by Megan McCoy
And she’d never wanted sex so much. She pulled off her dress before he could do so, then tugged at his trousers, eager to take his cock inside her.
“Wait,” he said. “My turn now.”
“Turn for what?”
“My turn to live my fantasy.”
He reached into his pockets and pulled out two curtain tassels. “Lucky I changed my curtains a few weeks back,” he said. “I mentioned that I’d like to tie you up a few weeks ago, but you didn’t seem keen.”
“I was keen,” Holly admitted, “but I wanted to be tied up and spanked. Not so much tickled with a feather.”
“I realise that now,” he said. “And don’t worry – I’m not tickling you with a feather tonight, but I probably will on another occasion!”
Holly relaxed as he tied her wrists to the bedhead. Jerome smirked as he sat down on the bed and lifted her legs so he could target her bottom. He reached across to her bedside table and picked up her wooden hairbrush.
Holly swallowed, anticipating the first smack.
She gasped when it landed on her right cheek, sending pain coursing through her. He smacked her three more times, sharp, stinging slaps, while he watched the expression on her face. The intensity in his eyes burned as much as the hairbrush and Holly relaxed, relishing the sensations of pleasure, pain and being adored.
He laid the brush down, mounted her. He gripped the bedhead bars. His cock teased her throbbing clit before slamming inside her. His thrusts were rough and rhythmic, like the spankings he’d just given her. Holly bucked, meeting his thrusts, hyper-aware of the soreness of her bottom. She panted as she rode the wave of pleasure and pain, so exhilarated she was certain she would burst.
Afterwards, Jerome untied her and said, “There’s something I want to ask you.”
Holly grinned. “Yes, I did enjoy all that.”
“So did I, but there’s something else I want to ask.” He lifted her into a sitting position, and went down on bended knee on the rug. “Holly, will you marry me?”
“Of course, I will.”
Jerome left the room, returning with the small gift Holly had seen in his pocket a few days ago. He handed it to her.
She opened the box.
It was a beautiful, rose-gold floral bouquet ring. Jerome took it from the box and gently slipped it on her finger.
“I’ll get the champagne,” he said.
Holly looked down at her finger, admiring the ring. She was glad he hadn’t proposed in the restaurant. This was even more special. He’d proposed after delivering her first spanking! She got up to examine her bottom again. It was even redder, with the ovals from the hairbrush standing out sharply among the handprints.
Jerome returned with two champagne flutes and the bottle.
“To us,” he said, when he’d uncorked it and filled the two flutes with fizz.
They clinked glasses. “To us,” Holly echoed.
“Oh, there was something else I wanted to ask,” he said. “Do you mind my job, the fact that I’m away a lot? Or would you prefer me to take a desk job when we’re married, like Kane’s going to?”
“Don’t be silly,” she answered. “Travel writing is what you do. I’ve always known that and I want you to be happy doing what you love, not miserable trying to be someone you’re not.”
He ran his finger over her cheek, smoothed her hair. “The same goes for you,” he said. “I’m glad you told me your kinky secret. I’d never want you to be miserable trying to live without something so important to you. And I’ve got to say, I’m not averse to having domestic discipline in our lives either.”
She grinned. “I certainly got that impression. No pun intended.” She sipped the heady champagne. “Cheers.”
6
Poking the Bear
“Honestly, it’s been brilliant,” Holly said when she and Erika met up for lunch the day after Boxing Day. “The best Christmas I’ve ever had.”
Holly and Jerome’s engagement had caused tremendous excitement to both their families. Holly’s family had toasted them over Christmas dinner and when Holly and Jerome arrived at his parents’ house on Boxing Day morning, Jerome’s father had cracked open champagne.
Now, both Holly and Erika were back at work for the few days between Christmas and New Year. Holly always worked those days, preferring to save her annual leave for time off over the summer. Jerome was working too, at his flat, writing up his piece on Bulgaria for a newspaper travel special on eastern European ski fields.
“Your ring is gorgeous,” Erika said, examining it. “And that thing we do? How did that go?”
A grin spread over Holly’s face as she nursed her coffee. “Well, you know you warned me that not every man takes to it like a duck to water?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Jerome did.”
“Really?” Erika grinned back at her. “Lucky you.”
“And you know how you said the reality wasn’t like fantasy? That too!” Holly sipped her coffee and put the mug down on the table to finish the last bite of chicken salad sandwich.
Erika leaned forward. “Tell me more.”
The café was quiet, but Holly still lowered her voice as she gave Erika the bare bones of what had happened on Christmas Eve. Erika laughed about the chaos in the restaurant. “Remind me about that any time I think about going there!”
“I shouldn’t think it’s always like that, or no one would ever go,” Holly said.
“Lucky for you it was like it that night, though, given what it sparked!” Erika finished the last spoonful of soup and pushed her bowl away. “What I said the other day about real life not being like the books or blogs still counts, though. I don’t want you to think it’s always going to be like Christmas Eve.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Holly asked.
