by Bree Cariad
His fingers drifted lightly across her cheek. “I adore you, DeLynn. Don’t let girls like Kelli who have their noses out of joint make you forget that.”
Relieved, she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning against his chest. “Thank you. But I still feel bad. And I don’t know how I’m going to show my face in that class again.”
He rubbed her back lightly. “Is it a class you need to take?”
“Yeah. Unfortunately.”
Chuckling, he hugged her again. “Tell you what? After the class is over, you and I will go talk to the instructor so that he or she doesn’t drop your name from the class list. Then I’ll escort you the next time it meets. Now, do you feel better?”
“A little. I’m glad to know you want me for me. But…I still feel badly about being so mean to her.”
“What did you say exactly?”
Blood rushed to her cheeks and she hid her face in his neck. “Something about she wouldn’t be accepted in Hyacinth because the girls there are pure and we don’t open up our legs for every man that walks by.”
“Oh. Well, that was direct, wasn’t it?” His tone was odd and she couldn’t tell if he was trying to hide a laugh or was disappointed.
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…” She wrung her hands together, her voice going higher in pitch the more she said. “I hate that I did that. Everyone knows we’re dating now and so everything I do reflects on you and—”
“DeLynn,” he murmured, running his hand along her hair. “My dear girl. Don’t hold yourself up to some impossible ideal. I not only do not expect you to be a saint, I’m not sure if I would want to date one. We’re human and we make mistakes. Honey, I’m courting you because I like you. Not some person you think you should be, but you. Okay?” Looking up into his loving brown eyes, she nodded, but still couldn’t kick the horrible guilt nagging at her gut.
He must have seen it in her eyes. “I’m sure there is probably something I should say right now but I don’t actually feel I have the right.” Standing up, he closed his office door. “If it’s all right with you, I’m going to call Barrett. Maybe he can shine some light on the situation.”
In a way, DeLynn was relieved, because she felt guilty and needed some sort of absolution from it. But she also had the feeling a spanking was what she needed and she would prefer to have it from Zach rather than Barrett. Unfortunately they weren’t long enough in their courtship for him to do so.
“Williams,” Barrett answered.
“Barrett, it’s Zach.”
“Zach, glad to be back at work?” Barrett’s voice had warmed making DeLynn smile.
“Yes, I am, but DeLynn and I have a little bit of a situation here and we need your help.”
“Of course. Is she all right?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “Sort of.”
Zachary sat back down and took her hand as he explained the basics of everything that happened. “She was provoked into what she said, but I can tell she needs more than I can give her to relieve her guilt.”
Barrett sighed. “I never will understand why some people enjoy picking at others. Zachary, while you’re right that she was provoked, the reason DeLynn’s feeling guilt is because she knows that rudeness just isn’t accepted here. I don’t put up with it and I know her father didn’t either. She needs absolved of her guilt and that’s something you can’t do yet. DeLynn, how many classes do you have today?”
“Two more.”
“Do you want to meet me in my study when you get home?” His voice was gentle and she appreciated how he was trying to help her into asking for what she needed.
“Yes, please,” she whispered. Zachary’s hands tightened in hers.
“Zach, you are welcome to join us, if you’d like.”
He looked at DeLynn, his gaze searching her face. “If she wants me to be there, I would.” It was embarrassing to realize that meant he would be able to watch, but she nodded all the same.
“All right. I’ll see you two around six. We’ll eat early so that there is no chance of anyone overhearing.”
“Thanks, Barrett.”
After they ended the conversation, she sagged against Zachary’s side. “Are you okay with this?” he asked gently.
“Yes. It’s never easy and knowing you’ll be there is embarrassing. But…I do need this and I want you to be there.”
Lifting up her chin, he pressed a warm, soft kiss to her lips. “I adore you, DeLynn Straynar. You have to be one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”
The rest of the day was blessedly without much incident. Professor Korbett was very nice when she and Zachary went to speak to him. “The class already explained what happened before I arrived,” he said after she tripped over her words. “I hope that won’t put you off the class itself and that I’ll see you on Wednesday.”
Her other two classes were uneventful and when she met Zach back at his office at five, she was nervous and just wanting to get her spanking over with. He held her hand on the drive home, only releasing it once when someone pulled out in front of them and he had to swerve to miss hitting their vehicle. She was really impressed that he didn’t yell at the driver or let loose a string of swearwords like she had heard some of the guys at school do just when people walked in front of them.
The house was quiet as they walked in, not a person in sight. “In here,” Barrett called from his office and after removing their coats, Zachary took her hand and accompanied her into the small study. As Zach closed the door behind them, Barrett stood up from his desk and held out his arms. She instantly buried herself in them, tears making their way down her cheeks. “Everything’s going to be fine, DeLynn,” he murmured, rocking her side to side. Snuffling, she nodded. “Let’s get this over with so that the rest of your evening can go by nice, hmm?”
