“Come on,” Jay said. “You're nearly there.”
He crooked his finger at her, and she found the strength to go to him. “This was a bad idea, wasn't it?” she asked in a small voice.
“Yes, honey, it was.” Jay took her hand and sat her on his knee. “Last night I spanked you because you hadn't finished the chores on the list two days in a row, and you were snippy with me when I tried to talk to you about it.”
“I know. I'm sorry,” Alex whispered.
“I was trying to find out if you weren't feeling well or if there was a genuine reason. All you gave me was attitude.”
Alex felt terrible. This lovely man had come into their lives and enriched it in so many wonderful ways. He hadn't deserved to be treated with disrespect.
“I'm going to give you the same chance today. Are you sick? Are you coming down with something?”
“No,” she admitted with regret. She would have liked to be able to answer with an honest ‘yes’.
“Then why?”
“I guess I was in a mood,” Alex said. Funny how a mood that had gotten her in so much trouble now had completely evaporated.
“A bad mood isn't a reason for bad attitude and defiance of the rules. If there are more chores on the list than is possible for you to fit in, you need to talk to me.”
Alex nodded. He was right. She should have talked to him, and truthfully, if she had stuck to the chores, she could have had them done in a couple of hours.
“Let's get this over with,” he said.
Even though she was well supported by the sofa beneath her, Alex clung to Jay's jeans. The familiar feel of his denim in her fingers was comforting. For about a minute. Once the spanks started, they came hard and fast. They were so hard she could hardly catch her breath enough to yell out. She did somehow manage to yell as loudly as she could. His hard punishing hand was everywhere. From the back of her thighs to the top of her poor burning bottom. It was on the right side, then the left, over and over, and then back to her thighs. If only he had a pattern she could focus on where the next smack would land, but he didn't. The smacks were painfully random.
“Stop! It hurts, Jay!” she wailed, kicking her legs wildly in an effort to get away.
“Be still!” Jay said, an extra hard smack landing across both cheeks. “We're nearly done with this part.”
This part? Alex thought. Oh yeah, the spoon and that other horrible piece of wood. She burst into tears as Jay finished with several more sharp spanks.
“Wasn't that spanking enough?” Alex sniffled into Jay's chest when he helped her to stand.
“That was your warm up, hon.” he said sympathetically. “You know we're not done.”
“Warm up?” she asked with a sob. “But I'm already on fire.”
He led her around to the back of the sofa. “Bend over.”
“Already?” she said desperately. “I'm not ready.”
“Bend over, Alex,” he said. “Or I'll bend you over and add extra.”
By some miracle, Alex managed to make herself bend over the couch without getting herself in any deeper. Thankfully, she was able to keep control of her tongue. Just. “What are you going to use first?”
Jay tapped the inside of her thigh with the cool wood, managing to widen her stance and answer her question at the same time. He laid his hand on the small of her naked back to steady her before cracking the brush against the fullest part of her pink bottom with a noisy thwack.
Alex bucked against Jay's firm hand. “That hurts!” she hissed.
“It's meant to hurt, Alex,” Jay said as the spoon clapped off the other side. “I have already suggested this week that you might like to put the list on the fridge to remind you.”
“I know,” she whined as the spoon again bit into either side of her tender rear end.
“I warned you that the house was getting messy again, and you told me you were on it.”
It felt like every second word of Jay's was being punctuated with painful little explosions. “Please, Jay!” she begged feeling her legs abruptly clamp together of their own accord.
“The hand spanking last night was a final warning to shape up, and you ignored it.” He tapped the inside of her thighs. “Open them.”
“I can't!” she panted. “They won't move.”
“Do it, Alex.” Jay said with that voice. The quiet one with the silent 'or else' added. His hand slipped from the small of her back down to her hot cheeks and pinched.
Her legs opened, and she hid her face against a sofa cushion so he wouldn't see her obvious embarrassment. It was bad enough that he now had a full view of her dripping girly parts.
“I'm sorry, really sorry,” she groaned. “Please, Jay.” All thoughts of how sorry she was and how embarrassed she felt about being so exposed slipped right from her mind as Jay started to spank her inner thighs.
“You said you were sorry last night. Clearly, I didn't spank you hard enough.”