As far as she was concerned, Jerome had delivered what she needed on Christmas Eve and would do so again. They’d spent Christmas night at her parents’ place and driven to Jerome’s parents from there on Boxing Day morning. Last night, they’d gotten home very late and crashed at her flat. So, there’d been no opportunity for any spanking since Christmas Eve, but Holly had no doubts that Jerome would rise to the challenge when it next arose.
“There’ll be times when one or both of you is tired after work, or under some kind of stress, and it won’t work for you in the same way,” Erika said. “It still happens to us, occasionally. It’s like everything else in life. Like the way some marketing campaigns work brilliantly and always meet their targets, others not so much. You just have to keep working at it. Anyway, I’m really happy for you and so glad you plucked up the courage to tell him!”
After lunch, Holly made her way back to work, thinking about what Erika had said. If Jerome had disciplined her on Christmas Eve without even having looked at the links she’d sent, that must mean he was a natural spanker. Surely, he wouldn’t now become reluctant to take that disciplinary role when it was needed?
Her phone beeped as she entered the office and she grabbed it from her handbag. Jerome had texted to say he’d finished the article, was meeting Kane for a late afternoon drink, and he’d meet her outside her office after work so they could travel back to her flat together.
Holly was about to text back when it stuck her that this might be an opportunity to test Jerome’s resolve. They hadn’t yet sat down and discussed rules, but surely not checking your phone for messages should be among them? Holly always checked her phone, but she could always lie and pretend she’d been busy and hadn’t bothered. She smiled to herself. She’d leave the office a little bit early, then head home. Then when he called her, she’d confess to ignoring her messages. Then, if he came over to her place and disciplined her, she’d know he was serious about holding her accountable.
She ignored the twinge of guilt she kept feeling, especially when Jerome sent a follow-up message.
I wish you’d fix your settings so I know whether you’ve received my text or not. Anyway, I’ll be outside your offic
e at 5.30. See you there. J xx
Not in a million years did Holly want people to know she’d received their texts. She received too many work messages from people who’d want her to respond instantaneously, when she liked to spend a bit of time thinking about the best way to tackle whatever the issue was.
She chewed her lip, wondering what to do. She was being immature playing games like this, she knew that. But at the same time, she really wanted to test Jerome’s resolve and couldn’t think of another way to do it.
Erika was right about life not being like the books. Holly worked hard, she ate healthily, she didn’t smoke, she didn’t drink too much (well, not usually, the other night with Erika had been an exception), she wasn’t a spendthrift, she always made sure she was punctual, she kept her flat tidy. All the usual things women in the books and blogs got spanked for didn’t apply to her.
Holly decided to compromise. She wouldn’t leave Jerome stranded outside her office. She’d leave early and go to the Waterstones bookshop just down the road, so she could respond immediately to Jerome’s call or texts from outside her office. Then she’d apologise, say she hadn’t had time to check her messages, and rush to meet him. That way she’d be out of line without completely inconveniencing him.
“So that was my Christmas.” Kane sounded glum as he nursed his beer. “Helen missed my company at her office party so much that she ended up spending the night with her boss, and now she’s dumped me for him. So, I’m out of the house and out of her life.”
“Where are you staying?” Jerome asked. In his opinion, Kane was well rid of Helen, but he didn’t think his friend was ready to hear that yet.
“At my brother’s place over Christmas and New Year, then I’ll look for somewhere on my own. One good thing about it, I suppose. I’m not going for that travel editor’s position after all. So, you’ll have to put up with my company on press trips again next year.”
“That’s good,” Jerome said. “It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”
“I wonder if she’ll be happy with her boss,” Kane mused. “He’s got a great job, but he has to work long hours. I wonder if she’ll get on to him because of that?” He shrugged. “Anyway, enough of my moaning. What about you? Engaged to be married! I’d have thought all my troubles down the years would have been enough to put you off that commitment lark.”
“Not at all,” Jerome said. “I discussed my job with Holly and she said whatever makes me happy makes her happy.”
Kane swallowed a mouthful of beer. “Yeah. Helen said the same once.”
Jerome moved the conversation on to upcoming research trips and, after about an hour’s chatting, Kane checked the time. “I’ve got to go. My brother and his wife have invited some people round for dinner and I promised I’d be back on time. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion they’re going to start trying to pair me off with somebody. They never did like Helen much.”
“Don’t rush into anything,” Jerome warned him.
“I’ve no intention of it, don’t you worry about that. Happy New Year, mate, if I don’t see you before then. And all the best for your engagement. Are you having a party sometime to celebrate?”
“Yeah, we will, sometime early next year. Holly’s looking around for a good venue. She was thinking of maybe doing a river cruise down the Thames.”
“Sounds great. Well, see you later.”
The pub was quiet and Jerome had a booth to himself. There was still an hour to go before he had to meet Holly, so he grabbed his Kindle from his backpack. He’d been reading the perma-free spanking romance novel by Georgia Burns that Holly had recommended. He usually read thrillers and sci-fi, but he thought it was important to find out more about how he could meet Holly’s needs. He’d watched the videos she’d linked to earlier and had been pleased to discover that his instincts on Christmas Eve hadn’t been far off the mark.