As she stepped back, he turned to her boyfriend. “Have you ever spanked anyone?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“There are many reasons discipline may be involved and as many different ways to discipline as there are people. Bend over the desk, DeLynn.” As Barrett continued to instruct Zachary, because there was no doubt in DeLynn’s mind that was what he was doing, she walked up to his desk and bent over, placing her weight upon her forearms. “What DeLynn asked for was the release of guilt. Guilt is a hideous cancer. It’s one of the reasons complete honesty is so important in a loving discipline relationship. She was raised in one and knows how cathartic spanking can be.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a hand take hold of the leather hanging on the wall and she closed her eyes, not really wanting to see it. She could do this. It was Barrett. She had known and trusted him for years and he was doing this as a favor to her. “The trick in any spanking is to know how far to go. It’s not a science and quite honestly takes time and the knowledge of the person and their body language to get it right. You’ll find at first you probably won’t go far enough. It may take a year or two before you find just the right balance, but that’s okay. I say it’s better to err on the side of caution. If there weren’t enough swats to do what needed to be done, you can always do more later. There is no way to make it up except for feeling horrible and apologizing through the roof if you accidentally do too many.
“DeLynn, are you ready?” Barrett asked in a kind tone, placing his hand gently on her lower back.
“Yes, sir.”
The first blow fell making her grunt as the leather landed across her jeans-covered derriere. It didn’t hurt so much as push her into the desk. The leather fell in rhythmic falls, each time hitting a slightly different area. At first, while she felt each blow, there was no discomfort. Slowly the heat built up. Inch by inch, the leather made contact, slowly turning her rear end into a furnace.
And that’s when the contact truly began to hurt.
She yipped as fire lit up across her behind and tears trickled out of her eyes. There was no other sound in the room besides that of her sobs and the leather coming
in contact with her bottom and it was incredibly loud. Part of her wanted to beg for leniency, anything to get him to stop, but knowledge that Zachary was watching stopped her. At first. But as the burn increased, she was unable to stay quiet. Even as she cried out and asked him to stop, the pressure within her tightened as the guilt rose to the surface. At some point, the pressure she had felt in her chest all day burst and her tears changed from pain to release and she dropped her head onto Barrett’s desk and sobbed.
It was some time before she realized the leather was no longer hitting her. A strong hand rubbed her lower back and she hiccupped, trying to stop her tears. “Come on,” Barrett encouraged, and he kept one hand on her lower back and took her hand, helping her to stand up. Her eyes were mostly closed so she went where he led her and two warm hands grasped her waist and pulled her onto a lap she instinctively knew was not Barrett’s. “Just hold her as long as she needs.”
Realizing Barrett had put her on Zachary’s lap, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, sobbing softly as he rubbed her back lightly. Deep male voices rumbled in the background, just the sounds of them helping to make her feel safe as she sobbed out the last of her guilt into Zach’s chest. As her sobs quieted and she fell into an almost sleep, she finally heard their words.
“That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve witnessed, Barrett. Her complete trust in you when that had to hurt…I’ll admit a part of me wanted to stop you as I hated seeing her in such pain. But I’ve been reading a lot about disciplinary spanking and when her crying changed I saw it go from physical pain to release. That was…I don’t think I even have the words. It was cathartic for me as well.”
“It won’t be easy for you at first,” Barrett said. “Physically hurting the one you love is not easy. Especially as I think you’re a bit like I am. Raised as a gentleman. But you have to distance the concept of hurt vs. harm. Yes, there is physical pain. Sometimes that’s needed, whether it’s to discipline or like tonight, to help her regain her sense of peace. As long as she comes out of each spanking better than before you know you’re on the right track.”
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
“You’re welcome, DeLynn. How are you feeling?”
“Good.” With a burning rear end, but good just the same. The weight at her chest was gone now.
“Then I’ll leave you two to talk while I go make sure everyone’s staying out of your mother’s hair.” Barrett patted her shoulder and she heard the door open and close.
“Are you okay?” Zach asked gently, his hand continually rubbing up and down her back.
Blinking her eyes open, she nodded. “Yeah. My rear end is on fire, but that was expected. However the guilt’s gone, which I needed.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed the top of her head. “I’m rather in awe of you to be able to know exactly what you needed and to go for it, even knowing the pain that was involved. You’re so strong.”
Curling up closer to him, she reveled in the love he shared with her. “Thank you for being here. That couldn’t have been easy.”
“It wasn’t,” he agreed. “But I think I have a better idea of why this works. And I appreciate you letting me be a part of it.” She stretched a little, wincing as her jeans seared across her very hot skin. “When you’re ready, Barrett said they saved us each some dinner and dessert.” Her stomach grumbled making her giggle and him laugh. “I’m guessing that’s an affirmative,” he mused, helping her to her feet.
She grasped the tissues that were on the end of Barrett’s desk and cleaned up her face a little. When she looked back at him, she knew she had to look awful with her red eyes and puffy nose. “Well, you can’t say you didn’t know what you were in for,” she teased. “Here’s me in all my glory.”
His eyes softened and he took her head gently between his hands. “You have never been more beautiful than you are right now.” As he lowered his head and his lips touched hers, DeLynn knew without a doubt that she had found the most amazing man and could hardly wait for their courting year to be up.
