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  “If they passed on any of that grit to you, then you have a leg up on most relationships out there.”

  “Thanks, how about you? Are you close to your family? Are your parents still married?”

  “Hmm, well, my parents have been married for a long while too although that is probably where the similarities end.” She wrinkled her nose. “In my family, career comes first and everything else comes after that. My mother is a very strong woman. She tends to be very goal oriented, so there isn’t room for much else. My dad is just as career oriented. In fact, they are probably married to corporate America more than they are each other,” she admitted, “but that is probably why they have lasted so long. They raised me to be an independent woman.” She shrugged. “I will admit, I haven’t had much time for relationships myself over the last few years. Although I do see myself settling down someday.”

  “I think while our families are different, we can learn a lot from them.” Charles leaned toward her. “I think the key is to find someone who is compatible and who has a shared vision and philosophy for what they want their marriage and family to look like and who are willing to go the mile to achieve and keep it.”

  “I think you’re right,” she said, liking how passionate he was about this subject. This was a man who knew his mind. “I’m not planning to have the same type of marriage as my parents. I think people are more important than careers. Okay, enough about our parents,” Violet said emphatically with a chuckle.

  Their waitress appeared with their lunch, and they tucked into their food with gusto, foregoing conversation for a moment. Violet groaned in appreciation. “You were right, this is amazing.”

  “It is delicious isn’t it?” Charles agreed, making a point to visibly savor the bite he was working on. “So,” he began, moving on to a new subject. “Everleigh tells me you are quite the artist. When do you have time for that with your busy career? She has mentioned all of the community clean-up and beautification projects you worked on through the years.”

  “I pretty much laid that down in favor of building my career.” Shrugging, she continued, “Like you said, there just isn’t time for both,” she said, feigning casual indifference

  “That’s too bad. From what she said, you are a spectacular artist. She said you really have an eye toward sustainability and have done some great work creating just that in urban settings while hiding those projects behind incredible pieces of art. That piqued my interest because I am an environmental law attorney, so sustainability is something that matters to me.”

  Violet gazed out the window feeling wistful. The emotions that churned inside her caught her off guard. She hadn’t thought about the aspirations of her younger self since launching into the job she had now. At one time she thought she might turn her talent into a career. Now she wondered where that passionate young woman had gone. In her current career, she would call herself dogged, aggressive even, but not passionate. Passion stemmed from caring about something that mattered.

  “Well, they don’t call them starving artists without a reason. I couldn’t justify pursuing it as a career.” She shrugged. “Excellence is expected of us Walker women,” she said in a tone that parroted her mother. “Art does not exactly fit into that mold.” Sighing, she leaned her cheek into her hand. “I have to admit I have always envied Everleigh’s ability to live out her dreams despite the odds. She does well too. Her dreams have a way of coming true.”

  Charles leaned toward her across the table. “You do know yours could too, right? Sometimes you just have to think outside of the box. You might be surprised at how dreams and aspirations can meet practicality. Your happily ever after might be just around the corner if you tried.” He beamed at her in a way that showed his optimism.

  They chose to leave the car at Endelé’s and walk. The sun was shining brightly; the chill gone from the air, birds chirped loudly from the trees. Her spirits lightened as they walked. He pointed out where various members of the community lived along the way. People waved as they passed by. Some came up to make light conversation. Violet found herself enjoying their day together.

  As they made their way across the grassy knoll in the large park situated next to the community pool, the sound of children splashing and playing filled the air. The wind rustled through the leaves blowing all around them. The sight of the leaves dancing to the rhythm of the wind, just as the sun kissed her face, sent waves of contentment over her entire being. The feeling grew as Charles started whistling a tune as he walked beside her.

  “You know,” she said as she plucked a sweet yellow wild flower from the grass in front of her and tucked it behind her ear, “I have not felt this relaxed in as long as I can remember.” Gracefully, she stretched her arms toward the sky allowing them to relax along with the muscles in her entire body.

  A realization dawned on her as she looked over at the strong, yet peaceful face beside her. Charles always seemed to have an ease about him. “How do you do it?” she asked, bewildered.

  “How do I do what?” He crooked an eyebrow up in question.

  “You always look relaxed, comfortable in your own skin.” She looked up into his eyes and broke out into a grin. “And you always have this look in your eye like you know some great secret that the rest of us aren’t privy to. I guess you just look happy.”

  He chuckled, looking a bit perplexed. “Well that’s probably because I am. Aren’t you?” he asked, his hand brushed her shoulder in a familiar way as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do. She had to admit she didn’t mind.

  The birds called to each other from tree to tree as she thought about what she was trying to say. “Happy? I mean sure, I love my job. There’s just no time for anything else. Nothing. I live, eat, and breathe my career.” The muscles in her shoulders tightened as she spoke. “You know I have always thought that it was just a part of it and that’s fine. But then I met you,” she said, wrinkling her forehead. His hand had almost by instinct found her areas of stress. She sighed luxuriating in the magic his fingers worked. “You have as high powered of a career as I do. You’re an attorney for goodness sakes,” she said with exasperation. “Yet, here you are, taking the time to show me around all the while whistling a tune and you look like you’re truly enjoying yourself. Since we’ve been out here, it’s dawned on me that this is the most relaxed I’ve been since I took my job.” She felt confused, agitated even, at this realization.

