He gave her the benefit of the doubt once, moving her away again and saying in no uncertain terms, "Ia, I want you to stay where I put you."
But, seconds later, she was pressed against him again.
Instead of being kissed, though, one of the arms that he had been holding out at his sides rather than hug her found its way around her waist more tightly than ever before, while its companion did something he knew she least expected—although she should have known better.
He gave her a full-bodied smack on her bottom. Granted, it was over her dress and underthings, but it was a deliberately sharp smack, and Douglas couldn't think that they were all that much help to her. And he was right, judging by the extremely satisfying yelp she emitted.
That got her to stand away from him, as he'd intended it to, as she reached back and rubbed her behind while giving him a very resentful look.
But then he distracted her with a question he posed while his index finger was over his lip and one hand was wrapped around his own waist.
"Does Daniel allow you to rub yourself after a spanking?" His tone was conversational, in direct contrast to the intimacy of the subject.
Ia's face darkened even more. "He's never said anything about it one way or the other."
"Well, I don't hold with it," he pronounced, reaching to capture her arms and put them at her sides, "which you'd do well to remember."
"I'll rub my backside if I want to!" she crowed defiantly, moving her arms behind herself to do exactly that.
Seconds later—and before it could really even register with her that it was happening—she found herself bent over the hood of the car, being spanked very hard by a man she barely knew but who most definitely knew how to spank to great effect.
"No, ow, stop! Don't!"
It was a flurry of swats, although each one landed very individually with a loud smack, and hard enough that she was yelling very loudly at the end for him to stop, and promising that she'd remember "it" in the future.
He stopped but didn't let her up. "What is it that you're going to remember in the future, love?"
She wished he wouldn't call her that, but now was not the time to say anything. "That I'm not to rub afterward."
"After what?" he prompted quite tenderly.
Dear Lord, could she get any redder? She thought she was going to faint from the embarrassment and humiliation of him putting her in this position—and that wasn't even taking into consideration the actual spanking!
"After a s-spanking." The last word was barely above a whisper.
"Very good." She thought he was going to let her up then, but he didn't. "And when I tell you to stay put, what are you going to do?"
Ia sighed in indignation. "Stay put."
He helped her up as he said, "Also very good."
Then he put her back into the car, stealing a kiss that she was in no mood to return, just before he began the drive back.
This time, when he wanted to hold her hand, he reached out and claimed it, lacing their fingers and putting it on his thigh as he drove. It was going to make him crazy, but he was willing to risk the chance in order to touch her in any way. He did note, however, that her hand was limp in his. She wasn't holding his hand; he was holding hers.
"Well, at least when we get home, unlike most couples, we don't have to say goodbye. Would you have a drink with me on the deck?"
In truth, Ia would have loved to, but she was exhausted and not feeling particularly charitable toward him at the moment. "No, thank you. I'm quite tired."
Douglas frowned slightly. "Oh dear. Are you getting enough sleep?"
She was looking out the window rather than at him as she answered, "Not lately."
"Because of me?"
That got her to look at him. "Yes. Nerves, I guess."
"Oh, dear," he frowned. "I'm so sorry that I caused you such unnecessary angst. Any time you feel like that, I'd like you come to me. Chances are, I can assuage your fears."
"Is that a rule?" she queried with an impertinent tone.
He grinned. "No, for the moment, it's a request. I just don't want you to spend your life needlessly frightened if there's something I can do about it."
Ia's head jerked back in surprise at that. If she'd had a mouth full of soda, she would have done a spit take. "My life?"
It was the first time tonight that he had blushed—or at least, that she'd noticed. It was nice to know that he did it, too. "Well, I have to admit that I've been, um, planning ahead for us, hoping that this date went well and that we could see each other more. Much more." He lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss, then down again.
She remained silent when he really wished she wouldn't.
"So? Any thoughts on that subject, Miss Ia?" he prompted, eyes seeking hers rather than looking at the road. He knew that she wasn't happy that he'd spanked her, but he wasn't about to allow her to descend into a pout, as she did with Daniel. He'd just keep nattering away at her until she gave up—or he decided to take more drastic action, and at the moment, he couldn't have said which method he was going to choose more often. "I know I'm moving more quickly than you would like, but I have limited time here, as you know, so I need to accelerate things more than I would if I lived next door. Would you consider going out with me again tomorrow, maybe in the afternoon rather than the evening? We could go to a matinee, or play miniature golf, or something, and then get something to eat. Do something more casual?"
Ia was still quiet, and Douglas was trying not to say anything more, not wanting to sound desperate.
He didn't even think she knew that she was driving him up a wall by not responding, but she definitely was.
When she opened her mouth to speak, he held his breath.
"I-I'd like to do that, please." Ia had no idea how that had come out of her mouth. It wasn't what she'd intended to say at all, but she couldn't retract it now.
Douglas closed his eyes and said an internal, "Yay!" Then he graced her with a beautiful smile, saying, "I'm glad. I know we've covered some serious things tonight, but I had a great time with you, and, if you'll just give me a chance, there are lots more to come. I promise you that."
