Jackie Draws A Straight: The Journey Series Book 5 (14 page)

"Marriage counseling?"

"Yeah. We meet with Father Roskovy regularly for a
while before we get married. He'll give us advice and…stuff."

"Basically, he's going to want to make sure we start going to church and raise our children to become good Catholics."

Jackie squirmed uncomfortably. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not really. I'm not good at accepting hard sells, though."

"Oh, he won't do that. He's a very gentle person. My impression was that it's a formality, otherwise he won't do the church ceremony. We'd have to get married outside."

In some ways, that would be preferable. They could do it quicker, for one thing. There would be less pressure to start having kids right away.
Pete glanced over at Jackie. She was barely breathing and her hands were knotted in her lap. He reached out and squeezed one. "I know this is important to you, Jackie. We'll do what it takes."

Her breath left in a rush and she squeezed his hand back. "Thank you. I talked to Father Roskovy about goin' at it quickly." She paused. "I'm afraid he has the impression that we
need
to get married, if you know what I mean."

Pete laughed. It was so far from the truth that it was ironic. "That must have been an interesting conversation."

"Yeah, well… I should have told him different. He'll find out soon enough when I…when time has passed. But, he's lettin' us do these counselin' sessions in a hurry. We have to meet with him four nights a week for the next three weeks."

Pete felt his jaw tighten. That was asking a lot, but what choice did he have? "So many times?"

She nodded. "Sorry. Can we do it?"

Sighing, Pete agreed. "So the wedding will be in three weeks?"

"Yeah. Can you wait that long?"

He laughed. "Jackie, I'm not twenty years old with a permanent hard-on."

Watching a flush steal up her cheeks was satisfying. A little discomfort wouldn't hurt her, and if they were going to get married, talking about sex was not improper at all. But he'd expanded her horizons enough for the moment.

"Are you ready for the spanking I promised?"

"You're really gonna spank me again?"

"I thought you liked that kind of redemption."

"It hurts."

"Jackie, you puzzle me. You've asked me to spank you several times. Asked and coaxed me. Why this sudden change of heart?"

Her hands knot
ted in her lap again. "Now that we're engaged, I don't want to."

What kind of manipulation was this? "Are you saying you didn't want to before? That you weren't willing before?"

"No! I did want it. I needed it. It made us…close."

A crazy idea struck him. "Were you substituting spankings for sex?"

Jackie's drawl was deep when she answered. "Maybe."

"Well, I've been thinking about this. Once we get married, if you act up, I plan to spank you again."

"
I won't act up."

Pete snorted at the absurd idea. Jackie Journey could no sooner behave than a kitten could become a puppy.

"I won't!"

"Don't try my patience, young lady. You already have a spanking coming for yesterday's behavior."

Her voice was low and pouty. "I won't act up. You'll see."

"You know, that spanking yesterday led us to bed."

She didn't reply.

"You were excited by it."

Jackie whispered her response. "I was excited by you touchin
'
me."

"Ah." He rubbed her bare forearm gently. "I'll remember that."

They listened to the radio quietly until he parked in the driveway behind the office. "After Willa leaves, I want you to go out in the backyard with me."

"Why?"

"I'm going to spank you there."

She gasped. "Outside! In the open where anyone can see?"

"No one will see. No one comes to the office after business hours."

"But…"

He opened the car door
. "I thought you were going to behave?"

The sweet lips he longed to kiss clamped down in a firm line of irritation. "Yes, sir!"

"That's better."

* * *

Willa bid Jackie good night and Jackie stood at the front desk, contemplating the spanking to come as the office door closed.
Without a doubt, she'd earned it. She should have known that Pete was not the kind of guy who'd behave cavalierly. He'd never been anything but considerate toward her.

Now that they were close, though, she didn't feel the urgent need to have the spankings before the cuddling. Cuddling would be enough.
Unfortunately, she'd opened a can of worms and now Pete was on a mission to teach her proper manners.

Considering her behavior over the years, a little self-discipline—even though imparted from an external source—wouldn't be a bad thing to learn. She respected Pete. If she could learn from her mistakes, and if the punishments fit the crimes, the spankings were reasonable. It was satisfying to feel like the misbehavior was corrected. It
said that
Pete cared in a long-term way.

But damn, it hurt.

Jackie locked the office door and turned off the lights, making her way slowly toward the yard between the office building and Pete's house. It would soon be her yard, too. It was a lot smaller than the spread at Journey's End, but that was okay. She didn't need a big ranch to feel established and like she was home.

