Only the Taggarts, the pastor, Mr. and Mrs. Peebles and their son Alan came for the engagement party. Sunny thought the Peebles were there only to have something to gossip about, though, of course, Alan paid a great deal of attention to Dani. Lisa-Anne pleaded a sick headache and did not join the festivities. Sunny had changed into her best evening dress, pale pink with ecru lace on the bertha, and she and Dani had fussed with her hair until it was elegantly curled over her ears.
During a quiet moment, Abel cornered Sunny by the front parlor window.
“I owe you something, little girl,” he said softly.
Sunny was so happy, all she could think about was her future with Abel. She needed no further gifts from him. “No, you don’t. I owe you.”
“I’m gettin’ what I want out of this, and I’ll make sure you get what you deserve as well.”
“Why do I have a feeling we’re talking at cross purposes?”
He took her hand and kissed it tenderly. “You deserve one helluva blisterin’ for going against my advice and forcin’ things.”
“I’m sorry. I was desperate.”
“You should have trusted me. I’d already talked to Pastor Jones about it. He was going to try to help us.” Abel was nothing if not dogged.
“Well, he did talk to Mother, but nothing came of it, except her fury. That’s why I had to do what I did, and you have to admit, my plan worked.”
“But at what price, Sunny? Will you be able to hold your head up in public? Are you sure you can deal with the gossip and criticism?”
She’d known those were the hazards, but she’d let her impulses run away from her. “I can. It’s worth it.”
He sighed. “I hope so. But you’ve still got a spankin’ due.”
“Oh, Abel. Please not tonight.”
“Yes, tonight. Meet me in the other parlor.”
“Abel…” She drew the syllables out, pleading. Sunny couldn’t imagine going around during her engagement party with a sore behind.
“You need to do as you’re told for a change, Sunny.”
Her bubble of enthusiasm popped. “Alright. But I’m going under protest.”
Although he kept his voice down, it was stern when he said, “Noted. Get your bottom movin’.”
Dragging her feet, Sunny wound her way through the room, chatting with Dani for a moment along the way. Then she excused herself, saying she was going to go get more lemonade from the kitchen.
The house was quiet in the back, with no one in the rear parlor and the piano keyboard cover down. The youngest children were in bed, and everyone else was in the front parlor, enjoying lemonade and small cakes. The gentlemen had stronger spirits, of course, and Sunny wished briefly that she could have had some, too. She needed a modicum of fortification.
She had the feeling that this would not be a spanking with a pleasant outcome like the last one. Abel was truly annoyed with her. She supposed she’d earned that disapprobation, but maybe, if she was very clever, she could turn the punishment into pleasure. It would be manipulative, however, and she’d learned that lesson once already with his belt on her behind. It appeared that she was going to have to accept this punishment and try not to incur others in the future. She mentally ticked off her sins: lying, manipulation, and forcing him into lying for her over their engagement. That last one, breaking his own code of behavior, was undoubtedly the worst. Oh, her bottom very nearly hurt just thinking about it.
Taking a seat on the comfortable, navy blue settee, she waited impatiently. She wanted to get this over with and move on. The waiting was as bad as the doing.
After a minute or two, Abel came through the parlor doors, and spying her, he approached.
“You minded. I’m a little surprised,” he said with an ironic smile.
“Oh, you,” she said, frowning. “I’m not a total termagant.”
“Pretty close.”
“Do we have to do this?”
He raised a dark eyebrow.
“Yes, I suppose we do. Alright. How do you want me?”
“I want you squirmin’ in my arms, darlin’, but that will have to wait. Right now, I’ll settle for you bent over the back of the settee.”
Sunny blushed as she remembered when she had squirmed in his arms in the most satisfying way. But that was not to be again until her wedding night. She walked around the back of the settee and faced away from the door as she bent over it. She had no intention of volunteering to raise her skirts. There was only so much a girl was willing to do to further her own punishment!
Abel came to stand beside her, and did the skirt-raising himself. This time, he not only raised her skirt and adjusted her bustle, but untied her pantalettes and encouraged them to drop to her ankles. Heat spread over every inch of Sunny’s skin as she imagined how exposed she looked.
