Back in Charge

by Dinah McLeod

  "Why don't you take a hot shower?" he suggested after she'd finished. "I'll set up LJ's playpen and get him down for the night."

  "That would be great," she admitted. She gave her husband a grateful smile and then headed straight for the bathroom, locking the door behind her. She felt road-weary from the miles and miles of nothing but asphalt. Even Pink had started to lose her appeal. Thank God they'd reached the hotel before that had happened.

  After a good half hour under the spray—she made it as hot as she could stand—she was feeling somewhat close to human. She'd just turned the shower off when she heard a knock at the door.

  'Why don't we curl up under the covers for a while?" She heard Robert suggest through the door that separated them. "I've got some towels for you right here."

  "Well, if you're not Johnny-on-the-spot," she teased as she opened the door.

  "You seem in better spirits," he commented handing her the towel.

  "I feel it."

  "Good. The kids are all sleeping. Well, LJ is on his way there, anyhow. The girls are knocked out cold."

  Though she'd never admit it aloud—at least, not to anyone but Lexi—she was relieved. She needed some time to unwind without little fingers pulling on her and 'Mommy Mommy Mommy' in her ear. She happily allowed Rob to pull her into the bedroom they were using—they’d booked a two-bedroom suite to offer a little privacy—and didn't think twice when he locked the connecting door. She saw the Coke on the nightstand, beaded with moisture which meant it was unopened and delicious. She beamed a smile at Rob and when he smiled back she knew he'd gotten it just for her. He really was the best husband.

  Sadie sat down on the bed and opened the Coke, sipping it greedily.

  "I love you, you know that, don’t you?"

  She nodded her agreement, not finding the question out of the ordinary at all.

  "I love you so much that I want to take care of you, I want to protect you. That was our agreement."

  "Mmm-hmm."

  "Sometimes that means protecting you even from yourself."

  Her Sadie-sense should have been tingling, she should have seen the red flag go up, but she'd been placated with hot water and delicious Coke and fresh, clean-smelling hotel sheets. She wasn't long for the waking world herself.

  And then she saw it; how'd she missed it in the first place, she'd never know. There it was, as clear as day and as fear-inducing as a firing squad. "Is your trick knee acting up again?" she giggled nervously.

  "Not at all. Why do you ask?"

  She frowned at him, annoyed that he was toying with her. Well, if he wanted to play stupid, so would she. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

  "In a minute. We have something to take care of first."

  Ugh, she knew it!

  "Hand me the bottle, please."

  She stood up and reached for the bottle. Once her fingers closed around it, she had to resist the urge to hurl it at his innocent looking face.

  "You know the drill. And since you're not wearing anything under that towel, we'll cut down on time."

  She made a face at him. "What's this for?"

  "Do I need a reason?" he asked as he unscrewed the cap to the Capzasin cream.

  Resisting the urge to roll her eyes in that moment was perhaps the hardest thing she'd ever done, but somehow she managed. "No." His arched brow prompted her to add a slightly sullen "Sir."

  "All right then. Get into position."

  Sadie allowed herself a long-suffering sigh as she dropped the towel—the kiss of the cool air against her damp skin made her shiver, more from what was about to happen than from cold. Only when she'd bent over the bed, her butt high in the air did Robert resume talking.

  Or, rather, lecturing. "I'd planned for this to be a short maintenance spanking. Traveling is stressful enough, but we're moving. We've got some long days ahead of us and I need to make sure that we're on the same page."

  She could hear the awful sound of him squirting the cream into his hand. Knowing that he would soon rub it into her cheeks was enough to make her bite down on her bottom lip as she clenched and unclenched her buttocks.

  "But after what happened earlier, it seems like you need to destress too."

  "You couldn't have brought me a bottle of wine?"

  "I don't know; do we have the cash for that?"

  Though she knew that he was joking, she winced anyway. "I really am sorry—"

  "I know you are, babe. I was never upset about that. Frustrated, sure, but we made it work. We will always figure it out. When things like that happen, I need you to remember that, do you understand?"

  "Yes, Sir."

  After she'd spoken, she felt his hand moving in circles across her right cheek. He took his time rubbing the cream in before he moved onto the next. Capzasin cream was known as a 'silent spanking' on those domestic discipline websites he visited. She'd nearly laughed in his face the first time he'd shown her the innocuous looking tube when they were on vacation. It had turned out to be not so innocent after all. In fact, it was quite literally a pain in the ass.

  From the moment he'd started rubbing it into her skin she'd frozen, refusing to move a muscle. She stayed like that, waiting for the cream to take effect. Perhaps because she knew what was coming, she imagined the tingles that began to move across her ass. She sucked in her breath and before she knew it, those tingles had become a dull ache. But it didn't stop there—the pain built and built until it felt like she’d been spanked and good.

