Back in Charge

by Dinah McLeod

  "I know you don't like seeing our son cry," Robert began to lecture as he spanked. His hands were large and stingy, and easily seemed to find their rhythm. He spanked fast and methodically. Left, right, left. Left, right, left. Each one hurt just as much as the one before it, until her bottom was stinging with the effects of being well punished. "But I don't want you to be crying weeks from now when you realize he's not rolling over when he's supposed to. So, you're going to do what the doctor suggested, what I've been telling you to do."

  "You're mean," she sobbed, throwing her legs out as a smack caught her sit spot, right where the buttock met the thigh. She immediately reached for her pillow and cried into it. Spanks on the sit spot hurt worst of all. Robert knew that well, thanks to the new training he was receiving at the hands of the fellow HOHs he'd been talking to. Right this moment, she hated those men handing down advice from their computers that would later bite her in the butt—quite literally—more than she'd ever hated anyone.

  "No, I'm not," he countered, still spanking in rhythm. "I care about you and I care about LJ. That's why I'm doing this. I care about you too much to let you regret this later. Understand?"

  No, she didn't, but she thought saying so would only get her spanked harder, so she bit back a sarcastic reply and mumbled a respectful, teary, "Yes, Sir," when she got the chance.

  "Good girl." Robert stopped spanking and began rubbing her back instead. She collapsed gratefully under the kind gesture, still sniffling into her pillow as he made gentle shushing noises.

  All right, she could admit it. Sometimes, she needed him to guide her. She might not like it, but she did. And nine times out of ten, he was right. She did need to put LJ down for tummy time, and truth be told, she didn't really mind that much. Which meant… maybe she had just needed a spanking. Maybe she just needed him to show her once more that he was in control, that he'd back his words with action. That he'd take care of their family, no matter what. That he'd take care of her, even if she was the one standing in the way.

  The revelations made her feel shy and silly, but she was also overwhelmed with a feeling of being so deeply loved. Part of her wanted to tell him. He deserved to know, didn't he? And maybe if she told him, maybe later once they put the kids to bed he'd look at her the way he did when he wanted to see her out of her clothes. She loved that look. His brown eyes would shine so much they would practically glow, and then he would undress her then and there using his magical X-ray powers. Then, when he took her clothing off, he'd look at her in awe and wonder, as though his imagination hadn't come close to revealing her true beauty.

  Just thinking about it got her hot and wet, just like that.

  And of course, before she could utter a single syllable to let him know, he ruined the whole thing by pulling his hand away, leaving her back feeling suddenly cold and bare. Before she could ask him why, he began to slide her panties down. Her cheeks were still tingling in the not-so-pleasant way and the thought of that tingling turning to a dull, don't-want-to-sit-down-ache, well… it was more than she could bear just then.

  She began to turn around, her hand lifted in hopes of pulling her panties back up, but Robert caught her hand and in a single move had it pinned to the small of her back. Damn, he'd gotten quick. She supposed he'd probably seen the move in a YouTube video, courtesy on one of the online HOHs. Damn them. She really did need to plant a virus on the computer. Maybe that wouldn't stop it once and for all, but it would sure put a halt to things.

  "Stop it!" Sadie cried, sounding a tad bit desperate—which she was. "I said I was sorry!"

  "Did you? I don't recall."

  "I'm sorry already, okay?"

  "You sure sound it."

  She rolled her eyes. Of course he'd be glib right now, when she was sore and probably had his handprint on her butt. "Please, Rob, I am sorry. It won't happen again, I promise."

  "I believe you."

  "You do?" she asked, wincing when she realized how ridiculously hopeful she sounded.

  "I do. And you know why? Because I'm now going to give you a good reminder about why it would be a good idea not to do it again."

  Before she could protest, or find another angle to make him reconsider, or even say screw you, that big, hard hand was connecting with her tender, sore cheeks once more. He wasn't spanking in his pattern anymore—just swat, wait, swat, wait. He let his heavy palm collide with her poor bottom and waited for the line of pain to sear across her cheeks before his hand fell again.

