by B.Y. Parsons
It all began as a high-spirited reunion with a long-lost friend...
Julia Simpson blew into town a week ago and rang me from the airport. Working as a flight attendant, she had an eight-hour stopover in Boston. I was excited to hear her voice. I hadn't seen Julia since we were college roommates five years ago so I invited her over for lunch. We sat out on our back patio on a fine spring day and dug into cheese omelettes and fresh strawberries while catching up on each other's lives. To mark the occasion, I pinched a bottle of New Zealand's finest Sauvignon Blanc from Alex's wine cellar. He's a generous guy; he'd want us to celebrate! Mind you, the girl-talk that flowed along with the wine was nothing to celebrate. But by the time Alex and I sat down to dinner that evening, Ms. Simpson was airborne en route to San Fran and the Boston Blabbermouth was tight-lipped about our little chat. What Alex didn't know won't hurt him, or me. Right? Oh sure.
My visit with Julia began innocently enough. She waxed eloquent about exotic locales she'd visited as an air hostess, then gave me her take on living in California. But the conversation really took flight when she began to rhapsodize about Richard, the new man in her life, burbling on (and on) about his "poetic soul" and "wildly inventive" love-making. She showed me the gold necklace he'd given her on Valentine's Day, taking it off and passing it across the table so I could read the naughty love-message he'd inscribed in the locket. Julia was utterly besotted! I wondered aloud what it would take to bring her back down to earth. She sobered slightly and confessed that they'd had their very first run-in last weekend.
Turns out they'd gone to a party on Saturday evening and bumped into his old girlfriend. Taken aback, Richard introduced Julia to Jackie before departing to fetch them both drinks. In an awkward attempt to make conversation, Julia had asked the red-haired beauty where they'd met. Jackie's response was so glowing and nostalgic that Julia felt her stomach churn. The only things Richard had told her about this prior relationship was that Jackie had ended it and it had taken him several months to get over her. Julia felt threatened. She feared that if Jackie changed her mind and decided to lure him back, Richard might fall for her all over again. So when he returned, she decided to burn their bridges for good by inviting his old flame to dish the dirt on him. "Tell me dear, given your feelings for Richard, I can't understand why you broke up with him. I mean, did he leave his smelly socks under your bed? Did he fart out loud at your dinner parties?"
Grinning mischievously, Julia confessed that these were the only things Richard had done in their three month-old relationship that had seriously annoyed her. "I know I was being bitchy," she giggled, looking pleased with herself, "but I succeeded in scaring her off. She high-tailed it out of there and we didn't set eyes on her the rest of the evening. Mission accomplished!"
"Good Lord, Julia! You can be such a brat sometimes," I scolded, recalling her rudeness at a wedding reception for one of our classmates years ago. "What did Richard do when you said that?"
"Nothing much," she shrugged. "He squirmed, blushed, looked down at his feet. What could he do?"
"Lots, girl. You're lucky he's never met Alex."
"Why?"
"Because my man draws the line at public provocations. No way I'd get away with that."
"Yeah? What does he do? Send you to your room? Ground you for a week?" she chortled, sloughing off my disapproval with flippant taunts.
I rose to the bait. "He does nothing of the sort! He..."
"He what?" she prompted, eyes gleaming.
"He... well, he spanks me!" I blurted.
"You must be joking."
"I mean it, Julia! If I'd done what you did, Alex would have taken me straight home and turned me over his knee."
There it was. Out in the open. We'd never told a soul about our secret, and I'd just spilled the beans to an incorrigible gossip who would relish tucking this juicy tidbit in everyone's ear. My only consolation was that she'd do her gossiping on the West coast, a long way from Boston. Fearing she'd get the wrong idea about Alex and me, I hastened to add, "His spankings aren't really serious. I mean ... well, they're semi-serious."
Julia looked incredulous. "What, pray tell, is a semi-serious spanking?"
Swallowing hard, I struggled to regain my composure. Having revealed too much to clam up now, I figured I'd better tell it like it is. "Well, he's annoyed with me at some level, so in that sense it's serious. And he spanks me really hard. But it's also a ruse. What appears to be a punishment imposed by him is actually an erotic ritual initiated by me."
Julia was baffled but intrigued. "Would you care to elaborate?"
"Sure," I said, thinking this was my chance to turn the tables. You see Julia fancies herself as a sexual sophisticate. When we were roommates at U Mass, she'd devour articles in Cosmo on 'Ten Ways to Drive Your Man Wild in Bed' and try them out on her boyfriend du jour. The morning after, I'd receive detailed consumer reports on the latest erotic techniques, complete with recommendations on how to spice up my love-life, which was rather conventional at the time. Her salacious enthusiasms did encourage me to become more adventurous, and I'm eternally grateful. But she came across as a bit of a know-it-all, and I found that irritating (can you tell?). Raving about Richard's "wildly inventive" lovemaking was vintage Julia. Yet she didn't have a clue about how spanking games are played, and she was begging me to let her in on our secret. How could I refuse?