Deciding there'd been enough talk, Jay ignored Alex's tears and begging and spanked quickly but firmly, finishing with several cracks across the crease just under each well-spanked butt cheek.
The reality slowly seeped into her consciousness that Jay had stopped spanking. Unfortunately, that dreaded spoon was the gift that kept on giving, and her bottom still thrummed with a throbbing ache. Alex howled and drummed her toes against the back of the sofa.
“I hate that spoon,” she complained through hitched breaths.
Jay went home to get his own laptop so he could work from there for the afternoon, leaving Alex in the corner contemplating her actions and where they'd lead her. She stood awaiting the final part of her punishment, with her red bottom and thighs on display. It was a hot, throbbing reminder that she should stay still as she'd been told. She leaned her head against the wall and went over the events of the last few days in her mind.
Why hadn't she just cleaned the damn house like she'd agreed? Nobody had forced her into this. She'd gone willingly into her relationship with Jay knowing what it entailed, even wanting what it offered. Maybe it was hormones or some kind of brain snap, but the more he'd tried to encourage her to stick to the rules, the more she'd felt like thumbing her nose at them. She remembered thinking that she didn't care if Jay spanked her. In fact, she knew he would and she knew it would be worse than the last one. Did she want him to spank her hard? Was she trying to see how far he'd go? Probably, she had to admit.
She was shaken out of her reverie when she heard the front door. He was back.
“Come on over, Alex,” he said.
Alex turned with a slight sniffle and walked towards her man. She didn't want that long handled brush he had in his hand, but she had no one but herself to blame. “I'm sorry, Jay,” she whispered.
“I know. This is the last of the spanking,” he said. “Bend over the end of the sofa.” He'd placed several cushions there for her comfort and so her bottom was where he wanted it.
“Yes, Sir.” she said, immediately doing as she was told.
“Good girl,” he said. “Hold still and we'll get this over with.
She took a breath and held it, trying her hardest not to cry as the brush connected with her already well-spanked bottom. The heavy wood relit the fire that had only just died down to a small blaze. Although well-cushioned, the sensitive skin felt like it was literally on fire. There was no relief. Hard, rapid-fire spanks that blended into one long deep-seated burn that covered the underside of her bottom and the top of her thighs several times over. “Please, Jay. Stop, please,” she begged, finally bursting into heart-wrenching tears.
“Nearly done,” Jay said gently. A couple more smacks and he dropped the brush and took her into his arms. He kissed her hair and cuddled her close to him as she cried into his shirt.
“I'm sorry, Jay,” she sobbed. “Really. I'll try harder.”
“I know you will,” he said. Jay sat down and helped Alex to straddle his open legs so her sore bottom was untouched by the rough denim of his jeans.
Her long hair covered his hands as he ran his fingers over the bare skin of her back, making feathery, butterfly-touch circles with the tips of his fingers. She clung to him, greedily soaking up all the comfort that he offered, her sobs gradually slowing to hitched breaths.
* * *
“You feel better now?” Jay asked.
“Uh huh,” Alex said sleepily. “I have to clean now, don't I?”
“Yes, you do,” Jay said. “And there's one last part of your punishment.”
“No more spanking, please!” Alex pleaded.
“No more spanking, today.”
“Are you going to take my computer?” she asked sadly.
Jay tipped his head. Maybe he should have thought of that. Still, he liked his idea better, and he wanted to give her a chance with the computer and see if she learned her lesson. “Do you have an apron?” he asked.
She pulled away from his chest and looked into his eye to see if he was joking. He wasn't. “Yes. I do.”
“Would you go and get it please?” he asked. He watched as Alex walked away with a look more of curiosity than embarrassment at her nakedness. She was walking a little gingerly, but that was understandable.
“I could get dressed now,” Alex suggested.
“Yes, please,” Jay said. “In that.”
“I…” she started but stopped herself in time. “Would you tie the back for me please?”
“Of course,” Jay said, kissing her bare shoulder as he tied the pretty bow at her waist.
Every now and then Alex looked over to where Jay was tapping away on his computer. She couldn't wait to read how this one turned out.