  She was howling into the pillow and kicking her legs in protest for all the good it did her. By the time he was finished, she'd settled down and was positive that she would rather stand for dinner.

  "There," he murmured as he pulled her, sniffling with tears coursing down her cheeks, into his lap. "It's over now."

  Every snarky comment she normally would have made fled as she curled into his lap, crying into his shirt.

  "You're going to be my good girl now, aren't you?"

  "Yes," she whimpered, the word little more than a whisper.

  He understood her just the same and hugged her close to him. "I love you, Sadie. Always remember that."

  Her litany of snarky comebacks had fled in the wake of a throbbing, red-hot behind and she cuddled closer. "I love you too." She'd just lifted her chin, her lips puckered for a kiss, when she heard the timer go off from the kitchen.

  "Perfect timing," he commented as he pecked her on the lips. "I'll get the meatloaf out and get the girls to the table. Pull up your panties and come join us." She slid onto the bed, careful not to let her butt touch even the sheets and watched him walk to the door. When he reached it, he paused.

  "And if you're on your best behavior, maybe later tonight we can get you taken care of."

  Caught off guard, she let out a sound somewhere between a gasp and a giggle. "How'd you know?"

  "Well, I kind of figured, since we weren't able to finish things this morning. But if I'd had any doubt, you grinding on my leg during your spanking sealed the deal."

  Her cheeks flooded with embarrassment. Had she been? She hadn't even realized.

  "That, and I can smell you." Without another word, he left the room leaving her staring after him with her mouth agape.

  Chapter Nine

  The thing about Robert that Sadie loved—well, one of the things, at least, was that he was a very attentive lover. When he came to bed that night, after a dinner which she had spent mostly standing, he let her lie on her belly as he rubbed her shoulders, kissed the small of her back and just generally loved her all over. Sadie basked in the much-needed attention. She knew that most men weren't particularly good at foreplay, but Robert had never had that problem. However long it took to get her in the mood, he was willing to take it.

  Not that he'd had to try too hard that night. She was wet and willing from the moment they slid between the sheets. Still, he covered her with sweet, lingering kisses and whispered soothingly to her until she felt like a melted puddle of contentment.

  Then and only then did he find his way between her thighs. He used a finger, then two, to play with her clitoris. Her breathing picked up and her buttocks tightened—she was sure that she would come, but then he stopped.

  "Ooh, baby," she moaned, her pulse racing and her belly tightening into delicious knots waiting to uncoil with her orgasmic release.

  "Hang on, sweetie. I'm going to take care of you," he crooned.

  Sadie laid back and closed her eyes, a smile of pleasure on her lips as Robert bent his head to kiss her erect nipples. She knew he would. This, this was why she put up with the Mr. Bossy act, the reason she let him spank her until she cried—because she knew he'd make it up to her later.

  Well, that, and because secretly, she loved the feeling of giving up control. Which was exactly what she was doing now. She was giving up, letting go, allowing him to have his way with her. And God, did he know what he was doing. He strummed her expertly, as though he'd been born to make music. She was the one humming, then croo
ning his name, but he was the musician.

  "Oh, Robert," she gasped as she clenched her thighs together.

  "Hang on, baby," he rasped, pumping in and out. "Hang on."

  "I'll try," she whimpered, but no sooner were the words out of her mouth she felt her body tightening. She arched her back, loving the feel of him inside her, loving that when she opened her eyes it was his face she saw above her. She loved the look of concentration on his face—his furrowed brow, his eyes shut tightly. Seeing that was all it took for her to let go.

  "Sadie," he gasped, feeling her.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered moments before she was swept away in the undertow of her orgasm. It really was like being swept away by an ocean current. For a moment, she was flailing, gasping, trying to make sense of the feelings coursing through her—some familiar, others brand new—before she finally relaxed and merely let them wash over her. It was as exhausting as it was liberating, and something she never got tired of experiencing.

  "Don't you worry about it," Robert told her, kissing her forehead before he flopped beside her. "Next time."

