Griff's Christmas Angel

Griff’s Christmas Angel By Carolyn Faulkner ©2010 Blushing Books Publications and Carolyn Faulkner

Copyright © 2010 by Blushing Books® and Carolyn Faulkner All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published by Blushing Books®, a subsidiary of ABCD Graphics and Design 977 Seminole Trail #233 Charlottesville, VA 22901 The trademark Blushing Books® is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. Faulkner, Carolyn Griff’s Christmas Angel eBook ISBN: 978-1-60968-425-9 Cover Design: ABCD Graphics

Blushing Publications thanks you whole-heartedly for your purchase with us! There are plenty more stories such as the one you’ve purchased from Blushing Books! Visit our online store to view our mighty selection! http://www.blushingbooks.com This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

Chapter One “Step out of the car, please, ma’am.” Her head jerked up from where she’d been leaning over the passenger’s seat, looking for her purse, and she could see in the rear view mirror that his cruiser parked behind her. At least he hadn’t turned on the lights or siren. She wouldn’t’ve put it past him, even though they were in his own damned driveway. He was already sauntering towards her and she could tell from the set of his jaw that he wasn’t happy. She’d just sneaked out to her car - in the pink and white bunny slippers and light pink cotton jammies she’d been surprised to find he’d scarfed from Missy’s for her- to grab her pocketbook, and, of course, he would show up right then. It was just her luck. Bay sighed, carefully enough that she knew he couldn’t hear it, of course, and got out of the car, wishing she had the guts to stay in the protective cocoon it offered, if only for the benefit of her still tender bottom. But who was she kidding? Even if she locked all the doors – and she’d have to find her keys first before she could do that, and no one who knew her would hold out a lot of hope that she’d be able to find them any time soon – she knew he’d find a way to pry her out. Griff Margolis was just plain dangerous. She never could think when he was around, and she had a feeling he liked it that way. It afforded him more opportunities to paddle her bottom, not that he really needed to look for them much. There were always more than enough things he could think of that she’d done that he didn’t like so that she knew he would never have to look very far to justify a trip over his lap. Or over the back of the sofa. Or, one time, long ago, across the passenger’s seat of his truck, with her bare bottom sticking out of the truck for all and sundry to see. Luckily, that time, it was off season and there was no one else around for miles. And here was her case in point. Leaning back against the car door, she looked up at him – way up. Bay swore he got taller every time he took that familiar stance in front of her; his hands on his hips and those sexy lips frowning down at her. It didn’t help that her butt automatically wanted to cringe away from him, although there was nowhere to go, especially since he’d placed himself imposingly close to her. Griff took another step, leaning against her, putting his big hands on the car behind her. Bay could feel parts of his uniform pressing into her, and she knew one of them was definitely not his gun. He nibbled her neck, making her shiver, and just barely nipped the end of her ear. “Now I know I told you to stay in the house this morning, didn’t I, Bay? And I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me, not that you didn’t already know?” That husky whisper and the way his coffee-sweet breath tickled the baby hair at the back of her neck did nothing to quell her shivers. She knew what was coming – damn her luck - and her bottom wasn’t looking forward to it, but it wasn’t the only part of her that aroused at the mere thought of him. As if he was reading her mind, a big, fingerless leather gloved hand reached between them and slid smoothly between the elastic waistband of her jammies and her butterfly filled tummy, claiming what he considered to be his own before she could register any semblance of a

protest, and discovering her secret. Their shared moans belied their disparate causes - Bay’s was tinged with pink embarrassment, much like her now rosy cheeks. Griff’s was one of pure, unadulterated lust, long and low and ending in a possessive growl from deep his throat. Suddenly, he levered himself away from her, tugging her along behind him to his cruiser. “Where are we –?” Bay started to ask, only to be rudely interrupted when he grabbed her slim hips and physically turned her around to bend her face first over the hood of his cruiser. The inherent threat of him standing so close behind her wasn’t lost on Griff, despite the fact that she knew he would never really hurt her. And his house in the thick, primeval forest on the backside of the island meant that the probability that anyone would ever hear or see them very slim to none. Bay wasn’t sure if she should find that thought comforting, or not. Then he used his big booted feet to force her to spread her legs embarrassingly wide apart while still pressing himself against her backside, emphasizing her vulnerability to him in a way that made her mind blank but her crotch flood with anticipation. He laid himself along the length of her, easily covering her entirely; his mouth at her ear. “Bay Evelyn Matthews, I’m going to teach you – one way or the other – that when I tell you to do something, I expect you to obey me. So you’re going to get a spanking now, but you’re also going to get another one later for coming out here with no jacket or boots on. You know better than that.” She melted in her pajamas at his tone. How the hell had he gotten so good at that? His tone, his mannerisms, everything about him screamed dominance, and it was no act. It was what had gotten him to the Sheriff’s position on this little island, and now all of that unyielding authority was concentrated on her. Griff leaned back enough to begin unbuckling his heavy black leather belt. He knew the instant she recognized what he was doing because it was only then that she began to struggle. He had to suppress a smile. He’d thought she’d been a little too complacent up to this point. Despite the fact that he’d had it forever, his belt was long and thick and stiff as hell, not unlike certain portions of his anatomy. Bay was hell bent on escaping what she knew was coming, not that Griff was going to allow that. For a moment, he allowed himself to enjoy the sight of her struggles as her nicely rounded bottom danced against the ever more prominent bulge in his crotch, but then he clamped down on his own desires in the face of what he knew he needed to do. One big hand spread itself firmly but gently on the small of her back where it had become exposed by her twists and turns and gyrations. It never failed that, wherever he touched her, she tingled and warmed to his hand. “Enough, Bay. I don’t want you hurting yourself trying to stop this. You’ve earned yourself a spanking by your own actions, and I think my belt will make just the right impression.” Bay swallowed hard. Keeping the fingertips of one hand still on her back, he took a step back and to the side. “I shouldn’t have to say this, but don’t move. If I have to go running after you, I’ll take you inside and wear your bottom out.” On second thought, that was probably what he should have done in the first place, considering the temperature, so this was going to have to be quick. But he knew that the belt, as substantial as it was, wouldn’t let her off easy, even if he could only deliver a few strokes. He lifted her up a bit, enough that her feet couldn’t touch the ground, not allowing her even that small defense, then brought her pajama bottoms down to her ankles in one sweeping motion.

The sight of her, bared from the waist in the cool winter air, clinging to the still warm hood of his cruiser, legs dangling, blushing bottom presenting an enticing invitation to him to do with it as he would, made him want to abandon his pursuit immediately and take possession of her in an even more elemental fashion, but he knew he couldn’t. She needed his strength in many ways, and this was just one of them. The first crack of his belt against her cringing flesh sounded like a gunshot in the stillness of the deep woods. A red squirrel chattered a loud rebuke from the safety of an evergreen as he drew it back and strapped her again. “Ahuuughhhh!” He had to give it to her – she hadn’t moved a muscle. “You don’t have to stifle your moans, Bay. I purposely built this house in the middle of the ten acres I own, so no one will hear you being punished.” Griff leaned forward to breathe in her ear, “In another stroke or two, you’re not going to be able to suppress them, anyway.” Bay almost wailed at that pronouncement, and then did as the third stroke laid a stripe of fire across the fullest crest of her cheeks. “That’s it,” he praised. “Let it out.” And she did. Uncontrollably. Violently. Within less than ten strokes he’d reduced her to a sobbing, moaning, begging and pleading mass. He doubled the count quickly, not giving her any amount of time to collect herself between the stark layers of pain. Then he laid the belt next to her head and finished her off with ten full strength swats of the broad flat of his hand. Bay wasn’t sure which was worse – the belt or his hand. They were both completely unbearable, but there was something almost worse about his hand on her bottom – it was more possessive, more intimate, and, despite the pain – or maybe even because of it – had parts of her she’d rather not consider at this moment literally aching for more of him. But he disappointed her when he stopped, not bothering to pull up her jammies and hoisted her over his left shoulder in a most unladylike position. “What are you doing?!” No response. He just continued to walk towards the house, not dignifying any of her protests with a response. “PUT ME DOWN!” Yelling at him while in her current position probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. It wasn’t as if she was uncomfortable; his shoulders were very broad and he was walking carefully, so as to jar her as little as possible. But her surly command made him stop in his tracks and deliver ten more swats in complete silence. It wasn’t by accident that he’d left his right hand free for just such a purpose. “Do you need more?” he growled, managing to control her even when she’d tried – unsuccessfully, of course – to wiggle and jerk herself out of the range of that blasted palm of his. Her bottom throbbing fit to fall off, Bay sighed and collapsed in surrender – for now answering meekly, “No, Sir.” Her reward was five more vicious swats, delivered while he ascended the stairs and headed into the cabin. He didn’t let her down until they were in his big bedroom at the back of the house, where he turned and ratcheted up the head, then deposited her gently on her feet in front of the bed, from whence she’d come. Griff felt her shiver, wanting to think it was an echo of his own lust, but then he remembered where they were and what she was – or rather wasn’t – wearing. It was January 1st in Maine, and that called for a lot more clothing than she’d decided to put on.

Apparently the blistering he’d given her yesterday hadn’t sunk in much. He didn’t care why she’d come outside dressed like it was the middle of summer. The point was that she’d been careless with her own health. What if she’d accidentally locked the door behind her? She would have been stuck outside in below freezing temperatures, in a pair of ridiculously thin pajamas, no hat, no gloves, and no boots - bunny slippers not withstanding. That thought alone made him want to lay into her bottom again. Swallowing hard at his look, Bay tried to back away from him but didn’t get very far. The backs of her knees hit the edge of his huge bed and she ended up half falling, half sitting on the edge, unable to contain a yelp when her belted bottom came in contact with even the softness of the downy duvet. “Stay put.” He surprised her by going to rummage in his bureau after issuing the short command. She had to resist barking back at him, figuring it wouldn’t help her cause any. It had been a while since he’d seen the heated hunting socks Kit had given him for Christmas a couple of years ago, but he knew they were somewhere at the bottom of the drawer. He returned to her with them and a hand towel, kneeling in front of her and lifting her small, wet bunny foot onto his bent leg and removing the soaked slippers to very carefully dry every inch of each frosted, pink tipped foot, then slip his socks on to make them both toasty warm. Griff had heard her sigh of delight at their heat. They weren’t the most fashionable of accessories, but they got the job done. He’d never cared that much about that kind of thing, anyway, especially when it came to Bay. He didn’t give a damn what she wore – as long as he could get her out of it easily. He snorted to himself. Anything complicated in her wardrobe was going to become an instant casualty to his lust, he was afraid. Despite the hot foot he was giving her, and the fact that he’d turned the heat up way past his usual chilly setting, he could see that she was still cold. Within seconds he had her p.j. bottoms up and her settled under the covers, spreading the fluffy down comforter over her and tucking it in around the both of them after he joined her, pulling her tight against him as they lay on their sides. He always ran hot – in more ways than one around her – and he knew he was going to be roasting in just a few minutes. But she needed that warmth right now, and he was determined to give it to her. He was surprised when she didn’t object when he took her into the arms in that warm cocoon of covers. Instead, she nestled her head into the curve of his shoulder where it fit so perfectly, relaxing completely in a way he hadn’t felt her do before. She let him take care of her, wrapping himself around her and letting his body heat do the rest. He even managed to refrain from molesting her – at first - although one errant hand did manage to wander down to cup a flaming, striped cheek, squeezing just enough to make her squeak in protest, which he smothered with his mouth. Griff chided himself silently that he should leave her alone and let her get warm, and maybe even fall asleep. That wasn’t going to happen. His need for her had been too long denied. He knew she hadn’t gotten nearly the amount of sleep she needed last night – due entirely to the fact that, like teenager with his first woman, he simply couldn’t seem to manage to keep his hands to himself. He’d wanted her – needed her – and had held himself in check for so long that, with Bay lying next to him in bed, she’d never be safe from his undying lust. He wasn’t thinking things through too carefully, which was very unlike him. She was here in his bed, and he didn’t want to question his luck, for fear she’d disappear. He was going to lay claim to her, physically, emotionally, psychologically – any way he could in hopes of binding her to him as completely as he’d always felt bound to her.