Chapter 8
Her next two weeks went by quickly. Winter term classes were even more difficult than the ones in fall and she was glad that she rode to and from school with Zachary as it forced her to study a lot. Except for her nervousness on Wednesday when she went to her first class of the day only to find out that Kelli didn’t even look up as she entered and nobody treated her any differently than they treated any other student, she loved each day. Heather, the girl she’d met last October while helping Zach to decorate a church for a wedding pounced on her at the end of her second week.
“Yay!” she squealed, plopping down on the chair next to DeLynn’s in the library. The loud sound made several people jump. “I just heard about you and Zachary. Congratulations. He’s so happy.”
Grinning, DeLynn put down the rather large tome she had been holding. “Thanks. I’m pretty over the moon, too.”
“I know you live an hour away, but me and some friends are going out to lunch today to chat and eat high-fat food. Want to come?”
Ordinarily DeLynn would have demurred as she loved having lunch with Zach every day, but Heather was so nice and open. “I’d love to. Let me text Zachary since I usually eat with him.”
Heather leaned her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. “A relationship built on something other than sex. I’m rather jealous.”
Blushing a little, DeLynn pulled out her phone. Heather asked me to go to lunch with her today. Is that all right?
His answer came back relatively quickly. Have fun, DeLynn. Oh, and tell Heather to lay off the peppers.
Not understanding the last part, she showed it to the girl at her side, who snickered. “Your boyfriend thinks he’s a comedian. Just because hot food tends to upset my stomach, he thinks I should stop eating it.”
They met up with three of Heather’s friends at a local burger joint, taking up a huge rounded booth in the back. “So, everyone this is DeLynn Straynar, the lucky girl who caught Zachary’s eye. DeLynn, this is my crazy bunch. Talin Baylor, Christine Somter, and Jonah Letton.”
Talin, a short, curvy blonde beamed. “You lucky girl. Every girl on campus has hoped he would notice them and you got him without trying.”
The girl sitting next to her, a tall thin girl with shoulder-length brown hair with one lock of shocking pink at her left temple, shook her head. “Just steer clear of Kelli Culling and Brenda Sterling. They’re mad as wet cats that you got him.”
“Kelli lit into me my first Monday of classes,” DeLynn admitted.
“Yes, she did,” Jonah, a thin man with a shaved head and a piercing through his right eyebrow, said. “We’re in the same class,” he said with a shy smile. “I loved your response to dear Miss Kelli’s put down, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay,” Talin said, sitting up and grabbing her menu. “Shall we each get something different and share?”
“What do you think, DeLynn?” Heather asked. “We do it both ways, but this way you get to try all sorts of stuff.”
“Sounds good.”
As they chatted and teased back and forth, DeLynn felt more and more comfortable among the group. They reminded her of the way she, Chrissa, and Deeka used to be. “Are you all right?” Jonah asked and DeLynn looked up startled. “Suddenly it looked as though someone walked across your grave.”
“Sorry. A friend of mine disappeared a few weeks ago and I just thought about her. It’s hard.”
“Oh wow. What happened?” Christine asked.
“She was kind of changing all during last term and then one day she left and didn’t return. None of us know where she went or what happened to her.”
They commiserated with her and then suddenly Talin looked up and grinned, kicking Jonah under the table.
“Ouch!” he hissed. “What was that for?”
“Look who just took over at the bar,” she said with a giggle and as he did, his cheeks turned
pink and he looked down at the table. Wondering who he had a crush on, DeLynn turned, spotting a tall man with short reddish-blond hair behind the bar.
“When did Ken start working here?” he asked.
“Last week,” Heather said with a grin as DeLynn turned back around. “So go for it, Jon. You’ve been hankering after him for over a year. Do it. Ask him out.”
“I’m still not sure he’s gay, okay?” he said, waving his hand in the air like that should be obvious. To DeLynn, none of this was obvious, but she could tell he really liked the guy.
“Do you want me to ask?” Talin asked him, her eyes twinkling. “You two would make such a cute couple.”
“Don’t you dare.”
Heather hopped out of her seat and darted over toward the bar. “Heath!” he hissed but she either didn’t hear him or ignored him. With a groan, he lay his head down on the table.
Christine, who must have noticed a confused look on DeLynn’s face, filled her in. “Jon’s last boyfriend was a jerk and he’s kind of lost his nerve. But he’s had a crush on Ken for over a year and Kenneth Deward is a good guy. Just right for our Jonah.”
DeLynn, feeling slightly out of her element as she didn’t remember ever meeting anyone who was gay before, offered a small smile. “He looks cute.”
“Exactly,” Talin said with a nod of her head. “And here comes Heather.”
Heather plopped back into the booth next to DeLynn and tossed a piece of paper at Jonah. “What’s this?” he asked, picking it out of the ranch sauce that was sitting near his plate.
“His phone number.” Heather grinned. “And he’s bi, since I know that’s your next question.” Jon looked over her shoulder and grinned.
“Thanks,” he said, winking at her. His eyes slid over to DeLynn. “Mind if I ask a rather personal question?”