The Marriage Pact

by Dinah McLeod

  How different our lives might have been if he’d called. My mind was reeling from the thought. When I saw the worry in his eyes, I offered a smile. “I know.”

  “What do I need to do, baby? Help me make this right.”

  “I guess… I’m still a little scared.”

  His grip tightened on my chin, but it felt comforting as he tipped it up so that I was looking him in the eye. “Aren’t we all? If you don’t want this, then tell me, Shana. I care about you enough to leave you alone, if that’s what you really want. But if it’s not, you have to stop running anytime you get confused or things get hard. My old heart can’t take it, honey.”

  “You’re not old,” I scoffed, my smile fading a bit when I thought about what he’d said. “I don’t know, Brody. I want to believe you, I want to, but…”

  “No buts,” he said firmly. “If you want to, then you have to. Give us another shot, Shan. If you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering ‘What if?’”

  Oh, how right he was about that. I already knew so well. “OK,” I said, exhaling the word with relief.

  He gazed at me with soft, loved-filled eyes as he stroked my cheek. “And about running away?”

  “I… I’ll try, Brody. I promise. I don’t know where along the line it became my defense mechanism, but…”

  “Shh.” Brody pulled me tightly against his chest and kissed my straight black hair. “I know, baby. I’ll be patient with you if you’ll give me the same promise.”

  “Deal.”

  We both fell silent after that. I’d always loved watching the water. Brody had always been baffled by it, but he didn’t seem to mind so much just now.

  “Brody?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you think you should… punish me?”

  “Punish you for what?” He asked, surprise showing on his face.

  “For… you know. Running away.”

  “I wasn’t planning on it. We’ve never talked about it before, but now that we have, I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain. Understand?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “But what, Shana? Do you think I should? Do you need me to?”

  This was as crazy as crazy could get. I knew I should tell him no, of course not, don’t be silly, but when I opened my mouth what came out was, “Maybe. Maybe I do need you to.”

  “We’re talking a spanking here,” he clarified. “And if you ask me to punish you, I’m not going to hold back. Are you sure this is what you want?”

  “I don’t want you to hold back.”

  “OK, baby. Let’s get this over with then.”

  When I put myself over his awaiting knees, the strangest sense of satisfaction came over me. Brody must have felt it too, because I could feel his rock-hard erection pulsing hungrily through the fabric of his jeans.

  “You know, Shana… I’ve always known every inch of you was made for me, but this… when you submit to me like this,” his hand caressed gently over my bottom, “waiting for my punishment, it’s like a dream, a wish, and every fantasy I’ve ever had coming true all at once. I love you.”

  His voice was thick with emotion and the unshed tears that had formed in my eyes earlier began to fall down my cheeks, one by one. I turned my head back to look at him, my eyes wide.

  “You… do?”

  “Yes,” he reached a hand over to stroke my silky black hair. “I do. Why are you looking at me like that? I’ve said it before.”

  I shook my head, still amazed that he’d said it at all. “Not since… it’s been a long time.”

  “You are so silly, woman. Of course I love you—who could help but love you?”

  “I don’t care about anyone else but you,” I replied softly.

  “Let’s get this over with, OK?”

  Without a word, I turned back around and Brody repositioned me over his lap. As soon as he had me right where he wanted me, I felt his hand smack against the seat of my shorts. I couldn’t help but grunt with the impact, which was repeated with each of the stinging eleven spanks he put right in the same spot. By that time, I was whimpering and wriggling. I wanted him to stop, but I didn’t ask him to. I trusted him—I knew he’d stop when it was right, and not before. Something about that knowledge gave me the strength to relax against him and take my punishment. It even gave me the strength to admit—to myself, if no one else—that I needed his punishment. Maybe I always had, even if I hadn’t known it.

  I squirmed when he slipped his fingers into the band of my shorts and peeled them down slowly. He slid his hand over my bared bottom cheeks and I could feel his cock straining even harder against the fly of his pants. Delicious tingles rippled through me at his touch, but no sooner had I begun to enjoy it than he lifted his hand and began to cover my cheeks with swift, firm spanks. I cried out as the pain resumed anew, grinding my pelvis against his thigh.

  “Lie still,” he warned gruffly, “or I’ll spank you standing up.”

  If I’d thought it hurt before, he quickly proved me wrong. As soon as I’d settled down, he turned up the heat, spanking with a paddle-like hand that flattened my sit-spots with each and every swat. They were all delivered rapid-fire and only ceased when my body was racked with sobs of remorse. My bottom was stinging unforgivably as he helped me up and pulled me onto his hard thigh. He held me tightly, stroking my hair and murmuring that he loved me over and over again until the tears stopped.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, my voice muffled as I pressed my face into his chest.

  He gave me a squeeze. “For what, honey?”

  “For… you know… spanking me.”

  “Oh, it was my pleasure,” he quipped.

  “Do you have to make everything a joke?” I swatted at his chest. “Some things never change.”

  “Hey, now.” He caught my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. “Behave.”

