Adjusting Addie

by RJ Gray

  "Can you please spank me?"

  Brad recognized how quickly she asked. He noticed the lack of stutter that came with the discipline spankings. She didn't blush when she asked for this one. He hoped that he would come to her when she was thirsty and asked for a glass of water. Asking for a spanking when you need one is no different.

  Brad answered by pulling Addie across his lap and getting her comfortable, resting her upper body on the couch pillows. He didn't pull her pants down, but instead, started over them. Swat! The first one fell. It wasn't gentle, but it wasn't punishing, either. It was a calculated and weighted swat. Brad was going to slowly build up the release, and he wouldn't be rushed. Another few swats landed on her bottom. The warmth was spreading slowly, and he heard the little sighs Addie was releasing. They were adorable. Brad smiled to himself. He had his sweet, submissive girlfriend over his lap, and he was going to make sure she knew that he could take care of her, all parts of her, and meet every need. He might be a Marine, but he was sensitive to her emotional needs.

  A few swats later, he lifted Addie's hips, unbuttoned her jeans and slid them off of her. He rubbed her bottom gently with his hands and kneaded her butt cheeks. "How are you doing, Addie girl?" he asked. This was an emotional release spanking. He wasn't ignoring her pleas to stop a punishment. He was committed to communicating with her. He was reading her body language like a book, but he wanted to hear what was going on inside.

  "I'm okay."

  "How are you feeling?"

  "I-I, uh, this is different than the last two times. I'm not anxious. There isn't a rock in the bottom of my stomach."

  "Good. I'm going to continue now."

  Brad started swatting again, a little harder this time. He raised his arm a little higher and the force was a little more. Addie started to squirm some as the heat started to penetrate. One swat after another fell in a steady rhythm, and she got lost in her thoughts. She thought about her past, she thought about her future and, most importantly, she thought about her present, right here, over the strong thighs and in the strong arms of her caring man. Her eyes started tearing up and it wasn't from the spanking. She barely noticed he had slipped off her underwear.

  She did realize when his palm came crashing into her flesh, flesh meeting flesh, the intimacy of the moment. She had not only willingly lain across his lap, she had asked him to spank her. He increased the speed so that the swats were raining down without a pause between them and had definitely increased the force behind each one. She started to squirm in earnest but didn't cry out for him to stop. He brought his hand down over and over on her bottom. Addie thought about how many mistakes she had made with her poor judgement in recent days. She thought about the look of fear on his face when he had appeared at the park. She pictured the betrayal that had danced across his features at the police station when he thought she had intentionally lied to him. She thought about how intimately he made love to her. She felt like she was in a cloud and he was off in the distance. He spanked harder, and Addie finally gave in to the feeling. She went limp, her upper body collapsed down onto the pillows and her limbs turned into Jell-O, and she surrendered to the moment. Brad stopped spanking immediately and started rubbing. He rubbed, kneaded and massaged her bottom and her back until she calmed down. She sat up, and he pulled her to him, kissing her passionately.

  "I love you, Addie girl. I want to be your everything, your partner and your confidant. Don't worry about me leaving you, I'm here to stay!" he said before kissing her again.

  "Sir?" Addie asked, surprising both of them with the term.

  "Yes, baby?" Brad asked.

  "Take me to bed?"

  She only had to ask once. Brad took her to bed, but they didn't sleep. He made love to her—slow, passionate, and careful sex. The type of sex Addie had only read about. He caressed her body with his loving hands, kissed her deeply and entered her while staring into her eyes. His hips moved slowly, at first. Deep, slow thrusts built up a steady pressure deep inside of her. She was shaking her head from side to side and begging him for a release. He continued to thrust steadily inside her warmth, taking in each delicious downward plunge. He could feel the pleasure growing and increased his tempo. Addie dug her fingers into his back, encouraging him to speed up, and it worked.