Pete waited for her at the patio table in the yard, his laptop open, his fingers typing quickly.
S
e
eing
her, he nodded and gave her a quick smile.

"Shall we get this over with?"

Although dreading it, Jackie did want to have it done. "Yes, sir."

"Take off your clothes."

Her frown was immediate. "All of them?"

He nodded, sitting back in his chair and closing his laptop.

"But I'll be naked."

"Just like you were yesterday when you set me up to have an unpleasant surprise." He gestured toward her. "Punishment fits the crime."

She felt her face flame. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Can't we do this indoors? I've never been naked outside."

"First time for everything. Get to it."

He sounded so smug. She wanted to clobber him. "What if I say no?"

Pete arched a dark eyebrow at her. "
Aren't you going to promise to obey in the marriage vows
?"

Argh. He would throw that at her, knowing her traditional values. "Yeah…but…"

"Then do the obedience part now."

Fine. They'd get this over with. Jackie roughly pulled off her clothes and tossed them into a patio chair. She was ashamed and more exposed than ever before in her
adult
life as she revealed her body. He was going to be her husband, though, she to
ld herself. He was going to be o
n intimate terms with her body. This was not the first time he'd seen her naked—yesterday she'd been more than willing—and it would not be the last time.

Finally, flushed from toes to roots, she stood on the patio, naked as a freshly washed pig.

"Okay?"

He nodded, either oblivious or unheeding of her sarcasm. "You're a beautiful woman, Jackie."

Her blush was blushing. At the same time, the look in his eyes was very flattering. Pete obviously liked what he saw.

Nonchalantly,
Pete
took a pocket knife out of his pants pocket, opened it and handed it to her handle first. He gestured toward a willow tree in the corner of the yard where a tiny creek flowed with spring water. "Go cut yourself a switch from the willow tree."

Jaw dropping open, Jackie stared at him, aghast. "A switch?"

"I've been reading about it. Watched a video. You cut off a thin, flexible branch about as long as your
forearm
—or my arm, in this case—and you pare off all the sharp knots and twigs and leaves. What's left is a switch. I plan to take it to your ass."

"You ain't serious."

He nodded. "I am perfectly serious."

"You're gonna hurt me, Pete."

"A spanki
ng is supposed to hurt,
miłość
."

Although it both maddened and scared her, she did as he said and prepared the switch. It was a wicked object. She hoped he knew what he was doing.

When she presented it to him, he said thank you and examined the tool carefully. He felt the length
of it, looking for any burrs or sharp parts, and did a little extra paring. Then he tested it against his hand, against his leg. He listened to it whistle in the air—it was a dreadful sound.

After that thorough examination and test
ing
, he pulled out a patio cha
i
r for her and gestured. "Hold on to the arms of the chair."

Jackie eyed him skeptically for a moment, but she'd led herself to this punishment. Furthermore, she had to learn to trust him implicitly if she was going to marry him. Pete had proven himself a person of integrity
and honesty, but this was one more facet of their relationship that had to be explored. He'd said he intended to continue spanking after the wedding. That switch might see more than one use.

His voice was soft. "Go ahead, Jackie."

"Can't you just yell at me?"

"I'm not much of a yeller."

Frustrated but resigned, Jackie bent over the chair and grabbed the arms. Her butt was a perfect target in this position.

Once more the switch whistled and she cringed but it didn't strike her. He'd hit his pants leg again; another test. The second whistle, however, ended with impact. It stung a little, but hardly at all. Surprised, Jackie relaxed a bit.

"
I'm being careful here," he told her. "That was pretty light."

Jackie wanted to hurry him along. If the punishment was going to be so mild, they might as well get it over and move on to the cuddling.

The next blow was rather sharper and made her gasp. The next was sharper still and she gasped louder. Each successive swat was getting harder and her butt began to really sting.

"Not leaving marks," he mused and swatted again. "Wait, that left a little welt."

Su
re as shootin' there was a welt; she didn't need to see it to know it was there.
That spank made her flinch. "Ow! Ow!"

"Ah. We're getting somewhere." The next volley was rapid and harsh and brought tears to her eyes. Her bottom was on fire.

"You're killin' me!"

"I am not. Your ass is barely striped.
And you deserve this for not giving me information I needed to have in order to make a responsible decision."

"Ouch!" His hand rose and fell rhythmically, hardly giving her a chance to recover from one blow before the next fell. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"I don't want you to ever,
ever
, put me in a position like that again." He punctuated each word with a flick on her burning behind.