Answering to Him (Old-Fashioned Husband) by Dinah McLeod Read Free Book Online

all my spiteful words deserted me at the quelling look he gave me. I bowed my head submissively and didn’t look up until I heard him leave the room.
    Once I’d been left alone, I didn’t know what to do with myself. What was I supposed to do? Dust? File my nails? Of course, Oliver had said that I should think about my behavior as of late, but really… I didn’t want to. I didn’t know what was wrong me, so how could I explain it to him? If I knew why I was being so bratty, I would tell him.
    He was right, I reflected. This wasn’t like me. I was normally so slow to anger and while I didn’t possess the wellspring of calm that Oliver did, I normally chose my words more carefully. What was going on with me? I closed my eyes for a second, rubbing at my pounding temples. The minute my eyes were shut, I saw a hand in my mind’s eye, rising and falling with a thwack on an upturned bottom.
    A jolt of nervous energy shot through me, and my eyes flew open. Was that it? I wondered. Was it the spanking? It was something I’d longed for my entire life, but maybe I just couldn’t handle it in reality. The thought of never being spanked again, though… I just didn’t know what to think. I leapt to my feet and began to pace.
    By the time Oliver came back to our room, I had polished the bedroom furniture, cleaned the toilet bowl, and practically worn a hole into the carpet with my pacing. He took it all in with a glance before walking past me and sitting on the bed. I waited until he signaled for me to join him, which he did by patting his knee.
    I walked toward him, but stopped just before I got to his knees. “Hello.”
    “Come here, Alicia.”
    Yikes! From the first, he wasn’t taking no for an answer. Who was this man?
    “It looks like you’ve been busy in here,” he observed.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “I told you to think about your speeding, not clean,” he reminded me, not unkindly.
    “I know. I did, I was just… nervous.”
    Oliver seemed quizzical. “Nervous about what? Since when is talking to me cause to be nervous?”
    “It’s not you,” I assured him, taking a deep breath. “It’s me.”
    “I guessed that much,” he teased, sliding a hand around my waist. He used the other to tickle my ribs, but I wasn’t in the mood for games, and I pushed his hand away.
    “Can you be serious, please?”
    “I thought you said I’m too serious,” he reminded me.
    I sighed. “I did, but… I need you to listen to me. This is hard enough as it is.”
    The smile faded from his lips, and I tried to pull away, but Oliver held me tightly against him. I buried my face into his chest, breathing with difficulty. “Out with it, baby. You’re scaring me.”
    The words made me laugh, but it sounded hollow to my own ears. “I’ve been thinking…”
    “Mm-hmm?”
    “What do you think about… I mean, would you ever… would you feel better about the tickets if you spanked me?” The words came out of me in a rush. As soon as they were out there, I bit my lip hard to keep from saying anything else that would embarrass me. I listened to the rhythmic thudding of my husband’s heart as I waited for his answer. It soothed me somehow.
    “Do you want me to spank you?” he asked after what felt like an eternity.
    “I don’t know,” I mumbled miserably.
    Oliver pulled back from me and tilted my chin so that I met his eyes, however reluctantly. “Do you want me to?”
    “I really don’t know.”
    “Then why bring it up?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
    “I don’t know!” I burst out. “This whole spanking thing… it’s something I’ve wanted for so long!” Oliver seemed surprised by my words, but I rushed on before he could speak. “It’s stupid, but it’s something that I need . When you spanked me, I don’t know… I felt like I was a different person. Or…maybe I was finally becoming the woman I was always meant to be.”
    “O K,” he said slowly.
    I felt my heart sink. I could tell he didn’t get it. I