Discipline Down Under

by Patricia Green

  The pack on her back got heavier and heavier, and she stumbled a few times under its weight. Tired to the bone, she leaned against an acacia tree for a minute, catching her breath.

  “All right?”

  Peg nodded. “Fine. Just a little tired. Maybe we’re going too fast?”

  He eyed her skeptically, but nodded. “We’ll slow down.”

  She pushed away from the tree and stood up. Her knees were wobbly, and Tripp had to catch her before she tumbled to the forest floor.

  “Yer pale, luv. When did ya last have a drink?”

  “I dunno. A while ago.” She hadn’t had a drink at all, and her mouth was dry as desert sand. Maybe that had been a mistake. She took hold of her canteen and unscrewed the top, taking a quick sip and then closing it back up again. It was somewhat better, and shouldn’t be enough to send her off to pee.

  Tripp was looking at her, frowning with concern. “We should stop and eat. Ya didn’t have breakfast.”

  “I’m okay! Really. Let’s go on. I thought I heard an interesting bird call a while ago, and now I think it’s in front of us. Do you recognize it?” If she could get him off the subject of food and water, then he’d quit bugging her about it.

  He tilted his head, listening. “Yeah, I hear it. I think it’s over there.” He pointed. “Ya okay to head off the trail a bit?”

  She smiled, though it seemed to take a lot of energy. “I’m fine. Lead on!”

  Giving her one more thoughtful look, Tripp led into the bush. They went along and the shade got darker and darker. Pretty soon it seemed like there was no light at all. And then there was nothing.

  * * *

  The sun was still shining brightly when Peg awoke. She was in her sleeping bag, out in a clearing. Tripp was fussing with a backpack, but he looked up when she stirred. Moving wasn’t painful, but she felt groggy and slightly nauseated. But something else was off.

  “Why am I naked?” she said, her voice more high-pitched than usual. Although she was covered modestly by the sleeping bag, someone had undressed her, and since she’d been in a faint and Tripp was the only other person around…

  “I checked you for ticks. You’ll be glad to know there were none. I did discover a few things, though, as I tried to figure out why you’d fainted.”

  Yeah, why had she fainted? She remembered feeling like her backpack weighed about a million tons, and then kinda dizzy, but that was all she remembered of the episode. “Oh?”

  He shook her canteen. “Full. Ya hardly drank anything today, Peggy. And I know ya didn’t eat supper last night or brekkie this morning. Ya fainted because ya didn’t take care of yerself. What do ya think this is? A golf course, where ya can just stop anytime and grab a burger? Yer in the wilderness. I’m yer only emergency aid. If ya have a health crisis, yer in deep shit.”

  That all made sense, though Peg didn’t want to hear it. “Well, I had my reasons.”

  “Ya fucked up. I ought to take ya back to the ranger station and be done with ya.”

  “No! I’ll drink. Gimme the canteen.”

  “Ya will drink and ya will eat, young lady, or back to civilization ya go.”

  “Okay, okay.” He handed her the canteen and she gulped water down. It tasted so good, and she was so thirsty. As soon as she’d had enough, she put the cap on and handed it back. She was careful to stay in the sleeping bag. This was definitely not the way to be naked with Tripp. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks. He’d seen her naked while she was out of it. He’d had to look closely at her to find ticks. What did he think of what he saw? She’d probably never know.

  Tripp gave her a Power Bar. “Eat.”

  Peg kept her mouth occupied with the food for a few minutes, as she watched Tripp set up their tent and get things ready for another night in the bush. “Why are we stopping here? I’m okay. I feel fine. I just needed a little food, that’s all. I don’t want to be late getting back, and this will throw off our schedule.”

  “Ya should have thought about that before ya starved and dehydrated yerself.”

  She hadn’t intended to make herself sick. He was being too harsh about it. “I’m sorry.”

  “Yeah, as soon as yer back to normal, ya will be very sorry.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Let’s talk about it now.”

  “No.”

  “You’re so mean to me!”

  “Shut up, Peggy.”

