Chance Encounter

by Tabitha Marks

  “That’s not true, babygirl, I do love you.” Panic crept up his throat, threatening to choke him.

  “Don’t call me that anymore. You didn’t take care of me tonight, you didn’t help me, you didn’t support me. You knew I’d been looking forward to this for weeks and yet you were miserable from the start. You never said a word about my dress and all the effort I put in to look nice. You were rude to my friends. You dragged me out of the reception in front of everyone. And then, then you have the nerve to think you can spank me for my attitude!” She yelled the last, her face red and breathing hard. Kevin had never seen her like this, not even back when she was causing trouble at the bar three nights a week. She was always calm and collected, the ultimate bitch in the face of others' emotions. Now, as he watched her struggle to control herself, Kevin realized he’d made a fatal mistake tonight. Several of them actually. And he better apologize quickly, before she did what he suspected she was about to do and ended things.

  “I’m sorry I was such an ass tonight. You’re right, I knew you were looking forward to the wedding, but I was selfish and caught up in the fact I hate getting dressed up and didn’t really want to go. I should have sucked it up for one night because it would make you happy. And you looked beautiful tonight, Angie. I should have told you that right away when you opened the door. And I’m especially sorry I tried to spank you in anger when you hadn’t done anything wrong. I let my feelings control me all night and I ruined it for you.” He didn’t know what else he could say to make it better. Now that he was calm, he recognized he’d been a jerk to her the whole evening. He just hoped she could accept his apology and allow them to move on.

  “You did ruin it, Kevin, and you also ruined us,” she whispered.

  The words hit him like a blow to the gut and they kept coming. “The kind of relationship that we had, with you in control of certain things and me giving you that control, requires trust. I have to be able to trust that you’ll make decisions with me in mind and that you won’t abuse the power I give to you. You broke that trust tonight and you can’t fix it with an apology. How am I supposed to give you power over me, never knowing when you might fly off the handle again?”

  “I made a mistake tonight, Angie, but it won’t happen again,” he promised.

  “You made a lot of mistakes tonight, Kevin, and you’re right. It won’t happen again,” she replied softly. “It won’t happen because I won’t allow it to happen, because I won’t be around for it to happen again. Maybe you need more time to get over the break up with Krista. Maybe we’re just not meant to be together, but either way, I can’t be with a man who would treat me like that no matter that he says he loves me.”

  “Don’t do this, Angie,” he pleaded, not caring that it made him look desperate. He was desperate. How could one night turn everything to shit? But he knew the answer to that question. She had given him something precious and he’d treated her like garbage, repeatedly. Sure, it was only one night, but she’d given him multiple opportunities to redeem himself and she didn’t complain or bitch when she definitely could have. Then he’d acted out in anger, hauling her around like a piece of meat, threatening retribution if she didn’t come along. She was right, he’d broken her trust and their relationship needed trust to succeed.

  “I have to, Kevin,” she said, then walked around him to the front door, pausing with her hand on the doorknob. “I’m walking home. It’s only nine o’clock and I’ll be fine, but since I know you’ll worry I’ll text you when I get there. I’d appreciate it if you could gather up all my things tonight and I’ll stop by on my way to work tomorrow to get them.”

  She didn’t turn around when she spoke. Her voice sounded so empty, it shredded his already bleeding gut further. He’d like to snatch her up, drag her back to his bedroom and chain her to the bed until she changed her mind, but that obviously wouldn’t work. At this point he had no idea what would, but he’d figure it out. She might think she was walking out of his life forever, but this wasn’t the end. Not if he could help it. Of course, he couldn’t tell her that right now so he just said, “Okay.”

  She must have been expecting him to argue, because she let out a breath he didn’t know she’d been holding, nodded, then opened the door. “Bye Kevin,” she said, glancing over her shoulder so he caught a glimpse of the tears running down her beautiful face.

  That sight gave him another punch in the gut. He’d done that to her, but he vowed he’d make it up to her. Prove to her that he was the man for her. The man that loved her and trusted her and would be there for her. It might take some time, but Kevin was in this for the long haul. Again, he kept all this to himself. No need to upset her more. “Good-bye, Angie. I’ll get your stuff together and see you tomorrow.”

  She turned away and descended the front steps, walked down the drive and turned right at the sidewalk, never looking back. She might think this was the end, but Kevin silently promised them both that it was only temporary. Soon she’d be back in his life, and bed, forever.

  Chapter 11

  Angie drove over to Gina’s house after a frantic call from her sister early Saturday afternoon. Gina allegedly needed help picking out a dress for some formal function she had to go to with Derek for his business. Angie had suggested she call Connie, but Gina insisted that Angie come over.

  She really didn’t want to spend her Saturday afternoon watching Gina try on dresses, but Gina would not be deterred by any of her excuses. Angie had claimed she had to clean her apartment, that she was tired, that she had to run errands, but Gina didn’t care. She said it would only take an hour or so and guilted Angie as only a sister can do.