Consoling himself with the fact that she was no longer shivering, Griff tugged her pajama bottoms down, but only enough to allow his eager hand access to that which it sought – the soft, wet center of her. He dragged the flat of his middle finger through that slick slit, his mind and body nearly exploding at the discovery of just how excited she was already. Knowing he wasn’t going to last much longer – to his complete embarrassment – he reached down and removed her bottoms entirely, lifting her outside leg over his hip and sliding into her with no preamble beyond a low, guttural groan. Bay’s eyes closed at his aggressive possession, trying to relax and remind herself and her body that she was made to fit him, and at the same time enjoying the almost painful accommodation. She stifled a chuckle at how much of a slut she became around him the moment he so much as looked at her. “What?” he asked, his voice hoarse with the effort of holding himself back for her. Their eyes met in the mid-morning light. “I was just thinking how much of a ho’ I become whenever you’re around.” Bay took a breath and said exactly what was on her mind, hoping he didn’t take offense. “You could do pretty much anything to me and I’d practically come in my pants.” His eyes widened as his pupils darkened with desire. “That’s a dangerous thing to say to me, little girl.” She wanted to snort in derision, but he wasn’t letting her form a coherent thought, pumping slowly, inexorably in and out of her, using his idle – if damp – fingers to tweak a nipple each. “I’m not a little girl.” Somehow, it came out sounding petulant and childish, which was not at all how she’d intended. In between long, hot kisses, he corrected her firmly as he again took complete possession of her with his body. “From where I stand, you’re little.” She sighed at his double entendre. “And you’re most definitely a girl.” As if something in him snapped, his arms came around her, palms spreading just above her sensitized bottom, keeping her hips in place as he drove into her uncontrollably. All Bay could do was hold on for dear life, wrapping her arms as far around him as she could as she drown in the sensations he was creating within her. They held each other long afterwards, as if they couldn’t bear to be parted. It had been so long for them – too long to be willing to let go that quickly. “You realize I’m never going to let you leave me again,” he whispered raggedly against her ear. “I should never have let you leave in the first place. I should have kept you home with me, barefoot and bare bottomed,” he growled. They were still connected, which was saying something at his age, and he couldn’t keep his hips from arching into her, as if emphasizing his point.

Chapter Two "Barefoot and bare bottomed." Bay shivered, but not from cold this time. She knew what he meant. Griff didn’t easily relinquish that which he considered to be his, and after last night and today, she realized that he would definitely consider that she was his – even more so than he had in the past. Lying in Griff's arms, Bay let her mind wander. Good God, had it really been fifteen years? They had grown up together. They were the same age; their birthdays separated by only a few months, although his was first and he always lorded it over her as much as he could that he was older than she was. And he was, in more ways than one. Griff was one of those people who was born an adult. He was the eldest of four, three boys and the youngest, who was the doted upon baby girl of the family. It was Licia who always sarcastically commented that he marched out of the womb with a good credit rating and his checkbook balanced to the penny. The comment was a mixture of a jibe at him and pure envy, since she had never seemed to be able to come up with either one of those accomplishments, no matter what age she was. He and Bay were in school together on the Island, although she pursued college honors classes, and he was much more of a vocational-technical person. He could do most anything with his hands – mechanically and otherwise – and had an early interest in law enforcement. His grades were okay but not great, and that was alright with him. He knew what he wanted to do from the time he was about eight, and it had never wavered. Griff had joined the force when he was eighteen, with a little bit of pull from his father, who had also grown up on the Island, like more generations back than they really wanted to count. His leisure pursuits fell right in line with his profession – he liked black powder hunting, sharp and quick draw shooting, and was a black belt in Karate before he graduated from high school. And now he was the Sheriff of their sleepy little burg. Bay, on the other hand, was the only child of doting parents. In temperament and outlook, she was more like Licia than Griff by a long shot. She breezed through school, earning As and Bs with little to no effort, enjoying a quiet popularity that was more to do with her sense of humor and willingness to help other students than social butterflying. She was a homebody who was extremely close to her parents. Although she always had a small cadre of good friends, she never really got into any trouble, even as an only slightly rebellious teenager, for which her parents were eternally grateful. Griff and Bay saw each other on the fringes of their respective social groups, but didn’t start dating until they were in their very early twenties, and he was a rookie cop. She had stopped going out much; her mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and her father simply couldn’t deal with the decline of his beloved wife, so the burden of taking care of her Mother fell on Bay’s slim shoulders, and it showed on her face. Her mom and dad had always slept together – there had never been any question in their thirty year marriage. But Vivian required nursing care that would have kept her husband up at night, so they had moved her into their small spare bedroom. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the situation, but she wasn’t going to be getting any better, despite the radiation

that left her with patches of uncomfortably burned skin and the chemo that had left her already delicate body ravaged to the point of decimation. Luckily, the insurance agency where she worked was wonderful about allowing Bay to take time off to take care of her Mom. They were able to afford someone to come in during the days, barely, but she liked to be with Vivian during treatments and doctors’ visits. Evenings, though, she was on her own. Her Dad would help as much as he could, which essentially meant lending as much strength as he had, but he always left as soon as possible, always in tears. He apologized profusely to Bay pretty much every day for not helping her more, and Bay always let him off the hook. She knew how much they loved each other, and couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to see the love of your life wasting away before your eyes. After getting her mother settled in bed, which entailed a sponge bath, changing the bedding, getting her rail thin body into light pajamas and adjusting her position to avoid bedsores, she was finally able to relax a little – until the next emergency. By the time she was able to sink into a recliner in the family’s study, Bay was exhausted, physically and emotionally. When the phone rang on the lamp table beside her, she was very tempted to ignore it and nap through her favorite TV shows, but, feeling guilty at that idea, she answered it instead. “Water Company. Which drip did you want?” A rude snort reached Bay’s ear. “You need some new lines, girl.” “Thanks.” Missy had been head cheerleader, Prom Queen, and valedictorian of their class. Why she hung around with the likes of the socially retarded such as herself, Bay would never know. But they’d been together forever, and even the fact that Missy had gone away to college at Harvard and Bay had, of course, stayed home to take care of her mother had not managed to separate them. Missy came home to Miller’s Cove every chance she got, and they always got together when she did. She was home now on summer vacation, working at a law firm as an internship and also to earn more money for school. As popular as she was, her parents were no better off, financially, than Bay’s. “So how’s the interning going?” “Eh. I’m making reasonable money, especially for the back of beyond, but one of the partners likes to chase interns around the desk.” “You’re kidding me!” “Yeah, and not the cute partner, either, of course – or I’d let him catch me!” Bay couldn’t imagine that Missy would put up with that, regardless of who might be chasing her. “That’s sexual harassment, you know.” Her friend sighed. “Yeah, but they’re the only firm in town, and they’re right down the street from me. I don’t feel like trying to hitch into Ellsworth or Bangor every day.” Missy had sold her car long ago to help pay for college. Bay had a car, but it was practically older than she was and was mostly used as a taxi for her mother to get to all of her doctor’s appointments. “Besides, he’s an old guy and I can out run him. I’ll just hide his ginseng . . . “ Bay laughed, then sighed and yawned at the same time. “Hard day?” Missy knew better than to ask that question. Bay’s eyes immediately filled with tears. “She can’t keep anything down, you know? And she’s in so much pain . . . I don’t know what to do. You’ve heard this all before.” Missy growled at her. “I know what will help, but you won’t let me get it.”

“Can you imagine what my father would say if I bought pot into his house?” “Your father would be happy that your mother was getting some relief. It’ll help with the nausea, the pain, and it’ll make her hungry. Where’s the bad?” They had this argument almost every time they talked. “The bad is that it’s illegal, even medically, Miss.” Bay couldn’t remember the last time her mother was actually interested in food. And the pain meds the doctor was giving her made her woozy and sleepy. No one knew how long Vivian had left, and instead of spending her remaining time with her loved ones, she was spending it asleep. “Well,” Missy said, unwilling to concede defeat, “if you ever decide you want to . . . “ “I know, I know.” “Well, I really did call with a reason besides trying to bully you into becoming a drug dealer . . . I’m having a birthday party for myself and you’re going to come.” It was so like Missy not to ask, but rather to tell her that she was coming. “Your birthday’s a Wednesday this year. I’ll have to work the next day.” Giving a long suffering sigh, Missy replied, “My birthday is when I say it is, and it’s next Saturday. Everyone’s coming . . . even Griff.” Missy was one of the few people in existence who knew of Bay’s schoolgirl crush on Griff. Of course, she never let an opportunity to tease her about it go by, either. “You could throw yourself at him and see what happens . . . “ Bay snorted loudly. “I’d end up prostrate on the floor and he’d just step over me. I’m not knockout gorgeous – he’s not going to pay attention to me.” “Don’t sell yourself – or Griff - so short! He’s not the type of guy who bases everything on looks, and besides, you’re not Quasimodo, you know.” Her looks – or the distinct lack thereof – was the last thing Bay wanted to discuss. “So Saturday? When and what should I wear?” “Oh, you can come early and help. How does five sound? Everyone else’ll arrive around six or so.” Of course she’d be drafted, Bay thought. But doing things like that with Missy was fun rather than a chore. She really didn’t want to – all she wanted to do lately was sleep. But she knew she should. “All right. Do you want me to bring anything?” “Do you have to ask? Could you whip up a batch of those pretzels you made last year for the Christmas party? Everyone raved about them.” Thank heavens for her bread maker, or she would probably have turned Missy’s request down. But the machine did most of the work, and all she did really was roll and bake them, then dip them in butter when they came out and present them on a nice tray with various toppings, from cheese to cinnamon sugar. “What’s in it for me?” she asked, only half kidding. “I’m getting a chocolate cheesecake from the Back Home . . . “ Bay groaned. Missy certainly knew her weak spot. She wasn’t much for desserts, but that cheesecake was almost better than sex. Bay frowned. Not that she’d really know. Bay was a virgin. She didn’t admit it much, and Missy was pretty much the only person in her life who knew of her “condition”, which Missy of course took every opportunity to needle Bay about. Missy was of the opinion that she needed to be cured of that condition as soon as possible. She’d been trying to help Bay do that forever, but Bay was stubborn. She’d had friends who’d jumped into bed with the first man – heck, boy, at that point – that showed them any