  "Next time," she echoed, still breathless as she curled up beside him to sleep.

  ***

  The next morning when Sadie's eyes fluttered open, the first thing she noticed was that she'd forgotten to close the curtains the night before. Nothing woke her faster than the scorch of sunlight falling through the windows. The next was that Robert was already gone.

  What was it with him? She wondered, irritated for no particular reason as she threw back the covers. Here lately he'd been getting up before the sun, making her look like a total slacker. That in itself was annoying, not to mention that she would have liked to wake up next to her husband.

  As though he'd been able to hear her thinking of him, the door swung open and Robert walked in carrying a mug of coffee. "You're up."

  "Not by choice," Sadie groaned, falling back against the pillows once more.

  Robert glanced at the baby monitor, then at the open blinds. "Ah. I'll make sure they get closed tonight. I brought you coffee."

  "Thank you," Sadie said, tilting her head back so he could give her a kiss. "On both counts." She took a moment to inhale the strong scent of ground coffee beans and enjoy the warm steam on her face before she brought the cup to her lips.

  "It's about time to get up anyway," he remarked, watching her drink. "You've got to get the girls off to school and I'm going to head into work."

  She glanced at the clock and back at him in surprise. It wasn't even seven yet. He didn't normally leave until eight, at the earliest. "Now?"

  "Yeah. I've got some things to catch up on. What do you have planned to do today?"

  "Nothing," she shrugged.

  "You really need a hobby," he teased.

  "I've got one, but you don't like it when I call you a hobby."

  "Oh." He grasped at his heart, groaning theatrically. "That hurt."

  "Yeah, yeah," she waved him away. "Go to work already."

  "Be careful, or I'll come home for lunch. I'd be happy to turn your butt a nice shade of red and watch you cook with your panties down."

  "New fantasy?" she quipped.

  "You know it. Now, just for fun, how long do you think I'd have to spank? You're probably still pink…"

  "Okay, you win, you win!" she said as she giggled, holding a hand up in the air. "I'm sorry, I meant, go to work please."

  "Much better," he said with a sniff, pretending to be pleased with himself. Of course, maybe he wasn't just pretending. "I hope you have a good day."

  Just then, her phone vibrated on the night stand. After taking another delicious swallow of her warm, vanilla-laced coffee, she picked it up. She grinned when she saw she had a text from Lexi. "Have fun at work," she called after her husband. "It looks like I have plans after all."

  ***

  Sadie dropped the girls off at preschool and then headed straight for Chicken Tasty to meet Lexi. She had been so excited to get the text to hang out with an actual human being who wasn't her husband that she'd actually forgone her typical attire of sweats. She needn't have bothered—LJ had spit up on the one and only cashmere sweater she owned before they'd even left the house and one of the girls—neither was fessing up—had left a half-empty Capri Sun packet in her driver's seat. It had made for quite the surprising and unfortunately discovery after she sat on it, shooting grape-colored juice all down the back of her pants. To cap it all off, when she had finally, mercifully arrived and was stepping out of the van, the heel of her shoe promptly broke. She supposed it could have been worse. She could have been carrying the baby at the time. She could have been up a creek without a paddle—or rather, without her rhinestone flip-flops on the floorboard of the passenger side.

  So she walked into Chicken Tasty wearing a gray sweatshirt and wet jeans with her flip-flops flapping against the tile, announcing her arrival. Oh, well, at least she had tried. What was that thing about the road to hell being paved with good intentions? Surely they'd written that about a mother.

  "Hey!" Lexi called out, spotting her instantly.

  Sadie's sour mood couldn't help but be lifted when she saw her friend waving enthusiastically from a booth in the corner. She didn't seem to mind Sadie's less than stylish attire. Heck, she didn't even seem to notice it and Sadie was more than a little bit relieved as she made her way to the table. When she caught sight of Lexi's wrinkled lounge pants and the slightest hint of spit-up on the collar of her tee shirt, she felt right at home.

  "Sorry I'm late," she said sheepishly as she slid into the seat across from her.

