Unacceptable Behavior (3 page)

“Bend over the edge of my desk, Maxine,” Rafe said quietly.

She studied his face, looking for any softening of his features. There was none and Max knew she needed to buck up and take whatever punishment he gave her.

Under his stern gaze she marched up to the desk and laid her torso across it, telling herself she was woman enough to take her punishment. A wistful little thought of what it would be like to always answer to Rafe this way made her shiver a little.

“Good girl, I’m proud of you,” he told her after she’d positioned herself.

Max was shocked by the swell of pride that filled her at his words. She watched over her shoulder as Rafe doubled the belt in his hand and placed a hand on the small of her back to hold her in place. “Twenty-five and we’ll be done.”

Max closed her eyes; she’d known it was too much to hope for that he hadn’t actually read the scene. Her eyes flew back open the instant the first line of fire fell across her vulnerable backside.

The next ten fell in quick succession; obviously Rafe didn’t want to drag this out.

Max was gasping for air as his belt left unbelievable heat in its wake. Another ten fell rapidly across the tops of her thighs.

Max sobbed across the desk. “I’m sorreeee… please… I’m sorreeee…”

Rafe applied the last five to her sit spots almost one right on top of the other, then dropped the belt to scoop her up into his arms. “Shhhhhh, baby, it’s okay. It’s all over.”

He crooned softly as he carried her to his big desk chair and sat with her cuddled in his lap. Max wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his neck. “I’m sorry, Rafe… I know I was stupid…”

“Shhhh… all is forgiven.” He continued to rub her back and kiss the top of her head until she calmed down.

Max sniffed one more time and then became conscious of the fact that her skirt was still rucked up around her waist and she had no idea where her panties were. She was practically sitting on Rafe’s lap naked! Plus she was way too heavy to be sitting on him like this; had he carried her over here? Rafe let her up as soon as she tried to pull away. He watched her almost frantic efforts to pull her skirt down and reached out to help. Embarrassed, Max tried to slap his hands away.

“Maxine.” She froze again at the warning in his tone and let him set her skirt to rights.

Rafe tried to pull her back down onto his lap but she resisted. “I’m too heavy.”

“I personally think you’re just right but that’s a conversation for another day; you’re tired and we have work tomorrow so I’d better run you home.”

Max nodded and walked over to find her purse; her eyes nearly crossed when she spotted her panties by the wall where she’d apparently kicked them during the spanking. Without a word she grabbed them and stuffed them into her purse. “Could I have my phone?”

“No. I’ll be keeping that for a week,” Rafe said as he guided her out the door.

“I beg your pardon?” she asked incredulously. She finally looked at him with a glare.

“Hmmm, make it two weeks,” he said as he pulled her along behind him.

“Two weeks!” Max spluttered as she tried to keep up with his long-legged strides, feeling every step in the hot, tight skin of her roasted behind. “But it’s
my
phone!”

“I personally think two weeks without it will give you a little more time to think about what you could have done differently.”

“But it’s
my
phone!” she yelled again.

Rafe suddenly stopped to look down at her with a raised brow. Max closed her mouth and covered her bottom with her free hand as if to protect it.

He nodded and started pulling her along again. “I was beginning to think we’d left the office too soon. If you argue anymore, Maxine, I’ll keep it for three weeks. Understood?”

“Yes,” she said softly.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Better.”

Max felt like she was practically trotting to keep up with him but didn’t want to complain. Rafe was justified in being angry with her.

For the last hour she’d vacillated between guilt and outrage at his highhanded behavior. Currently her sore bottom was bringing the guilt to the fore and Max wanted nothing more than to go to bed and forget about this terrible day.

Rafe opened the door to his big truck, picked her up, and plopped her right down on the plush seat. Max hissed and shot straight up into the air.

“Owwww! There is no way I can sit for the ride home, I’ll walk,” she said miserably as she tried to climb down from the truck.

“You sit your bottom right down, young lady,” Rafe said firmly. “Sitting on a well-earned sore backside on the way home will help you remember to make better choices in the future.”

