by Thianna D
“You think it’s my fault.”
“I didn’t say that. I asked you if you’d tried to start a conversation.”
“How could I when they were all talking about their shared lives, lives that I have no part of? They were talking about stuff they’ve done together and stuff they have coming up. They didn’t even see me. It’s always like that.”
“I see.”
“No, you don’t see.”
“Look, I’m glad you’re talking to me about what’s worrying you, but I’m warning you, your attitude is slipping, you need to watch your tone.”
“I’m sorry. It’s just frustrating. You have friends and work colleagues, even the girls have friends. I have nobody. Okay, that sounded mean. You know how much I love my family, but I miss my old life. I miss my friends.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier, honey? I could have done something to help you. Tea?” he said holding up a cup.
Erin shrugged, a cup of tea would be nice, but it usually came with a complimentary lecture.
Zach passed his wife her steaming cup and sat opposite her at the kitchen counter. “You told me you were happy, Erin.” He waited a second but she didn’t respond so he kept going. “You should make more of an effort to see Diana. That’s why we were given the mentors when we moved here, to make settling in easier.”
“When she’s called I always seem to have something on.”
“Oh. Like what exactly?”
“I don’t know, stuff.”
“You have to make time for important things and you would have done if you’d wanted to.”
Erin sipped her tea.
“You didn’t want to Erin, why?”
“I didn’t like it.”
“You didn’t like what exactly?”
“Having someone else to answer to.”
“It wasn’t like that. It was someone to talk over your concerns with.”
“I don’t have any concerns. I’m happy with the way things are with us. I don’t have to talk about the intimate details of our marriage with a perfect stranger in order to make us work. What I need is some fun, some friends.”
“Okay, I hear you and I feel terrible that I’ve been happy while you’ve been miserable. I feel even worse that I didn’t notice. You need help to fit into Corbin’s Bend I can see that now, but in order to make that happen I think we need to talk to our mentors. We can do it together if you like.”
“I don’t like. So all three of you can gang up on me? No thanks.” Erin didn’t get why Zach thought it was necessary to ask other people how to fix everything. It was one thing to ask Brent to come and help with something that needed fixing in the house, but to go to a perfect stranger and explain that your wife was a loser that no one liked was embarrassing. To sit in a group of three all discussing how they could make you less of a loser was worse.
Zach didn’t raise his voice but he gave her the look. “Well we can’t leave things like this. I’ll make arrangements for us all to meet.”
“You can make arrangements for yourself, but don’t bother for me, I’m not going.” Erin knew she was getting herself into trouble, but at that very moment she didn’t care.
“You know very well that is not your decision to make.” Zach’s eyes didn’t leave hers.
“That’s not fair! I’m upset! Now’s not the time to throw around your head of house crap!”
Zach was around to her side of the counter in a second. He lifted her from the stool and stood her before him as easily as he would have a child, despite the fact that she was a grown woman. “Take your little butt into that bedroom and stand in the corner and think about what you just said.”
“I have to make dinner.” That last statement was both lame and clutching at straws she knew, but it was all she could come up with on the spur of the moment.
“Dinner will wait. Now go.” He set her moving with a smack to the back of her jeans.
Zach could have kicked himself as he watched his wife disappear into their room. How could he have let this happen? Talk about sleeping on the job. He should have insisted that she didn’t put Diana off when she tried to contact her. His own mentor, Diana’s husband Rick, had tried to warn him that it was too soon for Erin to break out on her own but things had seemed fine. They had hadn’t they? He racked his brain for proof or for clues, something that he should have noticed. Things that were not as they should have been, but he came up empty, Erin had hidden her unhappiness well and he’d let her. He could have headed this off at the pass if he’d been paying attention, he was sure of it. It was time he stepped up.
Zach closed the door gently behind him. After checking on the children and making sure they knew they were to stay in their rooms until they called, he had come in search of his wife. He stood with his back to the door admiring the sight of Erin while he judged her mood. Not repentant, that was for sure. Her back was stiff, her arms were folded and although she had stripped down to her panties as she was supposed to when in trouble, that and the fact that she was actually in the corner, were the only things that were submissive about her stance. That was his Erin, prideful for as long as she could get away with it.
“Can we just get on with it please?” Erin said from the corner.
“Oh, we most certainly can.” Zach took up a spot on the end of the bed. “Seeing as how you’re so eager, you can pick up your hairbrush from the dresser on your way over.” She did so but he could tell that it took everything she had to make her feet move without stomping.
“I’m sorry,” she tried once she was standing before him hairbrush in hand.
“Really? You don’t look very sorry. You look like you’re angry with me.”
“I don’t want to talk to Diana. If you loved me you wouldn’t make me.”
“Oh, you’re pulling out all the stops today. First you try stubbornly telling me no. Then you give me attitude and your last-ditch effort is emotional blackmail. I do love you and that’s precisely why I want to help you, which I’m going to whether you want me to or not.” Zach pulled her panties down and waited for her to step out of them, noticing that she was getting sorrier by the second.
