by Misty Malone
She had calmed just enough to be able to say, "This isn't a game now. You're serious about it, and are doing it because you do care what I do. And now I see why. You love me. And I love you and feel awful that I pretty much blew it off. I'm really sorry, John. Please don't hate me now." She started crying harder, and sobbing again.
John thought his heart was truly going to break. This little lady he loved did get it now. She may not have even realized it, but she had been testing him. This whole spanking concept was new to her and she hadn't taken it seriously. She'd looked at it as a game, something to play for a while and then it's over. Well, unfortunately for her, she was now learning it not a game, but a lifestyle. And she could test him all she wanted, but he would give her the promised spanking every time. The one good thing was that although this spanking had to happen, it didn't have to be as severe as he originally thought it did for it to feel severe to her and for her to learn her lesson.
With that in mind he said, "Honey, I could never hate you. I love you. We're going to talk about the reason you're getting this spanking, reviewing that again, and we're also going to talk about what it means for you to test me, and what you can expect every time you feel that need."
With that he began the spanking again, while he reviewed the importance of her having a car for her career, and following her budget in order to get that car. He continued the spanking, but wasn't spanking as hard as he had been. He knew her bottom was already sore, though, and he felt sure these smacks were getting his point across just fine.
"Okay, Sweetie, now apparently we need to talk about when I will spank you. This is not a game I'm playing, and I'm sorry if you didn't realize that before. I'm very serious about this. It's natural for you to feel the need, even though it may be subconscious, to test me. By that I mean to see if I will indeed spank you every single time you do something you know you shouldn't. Well, let me tell you right now, the answer is yes, I will."
"Owwww! John, I see that now! Ouch! Oh, it hurts!"
Moving now to the tender area where her bottom met her thighs, he said, "I'm sure it does, honey, and it will every time you do something that could be harmful to you. I hope you don't feel the need to keep testing me, but rest assured that if you do, I won't ever let you down. I will do what I have promised to do. I will be here protecting you, giving you a spanking every single time. Because you're right, honey. I love you, and I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt."
He stopped the spanking, but kept his hand on her bottom, rubbing gently. He rubbed her back as well, trying to help her calm. He was pretty sure she hadn't even realized yet that the spanking had stopped. When she did, she slumped over his lap, gasping.
"It's over, honey," he gently said, "and you're forgiven. Take a breath, you'll be okay."
He continued rubbing her back and talking softly while she calmed. When she was breathing better, he helped her onto his lap, and quickly had her wrapped his arms. She laid her head against his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head. He kept whispering comforting thoughts to her and reminding her of his love for her as she calmed.
"I think I might have been doing that, John, but I didn't know it. I didn't mean to. I'm really sorry," she confessed.
"Why do you say that, honey?"
"Because I wondered several times if I did certain things, if you really would spank me."
"Were you hoping I would?"
"No," she quickly answered.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," she assured him. "Why would I hope you would?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe that would show you that I'll always do as I say, and I'll always be there for you, watching out for you. Maybe that would make you feel safe, maybe secure?"
She was quiet for a while. "Maybe. Do you think?"
He chuckled. "I don't know. How do you feel right now?"
"Sore."
"What else?"
She thought momentarily, and looked at him with a big smile. "Safe, secure, content, happy."
He tightened his arms around her. "I am so glad to hear that, honey. Thank you."
With a giggle she said, "But mostly sore."
"Brat."
They sat, content in each other's arms, talking quietly about nothing in particular, for a while. Eventually, Alana stirred. "John, thank you for doing this tonight."
"You're welcome, honey. I hated you worrying that much about it. I wanted it over with, too. I don't like having to spank you, you know. Now we can both relax and get back to enjoying each other, and getting to know each other better."
"I am so lucky that you flunked me on my driving test."
John laughed and hugged her tighter against him. "So are all the other drivers out on the road."
Now she laughed, as well. After a little more cuddling, she yawned.
"Are you about ready to go to bed, honey? A good sound spanking generally wears a young lady out."
"I am pretty tired, but I hate to move. I really like it here."
"Me, too, honey, but I have a feeling we'll have more opportunities to enjoy this special closeness."
"No, I don't think so," she said soberly. "Now that I know you're serious, I intend to be a little angel."
Chuckling, John said, "I'm glad to hear that." He shook out his hand and said, "And so is my hand."
"And you called me a brat," she said, grinning.
"Yes, I did," he confirmed with a grin of his own. "Let's get you to bed, my cute little brat."
He helped her stand up and watched, smiling, as she rubbed her sore bottom. Normally he wouldn't allow that, but that could wait for the next spanking. It was late tonight, and she'd been under a lot of stress the past week. He took her hand and walked with her to her bedroom door. He leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss that left her dizzy as she opened the door and disappeared.
Kelli was sleeping when Alana went in the bedroom, so she quietly put her nightgown on and climbed into bed. Wincing, she quickly rolled over onto her stomach. She was glad it was warm in the house because her bottom was warm enough without blankets. Her nightgown felt like it was holding all the heat in, and she was having trouble getting to sleep. Looking over and assuring herself that Kelli was sound asleep, she pulled her nightgown up. The air on her bottom was cooler and felt much better. She fell asleep thinking about the evening.