Chapter Ten
“You know this place is looking
much
better,” Kelly said as she and Alex carried boxes of Christmas decorations downstairs from the attic. “This is about the first time I can remember that we didn't need to give the house an overhaul before we decorated.”
Alex grinned. “Yeah, I guess I am a bit more organized,” she said.
“Jay's a good influence on you.”
“He can be a bit of a motivator, I suppose,” she said a little sadly.
Kelly narrowed her eyes. “What's wrong?”
“Nothing,” Alex said. “I'm fine.”
“Something's wrong. You may as well just tell me. You know you want to,” Kelly said. “Trouble in paradise?”
“No,” Alex said. “Things couldn't be better.”
“Geez I'd hate to see you if you were unhappy if this is the best it gets,” Kelly said. “Really, Alex, what's wrong?”
“I thought things were great. I thought we were moving forward, you know?”
“You thought he would have asked you to marry him.”
“Well, yeah,” Alex said. “It's been months. He seems to be happy, and I
know
I am. I do things, you know—his way, well, our way now. I just thought. We tried it, it's working, and I thought he'd want to be a real family.”
“Maybe you need to say something,” Kelly said.
“No,” Alex said stubbornly. “I want him to
want
to ask. If he doesn't want to marry me, then I guess that's it. If he doesn't really want to be a family, then I can't change that.”
“Honey, I'm sure it's not that,” Kelly said. “Maybe he just thinks it's too soon.”
“Maybe,” Alex said. “He doesn't think it's too soon to
act
like we're a family.”
“I think you're wrong,” Kelly said. “Anyway, let's untangle these lights. You obviously put these away before you're new domestic skills kicked in.”
* * *
“I thought Jay liked being with us,” Aaron said. “I thought we was a family, sort of.”
“So did I,” Thom said.
“He's kind of like our dad already.”
“Kind of,” Thom said. “Kind of isn't the same as
being
our dad.”
“Do you think Mom's right?”
Thom shrugged. “I dunno, but I aim to find out,” he said.
“Where ya goin? You gonna go ask him right now?” Aaron asked, hot on his brother's heels as he snuck out the door.
“Sure am.”
“What you gonna say?”
“Not sure,” Thom said. “I think I'm just gonna ask him flat out.”
“Flat out what?”
“Why he doesn't wanna marry our mom and be our dad.”
* * *
“Hey, boys,” Jay said as he opened the door to two serious faces. “What's up?”
“We need to talk,” Thom said.
“Oh?” Jay frowned. “Something wrong?”
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “We need to ask you some questions.”
“Sounds serious,” Jay said.
“It is serious.” Thom walked past Jay and headed for the living room. Aaron followed, giving Jay a narrow look as he passed him in the doorway.
“Okay, why don't you tell me what the problem is,” Jay said, moving his laptop and perching on the arm of the couch.
“Well, I, we, were wondering what your intentions are towards our Mom.”
“Yeah, what he said.” Aaron said. He covered his mouth to whisper to his brother. “What does that mean?”
“It means ‘are you gonna marry Mom’,” Thom whispered back.
“Oh,” Aaron said. “Yeah, we was wondering about that,” he said to Jay.
“Were you just?” Jay said, doing his best to hide a smile. “Well, I guess it's only right that you two would be curious.”
“Do you want to marry Mom, Jay?” Thom asked.
“Well, your Mom and I are very fond of each other.”
Aaron rolled his eyes. “
That’s
why you should get married!”
Thom gave Aaron a shove.
“What?” Aaron said shoving him back. “I thought that's what we came over here to say.”
“Okay, then,” Jay said. “I think I get the picture.”
“Don't you like us?” Thom asked. “I thought you liked us. I thought you liked us all being together.”
“I do,” Jay said.
“Then why haven't ya asked her?” Aaron asked.
“I'm proud of you boys for looking out for your Mom. That shows real maturity,” Jay said.
Thom beamed. “We love her, you know.”
“I know,” Jay said. “So do I.”
“What about us?” Aaron asked. “Do you like us too?”
Jay ruffled the curious little boy's head. “Of course I do,” Jay said. “I think of you two as my own boys.”
“Well, then I just don't get it,” Aaron said with a sigh. “I don't get why you don't wanna marry our Mom.”