  She shivered as he reached out and straightened the flower in her hair. Her heart palpitated every time he touched her.

  “Do you think it’s because you don’t allow yourself to relax?” He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Do you ever take the time to do something just for the sake of enjoying it?” he asked.

  Surprised by this, she looked sharply over at him. “No, there’s never any time. I always have a deadline looming. The paperwork is endless. Aren’t you afraid if you take a break that everything will fall to shit?” she asked, consternation breaking over her.

  “No, honestly, I don’t.” He looked her levelly in the eye. “The work’s not going anywhere. Even if you miss out on one deal, there will always be another. If I want to be productive, I need to be a balanced person. To do that, it’s imperative to me to take time out to focus on myself. That means taking time to work out, to go for a run or to focus on my personal interests and passions for a bit. In fact, that’s how I wound up in Corbin’s Bend. It’s important to me to be free to be who I am.”

  Violet’s eyes snapped up quickly as their conversation was interrupted by a faint smacking sound carried across the lawn. Was that what she thought it was? She looked across the lawn, shading her eyes against the sun, to see a couple standing near a park bench a little ways away. A woman was getting her bottom spanked soundly as the man she was with rained smacks down just below her sit spot on her upper thighs. The woman struggled fiercely not only to keep her dress down, but was also doing her best to evade the spanking. The woman was kicking her feet earnestly causing
her sundress to work its way up her thighs.

  She darted her tongue out to lick her suddenly dry lips. Her heart thundered under her breast bone. She knew she should probably look away, but she couldn’t bring herself to avert her eyes. She was mesmerized by the scene in front of her as heat flooded her body against her will. She could feel Charles watching her watch the chastisement unfold before her.

  It was over practically as soon as it started. The stern looking man led the sheepish looking woman away to where Violet could only guess they would finish the spanking in private. The couple looked nowhere near done.

  Trying to gain her composure, she took a deep cleansing breath and tried to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

  Charles gave her a deep and meaningful look. “I’m curious, Violet. You know what kind of community this is. You don’t even bat an eye at the references or things that go on here. In fact, judging by your reaction to what we just saw,, I would say that you are intrigued.”

  Violet could feel the flush of heat color her face and she tried to find anywhere to look but into Charles scrutinizing gaze. “Everleigh has mentioned that you have been her biggest support in both entering a domestic discipline relationship with Rob and moving here. I’m just wondering if this isn’t as new to you as I thought.”

  She cleared her throat nervously. “It’s not,” she practically whispered, bending down to pick a large blade of grass to have something to do with her hands.

  “Violet,” Charles asked, tipping her face up to look him in the eye. “Have you ever been spanked?”

  “I have,” she admitted, her ears burning while she fervently wished the earth could swallow her whole. “It was a long time ago.” The words tumbled from her mouth. “I had a boyfriend once who liked to spank me.”

  He took a step toward her, his presence filled her senses. “And what about you, Violet, do you like to be spanked?” he asked, his voice a rich low tone.

  “Yes,” she squeaked, her eyes darting as she tried to find anywhere to look but him.

  Inching toward her, he gently turned her face towards his. He laid a soft kiss on her lips, speaking in low tones, “I think that the key to your pent up stress is a nice long spanking. Do you need a spanking, Violet?”

  Her body screamed with the truth of what he just said. Yes! It cried out. This is what you’ve been missing! “Yes, please,” she said in a breathless whisper.

  His large comforting hand encircled hers. “Come with me, I want to show you something.”

  He led her over to the clubhouse to the room he had mentioned the day before, the one that needed a special key to enter.

  He led her into the dimly lit room. The first thing she noticed was that the soundproof padding she was expecting to see on the walls was completely concealed behind tasteful paneling. The room was warm and inviting, yet there was a distinct air of being strictly serviceable too. Along one side of the room sat several chairs that looked like might be for observers as there were about four in a row. There was also a straight back chair with no arms toward the center of the room and an arm chair toward the wall. A couch sat against a far wall.

  However, what caught her attention was an apparatus in the right hand corner of the room. It was a bench of sorts. The end facing toward the room was just slightly lower than waist high. There was a padded bench that laid flat and then angled down toward the floor. There were cuffs around the legs of the front part of the bench and at the end of the bench along a bar.

  Charles made his way toward a closet on the end of the room that the bench was on. The sight that beheld her as he opened the closet door made her gasp. There hanging on the wall behind the door was an array of every implement that she could imagine awaiting a naughty bottom to be applied to. There were floggers, belts, straps, paddles, and canes. They were in every shape, size, and type of spanking implement that there was. Violet shuddered in anticipation as she fingered a long supple strap made of leather. There was something about leather that made her knees go weak, but it was the jingle of the belt as it was unbuckled, the whir of air as it slid through its loops, and the crack of the leather against bare flesh that always got her. There was something deliciously alpha about a man who wielded a belt.

