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  “How did you get my address?” she asked and then kicked herself inwardly for asking such a ridiculous question.

  “Everleigh gave it to me after I told her you weren’t answering my calls,” he responded, leaning against the doorframe.

  She shook her head and stepped aside. “Come in,” she said with a gesture. Her stomach fluttered as she shut the door behind him, and she felt a little bit sick not knowing what to expect. She went and sat on the couch not knowing what else to do.

  He followed, sitting down next to her. “Vi,” he said, emotion filling his face. His voice choked as he asked, “What happened?”

  Seeing him so emotional was all it took to cause all of her defenses to crumble. She burst into tears and her breath hitched as she sobbed. He reached out, putting his hand over hers. “Please just tell me, was it was something I did?” Charles asked, his tone desperate.

  That stopped her tears as she looked up confused. “Didn’t Everleigh tell you?” she asked.

  “No, she told me that she felt that would be best to come from you,” he answered. She pulled a tissue free from the coffee table to dry her eyes. Another thing she should have known. Her best friend would do anything to be sure she talked to Charles and patch things up. She had been pleading with her to do it all week.

  She bent, putting her face in her hands as she searched to try to put last week’s blunders into words. “No, Charles, it wasn’t you,” she said, knowing it came out muffled, but not willing to remove her face from its hiding place.

  He pried her hands away from her face, forcing her to look straight into his level gaze. “Then tell me why.”

  The words tumbled from her lips as she explained all of the events leading up to her departure, leaving out the part about her dream. When she finished, she took in a deep breath letting it out with a sigh as relief from the burden she had been carrying finally let go.

  “That bastard,” he ground out through clenched teeth. She observed the lethal thoughts playing out on his face. Finally seeming to get a hold of himself, he turned toward her, “why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “Oh God, I was mortified. I still am,” she confessed with a groan. “I have replayed this week over and over again trying to figure out what I could have done differently.” She balled up her fists. “I should have come to you instead of just reacting.” She wasn’t sure who she was angrier with, Stan or herself. “I’m so sorry!” she wailed as she broke into fresh sobs.

  Charles gathered her into his arms cradling her face between his palms. “Look, should you have come to me so that we could have figured out what to do together? Yes. I forgive you for that and for being confused and not knowing how to talk to me about it. But the rest is not your fault and I refuse to let you take the blame for the stunt that bastard pulled on you. I swear to you that by the time I’m through with him, he won’t have enough merit to work anywhere in the state of Colorado.”

  He wiped a stray tear as it trailed down her cheek. “Violet, please come back home with me. I didn’t realize how lonely my life was before you became a part of it. Please tell me you were as happy as I was before all of this?”

  Smiling tentatively, she confessed, “I had never been happier,” right before his lips crashed down on hers.

  “Thank God.” He smiled against her lips. Next thing she knew she was laying pinned beneath him. He had woven his fingers between hers, holding them hostage above her head. A thrill went through her body. An hour ago she thought she would never feel his body against hers again and now here they were pressed intimately together. She sighed as contentment coursed through her. When he released her hands, she took the opportunity to run them up under his shirt exploring the plains and ridges of his abs and chest. His skin felt smooth with only a small trail of hair going from his belly button southward. The tip of her finger followed that trail lightly.

  He stilled for a moment, then shifted his hips so they were just out of her reach. “Not yet, little one, we have some business to attend to first.” His face grew serious.

  She sucked in a breath at the way he said the word business. He sat, moving her to sit on the cushion next to him. “Violet,” he began, “when you ran off, how do you think it made me feel?”

  “Upset,” she said, looking down at her hands.

  “Honey, I was more than upset. I was frantic. All I knew was that something bad had happened to you and I couldn’t do a thing about it. I was helpless.”

  “I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “He was threatening me and I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “That’s when you come to me,” he said, tipping her face to look him in the eye. “There is not anything that I will not help you figure out. It makes me sad that you didn’t feel that you could trust me enough to come to me with your problems.”

  “That’s just it, Charles, it wasn’t your problem. It wasn’t a matter of trust at all. I couldn’t take the thought that because of me, all of those innocent people might be exposed. I couldn’t bear the idea of dragging you through the mud with me.”

  “Was that your decision to make for me? We are a partnership and partners work as a team. In the type of relationship we have agreed to, it’s my job to protect you. Violet, you didn’t trust me to do my job,” he said, his expression grim.

  “I just can’t get anything right,” she said dejected. “Why would you even want to be in a relationship with me?”

  “Violet Jane Walker, don’t you dare talk about yourself in that manner. I won’t have it.” Her stomach dropped at his stern tone. “Now I realize learning to rely on each other will take time, but it’s time we have.” His tone softened at that. “However,” he continued, his voice firm with authority. “I plan to start this new chapter of our relationship with a strong reminder that you are to come to me when you are in trouble. You are not to keep anything from me even if you feel that you are protecting me. You’ll have to trust that I can handle anything you bring to the table and that I love you exactly as you are. Am I clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” she said, filling with emotion.

