“Place your nose in the corner and don’t you dare utter a sound until I give you permission,” he growled, closing the heavy door behind him and latching it shut to avoid being interrupted.
“Poppa, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“So it’s ‘Poppa’ now? I am growing weary of the things that you didn’t mean to say and still allow to slip out. Mind me or I will prepare a birch right here and now. I am a firm believer in promptly dealing with childish naughtiness if possible,” he said, planting her in the corner of the room opposite his ornate desk. “I also believe that it should be handled fairly and, if conditions warrant, severely. I have a strong feeling that if I don’t put an end to this now, then you will continue to grow in this direction. That would mean that I will have to start the practice of bringing a fresh switch with me every time I take you in here.”
“Poppa!”
“Silence. Until now, your shenanigan’s have been fairly innocent, but this rudeness is unacceptable. I don’t know what’s brought it on, but I don’t care for it. For the others, just the threat of a visit to the office is enough to reduce them to tears, but that is because they know that this is the place where the greatest pain and humiliation will occur.”
Vanessa crossed and uncrossed her legs as she squirmed in anticipation of the impending discipline. Unable to stand the suspense any longer, she blurted, “Please don’t spank me. I promise I will watch my words. I swear! I don’t know what came over me.”
“Nessa,” he replied calmly, “You know very well that any disrespect towards me earns much more than a simple bare-bottom hand spanking. After I’ve calmed down enough not to spank you while angry, you and I are going to have a severe session, and it will involve a well-oiled strap.”
There was a shocked silence in the room as his words penetrated her consciousness and confirmed her fears that she had, indeed, gone too far this time. She gasped and then dissolved in a fresh outbreak of tears. “No, Poppa. Please.” She turned to look at him with water coursing down her cheeks. “I’m begging you.”
“Save the waterworks for when you need them. In the meantime, be quiet and think about what you have coming to you. I’ll be back shortly, and if you give me any further argument, we will take this session back to the dining area where all the maids and Edward can witness your punishment. Is that what you want?”
“No, sir. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I, Nessa. So am I.” He patted her shoulder, stoked the fire and then left her alone in the room. Sinking to her knees in the corner, the young woman cried pathetically into her hands wishing with all her might that she had not crossed the line with the incredibly patient man. Why had she done it? Was it poor judgment, the need for attention, or a lack of common sense? Whatever the reason, she knew that whatever he had planned for her was well-deserved. He had warned her several times and had even given her the opportunity to cease, yet she failed to heed his advice.
Several minutes later Harrison returned. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he sat heavily in an armless chair and stared out the large window before he began to speak. He looked miserable!
“Despite what the citizens say about me, I’ve always had mixed emotions about discipline. In one sense, I view it as a sacred responsibility of every husband and an essential act of love for his woman’s welfare. But when I see the tears flow at my announcement that punishment was due, I feel conflict against my temptation to be softhearted and practice leniency. I question myself, wondering if perhaps my petulant girls may have benefitted from the threat alone. Do you feel that you’ve learned anything? No, don’t answer. We both know that you haven’t.”
She heard the clinking of crystal as he poured himself some watered-down sherry. “I had to remind myself time and time again that threats serve no purpose unless they are followed through with action, so I stopped threatening and started promising. I always keep my promises, no matter how much it hurts.”
“I thought you liked hurting women,” Vanessa sniffed. “I thought that was your special need.”
“There is a big difference in causing pain to bring pleasure and delivering pain to pay the price of misconduct.”
“If I agree to let you take me, you could…”
“Seriously? Are you trying to distract me from disciplining you by using sex? Besides it being completely inappropriate being that you are behaving like a spoiled, petulant child and are calling me Poppa, you need to understand that I value you much more than to partake in a bribe. I’m a patient man and am more than content to wait until the time is right, so please don’t insult yourself, or me, by trying to barter with your body.”
He paused for a moment. “Come over here, Nessa.” When she stood in front of him, he placed his hands on her hips and looked at her straight in the eye. “You’ve been a very naughty girl and understand that Poppa has to punish you for your actions, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” she hung her head and bit her lip, feeling every adult fiber disappearing as she was chastised like a ten-year-old.
“Do you have anything to say to me?”
“I am so, so sorry, Poppa. I really am. I know that I went too far this time and it hurts that I made you so angry. I saw how upset you were in your eyes after you asked me to stop and I don’t know why I continued. I honestly don’t.” Her lower lip quivered as she looked at him with an expression of resignation, knowing that the pain experience with her previous spankings would be a pale shadow of what she was about to endure.
“I expect you to test your boundaries from time to time, especially given your upbringing. I encourage it, but within limits. Your mistake was pushing past the point of acceptable behavior and openly defying my instructions to cease. Moreover, you behaved this way in front of our staff,” he said, tilting her chin up and forcing her to look at him. “I’m not angry anymore, and I do appreciate that you trusted me with exploring these behaviors. However, you must understand that it’s wrong for me to disregard my set rules and send the message that this type of conduct is permissible. Next time I tell you to stop, you are to mind me immediately.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Good. Now I’m going to strap your little bare backside so you won’t ever think of disrespecting me again in the considerable future, and then I’m going to finish your punishment with my hand to ensure that you understand how hurtful your impudence is to my heart.”
