There were two things on Maggie and Stephen’s collective minds; their wedding and the attack Maggie had suffered from a disturbed co-worker. There wasn’t much more to be said about the attack so they were both focusing on the wedding. Maggie was still in psychological flight mode and wanted to just go to Reno. Stephen was having none of it.

"But Stephen, we could just go to Nevada and get quietly married! I’ll even have a reception when we get back if you want! I just don’t have the energy right now to plan something!" Maggie looked and sounded tired. It had been a week since the attack and Maggie still wasn’t sleeping well.

"Mags, in the first place we can keep it simple. But I want your family’s blessing, especially your brothers’. Call it being old fashioned, but going to Nevada feels like we have something to hide. I want EVERYONE to know and celebrate that you have agreed to be my wife. Besides, you haven’t met my mother and sister—trust me, we’d never hear the end of it." Stephen was standing in the kitchen watching Maggie cook another dinner she probably wouldn’t eat.

"All right. But it’s going to take at least a month and cost you plenty, buster." Maggie was pulling out the stops in the hope she could deter Stephen from this particular idea.

"No problem. Let me know how much you need. And I am more than willing to help."

Later that night, Stephen was working on the computer and thinking about their conversation. He hadn’t shared with Maggie the other reason he wasn’t ready to go to Reno. The night of the attack, he had told her that she was due for some serious discipline for not telling him about the obscene phone calls. Stephen decided they had to get that over with before the wedding. He wanted Maggie to fully understand what she was committing herself to and what would happen when she willfully crossed him. This was not going to be easy on either of them. But they both had to know now, before they made their vows.

Stephen also wanted some real privacy. This was going to be as intimate to their relationship as making love and he didn’t want interruptions of any kind. He also wanted to make sure Maggie couldn’ t walk out. He was a little worried this might damage or end their relationship, but it was important enough to him to take the risk.

So, the next Wednesday, Stephen casually told Maggie he had rented a cabin in the woods for the weekend. He didn’t volunteer the information that he planned to punish her, but he wouldn’t have denied it if she had asked. Lord knew, he didn’t want to give her anything else to worry about…she might never sleep or eat again. They both arranged for Friday afternoon off and left for the mountains in the early afternoon. It was a good three hour drive and neither of them particularly had much to say. The motion of the truck actually lulled Maggie into taking a nap, and Stephen wasn’t about to wake her up.

Finally, Stephen did wake Maggie up when he reached the turnoff to the cabin. The directions were a bit obscure and he needed her to help him find the place. After wandering the back roads for a good hour, they came upon the cabin. It was more of a house than a cabin and the satellite dish indicated they at least had television. According to the real estate agent, there was a natural hot spring located close to the cabin, which Stephen wanted to investigate. He had packed lots of junk food so that Maggie wouldn’t spend the weekend cooking. And of course, lots of good beer.

They unpacked the truck and made up the bed. After a quick snack, Stephen decided a trip to the hot spring was in order. He hadn’ t told Maggie about the pool and decided it would be more fun to surprise her. So, when he suggested a walk, Maggie was somewhat indifferent, but agreed.

When they came upon the pool, it was like something out of a romance novel. The ground around the pool was mossy and it was shaded by tall evergreen trees. Maggie wouldn’t have been surprised to have a deer walk up and join them. She was thrilled.

"Oh, Stephen. It’s gorgeous!"

"Oh, baby—I was hoping you’d like it. Come on! Time for a skinny dip!" Stephen was reaching for his shirt to strip it off.

"Stephen! It’s too cold! We’ll freeze! Besides what if someone comes by?"

"Feel the water." Stephen said with a smug, male grin.

"Oh! It’s warm!" Maggie got into the spirit of the thing and began shedding her own clothes. Stephen beat her into the pool, but he enjoyed watching her undress. Stephen had been slowly replacing Maggie’ s underwear with racy, high cut, silky panties. He immediately got hard when she took off her jeans and revealed the particularly sexy red ones he’d bought her. Stephen had decided tonight was for them and tomorrow was for punishment.