  There had been some dark nights since her breakup with John where she couldn’t escape the thoughts that invaded her mind, thoughts of being spanked, and thoughts of being made to submit in a way that she wasn’t allowed to during the day. There were also the memories of being taken across the bed and strapped soundly until she was a wanton mess. The videos she watched when no one was looking gave her an outlet that she wouldn’t allow herself otherwise. And here were every single implement that she had ever thought about, daydreamed about, fantasized about, right at her fingertips. She had been insane to think she could come here without being affected.

  She felt Charles approach her from behind and shivered as she felt his arms inch around her waist. “What do you think? Do you see anything you want to try?”

  Violet grappled for words as she leaned back into those strong muscular arms. It was impossible to think clearly when her body consisted of nothing more than nerve endings and desire. Her entire body was on hyper alert. She didn’t think she had a conscious thought in her head.

  “You use these?” she blurted out awkwardly. “I mean the community uses these?”

  “Yes.” Humor tinged his words as he explained. “This is the discipline room. When a community member breaks one of the rules, they are often brought in here to pay penance. Of course, many naughty wives and other submissives are brought in here as well, when they need a spanking. Most spankings are done at home, but this is here just in case the need or want arises.”

  Her curiosity about the bench could no longer be contained. “What is this for? How is it used?” she asked, gesturing to the apparatus beside them.

  “Why don’t I show you?” he said, the provocative look in his eye practically melted her panties off. She swallowed hard as he led her over to the bench. “When a naughty girl needs to be taught an especially important lesson, her discipline takes place on the spanking bench.” He walked her up to the bench and showed her how to put her feet on either side of each leg. He gently led her forward until she was bending over the bench at her waist, her torso draping along the angled bench toward the floor, her arms over her head. “Now if you were getting your naughty little bottom smacked over this bench, you would grasp this bar above your head.” He led her hands around it. “I would fasten your wrists right here.” His hands caressed her wrists and then ran along her back, over her upturned bottom, and down her legs where the ankle cuffs were secured to the posts. “This is where I would secure your legs. This way, you could take your punishment without risk of putting your hands back and hurting them or kick your legs out.”

  “What would you use?” she asked breathlessly.

  “In most cases it would be the strap or tawse, the paddle, or if you were especially naughty, the cane.”

  Her breathing quickened as she imagined her bottom getting stripe after stripe laid into it after some particularly bad offense. She couldn’t help but wiggle her bottom at the thought. She wanted to be spanked so bad she could taste it.

  “Of course you would not have these clothes on. You would be fully nude, exposed. Naughty girls don’t get to keep their clothes on while being spanked. Violet, do you want to be spanked?” he asked as he rubbed circles on her behind.

  She let out a groan. “Yes, please,” she whispered.

  “Good,” he said. “Because I want to spank you too. As much as I would love to see your sweet little ass turned a nice rosy red over this bench, I think the first time should be much more intimate. I'm going to take you over my lap on the couch.” He lifted her from the bench and led her over to the couch. He sat down and positioned her so that she stood to the right of his knee and looked deep into her eyes. “Violet, you have been a naughty girl. Denying your needs for so long is not healthy. You need
a long, hard spanking, and I plan to give you exactly what you need.”

  Violet groaned as the anticipation built in her. If he didn’t take her over his knee soon, she would surely faint!

  “Now pull your panties down to your knees and lay yourself over my lap.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said as she hooked her fingers into her waistband and pulled first her jeans and then her panties down to her knees. Her pussy clenched in anticipation as she placed herself carefully over his lap.

  “Good girl,” he said, running his warm hand over her bottom and the tops of her thighs. “This has been a long time coming hasn’t it?” he asked rhetorically as he laid the first smack onto her upturned bottom.

  She gasped and moaned each time his palm struck her flesh. Oh my God, it had been too long. She had forgotten how good it felt to let herself go completely over a man’s knee. With each hot smack burned into her bottom, she felt more and more at home in her body, first on the right, then left and then in the center.

  The spanking started getting crisper, harder and the heat started to build. Her legs kicked out as an even harder smack landed on her left cheek. He was spanking her hard now and she could no longer control her legs from kicking. “I know you need this. I’m going to keep going until you surrender yourself completely over to the feelings. Let yourself go over that edge, it’s okay,” he said soothingly. “I will catch you on the other side.”

  He was spanking so hard, she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. The spanking was her entire universe. It was all she could think, feel, hear, or see.

  Suddenly she felt the dam break inside of her and she was soaring free. Nothing else mattered anymore except his hand and her bottom. All of her senses came to life as the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. For the first time in her life, she felt complete. She realized at that moment that he had stopped spanking and had lifted her up into his lap. He was wiping tears she didn’t know that she had shed from where they had fallen on her cheeks.