Gary asked the question in the traditional manner; First, of my father in the privacy of his office and second, of me on a bent knee after a candlelight dinner for two. I toyed with the trepidation in his eyes, backing away from the ring box with both hands over my mouth. He was blind to my hidden smile and the joyful tears in my eyes. I waited until the hope dimmed in his eyes and his gaze fluttered toward the floor. My feet carried me forward until I stood towering above him.
I said, “Yes.”
His nervous gaze flickered up to my face. “Yes?”
I nodded, allowing my hands to fall away from my face and reveal my beaming smile. Gary rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around me. His lips caressed mine. I giggled into his ear and he slapped his hand against my bottom. He shook his head at me while his eyes teased me with a look of parental scolding.
“What?” I asked, fluttering eyelashes as an innocent angel might.
He said, “Don’t what me, you naughty little nymph. We both know you were only playing with my heart strings.”
I shrugged. “So, what if I was?”
His finger tucked itself under my chin. “I ought to put you right over my knee.”
“You aren’t my husband yet,” I said, “besides, my father wouldn’t approve.”
Gary laughed. “I already spoke with your father and I think we both know he would not only approve, but encourage it.”
I kissed him and wiggled my bottom hoping to distract him from his thoughts of my father. It worked. Gary grabbed my bottom and pulled me into him, lifting me up off the ground. The night drifted into a haze of dancing, kissing, and cuddling. It was well after my curfew when we arrived back at my house. The front light remained burning bright and silhouetted behind the drawn curtain was my father’s waiting form. He opened the door when Gary and I approached.
My father pointed inside the house at the stairs behind him and said, “Upstairs.”
I started to protest only to be interrupted by my father’s penetrating gaze. He said, “We’ll discuss this in the morning unless you think we should wake everyone to discuss it tonight.”
I blinked at my father and glanced sheepishly at Gary. “Goodnight,” I said and sidestepped past my father into the house.
There were whispers spoken between the two men in my life as I climbed the stairs. It was too hushed for me to make out more than a few words and those few were less than encouraging when considering the promised discussion to come in the morning. The door closed and my father turned the deadbolt before his gaze searched the top of the stairs to find me. I stared back, biting my lip until I sensed he was about to say something. Wrong or right, I scurried off to my bedroom, not allowing him the opportunity to utter the words on his lips.
It was the following day in the middle of the afternoon when my father called me into the living room. My mother and sister had gone shopping leaving the two of us alone together. I was pleased he had chosen to wait before dealing with me, but when I arrived in the living room, things were not as I expected. My father had his camera hung around his neck and the lens cap already dangling free. He was smiling, which for the most part was not his attitude when disciplining me or anyone else. For just a second, I imagined I was going to get away with breaking curfew for the first time in my life. I should have known better.
“What’s the camera for?” I asked.
My father smiled. “Tradition,” he said, “Your mother and I have always endeavored to capture all your firsts on film.”
Hope surged in my breast. “Does that mean today is the first time you aren’t going to spank me for breaking a rule?”
My father raised a contemplative finger to his lips. “I suppose it does.”
“Really?” I asked.
My father nodded.
“Seriously?” I asked.
My father snapped a picture of my gleeful face. “Gary is going to be here in a minute.”
“He asked me to marry him,” I said.
“I know,” my father said.
“I said, yes.”
My father snapped another picture. “I expected as much.”
“Do you want me to give the two of you some privacy when he gets here?” I asked.
He patted my arm and said, “That won’t be necessary. However, we are going to be discussing your tardiness last night and I think it would be appropriate if you undressed to your bra and panties.”
I swallowed as heat rose up into my cheeks. “I thought you weren’t going to spank me.”
“I’m not,” he said.
Confused, I bit at my lip and complied with my father’s instructions. It would be a bit odd, standing around in my underwear for a lecture, but all things considered, it was better than a spanking in front of Gary. Though it had not happened before, it was inevitable, Gary would one day see me less than fully dressed. I tossed my clothes aside and considered how Gary would react upon seeing me in such a state.
“You won’t photograph me in my underwear, will you?” I asked my father.
He cocked his head toward me. “I don’t see why your state of dress or undress should matter. Today is a very important first for you and I intend to document it fully.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
Gary rang the bell right at that moment, keeping my father from engaging any further into our conversation. I twisted my arms together in front of me, embarrassed and anxious. My father opened the door and Gary stepped inside. His eyes drank me in from the front door, but if he was surprised, he hid it well. They talked quietly outside of my range of hearing.
