Taking His Hand (Under His Roof #2) (8 page)

She’s taking it well, barely struggling at all, and groaning only a little when I spank the same spot more than once in a row. Her legs move up and down as she manages the pain, but she’s not kicking violently like she sometimes does. She’s under control.

At forty spanks, I slow way down. Each of the last ten swats are very hard, and each one makes her gasp. At forty-six, she reaches her hand back instinctively, but yanks it out of my way without a verbal warning from me.

At fifty, she’s openly sobbing. I set the paddle down beside me and rub her back while she cries across my knees.

Five minutes later, she’s only sniffling. I lift her up, pull the blankets down on the bed, and lay her on her stomach. I’m fairly sure this was all she needed, but I’ll stay with her for a while to be positive. Sitting beside her, I stroke her back as she rests, using the remote to mute the television.

How can I make Rachel understand the need for compassion? Not just compassion with her family and friends, but with everyone around her? Doesn’t she realize that every single interaction she has with others has at least some effect on the other person? I understand the need to have Aria transferred, or even fired, but I don’t get why she couldn’t do it with a little more tact.

“
Are you still going to be able to have me as a client?” Aria whispers, pulling me from my thoughts.

“
I’m not sure. I hope so.”

“
Does she know you’re here with me?”

“
Aria, stop.”

“
Sorry.”

“
Tell me about your new boss,” I say, changing the subject.

Her eyes light up a tiny bit, warming my heart. “His name is Jeremy. Rachel
hates
him. He’s great, though. He said he’s happy I got transferred.”

“
See, now? That’s wonderful,” I reply, though in the back of my mind I’m worried about exactly
why
Jeremy might be happy she got transferred. Aria is a beautiful woman, and very vulnerable. I’ll ask Rachel about Jeremy later.

“
Yeah. I guess it is.”

“
You know, in spite of the things Rachel said, you should have faith in yourself. Work hard, and you’ll do well. You’ll make mistakes—we all do. But you’re an honest, good person. Understand?”

She nods and smiles. This time the smile isn’t forced.

“
Do you need more?”

“
No. I’m perfect. And you can go, you don’t have to worry about me. I know you should get home.”

Aria’s selflessness makes my heart ache for her pain. I pack up my things and use the bathroom sink to splash water on my face. Before leaving, I sit back down with her.

“
I have a question that I need you to answer honestly, Aria,” I say.

“
OK,” she murmurs. Her eyes are closed and she looks half asleep.

“
I want to speak with Rachel about this situation. Not about your spanking, or your session. Just about the transfer. Is that all right with you?”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

“
Also, I want your commitment to discretion. Understood?”

She opens her eyes and looks a little hurt. She takes a moment, then speaks to me very clearly. “David, I would never talk with anyone about you being my disciplinarian. Or you being with Rachel. I promise. I actually
like
Rachel, even though she hates me. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“
Good girl,” I whisper. I want to scoop her up into my arms and hug her for saying that. “You’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever known. Remember that, all right?”

She’s back into sleep mode and mumbles, “All right.”

Feeling a mixture of emotions, but happy I agreed to do this session, I let myself out.

~5~

Rachel

Around eleven, I get a text from David. He’s done and coming home.

I text him back with a message to try to leave me alone until the end of my workday. Frankly, I don’t want to see him or talk to him at all. I should’ve gone into work this morning.

I’m set up at the kitchen table and have to admit that, in spite of my background anger about Aria, it’s pretty nice to work at home.

Pushing Aria and David out of my mind, I absorb myself in work. I’m in the middle of a campaign for one of our bigger clients, and so far everyone is pleased with the progress. Because I’ve had a week without a secretary, I ended up with some mundane extra work.

Which reminds me—I get to hire a new secretary. Normally, people at my company are assigned a secretary, but my boss has been so impressed with me lately that he’s letting me pick between the potential candidates. We’ve got three interviews scheduled for tomorrow, and I leaf through the file of the applicants. Their company photos are paper-clipped to the top of their resumes, and one of them—Luke Oppelman—is freaking gorgeous.

I laugh to myself, realizing how ridiculous it would be to hire a secretary based on looks. Hell, that’s what Jeremy did, though. I almost feel bad for Aria. Jeremy’s leering, gross eyes will be on her body all the time. Yuck.

When David comes home, he’s with Mitchell. They beeline out to the backyard, both of them shooting me apologetic looks as they tip-toe through the kitchen. I feel a pang of guilt for my rude text to David. Not for making David feel bad, but for making Mitchell feel like he has to tip-toe around me.

Honestly, I want David to feel bad. It’s his job that’s making me feel like crap. He should feel a little crappy, too.

When he comes in to make lunch, he works quietly, humming softly to himself. He sets a sandwich in front of me and leans down to kiss my cheek.

“
Thank you.”

“
You’re welcome. I hope we’re not being too loud out back.”

I’ve barely noticed the noise. “It’s fine,” I say begrudgingly.

I want to hate the sandwich but it’s delicious. Roast beef on pumpernickel. He even gave me a pickle, which he doesn’t care for, but knows I love.