Max sniffled and sank back down onto the seat with a wince. She was too tired to fuss about it. At least her apartment wasn’t very far away.

“Did the garage say how long it would take to fix my car?” she asked.

“Actually the mechanic said it would only be about a week but as far as you’re concerned Maxine, your car has been impounded.”

“Impounded! What do you mean impounded?” she screeched.

“I mean that as soon as it’s fixed, it will be parked in the garage for the next month. You can use the time to really think about your responsibilities as a driver to adhere to rules that provide for your own safety and that of everyone else on the road.”

“You can’t do this! It’s
my
car, I pay for it. I am an adult, not sixteen! You cannot just decide to take my car away from me for my own good!” she yelled, furious at the way Rafe seemed to be making such arbitrary decisions.

Rafe shook his head. “I certainly can, Maxine, and you will follow my rules. Unless of course you’d rather I just call the police and let them handle the situation, although I’m pretty sure once they know the facts, your license will be suspended and you’ll be without wheels a lot longer than a month.”

The beginnings of fresh tears burned at the backs of her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me.”

“Honey, I’m not doing anything but trying to take care of you. You are lucky you escaped with a damaged car today. What if a pedestrian was walking across the street when you hammered down the gas? You’d be sitting in a jail cell while your life fell around you in ruins.”

The truth of his words brought a strangled sob from her throat. “How can I be so stupid?”

“You aren’t stupid, Maxine. You’ve just been a little out of control and I aim to help you bring yourself back into line,” Rafe said determinedly.

“How do you plan to do that? By beating me?” She snapped the last question.

“I didn’t beat you and you know it. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit I just did what you’ve needed for a long time now. Or you wouldn’t be reading spanking stories.”

“That is not your business, Rafe Jennings!”

“I’ve decided to make it my business and I’m going to tell you right now to lose the attitude. I’m beginning to think I should just pull over and spank you again!”

“No! I’m sorry, Rafe. This has all been a lot to deal with,” Max said quietly.

“Which is why I’m cutting you some slack, but you’d do well to remember my patience is not endless, young lady,” he said as he pulled up in front of her apartment building. “You get along inside and I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty sharp in the morning.”

Max nodded. “Thank you for the ride.” She got down carefully from her seat to keep from jolting her bottom unduly and made her way inside. Rafe watched her until the light in her apartment came on before pulling away from the curb.

Part of her was relieved he hadn’t walked her to the door but another part was disappointed; what if he’d walked her to the door and kissed her senseless? Then he could have rubbed the sting out of her bottom until she was purring and ready to give herself completely to him.

Max shook her head, irritated with herself. “That’s a stupid fantasy, Max! Give it up; you will never be the type of girl a guy like Rafe would be interested in.” Feeling she’d sufficiently reined in the romantic side of her nature, Max quickly stripped her clothing and climbed into bed. It had been a very long day and all she wanted to do was sleep and escape from the burning pain in her bottom and her silly longings.

Chapter Three

Maxine was dressed and ready well before the time Rafe appointed for her to be waiting on the curb. As she met her own eyes in the mirror, she began to panic.

She didn’t see how she would ever be able to face Rafe again. Not only did she rear-end him, he’d rear-ended her in the worst way by delivering a thorough spanking.

Max knew the real problem wasn’t even the spanking; she was barely even sore this morning, which she would never have believed possible last night. The real problem was he’d seen her bare bottom.

All Max could think about was all of the bottoms he’d seen before. Probably model bottoms, homecoming queen bottoms, beauty queen bottoms; she knew her big, wiggly, fleshy bottom would be no comparison to all the stellar bottoms that had gone before. It was humiliating to think how wanting he would have found her posterior.

Added to the fact he now knew all about her favorite reading material and there was no way she’d ever show her face again.

“I’ll just have to resign,” Max told her reflection morosely.

Fifteen minutes later the doorbell rang. Max had no doubt who she would find on the other side of the door. She should have been obediently standing on the curb ten minutes ago.