  “All right, I want you to remove your pajama pants and panties and set them on the chair over there.”

  She stood to do as he asked, her palms sweaty as she took first her pajama pants down and then her panties. She felt exposed as the cool air hit her bottom, caressing her in her most intimate places.

  He walked toward her kitchen grabbing a straight backed chair. He brought it back into the living room setting it in the middle of the room. Despite her actions earlier in the week, she trusted this man implicitly. She felt guilty for doing anything to jeopardize their relationship. Walking over to stand by the chair, Violet wrung her hands trying to ease her nerves as he fished through a duffle bag he had brought with him. A moment later he pulled out a thick oak paddle that looked to be about seven inches long. Butterflies had taken off at the sight of the paddle, but her stomach really quaked as she caught sight of a sturdy looking rattan cane sticking out among the contents of the bag, eliciting the memory of Charles’ promise that she would get the cane if she was ever especially naughty. She couldn’t imagine doing anything worse than what she had done this week. His fingers lingered over it for a moment leaving her certain he would pull it out, but he moved right past it, zipping the bag.

  He took the paddle with him to the chair, setting it within reach as he took a seat. He motioned her over to his side taking her hand to position her just to the right of him. “I’m afraid to say this is going to be a very hard and very long punishment,” he said sternly. “But this is a lesson I’m hoping that I won’t have to teach more than once. Do you understand?” She swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get started.”

  She gasped as gravity tilted and he took her over his knee. He pinned her right hand at the small of her back leaving the other free to grasp the floor. Her mind and body swirled trying to keep up with the surreal events that had unfolded over the last month and especially over the last week.
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  He placed a hand on her bottom smoothing it over first one cheek and then the other in a circular pattern. “This spanking is not just a lesson about trust in our relationship. It’s also a reminder to you that you are perfect exactly as you are, spanking desires and all.” His hand rubbed down one thigh and up the other. “I hope you will never make a decision based on shame over who you are ever again. You do not have to hide any part of you.”

  He started raining volleys of sharp smacks onto her tender cheeks. As the tempo increased, it caused a slow burn to spread over her bottom. A stray smack landed hard on her thigh causing her to jerk. He spanked her so hard, she thought surely he had started with the paddle already, but as he picked up the paddle and began with it, she realized with a pang that that was merely the warm up.

  The paddle cracked across her bottom taking her breath away, then came down again rapidly three more times. He paused to rub her bottom again squeezing each cheek painfully. “You will not ever squelch your light for a creep like that ever again,” he lectured. “Do you understand me, young lady?”

  She gave a slight nod of her head.

  He renewed his effort with the paddle on her poor tender bottom, and it was all she could do to hold on to his leg. She could feel herself trying to buck off even as she held on for dear life. The paddle caused fireworks of agony as it landed blow after agonizing blow working its way up and down her cheeks before moving to her thighs. She lost her breath completely at one point as she bucked and kicked trying any way she could to escape the fiery blows.

  The blows stopped as suddenly as they started. She heard the paddle clank against the floor, and thought her spanking might be over. She realized her mistake when he shifted her forward so that her legs opened as wide as they could in this position. She knew then that her pussy had to be completely and utterly bare to him. Her moment of reprieve ended on a sharp note as a bare-handed smack landed like a lightning bolt on her exposed pussy. Electricity jolted through her as she tried to reconcile the feelings of pain with the dam that was beginning to break inside of her. Now in addition to spanking her cheeks and thighs, every sixth slap landed squarely on her pussy.

  She knew rationally that it had to be softer than the others but in no way did that lesson the impact. Charles had given her some love pats in those intimate places for fun but never had she expected for him to spank her there as punishment. It didn’t feel wrong the way she thought it should though. It felt right that he owned her in this way. She felt like she was allowed breath for the first time in her entire life. It was a relief to have no choice but to accept his spanking, his command, and his authority. It gave her space to finally grasp what he had been saying. For the first time since the tiny peek she had first gotten a glimpse of with her ex, parts of herself flowered open with stark clarity.

  Charles’ voice came out in a deep resonance as he continued to volley sharp slaps on her bared pussy. “Violet, I want you to start taking care of yourself emotionally. From this moment on, you’re going to make yourself the most important priority in your life. You are not going to ever let anyone take advantage of you again. I will paddle your little butt three times a day if that’s what it takes to remind you.” He renewed his efforts by spanking first her left thigh and then her right harder than he had yet. She was sure he had left a nice red handprint on each. “I want it clear that while I expect you to submit to me, I also expect to hear your strong and unedited opinions.” Five excruciating blows landed on her swollen lips.

  He spread her legs a little further so that he could begin to concentrate in earnest on that beautiful dusky rose blossom that sat pertly between her cheeks with sharp firm slaps. Violet was bucking in earnest now. He was sure that it stung smartly, but he was also sure that he had her full attention which was his purpose in such an intimate punishment. He slapped ten times in a row in firm succession. She gasped and squirmed scissoring her legs while she seemed to fight herself to keep them open. “Ah-ah, little Violet, you are not allowed to close yourself off from me.” He gave her a little slap on each of her inner thighs. She quickly spread her legs wide again. “I’m giving you ten hard spanks with the paddle and then you are going to spend some time in the corner reflecting on what we talked about and then we’ll finish with the last part of your punishment.