Kelli tossed and turned during the night. She'd been having strange dreams, some bordering what she would consider a nightmare since they'd been at the safe house. She was dreaming that Joe found out where they were staying and broke in, coming to their bedroom. A noise outside startled her and she quickly sat up. She looked over at Alana and saw red marks all over her bare bottom, and screamed.
Alana woke quickly and pulled the blanket over her as she asked, "What happened?"
Kelli, who was just now fully awake, asked, "Are you all right?"
Just then there was pounding on their door and it flew open and Agent Larry Kline ran in, gun drawn. Right behind him was John, with his gun also drawn. He ran to Alana, who was white as a ghost, and took her in his arms. Not hearing any commotion or gunshots in the room, Cal came in and ran directly to Kelli, grabbing her up in his arms. Agent Kline asked, "What happened? Who screamed?"
Kelli's face got its color back as she said, "I did. I'm sorry."
All eyes turned to her as Cal asked, "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she answered.
"What happened?" The question came again from Agent Kline.
Kelli looked over at Alana, who still looked pale, but confused, and said, "I had a nightmare. I'm sorry."
Cal tightened his hold on her while John said, "Kelli, there's nothing to be sorry about. We all certainly understand how you could have a nightmare, considering your life the last week."
Kelli attempted a smile and said, "Thank you for understanding." She looked at Agent Kline and said, "I'm sorry I worried you."
"Like John said, no need to apologize.
I'm just glad everyone's all right."
He left, leaving the two couples tightly entwined.
John said, "I assume everyone's awake now. Do you want us to leave so you two can get dressed, or would you rather we stay here awhile?"
"That's up to Kelli," Alana answered. "I like cuddling, but I can do that out there, too. Kelli's the one that had the nightmare, and I know they can really be scary."
"I'm okay now," Kelli assured them. "I want to talk to Alana a minute, then we'll get dressed and be out."
Cal looked at her quizzically. "If you're sure you're okay now."
"I am. Thank you, Cal." She reached up and gave him a kiss, which she hoped would satisfy his curiosity.
John gave Alana a quick kiss, also, before leaving them alone.
Chapter 13
After the men left, Alana asked, "What's going on, Kelli? What do you want to talk about?"
"It might be kind of embarrassing, but I really need to ask you something."
"Now you've got my curiosity piqued. What do you want to ask me?"
Kelli hesitated, but finally asked, "What happened to your butt? It's got ugly red marks all over it!"
Alana instantly turned red. She quietly said, "John spanked me last night."
Now Kelli turned red. "Oh. Sorry." Then she thought about it and asked, "Wait, he spanked you? Here? I can't believe he'd do that here! Did the agents hear it? I would be so embarrassed. And what did you do that he felt he had to do that here where people could hear it?"
"Whoa, slow down. He spanked me for buying those shoes that had the ruby in them. I told him I hate knowing I'm going to be spanked, but having to wait. The anticipation was driving me crazy. John said the office is soundproof, so he asked the agents if he could use that office last night. That's what he wanted to talk about last night."
"Are you okay, Alana? You look really sore."
"I am sore, but I'm fine. It's not as bad as it looks. I have really fair skin that bruises easily. You can just barely pinch it and it leaves a red mark."
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Positive. I may not be able to sit comfortably today, but I'm really glad John arranged that so we could get it over with. My butt may be sore today, but my heart is so much lighter. I was going crazy having to wait. Didn't you say Cal told you that you're getting spanked when this is all over with?"
"Yes, for taking you shopping when I was grounded."
"Doesn't it drive you crazy, having to wait, knowing you're going to be spanked?"
"I don't think about it. I guess I'm good with putting it off as long as possible."
"Okay. I couldn't."
"We better get dressed and go out there or they'll come looking for us again. I'm sure our guys will want to know what I wanted to talk to you about. You can tell John whatever you want, but I'm going to tell Cal I just wanted to ask you if you're having any bad dreams since we've been staying here."
"I'll cover for you if he says anything. I'll tell him we talked about the weird dreams we've been having."
Fifteen minutes later the girls walked into the kitchen, where Cal was setting the table and pouring orange juice and coffee, while John was at the stove, finishing up scrambled eggs. A plate of bacon waited on the table. They both turned to the girls as they walked in. John turned the eggs off and they took their ladies in their arms.
John asked, "Are you both okay?"
"We're fine," Alana assured him.
"Everything all right now?" Cal asked Kelli.
"We really are okay, Cal. I just wanted to talk to Alana a couple minutes to see if she was having weird or bad dreams, too, or if it was just me," Kelli explained.
John asked Alana, "And?"
"We've both been having strange dreams, but I'm sure when this is over and we're back home again we'll be fine. But speaking of home again, Kelli said I'm welcome to stay at her place if I need to when they finally spring us from here. Do you know anything about my apartment? Did they leave it the way the thieves left it, or what's the status on that?"
"I'm not sure," John admitted, "but we can ask. I have a feeling they had to leave it for evidence, but I'm not sure if they still have it sealed off or if they've gotten all the prints and photos they need."
