The Errant Bride

by Dinah McLeod

  Tentatively, I let the mouse hover over a page entitled A Different Approach to Marriage. I clicked on it, but hesitated when a content warning pops up, asking if I was sure I wanted to continue. I wasn’t, but I did want to find out more about this, and why anyone would voluntarily agree to it. Taking a deep breath I clicked “I Agree”.

  The webpage didn’t look too out of the ordinary. It looked like many of the blogs I’d seen before. Hi, I’m R and my husband and I had been married for over twenty years when we began practicing DD. I thought we had an OK marriage before, but wow! DD has really changed how we communicate with each other, and we have fallen back in love.

  Why would someone who had been married for twenty years even want to change their marriage? Obviously they’d been doing something right to stay together so long. Why take the risk? Still, as I scrolled down the page to read the comments I saw many similar stories. People who were fighting all the time, or close to divorce, people who just wanted to enhance their relationships—all of their marriages were changed when they started practicing DD.

  I heard a hissing sound, and looked up to realize my water was boiling over. “Crap!” I muttered, running for a potholder. As I was adding more water to the potatoes, I heard Ethan come in the door. My laptop was still open displaying the webpage, and I desperately wanted to close it before he saw it. The only problem was that the oil had gotten too hot in the frying pan, and was spitting. I removed the pan from the eye of the stove, and turned the chicken with the tongs.

  “Hey, honey. Mmm, smells great,” Ethan said, sniffing appreciatively.

  “Give me a few more minutes in here, OK? I just have a few things to finish up,” I said, struggling to keep my voice calm.

  “Sure. I just need to check my email, so—”

  “Use your computer!” It came out in a high-pitched squeak.

  “Yours is right here, though.”

  “I need it!” I insisted.

  “Okay. Sure, honey. Are you all right?”

  “Yep.”

  “OK. If you say so.”

  Mercifully, he left it at that and walked to his study. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks, and hurriedly closed out of the webpage and slammed the laptop shut. I knew that Ethan wouldn’t think badly of me for researching, but for some reason, I just didn’t want him to know. Not until I was sure how I felt about what I was reading, at least.

  When I managed to salvage dinner—the cornbread was a bit brown from staying in the oven too long, and I had to cut the scorched bits off the potatoes before I could mash them—I called my husband, acting much more subdued.

  “Looks great, honey! You made all my favorites,” he enthused as we sat down. If he noticed that the chicken was a bit crisp or the cornbread dry, he didn’t mention it.

  I smiled back at him. “I just want you to know how much I love you.”

  “Trying to butter me up for something?” he joked.

  “No, just trying to make up, I guess.”

  He nodded, but didn’t add anything, and we finished eating while taking turns talking about our day.

  Chapter 13

  Ethan

  Sara had been acting strange lately. For the past two weeks she had seemed preoccupied and distant. Not to mention jumpy. Twice, I’d come into the room and she had abruptly closed her laptop. I was sure she’d been hiding something, but I couldn’t imagine what. I was not about to go snooping to find out, either. I knew she’d tell me when she was ready.

  Truth is, I’d had a very long day, and I really didn’t want to come home to her being all secretive. I didn’t think my nerves could take it. She’d been behaving pretty well—she had cooked dinner every night, all of my favorite meals. I knew she’d been trying really hard, and I appreciated it. I just hoped she wasn’t hiding things to avoid getting into trouble.

  When I walked in the door, my wife was nowhere to be found. The house was well lit, and smelled wonderful. Ah, meatloaf. With any luck it wouldn’t be burned. That was another way I knew when something was up with Sara: she was a very emotional cook, and when things were going great, her food was amazing. When things weren’t so great, it showed. I’d never said anything, because I didn’t want to give away my little secret for assessing her moods.

  “Sara! I’m home, baby. Let’s eat, I’m starving.”

  “Be down in a minute, honey!”

  I hung my coat on the back of the armchair and loosened my tie, and noted that the table was made up with our fine china. She really had been trying to soften me up. When Sara did something, she went all the way.

  “Hey, honey.”

  I turned around, and did a double take. Sara was all dolled up—hair, makeup, a little black dress that she knew made me…affectionate. I let out a low whistle. “Well, look at you.”

  She did a little twirl, beaming at me. “You like?”

  “You look beautiful,” I said, catching her in a hug. Pulling her close to me, I smelled her sweet perfume. She really had outdone herself. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Occasion?” she asked innocently.

  “Come on, Sara, we both know that you don’t do this every day. Although if you wanted to, I wouldn’t object,” I whispered, nibbling on her earlobe.