Delivering a spanking was one thing, being a consistent disciplinarian was another, though, he’d realised as he’d read the Georgia Burns novel and some of the blogs Holly had linked to. He was learning that women starting out in a domestic discipline relationship often tested their partner to make sure they’d deliver the punishment as promised. Usually this meant deliberately breaking an agreed-upon rule. The heroine of the Georgia Burns book had been ordered by the hero to make every effort to curb her out-of-control spending. After a few weeks of doing her best not to spend, the heroine began to miss the spankings, so went on a deliberate spending spree to see how he’d react.
Jerome smiled to himself at the thought of careful Holly going on a spending spree. They hadn’t discussed rules yet, and he was quite glad of that as he couldn’t think of any area where she needed to improve or up her game.
He drowned the rest of his beer, put the Kindle back in his backpack, and made his way round to her office. He knew she always finished up at five-thirty, unless she was running late. He recognised a couple of her colleagues and waved to them.
One of them, a tall blonde woman, came over. “Congratulations, Jerome.”
“Thanks,” he said. “I’m just waiting for Holly,” he added, stating the obvious.
“Oh, she left about half an hour ago.”
“Did she?” Jerome was surprised.
“Yes, she said she’d reached a natural break with her work, and would come in a bit earlier tomorrow. Didn’t she text you? She was texting someone when I saw her on her way out.”
“Maybe I missed it,” he said, taking out his phone.
“Got to go. Congratulations again,” she said.
Jerome scrolled through his messages; there was nothing from Holly.
He called her and she answered straightaway. “It’s me,” he said. “Did you get my text?”
“What text? Sorry, Jerome, I was busy on a project and I haven’t checked my messages since lunchtime.”
“Really?” he said. He smiled to himself as it dawned on him that this was her way of testing him. “Well, I’m outside your office. I met Kane for a drink, and thought we could head back to your flat together.”
“I’m just at Waterstones,” she said. “I’ll come and meet you now.”
“No, don’t worry. Waterstones is on the way to the tube station – I’ll meet you.”
She was waiting outside the bookshop when he turned up, and he took her arm and led her along the high street to the tube station. “Shall we go back to your flat?” he asked.
“Yes. We can finish off that leftover turkey in the fridge.”
“I’ve got some in my fridge too! We can have that tomorrow.”
Both their mothers had foisted leftovers – turkey, mince pies and Christmas cake – on them.
“How come you didn’t check your messages when you left the office?” he asked her when they turned into the tube station.
“Oh, I just wanted to get away from work, not think about it.”
He could tell she was lying from the way she didn’t look at him. “One of your colleagues said you were texting someone as you left the office. I don’t know why you didn’t check all your messages then.”
Holly shrugged. “I just wanted to forget about work for the day, like I said.”
The tube was busy, so he didn’t say anything to her until they were back at her flat. Once she’d put the lights and the heating on, he said firmly, “We need to talk before we eat,” and pointed to the sofa.
Holly’s heart leapt. She was right; Jerome wasn’t going to let her down.
He sat down next to her, but he didn’t put his arm around her like he had on Christmas Eve.
“You know, Holly,” he said in a calm tone, “I’m actually quite disappointed with you. I’ve been reading some of the links you sent me, so I’m not exactly surprised that you’ve chosen to test me in this way.”
Holly was so startled that she turned to look at him. He’d realised she was testing him?
“Yes,” he said, “I know you deliberately ignored my messages to try to goad me into punishing y
ou tonight. You always check your messages, Holly. You’d never ignore your phone just in case there was an urgent message from work. So, I am going to punish you for lying to me and for trying to deceive me. For the first part of your punishment, you have a choice. You can either change the settings on your phone, so that I can always see whether or not they’ve been read…”
Holly’s spirits dropped. “What’s the alternative?”
“Or you can write me an essay between now and the weekend explaining the downsides of testing your partner in a domestic discipline arrangement.”
“I’ll do that,” she said. Sitting writing an essay held no appeal, but it was better than feeling pressured by work to respond to queries before she’d thought them through.
“Right. I want that essay delivered by email by eight o’clock on Friday evening. And now, we turn to the question of lying to me. And I think you know what the punishment is for that. Fetch your hairbrush, please, Holly.”
Torn between relief at his taking action, embarrassment at her little deception being discovered, and reluctance to actually feel the pain of the hairbrush, Holly hesitated.
“You said you wanted us to practise domestic discipline, Holly,” he reminded her. “Do you, or don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then do you remember what I said on Christmas Eve? About expecting you to obey instructions regarding punishment?”
Holly sighed. “Yes.”
“You’ve earned yourself a spanking for disobedience before you’re punished for your little trick earlier. Bare your bottom and present yourself for a spanking.”
Relief that Jerome was again keeping his word surged through Holly. She complied, pulling down her trousers and knickers before bending over his knee. She braced herself for the first smack.
Six sharp rapid-fire slaps followed, the last two making Holly squeak.
“Now,” he said, “get up off my lap and put your clothes back on.”
She tugged at her knickers and trousers, aware that her cheeks were as red as her bottom. The mixture of embarrassment, anxiety and excitement was intoxicating.