Shared by Her Soldiers (4 page)

But Sean had a firm hand, and had dealt with it accordingly. He’d been more than a little envious when his friend had shared about their domestic discipline relationship. He’d always wanted to find just that for himself, and he’d envy any man who got to spank Kate’s cute little ass. She certainly deserved it, often and hard. Those had been Sean’s words to him before he deployed, and Jarrod had come to see the wisdom of them.

He’d agreed to chaperone Kate, in a manner of speaking, to be there to keep her out of trouble when Sean could not. And it had worked—for the most part. When Sean had first asked him, he’d agreed reluctantly, loath to bring tears to those pretty green eyes. But he’d accepted the task as a favor to his brother in combat. And he had to admit, he’d come to find a special pleasure in turning Kaitlyn’s full, perfect orbs a cherry-red hue, when she deserved it. But he’d imagined that when Sean came home things would return to normal. Or, at least as normal as they could be. He could tell by the wide-eyed, startled expression Kaitlyn had worn a moment ago that the same thought had occurred to her as well.

Yet, as he watched Sean go sit down in his La-Z-Boy it was clear that he had indeed been handed the reins. Despite himself, he felt stirrings of excitement at the prospect that only deepened when his gaze fell on her. He could see her quivering from where he stood. Any other woman, and he would have guessed it was fear, but not Kate. No, she was strong-willed and opinionated. He’d come to know her quite well over the last months and he’d bet his last dollar that she was trembling with righteous indignation, furious over the injustice of it all. But as much as he loved her strong, unbreakable spirit, she had to learn from her actions. She’d chosen some bad ones today, and it looked like he’d be the one to make her realize it.

“Come here, Kate,” he called, feeling his pulse pick up when she turned around with her skirt puddled around her ankles and a pout on those pretty, full lips. Even sulking, she was beautiful. In fact, she was especially beautiful when she was sulking because she was about to be spanked.

She kicked off the skirt and began to walk toward him with small, shuffling steps. Though the expression she wore was defiant, he could tell by her body language that it would only take a few solid smacks to her bare bottom for the sullen, insolent woman to vanish and reveal the panicky little girl underneath. She stopped a few feet away, and he could see by the duck of her head and the way that her naked thighs trembled that she was hoping against hope that there might be a last-minute pardon granted.

Part of him wanted nothing more than to grant her silent plea, but the rest of him knew that there could be no half-measures. It wouldn’t do either of them any good. “
Now
,” he ordered in a stern voice that made her startle.

She looked up at him with wide, limpid eyes, but he steeled himself against her and summoned her closer with a crook of his finger. She walked slower than ever before, but got close enough for him to reach for her hand and pull her to him.

He didn’t take her over his lap, but instead trapped her between his thighs, his knees locking her into place so that she couldn’t run. She began to whimper before he even opened his mouth—but then, they’d done this dance many times before. She knew what to expect. Interestingly enough, she didn’t seem to remember that Sean was in the room, but he could feel his friend’s eyes on them, watching, waiting. And with it came an added pressure to make sure this was done right—the first time.

“This was supposed to be a happy occasion,” he began, moving his head to catch her shifting eyes. “It’s a shame that it has to end this way, don’t you think?”

“Do you want to know what I think? I—”

“Careful, Kate,” he warned calmly. He knew that despite her defiant posturing she was afraid of going over his knee. He sympathized, but that didn’t mean he could let her be disrespectful, either. “Let’s not make this any worse.”

She let out a loud huff, but when she didn’t offer any further reply, he knew he had her attention.

“Now, tell me why we’re here.”

“I don’t know!” she burst out in frustration. This, he knew, was at least the truth. “All I did was decline to join some silly club. Maybe I was a little abrupt, but—”

“A little?” he challenged, arching a brow.

She flushed and looked away. “OK, I was rude. I’m sorry. Spank me for it, if you want, but I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. So can we stop making it out to be an international incident?”

“You know, you wouldn’t get in half the trouble you do if you didn’t let your mouth run away with you,” he sighed, shaking his head.

