Learning to Blush: Swarii Brides, Book Two

by Korey Mae Johnson

  “I don’t mean to break rules!” she cried, burying her head in Graham’s torso. Her head barely came up past his ribs. “I just need some leniency!”

  “And when you married me, leniency’s what I gave you. Now look at where we are.”

  She jerked her head away from him. “When did I ever get leniency? I only stole the ship because you were strangling me with all your regulations! My modification is more important than any stupid rules you can…” She stopped there, and Penny assumed that was because the look he was giving her was frying her brain a little bit. “What do you want me to say, Graham?” she asked, surrendering.

  He didn’t respond to her at first; he looked at her like she was a problem that needed fixing, like a leaky bucket or an engine that wouldn’t start. Finally coming to some conclusion, he put up his finger in a silent order for her to stay where she was, and then he walked into the bathroom.

  Ellie looked after him, chewing her lip. “Graham?” she called quietly. “Graham?”

  He came back out with a wooden hairbrush in his hand. He pointed at the bed once again. “Lie down.”

  Ellie looked at the bed like it was made of needles, but made no other movements.

  Penny thought that the argument between them would continue, but this time Graham, looking completely exasperated, put his foot up against the bed and effortlessly pulled her over his raised knee. He was tall enough that Ellie just hung there, trying to find the ground with her toes and struggling with her arms to right herself to no avail.

  Graham, with the flat side of the hairbrush, began to spank Ellie’s upturned bottom with all the fury of an angry parent. The cracks of the hairbrush were deafening, and Penny could only watch Ellie take it.

  Her parents did not believe in spanking; although she had found herself getting smacked across the face a few times by her own father after particularly heated arguments while she was growing up. She hadn't seen a spanking done outside of the movies!

  Especially to Ellie! Ellie, who was so spoiled growing up, who her parents had always said was so much better than Penny ever was! Now, Ellie was getting taken down several notches as she got her bottom walloped by her own husband, who was treating her like she was a bratty toddler rather than his bratty wife.

  Penny's feet felt like they were glued to the ground, and she was unable to blink. She just stared in awe as Graham gritted his teeth and gritted out, “When-I-give-you-a-command-you-will-learn-to-do-it!”

  Ellie was already crying and gasping by the time he put his leg down and she found herself on the floor once again, pressing her small white hands against her reddened, sore bottom as he repeated, “Now lay down.”

  Ellie slowly obeyed, but laid down on her stomach. Penny got a good look at her bottom, already splattered with red, oval-shaped marks. For once, Penny certainly was glad she was NOT Ellie!

  “On your back,” he ordered firmly, and Ellie immediately looked back at him unsurely before she slowly turned onto her back. As soon as she did so, Graham grabbed her legs, lifted them high in the air and dragged her body to him. “Do you know what some husbands do with their ridiculously childish wives?” he asked her.

  Ellie shook her head.

  “We’re told to treat them like children.” That threat sounded duly ominous.

  “You do treat me like a child,” she pouted angrily.

  “You have no idea. I have spared you more than you realize, far more than is common for a wife with half of your bad behavior! I have tried not to take advantage of your small size, thinking that you might already feel self-conscious about it. I didn’t want to have to dominate you in that way. I didn’t want you to feel that level of humiliation; I thought it wasn’t necessary. I made a mistake, there. I should have started doing that right away! By now you might have started acting like a wife or, at the least, like a responsible adult, not like a surly school child.”

  Penny frowned, for in that moment, she realized that Ellie wasn’t anywhere as bright as she thought she was. Graham was seven feet tall—nearly two feet taller than Ellie. He was stronger, faster, and older. It was clear that Ellie was in a horrible position to say, “I don’t act like a surly school child! You’re the one calling me names and bullying me!” but Ellie said it nonetheless, and when she said it, she did, in fact, sound like a surly school child.

