by Thianna D
Erin squeezed her legs together nervously when she felt Zach move from behind her. She knew his soft footfall and she could tell he hadn’t gone far. Sadly, she could guess what he was doing. She was right. When she felt him behind her again he was tapping the paddle. It felt cold against her bare skin when he rested it on one cheek. His breathing was labored and she could tell he was struggling.
“Begin the punishment,” Lelo said. His booming voice meant to spur Zach on. It worked.
She felt a slight rush of air before a line of fire burst across both cheeks. If she was at home, she would have shouted or sworn, but here she had made up her mind to hang on to the little dignity she had left. She sucked in a breath and her eyes opened so wide she thought her eyeballs might pop right out of her head.
“One,” Lelo bellowed.
The second, although not a surprise, was worse than the first. The burn hadn’t dissipated at all when the next crashed over the top of it, fanning the flames to a raging fire. By sucking in deep breaths and hanging on to the bench, she took five strokes before her control slipped. A low groan started deep in her chest, moving up until a strangle cry escaped. “It hurts,” she whimpered after, half an explanation for her lack of control and half a plea. Diana tapped her foot ever so slightly on the floor and she looked up at her face.
“Good girl,” she mouthed.
Erin took a deep breath and tried to get her mindset back in order. It lasted for one whack. By the time she’d taken the tenth, she was sobbing audibly and her pride was a thing of the past. Every crack after that made her wail.
Zach ran his hand briefly over his wife’s red and swollen cheeks. He’d never seen her sob this badly. He wanted to rub out the sting, take her in his arms and tell her that all was forgiven. But, that was the only drawback with living in a community such as this. This wasn’t just about them. Sometimes it was about everyone, and he didn’t get to decide the outcome.
“Continue the punishment,” Lelo said.
It took every ounce of Zach’s willpower to draw back the paddle, but he had to. If he didn’t, then someone else would finish for him. He couldn’t put Erin through that. He placed his left hand firmly on Erin’s back and bent to whisper in her ear. “Hang on. We’re going to finish this.” He brought the paddle back and swung it hard, wincing when it connected with the already red and motley flesh. There was the start of a bruise or two forming but he couldn’t think about that. She was at a point where the pain was constant anyway, so the kindest thing was to make it go quicker. Ignoring her sobs he followed through with another firm thwack. He continued the same way, holding Erin place until the last stroke. “Last one.” He brought the paddle down hard enough that it would pass Lilo’s scrutiny and then dropped the paddle on the floor. He hoped he never had to touch that damn paddle again. Ever.
“Twenty,” Lilo said. “You are both now free to go.”
“Thank you,” Zach said huskily. He lowered Erin’s skirt and straightened it over her behind as gently as he could before picking up her underwear and stuffing the discarded item in his pocket. “You okay to walk?” he asked softly.
She nodded and took the handkerchief he offered her. She wiped her face and blew her nose. “I’m fine,” she said bravely. Zach kissed her forehead and took one arm. Diana rushed over and took her other arm and together they walked the proud woman from the hall. Rick picked up the paddle and passed it to Lelo and then followed them out.
“Is that it now for my punishment? Apart from the community service, that is?” Erin asked, through a voice that was barely audible. Her scratchy throat sounded like she had laryngitis. It hurt, but not as much as her ass. The paddle that they used at home was nothing compared with that thing. Her skin was burning and chafing against the thin material of her skirt, but deep inside a dull pain thudded relentlessly.
“Yes. We do need to talk about what happened with Jordan another day. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough.”
“Rick and I were wondering if you’d let us take the girls tonight for a sleepover,” Diana said.
“That would be wonderful,” Zach said.
“Yes it would,” Erin said. “I don’t think I can face them yet.”
“We would love that,” Rick said. “I still need to figure out how to beat Jordan at checkers. You two go home and rest up. We’ll pick the girls up from the sitter.”
“Thank you,” Zach said.
Fresh tears filled Erin’s eyes. “You’re all being so kind. I don’t deserve it.”
“That’ll be enough of that,” Diana said. “You’ve paid the price now, it’s over.”
“I’ll bring the car around,” Zach said. “I have a soft pillow for you to sit on. He turned to Diana. “Will you stay with her while I get the car?”
“Of course,” Diana said. She beckoned Zach over and passed him a pot of gel. “This is arnica. It will sooth her.”
Zach gave the woman a hug. “I keep saying it, but thank you.”
“Go on. Get the car, your wife needs to lie down.”
Zach pulled the car up the driveway and didn’t bother to put the car away in the garage. Most of the neighbors were still at the center so he didn’t have to worry about prying eyes. He unlocked Erin’s door and when she stood tentatively, he crouched to lift her over his shoulder. It was the quickest way he could think of to get her inside without touching her anywhere that hurt.
Zach took her straight to their en suite and set her down on the tiles. “What do you think will feel better, hot or cold?”
“I don’t know,” Erin whispered.
He settled on lukewarm, adjusting the temperature until it felt just right. After stripping off her skirt and undoing her blouse, he let both pool at her feet. He reached behind her, kissing her trembling lips gently as he undid her bra. Not even bothering to remove his own clothes, he stepped into the shower with her, holding her up while the water refreshed her and he hoped washed away some of the pain of that day.
“It hurts,” she cried as the spray bounced off her burning skin.
“Too hot?” he asked. “Too cold?”
“I don’t know.” She dropped her head on to his shoulder and cried.
Zach bathed her quickly, shampooing her hair and washing her body. He put the shower on the finest spray to rinse her clean. “Come on, honey, let’s get you to bed.” He dabbed at her carefully with a thick towel and then carried her to bed, laying her carefully on her tummy. His own head thumped. They needed some Advil. He went to get some and some ice water. “Take this,” he said. “It’ll help.”
“You’re still wet,” she said huskily.
“I know. Take these. I’ll change and come lie beside you.” He watched while she swallowed the pills. When he stripped off his wet clothes, he remembered the gel he’d put in his pocket.
Erin felt calmer but her bottom was still thumping. It was cool in the room but she didn’t want to wear clothes. She didn’t think she could stand to have anything touch her.
The bed depressed a little and Zach was beside her, his lips pressed lightly to her shoulder.
“Any better?” he asked.
“A little maybe.”
“I have something that Diana gave me that might help,” he said.
“No!” she cried. “Please Zach. Please don’t touch me.”
“You have to trust me, okay?”
“Okay.” But she was seriously not convinced. Her eyes widened when Zach scooped out a handful of the pungent gel.
He dropped the cool gel on to her bottom on a place that didn’t look too bad to test the effects. “How’s that?” he asked.
“Cold,” she said. “But okay, I think.”
“That’s good.” Zach laid his fingers over the top of the yellowy-green mound and moved it around, trying not to actually touch her burnt skin. “Still okay?”
“It feels nice.”
He could see her shoulders relaxing as he wiped her over with the gel. By the time he’d ducked into the ba
throom to wash his hands and come back, she was asleep.
Chapter 10
I just want to tell you girls that I’m sorry,” Carol said. “That was the single most humiliating experience of my life and it felt worse because I knew you all had to go through it too, because of me.”
“That’s okay, Moonbeam,” Erin said. She could joke about the ordeal now that it was all over but it had taken a while. It was a full week before she could sit comfortably on a hard wooden chair.
“Don’t even. When I finally was over that spanking from hell, Crystal laid down the law big time about my hippie fetish.”
“Do tell,” Jen said.
“Moonbeam can resurface in the safety of our bedroom only. Crystal is the cop who arrests me after a protest,” she said with a wink. “She’s very strict. It’s different for us because we never used to role play at all.”
Erin chuckled. Zach was a straight down the line teacher. He couldn’t role play unless he was playing himself, which wasn’t role-playing at all. “Yeah, Zach doesn’t play like that. He can give nice spankings but he can’t pretend he’s somebody else.”
“We’ve never role played really either, but Crystal felt like I went looking for something that I wasn’t getting at home.”
“Wow. She blamed herself?”
“To an extent she did, but she blamed me plenty.”
“Did you get in trouble? Did she spank you again? After that?”
“No. She gave me a couple of days to recover and then when she was off, she made me wear a butt plug all day.”
“All day?” Jen asked, her eyes wide.
“Uh-huh.”
“Have you ever had that before?” Erin asked.
“Not for that long. She wanted me to think all day about the position I put my friends in. About how selfish I was being by asking you to break the law.”
“Did it hurt?”
“It hurt my heart more than my ass, but it was irritating as all get out.”
“What about Zach?”
“He was lovely while I recovered,” she said. “He felt the paddling and the community service covered what we did in Boulder.”
“But?”
“Yeah but. He punished me for the lying, and for allowing Jordan to get away with blackmailing me.”
“Spunky little thing, isn’t she?” Carol said.
“That’s one word for it.”
“So what punishment did you get?” Sienna asked.
“He’s a teacher. He made me write lines. A thousand a night for five nights.”
“Yuk,” Carol said. “I’d rather have the butt plug.”
“So, Sienna, how has this affected you? You didn’t do DD did you?”
“Not really. We played. I like it when he spanks me but he’s never spanked me like that.”
“And now?” Erin asked.
“I don’t know. There’s subtle things that aren’t the same. I think our dynamic might be changing.”
“One of us, hey?” Carol said.
“Maybe. What about you, Jen? Did you get into extra trouble?”
“I didn’t get another spanking,” she said. “But the bowling days for me are a thing of the past.”
“I think that goes for all of us,” Carol said. “We’ll have to come up with something else.”
“Now, we need to talk about what we’re going to do for this community service,” Jen said.
“What’s something that can include all the kids and young people?”
“Well, I was thinking a pageant. Not a full glitz pageant, but a pageant. The girls could feel pretty and show off their talents and boys could enter, too, if they wanted.”
“We have to do something that includes everyone,” Carol said. “Not every girl is prissy and likes to dance and dress up. When I was a kid I couldn’t have thought of anything worse.”
“True,” Jen said. “Some girls would love it though. It’d be good if we could figure out a way to include a pageant but have other things that the kids that weren’t interested in the pageant could join in on.”
“Like a talent show or a mixed gala day,” Sienna said. “We could do a pageant, soccer, baseball.”
“That’s a great idea!” Erin said. “We could have a cake decorating or a cooking competition or lesson and an art fair all mixed up in one. Then everyone gets a chance to shine.”
“I like it,” Carol said.
“So do I,” Jen said. “And I think we should make it a rule. No parent interference in the choices.”
“We could run a vote in the hall. The kids put their names on a piece of paper and add what they want to do under it. That way no parent gets the chance to force an activity on their child.”
“Excellent,” Erin said.
“You know, we all moved here because we wanted to do what we wanted in peace. The kids deserve the same thing,” Carol said. “It’ll be fun to see what choices they make.”
Erin was so excited she could barely keep still as they waited outside Brent’s office for the verdict on their idea. Charles had said that they needed his approval before they could go ahead. “How long does he usually take to decide on these things?” she asked Jonathon.
“I don’t think he’s ever had a proposal like this so it’s hard to say. Most people on community service just have to pick up papers in the park or something. Your case was unusual.” He grinned.
“We would have asked you if you weren’t working you know,” Jen said.
“And I probably would have said no,” Jonathon answered.
“Why?” Carol asked.
“I loathe bowling. Those two toned shoes just don’t suit anybody.”
The girls all burst out laughing and the door to Brent’s office opened. “Come in,” he said.
Erin felt a little nervous as they walked past Brent. It was a bit different seeing him in a professional setting. Waiting for Brent was like visiting the principal’s office; it made your tummy squirm even when you weren't about to get in trouble
“Have a seat,” he said, pulling across another chair from the back of the room to join the three that were already there.
They all sat, glancing at each other as they did. “You can relax you know. I won’t bite.”
“What did you think of our idea?” Jen asked.
“Short answer?” he said, his face blank. “I love it!”
“Really?” Erin said.
“Really. I think it’s a really good idea. I think you’ve all come up with an excellent way to give back. Although it’s only one day, I think it will give parents a good insight into what kind of extracurricular activities their kids would like to take part in. It will also give the board some ideas about the kinds of equipment and facilities that we need to think about providing in Corbin’s Bend.”
Erin blushed pink, only this time it was with pride instead of embarrassment. She liked the feeling much more than the alternative.
“I also like the idea of the kids voting anonymously. We all know how it goes when something like this comes around. People tend to push their kids into things that they like without even talking about the choices available.”
“Great,” Carol said. “So are there any stipulations? Anything on the list we can’t offer the kids on their voting list?”
“I don’t think so. Of course there’s too much on this list for just the four of you to handle so I’ll see if I can drum up some help.”
“That would be great.”
“Right.” He opened his personal planner. “How about next Saturday afternoon for the vote?”
The girls looked at each other and nodded.
“Sounds fine to me,” Jen said.
“Do you think we should do something to amuse the kids while the parents are voting. We could make it like a party day.?”
“I think that would be a wonderful idea. Get the parents to bring food and drink and we can get some music going.”
“Fun!” Erin said.
“No alcohol. Kids will be
here.”
“No problem,” Carol, said.
“I’ll have some fliers made up and distributed through the schools.”
“Thank you so much, Brent,” Jen said.
“Yes, Brent, thanks.”
“Likewise,” Carol said. “You’re not a bad egg, after all.”
Brent threw his head back and roared laughing. “I was before?”
“A couple of weeks ago you were,” she said.
“I’m a pussy cat really,” he said.
“Uh-huh.”
The vote had been a fun day in itself. Jonathon was a real sport and helped them set up the cardboard voting booths that were kept in storage at the back of the hall.
“Where do you want them, ladies?” he asked.
“Back of the room, I think,” Carol said. “We can stand at either end and pass out the voting forms.”
“Fine by me,” Jonathon said. “Just so you know, I think this is such a cool idea.”
“Thanks Jonathon,” Erin said. I think I have a job for you if you’d like it.”
“Would you host the pageant?”
“I couldn’t,” Jonathon said. “Could I?”
“I think you could. I think you’d be good at it.”
“Okay, if you really think I have what it takes,” Jonathon said. “Thanks Erin.”
“You’d be doing me a favor.”
“I thought we’d never finish,” Carol said. “Looks good though doesn’t it?”
“It does,” Erin said. The voting booths were at one end with food tables set up with bright tablecloths just waiting for the food. It was kind of like her pot luck on a bigger scale.
“Right,” Sienna said. “Are we ready?”
“Sure are,” Jen said. “Open the doors.”
“It went well today, don’t you think?” Zach asked, kissing his wife before he took a very tired Avvy and Jordan home.
“It was great,” Erin said. “I think all the kids in town voted and every parent brought food and stayed to enjoy the party. It was fun, and it had the most community spirit I’ve felt since I got here.”