  “Yes, sir,” came her breathless response. As he felt her steel herself in preparation, he steeled himself as well. He knew he was going to have to make these harder than he wanted to. He had to make a lasting impression in order for her to truly surrender herself to the lesson he was trying to impart. He made sure to grip her tightly, holding her legs pinned beneath his. He landed each smack at three-quarters of his strength. He knew it burned bad. She struggled anew after each stroke attempting to kick and twist her way out of his grasp, but he held firm. By the end of the ten spanks, she was sobbing, tears dripping from her cheeks.

  He gently gathered her up in his arms and cradled her on his lap. She moved gingerly as she curled into his arms. He stroked her hair out of her tear-streaked face and kissed away her tears, his heart melting. “Baby, I love you too much to see the light inside you dim like it has over the last week. I’m sorry that I have to be so hard on you, but I will see that passion light your face again like it did when you were working on those art projects. You have so much to share and you have an obligation to yourself to do just that.”

  He noticed a few more tears drip down her face as he spoke before she buried her face in his neck. He held her for a few more minutes like that before he escorted her to the corner to think.

  He positioned her so that her nose was buried deep within the crevice. “I want your nose in that corner until I say it is okay to come out,” he admonished. “I want you to think about what makes you truly happy in life. When I come and get you, I want you to be ready to give me a list.” He gave her glowing bottom a pat and went to the other side of the room to wait.

  Every sensation in her body heightened as the tips of her nipples poked through her tank top into the cold hard wall. Every particle of her body tingled, especially her well-spanked bottom. As she stood there, nose pressed into the corner, she realized that she felt happier in this moment than in the entire last year aside from her brief time in Corbin’s Bend. She couldn’t imagine ever living the way she had before meeting Charles. She was wide awake and she was never going back to sleep again. She jumped as warm hands enclosed on her shoulders. She was so deep in thought she hadn’t even heard his approach. “It’s time,” he murmured into her ear, sending a warm flush throughout her body. It was then that she knew without a doubt that she had to ask him for the cane. It was the only way she would truly forgive herself.

  “Um, Charles?” She chewed her lip gathering the courage to ask him. He cocked an eyebrow up at her. “Do you remember when we were in the discipline room how you said that if I ever did anything especially serious that you would use the cane?”

  Emotion flitted across his face. “I do.”

  “I think now might be that time,” she said, trembling nervously.

  “Violet, honey, do you realize what you’re asking for? If we do this, it’s going to be much worse than the paddling I was planning on giving you.”

  She cast her eyes to the floor nodding. “It’s just... I don’t,” she faltered. Taking a deep breath she began again. “I think I need this to be able to fully let go and forgive myself.”

  “Sweetheart, if this is what you need, I will give it to you, but I want you to know it’s not going to be easy for either of us. Are you certain this is what you want?”

  “This is what I need,” she said, looking him directly in the eye.

  Charles gave one sharp nod. “Okay then.” He unzipped the bag pulling out the cane.

  She should be scared witless, but instead could only feel peace as she walked over to take her final punishment, bending over to grasp the seat of the chair as Charles instructed. She stood like that, ass high in the air waiting to be caned for the fi
rst time, and all she could think about was how in love she was with the man standing behind her. Charles swished the cane twice through the air and then ran the cane lightly over her upturned bottom. It prickled against her raw flesh, causing her to gasp.

  “I am going to deliver five strokes to your bottom, Violet. Keep your hands on the seat in front of you. I do not want to accidentally injure your hand if you reach back. After each stroke, you are going to list one of the things that you thought about in the corner. Each of these things will be written into our rules as a top priority in your life. If at any time they fall by the wayside, you will receive a similar caning. Do you understand and agree?”

  “Yes, sir, I do,” she agreed, seeing where he was going with this.

  “Then we will begin,” he said. She heard a swish and felt the stroke land with a several moment pause before her flesh burned with searing pain. She cried out as the shock of it hit her. “Violet,” he warned, “if you do not give the first item on your list that one will not count.”

  She scrambled to think of the first thing. She did not want any extras of that! “Art, sir. Art makes me happy.”

  “Very good.”

  Thwwwaaaap! The next stroke landed cruelly underneath the first. She lost her breath. It was the worst pain of her life. “Spanking,” she ground out between clenched teeth, sucking in a breath between them. She mentally marked caning off of her happy list.

  “Are you ready for the next stroke?”

  She groaned, “Yes, sir.”

  Thwwwaaaap! The third hissed through the air as it landed. They seemed to be getting worse. The pain from the last not ebbing but growing as time passed. She waved her bottom frantically in the air trying to cool it off. She remembered just in time that she better give her answer. “Our relationship,” she whispered, unable to get enough breath through the pain to answer loudly.