  "Were you? I wouldn't know, my little monster flushed my watch two weeks ago."

  "Yikes."

  "Oh, you know. The mom life." Lexi sighed dramatically.

  "Do I ever," she agreed with a little giggle as she took a seat. "I didn't know if I'd ever get the girls off to school today. Kenzie kept complaining about not having a bow that she liked—"

  "Oh, the horror," she intoned drily.

  "And Maddison kept saying she had a tummy ache. Which I might have been concerned about if I hadn't caught her eating Rocky Road for breakfast."

  "You're kidding!" her friend exclaimed, looking like she was trying to swallow her laughter.

  "Caught her red-handed, scooping it out of the container straight into her mouth with her fingers."

  "Damn girl." Lexi let her laughter loose. "It's like they know when we have plans."

  "And conspire to ruin it!" Sadie agreed. The two laughed together and Sadie had that rare feeling of having found a true, once-in-a-lifetime friend. It was rare that she found another woman who appreciated her sense of humor, much less one who also found canning to be perfectly useless. At the very least, Sadie was useless at it.

  "We should get the men together sometime," Lexi commented as she sipped her sweet tea.

  Sadie beamed at her. She'd been thinking exactly the same thing. "I'd love to! We totally should! Except…" Her brow furrowed as she trailed off.

  "Except what?"

  "Oh, it's nothing," she dismissed the thought with a wave of her hand.

  "No, tell me. What's up?"

  "Well… it's just my husband has been… distracted lately."

  "Ooh, sounds interesting." Lexi leaned forward, her eyes wide and eager.

  "No," Sadie protested with a shake of her head. Her husband was a lot of things: handsome, yes. Sexy, without a doubt. Good in bed—you betcha. But he wasn't interesting. Not in the way some men could be, when interesting meant that they occasionally said something that surprised you. She couldn't remember the last time—with the exception of being so gung ho on the whole domestic discipline thing—that he'd surprised her. "And anyway, it's nothing. I mean. I'm sure it is."

  Lexi looked back at her with an odd twinkle in her eye. Sadie thought she'd say something, but she didn't, choosing instead to sip on her sweet tea. "They really should give you the option to spike these," Sadie muttered as she followed suit with her own
drink.

  "That would send business through the roof," Lexi cackled. "Can you imagine? All the mommies meet here anyway, but if they could have something to take the edge off while the kiddos were in school? Gold mine."

  Sadie was busy giggling into her hands when she heard a loud voice from the table behind them.

  "My Ella-Grace is so talented," the woman was gushing, so loudly that there wasn't a soul in the diner who wasn't aware of it. "Just this week, she was given the art scholar award at school!"

  After her none-too-modest announcement, the women at her table began to exclaim with oohs and ahs. That on its own was amusing, but watching Lexi make faces as the women clamored to congratulate their friend was downright hilarious.

  "Yes, well, it's all good genes, obviously."

  Obviously, Lexi mimed, striking a very posh pose as she stuck her nose in the air.

  "Of course!" the women chorused, probably nodding enthusiastically amongst themselves. Even though her back was turned to them, she could picture it so well in her head.

  "I told Frances the other day—"

  "Frances?" Lexi whispered, her eyes widening comically.

  Sadie smacked her hand across her mouth to conceal the giggles that threatened to spill forth and announce their eavesdropping.

  "Yes, I said to Frances, I said, clearly Ella-Grace inherited her artistic nature from me."

  Lexi threw back her head dramatically, causing her curls to bounce. Then she began to give an elaborate bow, mouthing 'thank you, thank you' as the ladies behind them jumped all over themselves to agree.

  Oh, God. Sadie was laughing so hard she thought she would die. The laughing was bad enough in itself, but having to muffle it would be what killed her. Her obituary would read, 'An unfortunate overexertion of the funny bone lead to the demise of one Sadie Miller. She is survived by two daughters and a son'. It was just too much.

  "Stop!" Sadie hissed, letting a fit of giggles loose the moment she opened her mouth.

  "Make her stop," Lexi shot back, a mischievous smile curving her lips.