modicum of interest, and they’d regretted it later – either because they ended up with an unwanted pregnancy, or because the guy was just looking to notch his belt. Never let it be said that she didn’t learn from others’ mistakes. So she remained stubbornly innocent, at least in body. Her mind, however, was an entirely different matter. In truth, she read every bodice-buster romance, every how-to sex book she could get her greedy hands on, from an almost uncomfortably early age. Our Bodies, Our Selves, the Kama Sutra, the Joy of Sex – she read all of them. But she had never been tempted – much, anyway – by any of the guys she infrequently dated during junior high and high school. Many of them were all too eager to deflower her, despite the fact that she’d tried to be as selective as possible. It seemed that when they actually went on a date, no matter how smart and well spoken she tried to make sure they were, they turned into octopi at the slightest opportunity. But she’d learned – again, very early – that sex was only part of what she wanted, and she knew no groping teenager was going to be able to assume the role she most wanted from a mate: someone who was affectionate and loving but who also didn’t brook any nonsense from his woman. Having been raised during the heyday of the Women’s’ Liberation movement, she felt extremely conflicted about what she wanted from a man. She was being told that what she should have wanted was complete equality with her mate. She should want to be a CEO of some up and coming business – preferably her own – and an experienced lover in the bedroom, and the perfect mother to, of course, gifted children. But that was exactly what she didn’t want. Her job at the insurance agency was fine with her – she was well liked, she enjoyed the job, and there was definite room for advancement. She might not be a CEO, but she would be able to make a decent life for herself as well as take care of her rapidly failing parents. She wasn’t really sure how she felt about kids, but figured there was enough time to worry about that later. And that was only if she was able to find a man who conformed to her rather unusual specifications, and, frankly, she wasn’t holding out a lot of hope. She wanted someone who would love her – warts and all – but more – much more – than that, her forever lover would need to be someone who could take her in hand, in every aspect of what that meant. Despite the fact that it flew in the face of everything she was being told she should want, Bay wanted – and knew she needed – a man who would hold her to account for what she did or didn’t do. Her father had never done that; her parents had doted on her and raised her in an atmosphere of benign neglect. They rarely set any rules or consequences for what she did. Luckily, she ended up being a homebody, but even when she broke curfew or brought home the occasional bad grade, they rarely disciplined her, preferring instead to talk things out. What ended up happening was that she found she could manipulate them, even when they had decided that she needed some sort of punishment, into having them give her whatever punishment she wanted, rather than one they imposed on her. The result was that she had essentially floated through life up to that point, never being held responsible for much of anything, including her own behavior. That was what she found was most missing in her life: accountability. And that was what she wanted her husband to provide for her, and she found herself quite unwilling to settle for anything less. Bay knew that this severely narrowed her field of choices in regards to men. They were much more likely to be somewhat cowed by a woman, and definitely much less likely to be a husband who ruled the roost, lovingly but strictly.

Except for Griff Margolis. In her dreams, he was the perfect husband – attentive, affectionate and strict, never hesitating to lay down the law on her bottom. Of course, since this was her daydream, she always agreed that she deserved the spanking. She knew that that would probably not always be the case, but that was a part of trusting the man you loved to discipline you – you had to believe, whether or not you necessarily agreed with him at that point, that he held the reins and could spank you whenever he deemed necessary – and it was that deepest part of the relationship that turned her on the most. So, long about six or so, she arrived on Missy’s – or rather, Missy’s parents’ doorstep. They’d conveniently gone on their annual month long vacation, tagalong trailer in tow, so Missy had the place to herself. Bay schlepped her small present for Missy, her bread maker and all of the accoutrement necessary to make homemade pretzels into the kitchen – where Griff Margolis stood, making himself a cup of coffee as if he owned the place. That was Griff, though. Even in his early twenties – heck, even when he was supposed to have been an awkward adolescent – he was almost eerily composed and self confident. Without a word, Bay turned to Missy, who had been drafted to carry stuff, and gave her the eye. Missy did her best to look innocent, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Sighing, Bay decided she’d grab the bull by the horns and just dive in. She had no idea how he felt about her, and her only goal this evening was to keep from doing something that was going to make him hate her. So she boldly elbowed Griff in the ribs, “ahemming” loudly until he got the hint and moved out of the way. He barely took his eyes off her the rest of the evening, which was nearly her undoing. At least he moved enough out of the way that she didn’t have to resort to elbowing him again, but it was close. Instead, his intense scrutiny had her terribly flustered, and she nearly ruined the batch by having the machine knead it into oblivion. But when she pulled the first batch out of the oven, they were darned near perfect, and he descended like a starving vulture, even before she was able to do the last step and dip them in butter, which kind of tenderized them, so they were less chewy than, say, a big New York pretzel. Having had experience with impatient men – such as her father – trying to nab whatever baked goods right out of the oven, it was force of habit for her to smack that big paw sharply, saying, “Get your grubby meat hooks offa the pretzels!” Now, if she’d been thinking at all at the time, she certainly would never have said anything like that to Griff. Far from it. If her goal had been simply not to do any harm to that little there was to their relationship – which was barely beyond saying hello and good bye – then she could probably now rest easy that there wasn’t going to be much of a relationship now. To her surprise, he withdrew his hand, albeit slowly, and chuckled. “Have you been taking lessons from my Mom and sister?” At that point, she didn’t know Licia very much, but felt an immediate kinship with her. “No, but if they swat you for trying to grab at something that’s not yours, then more power to them!” and without another word, she turned away to tend to her baked goods.

Chapter Three Griff leaned against the counter, glad she was allowing him closer to her than she had been when she’d first started to bake. He’d never really known how Bay had felt about him; she was a pretty reserved person, except when she was around her friends, and she seemed to go out of her way to avoid him, for some reason. Aside from trying to sneak a treat, he couldn’t remember anything he’d done that might have offended her. She just seemed very shy and quiet around him, at least until tonight. He liked a woman with spunk; one who wasn’t cowed by him and wasn’t afraid to stand up to him. Griff figured nailing him on the back of the hand counted pretty well in that corner. He’d always liked the way she looked; she was just about chest height to him, small and a little rounder than she probably ought to be, but that was just to his taste. She was funny and smart and fiercely loyal to her friends, and he knew to her family. The entire village knew that the burden of caring for herm other had fallen on those small shoulders, and she had risen to the occasion when a lot of children would have passed off their parents’ care to a nurse or, worse, warehoused them in a nursing home. But not Bay. He’d already liked her before he’d become aware of what she was doing for her Mother, and that only raised his estimation of her in his eyes. But he had no real connection to her, no easy in to getting to know her. They’d traveled in different circles in school, and he’d lost track of her for a year or so, until he got this invitation to Missy’s party. She’d very casually mentioned that Bay was on the guest list, and he’d accepted right then and there. And he wasn’t regretting it. He’d done his share of dating, but most women nowadays turned him off by trying to be almost mannish in their demands for equality. He had no problems at all with equal pay for equal work, with women having careers and all of that. But he still liked to treat a woman like a woman. His mother – and his sister – had raised him right. He wanted a woman who was confident enough in herself that the fact that he opened her doors or pulled her chair out at a table or whatever archaic courtesy it was that he still clung to wouldn’t yield him a half hour lecture about the fact that she could open her own damned doors, thank you very nicely. He would never understand why they simply couldn’t agree to be equal but different. A lot of the women he’d dated seemed to be almost angry at men, as if they wanted to beat them at their own game or something. Being treated equally wasn’t enough for them – they wanted to be more male than the men around them. That didn’t work for Griff, not in any way, shape or form. He didn’t like dominant women, probably because he was a dominant man himself. But he didn’t want a doormat, either. He’d pretty much despaired of finding a woman who was willing to be submissive to him but not be a doormat. Bay definitely had it in the non-doormat category. But he really didn’t know enough about her to be able to tell just how gung-ho she was about being liberated. He had put some feelers out about town regarding her, and got nothing with any negativity back at all. Anyone who knew her seemed to like her, especially for the way she was treating her mother, and if anyone had a complaint, it seemed to be that she was almost too devoted, and rarely took time for herself.

Intrigued, Griff decided that he was going to ask her out tonight, and find out one way or the other. The pretzels were fantastic, as were all of the finger foods Missy had displayed in the small dining room, comprising an impromptu buffet. The credenza across from the dining room table had quickly filled with everyone BYOBing, and the array of alcohol and mixers boggled the mind. As the evening wore on, and Synchronicity played softly in the background from the family’s tape deck, Missy and everyone else seemed to pair up and chug down everything they could find. Except Griff and Bay. Griff wandered his way through the house, watching couples he knew had never met before tonight trot up the stairs to make use of the empty bedrooms. Bay was nowhere to be seen, and he wondered if she’d snuck upstairs herself. He found that thought oddly alarming. But, instead, she was sitting alone on the enclosed sun porch swing, a big, frosty mug of A & W root beer in her hand. “Hey, where’d you get that?” he asked. She grinned mischievously up at him. “It’s in the back of the fridge, behind the remains of what I shudder to think was the Easter ham. That’s where Missy’s Dad hides it.” “I’ll be right back.” Griff found it, right where she’d said it would be, and even found a frosted mug in the freezer. But he also found something else there, which he grabbed along with a couple of other utensils. When next he appeared on the porch, it was carrying a tray full of pilfered stuff. Bay raised her eyebrows as he set the tray on the small table across from them, then sat down next to her, squeezing her a bit into the corner of the small swing. She made to get up, but he pulled her back. “Sit.” Bay looked at him and raised her eyebrows indignantly. Griff sighed, knowing he’d sounded too autocratic. “Please stay.” By way of bribe, he added, “I’ve got ice cream for root beer floats, and I stole us a couple of slices of caaaaaaaaake . . .” He waved a plate of cake around in front of her in a manner that she realized was meant to be enticing, but it just made her giggle. Instead of taking the plate she was offered, she reached for her mug and held it up expectantly. They thoroughly enjoyed root beer floats and a piece of cake, which they shared. “Not much of a drinker, huh?” Griff asked. “Not any kind of a drinker, thank you. Blech. I’ve tried a reasonable amount of it, and I guess, if I had to, I could drink a pina colada or something like that, but why?” “Me, neither. I don’t like being out of control.” Bay raised her mug. “Here, here.” Searching for something relevant to say, he asked her the first thing that popped into his head. “How’s your Mom doing?” He couldn’t have known it, but that was the first time this evening she’d thought about her Mother, and as much as it made her feel somewhat like a traitor, it had been nice not to have to think about the situation for a while. But as soon as the question was out of his mouth, she did exactly the thing she most wanted to avoid. She began to bawl. Bay knew, if there was anything

she was going to do tonight that was pretty much guaranteed to drive him away from her, it was to breakdown and weep all over him. Like most men with a crying female, Griff was entirely out of his element, and he would have given most of what he owned to get her to stop. Just as she seemed to have herself under control, apologizing wetly over and over, he stumbled into just the right thing to do – he put a muscular arm around her shoulders and hugged her, using a huge foot to set the swing into a gentle rocking motion. From there it was the most natural thing in the world to wrap the other arm around her and settle her onto his chest. He didn’t do anything more – beyond the occasional stroking of his hand up and down her back – and said even less. What could he say? All of the usual platitudes fell flat, as far as he was concerned, so he said nothing, surprisingly contented with just rocking and hugging her until she was able to compose herself. “Oh, my G-God, I’m s-sorry.” She tried to lean away from him, still crying and sniffing, but also somehow desperate to get away from him, for some reason. He wouldn’t let her go, handing her a napkin from the tray he’d brought so she could blow her nose but keeping her tightly against him. She honked and blew and blew and honked, still trying unsuccessfully to detach herself from him. Instead, he hugged her harder. “I’m very sorry you’re having to go through that.” “It’s horrid.” She’d never really talked to much of anyone about it. Missy preferred to speak about happy things, which was great at keeping her spirits up, but didn’t give her a chance to vent. It went without saying that her father wouldn’t talk about it at all. He was barely dealing with it, much less conversing about it. But Griff just let her talk. He listened patiently to all of her trials and tribulations, all of her thoughts and emotions, rarely interjecting anything, and just letting her get it all out. It was better than therapy. Afterwards, during a silence that became very awkward for Bay, she mumbled against his damp shirt, “Oh, jeez, I’m sorry for monopolizing the conversation and blubbering all over you.” Now she couldn’t seem to make herself leave him. His arms felt warm and protective around her, and she wished they could stay this way forever. He tapped her nose, saying in a voice that had her melting inside in a way she hoped he couldn’t see, “Shhh. Stop that right now, and stay right where you are. It seems to me that that was just what you needed, and I’d be glad to let you cry on me any time you want to, and I like you right where you are, so don’t be thinking I’m going to let you move any time soon.” As if to prove his point, he tightened his arms around her. They spent the rest of the evening on the porch, and she spent the majority of the rest of it in his arms, to which she was not about to object. When they parted, he got her number and gave her his, but he couldn’t even leave it at that - he wanted to lock her into a date before she changed her mind, so they decided to get together that next Friday night. And that Friday night lead into many more Friday and Saturday nights. Then he came over to meet her parents – well, her father, anyway. He met her Mom, but she wasn’t really aware that he was there; she’d had too many pain meds that day. He was wonderful about her, though. Whenever he came over to the house, he always brought the both of them – Bay and her Mom – roses. He took to spending Friday nights at her house, so she could be there if her Mom needed help, since her Father was so reluctant to step in. They usually went out on Saturday night, and,