“No, please don’t,” she pleaded.
He stood, looking down at her. “This is for your own good, young lady. Don’t fight me; it won’t fair well for you at this juncture.” He firmly positioned her over the edge of his desk until her bottom pointed upward and then lifted her short frock to expose her trembling bottom clothed in thin cotton split drawers.
“Lean forward, hold the edge of the desk and don’t think of reaching back to cover yourself. If you do, I will retrieve a switch. I would prefer not to do that for this offense, but if you disobey me, you will receive a switching that you will not forget for a long, long time.”
“I’m begging you…”
“Shush. You know that you’ve earned this.” He separated the material of her knickers to exposed her quaking bottom, placed his hand on the small of her back to hold her in place and raised the implement in preparation for its first contact with her raised back-end. The first burning slap of the strap landed with a loud splat across her unprotected cheeks, and she frantically kicked both legs up in the air in both pain and surprise.
“Poppa! That hurts! Please stop!” she screeched.
“It’s going to hurt much more before we are finished here, my darling. Insolent behavior deserves a thorough thrashing, and little girls receive bright red bottoms when their mouths cross the line of rudeness,” he replied gently, bringing the strap down a second time.
“Not so hard! Oh, dear Lord! I can’t take this! Stop!”
The strap fell across her mounds again. “I have to be strict to make sure that you learn this lesson the firs
t time around. It will spare both of us much pain in the future.” The strap fell several more times, rapidly setting her flesh on fire. She twisted and wriggled, trying to avoid the fall of the implement as it landed squarely in the center of her cheeks and turned her bottom to a blazing, angry inferno. His aim was unwavering, and he rhythmically sent stroke after stroke upon her tortured mounds until her struggles lessened and she was reduced to a crying little girl whose bare backside danced in response to the fiery smacks of the thick leather.
When he decided that the belt had served its purpose, he lifted her from the desk and quickly placed her over his knee, ensuring that she felt the closeness of his body against hers before the intimate contact of his bare palm to her bare bottom. She wrapped her arms around his leg and sobbed into his trousers as the sound of brisk, sharp smacks blended with a crescendo of anguished howls. When her yowling cracked and turned into muffled sobs, he reached over and brushed his hand across her wet face. It was finally over.
His palm was hot against her skin as he slipped his hand under the material of her dress and gently stroked her shaking back. Several minutes had passed before she was pulled to a sitting position on his lap, tucked securely under his chin where he repeatedly kissed the top of her head, temple and cheeks. As through nature itself felt sympathy for her plight, a new gust of wind and rain pattered against the window and cried along with her.
“I’m growing very fond of you, Nessa. Very, very fond, and it hurts me to have to be so strict with you. I know I was hard, but I would rather you receive it from me than face someone like my father who would have easily marked you with a cane. If you have a need to act out, do it behind closed doors for now on and not in front of the servants. You will still be disciplined if you don’t cease when told to, but it will not be as severe as that you felt today.”
“Yes, Poppa,” she sniveled.
“Do I need to have you write lines or is this lesson complete?”
“I’ll do whatever you want me to, just forgive me.”
“You will always be forgiven, especially when you have paid the price. I’m not looking to break your spirit. You know that, right?” he asked, lifting her tear-stained face to his. “I am teaching you about consequences to your actions. You were raised with absolute structure and rebelled against that structure because no one gave you an honest reason for its existence except to retain a certain social standing. I am restructuring your upbringing, giving you a role within the structure of this country and its community. I don’t care about power or prestige; I care about being happy and want you to care about the same thing.”
“I’ll behave perfectly for now on, I promise.”
He sighed. “You don't understand what I am telling you. I don’t mind you acting out and getting into mischief nor does the sauciness or getting cheeky disturb me unless it’s done publicly. Truth be told, I enjoy it for a while, but when I tell you that you need to stop, you must listen. This temper of yours has been the source of your problems all your life because there has never been a healthy outlet for your anger and frustrations, so I do want you to experiment and test. You just need to learn when, and why, to hold it back.”
“Yes, Poppa.”
“I should also warn you that this was not the full strength of the strapping I can deliver. If this occurs again, I won’t spare you.”
“I don’t want to be strapped again.”
“You will be, I’m fairly sure of that, but not necessarily for discipline. You will find the strap to be very intriguing when used as an instrument of pleasure. Do you have anything else that you wanted to apologize for?”
The last thing she wanted to think about was pleasure of any sort, especially if it involved that horrid strap. “Yes. I’m sorry for insulting you by offering myself as a bribe.”
“You underestimate your value and worth, baby girl,” Harrison said, leaning back and pressing her face to his chest so that she could hear his heart beating. “Which brings us to a point. It’s time that you need to tell me exactly what happened to you and trust that you will be kept safe in my arms and not be judged or ridiculed.”