  She sighed blissfully. “If I did, it wouldn’t have the same effect. Now, come on, aren’t you hungry?”

  She tried to pull away, but I tightened my hold on her. Her hair was held up with pins, and slowly, one by one, I slid them from her hair. I loved watching her curls bounce to her shoulders.

  “Ethan!” she scolded, hitting me playfully. “That took me forever!”

  “I thought it was for me,” I murmured. “And I like your hair down.”

  “Come on, baby. Let’s eat.”

  “In a minute.” I was busy kissing her bare shoulders when I decided to ask her again. “What makes tonight so special?”

  “Nothing,” she sounded a little breathless. “We just need to talk.”

  The least romantic words in the English language are we need to talk. That’s it, I was done. I sobered up as quickly as if I’d taken a bucket of water to the face. “OK, out with it.”

  “What?” she asked, sounding surprised. “Now?”

  “There’s no time like the present.”

  “Don’t you want to eat first?”

  “I’m getting impatient, Sara,” I warned her. “Stop stalling. What happened?”

  “Nothing happened. Just…come on, sit down with me.” She took my hand and led me to the couch. I wasn’t in the mood to play games, but I forced myself to be patient with her and sat down. “I’ve just been thinking, is all.”

  Uh-oh. This was not looking good. I’ve been thinking was almost as bad as we need to talk. “And?”

  “Ah, well, I’m not really sure how to say this…”

  “You need to figure it out fast,” I said, a bit peevishly.

  “Um, OK. I just can’t find the words…I didn’t think we’d do this until later…”

  “You’ve overdrawn the account? You’re moving out? You’re having an affair?” Each suggestion made me more jumpy than the last.

  “Ethan!” She exclaimed, eyes wide. “Why would you think…no!”

  “Well, you have to give me something to go on, Sara. You’ve been acting pretty squirrelly lately, and I don’t have a clue what’s going on with you.”

  “Squirrelly?” she repeated, and I see a familiar teasing gleam in her eye.

  “You know what I mean!” I insisted, running my hands through my hair. “I just want you to come clean already!”

  “OK, OK. But can I just tell you, it’s not what you think.”

  “OK,” I said, letting out a long sigh. “Good.”

  “I just need to get something first.”

  “Sara!” I groaned. “You’re killing me here.”

  “Sorry, it’ll just take a second,” she insisted, and she was gone before I could say no.

  I slumped back on the couch and waited, tappin
g my foot. I liked to think that I was generally a patient man, but I didn’t do too well with surprises. Sara and I had been having a rough time the last few months, and I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to deal with another bombshell just when I thought things might be turning around.

  When she came back into the room she was holding her laptop. She sat down beside me, but kept it turned toward her. “OK. So, for the last few weeks, I’ve been reading a lot. I’ve been researching. You might not have noticed, but I’ve had a lot on my mind lately.”

  “I’ve noticed,” I replied drily.

  “Right,” she smiled timidly. “So, the thing is…I have a lot to tell you, but I was thinking the best way might be to show you?” She seemed more than a little apprehensive as she turned the screen to face me. She bit down on her lip and waited, watching me with anxious eyes.

  Knowing that she was clearly uncomfortable, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At first, it just looked like a normal blog and I felt my irritation rising. If she’d got me all worked up over nothing I was going to let her have it! Then my eyes honed in on the title: “About Us in Oz”. Making our marriage the best it can be using Domestic Discipline.

  I grabbed the laptop from her and began scrolling down the page, looking at the blog posts. “HOH? Or the husband you want him to be?” “The Downside to DD” “Submission vs. Fear”. I turned to her in surprise. “This is what you’ve been doing?”

  She nodded slightly. “Uh-huh.”

  I felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted off me. I felt my curiosity rising, too. “So… did you find anything interesting?”

  She blushed slightly, and it made me want to start kissing her again. “Ah, well, I think that the blogs are…interesting.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yes. Um, she talks about domestic discipline.”

  “I suspected as much,” I said, jabbing her lightly in the ribs.

  “And just, like I said, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About us, and this. DD, or whatever you call it. And I think…I mean, I guess I know why you think it’s necessary.” She was talking so softly at this point I had to lean forward to hear her.

  I did a double take when the words registered. “Excuse me?”

  “I said I understand. I know why you feel like you have to punish me. I get why it’s important to you that we don’t fight, and distance ourselves, and I agree.” She smiled shyly, watching me out of the corner of her eye as she waited for my reaction.

  It took a minute for me to respond. I was stunned beyond belief. My wife, my naughty, incorrigible wife was giving in? “Do you mean it?”

