Sweet Salvation (17 page)

“Can’t this wait? It’s already after nine—”

“Jessica,” he snapped. “I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re late for a shift you weren’t even scheduled for. Now do as I asked and get your little ass over here.”

Usually calm and composed, Marc rarely let the F-bomb fly. His impatience was clear; she was unwilling to provoke him any further and she crossed the room to him—she wasn’t stupid. As she came to stand between his widespread legs, his hands rose to her hips and pulled her closer.

“I’m disappointed in you, Jessica. I know your job is important to you, but you promised when you took this promotion that it wouldn’t interfere with us. I know that hospital and if you don’t learn to set limits, it will suck the life out of you. I also know you are not the only nurse available to work extra. I suspect the real issue here is that you can’t say no—to a sick baby, a kid’s birthday party, or a romantic weekend getaway.”

Jessie blushed. Those were all reasons why she had picked up extra shifts for her staff in recent weeks. He was right; she couldn’t say no. For a manager, saying no was a double-edged sword. Like her, the nurses on her floor had boyfriends, families, and lives outside the hospital. It wasn’t easy juggling personal and professional obligations. The staff knew she was an easy touch, especially for the working moms, particularly the single ones who were struggling to be mom and dad as well as the sole breadwinner in the family. That hit too close to home. She didn’t want any of them to miss something important. Selfishly, she also worried about worst-case scenario, a disgruntled nurse quitting and leaving her in a bigger staffing hole.

“Your assistant, how many shifts has she picked up? How about the supervisors, are they working 70-80 hour weeks?”

“Well, no… but—” Looking down, she watched his hands move over her body. They curved around her hips, his big thumbs idly stroking half-circles on her belly. She loved his hands.

“No buts, dammit, you do this all the time. You take on more than anyone else because you can’t say no, even outside of the hospital.”

“That’s not true.” Her voice was distant, as she watched his hands—a surgeon’s hands—so capable and precise.

“It is and I want you to start setting limits.”

His long, broad, talented fingers felt so good against her skin. She imagined him taking off her clothes. He said he loved to undress her. Said it made him feel like a kid at Christmas, anticipating the peeling back of the pretty paper, ribbons, and bows to get to the treasure beneath.

“Jess.”

“Mmm?” Distracted, she could almost feel those hands moving across her naked skin, plucking her nipples, spanking her bottom, separating her thighs, readying her before sliding deep inside—

“Jessica. Pay attention. This is serious.” His authoritative voice interrupted her erotic thoughts.

“Sorry.”

“Here’s what I want you to do today. I want you to call your director and schedule a time to meet about staffing. Use the staffing pool, have human resources find you some extra nurses, hold a job fair, whatever it takes. You can’t continue to be the backup plan for every nurse on the floor who wants time off. Then I want you to work on your schedule and get back to the rotation they promised you. No extra shifts unless you run it by me first, do you understand?”

That brought her out of her sensual fog. “What? I’m not a child who has to get permission, Marc. I’m a professional. Besides, I’m responsible for that unit. I can’t leave it short staffed because my boyfriend won’t allow it. They’ll fire me.”

“You either abide by our agreement or you quit and come work for me. I’m putting my foot down, Jessica.”

There it was, the ultimatum she’d been expecting and dreading. She didn’t like it. Retreat seemed the safest tactic at the moment, before she said something she’d regret. “I’ve got to go. Is there anything else?”

“Yes, you can watch your tone while you put yourself over my knee.”

“What on earth for?”

“I have several reasons.” Without pause, his hands gripped her loose scrub pants and pulled them down to her knees.

“Marc! I really don’t have time for this.”

“Again, I don’t care.” His thumbs hooked in the waistband of her panties, which went the way of her pants, bunching up around her knees and effectively hobbling her legs together. “The reason for this spanking,” he said, as he lowered her over his knee, “is because you haven’t held up your end of the bargain with this promotion.”

He moved her forward, adjusting her so that her bottom was in the perfect position—cheeks high, thighs spread, exposed bottom arched high and taut—ready for his attention.

“Another reason is that I want your rosy bottom to be a reminder of the task I just assigned you. I don’t want you coming home with excuses that you were too busy and forgot to call your boss. That won’t fly with me, little girl.”