When Maggie finally walked toward the pool, she was feeling powerful and sexy. God she loved this man! Only Stephen would make a frumpy middle aged divorcee feel hormonal and attractive. She decided to show him just how sexy she was feeling and became the aggressor in a game of water tag. Of course, she spent most of her time rubbing Stephen’s manhood and making sure her breasts were either eye level or teasing Stephen’ s chest with hard, erect nipples. Finally, when Stephen could take no more, he laid on the mossy bank and helped Maggie take the lead in a long, sensuous love making session. When they were both sated and relaxed, they dressed and walked back to the cabin. Then they showered together, drying each other off with towels or tongues, whichever seemed appropriate at the time. They made slow passionate love, Stephen bringing Maggie to climax with his tongue and following with his cock.

Secretly, Stephen was fairly impressed with both himself and Maggie….twice in one night. Not bad for a couple of middle aged folks. They fell into bed and Maggie slept soundly for the first time since the attack.

The next morning, Maggie was up at the crack of dawn and flipping channels on the TV. She settled on an old black and white movie, sipping coffee and trying not to fall back into the funk she’d been in since the attack. It made no sense to her—why was she so down in the dumps when things had turned out reasonably well. OK, she admitted to herself…there was the small issue of not telling Stephen. He walked around her like she was porcelain and even though he had threatened to punish her he hadn’t. It was stupid and immature for her to feel this way, but somehow, she didn’ t feel like she had made her peace with Stephen. Maggie sipped her coffee and then put her shoulders back. Enough was enough…she needed to settle things with Stephen. And the sooner the better.

Maggie marched into the bedroom. Stephen was sprawled on the bed, as usual taking up 90% of the space. He was also dead asleep, but Maggie had finally put her finger on the problem and wanted it solved. NOW!

"Damn you, Stephen Crammer!" Maggie stood at the foot of the bed arms akimbo.

"What? HUH?" Stephen never woke up particularly fast and being jarred out of a deep sleep was more than a little unnerving.

"You said you were going to paddle me! Why the hell haven’t you?" Maggie was incensed, although the rational part of her brain thought it a little odd that she was bitching Stephen out for not spanking her.

Stephen looked at her with puzzled eyes. What had happened in that active little mind now? "Maggie…give me a minute to wake up and we’ll talk. At least let me get some coffee." Stephen stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom. Then he wandered into the kitchen looking for his coffee, wearing comfortable jeans and a T-shirt. Maggie was pacing in the living room, nervous but excited as well. She was tired of feeling depressed and not being able to sleep.

Stephen walked in, and sat on the couch. "OK…tell me why you are upset with me."

Maggie twisted her hands. "I know this sounds really stupid, but it feels like something has changed between us. The night of the attack, you told me you were going to punish me for not telling you, but then you’ve been treating me with kid gloves. You haven’t been ordering me around like you normally do. It feels weird." Maggie never did well when emotions were involved and even to her ears, she sounded like she was a few fries short of a happy meal.

Stephen looked at her. He tried really, really hard not to laugh. Then, his lips started twitching and it got a way from him. "Oh my God! This is hysterical!" Stephen said between guffaws. Finally, he got himself under control, wiped the tears from his eyes and saw that Maggie was standing across the room looking madder than a wet bandy hen.

"I’m so glad I could amuse you, you son of a bitch!" Maggie started stomping past Stephen and into the bedroom. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that she would be in grabbing distance as she made her exit. Stephen grabbed her T-shirt, pulling her into his lap. He held her firmly, waiting until she had stopped struggling to talk to her. Maggie’s Irish temper had already gotten the best of her.

"If you think I’m going to marry you now, you asshole, you have another think coming!" Maggie was wiggling frantically, trying to get away. Of course, all it was doing for Stephen was arousing him, since Maggie’ s bottom was massaging his cock in the most inappropriate ways.

"Now, Mags…let’s watch the language and the threats. You don’t want to make this even worse, now do you?"

"What the hell do you mean? I’m going home. I’m not staying one more minute with you." Maggie was incensed. She’d bared her soul and Stephen had laughed!

Stephen decided it would be awhile before Maggie was ready to listen. He might as well get this started and use it as an opportunity to get Maggie’s complete attention. He deftly flipped her over so that she was face down on his lap. Unfortunately, she was facing the wrong way, so Stephen would have to paddle left-handed, but he knew he was a capable fellow and could rise the challenge.

SMACK!! SMACK!! SMACK!! SMACK!! SMACK!!

Stephen started paddling Maggie over her panties. She was wiggling and struggling, but Stephen was much stronger.

SLAPPP!!! SMACK!! SLAPPP!!! SMACK!! SMACK!! SMACK!!

"Now you listen to me you little hellion! I’ve been trying to be considerate! I should have blistered your butt the next day like I wanted to but I thought you needed some space to deal with things. I thought I would be a 90’ s kind of guy and show some sensitivity. As always with you, I should have gone with my first instincts!"

Stephen settled into just soundly spanking her. He covered her bottom, making sure he covered each inch of that cute ass. He wasn’t paddling hard, more doing a very thorough warm up. Maggie was more mad than uncomfortable, and Stephen kept at it until he was sure he had her attention. Finally, he stopped, but didn’t let her up.

"Alright, little girl! Now, we are going to get to your punishment. You should have told me about the calls. Taking care of you is my business, and from now on, you will damn well do as your told where your safety is concerned. You get your bottom in the corner and think about why you are being punished. I will expect a full apology before we continue this."

Stephen helped Maggie to her feet and watched as she walked to the corner. She put her hands on her bottom and Stephen could tell she was thinking about rubbing, and then decided against it.

Maggie was completely convinced she had totally lost her mind. She was mad at Stephen for not spanking her? This hurt like hell and it sounded like there was more in store for her. But, Maggie had always been brutally honest with herself. And when she thought how she would feel if Stephen kept something important from her, she could see why he was upset. That coupled with Stephen’ s natural protective streak made for a highly flammable situation. Maggie was pretty ashamed of herself. She wondered if Stephen really could forgive her.

Stephen refilled his coffee cup and returned to the living room. He sat down and turned on the television. He already knew how he intended to punish his Maggie, so it was a matter of giving her time to think about her sins. A baseball game was moderately distracting, so he watched the game while keeping half an eye on his errant fiancée.

Maggie was starting to wiggle and Stephen decided she was ready to get on with this. "Maggie—Come here." Stephen said sternly.

Maggie turned and from her tear stained face, Stephen knew she had been crying during her corner time. She walked toward him.

"Now, Margaret. Tell me why you are being punished." Stephen was not giving an inch or being at all conciliatory, because he never wanted to be as scared again as the night Maggie had been attacked. If playing the martinet was what it took to bring her to heel, then so be it.

"Because I didn’t tell you about the obscene phone calls. I snif…..I should have trusted you." Maggie was softly crying and Stephen was convinced she truly did feel bad about deceiving him.

"That’s right. You should have trusted me. And I’m going to punish you for making a bad situation worse by not telling me. I want you to go in the bedroom and in my bag is a wooden paddle. Bring the paddle to me."

Maggie’s eyes got big. This sounded very serious and Maggie had the sudden realization that Stephen’ s punishments up to this point had been moderate compared to what she would experience today. She slowly walked into the bedroom looking for Stephen’s bag and finding it, reached inside to find a paddle which looked like a Ping-Pong paddle but which was much more sturdy. Maggie momentarily wondered if she could make it out the back door and to the truck before he could catch her. But truth to tell, she did deserve this. She had been stupid in the extreme and worse, had failed to trust a man who richly deserved her love and respect. She picked up the paddle and walked resolutely back into the living room.

"Stephen?" Maggie stood in her T-shirt and panties, looking very much like a little girl.

"Yes?" Stephen wondered what she was thinking now.

"You’re right. I deserve to be punished. And I’m sorry I didn’t trust you." Maggie sounded so sad it tore at Stephen’s heart.

"Then come here." He sat back down on the couch and Maggie meekly laid herself over his lap after handing him the paddle. Stephen positioned her, pulled her panties down and began paddling. He had decided not to lecture her. He started with strong strokes and made sure he covered all of her bottom.

WHAP!!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!!

"Ouch! Oh God! OWWWWWW!!!!!" Maggie cried.

Stephen admired the color of her bottom. But he didn’t think he was ready to stop quite yet.

WHAP!! SMACK!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHACK!! SWACK!!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHAP!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!! WHACK!!

He paused. Maggie had been reduced to sobs. Her bottom was red and swollen. He held her over his lap for a minute and then decided to get the rest of the punishment over with.

"Maggie…get up." He helped her up. Her panties were around her thighs, and her face was as swollen as her bottom.

"Step out of your panties" Stephen ordered. Maggie gingerly stepped out of them. Stephen handed her his pocket knife. "I want you to go out and cut a switch. Then bring it in to me."

Maggie looked at Stephen. "Shit!" she thought. She’d known Stephen was pissed but this was almost beyond belief. "Uh…Stephen? Is that really necessary? I’m really, really sorry…" Maggie sobbed, truly afraid she couldn’t take the switch.

Stephen wondered who was being punished in this situation. This was as hard on him as it was on her. But, he had thought a lot about the issue and decided on a punishment which he was determined to carry out.

"No, Maggie. I want you to understand how important your safety is to me. So move that red little butt of yours."

Maggie went out the door and Stephen wondered if she realized she was bare assed. He got a straight chair from the dining area and placed it in the center of the living room. A few minutes later, Maggie sheepishly came in and handed him both the pocket knife and the switch.

"I want you to bend over the back of the chair and put your hands on the seat. My only demand is that you not move. You can scream or cry as loud as you want, but you aren’t to get out of position. Understand?"

"Snif..Yes" Maggie sounded pitiful in the extreme. But she was also determined not to embarrass herself. She bent over the back of the chair, and gripped the seat firmly.

"I’m only giving you six, because your bottom is pretty sore and I think you honestly are sorry. But if I have to correct you again for something similar, it will go much harder on your naughty bottom." Stephen gritted his teeth, because Maggie’s bottom was as splotched and red as her face.

SWISH!! The first one landed smack in the middle of her bottom.

"SHIT! Shit…shit…..shit……..sob!" Maggie could not believe the sting. It felt like her bottom had a strip of fire running across it.

SWOOOSH!! Stephen aimed the second one across the roundest part of her bottom.

"AUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" Maggie was REALLY in distress and didn’t care who knew it.

Stephen thanked God he hadn’t promised twelve…he’d never make it.

SWISSSHHH!!! The third one landed right at the crease between her bottom and her thighs.

"STOP!!! OH GOD! PLEASE STOP!" Maggie was not only screaming loud enough to wake the dead, she was wiggling trying to stop the pain. But to her credit, her hands never left the chair.

SWOOSH!! The fourth was right on the top of her thighs.

"SOBBB!!!" Maggie had been reduced to inarticulate crying.

Stephen paused a moment, He wanted to give Maggie a moment to compose herself. But he also wanted to have his say.

"Margaret….Don’t you ever pull a stunt like this again. Not telling me is the same as lying and I won’t have lies between us. Once I finish this, you can consider yourself forgiven and I won’t ever mention it again."

Stephen stood back and aimed.

SWISH!! He wasn’t even sure where he ended up putting this one. Maggie’s ass looked like hamburger. He just wanted this over.

SWOOSH!! The last one landed toward the thighs.

Maggie bent across the chair, amazed at the sting of the switch. The other paddlings she’d received had been minor in comparison. But, she also felt good in a perverse way. Stephen must still care about her and his strength gave her a comforting security. She wanted to stand up, but decided to wait until Stephen told her to.

"OK, Maggie. You can stand up. I want you to come into the kitchen with me. But no rubbing!"

Maggie stood up and followed him into the kitchen. Stephen moved the table back so there was room in the corner. "Now, put your hands on your head and your nose in the corner while I fix breakfast." Maggie did as she was told. She was exhausted but felt better than she had since the attack.

She could hear Stephen moving around the kitchen and the aroma of cooking eggs and sausage tempted her stomach. Finally, after an age, or what seemed like one, Stephen summoned her from the corner.

"Come here, you little minx." Stephen was standing in the middle of the kitchen, his arms open. Maggie walked into them, knowing this was where she belonged.

Maggie couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy. And being Maggie, she said her vows with tears of happiness running down her perfectly made up face. And Stephen being Stephen, he momentarily panicked thinking she was unhappy. He looked back at Ted who smiled and shook his head, one of those moments of perfect male communication.

And when Father David pronounced them man and wife, Maggie knew Stephen had been right that long ago night in the parking lot.