He squeezed her hand, and seconds later, they pulled into the driveway. It was eleven-fifty when they walked through the door.
To absolutely no one's surprise, both Taffy and Daniel were up reading, since their television channels went off the air after the local news at ten-thirty.
Douglas kept his hand around Ia's waist as they came out of the kitchen, and in full view of her brother and sister-in-law, he used his hold on her to pull her back to him when she would have stepped away. Then he gave her a chaste kiss, saying, "I had a wonderful time. Shall we say tomorrow at two?"
It seemed to her that her cheeks had been neon bright all evening. "Yes, that sounds fine. Good night, Douglas, everyone. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed."
"I'm glad, Ia. Sleep well."
She waved at the others, then headed for bed.
Douglas wandered into the living room, his feet not really touching the ground.
"Well, that looked successful," Daniel commented.
Taffy was already up, refreshing her husband's drink. "Would you like a drink, Douglas?"
"If you don't mind, yes, please. Same as Daniel's having is fine."
When she'd served the men, she reclaimed her spot on the couch. She wanted to hear all about their date, but she knew because Ia had told her that she was tired and that she hadn't been sleeping well, so disturbing her now, even for just a little girl talk, wasn't a good idea.
Besides, a little reconnaissance from the other side couldn't be anything but a help, she reasoned.
"Did you have a good time?" Daniel asked eagerly.
"Uh, yes, we did—at least, I know I did, and she said that she did."
Douglas caught Daniel's eye and kept glancing toward Taffy, as if he was trying to indicate something, but Daniel could be obtuse, especially when he was trying to glean information about hi
s little sister's first date.
But finally, he got the hint, got up and crossed to where his wife was sitting, beckoning her up.
"Good book?" he asked, noting that it was upside down and reaching out to right it for her.
Taffy sighed.
But Daniel was grinning. "You are getting very sleepy," he said in some kind of really bad, indeterminate Eastern European accent.
"I take it you want me to go to bed?" she asked, standing up.
"I do. I'll be there shortly, but Douglas and I want to talk."
"I know!" Taffy admitted vehemently. "And I want to hear what you're talking about!"
"And I want you to go to bed." He crossed his enormous arms over his muscular chest. "Who do you think is going to win this argument, my darling?"
Taffy growled at him, earning a swat as she walked away after kissing him good night in a perfunctory fashion.
"Night, Douglas," she called from halfway down the hall.
"Night, Taffy."
When Daniel took his seat again, Douglas said, "I hope you don't mind that I didn't want her to hear this."
"I can understand that; it's perfectly fine. So it went okay?"
Douglas sat back in his chair. "It was a bit rocky in places, but, yes, overall, I think it did."
"Rocky?"
"Yeah. Especially once she realized that I share your philosophy about how we handle the women we care for, you and I."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "Wow, you really brought that up on the first date? I'm surprised she didn't just make you bring her home, in that case."
"It was close—more than once—believe me."
"But she didn't leave, obviously."
"No, but I had a couple of reasons why I wanted to speak to you privately. The first is that I broached with Ia the subject of her attitude to you."
Douglas had really worried quite a bit that his friend might be offended that he'd done that, but he wasn't.
"Oh, man, I can't believe you took that on at all, much less on a first date!"
"Yeah, and I regretted it at times that I did. But I said what I wanted to say, and we moved on."
Daniel sighed, taking a large gulp of his drink. "Well, I thank you for the attempt at least."
"Any time. And there are two other things I wanted to tell you about."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I wanted to let you know that I smacked her, and I spanked her."
Daniel was on his feet, in a fighting stance, before he finished his sentence. "You smacked her?"
"Not that way—not that way! Never that way," Douglas held his hands up. "I hoped you knew me well enough to know that I would never raise my hand to a woman, a child, or an animal, except in self-defense."
"Yeah, well, that was before you started dating my sister."
"I understand. I mean I popped her a good one on the bottom, and then I spanked her—short and sharp and quick."
"What'd she do?"
"She disobeyed me. The first time, she just wasn't listening to me saying to stay put. So, she learned to listen to me when I'm talking. And, after that one swat, she was rubbing her bottom, which I don't allow. And she got all defiant when I told her she couldn't, so she got a spanking. Honestly, it was more the defiance that got her spanked than the actual action. But neither incident was anything big. I just wanted to keep you in the loop."
"I appreciate that, but I do trust you, too. I'm not much in favor of anyone else touching my sister that way, but I make an exception for you. I believe we think very much along the same lines, so I trust you to look after her when she's with you, in the manner in which you see fit."
Douglas shook his head. "I appreciate that. I'm humbled and honored, and I hope you know that I would never do anything to hurt her in any way."
"I do," the other man said emphatically.
"In fact, I think it's going to be the other way around. I spent the night just waiting for her to ask me to take her home, or for her to storm out of the restaurant or whatever. I'm amazed that it didn't happen."
"She might not like it, but she knows what she needs, and she knows she'll get it from you."
"Yes, well, I think my having corrected her got me into the same doghouse you're in, but I hope to annoy, cajole, and kiss her out of it."