A sharp crack echoed throughout the room as the first swat landed soundly on one cheek. A split second later, an identical swat landed on her other cheek. Heat blazed across her skin. Usually, he gave her a few warm-up swats. His lack of preliminaries told Jessie how serious he was about this. He was getting right down to business. A punishment spanking from Marc typically meant a quick, no-nonsense trip over his knee. Once it began, there was no turning back. Today brought no surprises, at least in the beginning.

Four hard stinging slaps followed the first two in quick succession. The fire his hand was creating in her bottom also brought the sting of tears to her eyes and a dryness built, constricting her throat. She was in the wrong here and she knew it, despite her arguments to the contrary. In acknowledgement of her guilt, she lay across his thighs, quietly accepting his sentence while he applied another four swats to her increasingly tender butt.

After the twelfth searing blow he rested, or rather, he gave her a rest as his hand began gliding over her heated flesh, rubbing and squeezing. Was he done? He hadn’t told her the number he had in mind, just started laying into her naughty bottom. She hoped it was over, as she was already aroused and eager to move onto more pleasant matters. Hope turned to anticipation, her breath catching in her throat, when his fingers moved between her spread thighs and he began a gentle exploration. She knew she was soaked. It never failed. A spanking always aroused her, whether bringing pleasure or pain, if she was good or bad, as foreplay or punishment. She guessed it was her kink, and Marc preyed upon it to perfection.

Their lovemaking, although hot and steamy at a minimum, turned fiery and more passionate after a mutually enjoyable spanking, even one for punishment. Although not a common occurrence, she’d been spanked as a “corrective action” before. Yes, that’s what he’d called it in all seriousness—as well as “attitude adjustment” and “behavior modification”. She’d learned that if she took her spanking well, without sassing, kicking, or complaining, it was over quickly. She was forgiven and often rewarded with cuddles, kisses, and hot animal-like sex. Misbehavior during the spanking, however, earned her more and delayed her reward.

During one of her rebellious episodes, she’d kicked and cursed him with every breath. Her behavior had earned her triple the swats he’d intended and proved he wasn’t going to put up with bratty behavior. He’d scolded the whole while. Jessie had settled down toward the end, apologizing and submitting, which she knew she should have done from the beginning. Afterward, even though she’d been contrite, he’d stood her in a corner ‘for introspection’ anyway. Wow, that had been a shocker and a revelation. While standing in that insufferable corner for twenty minutes, her blazing butt bared and on display, she came to the realization that she would have rather had an encore performance of the spanking. Hating corner time, she decided then that it was in her best interest to avoid it, at all cost, in the future.

Usually limited to twelve spanks, she figured she had really ticked him off this time, when he began another dozen. The second round was similar to the first but not exactly. Swats landed on the swells of her bottom, but this time, he paused after just a few. At the sixteenth swat, he stopped to rub and caress her enflamed skin while he asked questions, requiring a verbal response.

“Why are you in this position,
cara
?”

“Because of my new job,” her voice trembled in answer. While her butt was burning, the discomfort wasn’t the source of her tears. It was her emotions, which she struggled to control. “I didn’t uphold our agreement.”

“That’s right.” Four more spanks followed before he paused again. How many was that now—twenty? He resumed his intermittent stroking and she squirmed beneath his hand, her tears threatening to overflow. She had been determined to get through it this time without blubbering like a baby—she hated that. Only four more and she was done. She would have made it too, if he hadn’t continued his interrogation, but his questions persisted.

“Why do you think I’m so upset by you breaking our agreement?”

With a shuddering breath, she managed to squeak out, “Because I’m gone so much.”

“Why would that bother me?”

Damn him, he knew exactly what he was doing. He had always said she kept things bottled up inside and that an emotional release of her tension would make her feel so much better. He’d suggested that a spanking could be therapeutic, by getting her to let go. He should have gone into psychiatry instead of bones.

A particularly stinging swat startled her, reminding her he was waiting for an answer.

“Why would that bother me, Jessie? I don’t begrudge you a career.”

“I’ll talk to my boss today,” she said with a sniffle.