as soon as he found out it was costing her to go out with him, he took to paying for whoever it was they needed to come in and stay with Mrs. Matthews, despite Bay’s protests. In fact, that argument was the reason she earned her first spanking. They’d been together a few months, and she’d never even whispered to him about the fact that every time she left her Mom, she had to pay for someone to come in and watch her, even though her Father might be home at the time. As much as he loved her mother, and she never doubted for a second that he did, he simply couldn’t take care of her. He broke down every time he entered the room, even just to kiss her good night. He apologized to Bay multiple times every day for the burden she had to bear because of him, but Bay always forgave him. Griff didn’t hear anything about this because Bay didn’t want him assuming the responsibility for it, which she knew he’d do as soon as he found out. He was nothing if not a responsible person, and she knew he would consider that it was a causing her a hardship to go out with him. That situation kind of melded in with the other one looming in their relationship: they had yet to sleep together. Not that Bay didn’t know that that was something Griff definitely wanted. He’d let her know quite blatantly – and in several different ways – that he wanted to make love to her, pretty much from their first date. But he also made clear the fact that he was entirely willing to allow her to steer that part of their relationship, especially once he’d found out that she was a virgin. It was one of the most touching, tender things she’d ever experienced, when he’d finally coaxed from her the fact that she was entirely inexperienced sexually. They were at his place, and Bay was more on edge about it than he expected. She was wary and stiff in his arms and couldn’t seem to settle down. Finally, Griff pulled a little away from her, catching her eyes before hers skittered nervously away. “What’s going on, Angel? You’re more nervous than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.” She looked at her fingers as they compulsively folded the edger of her shirt. “Nothing.” It wasn’t until the silence stretched uncomfortably that she dared to look up at him, knowing she’d see just what she knew she’d see: he was looking down at her expectantly, with one eyebrow raised. He’d told her before – in a tone that had her wishing she’d worn a panty liner that “nothing” wasn’t an answer he wanted to hear. Bay snuggled against him, her back to his front. If she was really going to tell him this, then she didn’t want to be looking at him – or him to be looking at her – when she did it. In a voice rife with warning – about what, exactly, she wasn’t quite sure, he said, “Well?” Bay huffed. “Let me get settled and I’ll tell you. This isn’t something I can just blurt out.” Griff was taken aback and not a little nervous himself. Was she going to break up with him? He’d really thought they were getting along famously, and if that was what she was preparing to tell him he didn’t know how he was going to deal with it. He let her arrange them the way she wanted, with his arms around her from behind as she leaned lightly back against him, trying not to chafe against the time she was taking. He hated waiting for news, especially bad news. She was still trip wire tight; he could feel it in her muscles, and the way she held herself just slightly away from him. What in hell was she going to say that warranted all of this preparation?

She had at least three false starts until she finally whispered it so softly he barely caught it. “I’m a virgin.” “You’re a virgin?” he parroted back, the words not having sunk in yet. Her face was fire engine red by now and she was damned glad he couldn’t see it. “Yes.” The tension flowed out of him and he hugged her tight, not letting her keep that reserve distance from him. “Thank you for telling me. I had pretty much assumed that, but I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.” She, meanwhile, despite all of his praise, was wishing the couch would swallow the both of them whole and end her humiliation once and for all. “I’m sorry.” Bay tried to struggle out of his arms, entirely unsuccessfully. It occurred to him in that instance that he wanted to put her over his knee for saying that, but he hadn’t had the chance to feel her out about the disciplinary aspects of their budding relationship, and he didn’t want to drive her away. Besides, an intimate confession like that wanted hugging, not spanking. So he merely contracted his arms and ended her futile struggles, turning her in his arms so that they were lying on his oversized couch, face to face. His big hand came up to brush her reddish blonde hair out of her eyes as he kept his finger beneath her chin so that she couldn’t look away from him even if she wanted to – and he could see that she definitely wanted to. “That’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m glad you’re a virgin, and I respect you for making the decision not to give that precious gift away to just anyone.” Griff kissed her forehead almost reverently, then the tip of her nose and, finally, after making them both wait, her lips. “I want you to know that I always want you.” He flexed his hips a bit, letting her know the truth of his words where it poked insistently against her hip. “But I don’t want you to feel pressured because of it, and I’ll do my best not to do that to you. You control how fast or slow we go, Bay.” It was killing him to say it, but he knew it was the right thing to do. “Regardless, I’m going to stick around.” He caught her eyes again. “This would never be a one night stand for me, Bay. I want every bit of you I can get, and I’ll wait as long as I need to for you to feel that the time is right.” Bay had kept those words locked in her heart from the moment he’d said them, replaying them sometimes at night, in bed, especially after they’d spent the night snuggled on the couch, touching and caressing and kissing, until she thought she’d explode, and she knew he was frighteningly close to the end of his rope. But he’d been completely true to his word. He’d never pushed her further or faster than she wanted to go. There were several times when he’d simply had to call a halt, for his own sanity, and that usually meant that he left entirely, barely able to pull himself away from her, but fully aware that his control was slipping dangerously. It wasn’t until he gave her her birthday present, and they’d been together almost a year, that she finally allowed – to herself – that the time was right, but even more so, that he was right for her. In fact, he was more perfect that she could stand, almost. Dominant but loving, watchful and caring, Griff Margolis was everything she’d dreamt about in a man. And maybe a bit too much of what she’d dreamt about, especially when he finally realized that she was, essentially, having to pay to go out with him, and she earned her that first spanking on the same night as she gave herself to him fully. He had a boat that he was absolutely in love with – at least as much as he was in love with Bay. It was his baby, and she knew that it would always occupy a special place in his heart. And for her birthday, he’d rechristened it “Bay’s View”, and had planned to take them around

the island in the warm summer evening, visiting all those bays and inlets that the natives haunted in the summer that the touristas didn’t know about. He’d brought her favorite meal from her favorite restaurant – the braciola from Antonio’s in Bar Harbor, with their famous garlic knots, a beautiful antipasto and lemon tart for dessert. But when he went to pick her up at six or so, she was nearly in tears and was saying something about not being able to go out with him because she couldn’t afford it. Griff was floored. Did she think he was going to let her pay for anything while they were dating? Much less on her birthday? “No, no, it’s not that,” she sobbed. “Someone has to stay with Mom, and I can’t afford to pay for the nurse to come and sit with her.” She was too far gone crying to notice it, but a muscle began to twitch in Griff’s jaw. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been paying someone to come and stay with your Mom whenever we’ve gone out?” Griff thought he’d been pretty much on top of things for her as much as possible, but this was something big that had fallen through the cracks. He wasn’t used to missing things like this. He was a cop. He was paid to pay attention to details. He was on the phone in an instant, and located a friend who owed him big time and was more than willing to come over and stay as long as was needed. When he hung up the phone, he looked back at Bay, who had stopped crying and was looking nervously back at him. Smart girl. She had a good reason to be nervous. Griff crossed the room to settle down on the couch and pull her into his arms. His demeanor was steady and strong, with no angry tinges in the least. He whispered into Bay’s tiny ear, “Bing’s gonna come over to stay with her. He’s a paramedic. He’ll stay as long as we want.” Her breath still ragged, Bay nodded. Griff continued. “We’ll leave as soon as he gets here. So, one problem solved.” Bay tried to move away from him, but found she couldn’t. He wasn’t hurting her in any way, but neither was he allowing her any method of escape. “Now on to the second problem, which is one of grave concern. You should have told me that you had to do this. I would have taken care of it.” Bay stiffened. “It’s not your situation. Why should you have to pay?” He caught himself in the act of reaching up to flip her over his lap. He hadn’t spanked her before – not that he hadn’t threatened when the situation dictated, as a method of getting her acquainted with his preference in relationships – and he realized that right now, while she was still so upset about the situation, probably wasn’t the right time. She needed support right now, not discipline. Yet. So he held her even more tightly against him, easily quelling her attempts to escape, whispering, “I thought it would be our situation, something we would handle together.” Touched, Bay relaxed some against him, and he quickly consolidated his hold on her. But after thinking for a while, she said, almost accusingly, “But you don’t want us to work on it – you just want to pay for it.” She knew him too well already, and Griff wasn’t quite sure whether that was a good thing, at least not right now. He decided that coming clean was the best idea. “You’re right. But we should have discussed it the first time it happened, and then it wouldn’t have been such a stressful thing for you. I make more than enough money – “

“I don’t care! I don’t want you paying for things – like this – for me.” It was hard to argue against him spending money on her, since he insisted on paying every time they went out. But this was different to her. This was her problem, and no one else’s. She’d born it so long she couldn’t see her way to sharing it. Not that Griff was going to let her get away with that.

Chapter Four Griff's EMT friend arrived before they could go any further with their discussion, for which Bay was eternally grateful. She thanked Bing profusely, even as Griff was dragging her firmly out the door. He was alarmingly quiet in the car. Bay shifted nervously, wondering if she was doing the wrong thing. Going out with a man Griff’s size who was obviously upset probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. But she had to admit that, although she was nervous, she certainly didn’t fear for her own safety. She had absolutely no concerns that Griff would ever abuse her in any way. But that most definitely didn’t mean he wouldn’t spank her. When he’d slipped the occasional – startling – comment into their conversation along those lines, she’d always secretly felt a thrill in her tummy, and her bottom would throb as if he’d already taken that paddle like palm of his to it. She’d never really responded to any of his provocative conversational forays, preferring to defer that discussion as long as possible. She was absolutely terrified that he’d find out that that was her deepest desire, fearing that he would drop her like a bad habit if he discovered her secret, despite his teasing remarks. That’s exactly what she took them for, and she did her best to not read anything further into them. Now, trying to relax in his red Camaro, and not succeeding at it in the least, Bay wondered what was going to happen when they got to whatever their destination was. Griff had been endearingly insistent that he wanted to surprise her for her birthday, but she figured that he would just take her out to dinner and then maybe to a movie. When they ended up in Southwest Harbor, where she knew he kept his most prized possession – his boat – she realized she had no idea what was going to happen tonight. Griff parked the car and came around to her side to help her out. He was always very gentlemanly like that, and Bay liked it. He guided her onto the boat, and she couldn’t help but notice that he’d changed its name from Cajones to Bay’s View. She wanted to hug him for it, knowing how hard that change must have been for him, but he didn’t look particularly receptive to a snuggle right now, so she kept quiet. They were out on the water before she knew it. For someone who’d grown up on an island, Bay hadn’t spent very much time on a boat, so every time they went out, she was thrilled and excited to see sights from the ocean rather than the land side. Usually she could pick out landmarks and determine where they were, but this time they went to a part of the island she didn’t recognize. They were in a very remote, completely deserted cove. Griff dropped anchor, and suddenly Bay realized that she had become the center of his attention. He was with her at the back of the boat, where she’d been sitting, watching the water go by and scanning for porpoises and the occasional, albeit rare, whale. The look on his face when he sat down beside her made her flash on the Little Miss Muffet nursery rhyme. He wasn’t quite a spider sitting beside her, but he certainly did look like he had some sort of serious intent, and the butterflies she’d had in her stomach earlier had definitely mutated into bats.