"If they're done with it, can I hire someone while I'm still here to put it back so it's at least partially in order before I get there?"
"We'll find out," John promised. "If you're sure you're both okay, are you ready for breakfast?"
Both girls nodded and their old-fashioned men quickly pulled out their chairs for them.
"This is really good," Kelli said shortly, as she inhaled the savory smell of bacon. "If I scream every morning, will you guys keep cooking us delicious breakfasts?"
"Sweetie, unless there's a real good reason, if you scream every morning, you'll scream again every evening when you go to bed with an extremely sore bottom," Cal casually replied as he took another bit of eggs.
Kelli's eyes shot wide open and she looked over at Alana, but Alana didn't seem too shocked. John noticed that and had to smile. His little lady was learning to take this spanking thing seriously.
* * * * *
Two more days at the safe house and all four of them were getting frustrated. Cal's meeting had been rescheduled. Their bosses were all being very understanding, but they were tired of being cooped up in the house. They were tired of watching movies, and nothing much on television held their interest except the news, and even on that they were talking less and less about what had happened.
Early Friday evening the girls went into their bedroom to get something. While they were in the bedroom they heard a noise outside their window. They looked at each other and froze. Alana put her finger to her mouth to signal to be quiet, and they listened. When they heard it again, she quietly crawled to one corner of the window, while Kelli crawled to the other corner. Very carefully they pulled the curtain back just enough to be able to look out the very corner of the window. They saw a man on a stepladder fall, which made a louder racket. The man immediately got up and grabbed the ladder and ran. Before he ran off they both saw his face.
The girls jumped back from the window like they'd seen a ghost. Then they both screamed.
Agent Barstow and Agent Kline had heard a commotion outside, and Agent Barstow was already on his way to the girls' bedroom, where the noise had originated. Agent Kline was checking the surveillance cameras, and looking out windows. When the girls screamed, Agent Barstow ran into the room, gun drawn again, John right behind him, and Cal close behind in the hallway.
As soon as they all got there, the girls both pointed to the window and said, "Joe."
John reached over and pulled them away from the window. "What? Where?"
Alana managed to get out, "He was on a ladder, climbing up to the window. He fell and when it made a bunch of noise, he took the ladder and ran that way, away from town." She and Kelli were both pointing. Agent Barstow got on his radio and radioed the information in to Lieutenant Berry.
John said, "Let me go outside and see if I can find any prints."
Barstow stopped him. "No. John, they'd have my badge if I let you outside, especially now. He may be outside waiting, and you know that as well as I do. I will, however, let you stay in here and keep the girls away from the windows while I go out and take a look."
John grudgingly agreed.
Barstow went outside, while John and Cal took the girls into the library, away from the windows. John repeated instructions they'd been given in case they thought they'd been compromised. "I don't want to know right now how you two both happened to be looking outside, since you'd been told to stay away from the windows, but you're both positive it was Joe you saw?"
"Yes," Alana answered.
"Positive," Kelli confirmed. "He turned around to grab the ladder before he took off running, and we saw his face when he turned around.
"Did he see yours?" John asked.
"No, I don't think so," Alana answered.
"He had fallen, and he was grabbing the ladder that had fallen, as well, and immediately took off. When he fell it made a pretty good racket, so I assume he figured someone would have heard it and would be checking it out, so he grabbed the evidence and took off."
Agent Barstow came into the library. "Someone was outside the window for sure. There are footprints, and two marks from something else."
"A stepladder perhaps?"
"Very possibly," Barstow said. "Fill me in, John."
He told Barstow what the girls related about seeing Joe. Barstow got on his radio and repeated this information to Lieutenant Berry. There was talk back and forth between Barstow and Berry, with the girls answering a few questions about what they saw. Berry informed them that they had eight agents on their way to the area, and four police officers in the area had been dispatched to aid in the search as well.
The police force had made it clear they wanted to be involved in the hunt for their former fellow officer to try to help clear the name of the police force. They wanted the community to know it wasn't the entire police force that was involved, and they also wanted Officer Decker in custody.
It was getting darker, but there was a lot of activity over the next hour. Agents were checking in, letting Lieutenant Berry know where they checked and reporting no signs of Joe. Agent Ryan Reed reported, "We found two people that saw him running with a stepladder. We then found where he stashed the stepladder, so we were on his trail. But then it's like he disappeared."
John suddenly jumped up and said, "He's in the trees."
Agent Brad Barstow, who was on the radio talking to Lieutenant Berry, stopped and looked at John. "He's where?"
"Tell the men to look in the trees. We grew up in the same neighborhood and we all played together. Back then we used to climb trees a lot. Joe said one time that trees were the perfect place to hide. He told us about hiding from his dad in a tree. He broke a streetlight and said he knew his dad would be irate, so he hid in a tree in their neighbor's yard. It was in the summer, and he stayed there until the middle of the night. Then when he went home he told his dad someone in a black car saw him accidentally break the light and chased him. He was afraid and ran, and the car kept chasing him. He acted scared to death, and his dad was so glad to see him, safe and sound, that he didn't do anything about the streetlight. "