  It had been four weeks since her break-up with Kevin. Four weeks of anger and loneliness and way more tears than one person should ever cry. She vacillated between hating him and wondering if she’d been too harsh and made a big mistake. Then after reminding herself that she deserved better, she’d be back to hating him. No matter how she felt about Kevin, she was always lonely.

  Maybe spending time with her sister wasn’t such a bad idea. She’d thrown herself into work since the breakup, working long shifts and picking up overtime, coming home only to sleep, then going back and doing it again. This had two benefits. It kept her busy and helped her ignore Kevin’s many phone calls and texts. He didn’t beg or plead, just told her missed her, and still loved her, and wanted to talk. She hadn’t returned a single one. It just about killed her, but she had to stay away. She’d never had her heart broken before and it wasn’t something she cared to repeat, ever. Instead she swore off men and focused on making enough money to buy herself a house someday soon. Now that she knew how much love hurt, and had decided never to go there again, she had to move forward without waiting for a man to take care of her.

  She pulled into the long drive and parked to the side of the open garage. Derek’s car was parked inside, which was weird since Gina said he was playing basketball.

  Probably with Kevin, she thought before she slammed that door shut in her mind. She wasn’t going to go there. She hadn’t thought about him in at least three, maybe four, hours. She was aiming for a whole day without her mind turning to him, but so far hadn’t been able to keep his ghost away for that long.

  Since the garage was open, she walked through to the kitchen door. Entering, she found the room empty but could hear voices coming from down the hall.

  “Gina!” she called, setting her purse on the counter and toeing off her sneakers. She’d come over dressed in cut off shorts and a tank top, not bothering to change just for Gina. Her hair was twisted on the top of her head in a messy knot and she hadn’t bothered with makeup either. She had no plans to leave the house when she woke up this morning except to putz around her apartment until it was time for bed. Normally, if she knew Derek was going to be around, she would have at least brushed her hair out, but they were almost family, so he’d have to get used to her ‘day off’ look sometime.

  Her sister came running down the hall from the
back of the house, sliding to a stop in front of Angie with a strange look on her face.

  Before Angie could ask her what her problem was Gina whispered, “Don’t be mad at me, this was the only way.”

  “What did you do?” Angie hissed back, having a sneaking suspicion that Derek wasn’t alone in the family room.

  Footsteps started heading their way from the direction Gina had just sprinted from, making Gina glance back over her shoulder before responding with a non-answer. “It will all be okay.” Then she took off towards the front stairs.

  Angie looked up and found Kevin entering the kitchen looking surprised, but determined. His eyes sought her out and she felt him surveying her body, inspecting her.

  He looked good. Really good. Dressed in loose athletic shorts and a tank that stretched over his muscled chest, he was ready to go play ball. The tattoos on his arms were exposed and she barely resisted the urge to throw herself at him so he’d wrap her up in his strength.

  Instead of hurling her body at him, she steeled her spine for whatever came next. She had to stay strong. He’d hurt her and abused her trust.

  “Angie,” Kevin said, sounding pained. “You look tired.”

  “I am,” she snapped back. “I’ve been working a lot lately.”

  He nodded at her words. “I know. You’re hardly ever home.”

  She wasn’t surprised that he’d been driving by her house, checking to see if she was there. She’d done the same, to her own chagrin. She didn’t mean to, but sometimes her car just seemed to gravitate towards his street.

  They stood in silence for a minute, one Angie was unwilling to break. She was about to turn around and go home when he finally spoke.

  “I miss you, babygirl.”

  “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore.” She knew she was revealing too much, that her anger was vivid in her harsh tone.

  “You’ll always be my babygirl, Angie,” he replied. “I need you back.” He paused and she could see how much their breakup had damaged him too. “Please.”

  “Kevin, it’s not that easy. You hurt me, humiliated me and took advantage of your position in our relationship. Do you know what that felt like? Not to mention that half my co-workers think you were abusing me!” She kept her voice quiet, not wanting Derek and Gina to hear all the sordid details, but she couldn’t keep her emotions from oozing into every word.

  “I know I did and I’m very sorry. But this last month without you has been torture. We belong together. Give me a chance to regain your trust.”

  She wanted to say yes, more than anything in the world, but words alone weren’t going to fix everything he broke.

  “I don’t know if I can give you the kind of trust that I gave you before. How will I know you won’t turn and do something like that again?”

  He looked hopeful and she didn’t know why. She hadn’t agreed to anything.

  “What if we started fresh and went slow. No discipline until you feel ready to trust me again?” he suggested, and the way he said it she knew he’d put some thought in this beforehand. Had he been in on this with Gina? Angie swore he had looked surprised see her.

  Her forehead scrunched while she thought it over. “But you said you’d never have another relationship without you being in charge?”

  “I’d still be the leader, but I’ll give you time before we go that level again,” he paused, then warned, “Though not forever.”

  Angie wanted to be with Kevin, with all her heart. He’d screwed up once, badly, but it was only once. Everyone made mistakes, even strong men like him. She knew he was sincere and still loved her; it was obvious in every tense line of his body. Could she give him another chance? The better question was, how could she not?

  Instead of answering, she did what she wanted to in the first place and closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around his chest and squeezing tight.