  "Come for me, baby girl," Brad growled out as he thrust roughly, flexing his hips upward and hitting her G-spot with just the right amount of pressure. The raw, primal growl in his voice, along with the owning of her body, made Addie come undone. The orgasm washed over her body, vibrating and shaking it as her cries of pleasure filled the room. It was the first time in decades that Addie had felt beautiful.

  She didn't know, before that moment, what letting go of control and submitting to someone she trusted completely could do for her. It released the burden and heavy weight off of her shoulders. The relief she had with the simple act of surrendering to Brad was freeing. The act of asking for a spanking, knowing she needed one, being able to let go of her insecurities, lie over his lap, and get exactly what was required to have that emotional release, and to follow that up with being made whole when he entered and owned her body was a feeling like none other. She felt safe, taken care of, desired, and at home. It was a unique emotion and one she could get used to. She just hoped nothing ever happened to take that feeling from her.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning, Brad put in the call to Jeremiah about searching her place for wires. Jeremiah agreed and said he could be there that night. Just in case Addie's apartment was bugged, they sat down and made a plan. There had to be a reason for Addie to be staying with Brad for a few days. Finally, plan in place, Brad and Addie went back to her apartment so Addie could get the items she needed to take over to Brad's. They spoke loudly about how the air conditioning wasn't working and how they thought she might have a failure in her electrical system. They made sure to mention a worker coming that night to fix it. Addie packed enough clothes and personal items to last a few days at his house. She knew she could always come back and get more later.

  Addie and Brad parted ways after that, with Brad reminding Addie about her texting rule. Addie felt her palms sweating as she pulled into work. She felt like she had eyes watching her at all times. She knew it was silly; Whitehall had to go to work. He had his day to day responsibilities to take care of. Yet, Addie couldn't help but feel like he was there with her. She hated that he was controlling any of her emotions. She shook her head violently. Fuck you, asshole. She got up the nerve to get out of her car and go into her office.

  Addie met with Evelyn and let her know of their suspicions, and Evelyn wanted to take her off the case immediately. Addie begged her not to. Not only did she not want Mr. Whitehall to run her off of the case, she didn't want to leave Lindsey.

  "It might spook him into doing something more desperate," Addie said. "If I suddenly wasn't on the case anymore, he would suspect we are on to him and run. We need to get enough evidence to nail his balls to the wall."

  "I don't like it," Evelyn said.

  "Brad and Ben both agree, it's best for me to stay on the case. I'm staying with Brad now, so I'm safe. I'll take extra precautions at work, and I'm constantly checking in with Brad. If anything were to happen, he'd know immediately." The first sentence wasn't actually the truth, but Addie thought they would agree with her and was confident in her assessment.

  "All right, if you are sure," Evelyn said. "But, Addie, if anything looks suspicious, and I mean anything at all, even if it is just a gut feeling, I want you to leave and get help immediately. If you change your mind about being on the case, no one will judge you."

  "I won't change my mind."

  "I was afraid you would say that," Evelyn said with a shake of her head.

  Addie went back to her office and reviewed the notes she had written on what Lindsey had told her. Something was bothering her. She couldn't put her finger on it. She reread the notes and dread sunk into her stomach. "He told my mom that if she ever left, he w
ould track her down and take her someplace and she would never be heard of again."

  "Did he say he would kill your mother?" Addie had asked and instantly regretted it. That wasn't the right way to talk with a ten-year-old. The problem with words were, once spoken, you couldn't erase them from the air.

  "No. He said he would hide her, deep in the woods or the mountains, where no one would ever see her again. He said she'd be all alone for the rest of her life and never see me again." Addie replayed the conversation in her head. Maybe Mrs. Whitehall wasn't dead, after all. She picked up her phone to call Ben and tell him what Lindsey had said.

  "Good thinking, calling me, Addie," Ben said. "I'll see if there is enough here to get his credit card statements. How are you doing?"

  "I'm okay," Addie said, trying to sound cheerful. "This creep isn't going to scare me."

  "Brad never was the type to date weak girls. I admire your strength and resolve."