“Maxine! Front and center!” His commanding voice came through the door loud and clear.

“I’ve decided to resign. It’s the best for everyone all the way around,” she called back through the door.

“I’m disappointed in you, Maxine. I never figured you for a coward,” was his only reply. Then nothing, Max listened at the door for any sounds to indicate he was still there. Looking through the peephole revealed only an empty hallway. Perversely, Max was disappointed and a little disgruntled he’d given up so easily.

With a sniff she cracked open the door and stuck her head out to see if he was really gone. Max nearly fell out into the hall when the door was suddenly pulled all the way open.

“Good, you’re dressed for work. Grab your purse and let’s go.”

“I… I’m not going. I’m going to turn in my resignation effective immediately.”

“You’ll do nothing of the sort; I’m trying to be patient this morning, Maxine, but you’re skating on thin ice. Get your purse and let’s go.” Rafe looked down at her and the look in his eye told her in no uncertain terms where things would end up if she continued to be difficult.

Max sighed before running inside to grab her purse and following him submissively out to the truck.

Once they were on the road, Rafe looked over to where Max sat looking pensively out the window. “It will all be all right, Maxine.”

Horrified, Max felt tears come to her eyes at the tenderly spoken words. She wanted so badly to believe what he said was true.

“We just need to deal with one other little issue and you can start again with a fresh slate. We both can,” Rafe said almost conversationally.

She looked over at him in confusion. “What other little issue?”

He raised that infernal brow again. “The little issue of neglecting your job duties to read at your desk for the last few weeks.”

“What!?!” She sat straight up, her face flushing with embarrassment and alarm.

Rafe smiled indulgently. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Tom talked to me about the decline in your productivity and asked me to get to the bottom of things. I’ve been watching you, young lady; I just didn’t understand your fascination with the new phone until I found it on your floorboard on a spanking story.”

“Do you plan to embarrass me for the rest of my life?” she asked crossly. Everything he said was true but the word ‘spanking’ wasn’t something you said out loud, especially to someone else. It was private! The way he kept saying ‘spanking’ and ‘spanking stories’ so cavalierly made her feel almost as naked as when her bottom had been across his lap the night before.

“Were you or were you not reading spanking stories at work, young lady?”

“Stop saying that!” she screeched.

“Stop saying what?”

“Sp… spanking,” she whispered.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Maxine. Spanking is not a dirty word.”

“Shhh.” Max closed her eyes and wondered why she couldn’t ever succumb to the vapors and faint. It would be a great way to escape the current conversation.

“Besides, tonight I’m going to be doing a lot more than saying it,” Rafe stated matter-of-factly.

Her eyes flew open and she stared across the seat at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean after work I expect you to present yourself at my office ready to be disciplined for reading instead of working the last few weeks.”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said in disbelief.

“I think you know good and well I’m not kidding. little girl. Did the spanking I delivered last night feel like I was kidding?”

“Bu-but that was in the heat of the moment… a one-off kind of thing… not something that will happen again,” she babbled, and then catching sight of his knowing smirk, Max snapped at him, “I will not allow you to spank me again!”

Rafe merely smiled as he pulled into a parking space. “I wasn’t asking your permission, Maxine. I was just explaining what was expected of you. You’ll find things go a lot easier if you obey me and take what you’ve earned.”

Max looked at him like he’d sprouted another head and finally just climbed down from the cab without a word and hurried into the building.

At 4:35 p.m., Max called and ordered a cab; promptly at 5 p.m. she shut down her computer and walked to the front of the building where the cabbie waited. She felt good about the quantity and quality of work she’d completed today. Maybe it would make up some for the lackadaisical attitude she’d exhibited of late.

As for presenting herself to Rafe for punishment, Max decided he had no right to expect anything of the kind. He wasn’t her boss in any way, shape, or form. He was simply the head of security and she didn’t have to answer to him. The note she left on a sticky pad on her desk said as much.