“That doesn’t answer my question,
bella
.”

“You want to spend more time with me.”

“Why?”

“Because you miss me when I’m gone?”

“Yes, but why do I miss you?”

She knew where he was going with this and her voice broke with emotion as she announced with a sob, “Because you love me.”

“Yes,
bella mia
, I love you. You are more important to me than anything and I don’t intend for anything, even our careers, to keep us apart.”

The final four were always the worst, and this morning was no different. Delivered to her sit spots, these last four scorching blows would stay with her all day. Every time she bent to help a patient, or sat at the computer to chart, she would be reminded of this time over his lap, and how she felt at this very moment—loved. After all, that was his intention.

When he was done, he lifted her onto his lap and held her close. “I’m serious about this, Jessica. I’m tired of you practically living at that hospital. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she cried, succumbing to tears as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I want to be with you. That’s why we’re getting married, isn’t it, to spend our lives
together
?”

“Yes, I want that too, Marc. I swear.” Her voice was muffled as she wedged her tear-streaked face against his neck.

He held her as she cried. His big hand stroked her back as he murmured soft, heart-melting words of love and encouragement. Marc had spanked her several times before, usually for the same reason; putting their relationship in jeopardy. He said often that he was not going to have a cold, distant marriage and that he would take whatever measures were necessary to keep their union happy, intimate, and strong. The whole scene, even the spanking, served to make Jessie feel closer to Marc, as well as loved and cherished. Ironic that a spanking made her feel valued. As odd as that seemed, it was how she felt, and spanking usually settled her, as he called it, and got their usually accordant relationship back on track, like now. They cuddled close until Jessie’s phone intruded with a message alert.

“That’s Elaine.” Jess sniffled as she pushed away from his chest. She wiped at the wet spot her tears had left on his chest, reluctant to leave after such an emotional scene.

Marc grabbed her fingers and brought them to his mouth. “Let’s get you dressed and on your way.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know,
cara
. Let’s just fix this.”

He helped her off his lap. As she stood, her sore bottom brushed against his rigid erection, prompting a groan from him. Adjusting his cock in his too-restrictive lounge pants, Marc grunted, then pulled her in for one more hug, his hands gently caressing her warm backside.

An answering ache pulsed between her thighs and she squirmed, the movement causing her pants and panties to fall around her ankles. She kicked them free. What the heck, she thought, as she climbed back into his lap. I’m already late. What’s a few minutes more?

Straddling his thighs, she pulled his mouth to hers for a hungry kiss. “Make love to me, handsome,” she gasped when they parted for air.

“I thought you had to go?”

“I do, but I don’t care if I’m late anymore. I need you.”

His hand sank into her hair and with a firm twist gently angled her head enough for their eyes to meet. “You know this isn’t about sex, don’t you, Jess? I miss you,
cara
, not just your sweet pussy, I miss all of you.”

“You ‘ole charmer, you,” she teased with a weepy chuckle. “How can I resist when you say such romantic things.” She ground her slit against his rigid length, brushing her lips against his as she spoke, reassuring him. “I know it isn’t just about sex, handsome, but for now, can we pretend it’s all about my sweet pussy? Please?”

A rumbling growl emanated from deep within his chest. Jessie quivered as the vibrations transferred from his hard body to her much softer frame. He effortlessly flipped her onto the bed; the strength and power in such a move, the way he could position her, maneuver her, protect her, always sparked her desire and made her wet. If she’d been wearing panties, they’d have been drenched by now. She lay flat on her back, and with his strong hands easily spreading her legs wide, he entered her in one deep stroke. His hands pushed up her scrub top and bra, baring her breasts for his ravenous mouth as he rode her, setting a rapid pace with the pounding of his hips.

Arching her back, Jess drove her hands into his silky soft hair and clung to him. She groaned as he sucked her nipple, making it unbearably hard, before biting it gently. She writhed beneath him when his hand came up to play with the other rigid nub, rolling then pinching it between his thumb and forefinger. Unable to contain her frantic need, she came. The agonizing pleasure/pain at her nipples and the deep driving force of his cock was too much to bear as she convulsed around him in a stunning, shouting release.