  Graham began spanking Ellie more with the hairbrush, landing firm swats on her thighs as well as her bottom. He was leaning partially over her, and her legs were locked under the shoulder of his non-spanking arm. He had pulled her legs up and back far enough that her knees were almost touching her bare breasts. In this position, she was bent nearly double at the waist, with her bottom fully spread and on display. “Please! Please stop it!” Ellie sobbed and begged, unable to reach down to block him, unable to even squirm away. She looked so exposed, like a baby being diapered.

  And Penny still didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to. She was fascinated by what she was seeing. Her own heart was beating in rhythm to Graham’s spanks; her tummy fluttered.

  “This is not a competition, Eleanor!” Graham snapped. “I am the head of this household; I am the leader in this relationship. This is not a democracy. Are you prepared to listen now, or are you bottling up any more comments I need to spank out of your argumentative little bottom?”

  Ellie was panting and crying at the same time. “I’m listening,” she promised.

  “Good. Now, if these childish arguments don’t stop, you are opening yourself to something that I will call punishment days. I promise you that you will rue every moment of them. Enemas, nap-times, suppositories, diapers, bottles. You name it, I will do it. And do you know why?”

  Except for her sobbing, Ellie stayed silent. Finally, a smart move.

  “Because I want you to learn to listen. I want the attitude to stop. I want you to stop embarrassing me with your behavior. I love you so much—you’re kind, you’re funny, you’re beautiful, you’re loyal, you’re a good friend. But I’m going to start laying down the law with you. I will take you down as many pegs as I must to get you to be a good girl. Do you understand?”

  She sniffled and nodded, saying “Yeah…” with a small, pathetic squeak.

  “Good. Now let’s get this done. My original plan was to only give you ten smacks with the hairbrush when I came in here. That’s how much worse you’ve made this.” There was almost a trace of sympathy in his voice as he said that, which Penny could hardly believe. But he sounded tired, as if he had done this before, as if they had had this same argument numerous in the past and he was becoming frustrated with her lack of progress.

  “Please, please!” Ellie pleaded again sharply, trying to sit up, but Graham pulled on her legs, and she was flat on her back again. “No, no! It hurts!”

  Penny believed her. The sound of the flat of that hairbrush smacking against Ellie’s bare skin made her own skin jump. The smacking was far louder than it was when she'd only been across the knee. Ellie’s shrill cry following each smack made Penny's stomach lurch.

  Penny hadn't a clue how this was going to end. How could their relationship repair after something like this? Penny swallowed and watched Graham crack the paddle against one of Ellie's exposed cheeks and then another as he looked down, seemingly frustrated with Ellie's expression of pained anguish.

  Eventually, Graham carefully dropped Ellie’s legs down and put the hairbrush on a bedside table. Ellie had already curled onto her side in the fetal position, still crying and sniffling. Ellie looked so ridiculous naked—she was too naked. She had no hair anywhere; she had barely even a freckle covering up her pale skin. But even though Penny could only see the front of her, she could still see places on her inner thighs were the hairbrush had struck her, leaving angry pink and red welts on her skin.

  Graham put his hands on his hips and looked down at Ellie for a moment thoughtfully before he bent down, lifted up her body, and pulled the covers out from under her so he could cover her up with them. Afterwards, he s
at on the bed and petted his fingers through her hair soothingly before he bent down and kissed her ear, then her cheek. “Do you understand why I spanked you?” he asked her quietly.

  Ellie sniffled and nodded.

  “Are you gonna start being a good girl for me?”

  “Yes, sir,” she muttered weakly, and was rewarded with him putting his large hand over her hip and rubbing it soothingly. He then lowered his lips to Ellie’s ear and started to whisper something into it, kissing her on the ear now and again, until Ellie emitted a smirk, followed by a small giggle.

  The air between them seemed to change just that quickly. Ellie rolled over and looked up at Graham, and he began to pet her hair again. For a few long moments, they didn’t even speak. Graham was just staring at her, so lovingly. He seemed so content, like a man at the beach. How could this man be the same one who was wearing the stern look moments before, the one he wore when he was spanking her—spanking her hard enough to have his wife cry and scream?