  “Yes. I really do, Ethan. I’m sorry, I know I was very resistant to the idea.”

  “You don’t say?” I teased.

  “Honey,” she sounded pained, “I really am trying here.”

  “I’m sorry, babe. You’re right. I was just joking.” I took her hand in mine and gave it a squeeze, offering silent encouragement.

  “Well, I just want to say, uh, I know you’re looking at out for our best interests, and that you’re trying to take care of me. I want that.”

  “You do?” I asked quietly.

  “Yeah,” she gave me another shy smile. “I like it when you take care of me. The best way for you to do that is for me to let you. I guess if that means following rules and—” she sighed, a bit dramatically. “—submitting to the consequences occasionally, then I’m OK with that.”

  “Wow,” was all I could think to say.

  Words really didn’t cut it at such a moment. I couldn’t even begin to tell her how I felt, so I put my emotions into action. I kissed her, holding gently onto her hips as one hand ran through her newly loosened hair. She responded with enthusiasm. I was getting heated up, and fumbling for the zipper on the back of her dress when she stopped me.

  “I do have something I need to talk to you about first.” The words came out sounding meek and a little bit scared.

  “What is it, baby?” I asked in my most gentle, most loving voice.

  “Ethan, I really am so sorry about what happened with Mona. I handled that completely wrong, it was awful of me to say those things to her, and let her think things about you—and us—that weren’t true. I am so, so sorry honey. I betrayed your trust, and that’s unforgivable.”

  She sounded so sincere and repentant that it made my heart fill to the brim with love for her. “I do forgive you, Sara. I always will.”

  “I know.”

  “Then why do you sound so sad, honey?” I asked, brushing a curl away from her beautiful eyes.

  “Because you’ve seemed distant with me. I thought you were still mad at me, and after going through all these websites and reading blogs I realized—” she took a deep breath before continuing, “I realized that you need to spank me for what I did.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Who are you, and what have you done with my wife?”

  “I’m serious, honey.”

  One look at her and I knew that she was. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her so submissive and sweet. I could definitely get used to this. “I know you’ve learned your lesson. I trust that it won’t happen again.”

  “I know. But you will feel better if you spank me, and we can put it behind us.” She said it with such quiet conviction that I knew she’d put a lot of thought into it. I really didn’t want to spank her when she was being so wonderful, but I didn’t want to dismiss her feelings, either.

  “OK. I think this might be the only time you ever insist on a spanking, Mrs. Harris.” My voice was light and playful as I tried to ease some of the tension I felt in her shoulders.

  She smiled politely. “Can I go get something first?”

  Did she just ask for my permission? Maybe I needed to take some time to check out that blog for myself! “Sure, honey.”

  She was back in a few minutes, and she was carrying a box with her. She handed it to me, biting her lip as she waited for me to open it.

  “What’s this?”

  “A little present.” Her doe eyes were on me, looking anxious and hopefully at the same time.

  “Please tell me I didn’t forget something important,” I blurted out.

  “No,” she laughed. “Nothing like that. I just wanted to get you something.”

  I slowly lifted the lid off the long, rectangular box. I tossed it aside and removed the tissue paper. Inside was a long, flat wooden paddle. I whistled appreciatively. It looked like good, hard wood.

  “It’s purple heart,” Sara explained, reading my mind.

  “Just what I’ve always wanted. My own paddle to spank my naughty wife with.”

  “I had them write something on it for you.”

  I looked at it closer and saw something inscribed on the handle. On closer inspection, it read to honor and obey. I couldn’t help but smile. She really was serious about all this. I could hardly believe that she trusted me to guide our family, and to be her Head of House. I was amazed that such a beautiful, willful, stubborn woman was turning herself over to me, asking me to correct her as I saw fit. That was true love.

  “Are you sure?” I asked, my voice full of emotion.

  “Yes,” she replied quietly. She was smiling at me, and I hoped she could feel the love I held for her. Despite what was about to happen, I had never felt more in-tune or connected with her. I gently took her arm and led her around to the back of the couch. She went willingly without comment or complaint. I guided her over it, and put my hand on the zipper of her dress.

  “I thought this would happen for a different reason,” I whispered in her ear as I pulled it down. It puddled on the floor around her feet. I adjusted her position so that her bottom was sticking out. “We’ll save that for later,” I said huskily, and without another word, I pulled my arm back and let it fly toward her bottom.

  The End.

  Blushing Publications thanks you whole-heartedly for your purchase with us!

  There are plenty more stories such as the one you’ve purchase
d from Blushing Books! Visit our online store to view our might selection!

  http://www.blushingbooks.com

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen