by Luna Austin
One night after they finished the latest episode of their favorite TV show, Emery turned to his wife, Alice and asked, "Would you mind getting into your PJs early?"
"Why?" The request struck her as strange, because they normally got into their pajamas together, right before climbing into bed.
"Humor me?"
Alice shrugged and stood from the couch. "Sure," she said. "Be right back."
Emery had checked their joint bank account earlier in the evening to see if she had obeyed him when he'd told her to spend less money at the coffee shop last week. He'd brought it up before, but not as an order, (hoping that would make a difference, but it hadn't.)
Emery let out a sigh of relief when she complied with his request. It would make the latter part of their upcoming discussion easier, though she wouldn't appreciate it. Alice had never received a spanking as an adult, but spanking her over jeans would not get his point across. The long t-shirt and panties she wore to bed wouldn't protect her bottom from the smacks he planned to deliver tonight, and he planned to move her shirt out of the way soon after he put her over his lap.
He rubbed his hands together. He had waited too long to explain why he'd insisted on the traditional vows, and what they meant to their relationship. He hadn't wanted to scare her off with his old-fashioned beliefs, but had insisted on the traditional vows which included a promise to obey him, and she had agreed. This promise allowed him to take the steps he would tonight.
Alice returned to her seat on the overstuffed couch and tucked her legs under herself before she turned back to Emery.
He held out his hands, and Alice placed her palms into his. He lifted each and kissed it before he brought them together and held them there.
"Alice, do you remember our wedding vows?"
"Of course."
"What's the last thing you promised when we exchanged our vows?"
Alice remembered the traditional vows he'd insisted on, though she'd thought it strange, and recited the part he'd asked for.
"To love, honor, and obey you."
"Right. Keep that in mind. Now, do you remember what I said about your spending habits last week?"
She closed her eyes and adopted a contemplative expression. He had just opened his mouth to remind her when her eyes snapped open.
"You asked me to spend less at the coffee shop."
"Close. I didn't ask you to, I told you to," he corrected, with an emphasis on the different verb. "Have you?"
"Well... no."
"Thank you for being honest with me. To make sure we're on the same page, I want you to answer one question. I told you to do something, and you didn't do it. What does that mean?"
"I disobeyed you." Her expression morphed from confused to upset as she realized what he was getting at. "I didn't hold to my wedding vows."
"I know you remember how important I felt the traditional vows are, but I didn't tell you why, and I should have."
"I didn't ask, either."
"Yes, but it was my responsibility to do so." He squeezed her hands. "I believe many problems in a marriage can be avoided if one partner - traditionally the wife - accepts the other's authority as head of household."
Alice knew she'd heard the term somewhere, and as it appeared he connected it to her vows, she needed to understand it.
"I don't know what that means."
"Promise to hear me out?" When she nodded, he took a deep breath and continued. "A head of house is the individual within a family who has the right to make decisions for, set rules and expectations for, and yes, even discipline other members of the family."
Emery paused, uncertain of how she would react. Alice had tucked her right fist into her left palm and held both in the center of her lap, staring at them as if they held the secrets of the universe. He stayed quiet to allow her time to think things through.
Alice understood that Emery connected her promise to obey him to accepting his role as head of household. She knew he held some old-fashioned values, as proven by her vows, but hadn't realized the extent to which they could affect her in the present day. Even without details of what form said discipline would take, the idea that he could unnerved her. It caught her off guard, but she would listen to the rest of what he had to say.
"Go on, please."
"When I married you, when you promised to love, honor, and obey me, I became your head of household, but I did not assume the responsibilities of the role as I should have. Tonight, I am."
Her head shot up and her eyes widened.
"I've tried asking you to watch how you spend our money, and then I told you how to do so when the general request didn't work. You still didn't obey. Now, I'm going to take the next step."
"The next step?" Her stomach twisted and she had a bad feeling that whatever type of discipline he meant would soon be made clear. "What do you mean?"
Emery held out an arm as if to draw her into a hug as he'd done many times before. Alice took it, and with a light tug she found herself over his lap. She felt his palm on her bottom and her face turned red as she realized what he intended to do.
"I mean from now on, when you disobey me, I'm going to punish you. You disobeyed my order to spend less money at the coffee store, and now I'm going to punish you for it."
"By spanking me? I'm not a little kid, Emery!" She tried to push herself off his lap, but felt Emery's hand on her back, preventing her from rising without significant effort.
"You're not," he acknowledged, "but you are my wife, and I am your head of household, and I've decided the most efficient way to encourage you to obey me is a good, sound spanking." He emphasized his words with a solid smack to the center of her bottom.
She yelped in surprise at how much the swat stung, but nothing more. Emery waited a full thirty seconds for her to protest and was pleased when she didn't.
"I'm not going to lie and say this won't hurt, Alice, because it will." He paused to rub her bottom. "I won't think any less of you if you can't stay quiet or still. Understand?"
Alice nodded.
"I'll only use my hand tonight," Emery assured her, but she stiffened under his hand, indicating she'd understood the implication. He hoped he could avoid spanking her with anything but his hand for a while. A side effect of his occupation as a carpenter meant his hands were firm and in some places calloused, and he hoped it would allow him to avoid spanking her with anything more than it for a while.
Emery delivered a dozen light spanks to her pajama-covered bottom with enough force to produce a light sting but nothing more. He wanted to get her used to being over his knee and getting spanked before he demonstrated why spankings were effective for more than little kids.
He started to warm her bottom with harder spanks to put some color onto her cheeks. For now, the shirt would stay in place, as would her panties. He knew the style of panties Alice wore, and they would provide minimal protection from the sting of his hand.
"Owww, Emery! That hurts!" She clenched her bottom cheeks and her toes drummed a silent rhythm of discomfort against the couch.
"I warned you it would."
Emery moved his hand to right above the hemline of her shirt, the tender area she would feel most when she sat, and delivered a single swat there. Alice gave a surprised yelp.
"Owwww! Please Emery, not there!"
He ignored her words, and she buried her head in the cushion.
He landed a dozen mild swats to her sit spots and returned to her main bottom for another dozen light spanks to finish her warm-up.
Emery barely considered the smacks he'd given her to count as a spanking at all, but he heard Alice begin to cry.
He pushed her shirt out of the way to reveal her light pink bottom and skimpy panties, while the other ensured she remained over his knee.
"Emery!" she wailed. "What are you doing?"
"Spanking you," he responded with a firm swat to the middle of her bottom.
His hand produced a satisfying smack and he watched his handprint appear. For all the protection her panties gave, she might as well have been bare-bottomed.
"Owww!"
He took his time with the spanking, keeping a careful eye on her physical and emotional reaction. Color blossomed across her bottom as his palm delivered the first punishment of its career as an effective method of discipline. Once her bottom reached a medium shade of pink, he quickened his pace, and her cries increased to match.
"I'm sorry!"
If he'd given her a verbal warning without punishing her for her disobedience, she may have modified her habits for a few days, but not long-term. He wanted this spanking to provide an incentive for her to do as he instructed, especially regarding their finances. Her apology wouldn't affect the spanking, but her response so far pleased him.
Emery wrapped his off hand around her waist and pulled her tighter towards him. Her sit spots were still pale, and he wanted them to match the color of her bottom. Once satisfied she wouldn't be able to interfere with the punishment, he landed a smack to her sit spot, and it triggered the stronger reaction he'd expected.
"Please, Emery, I'm sorry!"
Emery believed her, but he wanted to both make an impression on her and set a precedent for future spankings. A spanking would not end until he decided she'd learned her lesson. Her sit spots rapidly changed color under his sturdy hand, and they soon matched the rest of her bottom. The sharper pain of these smacks took Alice from tears to sobs, and she buried her face in her hands.
She couldn't have imagined how much this would hurt, and her belief that spankings were only for little kids was thrown out the window. She hadn't expected to end up in tears from a spanking, much less one where he only used his hand!
Emery finished the spanking with a dozen spanks to her sit spots with a cupped hand, and he rubbed her bottom.
"It's over. You may get up when you're ready."
Alice jumped to her feet, and reached back to resume rubbing where he'd left off
"I know your bottom hurts a lot right now, but it'll be back to normal by tomorrow afternoon at the latest," said Emery.
"That soon?"
"Yes. A spanking is meant to hurt, Alice, but it's not meant to last a long time. Harder spankings will take longer to heal, but they will. I promise."
Emery held out his arms, and Alice buried herself in them with her arms wrapped around his neck.
"I'm sorry."
"I know." He moved his hand in slow circles on her upper back. "You've been punished and you're forgiven."
Once Alice had let go and gotten back to her feet, he had one final task.
"What have you learned today?"
"To spend less money at the coffee store," she replied, hands busy trying to soothe her sore bottom.
"Right. And what else?"
Her hands fell to her sides and she went still. Emery watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she met his eyes.
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