been real to her too, and she knew at 5 or 6 years old, she would have been just as horrified as Andi had been.
“It’s... it’s your fault,” she countered, glaring at him. “If you hadn’t started putting the stupid elf on the shelf, it wouldn’t have come to this.”
“I admit I did it the first time to cheer you up because you seemed to have a surly attitude toward Christmas.”
“I hate Christmas,” she yelped wildly, her face turning pink. “I hate it, do you hear me?” His eyes softened somewhat and Marlie had hopes of maybe turning this around. Her stomach was churning with a mixture of emotions, attraction, dread, anticipation, and most all, a sensual excitement.
“Maybe you do, but Andi doesn’t. And the second time was her idea because she wanted to be nice. She gave me the candy bar to give to Max, to give to you.”
Marlie had backed up as far as she could go. The back of her legs were up against the sofa and her chin shot up. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t think of Andi getting to the kitchen first. But that doesn’t give you the right to threaten me with a spanking.”
He didn’t refu
te her statement, just reached out and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “Ben told me that you lost a child,” he replied softly. “And I’m guessing that’s why you hate Christmas.”
Marlie felt herself growing cold. “That’s none of your business.” The back of her throat ached with suppressed tears. She was good at that but it took a toll on her. If the walls around her heart ever broke, what would she do with all the emotions? They would turn her into a mindless mass of confusion unable to even cope. No, she had to stay firmly in control—she had to.
“Maybe it isn’t, but my daughter being hurt is,” he replied, his eyes hardening once again. “And for that, you were warned. Are you going to take your punishment willingly? Or do I have to put you over my lap myself?”
Marlie pulled herself up to her full five-foot-five-inches, her insides shaking. Obviously, he wasn’t going to let this go, so she might as well negotiate and remain in control. “Fine,” she snapped belligerently. “Let’s do this and get it over with. I’ll accept five swats and that's it.”
His lips quirked with what looked suspiciously like amusement, but he sat down on the couch and patted his long thighs in that damned sexy uniform. Hadn’t there been a fantasy about this somewhere in her teenage years?
“Over you go, then,” he added helpfully.
His eyes dared her, saying she wasn’t woman enough to do it but Marlie was tougher than that. She’d survived five licks of her dad’s belt once, she could survive this. With a huff she crawled across his broad lap and rested her elbows on the sofa, her body tense as a board. She was pretty sure she heard a snicker but she wouldn’t acknowledge it. Let him do his worst.
“You’re a tough little thing, aren’t you?” he asked musingly, running his palm over her clenched bottom cheeks outlined in the snug skinny fit blue jeans. One thing about this figure-hugging material, it was a very soft and nothing like real blue jeans.
Marlie looked back over her shoulder at the satisfied smirk on Max’s lips. His palm caressing her buttocks was causing strange sensations in her stomach. She liked and hated it at the same time and she couldn’t afford to like it. “Just get on with it,” she ordered boldly. The look he shot her no longer contained a smirk, but a steely determined look.
“There’s one thing you need to realize here,” he retorted, his eyes flashing dangerously. “You aren’t in charge of this spanking. I’m the spanker, therefore I’m in charge and I decide when you’ve had enough. And I can guarantee it won’t be just five swats.”
His arm went high in the air and then descended and Marlie’s right bottom cheek exploded in pain. Before she could even take a breath to protest, another spank landed on the left side. Gasping she tried to buck off his lap but his left arm secured her firmly to his stomach as two more spanks were repeated in the same pattern and then one landed right in the middle, making her writhe over his lap. Finally she found her voice. “Stop it... just stop it,” she gasped, fighting for control. “That’s enough, you have to stop!”
He did, much to her surprise as she panted over his lap. His flat palm was resting against the seat of her jeans and she could feel the heat of it through the thin material, even with the warmth he’d already engendered. Maybe he was going to let her go after all with only five spanks. His next words dashed that thought.
“That’s the five you ask for, now here is the spanking I promised,” he replied firmly.
He started spanking her tender bottom flesh with hard even strokes igniting fire and pain that was nothing like those licks of her Dad’s belt. Marlie tried valiantly to maintain control, even biting her lower lip, but she couldn’t help the cries of pain that eventually escaped her swollen mouth. Was he ever going to stop? It seemed to go on forever and she couldn’t break down, she just couldn’t.
MAX WASN’T SURE WHAT was driving him but he could feel the control Marlie was keeping over her emotions. The girl was refusing to even sob. He was no professional at giving a spanking, if there was such a thing, but he somehow sensed that she needed to let go. Ben had said the loss of her child was almost three years ago and yet she was very brittle about Christmas.
Having been through the loss of his own wife, he knew a thing or two about grieving, and being in denial. It had taken a long time for him to let go too, but with the help of family and friends, he’d finally been able to do so. He still missed Leslie, every single day, but he’d lost the brittle edge that Marlie still carried. She needed to let it go and grieve. He paused, caressing the quivering mounds with his flat palm. She was so beautiful she took his breath away. And she wasn’t even bare to him. Next time she would be, he vowed.