Her hair had come lose from her ponytail, of course, and he reached up to wind a tendril around his thick index finger. Not one to mince words, he started right off with, “I wish you’d told me about all the money you were spending just to see me.” Bay swallowed hard, but met his eyes. “Why? It’s not your problem.” His eyebrow rose, but only slightly. “I thought we’d gotten closer than that. Am I wrong?” No, for Heaven’s sake he wasn’t wrong, she thought. She’d become closer to him than to any man she’d ever known. But all that came out was a meager, “No.” Griff cleared his throat and scooted closer to her. “Good. I want to know everything single about you, Bay Matthews. I want to share your problems and your triumphs. I don’t want you hiding things like this from me. Am I making myself perfectly clear?” Another hard swallow at his tone, while parts of her began to tingle. She desperately wanted to agree with him – afraid – and secretly thrilled at the idea - of what might happen if she didn’t. “Yes, but my Mother – “ “Might some day be my Mother, too,” he offered, not flinching in the least from the declaration. That stopped Bay dead. She nibbled on her lower lip, not at all sure what she should say. Griff tipped her chin so that she couldn’t look away from him. “I want to know everything about you. I want to help in any way I can. I don’t want you keeping secrets like that from me. Understood?” Bay squirmed, but he wouldn’t let her go until she agreed. “But Griff – “ The only thing she heard before she came face to face with the seat cushions was his exasperated sigh. Since she’d thought they were going out to dinner, she was wearing a soft pink cotton skirt and matching muted pastel plaid top. It was already warm enough this summer for her to forego the nylons, so when he flipped her skirt up over her head, there was almost no barrier between his hand and her bottom – lacy pink panties not withstanding. His long, deep wolf whistle made her blush and shake at the same time. But both of those impulses fell quickly away when he lowered her panties to her ankles and delivered that first awful smack, which she could hear reverberating through the cliffs that ringed the cove. What if someone had heard that swat? She worried at first, until a few short seconds later, when the only thing she could concern herself with was the safety of her own bottom. “I thought I was making myself very clear, Angel. Apparently you need to learn the lesson in a more physical way, and I’m only too happy to oblige.” He punctuated his words with ferocious swats that had her dancing on his lap, trying – completely unsuccessfully – to avoid that stinging hand. “I don’t want you keeping things secret from me. I want to know everything about you, and I want to help you in any way I can.” He paused for a moment, then repeated what he’d said in less vague terms. “I expect you to tell me everything, Bay. I don’t want to have to find something like this out on my own.” Despite the fact that it was everything she wanted, parts of Bay were unwilling to grant him the power he was requiring over her. “No! You’re not my father!” Saying that while she was in her current position probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but then she’d never claimed to be a genius about what she wanted. And Bay was beginning to realize the veracity of the saying about being careful what you wanted. Griff seemed to know exactly what to say, exactly what to do, to make the bats in her stomach twist themselves into one big lump. Could she really trust him? Could she trust a man

who spanked her? Was she letting down her sex, entering into a relationship where there would be absolutely no doubt as to who was the one in control, and it wasn’t going to be her? But she couldn’t dwell on any of those questions when he was so busy roasting her hide. No amount of twisting or turning or kicking her legs seemed to make any bit of difference to his terrible rhythm, nor did any of her begging or attempts at bargaining. He didn’t stop until he thought he’d gotten through to her. Once he did, he worried that he might have taken things too far. Her bottom was a flaming red, and she’d been reduced to a sobbing mass lying limply over his legs. He gathered her to him, careful not to scrape her sensitized bottom on his jeans, but he couldn’t keep his hands from caressing those flaming globes. Well past the point of embarrassment, Bay snuggled her wet face against the side of his neck, hugging him tightly. Griff felt a tremendous relief that she hadn’t run away from him and jumped over the side. The cold wet Atlantic probably would have gone a long way towards soothing her poor abused butt. Instead, he held and rocked her, drying her tears somewhat clumsily while she clung to him like a beautiful limpet. He couldn’t seem to keep his hands – or mouth – off her. Soon, it became his mouth that tried to dry her tears, succeeding only in tasting their saltiness on his tongue. He was delighted to find her lips soft under his, already opening for his insistent invasion. She melted against him more so than she ever had before, and Griff found himself thinking that he wished he’d spanked her sooner! She was lying across his lap, curved into him, with a strangle hold around his neck. She’d yet to look at him since he’d delivered a rather serious punishment - much more serious than he’d intended their first encounter with discipline to be. “Look at me, Angel.” She stiffened and buried her face even further into his neck, saying in an only somewhat subdued voice, “No.” He had to chuckle that she still had the audacity to say no to him, despite how her bottom must be feeling right about then. But at least he didn’t have to worry that spanking her was going to somehow cow her. He didn’t give her a chance to say no twice, flipping her over to add ten more very hard swats to her already tenderized nates, then moving her back into his arms, without allowing her the safe harbor of pretending she was invisible if she couldn’t see him, and without the safety of her skirt, either. Her panties had long since landed on the floor while she’d been kicking and thrashing and failing to avoid even one swat. When he had her full attention, not allowing her to avoid his eyes, he said, “I’m sorry I had to spank you, Bay. And I want you to make sure you realize that this isn’t going to be the last time. I expect you to follow whatever rules I set out for you. And if I find out you haven’t, you’ll face a lot worse than just a couple of swats to your bottom.” Just a couple of swats? she wanted to wail, but thought better of it. They ate some of the wonderful dinner he’d brought, but he refused to let her off his lap to do so, and fed her every mouthful himself. She didn’t eat very much; her bottom was demanding entirely too much of her attention for that, despite the fact that he’d gotten her all of the components of her very favorite meal, which earned him almost as many points in her estimation as did the spanking. “Not very hungry?” he asked solicitously when she shook her head after only a spoonful or two of the rich lemon dessert.

“My bottom’s throbbing entirely too much for me to concentrate on eating,” she announced with a daring glare at him. He was entirely unrepentant. “Good. Just remember, I’m going to be making sure that you’re taking care of yourself and following whatever rules I set down for you from now on. You can expect to be spending a reasonable amount of time over my lap.” She continued to glare at him until he kissed it off her face. Then it was her turn to pull away from him. Bay framed his face with her hands and kissed him deeply, saying afterwards, “I want to make love with you, Griff.” She added nervously, “Please.” He wasn’t about to question his luck, but he had to make sure she wasn’t feeling pressured by her position – having just been thoroughly spanked, and sitting half naked on his lap. She couldn’t have thought the bulge in his jeans was anything other than what it was, and she was perched right on top of it. He’d been wondering how he was going to be able to keep himself in check tonight and deliver her back home untouched, but he would have done so – somehow - if that was her choice. “You’re sure?” he asked huskily, using his big hands to settle her into even more blatant contact with the part of him that yearned for her the most. The only things that separated them now were his thin tighty whities and good Levi’s denim, but it was important that he knew she wanted to do this, without feeling pressure from him. Bay nodded, unable to speak with his hands lying possessively on her bare hips. She had never been this naked with any male who wasn’t her doctor, but she knew that, if she could trust anyone to take care of her the first time, it was Griff. He lifted them and brought them into the cabin, which was small but provided a large bed which took up most of the room. Griff deposited her on the bed as carefully as if she was a piece of delicate crystal, then divested himself of all of his clothes before joining her there after having poured one good sized glass of wine. “I’ll stop any time you want me to, Bay,” he promised, hoping to hell he’d be able to find a way to fulfill it if she asked him to stop in the middle of the act. “Have some wine. It’ll help you.” She took a swallow with a slight giggle. “What?” he asked, puzzled that she would find that funny. She was still grinning. “Nothing. It’s just that the hero in all of the cheesy romance novels I’ve read always offers the virginal heroine a glass of wine for her first time, essentially saying the same thing you just said to me.” “They’re right. It’ll help you relax.” He didn’t think he needed to say it, but said it anyway. “I’m not trying to get you drunk and take advantage of you.” He felt better when she nodded. “I know. If you’d wanted to do that, you could have done it long ago - you didn’t have to rename your beloved boat or get me my ultimate favorite meal . . . “ Griff smacked his forehead. “What an idiot I am! I knew I should have dragged you into bed on our first date!” Bay swatted his shoulder, hard, knowing it felt like a mosquito bite to him. He rolled them so that she was on her back, looking up at him, her eyes wide and somewhat frightened, which was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid with the wine. She was still wearing her barely there bra and light cotton shirt, but not for long. Once he’d dispense with the last of her civilized protections, and it was just the two of them, alone on the bed in the middle of the gently rocking water, he leaned over her and began to touch her with

a reverence that had her tearing up. Every touch was soft and teasing, almost tickling, and she could feel his warm breath as he followed his fingers with his mouth down the length of her body, carefully avoiding her most sensitive area because he could feel that, despite the wine and his concerned gentleness, she was still tense. Griff moved suddenly to lie beside her, propping his head on his palm. When her eyes finally met his, he moved his hand down to cup that part of her she’d kept most private for so long, holding it gently but firmly. “Relax, Bay.” “I am relaxed,” she protested, knowing she was as relaxed as she was going to get in this situation. “No, you’re not. I can see it in your eyes.” She turned her head, not willing to keep staring into his eyes while he touched her there, but he wouldn’t allow her even that small modesty. “You can let go. You’ve guarded yourself so well for so long, but you can stop doing that now. I’ll take care of you. You can relax and give this part of you to me. I’ll take as good care of it – and you – as you have. I’ll cherish this gift, Bay, like no other man you’ve met.” Tears flowed down her cheeks at his words, and he watched as she truly surrendered herself to him. It wasn’t a physical act, it was a psychological one. When he felt that she’d really let go of the last of her fears, the last of her virginal reticence, only then did he allow one long finger to delve between those private lips, his eyes closing on a guttural groan at the wealth of creaminess it was immediately bathed in. “Dear God,” he breathed, gathering her into a hug so tight she thought her ribs were going to crack. Bay couldn’t believe that Griff Margolis, at two fifty and six foot whatever, was lying here naked with her, shaking in her arms, but he was. And he kept his promise to take care of her. He put her first in everything about their loving, watching her eyes carefully for any sign of fear or discomfort, moving slowly, making sure she was ready for one step before he advanced to another. If he was reading the signs correctly, though, she was way ahead of where he expected her to be. It seemed like he couldn’t touch her in a wrong way; everything he did made her sigh or groan or curl her toes. Those taut nipples, who had never felt another man’s touch, seemed to beg for his attention, and he found he could deny her body nothing it craved, but kept his touches light and undemanding until she reached up and brought his mouth to one aching crest. He suckled long and hard at each tip, rolling whichever one wasn’t being laved by his warm wet tongue. Knowing she was already dripping wet for him made him nearly crazy for her, but he made himself slow down and was glad of it. When he reached between them to position himself against that slight barrier, clouds of doubt and apprehension crossed her face, and one small hand rose to rest on his taut lower stomach – not that she was trying to stop him, necessarily. Bay just wanted him to know that she was still there, still painfully new to this, and trusting him like she had trusted no other man, in more ways than one this evening. Holding himself away from her with one strong arm, he reached down to thread his rough fingers with her delicate ones, guiding her past where she thought he was going – his engorged shaft – to cup an even more delicate part of him, whispering, “We’re both vulnerable when we make love, Angel. I know you wouldn’t do anything to deliberately hurt me, and I want you to know the same thing about me.” Unable to speak, Bay nodded, keeping her hand on him very gingerly, not really sure what to do. He must’ve been reading what there was left of her mind. “Squeeze very gently. Just touch me. You can’t do anything wrong.”