  "Is it working?"

  She turned around to glower at him, going as far as to show him her teeth, which he must have taken for a yes.

  "When things like that happen, you do not put yourself down—do you hear me, Sadie?"

  "Yes, Sir." The words came out a groan.

  "You don't say hateful things about yourself either. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. Do it for those girls who don't need to hear you talk about yourself like that."

  Did he have to bring them into this? It didn't seem fair. She couldn’t even protest with her cheeks becoming hotter by the minute.

  "If you do, expect it to go like this, each and every time. Am I making myself clear?"

  "Crystal," she grunted.

  "Glad to hear it. Now come here."

  She made her way to him, her eyes widening in surprise when he gestured her over his lap. "But…"

  "Let's not drag this out any longer than we have to, Sadie."

  "But… they'll hear you!" It seemed like a valid point—the only point, really. That was why he used the gel in the first place, right?

  "They're asleep," he reminded her gently. "And anyway, this won’t take long."

  With another piteous sigh—why did she even bother? They never seemed to do her any good—she put herself over his lap.

  Robert didn’t seem to be in any special hurry. He took his time rubbing his hand over her quivering flesh. The cream was working its magic, making her moan and shift uncomfortably. He'd never spanked her after applying it before. He usually held her and whispered encouragement to her until it wore off or she finally managed to fall asleep. She didn't even want to think about what being spanked on top of it would feel like.

  Not that she needed to think about it. She was about to find out firsthand—lucky her.

  He didn't spank her particularly hard, or for very long. There was only a dozen in all, firm, medium-strength spanks that normally wouldn't have done more than make her wince and squirm a little. But since her nates were already on fire, by the time he was done she had tears dripping down her cheeks.

  "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

  "Then stop spanking me already," she sniffled, now being cradled in his lap instead of lying over it.

  "I would, but then you wouldn’t love me."

  "I would too."

  "Maybe you would, but you know what? I don't want to find out. This works for us."

  She could have protested, she could have argued the point, but deep down, she knew they w
ere happiest—she was happiest—when she was sitting just like this: safe in his lap, knowing that to him, she was the most important girl in the world.

  ***

  Sadie snapped up her trilling cell and gave Robert an excited grin. "It's Lexi!" she squealed moments before she hit the talk button. "Hey, Lexi! Long time no hear from!"

  "Hey, Sadie."

  If she noticed that her friend sounded a bit subdued, she was too thrilled to let it dim her own mood. "I can't believe you're finally calling! How are you? I miss you tons!"

  "I'm—"

  "You know, I really wasn't sure about Virginia, and we've only been here a week, but I've got to tell you, it's absolutely gorgeous."

  "That's great."

  "You've been getting the pictures?"

  "Yes, I've seen them. Listen—"

  "The kids are loving it too! Maddison and McKenzie started their new school and they've already made a ton of friends," she gushed, eager to share all their good fortune.

  "That's great, Sadie. Can I—"

  "And Rob loves his new job," she said, beaming at her husband. "He's working less hours and he basically runs the place."

  "Sadie," he called across the room, shaking his head at her.

  "What? It's true isn't it?" she asked innocently. "He was made for this job," she confided, turning back to her conversation with Lexi. "Oh, and there are so many stores here that we don't have back home! Oh, and the food! I can't wait until you fly up to visit us. There's so much I want to show you."

  "That sounds great," her friend replied in a voice that was more than a bit lackluster.

  Finally, Sadie was hearing it coming across the other end of the phone. "Is everything okay? You do want to come, don't you, Lexi?"

  "It's not about that." Suddenly, she was detecting the edge in Lexi's voice. "And no, I am not okay."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Sadie," Lexi's voice dropped to a whisper. "Something… happened."

  "What? What happened?"

  "Is Robert still there?"

  She looked over at her husband who was busy at the kitchen table helping the girls with their homework. "Yeah. Why?"

  "I need to talk to you." The edge in Lexi's voice was growing harder by the minute. "It's about Robert."

  "What about him?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

  "Well, you know how you told me that he… that he, ah… you know?"

  Even a thousand miles apart, Sadie blushed. Yes, she remembered the conversation very well. Part of her punishment after her whipping had been to tell Lexi that she'd been wrong, and to explain how she'd been punished for spying on her husband and lying. She hadn't wanted to, but Robert had been firm.

  "Yeah, I know."

  "Well, what you probably don't know is that your husband has been talking to mine about the same stuff!" she said in a loud whisper.