“Christmas is about family and traditions centered around love, Marlie,” he spoke gently, “It’s important to children, they need love to believe in. Call it Santa, call it whatever you want, but they need it.”
Marlie stiffened beneath him. “Are we done now?” she asked through gritted teeth. “I said I was sorry. What more do you want?”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, then firmed his resolve. “Almost. This is for trying to run and hide from me. You should have been here when I got back.” He landed several firm swats on the back of her thighs that had her squealing and bucking frantically until he almost lost his grip on her. Finally he soothed some of the burn on her legs with his big palm. “Don’t ever run from me.” Then he pulled her up to sit in his lap, ignoring her hiss of pain. There were a few stray tears on her cheeks but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand.
“Let me up, please,” she whispered hoarsely. “You did what you wanted to do, now let me go.”
Max couldn’t let her go quite like this. He maintained his firm grip on her hip and picked up one of the small fists to rub her wrist with his thumb. “I lost Leslie to breast cancer three years ago,” he replied quietly. “We both lost someone we love, didn’t we?”
When she refused to look at him he gently tipped her chin up to look in those incredible green eyes that were gleaming with pain and anger. “I was angry too, just like you. But I know you have to let it go and allow yourself to grieve.”
“You don’t know anything,” ground out Marlie between clenched teeth, jerking her head away from his hand. “You’re just like everyone else, you think I should just get over it. But you don’t know what happened, you weren’t there.” She tried to scramble off his lap but he held her down. This wasn’t going the way he had planned. Where was the repentant, softened girl he should be holding after she’d been punished? And what the hell was she trying to say with those desperate words and panicked eyes?
“So tell me what happened, Marlie,” he urged. “I’m a good listener, just tell me.”
“I can’t,” she replied shaking her head frantically. Those big soulful eyes pleaded with him. “Please, just let me go.”
When her body suddenly went limp in his arms Max became concerned. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. She wasn’t even fighting him anymore. “Marlie?” He shook her gently and when she opened her eyes they were almost vacant. It was as if she had retreated to some place he couldn’t follow. What the hell was going on? He was fishing his cell phone out of the leather case on his duty belt when the door suddenly opened and a woman that looked just like Marlie except for her curly hair walked inside.
“Marlie,” she gasped, running to kneel beside them.
“I’m calling 9-1-1,” Max said grimly. “She seems to be having some sort of breakdown.” He was surprised when the woman snatched the phone out of his hand.
“No, it won’t do any good. We’ve been through this before.” She reached up and gently touched her cheek. “Marlie? Marlie, honey, it’s Savannah. I’m here, baby, you can open your eyes.”
Max was relieved to see Marlie open her eyes and the vapid look begin to clear. “Savannah?” Then she closed her eyes again. “I’m so tired, Savannah. I just want to rest.”
“Can you bring her into the bedroom?” asked Savannah, getting
up briskly and leading the way to Marlie’s room. “She’ll be okay in a few hours, really. She does this when anyone pushes her beyond her comfort zone. I’ve tried and tried to get her to see a therapist, but she won’t go there.”
Max stood up with Marlie in his arms and carried her into the bedroom where he laid her gently on the bed. “Does she do this often?” He watched as Savannah took Marlie’s shoes off and covered her with the dolphin throw from the bottom of the bed.
Savannah’s curls bobbed back and forth as she shook her head. “Not for a long time. I thought she was getting better. But maybe it's just that no one pushes her anymore.” She sighed as she motioned Max out of the room and gently closed the door behind them. “You want a cup of coffee or something? I take it you’re Max?” She held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, although I wish it was under better circumstances. I’m Marlie’s twin, Savannah.”
Max held the kitchen door open for Savannah and followed her through as she made her way to the coffee pot. “I’m guessing you’re blaming yourself about now?” She looked at him over her shoulder, her green eyes wide and knowing.
Max took a seat at the table and rubbed his chin. “Yes and no.”
“Okay, that’s cryptic.” She sat the cup of coffee in front him and pushed the sugar packets toward him. “You want cream? I think there might be some in the fridge.”
“No thanks,” he responded. “I take it black.” He watched her as she opened two sugar packets and emptied them into her coffee before stirring it absently. “So why is that cryptic?”
“Well, I know it’s none of my business, but I know you threatened to spank her. She came to see me this morning. I’m guessing you did and you’re thinking that set her off?” She eyed him shrewdly.
Max decided he liked her blunt honesty. “Actually, I did, but she took it well. Too well, in fact. She didn’t even cry. And that’s the part that bothered me. I was trying to get her to talk to me but she just tensed up and refused. All she wanted to do was get away, and when I wouldn’t let her go, she seemed to just... just fade away.” He frowned. “It doesn’t feel to me like she has fully dealt with her grief over the loss of her baby.”