He watched as she bit down on her bottom lip and nibbled it. Even when she was in trouble, she was too cute for her own good.

“You’re right,” she admitted at least, her voice soft and repentant. “I’m sorry. Really, I am, you have to believe me.”

“I do.”

“And Jarrod, come on, you know that I didn’t mean to hurt that girl’s feelings, either. Please…”

Her eyes were wide with her plea and as much as he wanted to cut her some slack, he also saw that she was refusing to see the larger issue. “First of all, rudeness is never acceptable, no matter what else is going on around you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a reluctant sigh.

“And second of all, in case you’ve forgotten you are a reflection of your husband. Everything you do, everything you say, reflects on
him
. That goes for anywhere, and it goes double when you’re on a military installation. It might not be right and it might not be fair, but that is the way it is. Am I understood?”

“Yes, sir.” She was sounding more repentant, and was looking down at the floor now. Good, at least they were making progress.

“So, your poor judgment in how you responded to the general’s wife today could affect his career. I guess you weren’t thinking about that.”

“No,” she uttered, her voice stricken.

“I thought not, which is why it’s my job to make sure you think about things like that in the future. You’re new here, Kate, and I think maybe this once it might be overlooked, but you’ve got to do better in the future.”

“I will,” she declared earnestly, meeting his eyes. “I swear I will, Jarrod. Please…”

Go easy on me
, he finished the sentence silently. But he knew he couldn’t—for her sake, he had to give her a memorable lesson, the one she deserved, so that this wouldn’t happen again in the future.

“Ask me to give you a good, hard spanking.”

She flinched, just as he expected she would. No matter how many times he gave the order, she always did.

“Jarrod…”

He saw her eyes flit over to Sean and back again. He knew by the way she was twisting her fingers over one another that she was nervous, but by the flush of color in her cheeks she was obviously embarrassed as well.

“Please, don’t make me ask for it.”

“You know you have to.”

“And if I can’t?” she asked, her voice going lower than a whisper.

“Then I’ll have to take off my belt,” he replied, lowering his own voice to match hers. “Don’t let it come to that. You can do this, Kate. You’ve done it before.”

“I know, but…”

He knew exactly. This was new for him too, but unlike Kate, he was used to performing with an audience. And though they were equals on the field, Sean held the final say here. They were in
his
house, after all. This was
his
wife. He still couldn’t believe it. As sorry as he felt for Kate and as much as he didn’t want to punish her, she deserved it, so he could make peace with it. Beyond that, he was secretly thrilled to have one last chance to spank her sassy, adorable ass.

“Please spank me,” she mumbled.

Jarrod cleared his throat and gave her a firm stare that he saw her flinch away from. That wasn’t nearly good enough and they both knew it. “Louder,” he commanded, raising his own voice.

She cleared her own throat and held her head high, giving him the look of regal disdain she sometimes got when she’d made up her mind to do something. “Please, sir, would you give me a hard spanking?”

Part of him felt like giving her a standing ovation, if for no other reason than he knew how hard it must have been for her to summon up the courage to say those words. The other part of him felt like grinning, but he did neither. “Over my lap,” he ordered. She moved to lie over it, and he used his hand on the small of her back to guide her.

Once he was looking at those pale, perfectly round orbs, he felt himself forgetting everything else but him and Kate and what he needed to do. Everything else faded into the background until he felt as though they were well and truly alone. When she turned her head and looked back at him, giving him one last doe-eyed stare, he wondered if she felt it, too.

Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered but the two of them, in this moment, and that he impart a lesson she would not soon forget. He straightened his fingers out, quickly turning his hand into an implement worthy of punishing her naughty behind. But he didn’t spank—not just yet. First, he began by running his hand over her delicate skin, savoring the feel of it beneath his hand just a moment, before he started rubbing counterclockwise, getting her skin warm so that he would make a more lasting impression.

She whimpered over his lap. If he had to guess, he figured it was because she knew that he only did that before the longest and most painful spankings.

“Remind me why you’re getting this spanking.”

“You already know,” she whined.