"Some couples have wrestling matches; we play Uproar," I confided, trying not to sound smug. "It's our version of The Battle of the Sexes. But before I tell you about it, I want a solemn promise that you'll not tell a soul."
"My lips are sealed."
"Promise?"
"Absolutely. Cross my heart."
"If you blab to anyone about this," the Pot warned the Kettle, "you must ask Richard to spank you soundly on my behalf. Is that a deal?"
"Oh alright," she grinned, blushing nicely. "Now don't keep me in suspense."
"O.K. Here's how it works. Sometimes, when I'm annoyed with Alex - not so mad that the mood is ruined, but irritated enough to welcome a row - I deliberately provoke him."
Julia looked baffled. "So what..."
"My favourite scene is 'The Flirt's Revenge'."
"For Heaven's sake, Nadine, be specific!"
"Lemme tell you about our most recent scene. Alex had been working late almost every night in the university library, and we weren't having many dinners together. And when he came home, he was distracted, preoccupied with the book he's writing. Feeling neglected, I made no secret of it. To make amends, he took me out dining and dancing on Saturday evening. When we arrived at the nightclub, I sidled up to the bar and hit on the hottest bachelor in the joint. I flirted shamelessly with this guy, having fun at Alex's expense, reminding him what it feels like to be ignored."
"And goading him into taking you back."
"Precisely. As I continued to lavish my affections on this unsuspecting hunk, I spotted Alex, glaring at me from the back of the club. Clearly, he was growing jealous."
"I should think so!"
"When I returned his scowl with a petulant snub, he stood up, rising to his full 6'6" height and strode across the dance floor. Through clenched teeth, he informed the guy that, "Your flirtatious companion is actually my date for the evening!" The poor man stepped back, startled and apologetic, while Alex grasped me by the arm and escorted me out through an emergency-exit door into a grimy back alley. Without ever raising his voice, he informed me, in embarrassing detail, precisely what would happen if I kept ignoring him and flirting with total strangers. His words were ominous, but his eyes were filled with hot-blooded lust for me. I swear, Julia, nothing beats a blast of ire-and-desire from my man."
"What happened?" she asked, breathlessly.
"After he bawled me out, we went back inside and Alex retreated to his table in the corner, leaving me to determine my fate. I returned to the bar to collect my drink, thinking I'd better chill out, join him and mutter an apology. But I detest the taste of humble pie! As I sat there sulking, I worked myself into a first-class snit. No way was I going to let Alexander O'Brien boss me around! So I turned to the guy sitting next to me and began to coquet with him!"
Julia doubled up with laughter. "Gotta hand it to you, girl, you've got nerve! So what did Alex do then?"
"Striding across the dance-floor once again, he grabbed me by the elbow and growled 'that's it. I've seen enough. Time for a Stern Reminder.' That's our code-words for a bottom-warming. Needless to say, the phrase gets my adrenaline pumping! I scarcely had time to grab my purse as he swooshed me out the door.
"We drove home in silence, the tension mounting. As soon as we were in the front door, he launched into a scathing lecture, upbraiding me for flaunting my body at complete strangers and making a perfect fool of him. Escorting me to our bedroom, he pulled up a chair and growled, 'You're my woman and no-one else's!' The pain in his voice melted my heart. The defiant vamp of the night club became a boudoir penitent, standing contritely before him, eyes lowered, face flushed, heart pounding a mile a minute. Wasting no time, he hauled me over his knee, hiked up my dress, peeled down my panties and administered 'a Stern Reminder'."
"And that turns you on?"
"Wriggling around on his muscular thighs as he lights a fire on my ass drives me wild with lust!"
"Amazing!" Julia exclaimed, hand over her mouth in astonishment. "And this ends up in love-making?"
"Sexual skyrockets and a huge 'O', the best ever!"
"How often do you play this Uproar game?"
"Depends on how I'm feeling. Probably once every couple of weeks. That kind of heat-seeking sass doesn't come over me every day. More often in the summer. When the weather gets hot, so do I. Last August, I was 'asking for it' every few days, playing the brat."
"So when you're hankering for a fracas, you act up, he gets the message, and takes his brat in hand."
"You got it, sistah!" I cried in glee and we high-fived.
"When he whisked you outside the first time, I guess you both knew what was gonna happen."
"It's not that I plan it all out in advance. I just find myself getting more and more sassy, and at a certain point, I realize that if I keep goading him, I'm gonna get my bottom scorched. I wasn't surprised when he took me aside to warn me. I didn't expect to be lectured in a back alley, but Alex has a flair for the dramatic. But he never threatens to spank me unless I'm asking for it. Otherwise, we try to handle our disputes as mature adults."
"But after warning you, he retreated, letting you decide your fate."
"That's right. He usually gives me a chance to call it off."
"While hoping you'll continue to defy him."
"Exactly. While some dominants are looking for slavish obedience, Alex loves my sassy subversion. I can be a real handful, and he rises to the challenge - literally."
"Later on, at home, his lecture melted your heart."
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