  Ellie eventually sat up, letting the blankets fall down around her, and then bent forward so that her forehead leaned against his stomach. Graham balled her up and he just held her like she was a child who had skinned her knee.

  Penny frowned, shifting her eyes left and right, dissecting the emotion boiling within her. Penny was no stranger to being jealous of Ellie, but it didn’t seem right that she would be jealous of this, too! Ellie was just spanked like a child, for God’s sake!

  Penny remembered she hadn't done anything to help Ellie. Penny had just stood there and watched of her own free will… And had been somehow delighted to do so; she knew that now. And she knew why she had been delighted.

  When they were growing up, Ellie had gotten both of their fathers’ attention, despite the fact that she was a girl. Penny’s own father had brought Ellie to car shows and baseball games while she, Penny, just as female, was left home with a mother who didn’t much care for her, either.

  But at least Ellie couldn’t attract attention from outside the family. Ellie was a fly on the wall. She wasn’t popular, she wasn’t well-known or well-liked, she had never been called 'pretty' and she definitely wasn’t desired by anyone. She just was a greasy mechanic like Michael, Tim and Tom. Sure, they had their own world down in the garage, but Penny had known that she was at least experiencing things that Ellie never would.

  Ellie would get attention from their parents, but it was more of a friendly relationship than actual love like other daughters were getting from their fathers. And Ellie had sacrificed her femininity to get even that much. That's why her parents ostracized her when she returned to Earth—they thought she was off with some man; that she had given up the farce of being a boy, betraying the needs of the family. For once, Penny felt like she had been promoted above Ellie for a change!

  As she watched Ellie's spanking, Penny had thought that maybe Ellie was in the same boat again; that finally she wasn't again held in such high regard by her husband. She thought for a moment that the relationship she had been so jealous of for the last six weeks wasn't so perfect, after all!

  Penny was wrong. The spanking didn't have anything to do with her husband's regard for her! Ellie still had everything. She had more than she ever had on Earth.

  Ellie was no longer invisible to outsiders. She had attention everywhere she went and from everyone that she met. Graham let her work and still loved her as a woman. He had disciplined her like a parent and had even given her comfort afterward. Graham looked at her like the universe revolved around her.

  Penny's stomach reeled with envy as she realized that she, more than anything, wanted someone to love her like that!

  But she had to chase down the only bachelor within a million miles just to get him to let her give him a hand-shandy!

  Penny’s eyebrow furrowed. What was so bad about her? Why didn’t she deserve what Ellie had?

  Penny might have even started tearing up at the state of things, but the petting and the staring between Ellie and Graham turned into kissing. Not just any sort of kissing, either. It was a deep, I-don’t-plan-to-stop-at-just-kissing sort of kiss! Suddenly, Penny realized that she was looking at an X-rated scene! “I need you inside of me,” Ellie panted when they stopped for air.

  “You had me only five hours ago,” Graham chuckled slightly, but he was already unfastening his belt. “My father said once that it’s not healthy to comfort one’s wife with sex after spanking. Sends a bad message…” He popped his heavy boots off and removed his shirt.

  At Graham's defined muscles, Penny stifled a troubled sigh. Yep—it was official. Ellie caught herself a hunk. Damn her.

  “So I guess you’re the one being a bad boy now, huh?” Ellie teased, wiping some tears off her cheeks.

  Graham chuckled. “Conflict of interest. He can advise me to put you in the corner all he wants, but that’s not how he’s gonna get the grandchildren he’s been haranguing me for,” he added with a tease, winking at her. He was just about to tug his pants down when he looked at the door. His body froze.

  Penny’s eyes widened and she jumped back from the door before scampering quickly in the direction of the main cabin on the other side of the ship, where her brothers were still playing video games as Mike read something on an electronic tablet. She was absolutely certain that Graham had seen her peeking. In fact, they had exchanged eye-contact!