“What if the girls come in?” she tried as he took her arm.
“The lock’s on and you know they wouldn’t open a door without knocking, after being told to stay in their rooms. Now stop stalling, bend over my knee.” He knew she would rather he just bent her over his knee but her attitude had made this a lesson in submitting as well. He ignored the pleading eyes. “Don’t make me count, you’ll get extras.”
“Please I’ll be happy,” she almost whimpered.
“One.”
“That’s not fair! I was just talking to you.”
“You were bargaining with me, two.”
“Stop counting, please, Zach!”
“Three.”
“Okay, okay.” She practically threw herself over his knee.
He brought his hand down hard on her right cheek, waiting a few seconds for the color to rise to the surface in shape of his handprint. Another followed on the other cheek.
“Ow! Zach!” she whined, trying to wriggle away from his hand.
“Erin, I don’t want you to act happy,” he said as he found a steady rhythm, punctuating each word with a smack. His hand clapped noisily off her rapidly coloring bottom.
“Please, Zach, you’re doing it too hard!” She kicked her legs wildly, trying to dodge his punishing hand.
“You know how this family works,” he said with another round of spanks to both cheeks. “You wanted to live in a DD marriage.”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry!” she wailed.
“You don’t get to decide when or if you are going to so as your told.” Her bottom was getting very hot and quite pink so he stopped for a second to let her get her breath. “You don’t ever tell me no.” He started the spanking again, but slower and slightly softer. It was enough on an already burning bottom, Erin’s face crumpled.
“I was angry. I’m sorry.”<
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“I know, but what you said was very disrespectful and you hurt me. I don’t flaunt the fact that I’m head of house, it’s a responsibility that I take very seriously and something that I thought we were in agreement about.”
“We are!” Erin was crying hard now.
Zach was sure her tears had more to do with true repentance than pain now. She’d taken harder spankings than this one plenty of times. He stopped, helped her to stand and pulled her into his arms.
“I’m so..rry.” She sobbed into his shoulder.
“I know.” Deciding another bout in the corner wasn’t necessary, Zach decided to just get the spanking finished. He placed two pillows on the end of the bed and she lay over them without being told.
“How m..any?” Her breath caught in her throat.
He smoothed his hand over her naked bottom before picking up the brush. He didn’t enjoy punishing his wife but he did love the feel of her warm skin under his hand, the sight of her now mostly uniform pink skin, except for the splattering of finger marks on the outer edges. “It would have only been six but you also have three extras, so nine. Open up.” Zach gave the insides of her thighs a light tap and she moved her feet apart, leaning further forward on the bed. He had a perfect view of her newly spanked bottom and just a peek of those sweet lips between her legs. He pressed his hand into the small of her back, wincing when the brush landed with a sharp splat.
Erin groaned and rocked her hips from side to side as the brush connected three times, low down biting into her in the place she hated to be spanked the most.
“Be still.” He waited for her to do just that before her brought the brush down three times in quick succession.
“Ow!” she cried, sinking her head into her folded arms.
“Two more. Nearly done. You’ve been very good, Sweetheart.” He clapped the brush across the underside of each cheek and then threw the offending object on the bed. “That’s it, we’re all done.”
She stood shakily and stepped into his arms. “I’m so sorry,” she sniffled. “I mean it this time, I’ll try har...der.”
“Good girl.”
The subject wasn’t brought up again, but Zach made up his mind to go and see Rick himself. The young husband still saw his mentor on a regular basis, he’d come to think of him not only as a mentor but a friend. Rick had tried to tell him on occasion that he should insist that Erin talk to Diana but he’d reiterated what Erin had convinced him of, that things at home were fine. That she had been busy but that she would make time to meet up with Diana soon.
Things had seemed to be going smoothly at the time. He should have listened though to the advice from people who could actually tell that something wasn’t completely ok. Married and in a domestic discipline relationship for twenty years, Rick and Diana were now old hands. They probably wished they’d had the same help offered to them. That was the aim of living in Corbin’s Bend. It wasn’t just a place where you could spank your partner and get away with it. There was a system of support available to all. They’d maybe needed it and yet hadn’t taken advantage of everything that was out there to help in the way they should. Now he was certain that Erin needed to talk to someone and he could think of nowhere better to turn for help. It wouldn’t hurt to give the older couple the heads up, especially Diana. When Erin did go to talk to her mentor, and she was going to go, the problem would already be explained.
Erin stirred the pasta sauce and turned the heat down a smidgeon under the bubbling pot of pasta before going back to chop the vegetables for the salad.
“How long is Avvy gonna be, Momma? It was her turn to set the table.”
“She’ll be along. You can swap chores tonight. Avery can clear after dinner.”
“Yes!” Jordan said. Her mood quietened though when her sister emerged from her room with red eyes. Her daddy was right behind her and he was carrying Avvy’s jewelry box.
“I’m sorry, Momma. I shouldn’t have snuck the earrings to school.”
“That’s okay, sweetie.”
Avery hugged her mother’s waist but her big blue eyes followed her daddy as he placed her precious jewelry collection on the top of the kitchen cabinet.