Daniel raised his glass to his friend. "Well, then, I wish you all the luck in the world. May you have more success at it than I've had." He sighed wistfully then perked up more. "Did I hear that you two are going out tomorrow, too?"
"Yes, I was surprised at that, too. I figured she was going to turn me down flat, with her butt still stinging from that spanking. But I'm not going to question it too closely. I thought we'd do something more casual tomorrow—the movies or miniature golf or maybe bowling or something like that, then we'll stop somewhere for dinner."
"Rosie's. It's Ia's favorite restaurant since she was a child. Excellent roast beef, onion rings, and out of this world pies."
"Rosie's it is, then. Thanks for the tip."
"You're welcome." Daniel was looking quite satisfied with himself as Douglas rose from his chair. "Well, I think I'm going to retire."
"I'm not far behind you. Night."
"Night."
Chapter 8
It turned out that they did all three. They saw An Affair to Remember, while gorging themselves on popcorn, malted milk balls and soda. Then, since it was a nice day, they went to play miniature golf, and Ia whipped his butt at it. She got four holes in one—the last one, on the last hole, earning her a coupon for a free game.
"I don't know how, but I have a feeling you cheated," he mused out loud on the way back to the car.
She was highly indignant and terribly cute when she was. "I did not. I have a rare, natural talent that I neglected to mention to you."
"Uh huh. How many times have you played this course? It's relatively close to the house."
"Ah-ha! It's close to this house, but not the house I lived in when I was much younger. So there, I've only played here two other times besides this." She stuck her tongue out at him, dodging him and his freakishly long arms as he ran after her, acting as if he was hunting her.
She made it back to the car first, but she knew that he had let her do it. His legs were incredibly long, and he could have overtaken her any time he wanted to.
"Ia? Ia! Ia Baldwin, is that you?"
She turned to see Babe Campbell walking briskly toward her. Babe had worked at the bank for a while but had gotten an opportunity to do some modeling, and she had left her dreary bank job in the hopes of ending up famous. Ia had heard that she was getting regular modeling work, although it hadn't led to anything besides that.
They hugged, but Ia didn't think Babe's eyes left Douglas the entire time. It was painfully obvious that she hadn't come over to see her old friend. She'd come over to meet the man her old friend was with.
"How are you doing—" Ia began, only to be interrupted by her friend.
"Ia, where are your manners? You must introduce me to this incredibly handsome man," the woman flirted.
How it was that a redheaded man could look even more gorgeous when his face was a dusky pink, she would never know, but Douglas managed to pull it off.
"Mildred Campbell," she started off with severe reluctance, deliberately using Babe's real name rather than her nickname, "this is Douglas Martin. Douglas, this is my friend Mildred. She used to work at the bank with me."
Ia noticed that he did not kiss her hand but shook it instead, and for some reason, she found that comforting. "I'm very glad to meet any friend of Ia's."
"My friends call me Babe. Oh," Babe fairly yelped, "I do love your accent! Where are you from, Mr. Martin?"
"England, London in particular," he answered.
She didn't know why she was doing it, particularly, but Ia began drifting away from them, as if she was the one who was the intruder.
But Douglas was alert to everything she did, and before she got too far away—while he was having a very pl
easant exchange with Babe, who was being overly friendly and overt about her interest in him—he reached an arm out and wound it around Ia's waist, pulling her against his side. He could feel her resisting him as he did it, and he made a mental note to have a conversation with her about that later.
But for the moment, there was a break in the conversation, and he leaned down to kiss her just behind the ear, grinning when she gave an excited giggle. It tickled her into doing just that, as he knew it would, giving her an indulgent look as he turned back to Babe, who was frowning, to say in a very polite but dismissive tone, "It was very nice to meet you, Mrs.—"
"Miss," she corrected hopefully.
"Ah, Miss Campbell It was wonderful to meet you, but please excuse us; we have to be on our way." He stared at her pointedly as she stood directly in the way.
She moved at his expectant look, however reluctantly. "Certainly, Mr. Martin," she replied, in a tone that let them both know she couldn't believe that he was leaving with Ia instead of her.
Ia was mortified by the whole situation, mostly because she felt that Babe was right. He should have been leaving with her instead.
Babe stared after them as they exited the parking lot in the Bel Aire, and Douglas could tell that there was something wrong.
"Talk to me, Ia. What's going on?"
"Nothing," she said while staring out the window, obviously crying.
"No, sweetheart, that's not right, and you know it," he warned in a tender tone as he took her hand in his. "Did Mildred upset you? And I'll remind you that I don't take well to being lied to, honey. Telling me there's nothing wrong when there's obviously something, or telling me that she didn't upset you when she did is lying, in case you're wondering."
She was pettily glad that he was using her real name rather than "Babe,” but she hated what he was saying, not wanting to confess such a thing to him.
He waited for what he considered to be a very generous amount of time before saying in a deliberately low tone, "Anna Maria."
Now she knew how Taffy felt when Daniel used her actual first name—and it was not good.
"I think she's right!" Ia blurted out, the tears coming in earnest now.
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