  “Yes, sir,” I replied with a little sigh, settling back against his chest. As I inhaled his sweet, manly scent I could swear the clock turned back and we were teenagers again. My love for him hadn’t diminished one iota in all that time. But it was better now. This time, I knew it would last. Some things never changed—but when things did, sometimes they were even better than before.

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  “I just can’t believe you’re moving out. You’re so grown up, honey.”

  I refrained—just barely—from rolling my eyes. “Mom, I’m going to be thirty-five.”

  “Oh, I know, dear. Just… you know this is all your father ever wanted for you.”

  “To move out?” I asked as I wrapped knick-knacks in newspaper.

  “No. For you to find a man who would take care of you and love you just the way you deserve. I know he’d be so proud of you.”

  It was hard not to get teary-eyed when she smiled at me with that trembling smile. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Who would have thought you’d meet the right one for you when you were nine?”

  “I sure didn’t think so at the time!” I laughed.

  “Oh, I know just how you feel. Have I ever told you about the first time your father asked me out on a date?”

  “No.” I shook my head, surprised there was a story about my parents I hadn’t heard already.

  “Well, he asked me to a school dance or some other nonsense like that and I laughed in his face.”

  “You didn’t!”

  “Oh, don’t look so shocked, dear. Your father was quite the ladies’ man, and I didn’t want to step on any toes.”

  “You’re making that up!”

  “No, no, it’s quite true. He never gave up though. He kept asking until he’d worn me down.”

  I giggled at the thought. Now that sounded like Dad. He was a firm believer in ‘If at first you don’t succeed…’

  We spent a peaceful, relaxing afternoon laughing and remembering old times as we wrapped my life in bubble wrap and stored it in boxes. When Brody had first asked me to move in with him,
I’d regretfully turned him down. I hadn’t thought Mom could handle living on her own—and after all, that had been the primary reason I’d moved back in the first place. But I’d been in the middle of a rotation at the hospital when I ran into her doctor. I asked him to have a cup of coffee with me and as we discussed my mom’s case, I realized something. He’d expressed concern over her health, assuming that it would have improved drastically on the current drug he’d prescribed.

  Something had clicked into place then and I’d gone home to do a thorough search of the house. I’d found two things: first, that Mom had been taking her medication only half of the time, and second, that she’d bought a weight-loss drug over the Internet, which she’d kept hidden from me. She’d known that I wouldn’t approve, but what she couldn’t know was that the drugs in her weight-loss pills would render her dementia medication useless.

  I’d taken Mom off the weight-loss drugs with stern orders not to ever, ever take anything without checking with either her doctor or me first. She’d gained five or six pounds, but she’d also returned to a much more functional version of her happier self. It was almost astonishing to see how much she’d changed in such a short span of time. It made me feel better about leaving, although Mom had been the one to talk me into it.

  And if things ever got that bad again, I could come back. Brody only cared about what was best for my family. A happy glow settled over me as my mind strayed to him. I couldn’t believe how far we’d come, but one thing was for sure: I wouldn’t go back for anything.

  “Oh, I don’t see Mr. Soft Paws,” Mom commented, putting her hands on her hips and surveying the half-packed boxes. “You’re not going to leave him behind, are you?”

  “Not a chance.” I grinned at her. “Brody’ll have to learn to live with it.”

  * * *

  It had been a hellish week at the hospital and I was so looking forward to an evening of relaxing. Maybe we’d pop some popcorn and watch a movie, I mused as I let myself in the door.

  “Hey, hon, that you?”

  I laughed to myself as I shut the door. “Unless you have another girlfriend, then yes.”

  Brody popped his head around the corner, grinning. “Yeah, but she only comes on Tuesdays because that’s the night you work late.”

  “Hey!” I cried indignantly, playing along. I picked up the hand towel off the counter and tossed it at him. It hit harmlessly, but it was enough to bring him racing into the room and charging after me. Laughing, I took off, but I didn’t fight too hard and before long he caught me in his strong arms and pinned me beneath him, tickling me mercilessly.

  He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. “What’d you have for lunch today?”

  The question caught me off guard, more so when I realized he wasn’t going to like my answer. “What?”

  He pulled back and arched a brow at me. Shit, he was suspicious. “Should I rephrase? Did you eat today?”

  I winced. It was a conversation we’d had recently where he’d expressed his concerns over me skipping meals, particularly with the amount of caffeine I consumed. I’d promised I’d carry a pack of crackers in my purse, which I had. It didn’t really matter that the same pack had been at the bottom of my bag since Tuesday, did it?

  “All right,” he sighed, arms crossed across his chest. “How many cups?”

  I’d also promised to try to keep the caffeine intake down, but so far it wasn’t working out great. “Seven. But—”

  “No buts.” He sat up and pulled me along with him. “You know how I feel about this. And you of all people should know how dangerous it is!”

  “It can be dangerous, but—”

  “I thought I just said no buts.”

  “It’s not going to kill me!”

  He glowered at me. “No, but my belt might make a go of it if you don’t learn to listen to me. This is the same conversation we had before, the one where you promised you’d take better care of yourself. I can see that you need another reminder of how I feel about this.”