“One week.” Zach moved a curl off his daughter’s face.
Avery took her place at the table opposite her sister.
“Bummer,” Jordan said with a wince. “At least it was only a week. Daddy took my Fireball yoyo for a month and he took money from my allowance.”
“You broke a window at school. In his classroom.”
“Not on purpose. It flew right off my finger!”
“Enough now.” Zach helped Erin to put the food on the table.
Erin poured glasses of water for everyone.
“Buddy says his dad lets them have Coke with dinner,” Jordan said, sipping the water distastefully.
“Just because Buddy says something, doesn’t make it so,” Erin said, taking both her daughters’ hands.
Zach did the same. “Avery would you like to say the blessing?”
“Yes, Daddy,” the little girl said with a sigh. “Dear Lord, thank you for this food that we are about to eat and thank you for all the blessings you give us. Please Lord, can you stop me becoming a social outcast because I have to go to school without my jewelry? Thanks, Amen.”
“Amen,” the rest of the family chorused.
Chapter 2
Zach walked down Spanking Loop letting his mind wander as he passed each of the houses. Most homes’ living areas were lit warmly. Couples and families were no doubt inside enjoying their evening. He couldn’t help but wonder if anyone else was struggling the way his wife seemed to be. What about that? Did they just not like her? He couldn’t imagine that really, she was lovely and friendly and she’d never had problems with friends before. He just didn’t get it.
“Hey there, Zach,” Diana said, her brow creasing with slight concern as she opened the door.
“Hi Diana.” He kissed the woman’s cheek and gave her a half hug as she stood to the side to welcome him in.
“What brings you out at this time? Were you after Rick?”
“I was, actually.”
“I’m sorry, honey, he’s not here. He’ll be back in about a half hour, though, if you want to wait. I have a fresh pot of coffee on.”
“Thanks. That’d be great.” Zach followed the woman through to the kitchen. He liked this woman. He was pretty sure that Erin would like her too if she gave herself the chance to get to know her. Admittedly the woman could seem a little brash in her way at first but in truth she was all heart.
“I see you’re alone.” She raised an eyebrow pointedly.
“Yes Diana, it’s just me.” Zach smiled.
“Is everything okay? You know Erin’s still been making excuses every time I suggest we get together.”
“I know,” Zach admitted. “I made a mistake in not insisting that Erin keep seeing you.”
“I did try. I’ve called numerous times and I even went to visit, but Erin was totally resistant to seeing me.”
“Well that will change now.”
“What will change?” Rick asked from the door way. “Hi Zach.” He shook the younger man’s hand. “Something wrong?”
“You could say that.”
“Would you like to talk to me alone?”
Zach smiled at Diana. “No, I think this involves all of us, I’d like Diana to be in on this.”
“Okay, then take a seat.” Rick accepted the hot cup of coffee his wife passed him with a smile. “Has something happened recently?”
“Yes and no. There is a problem, but it’s been there all along, I just didn’t see it.” Zach went on to explain everything that had happened that afternoon. His shock and horror at finding out how out-of-place his wife felt. How guilty he felt that he hadn’t supported her more, or even been in tune to what she was feeling.
“I’m so sorry that Erin feels that she is so isolated,” Rick said. “This is a close community. We pride ourselves o
n taking care of our own.”
“I know.” It was what he himself had experienced already and what he wanted for Erin.
“Do you feel that we have failed you and Erin as mentors?”
“No. If I’m to be honest, you weren’t really given the chance to be proper mentors to us. I mean you have been great to me Rick, but you did try to tell me that I should insist that Erin see Diana and I didn’t listen.”
“Well the past is the past. I think we need to talk about where we go from here. We need to make a real effort to make Erin feel welcome.”
“How exactly do I do that?”
“Notice Rick said we not I. We’ll help. A dinner party is the perfect way to meet people.”
“That it is, Di,” Rick said with a beaming smile towards his wife.
“Before we do that though, you need to make it very clear to Erin that you expect to her to see and talk with Diana. You need to give her a time frame. She needs to call by such and such a time. That’s it, your final word.”
“Would it make it easier if I got a sitter for the kids and just brought her over here?”
“No,” Diana said, shaking her head. “What are you going to do, throw her over your shoulder and march up the street with her kicking and screaming?”
“If I have to.”
“That would only be a really last resort. Just tell her to ring, like Rick mentioned, within a time frame. Once she’s made the first contact I’m happy to go to her. I could just call in on her, but I think if we want her head in the right space then she should call first. She’ll be more open to talking to me if she makes the first move.”
Zach nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Any ideas who we should invite?”
“Leave that to me,” Diana said. “Unless there’s someone you particularly wanted to ask?”
“No, I don’t think so. Friday night?”
“Friday sounds fine. I’ll work up a list of names and numbers and you can call them. I’ll help Erin plan the party.”
“Thanks, Diana, you’re a gem.”
“You know, Zach, I think the women here would be really surprised to find out that Erin felt that they had been unfriendly.”