  "Thanks, Ben."

  "No problem, Addie. Call me if there is anything else you think of."

  Addie went back to work and threw herself into the visitations with her kids. She finished up another home study report and then headed over to meet Jeremiah and Brad at the coffee shop near her house. Addie was surprised when she met Jeremiah. He wasn't large and muscular like Brad and Ben. She looked him over and smiled to herself; he was much more normal looking. He stood closer to six foot and had an average body frame. He wasn't fat, but he wasn't rock hard, either. He had good muscle tone but didn't look like he lived at the gym. He had longer, wavy blond hair and a freshly shaven face. One thing was for certain, he didn't look like a Marine. He looked like a skier, something they had plenty of in the area. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief, and Addie guessed him to be at least five years younger than she was.

  "You must be Addie," Jeremiah said, holding out his hand.

  "You must be Jeremiah. You are younger than I thought you would be."

  "Don't let his baby face fool you; he's the best of the best," Brad said.

  "I wouldn't say that," Jeremiah said, laughing.

  "I would," Brad said. "Unequivocally."

  "You don't look like a Marine, either," Addie said, and both men chuckled.

  "How many Marines have you met, Addie?" Jeremiah asked.

  "Two." Both men laughed harder.

  "We come in many different shapes and sizes. Special forces Marines tend to be the muscle-head jocks, but they had need for a few skinny boys to fit into the smaller spaces and get them out of trouble. Someone had to be the brains of the operation," Jeremiah teased

  "Sure, let's go with that," Brad said, and the men laughed again. Addie loved the sound of laughter and once again understood the laugh lines developing on Brad's face. He was a generally happy man and other people were happy to be around him. "Jeremiah was our commo guy. He took care of our radio equipment and got us out of a lot of tight spots."

  "I tried. Just did my job," Jeremiah said humbly. "What is going on? I hear your place might be bugged? What can I do to help?" They spent the next few minutes going over the details and filling him in. Jeremiah grinned and said, "Guess I better get my white overalls out of the truck." Jeremiah got the keys from Addie and headed over to her place while the couple headed back to Brad's house.

  "I like him," Addie said.

  "He's a good kid. He was a private straight out of boot when he was assigned to me; he's come a long way. We've all been through a lot together. Not just several combat deployments to war zones where we lost good friends, but all of our divorces. One of my men lost his five-year-old son to cancer and there have been many other personal things. We are very bonded, and even though a lot of us are spread out all over the country, I knew if I asked, any one of them would be here for me in a second. I wouldn't hesitate to go to them. All they would have to do is say the word."

  "All your divorces…are you ever going to tell me about her?" Addie asked. It dawned on her that they had only been dating about a month, even though it felt like they had known each other forever.

  "I don't talk about it, Addie."

  "Don't you think that is something I should know?" Addie asked, incapable of keeping the irritation and hurt from her voice. She had tried to get him to open up to her about his ex-wife, and he always put it off.

  "It was the biggest mistake of my life," Brad said, and Addie listened intently to the story of his failed marriage. By the end of the story, Addie was heartbroken for Brad. It was obvious that Brad had loved his ex-wife and equally obvious that the feeling wasn't mutual. She had used him. She cheated on him while he was deployed, lied to him constantly and finally left him for another Marine.

  "Brad, I have a serious question, and I need you to answer honestly."

  "I always answer you honestly," Brad said. "Shoot."

  "Am I your rebound?"

  "No, Addie. It's been years since my divorce. I've dated since. I never found anyone I wanted to stay around. I promise, you are anything but a rebound. Unless you mean did my heart rebound back to being able to trust? Because you accomplished that. You taught me to trust again, laugh again, and I'm grateful for that. You aren't some passing woman I'll once have known, Addie girl. You are my future."

  There wasn't a moment's hesitation in his words, and Addie felt pure joy wash over her. There were a lot of things Addie had been called before; someone's future was never one of them. She'd take it. She'd wrap it up and deposit it deep inside of her heart and unwrap it anytime she felt down. She couldn't be happier.