“But I don’t want to hurt you!” She could see his smile in the rising moonlight that filled the cabin. “I feel the same way about you. I’ll tell you if you hurt me, and I expect the same courtesy from you.” He intended to indulge himself a bit more with her breasts, but she’d let go of him and caught his shoulders. “But how can you say you don’t want to hurt me when you just whaled the tar out of me not an hour ago?” she asked, trying to be indignant while her body desperately just wanted to surrender to him completely. Unfortunately, her complaint sent him in a direction that made her wish she’d never brought it up. “Spanking is one thing, and making love is another,” he stated, watching her carefully. “Unless, of course, being spanked is what got you so creamy in the first place.” That probing finger resumed its most intimate position, and he continued to speak. “Is that it, Bay? Did being taken over my lap and getting your little bottom blistered get you all ready for me?” She would sooner have cut off her tongue than answer him, but he knew the truth of it even though she wouldn’t meet his eyes, either; every inch of her skin had blushed a bright cherry red with the truth of it. It was all Griff could do to count his blessings, and that was when he knew he wanted to marry this woman, but before he could do that, his body was dictating that he complete the union he’d started with her. He repositioned himself between her legs, keeping her eyes locked with his so that he could react quickly if something unexpected happened. He’d already discovered that she was fairly well seated, but he hoped that doing it quickly would alleviate most of the pain, like ripping off a band aid. He’d been so careful and gentle with her that that first stroke, and the fiery pain that accompanied it, surprised her to the point that she yelped and began to struggle beneath him, wanting nothing more than to escape to the other side of the boat. But Griff wasn’t going to have that. He soothed her with his voice, as well as his body. “Shhh, Angel. I know it hurts, and I’m sorry. Give it a second. I’ll stay still and it’ll get better; I promise.” She didn’t want him to be, but he was right. The pain had begun fading almost as soon as it had started, and Bay regretted making such a big deal about it. Only when he could see that she had relaxed again and the wary look was gone from her eyes, did he begin to move within her, excruciatingly slowly at first, and then with a building rhythm. Bay was amazed to have been caught up in the vortex of his desire – and her own – so quickly, but he wouldn’t allow her to avoid it. He lifted her legs over his shoulders, making her that much more vulnerable to his thrusts, holding her hands to either side of his head with his own, requiring that she surrender herself to him, body and soul. Had he been in his right mind, Griff might not have been quite so aggressive with her. After all, it was her first time. But she hadn’t made a peep of protest; in fact, she more dominant he was with her, the better she seemed to like it. Her body opened to him and she surrendered completely, letting him bring her along with him to a pinnacle unlike any he’d had with any other woman. Sex wasn’t supposed to make you go blind, but, when he finally collapsed on top of her minutes later, he was sure he’d never see straight again. Bay would have been in full agreement with what he was thinking, had she known, but she was too entranced in her own climax to even begin to deal with his. Her body was humming

along with his. She’d cleaved to him, let him take her as she’d always dreamt of being taken. He’d made it everything a virgin could want, and then some. In consideration of her size and his bulk, he’d rolled to her right, still panting and puffing, despite the fact that he was in superb physical condition. He sounded like he’d just run a marathon. Bay lifted herself onto an elbow and kissed his cheek primly, whispering, “Thank you.” She would have leaned back, but, despite the fact that he seemed worn to a nub, his hand reached out and pulled her on top of him, spreading her legs around his waist, keeping her open to him, and their privates nuzzled together. For a muscular man, he was surprisingly comfortable to lie on. Bay thought better of the protests that came immediately to mind, and settled her cheek over his heart. A long, quiet while later, Griff rumbled, “I hope you know that I intend to be your last mate as well as your first.” Bay chuckled, but didn’t rise to the bait. Griff didn’t care whether or not she acknowledged it. As far as he was concerned, it was fact.

Chapter Five From that point on, Bay walked around in a haze of sexual satisfaction. She and Griff got together whenever they could, and spent the majority of their time either at his cabin or, when whether permitted, on the boat making love. He was true to his word, though. She did spent a lot of time over his lap. Not because she was defiant or deliberately looking for that kind of attention – quite the contrary. The spankings she received from him each only served to remind her that she did not want to earn another. At first, Bay spent an extraordinary amount of time with tears trailing down her face and onto the carpet, simply because she wasn’t in the habit any longer of having to make sure that she obeyed anyone or anything, nor was she in the habit of putting herself and her own welfare ahead of her mother’s. Griff wasn’t the forgiving kind. He made sure she made all of her doctor’s appointments, took all of her meds, taking care of herself first. He had her eating better, sleeping better, and – much to her disgust – actually exercising, which she swore up and down she was allergic to. As a cop, Griff had to make sure that he was in top physical condition; his life, as well as others, could depend on his physical prowess, or the lack thereof. So he began to take Bay to the gym with him and created a beginner’s workout, which she did while he tackled the free weights or ran on the treadmill. Bay no longer had to wonder how he ended up with all those muscles, once she saw him bench press an enormous amount of weight. All of these rules he implemented were also meant to help her with depression. Considering what she faced every time she was at home, it was no wonder she wasn’t as happy as she should be. But Griff was determined to help her in any way he could, and he knew that eating healthily – however boring – and exercising would both help her deal with the tragic situation that was unfolding at home. Vivian Matthews was fading fast, but not fast enough to get her past the excruciating pain, and Griff knew that that was the hardest thing for Bay to deal with – the fact that her mother was in constant, unconquerable pain. He’d seen it for himself and it had nearly reduced him to tears, and he wasn’t any relation to her. He did his best to keep her spirits up as much as he could, and got her out of the house as often as was possible. They spent the holidays together, some at her place and some at his. Miller’s Cove had an annual tradition – a huge blowout masquerade party every New Year’s Eve. It gave the population, who had by that time been holed up inside for several months by the winter weather, a chance to get together and dance and drink before hunkering down for the real winter weather to come. Bay didn’t usually go to the party; she was too busy taking care of her mother. She hadn’t been in years, since her parents had gone together the last time, which was almost a decade ago. But Griff was insisting, and Lord knows she didn’t want to incur any more spankings than she was already getting, so she gave in . . . mostly gracefully. He was going as a deputy sheriff in some fictional western town, decked out from head to toe in full costume – boots, hat, chaps, and an antique six gun on each hip, along with a shiny Deputy’s star. Bay went as a Gibson Girl; her hair piled up on her head with waterfall curls at her temples, wearing a vintage pale pink dress that had belonged to her grandmother, with mutton sleeves and a beautiful lacy sweetheart neckline that complimented the gorgeous pink tourmaline earrings Griff had given her for Christmas. She even went so far as to find a pair of

lacy boots and dye them to match the dress, and carried a creamy pink parasol that she found at a nearby flea market at a reasonable price. The only component of Edwardian dress that she eschewed was the corset, which she absolutely refused to wear. They arrived a bit late; Bay’s cheeks were flushed and her skin was dewy. Anyone who looked too closely at her would have realized exactly why it was that she was late, and they would have guessed wrong. It wasn’t because she and her attentive, dominant beau had been making love until mere minutes before they arrived. They would have been horrified to find out that, instead, she had been bent over the end of his huge king sized bed, getting a taste of the thin wooden dowel he’d brought home a couple of days ago from the local hardware store. He’d prepared it – sanded and stained and lacquered it for strength. Griff didn’t want it breaking, but more importantly, he didn’t want to embed splinters in that gorgeous bottom of hers. He’d wanted to test it out, and she’d given him just the reason to by throwing her shoe at him – one of her lacy, stack heeled boots – while they were getting dressed, because he was wondering aloud whether or not he should implement a scheduled spanking day for her. The boot didn’t come anywhere near him – it hit the bathroom door with a loud bang, and he only had to move one step so that he could see her glaring at him from the end of the bed. Once she saw his face, the glare was immediately replaced with a look of contrition that she couldn’t quite pull off. This was not the first time she’d thrown something at him that, if it had hit him, might have caused some damage. She’d been warned. He finished shaving without taking his eyes from her, then rinsed off his razor and, bare chested, wearing only his jeans and chaps, strode into his bedroom, detouring only long enough to grab that vicious dowel. Bay wasn’t an idiot, but the moment the thought of moving entered her mind, he said in an alarmingly soft voice, “I wouldn’t move if I were you.” Wondering why she was doing exactly as he said, knowing that that dowel was going to be biting into her bottom within the next couples of minutes, Bay bit her lip. She stayed exactly where she was because she’d learned that doing anything else made things at least three times as hard on her as they were going to be originally. So she stayed put, and got her bottom striped so that the lacy panties she was wearing under her costume reminded her with every movement that she had gotten exactly what she wanted: a man who was unafraid to take her in hand, in every possible sense of the word. Freshly punished, constantly aware of parts of her she’d much rather forget, the party was largely a blur to Bay. Griff had refused to satisfy her before they left, preferring to make her wait, not wanting to have her confuse the screaming climax he’d bring her to with a reward for bad behavior. He’d tucked her carefully into the truck, hearing her hissed breath when she had to sit on that welted bottom of hers. “Are you all right?” he asked solicitously once they were on their way. Blushing fiercely, Bay nodded. One of the most interesting secrets she’d learned about Griff was that, although he never hesitated to punish her if he thought she deserved it, it wasn’t something he enjoyed doing. He was always very careful not to cause her any permanent injury, but he also never flinched from delivering a punishment that he knew she would feel for days to come. “Think of this the next time you pick something up to throw at me. There is a line you are not to cross, Bay. And I’ll remind you of that whenever you need it.”