He cleared his throat. Maybe he was uncomfortable, too. Abel’s warm hand glided over her quivering bottom as she trembled in anticipation. He touched her all over her bottom and brushed his rough fingers over that bit of her sex that was exposed. A shiver of pleasure swept up her spine.
Again, he brushed her tender place.
“Oh, hell,” he muttered, but seconds later, he smacked her behind, right in the middle, and Sunny let out a squeak.
“Ow!”
Abel’s hand fell several more times, and the slaps sounded like muted gunshots as they cracked. Sunny bit her lip, trying not to show weakness. She was going to be stalwart and take her punishment and move on. The spanks came rapidly, pulling her from her determined thoughts. After a minute of rapid-fire swats, Sunny couldn’t help but cry out with the blows.
“Oh! Ouch!”
“You will never push me into a position where I have to cover up for you, Sunny,” he lectured. “I had to tell a lie.”
“But, it worked! We got our engagement. We can be together.” It was hard to talk with her throat getting thick and her nose beginning to run.
“That may be true, but the sin remains. The end cannot justify the means. You have to be respectable and responsible.”
More spanks peppered her beleaguered bottom. Now her eyes were beginning to tear.
“Oh, stop!” she cried. “You’ll make me cry!”
“If it’ll teach you a lesson, then you’ll have to cry.”
There was a gasp, and the spanking stopped.
“Oh, dear,” Aunt Elizabeth said.
Sunny looked over her shoulder to find all the houseguests and the Taggarts framed in the double doorway.
“Good gracious,” Mother said. “Well, I’d say you must have earned it, daughter.”
“Oh, God,” was all Sunny could say as she started to straighten. Abel’s hand at the small of her back kept her down, but he said nothing. Nothing with his mouth. His right hand, however, spoke volumes as it cracked down on her behind three more times.
Sunny’s humiliation was complete. The guests murmured and made shocked noises.
Abel threw her skirts down, and Sunny stood, her pantalettes still down around her ankles, though they hardly showed from beneath her evening dress. Her breath came quickly, and she was hot all over, blushing from hairline to fingertips. She couldn’t look up at the gazes that were fixed on her embarrassment.
“That takes care of that,” Abel said.
“Oh, God,” Sunny moaned again. She couldn’t think of words to say.
“Well, I reckon we’ve seen enough,” Uncle Raymond said, his tone firm. “I don’t believe we’ll have music tonight.”
“You…uh…” Aunt Elizabeth sputtered. “You two come back to the party soon.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Abel said. He sounded smug, the ogre.
With a bit of rustling and soft voices, the party moved away from the doors, and someone closed them with a definitive click.
“I am so embarrassed,” Sunny sobbed. “I’ll never be able to show my face in society again.”
Abel took her in his arms, and although she was distraught at the scene they’d presented, she snuggled up against him and took the tenderness he offered. “I doubt the gossip will last too long. Wives get spanked. They’ll all wonder why you were gettin’ punished, but if you ignore the questions—do not lie, Sunny, avoid—they’ll soon find something else interestin’ to go on about.”
“I can’t believe you spanked me while they watched. How could you?”
“I wasn’t done,” he said, and Sunny could hear the grin in his voice. She gave him a smack on his chest.
“You are so mean!”
“I’m thinking you want more where that came from.”
“No! No, please!”
He chuckled. “I guess you’ve had enough for one night. No more bad behavior, though, darlin’. If I have to spank you in front of the whole town to make my point, I’ll do it. You’re the one who insisted that you could accept the gossip, I’ll remind you.”
“I’ll be good.”
“Pull up your drawers and let’s get back to the party. The sooner you let them see that you’re not going to curl up in a ball and die, the sooner they’ll take their eyeful and be done with it.”
“I don’t know if I can do it.”
“Of course you can. I’ll be right beside you.”
“Oh, Abel…”
He bent and helped her draw up her pantalettes. “Stiff spine, darlin’. You’re a strong woman.”
Sunny wasn’t so sure, but she screwed up her courage and went back to the party.
Just Right!