  Jeremiah came back to Brad's place, an hour later. "There were three devices installed that I found. Both of your smoke detectors had cameras in them, and there was one in your bathroom. From what I can gather, he had complete access to everything you did and said in your home."

  Addie felt a chill go through her.

  "I didn't remove them, like we spoke about. We don't want him knowing that we know. I would spend as little time as possible in there until there is something to catch him on. I don't know the system he has installed, but he would have to be caught in the act of accessing it. You might work with Ben on coming up with a trap for him. I wanted to give you this." Jeremiah held out a small box. "It's a scrambler. This will jam up any signal within five hundred yards. If you want to have a private conversation in your apartment while it is still hooked up, it will prevent him from hearing it. He will think he is having some sort of connection error. Don't overly use it if you don't want him knowing you are on to him."

  "Thank you, Jeremiah! Can I pay you for all of this? Your gas to and from Denver?" Addie asked. "Something?"

  "She's joking, right?" Jeremiah said, turning to Brad. It was obvious, he was offended. "I didn't come here for money!"

  "I know you didn't, brother," Brad said. "She is just trying to show her gratefulness."

  "If you need me, I am here," Jeremiah said, getting back into his car.

  "I know it. We will come up to Denver soon for a Rockies' game, my treat."

  "Only if I get to buy the first round."

  "Deal," Brad said as he placed one arm around Addie's waist and waved goodbye to Jeremiah with the other. Before Jeremiah was out of sight, Brad was on the phone with Ben. A meeting was set up for after work the following day, and Addie asked to bring Annie along. Brad agreed; his girl could use all the support she could get.

  The next day, two days after the visit, dragged on for Addie. She was quickly annoyed with how often Brad was checking in on her. It felt like he texted her in between every one of his patients.

  "Doing okay, baby?" The one-millionth text came in twenty minutes after the previous one.

  "No," Addie wrote back.

  "What's wrong? Need me to cancel my appointments and head your way?"

  "NO!" Addie texted back. "I NEED you to STOP texting me every twenty minutes. I am FINE," she typed back aggressively.

  "The caps aren't necessary," Brad responded. "I care about you and your safety."

  "How about this? I
'll let YOU know if there is a problem!" Addie said.

  "Now, why didn't I think of that?" Brad texted back sarcastically. "I mean, that way, if he kidnaps you, I won't know about it for several hours."

  Addie responded with the eye roll emoji.

  "Mature, Add," Brad wrote back.

  Addie texted over a string of emojis that really showed how she was feeling, including the tongue sticking out emoji.

  "If you are wanting a trip across my lap, keep it up," he texted, followed by, "I have a solution for that tongue. Don't stick it out if you don't plan on using it."

  Now, that text had Addie smiling. She could think of a bunch of different ways she would like to use her tongue on Brad's delicious tasting body.

  They had sex every day, sometimes, several times a day. It seemed to get better and better. At times, Brad was very dominant, holding her hands over her head, pinching her nipples and growling in her ear. Other times, he was a gentle lover, looking into her eyes, stroking the side of her face and slowly bringing her to orgasm. One thing was for sure, he was a giving lover. He made sure that she orgasmed every single time they slept together. It was a refreshing change of pace. Addie felt very taken care of by Brad. He not only cared about her physical well-being but her emotional and even sexual one, as well. She had never felt more like a woman. She also realized that she wasn't thinking so poorly about herself, anymore. Sure, she had lost several pounds since they started working out together at the Y, but it was more seeing herself through Brad's eyes and less through her own. He thought she was beautiful, and she was finally getting to a place where she believed he felt that way.

  The four of them met at Montague's Tea Parlor, that evening. It was a small local establishment with one wide open room. They'd be able to see anybody coming in or going. There were no places to hide, no dark corners. Addie had written many a Master's paper there. It was a safe place for her.