Bay snorted. “I thought I pretty much lived on that line.” He’d turned to look at her, then pulled the truck over to the side of the road. Bay was immediately concerned that she was going to get another punishment, although she wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to achieve that, considering how little room there was in the cab of his truck. Instead, he surprised her and pulled her against him, hugging her tight. He asked her a question he’d been dwelling on a bit himself lately. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me truthfully. Are you feeling abused, because I spank you so often? Do you think that all I do is look for reasons to punish you?” The amazed look on her face was answer enough for him. “No, of course not! If I ever get to feeling that way, I’ll tell you.” It was kind of a hard question to answer, considering the way the rigid stripes she was sitting on were throbbing in tempo with her heart. Bay reached up and hugged Griff tightly. “You are not abusive to me in any way. I don’t ever want you to think like that.” Griff gave her one of those hugs that was fit to break her ribs, then they got back on the road to the annual party. Everyone who was anyone, everyone who could walk, ski, or shuffle their way to the celebration did their level best to attend. In bygone days, it was a chance to socialize before being largely cut off from everyone else, especially for those in the deep woods of the Backside of the island. Nowadays, it was a reason to get together and drink and party, and a chance to see people who rarely left their houses due to infirmity or sheer laziness. Bay saw tons of people she only saw once a year, and Griff introduced her to many more she’d never known. His large family had been on the island for much longer than hers, and he was either related to or friends with most of its inhabitants. They worked their way through the crowd together, and Bay found herself hoping there wasn’t going to be a quiz at the end, because she wasn’t keeping track of much of anyone’s name. They’d bumped into his parents and his sister, who Bay had already met several times, as well as the rest of the several small island police forces. Everyone raised a glass of champagne – except Bay, who had Diet Pepsi – and counted down the seconds to the New Year, and just after the stroke of midnight, while some people were still hugging and celebrating, the band leader asked Bay to come up on stage with him. Surprised, and not necessarily pleasantly, since she preferred not to be the center of attention, she hung back until the crowd practically pushed her up there. She was surprised to see that Griff had already appeared there while she was trying to argue with the crowd about whether or not she was going to make a fool of herself and get up on that stage. He’d changed out of his deputy outfit and was looking particularly striking – and dominant – in a simple black tux. Griff held his hand out to her, and her protests melted. She didn’t care what was going to happen. She knew she’d be safe as long as she was with him. He pretty much lifted her onto the stage, unwilling to lose contact with her while she used the stairs. His gesture drew “awww”s from their audience, and Bay blushed prettily. She still had no idea what was going on, until he went down on bended knee in front of her and produced a small black box, which he opened to reveal a small, round diamond ring. “I love you, Bay Matthews. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?” She heard the entire audience’s indrawn breath as it echoed her own, and her hand went to her face. She was completely unprepared for this. She’d very carefully kept her own “I love

yous” squelched, since he hadn’t said anything like that to her, and she didn’t want to pressure him, or ruin the good thing they already had. So, for once in her life, she went completely on instinct and sat down on his bended knee, put her arms around his neck and, nodding vehemently, kissed him. The crowd went wild, and the band broke into a well rehearsed version of “Endless Love”. “I adore you, my Angel, “Griff whispered against her lips. Unable to form much of a coherent thought, Bay parroted back to him through a veil of tears, “I adore you, too!” Bay was beside herself with happiness. It seemed that everything in her life was coming together so wonderfully. She’d found the perfect man for her; he understood her, cared about her, and let her know it in myriad ways besides the one that was most important to her – discipline. She’d never expected to find a man like that, and yet there he’d been all her life, right in her backyard. The only part of her life that wasn’t better because of Griff was her mother, and there was nothing he could do about that. However, Bay was seriously considering taking her friend Missy up on the offer she’d made to get something illegal to help Vivian with the pain she was experiencing. She just couldn’t take it any longer. She didn’t know how much time her Mother had left, but Bay knew she wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for her. So the arrangements were made, and Bay knew from the moment she’d allowed within her own mind that she might just do this that it was something Griff could never find out about. She didn’t know exactly what he’d do, but he took his job at least as seriously as he took her discipline. Bay figured the spanking she’d earn would be unbelievably bad, but as soon as she was able to get it for her mother, she knew she’d done the right thing. Vivian Matthews had always been a vivacious, funny, intelligent woman, and Bay missed her terribly. For a while, when she first began using the assistance that Missy was kind enough to provide, she became like her old self again – talkative, smiling occasionally, and hungry. It had been a long time since Bay’s mom had actually asked for something to eat, and Bay considered that to be nothing short of a miracle. As careful as she tried to be, however, she knew it was inevitable that Griff would find out about it. In the end, it was her own mother that did her in. Griff had come over to spend some time with Bay, and he always tried to see Mrs. Matthews, depending on how she felt, of course. Vivian, who, although she had rallied some with the new pain assistance, was still delicate physically and intellectually, raved to Griff about the medication she was taking now. She couldn’t remember exactly what it was, but she knew it came in a cigarette-like form. Shocked, Griff kissed his future mother in law on the forehead and helped her get comfortable, saying that he had to go speak to Bay. And that was an understatement. He stalked into the kitchen, where she was talking to her father, and literally dragged her out to his truck. There he didn’t mince any words. “Your mother is smoking marijuana?” The very moment she’d been dreading had come to fruition. Somehow, she managed to be more serene than she’d anticipated. “None of the prescription meds the docs are giving her are touching her pain. She’s more alive now than she has been in months. She’s actually hungry, Griff!” He could hear the tears in her voice, but wasn’t able to unbend enough to really hear what she was saying. “Pot is illegal. Period. End of sentence. You could end up in jail. She could

end up in jail. Your parents could lose their house . . .” He ran a big paw through his thick, dark hair in exasperation. “I’m a cop, for crying out loud! What am I supposed to do about this?” Bay stiffened. She knew she should have seen that he might take that kind of a stance, but she had truly thought his love for her would soften his position – to say nothing of the fact that he should be able to see for himself the huge differences in her Mother. She found herself unwilling to defend her choice to him. If it had been him, she would have done anything to get him relief from the pain. Apparently, though, he would not have returned the favor. Without saying another word, Bay got out of the truck, wishing, hoping against hope, that he would come after her. But instead of hearing him calling out to her, or, better yet, grabbing a hold of her arm and spinning her around into his waiting embrace, all she heard was the engine roaring and the tires squealing as he peeled out of the driveway. Devastated, she shuffled back into the house, not quite sure where she stood with the love of her life. They were at an impasse. Griff couldn’t condone Vivian’s use of pot, even though it greatly enhanced what little time she had left. And Bay refused to deny her mother the one thing that was truly helping her battle the debilitating pain of her disease. Every day they spent apart made Griff angrier and Bay more depressed. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months more quickly than either of them realized. After a month with no contact from Griff, Bay sent her ring back to him, her first step in acknowledging the death of their relationship. He didn’t send it back.

Chapter Six Vivian Eddy Matthews died twelve weeks later, and Bay got through it without Griff’s strong shoulder. The funeral was small, but the visiting line extended out of Gordon’s Funeral Home and almost around the block. Mrs. Matthews had been a great friend to nearly everyone in town; she’d taken kids in after school for parents who needed to work, volunteered at the hospital and library, and was always known to have homemade pies and cookies for anyone who wanted to stop by and indulge themselves, and, of course, chat with her. Bay was touched by the outpouring of love for her Mother, but the person she most – and least – wanted to see didn’t even make an appearance. Licia did, though, and she tried to apologize for her brother, even though that wasn’t the time or the place. She just wanted the two of them back together, and was willing to do nearly anything to accomplish that feat, even further upsetting the bereaved at a funeral. Griff was lost without Bay, and everyone around him saw it. Licia had never seen him so tight lipped. He got no joy from anything any longer, even his beloved job. He refused to talk about it with anyone, but it was obvious that the engagement was off, although there was apparently no particular reason for it. Neither of the two was talking. With her Mother gone, and her relationship with Griff in ruins at her feet, Bay decided to leave the place she’d known all her life. Everything about it just reminded her of how happy she and Griff had been, and the immense sadness she’d felt had grown into a worrisome anger. She didn’t think she could forgive him now even if he begged her on his knees. She was able to get a transfer through her job to a place in West Virginia, despite the fact that that wasn’t necessarily where she’d prefer to end up, and she snapped it up before she had a chance to talk herself out of it. He didn’t make an appearance at her going away party, and, although Licia and Missy did their best to try to convince her to stay, she left without a backward glance, determined to put him out of her mind. Bay worked hard and did well at the company, and only came back to Miller’s Cove for an extended stay once in fifteen years or so, for her father’s funeral. Again, she never heard or saw anything from Griff, although she did find out through Missy and Licia that he’d become the Sheriff, and the two of them always kept her apprised of his love life – or the complete lack there of. She hoped they weren’t translating the same depressing information to him, although she guess she couldn’t fault Licia for doing so, and she did go on a few dates, especially when she first got down there. But no one was going to measure up to the person she’d thought Griff was, and it became apparent to her that she was going to have to learn to live with that crack in her heart, because it wasn’t going away any time soon. She’d rented out her family home for years, but it got to the point where it was more hassle than it was worth, so she’d ended up coming back to town a month or so before she found herself screaming into the wind while his belt laid tracks across the tender backs of her legs and crests of her butt cheeks. The house was vacant and unfurnished, so she couldn’t stay there. Instead, she moved in with Missy for long enough to get the house sold. Work could do without her for as long as she needed them to. She was the boss there now, and she trusted her people implicitly. Missy had

married – happily – and had inherited the house she grew up in. She had two kids who were adolescents now. Bay set up in the spare room downstairs, and did her best not to ruin the holiday festivities for the family, which Missy smacked her for. She’d come back to Missy’s for Christmas almost every year but just for a day or two, so that was a completely unfounded piece of guilt she was clinging to. But she did try to be as unobtrusive as possible, and spent a lot of time out of the house, so that the family could have time for themselves. At one point, she ended up at her old favorite restaurant, Antonio’s, eating a wonderfully decadent lasagna made, she knew, with the same old family recipe, using fresh ricotta cheese, tons of herbs and spices, and an unexpected layer of Italian sausage that brought the whole thing together. She was just biting into a garlic butter drenched garlic knot when she saw him at the door. And he wasn’t alone. Bay’s heart hit the soles of her feet just before her stomach did, and she thought she might lose what she’d already eaten of the luscious bread. But then she pulled herself together. He was no longer hers, hadn’t been so for quite some time, and he could date anyone at any time, and she had no say in the matter whatsoever. He’d seen her, too, his eyes settling on her like a long remembered touch. She thought he was going to come over and speak to her – and she wasn’t at all sure how she was going to handle that – but the hostess thankfully sat the couple out of her eyesight and earshot, well across the room. Regardless of how she’d kept telling herself that she’d gotten over him, that there was nothing there, in the deepest recesses of her heart, that still wanted him, still craved what they had and was lost without it, her expensive dinner was reduced to ashes in her mouth, and she feigned a headache and asked the waitress to bring her order to go. She thought she was home free when she made it to the coat closet at the door, doggie bag in hand, when she had some help from the back as she struggled into her heavy winter coat. “Let me get that for you.” Bay’d’ve known that voice anywhere. Silly, she didn’t want to turn around and see him, so she futz with the buttons on her coat, and adjusted her scarf six ways from Sunday to stall for time and calm her nerves. She needn’t have bothered. One look at him and all of the pain and heartache she’d endured was right there waiting for her, like a worn old pair of comfy snow boots that cut off the circulation to your feet and caused you to feel like you’d been punched in the gut several times. Embarrassed that her eyes had filled with tears and her throat was so tight she could barely speak, Bay tried to brush past him and out the door, but he merely stretched his arms out in the open doorway, so she had the choice of causing a scene or tapping her foot and waiting for him to dismiss her. Some of the anger that had been boiling within her for much too long came to the forefront just then, though, and gave her a third alternative. She punched him, right in the stomach, as hard as she could. He hadn’t seen it coming, of course, and doubled over, more from the surprise than the strength of her punch, she was sure, but it gave her the distraction she needed to get away from him. Bay was right; he hadn’t really been harmed by the slight blow she’d delivered. He was more devastated by the idea that she’d hit him than anything else. Bay was one of the least