  Tom looked around immediately from his video game. “What happened?”

  Penny shook her head. “Nothing,” she panted.

  “You’re out of breath,” Tom noted.

  “Saw a spider in the next room. Really scary. Squashed it, though,” she quickly lied before taking a deep breath to get herself under control.

  “Awe! You squashed our first space-spider? Totally not cool, Penny,” Tim teased, and then he put down his controller. “You know what I could use right about now?”

  “Some weed?” Tom said, nodding. “Yeah, me too. I totally need to unwind…”

  “Guys, if you were any more unwound you’d start to get tangled,” Michael replied, not looking up from his tablet. When Penny sat down on the sofa, and Mike tried to push his cold feet under her warm thighs, he finally glanced up and then arched an eyebrow. “What?” he asked, looking at Penny. “Did Thorton slam the door in your face or something? You look all eaten up.”

  “No, I didn’t see Thorton. I just went to go stretch my legs,” Penny said, pulling her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.

  “When we land, we’ll go explore, okay?” Mike said, smiling consolingly. “You’re probably just getting blue from being cooped up. But we’ll go out, pull some hijinks or something, and I promise that you’ll feel loads better.”

  * * *

  “Now, I don’t want any exploring or running around pulling hijinks,” Graham was announcing the next morning when everyone was eating their breakfasts while looking out through the windows at two different suns rising over snow-capped mountains in the distance. “It’s a dangerous planet out there, it is a known pirate haven, and I want everyone to stay within touching-distance of the ship at all times. Is everyone clear on that?”

  The Jonases groaned in response.

  Graham straightened his shoulders, taking their groaning as a sign that everyone was at least paying attention. “Good. Thank you.”

  “Look, we’re feeling a little stir-crazy,” Mike informed on behalf of the lot. “And this is a new planet, so you can’t expect us to just sit here and—”

  “On this planet, I expect just that. When we get to Swaraan in a couple of weeks, I’ll make sure you all have a great time. Here, we’re working. I will be going out to procure more fuel and supplies. You, Michael, will control your team.”

  Tim made a face and glared at Michael before he turned to Tom and jerked his thumb in Mike's direction, since Mike was already looking pleased with himself. “Why is he always in charge?”

  “He’s older and more trained,” Tom admitted with a shrug. “Not to mention, that i
n most cultures, preference is decided with regard to age…”

  “Well, it must be. It definitely wasn’t decided by beauty, or else everyone would have made me Captain by now,” Tim harrumphed.

  Graham continued, “Thorton Hux is the Commander in charge, so Mike—you’ll be taking orders from him.”

  “Wait, wait, wait…” Ellie crossed her hands in the air. Penny realized that Ellie hadn’t sat down all morning, and she didn't blame her. “What about me? I’m a lieutenant! How can Mike be in charge?”

  “Because you’re not a full lieutenant, for one,” Graham said firmly, straightening. Before Ellie could argue, he said, “Before you stole the ship you’d already been demoted to junior lieutenant. And by the time my father’s through with you, you’ll be thanking your lucky stars if you can call yourself an ensign. You’re probably kicked out of the service and don’t know it yet. Maybe you’ll be court-martialed—that would be oodles of fun. I suppose we’ll all find out. In the meantime, you’ll be acting engineer ensign forth-class and you’ll taking orders from your brother, who’s acting ensign second-class.”

  “That’s not—!” Ellie began to say, but Graham’ stern expression cut her off and made her clench her teeth together. Apparently, she didn't want another spanking today.

  “Did you have something to say, Private?” he asked over his coffee, not entirely unlike an officer in any military training movie.

  Ellie swallowed something back. “No, sir.”

  Graham softened and bent down to kiss her head. “And as your husband, I’m asking you to be good today. We really need your help around here, and so does your brother.” He put his fingers under her chin and raised it until she looked into his eyes. “Promise you'll be good?”