  “Can I have my clothes?”

  “Ya can have a shirt,” he said as he tossed her the yellow shirt she’d been wearing that day.

  “I want my pants, too.”

  “You won’t need them for a while.”

  Uh-oh. Her bottom got all twitchy. “You can’t spank me, I’m sick.”

  Tripp’s eyes pinned her. “Are ya? Are ya still feeling dizzy or anything else?”

  “Ur… no… but I could pass out again at any minute.”

  His grin wasn’t very nice. “I don’t think so.” It took a few minutes, but soon he’d prepared a large backpacker’s dinner for her. Peggy carefully and modestly put on her shirt, and sat up to eat the food. It made her feel much better, but she wasn’t going to mention it. Why bring on the inevitable any faster than necessary?

  Tripp ate his own meal while sitting on his sleeping bag pad. Peggy liked the look of him there, all strong and broad-shouldered. He had good manners when he ate, never spilling a drop or burping or anything.

  “I’d really like to talk about this some more, Tripp.”

  “How are ya feeling?”

  “I’m okay. I promise I won’t do it again.”

  “I can’t figure out why ya did it in the first place.”

  Damned if she was going to tell him about not wanting to take potty breaks. There was humiliation and then there was humiliation. She kept her mouth shut.

  “Rest for a while.”

  “Really, we should keep going.”

  “Rest. Take a nap. I want ya fully recovered when I take my belt to yer arse.”

  “Your… belt? Please, Tripp, I don’t deserve that. Haven’t I suffered enough?”

  “No. Ya endangered yer life, and put me into emergency mode for no good reason.”

  Well, at least a nap would keep him from spanking her right away. She snuggled back into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes, intending to fake sleep for as long as she could. Unfortunately, her body betrayed her and she fell asleep for real.

  Chapter Five

  Time passed and Peg awoke, feeling better than ever. Unfortunately, lying around made her antsy to do something.

  “I’m bored. Can’t we walk for another couple of hours, Tripp? We stopped too soon.”

  “No. We’re stopping here for the night. Ya lied to me about how ya felt. Ya lied to me about how much you’d had to drink. Ya endangered yerself and our trip. Ya could have died out here, Peggy. This is no small thing, you’ve done.”

  “Yada, yada, yada. Don’t lecture me. No one is perfect.”

  “No. No one is perfect. However, some things can be avoided with a little common sense. Something ya seem to be lacking.”

  “Hey! You’re being an old fart. You sound like someone’s dad. With an Aussie accent.” She mimicked his accent badly when she said, “G’day, mate! How’s about we have some apple apples and drink a pot of piss?”

  “I guess yer feeling better.”

  “I’m fine. That’s why I want to stop sitting around here.”

  “Get out of the sleeping bag.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I intend to spank ya for being such a nong.” He rose off the ground and brushed off his hands. “Do it.”

  “I will not!”

  “Ya were going to mind me; ya agreed to behave. Today, ya did an incredibly yabbo thing and yer going to pay the price for it. Stand up.”

  “Will you talk English, for Christ’s sake?”

  “Ya know exactly what I mean.”

  She sighed
and stood. “All right. I know. I deserve to be spanked.”

  “I want ya to go over to that gum tree and put yer hands on the trunk. Stick yer butt out because that’s where I’m going to lay my belt.”

  “This is really too much, Tripp.” She had to do something to get out of this spanking, whether she deserved it or not.

  “I don’t think so. Go.”

  Her shirt tail fell over her modestly enough, but Peg was still very uncomfortable being half-naked around him. Of course, he’d already seen her completely naked, so she was being silly. It didn’t matter, however; it still made her blush.

  She didn’t think. She didn’t pause. It didn’t matter if it didn’t make sense. Peg needed to get away from the embarrassment and punishment. Without a backward glance, she started to run, barefooted through the mulga and acacia bushes. Sticks pricked her feet, but she had to keep going.

  Behind her, still at the site, Tripp cursed. Pretty soon she could hear his footfalls behind her. Booted and long-legged, he was much faster than she. She deked and twisted around trees, trying to make it more difficult for him to catch her. Maybe if she got far enough away, she would make it clear that a spanking was the wrong answer to the problem. Nothing made sense, even this running away. Her feelings for Tripp confused her, and she realized she was running away from them, probably more than anything else.

  Her breath came in gasps, her feet were sore from pebbles and twigs. But she ran on, trying to put off the inevitable, both with the spanking and a defining moment regarding her relationship with Tripp.

  Tripp caught her. Of course, he caught her. There was nowhere she could go, dressed only in a shirt and stumbling through the brush with no goal but to get away. Fortunately, he didn’t tackle her to the ground; instead, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around in a circle.

  “Stop! Stop it, Peggy! Yer acting crazy!”

  “Let me go!” A sob tore through her. Confusion overwhelmed her and tears began to flow.

  “Crikey, Peggy. What did ya think I was going to do? It was just a spanking. I wouldn’t do ya harm. Don’t ya know me better than that?”

  Yes, she knew him. She knew he’d never harm her physically, but emotionally they were entangled, at least in Peg’s mind. She sobbed loudly and Tripp pulled her into his arms.

  “Shh. Are ya hurt? How are yer feet? Did you run into any thorns?”

  “I-I’m okay. My feet are sore, but I don’t think they’re really hurt. Just hold me for a minute.” Or a lifetime. Peg didn’t know what she wanted and she cried all the harder.

  Tripp stepped away a bit and took her hand gently. Seconds later, with a freshly determined look, he scooped her up in his arms and strode back to camp. “Let’s get back to camp, luv.”

  “Are you still going to spank me?”

  The look on his face said he wasn’t sure what to do. But, perversely, Peg wanted to feel some absolution for being so stupid. Once again, she’d endangered herself. Once again, Tripp had had to run to the rescue. Yes, there were mitigating circumstances, but Peg wasn’t going to give herself an out. She deserved to be spanked.

  Tripp let her down gently on a soft tuft of grass once they’d reached the camp, but his arms remained around her. “I don’t know what to do with ya.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I can tell ya are. But ya keep doing dangerous things. How can I make ya learn to think first?”

  “I… I guess we’d both feel better if you spanked me. I don’t like feeling so guilty for acting like a fool. Every time I get myself into trouble, I put you in danger, too.” She looked up into his face. “I know that.”

  Tripp’s gaze roamed her face, but after a moment he nodded. “All right. Go to the gum tree, put yer hands on it and bend over.”

  Treading the distance as though to the gallows, Peg got to the tree and put her hands on it, bending so her behind was sticking out. The whole idea of being spanked with a belt scared the bejesus out of her. How would that feel? The hand spankings had been difficult, but she’d recovered quickly enough. They weren’t really that bad. But a belt… That was going to hurt. Maybe it would even leave bruises, marks of his dominance over her. Actually, that thought was kinda sexy. Her friends would have been appalled at the thought, but Peg enjoyed the fact that his personality was strong and his hands big. She didn’t mind that he insisted that she behave. No one had ever done that before, and she thought maybe someone should have.

  Tripp approached, and she peered at him over her shoulder. He was removing his belt from its loops. Her hands got sweaty against the peeling bark of the tree, but birds still sang, and the sun was still slightly above the horizon. Except for this regrettable situation, everything was so placid. So placid it made the spanking seem like a more horrible thing.

  After folding her shirt up and tucking it between her shoulders, Tripp touched her bottom gently. The gentle stroke gave Peg a jolt of pleasure right between the legs. There she was, exposed, out in the open, with a man—Tripp—fondling her behind.

  “The point of this exercise,” he told her, “is to make sure ya don’t do this again. I don’t know why ya did it, but I’ll find out.”

  No, he wouldn’t. No matter what, he wouldn’t. Probably. Peg realized that she didn’t know how awful this was actually going to feel. Would it be like torture, making her pour her secrets out to him?

  “I’m scared, Tripp.”