“Later.”
“No, now. This is the time for confessions and cleansing; a time where you can experience forgiveness and acceptance to the fullest. Do you see this?” He held up a tiny vial that contained a clear liquid.
“What is it?”
He smiled and put it around his neck. “Your tears. I captured your tears and now will hold them dear to my heart. I love the sight of a red bottom and find it very arousing, but not when I have to bring it to that color out of duty.” He patted the vial. “These will serve to remind me of both our pain this day and how much I want to cherish you.”
“I can’t.”
“Would you rather stand back in the corner and then write lines?”
“He was the magistrate’s son,” Vanessa stared into the crackling fire. “We met at a ball where his father announced his engagement to a very wealthy and influential lady of the court. We both had too much wine and were giddy over the festivities. He told me that he loathed this woman and that she had the face of a horse and a body of a snake. His misery caught my attention, and I accepted his offer to go into the gardens so that he could unload his discontent. I thought he meant that he wished to talk simply about his troubles to an attentive ear. I was wrong.”
Harrison’s arms around her body tightened and the feel of his lips pressing on her forehead gave her the courage to continue. “We were behind the wisteria when he turned to me and said that he didn’t want to give himself to someone who he despised and wished that it could be me. I was smitten, of course. I was also rebellious, having had several run-ins with his father over political matters. I didn’t refuse his kisses, nor did I remove his hands from my breasts.”
“How old were you?”
“Seventeen. I thought that he would stop, but then I found myself being pushed over the back of a bench where he forced himself on me from behind. I barely felt his entry before he spent himself, but the shame that followed was immense. Apparently, he had placed a bet with his friends that he could take me, and they were scattered in the shadows to watch the event. He told me that if I ever said anything about our secret rendezvous that he would ruin me.”
“Dear God, what did you do?”
“What could I do? I said nothing and held the shame to myself. But he did not, and told his father that I had seduced him and that he felt his fiancée deserved an unsullied man. Since then, the Magistrate has been out to destroy me. He told my family his son’s version of what had occurred and warned them that if I did not stay out of his way, then the world would learn of my whoredom. He brought in his friend, the Prime Minister, who fueled the scandal and saw this as an opportunity to gain hold of my father’s properties. My parents, ever concerned about propriety, never asked me for the truth. I fought back by battling for others who couldn’t speak for themselves.”
“The queen will know of this! I will not have Her Majesty deceived by such an imbecile. It’s time the truth of their infidelity is shared as well.”
“They were unfaithful to their wives? But they send people for punishment for that same transgression.”
“They are not only unfaithful to their wives; they are long time bedmates. They’ve collected massive sums of money by threatening those who know the truth about their affairs.”
“Please, don’t be angry. I’ve had enough anger over this to last a lifetime. I just want to forget about it and to stop feeling so guilty and ashamed, but it’s as though nothing can cleanse me of his filthy touch. That is when I started to…” she suddenly felt her face flush with humiliation. “I can’t tell you this!”
“Have I judged you or led you to believe that I was not supportive of you? You can be free of this little prick and his deeds against you. Please try to believe that I’m on your side and that you don’t need to fight me. I’m here to protect you if you would only lean on me and stop allowing fear to drive
your actions.” He wouldn’t allow her to leave his hold, quickly drawing an end to her weak attempt to leave his embrace.
“It’s not fear that drives my struggles right now; it’s a very sore bottom.”
Harrison chuckled and let her stand. “I forgot about that. No rubbing. Now finish your story or I will have to perch you on my lap again. Out with it. I promise that nothing you tell me will shock or appall me.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned against the wall and shrugged. “In an attempt to cleanse myself of the shame, I began to do things that no self-respecting woman of my position would do. I used garden vegetables to satisfy my awakened need and, when I was certain that there was no one to catch me in the act, used a twig against my thighs.”
“Garden vegetables and self-flagellation, eh?” His eyes twinkled.
“Yes. Very large garden vegetables, but just a tiny bit of sting. What?” She asked as he beckoned to her while standing.
“You are a woman with passion and one that I find intriguing and alluring. Self-satisfaction is an accepted practice here, although the unwed women tend to rid the gardens of the smaller produce. My produce happens to be very large,” he said into her ear, causing shivers to travel along her neck and down her spine. “I would be very interested to see what you would choose to pluck from the vine and how you use it.”
“You aren’t suggesting that I show you!” Vanessa said in horror.
“I certainly am. I want to awaken all of your needs and prove my trustworthiness to you. You and I will take a walk comes morning and visit the gardens.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that... that thing in front of you. No.”
“You enjoyed my fingers on your body, didn’t you?”
“Well, yes.”
“You will enjoy my tongue and mouth even more. Was that a tremor of lust that I just witnessed?” He nibbled on her ear and reached under the wrinkled skirts to find her wetness. “It’s my household rule that little girls must always eat their vegetables, but I do allow big girls to play with their food if they desire it. I will make it a reward for sharing your secret with me.”
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