  Sadie guessed that she was probably trying not to be overheard. "Pete?"

  "Yes, Pete! My sweet, wonderful Peter has turned into a monster, thanks to your husband!"

  "A monster?" she echoed uncertainly. "You don't mean…"

  "Yes! Yes, I do! He got mad over something stupid and he just… he just… well, he spanked me!"

  Sadie bit her lip, hard, before the giggles could slip out. She felt very sorry for Lexi, who didn't sound one bit happy by this turn of events, but she also couldn't help but feel that she was over-reacting just the slightest bit. "I see. What did you do?"

  "What did I… what did I do?" her friend echoed, sounding shocked. "Sadie! I think you're missing the point here! Robert totally overstepped here! He never should have talked to Pete about this!"

  "So you really screwed up, huh?"

  Lexi gasped on the other end, sounding offended. "Well! I guess I see whose side you're on!"

  "There aren't any sides, Lexi," she told her, trying to sound sympathetic.

  "I mean, really, you get one teeny, tiny speeding ticket and all of sudden it's a criminal offense!"

  "A pretty small one, as those things go."

  "Sadie! You are not helping!"

  "Sorry," she offered, biting her tongue this time as more laughter threatened.

  "It was just so unfair and I don't see why—I'll have to call you back later, Sadie!" she whispered hurriedly. "Bye!"

  "Bye," she echoed, but it was already too late. Lexi had already hung up the phone. She ended the call on her end, looking thoughtfully at Robert.

  Seeming to feel her gaze, he looked up and caught her staring. "What is it? Is everything all right?"

  "Not according to Lexi," she said, trying to mimic the stern tone he often used on her.

  "Oh? Why not?"

  "Robert Miller, don't try to pretend that you don't know."

  "I don't know," he replied blithely. "At least, not until you tell me."

  "Did you talk to her husband recently?"

  "Ah."

  "Ah," she echoed, putting her hands on her hips. "Why would you do that to Lexi?"

  "I didn't do anything to Lexi," he asserted. "All I did was pass along some advice when Pete shared a problem he was having. I was being a good friend."

  "Knowing that my friend would get—" Remembering the kids just in time, she caught herself. "In trouble."

  "Well, he's a reasonable guy. I'm sure so long as she does what she's supposed to, she'll stay out of trouble."

  How like him, to stay calm and reasonable, but he hadn't just been on the other end of the phone line with a very ticked off Lexi. "So you're telling me that you don't feel sorry at all?"

  "Do I feel sorry for helping out a friend in need? Absolutely not. I've been given some help in recent months too, I was just paying it forward."

  "She may never forgive me," Sadie warned, still trying to sound firm.

  "I could always talk to Pete for you, if that helps."

  That did it. Sadie could contain her laughter no longer and burst into peals of amused—if slightly guilty—giggles. "No, thank you." She walked to the table and sat down beside her husband. LJ was already in bed and the girls would be headed there soon. She listened quietly as Robert gave each of them words to spell. Just being near him calmed her spirit. Despite everything—accusing him of cheating, a hard, painful punishment, then a long, arduous move—they were closer than ever. She enjoyed any amount of time together, even when all they were doing was putting the girls in pajamas and helping them brush their teeth before they tucked them in.

  "Lexi will come around," he assured her, pulling her into a hug moments after they closed the door to the girls' room.

  "I know." She lifted her head, offering her mouth for a kiss.

  Robert obliged and turned her to the wall. He was pushing her toward it, clearly ready to have a more in-depth kiss than a mere peck, when she bumped into a laundry basket.

  "Guess I should move that," she commented wryly.

  Her husband frowned down at it. "I'm sorry. We won't be in cramped quarters forever. Once our house sells, we can start looking for a bigger place."

  Sadie was all smiles as she looked up at him. "I'm not worried about that. I'm happy to be with you, no matter where it is or how big the apartment is. Don't you know by now that you're my home?"

  Robert grinned and kissed her long and hard on the mouth. "I do," he said when they finally came up for air. "But it's still nice to hear."

  "I'll say it anytime you like," she promised with a grin, leaning forward for another kiss, knowing that it would turn into so much more.

  The End

  Dinah McLeod

  My name is Dinah. I enjoy a CDD relationship with my husband Jim and freely admit to love all things spanking--reading about it, writing about it, daydreaming about it...you get the idea! As long as I am not in trouble, that is! I hope you will enjoy my books, and feel free to let me know what you think!

  Visit her blog here:

  http://980875189741781282.weebly.com

  Don’t miss these exciting titles by Dinah McLeod and Blushing Books!
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  Sir, Yes Sir, Old-Fashioned Husbands Book Two

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