  “I won’t harm ya. I think ya like the hand spankings, Peggy. We need to overcome this problem in a more serious way.”

  Peg leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the tree. “Just get it over with.”

  He patted her behind in a friendly kind of way, but soon after, Peg heard the slight whistle of the belt fanning the air and less than a second later, it landed on her rump with a resounding thwack. Cringing, she ground her teeth together, unwilling to cry though the strike hurt. Once again, he hit her, spanking the other cheek. The birds had quieted and it seemed like the sun was growing cooler, even as her butt warmed up with half a dozen more strokes.

  “Why did ya do it, Peggy?”

  She shook her head, biting her lip to keep from crying out. It did no good. After he spanked her four or five more times, she grunted her pain out with every new noisy slap.

  “Why? Answer me.”

  “I don’t know. Oh, God, that hurts. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”

  There was a pause. Long enough to make her think maybe he was done, but, no, the belt fell again. Her bottom was screaming in pain, the agony spread evenly across both cheeks, from where they met her thighs right up through the fleshiest part.

  “I won’t stop until you tell me why ya did it. I can do this for as long as it takes.”

  She’d be pulp! Maybe telling the truth would be the right thing to do. Tears fell down her cheeks and she moved her face to wipe them away with a stiff forearm. Her nails had dug into the bark of the tree, and now she was crying out, sobbing with each blow.

  “Tell me, Peggy.”

  “Okay!” She’d had enough. She couldn’t stand anymore. “I didn’t want to have to pee.”

  That caused another pause. “You didn’t want to pee, so ya dehydrated and starved yerself?” Tripp sounded incredulous.

  “It’s embarrassing to pee in the bush. I hate that you can hear me. I hate that we have to pack out our toilet paper. I hate everything about it.”

  She heard him fussing near her and his belt buckle jangling. He began to lightly rub lazy circles on her aching behind. The warmth of his hand hurt, but the caress meant more than that.

  “I wish ya had told me.”

  “You’d have stopped the trek. I know you would.” Peg hated her sobs, but they kept coming. It had been a relief to tell the truth, but it was still humbling.

  “Come away from the tree, luv. It’s over.”

  Peg straightened and turned toward him, her shirt tail falling like sandpaper down onto her throbbing bottom. Tripp held out his arms and, exhausted beyond bel
ief, Peg stumbled into them, to be held tight against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and stroked her back. Waves of affection and compassion radiated from him and enveloped Peg in a cocoon. He kept her from falling down both physically and as her own worst enemy.

  After hugging her for a while, kissing her forehead and, once, a brief and tender kiss on her lips, Tripp led her to the tent, where he left her for a moment to retrieve his sleeping bag pad and her bag. He chucked them into the tent and then gestured for her to get in.

  Peg gratefully sat on the bags, despite the pain on her rear. She felt emotionally drained and she shivered with reaction as much as the cooler temperature now that the sun had set. Tripp took her in his arms again and held her tight, saying little Australian things to her that she didn’t really understand. After a while, he opened out both the sleeping bags and zipped them together. Peg was puzzled by it, up to the point where he pulled off his clothes.

  Oh, was he a sight to behold. He was muscular all over, but not muscle-bound. His abs were tight and sculpted, his chest lightly furred with brown curls, and down below it all… Peggy had never imagined she could feel so turned on even after getting the tar whaled out of her. But she was turned on, enough to feel the slickness in her privates and the tightening of her nipples beneath the thin cotton shirt. Tripp tucked her into the connected bags and crawled in after her, pulling her tight against him.

  “Warmer?”

  It was perfect. “Yes.”

  “Done crying?”

  “I think so.”

  “Try to sleep. It’s almost dark out and we’ll be getting up at dawn again. Ya need to rest.”

  “What about you? Isn’t it too early for you to fall asleep?”

  He shrugged. Peg felt the flex of his shoulders and arms. “I’ll just hold ya.” He kissed the top of her head again. “I had no idea ya were so upset about the lack of a bathroom.”

  “I was just uncomfortable, that’s all. It’s silly. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”