Around four, I pack up for the day and call my boss to update him on progress. As I’m winding down the call, Mitchell tip-toes by, waving goodbye. I try to give him a bright smile, still feeling bad that whatever David told Mitchell made him worried about bothering me.

When David comes in a few minutes later, he ignores me and heads straight for the shower. I pace around the house, irritated that I can’t even talk with a friend about this situation. My once-normal life is now filled with this huge secret. Samantha is my best friend, and I can’t go to her for advice anymore.

It’s not fair.

I think about this morning. David going to see Aria. Did she get naked for him? She is so insanely beautiful. Does he find her prettier than me?

Is he attracted to her? Does he only take attractive clients?

Suddenly I feel sick to my stomach, and I burp a pumpernickel burp. I sit on the couch and put my head in my hands.

When David comes in, fresh out of the shower, I look up at him with a glare.

“
What did you tell Mitchell?” I demand.

He shrugs. “I told him the truth.”

My jaw drops. “What?”

“
I told him you were working from home today, and needed us to be quiet. And, I told him you found out one of my clients is your secretary, or rather, your recently-fired secretary, and that you feel, understandably, weird about it. I explained I met with your secretary for counseling this morning, and you knew part of that session was about you firing her. See, Rach, when you take spanking out of the equation, your confused feelings are still completely normal. It’s a strange situation.”

“
What did Mitchell say?”

“
Not a lot.” David smiles. “Because when you take the spanking out of the equation, it also becomes a somewhat uninteresting situation. It’s just a thing you and I need to work around and deal with.”

“
I think you should stop seeing her.”

He sighs. “I know you think that right now. And if you still feel that way after you’ve had more time to process all this, I’ll respect that. But I want you to hear me out, and I want you to consider Aria’s feelings. Do you think you can have a rational conversation about this right now?”

“
Don’t be condescending,” I say, glaring at him.

“
Watch your tone.” He frowns at me, getting that stern look that makes me want to back down immediately.

But, instead, I fold my arms across my chest and try to stare him down.

“
I want to open this discussion with you from a different angle,” he says, grabbing my hand and walking toward the back door. “Rather than discuss Aria, let’s talk about my profession. Because ultimately, that’s something I know still bothers you, and it’s at the root of all of this. Before you can be rational about Aria, you need to be rational about my job.”

I consider this as David leads me outside. We walk past the new office building to the edge of the yard. Sparky happily runs ahead, then back toward us, running circles as we walk.

At the fence we sit together, facing the house and office. My mind is reeling. Images of Aria, naked over David’s lap, flash in front of me. Then other women, all of them gorgeous…smiling after David spanks them. Shaking their asses at him. Getting naked for him.

“
I don’t think I can do this,” I whisper. I’m staring at the ground and start picking at blades of grass.

“
You can do it,” he says firmly.

“
How?” I look up at him. Anger builds in my chest. “How can I get used to you being around beautiful naked women?”

David looks briefly surprised, then recovers, and says, “You’ll get used to it.”

I roll my eyes. “I can’t stop thinking of you with Aria. She’s so pretty. It isn’t fair to ask me to be fine with this.”

“
Aria is a client of mine, Rachel. I’ve known her for over a year. I’ve watched her struggle with you—even though I didn’t know it was you until recently. She’s actually my only conflict of interest case yet. I’m sorry you had to find out about her, for both her sake and yours. But you have to understand that my job is a job. It’s what I do. Do I care about my clients? Yes. Do I want to sleep with them? No. Understand?”

“
No. I don’t understand. I don’t ‘get’ how you can be around attractive women and be so intimate with them but not want to sleep with them.”

“
Do you want to sleep with your male clients?”

“
Um, that’s a little different, David.”

“
It is and it isn’t.” He sighs, and leans back against the ground. He looks tired. “Rachel, I believe in what I do. I think it’s a good thing. I think I help my clients out a lot. But, I would quit for you. I would go get a job in town. If you can’t handle this part of me, I would change.”

Tears are in my eyes as I see the pained look grow on his face. “How many clients do you have?”

“
Right now, twenty-two. It’s usually between twenty and thirty. Some people grow out of their need and occasionally a new client contacts me. Like you did.”

We sit in silence for a few minutes. I’m thinking about his twenty-two clients. Naked. All of them, in the same room, dancing for David. It really isn’t a pleasant daydream.

“
My clients are mothers,” he says softly, breaking our silence. “They are teachers. Wives. Students. Executives. Secretaries.”

“
I get it. They’re people.”

“
They’re people.”

“
How come you don’t have male clients?”

“
I do, on occasion. I get inquiries from men. Most are looking for a sexual experience.”

This makes me wince, and David chuckles.

“
Some women looking for sex, too, but it’s usually easy to filter them out. Women who are willing to pay a disciplinarian are unique. Most of them, at some point—either in their application or our initial interview—mention their relief that sex is off the table. They want to be spanked, pure and simple. Rachel, think about it. Do you know how easy it would be for you to find a guy to spank your ass?”