  “I’ve missed you too, Daddy,” she whispered.

  “Oh, babygirl, it’s so good to have you back in my arms again.” He held her close and buried his face in her hair, breathing deep. “I love you and I’ll never hurt you like that again,” he promised.

  “I love you, too,” she replied. “And you better not. Second chances only come once.”

  “I won’t let you down.” He pulled back and looked down at her, smiling, “Can you give me a ride home?”

  “Are you done playing basketball with Derek?” she asked, hoping he’s say yes. Now that they were back together, she didn’t want to spend another minute without him

  “He’ll understand that I’ve got better things to do than shoot hoops with him,” Kevin assured her. “I’ve never reunited with the love of my life before.”

  Two months later…

  “Babygirl, come here,” Kevin commanded, making Angie go weak in the knees with a combination of arousal and fear. Just two weeks ago she’d agreed to reinstate the original terms of their relationship, allowing him to discipline her again. When she’d shyly told him she was ready and wanted that part of their life back, she didn’t imagine that in less than a month she’d already be in trouble. And it was entirely her own fault.

  She left her place in the corner where Kevin had sent her, after making her strip off all her clothes ten minutes ago. On trembling legs, she approached where he sat on the side of the bed, finally standing in front of him with her eyes downcast.

  “Now tell me what you did wrong.”

  “I, umm, got a speeding ticket yesterday,” she whispered. She’d been dreading this moment for over a day now and the anticipation was almost worse than the punishment. He’d been working an overnight shift last night and she spent the whole evening working up enough strength to admit her mistake. Sure, she could have hid it and just paid the fine, but that wasn’t how their relationship worked. He demanded honesty and she didn’t want to lie to him anyway. She planned to tell him when they spoke in the morning, but she couldn’t make the words come out of her mouth. So she spent all day rationalizing the decision to wait, telling herself it would be better to do in person, wondering how he would react. Then she’d come straight to his house and found out exactly what he thought of her getting pulled over.

  “Yes, you did.” He put two fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “That’s not taking very good care of yourself, is it?”

  Angie shook her head, fighting back tears at the look of disappointment on his face.

  “Babygirl, if it had just been a few miles over the speed limit, I wouldn’t be upset, but you were clocked going twenty miles over. That’s eighty-five miles an hour.” Kevin enunciated every word of his last statement, making Angie realize that he was a lot more upset then she’d originally thought.

  “I know, Daddy,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry too, babygirl. That ticket is going to be expensive and it is going to make your insurance go up. Did you think of that? Why were you driving so fast?”

  “I was late for work and not paying attention to how fast I was going.” It was a lame excuse, but the truth.

  Kevin studied her, looking very determined and a bit resigned. “I’m going to make sure you always pay attention in the future, babygirl. Come get over my lap.”

  Angie fought the urge to run and hide, instead draping herself where he instructed. He pulled her over his left thigh, tipping her forward until her ass was high in the air and her hands touched the floor. Then he put his right leg over both of hers and his left arm tight across her back, holding her in place.

  “I love you, you know that, right?”

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, steeling herself for the punishment to come. “I know, Daddy.”

  He started spanking her with firm strokes, alternating sides and position, over and over again until her behind was on fire. She tried not struggle, but the pain quickly overcame her rational brain. He’d planned ahead though, and Angie was stuck, unable to get away.

  Smack after smac
k landed. Down her upper thighs, up each rounded cheek, some right in the middle. He didn’t speak again, obviously having said all that needed to be said. His hand was doing the talking for him now. Just when Angie thought she could take no more, he stopped.

  She sucked in deep breaths, hoping it was over, but suspecting the opposite.

  Kevin shifted slightly, readjusting her body back into her original position.

  She heard the hiss in the air and clenched her cheeks involuntarily, knowing what he’d grabbed. That damned paddle. Half a second later it made contact, pushing a loud cry out of her mouth. The hiss came again, followed by the sharp sting of the leather meeting her skin. It burned so bad!

  Before she could draw another breath, it was back. Again and again he paddled her ass, making her cry out, and just plain cry. Tears streamed down her face and she fought to get away, but didn’t manage to move an inch. He held on to her tightly, spanking her hard so that she’d never forget to keep her eye on the speedometer again.

  Finally it ended. Angie was a limp, sobbing mess, whimpering apologies to Kevin’s leg. It took her a minute to realize that he was stroking her behind gently now, urging her to calm down in whispers.

  “That’s it, babygirl,” he said when she quieted. “I’m sorry I had to do that, but you can’t be so careless. You need to be safe. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

  His words made her heart clench with love, even though he’d just given her the harshest punishment she’d ever received. She knew why he did it and loved him even more.

  “I will, Daddy. I promise,” she assured him.

  Kevin helped her up then lay back, pulling her on top of him. She snuggled into his chest, careful to lie on her side.

  “I love you, Angie.”

  “I love you too, Kevin.” And she meant every word. Kevin made her feel cherished and loved and protected. She never imagined that she’d be in a long-term relationship, especially with someone who spanked her, but the universe must have known that Kevin was the man for her when it kept throwing them together in a chance encounter.