  “No, sir.” I tried to sound repentant, but I ruined it by rolling my eyes.

  “That’s it. Over my knee.”

  “No! Brody, this is ridiculous! I’m a grown woman, and—”

  “Then act like it and show me you know how to take your punishment.”

  “But I didn’t do anything wrong!” I protested. “You eat an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting, which is just as unhealthy as a cup of coffee. You don’t see me on your case about it, now do you?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “While I’m sure you could find plenty of medical data to support that hypothesis, it’s beside the point. You know how I feel about you replacing meals with caffeine. I thought one conversation would be enough, but no, apparently you intend to see just how serious I really am.”

  “That’s not—it was one time!” I could feel my irritation mounting. He was being so stubborn over something so trivial.

  “It doesn’t matter how many times you say it, I’m not going to change my mind. I take your health very seriously, Shana, almost as much as disobedience.”

  I rolled my eyes again. I knew it wasn’t doing a thing to help my case, but at this point, what difference did it make?

  “Not to mention breaking a promise. So, do we need to go through this again? Do you still think you didn’t do anything wrong, or are you willing to take your spanking like a good little girl?”

  I bristled at his words—I hated when he called me that when I was already mad and he knew it, too. “Fine, whatever. You’re going to have your way no matter what I say, so—”

  Brody put a finger to my lips, cutting my snarky comment short. “Don’t finish that sentence. You’re just digging yourself in deeper. You know it’s not true, either. I always get your input. Hell, I got it the last time this issue came up, when you told me I was right, that you would stop. More than once, I’ve backed off on a punishment spanking after listening to you, so please don’t cheapen it.”

  I flushed with shame and dropped my eyes. I knew he was right. Even so, I didn’t feel like being spanked for something I was convinced he was being ridiculous about. On the other hand, I had broken a promise. Ugh. When he moved his finger, I nodded in resignation. “All right.”

  I had barely laid myself over his lap when the spanking began. I could see right from the first swat that while I might have found it ridiculous, he took it very seriously and planned on making sure I did, too. I tried to count the spanks, but they were coming too fast and the burning sensation they put into my tender orbs with every punishing smack didn’t help.

  Even though Brody started by spanking the same spot again and again before switching to the other side, I’d long since learned that the pain spread to include even untouched flesh.

  “It’s stupid not to take better care of yourself,” he scolded as he spanked. “Caffeine is as much an addiction as cigarettes or alcohol and I’m sure some doctors would say it can be just as dangerous. You know these things, Shana, that’s what makes it worse.”

  I winced, whimpering as his hand struck hard. “I’m s-so-rry,” I groaned, bucking over his lap with each searing imprint of his hand.

  “Not nearly enough.”

  When he increased the tempo, I began writhing over his lap like a wild woman. The only thing I could feel was the burning, aching flesh and all I could think about was escape. I threw a hand behind me, trying not to protect my bottom but to strike at anything I could reach. If I’d been thinking clearly, maybe I would have realized that it wasn’t a smart thing to do, but my throbbing ass pretty much guaranteed I couldn’t think clearly. Before I could make contact, I found my wrist captured and pinned tightly to my back.

  “Stop fighting me and take your punishment like a good little girl,” he ordered calmly without breaking his rhythm.

  It was moments like this that I regretted ever agreeing to a—what did he call it? Being taken in hand? Whatever you called it, it still hurt like hell and made it nearly impossible to lie sti
ll, even though I knew not holding still was an even worse idea for my poor, defenseless ass. It really was a lose-lose.

  Even as I mused over it in between spanks, before the smack of his hand became a pain pressing deep into my bare flesh, I knew that I wouldn’t change a thing. Brody loved me. I could see it in everything he said and did—even this. Maybe especially this, because he was determined to help me be the best person I possibly could be. Color me strange, but I found it a bit romantic.

  And he’d shown me a million times over that spankings could be very, very nice, the kind that created a fire that burned slow but just as deep. He’d brought me to the pinnacle of pleasure with his hand smacking my ass just right, but this wasn’t one of those times. Oh, no, he meant for every single smack to keep the burning in my bottom going until I couldn’t take it anymore.

  I knew that at this rate I was going to be standing for the rest of the day. When the first tears hit my cheeks, they took me by surprise. It wasn’t long after that I was sobbing as I lay over his lap; still, even as I lay limply, crying, his hand continued to punish my bottom.

  “Almost there, Shan.”

  The sweet concern in his voice made the next dozen smacks bearable. I wailed and bucked with each one, but when they were over it was almost worth it to be taken into his arms.

  “Don’t skip lunch again. Are we clear?”

  “Y-yes, sir. We’re cl-clear.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  I snuggled close, burying my face in his chest, my heart singing even as my bottom tingled.

  * * *

  When I startled awake in a pitch-dark room, it took me a few moments to remember what had woken me. Did someone page me? No, my pager was sitting silently on the nightstand. Then what? A bad dream? No, that didn’t seem right either.

  “You up?”

  I jumped again at the sound of Brody’s husky voice. I could dimly make him out in the darkness. It looked like he was wearing jeans. “What are you doing?”