violent people he’d ever known – like his sister, only less apt to smack him for insulting her. He knew he’d hurt her badly, but to have driven her to violence . . . He thought about following her to her car, then remembered his date, such as she was. She was a fellow cop; someone he hung around with that he wanted to treat to a nice dinner as a gesture of friendship. Hell, Holly was happily married to one of his deputies. But Bay didn’t know that. What was she doing back in town? Where was she staying? Usually he knew before she arrived; everyone in town seemed to take some sort of perverse joy in telling him how well she was doing in West by God Virginia, how she was now the president or manager or chairman of whatever company she was working for and was, of course, excruciatingly happy without him. The only thing he never heard anyone talking about in conjunction with Bay was a man. No boyfriend. No fiancé. No husband that he’d ever caught wind of, in all those years. He pondered just what that meant as he went back to his table and dragged Holly away from it, saying he had work to do and she’d get a rain check. Bless her heart; she was a good sport about it, thankfully. Work was a euphemism for trying to gather as much intelligence about Bay as he could. He called Licia first, who, of course, needled him about it, but she knew as little about Bay’s visit as he did. Missy was his next call, and she was as cold to him as she always had been, unwilling to answer even the most basic of questions. Griff had had a lot of time to think about what he’d done to Bay when they were engaged, and if he’d had it to do again, he would have done things a lot differently. At the time he’d been a gung-ho young cop, and he couldn’t resolve within his own conscience the problem that Bay’s solution to her mother’s situation caused. He wanted to be a good cop, and advance in the department, yet he wanted to be with and support Bay so badly it hurt. But he couldn’t reconcile the two. He’d hoped to just step away from her for a while, let the situation simmer down, but his boss had made it perfectly clear when he’d put the hypothetical situation to him that it was not something that Griff – as an officer of the law – could be seen as condoning, regardless of his own involvement in the situation. By that time, he’d already received his engagement ring back through the mail, and she was gone. He’d attended both of her parents’ funerals, although he kept to himself at the back of the room and made dead sure that she didn’t see him. It broke his heart to see her so sad, and he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in his arms and take her away from the entire situation, but he knew he couldn’t. Now she was back. He wasn’t sure for how long, or what reason, but Griff didn’t intend to let her get away from him again. It wasn’t long – with his connections - before he knew exactly what he needed to know about what had brought her home again. He knew she was staying with Missy, and that she was really just back to sign the final paperwork for the sale of her family home. And he intended to change her mind and get her to come home to stay. There had never been anyone for him but Bay. No woman could compare. They had been so compatible it was frightening, right from the beginning. He’d dated here and there, nowhere near enough for his sister and mother, who were desperate for him to marry and have kids before he started to draw social security. So he decided to take the bull by the horns. The next time he saw her, which happened to be at the mall in Bangor, he walked right up to her and hugged her tight, whispering, “I’ve

missed you more than you’ll ever know.” He was certain she wouldn’t cause a scene in the middle of the busy mall. Bay nearly dropped her packages, which would have meant the ruin of the crystal vase she’d gotten for Missy for letting her stay with her during the holidays, when it was the least convenient. She couldn’t breathe because of his hug, but also because of the shock of seeing him again. Bay wondered if those awful feelings in the pit of her stomach that were sending waves of nausea through her would ever go away – if she’d ever be able to see him and not feel that she’d lost a part of herself when he pulled away from her years ago. Before she knew it, she was in his arms, and he was mowing his way through the preChristmas crowds to set her down in the food court, hovering and looking worried, for what reason she didn’t know. “You looked like you were going to faint.” Well, that answered that question. “I’m fine,” she mumbled, trying to get up. But he wouldn’t let her. “Stay right where you are. I’m going to go get you something cold to drink and a little something to eat.” “No, thank you,” she answered with stiff politeness, trying again to get up. He caught her eyes until hers skittered away nervously. “Stay. You know I’ll hunt you down if you aren’t here when I get back.” And then he left, without so much as a backward glance, certain she was going to obey him. And the awful thing was that he was right. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if she tried to run, he’d find her, and he’d already caused one embarrassing scene by carrying her here. She wasn’t going to chance another, regardless of the fact that she would prefer to have been pretty much anywhere else in the world other than close to him. He returned quickly with a soda and a cookie from Mrs. Fields. Shortbread, her favorite. He’d remembered, of course. “Eat.” Deliberately not looking at him, she took a small sip of the soda and nibbled the cookie. “I’m fine, and I’m leaving. I have things to do.” He didn’t so much as prevent her from leaving as merely cover her small hand with his, saying in a tone she would never have recognized as his in a million years, “I’m so sorry for what I did, Bay.” She couldn’t accept his apology. She didn’t want an apology from him. She just wanted not to see him, not to feel her chest ache and her head pound and her throat closing with sobs. Griff let her go, knowing this was neither the time nor the place for that discussion. But he had to think he could make it up to her, somehow, or he knew his life would be unbearable. So he embarked on a calculated campaign to win her back, no holds barred. He sent roses to her at Missy’s, every day. He arranged to bump into her occasionally about town, and always hugged her and repeated his apologies, until one day, just before Christmas, he felt her relax in his arms finally. She wasn’t fighting him to get away, in fact, she was sobbing against his shoulder. They were in the Kaffe Klatch, the small coffee place and bakery that had opened in Bar Harbor. They had great coffee and cinnamon rolls the size of your head. Griff guided her carefully outside and tucked her into his truck, then drove them around the Acadia National Park

loop road, stopping where there was a place to park where there was a beautiful view of Otter Cliffs. Amazed by her acquiescence, but unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, he was worried that she hadn’t said or done anything but sob quietly since he’d kidnapped her. He reached across the bench seat and tugged her up against him, and settled for just holding her. If she was crying about him, there wasn’t much he could say in defense. If she wanted to punch him again, he was very willing to offer to stand there and let her beat the hell out of him. Griff almost laughed, figuring if he made that offer, she’d hire a heavyweight to make sure the job was done right. When her sobs subsided, he asked softly, “Are you all right?” Bay nodded wetly against his shoulder. “Wanna punch me again?” To his surprise and delight, she shook her head. “Were you crying about us? Me?” “Not everything’s about you, Griff.” He hadn’t meant it to sound like that, and said that. Bay leaned away from him, as much as his arm around her back would allow, which wasn’t much, saying, “Yes and no. Momma and Daddy both died during the holidays, and it’s hard, especially being an only child. The thing with us – well, that’s always with me.” Griff sighed. “I’m sorry. About all of it, and I’ll apologize to you every day. I was short sighted, and not thinking about the big picture. I was a type A and all I could see was my career going down the tubes.” One big gloved hand reached up to cup her cheek. “I was wrong. I should have supported you; you were just trying to do what was best for your mother. And I’d do the same thing if it was you, in a heartbeat.” He leaned over and kissed her, gently but insistently, not letting her lean away from it, nibbling and butterfly kissing until she joined it, and his mouth slanted over hers with a long pent up groan. “I want you back, Bay, and I’ll do anything in my power to get you.” Anything in his power didn’t put much out of his reach in their small burg, Bay mused to herself. She didn’t want to forgive him. The hurt was still so new, so painful, even years later, the breadth and depth of it robbed her of her ability to breathe or reason. But then so did his kiss, as it always had. Sensing an advantage, Griff pressed, “I’ll do my best to make it up to you. I know I really can’t, but I’d love nothing more than spending the rest of my life trying to.” Bay definitely wasn’t ready to forgive him, but her mind was well ahead of her heart. His promise sounded like she could probably get out of any spanking she wanted to in the future, which would definitely come in handy. He cajoled and teased and, flatly, pressured her into going out with him. When Missy found out, she was outraged for Bay, but Bay wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about the situation. Things were certainly becoming interesting, though. Griff took her out every single night he could manage to – to all of the Christmas parties and out to movies and helped her with her shopping, even going so far as to carry all of her packages through the mall like a pack mule. He hated shopping. He detested malls. But he never uttered one syllable of protest, either. He came over to Missy’s for Christmas Eve, and gave Bay a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings that were much too expensive, but he refused to take them back. Missy caught Bay’s eye as she was putting the studs into her ears and nodded approvingly, much to Bay’s surprise.

During the week between Christmas and New Years, they were almost always together, except when he had to work. Even then, he came and got her and took her out on his lunch hour, and everyone around town seemed to be happy for the idea that they were back together. But Bay wasn’t really sure whether they were or not. He’d been nothing but solicitous and circumspect, but that wasn’t really Griff. That wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with – at least not all the time. There was only the occasional peak at the real him – when she pushed him a little too far – and she knew damned well that in the old days, he would have hauled her over his lap without a second thought, tanned her hide and then flipped her over to make wonderful, sweet love to her. She knew he still wanted her – that was evident every time he pulled her into his arms but did he still want to discipline her? Bay wasn’t at all sure she could live without that aspect of their lives, as detrimental as it was to the well being of her well rounded nether parts. But Griff was relentless in his campaign to win her back. He managed to secure her agreement to stay through New Years, and also, after a lot of cajoling, to attend the town party on New Year’s Eve, which had become less of a masquerade and more of a formal event. He arrived to pick her up that evening in a limo, much to Bay’s surprise and delight. He was wearing a gorgeous tux that looked like it had been tailor made for him, and she was right about that. He was going to do this even up right if it killed him. She was wearing a pale green slip dress with a small, lacy bolero light jacket and mukluks she’d borrowed from Missy, which Griff had insisted she wear at least until they got to the hall, where she changed into the matching strappy green sandals she’d intended to wear all along. Griff was exasperated with her lack of practicality, and Bay wondered if she was going to get spanked tonight because of it. She had to cross and re-re-re-cross her legs at the mere thought all night. They danced and ate and laughed and danced some more, until the usual countdown. After that, it was an almost frightening repeat of their first New Year’s Eve party together: he coaxed her onstage, knelt before her, and presented her with the ring she’d sent back to him. All he said to her, from his position on one knee, was one word. “Please.” The entire audience held their breath until she answered. This time was much less of a shoe in than the last time. After hesitating for a short moment, she did what she’d done before and sat down on his knee, kissing him and whispering “Yes,” before he picked her up and swirled her around, hugging her fit to crack several ribs. Griff was on top of the world. She’d said yes. He couldn’t believe his luck. She was his again, and he’d never do anything to compromise that, ever. They danced one long, slow dance together while everyone made room for them on the floor to dance privately until they all joined in. Griff whisked her away after that to his cabin in the woods. He’d been able to get the house plus several acres around it, so they were entirely alone – no one was even within earshot, and that was just right for the plans he had. It wouldn’t look at all good for the Sheriff to be hauled in for spanking his fiancée. He hadn’t disciplined her since she’d been back, not that the impetus wasn’t still there. It was always at the forefront with Bay. He’d been keeping a careful mental tab of all of the things she’d done that he wanted to spank her for, but he’d hung back from doing so – against his better judgment – because he’d wanted to solidify their ties before taking his hand that round, ripe bottom of hers.

He would not lose her again. Not long after he’d carried her over the threshold of the cabin in a precursor to their wedding night, she found herself naked over the end of his bed, with a pillow in front of her hips to accentuate the curve of her cheeks and present them for the cane he’d pulled out of his closet. Bay’s eyes became saucers at the sight of it. She’d read about caning online – mostly about what used to happen in a lot of British schools – and was quite sure she had no interest in experiencing it, but it seemed she wasn’t going to be given a choice. She wondered if it would be as horrible as that thin dowel he used to use on her. Griff had deliberately positioned her so that her backside faced the fireplace, in which he’d started a lovely warm fire. He enjoyed how the firelight flickered over her naked backside, and thought the heat would add to her experience. He was right. And not in a good way, either. “I adore you, Bay Matthews,” he dropped a kiss on her upturned face just before taking his position beside her and laying that first vicious stroke across her bottom.

Blushing Publications thanks you whole-heartedly for your purchase with us! There are plenty more stories such as the one you’ve purchased from Blushing Books! Visit our online store to view our mighty selection! http://www.blushingbooks.com This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.