Wrong answer. He pulled his hand back and delivered four rapid-fire shots to the same cheek. It had already begun to turn the slightest shade of pink before he finished.

“Jarrod!” she protested, kicking her legs.

“Want to try that again?” He could feel her stiffen. He suspected that she wanted to give the first smart-ass answer that rose to her lips, and he waited patiently to see if she would fight her instincts or give in.

“You’re punishing me,” she ground out through gritted teeth, “because I was rude.”

“You were rude,” he agreed, delivering another four quick pops to the back of her legs, where thigh and buttock met.

“I did what you wanted!” she accused, turning her head to glare at him.

“You did. But do I have to remind you that you’re being punished?”

With a frustrated sound somewhere between a huff and a growl, Kate faced forward once more and settled back over his knees.

“Why else are you being punished?”

“Because…”

Jarrod allowed himself a little smile. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she’d just swallowed back a remark that would have gotten her thighs spanked.

“Because I made my husband look bad.”

“You did.” The words were followed by another four smacks to her other buttock. “And do you deserve to be punished?”

He could feel her freeze. He’d never asked her this before, and she wasn’t prepared for it, but he truly wanted to know what she thought.

“I guess if you and Sean think I do, then I must.”

Hmm, he wasn’t buying it. “What do
you
think, Kate?”

“I think… I think sometimes I say and do things without thinking,” she admitted. “I didn’t have any idea… if I’d thought… she looks so much
younger
, I never would have thought…”

Well, he couldn’t blame her there. He’d done a double-take himself, the first time he’d met the young, bubbly girl. The truth was, the general looked older than he was, and his wife looked younger. It made for a startling combination, but that still didn’t excuse Kate for her actions.

“I
told
you it was his wife,” he reminded her, not unkindly. “If you’d been listening to me, you would have known and maybe you would have saved yourself some trouble.”

“Trouble sitting, you mean,” she grumbled.

“
Kate
,” he said, warning in his voice.

“You’re right, but it was really bad timing,” she groaned.

He couldn’t help but agree with her on that one.

“I was waiting to see my husband for the first time in a year and a half! I was nervous, and I wasn’t at my best, and I’m sorry.”

“Do you mean it?”

“Of course I do.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Because after your spanking, you’ll be calling the general’s wife to schedule a time for you to apologize, in person.”

“You can’t be serious!” she gasped.

“I’m always serious. You know that.”

“Jarrod… I can’t. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.”

He’d heard that before. He knew how stubborn she could be, but he could be just as determined, even if it didn’t show itself in the same way. “We’ll see how you feel in a little bit.”

“But—”

He interrupted her protest with a loud, well-placed spank to the center of her right buttock that left her gasping in surprise. He barely heard it. He was admiring the pink left in the wake before he put an equally hard spank on the left buttock. Then he began her punishment in earnest, starting at the top and spanking his way down. Once he finished spanking down one side, he spanked up the next. They were rapid and hard, spaced out by maybe the length of a few seconds. In no time, her rear began to show the result of his efforts. Her pale cream skin began to turn pink and then quickly deepened to a more reddish hue. He was determined not to stop until it was crimson.

How she struggled. She gasped and moaned and kicked. When he had enough, he stopped long enough to throw a leg over hers and stop them, which wasn’t nearly long enough to provide any relief. When the spanking resumed, she wailed all the louder for being trapped. She bucked against him for a minute, but eventually she gave that up. Once she had, she had little choice but to settle in and take her spanking. He made sure to make it a good one. His palm was stinging, which hardly ever happened, but he ignored it and continued giving her the hard, solid spanks that would hopefully make her listen for a change. Only time would tell.

Once her buttocks were a nice, even hue of crimson, he turned his attention to her thighs. They were both tinged pink, but it wasn’t enough. When he began to spank them, Kate’s wails shot up in volume for several long, ear-ringing moments, but soon after, her voice broke. Then he heard muffled, jagged sobs. He wanted to stop right then and comfort her, but he steeled himself against the urge. He couldn’t let her crying determine when a spanking stopped, and anyway, he was almost done as it was.