Ten minutes later, they joined me in the living room. My father stood behind me at the far wall and Gary stood facing me, next to the couch. I glanced at my father and he nodded toward Gary, telling me to give him my attention. Gary stared at me in confidence. I looked at the floor, feeling my face burning with embarrassment. He grabbed hold of my arm and guided me toward the couch.
“Kneel up on the couch,” Gary said.
I looked into his eyes, searching for answers and found only sternness. My legs carried me forward without hesitation and I obeyed the command for lack of any reason not to do it. Gary left my side and walked around to the back of the couch. He leaned over and smacked my protruding bottom with his hand. The camera clicked in the background and I blinked in surprise.
“What are you doing?” I asked, looking up into Gary’s eyes.
He said, “Spanking you.”
I glanced back at my father with his camera. My father said, “Now that you are getting married, it is no longer solely my responsibility to give you discipline. Gary must also do his part and today he is going to prove himself up to the challenge.”
Gary’s hands turned me on the couch, bring my bottom closer to him. His hand slapped against my bottom again and then again with more force. I yelped and tightened the muscles in my buttocks. Gary responded with a rough squeeze of each buttock and then a flurry of solid spanks. My bottom bounced, growing pinker by the spank and stinging more with every fleeting touch. I reached back to protect my poor bottom. Gary yanked me up from the couch, landing me back on my feet.
“When I give you a spanking,” Gary said from behind me, “you will take it with grace and dignity and absolutely no resistance. Is that clear?”
I twisted my head around to see his stern face. “It hurts,” I said.
“It’s meant to,” Gary replied.
His fingers slipped beneath the strap of my bra and unfastened it. I inhaled sharply and lifted my arms to hold it in place, but Gary tugged it off without difficulty, tossing it to join my other clothes. The camera snapped. My face burned hotter.
Gary said, “If you expect to keep your bra on next time, don’t resist me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Gary sat on the couch and patted his knee. I knew what he expected, but still I stood waiting for the verbal command. It would not be acceptable to let him think I could always anticipate his desires. My father circled behind me. The camera clicked.
“Keep playing games,” Gary said, “and you’ll be displaying your spanked bottom the rest of the day.”
“What?” I asked.
“You know what,” he said. “Get over my lap.”
I laid myself over his lap. His hand patted against the silkiness of my panties. I snuggled against him. He slapped his hand down, bouncing my bottom back to life. I kicked and squirmed, blinking back the sting. He held me firm and spanked with force and speed. My bottom burned under his attentive hand. The camera clicked away.
Gary’s hand stopped slapping my bottom and his fingers inserted themselves into the waistband of my panties. “I think it’s time to have these down.”
He pulled them halfway down my bottom and I reached back to hold them in place. “No!” I yelled at him, kicking my legs in protest.
Gary rained his iron hand down on my backside. My bottom exploded into a ball of fire. He showed no mercy, holding me tightly in place. I kicked and screamed, writhing on his lap to no avail. He kept a rapid pace, making my bottom jump from side to side on his lap. Tears tickled at my eyes and I pounded fists into the couch out of frustration. Nothing could ease the burning. I kicked my panties off, sending them flying across the room and I heard the camera click when they did.
“Things only get worse when you resist me,” Gary said.
“I’ll be good,” I promised.
“In time perhaps,” Gary said, “but I doubt any time soon.”
“Please,” I said, tears rolling down my cheeks, “I can’t take anymore.”
“You’ll take what I give you and you’ll be thankful for it,” Gary said.
“Please, stop.” I said.
Gary responded with his hand. He raised it higher in the air and slapped it down harder and faster than before. I bawled. It was only his hand and yet my bottom was burning as if he had used my hairbrush and my father’s thick belt. There was no denying his power over me and accepting it, I closed my eyes and relaxed in his firm hold. His hand slapped against my bottom a few more times and then rested on my burning globes.
“That’s better,” he said.
The camera clicked. Gary raised me to my feet and guided my hands to rest on top of my head. He walked me toward the door and left me facing it just far enough away that the door could open without touching me. He patted my hot bottom and kissed my wet cheek. The camera clicked.
“If you had only accepted it from the start, everything would be over now,” Gary said.
“I’m sorry,” I replied, sniffling.
“I know,” he said, “but now you’ll just have to stand here, bare, red bottom on display until dinner.”
“I won’t resist you again,” I said, hoping he would have mercy.
Denying my hope, Gary said, “I know you won’t.”