Alicia Ch. 06

October slipped into November, and Alicia and I settled into a routine. We were generally a very settled couple. We both had careers to pursue, and we needed a routine in order to accomplish that. Most people would have called us "normal" except that hard spanking was an integral part of our relationship.

For the time being, we kept our relationship a secret to all but a few close friends. I chose not to tell anyone. I had no close friends at that hospital anyway. Alicia told a couple of friends, including a nurse that she worked with. We both felt that in the rather tight community of a hospital, it was better if personal relationships, especially between physicians and hospital staff, were kept private. I agreed.

No doubt about it, I was in love with Alicia. I was glad to move in with her and take over the duties of caring for her and her household. We had been together for about six weeks, and I felt happier than I had in years. Alicia, I believe, felt the same, though she didn't mention it. After the first night we were officially living together, she rarely told me she loved me.

On workdays, our morning routine went something like this: I usually got up first, at least half an hour earlier that Alicia. I started coffee, grabbed a quick shave and shower, then went in to start breakfast. Alicia got up after me, took a shower, and then ate breakfast.

After breakfast, I helped her dress and did her hair. She wasn't fussy; it usually only required combing out and a little spray. Alicia did her own makeup. While she did that, I got dressed for work. She usually left for work at about 6:45. I left shortly afterwards, after straightening up the house.

Our routine on days off was slightly different. Although I still usually got up earlier, we tended to stay in bed longer. Sometimes we made love. Sometimes we went out for breakfast.

We had a nightly routine as well. My shift at the hospital ran from 7:30 until 4:00. I usually got home at about 4:30. Alicia's time getting home tended to vary, depending on whether or not she had call, or if there were critical patients that required her presence. Since I worked at the hospital also, I usually had an idea of when to expect her.

When Alicia walked through the door, I usually dropped what I was doing to attend to her. I could tell in the first few minutes of her being home what kind of mood she was in. If she was in a good mood, she would generally grab me around the waist and kiss me, sometimes giving my ass a little pat. If she was in a bad mood, she left me alone. In either case, I would help her get into more comfortable clothes, and get her something to drink. Then she would read, listen to music, or talk to me while I made dinner.

Dinner was our special meal of the day. I did my best to make it as enjoyable as possible. Over dinner, we talked about work--some, but mostly about anything else. As she had explained to me before, Alicia's first choice for a career had not been medicine. She was not obsessed with it. She enjoyed talking about other things much more. So we talked about books and movies, politics, people we knew, what kind of vacations we wanted to take, and other things that people newly in love talk about.

After dinner, we watched television or a movie until it was time to go to bed. Alicia sometimes liked a bath at night, and I was glad to bathe her. It was a good way to settle her down, especially if she'd had a rough day at the hospital. It was also a good way to get us both ready for sex.

It always amazed me how beautiful Alicia's skin was; how her coloring came together so well. Her red hair, green eyes, and creamy complexion really did it for me. Even the lips of her sex were a delicate pink, and her nipples were only a shade darker. I loved taking care of such a big, beautiful woman.

My cooking was probably a factor in Alicia's gaining a little weight. At six feet even and one hundred eighty-five pounds, she was a big woman. In the first six weeks of our relationship, she gained seven pounds. At first, she seemed upset, and threatened to take it out of my hide, but then she adjusted. I began watching our calories carefully, and she stabilized.

There was one other duty that I insisted on doing: Alicia's breast exams. When I asked her about self-examining her breasts, she admitted to doing it rarely, if ever. So, I began carefully examining her every month, if not more often.

When we were both ready for bed, I usually laid out, of all things, a flannel sleepshirt for Alicia. It was winter, after all, and she didn't like to be cold. I, however, usually wore only a tee shirt to bed. Alicia liked to be able to touch me whenever and wherever she wanted.

Before climbing into bed, I made sure the doors were locked, set the burglar alarms and alarm clocks, and turned off the lights.

Then, if Alicia was feeling sexy, which she often was, she would pat her lap and say, "Here, let me have a look at you." I would crawl across her lap and she would inspect my bottom. If I had healed sufficiently from the last spanking, she would give me another. Then, she would allow me to slip off her nightshirt, and we would make love.

These evening spankings were not the hard, angry spankings that I sometimes got when she was taking out her work frustrations on me. They were my mistress' way of expressing her love for me, and fulfilling one of my needs. They usually just warmed my ass up, and made me an even more eager lover than I usually was.

Alicia was my dominant, but she was my lover as well. We were each in the relationship to meet a need in the other. I needed to be loved, dominated, and spanked--hard. I also needed to care for someone. Alicia was a women of strong physical and emotional needs. She operated best when her emotional needs were met. That is, she needed to feel loved, but she also needed to have the upper hand in her relationships. In addition, I was happy to provide for her physical care. This included her body care, her meals, and the maintenance of her surroundings. It also included the vigorous and loving sex that she demanded, and that I was perfectly willing to provide for her.

The spankings that I received provided the vital link between us. They provided Alicia with tangible proof that she was in control. She could touch me any way that she wanted. I could be caressed or spanked at her pleasure. They also provided me with proof of who actually controlled the relationship. Spanking gave me a sense of security. I knew what my boundaries were. I felt very loved when my ass was sore from a spanking. I was usually spanked for about three reasons: I was spanked as a prelude to sex. This could be a light or hard spanking, depending on how excited Alicia was. I was spanked when I made some mistake in the running of the house, or when I annoyed her in some way. Lastly, I was sometimes spanked when she'd had a bad day at work, and needed to vent her anger. These were the hardest spankings of all, and Alicia was usually contrite afterwards.

If there was a limiting factor in all this, it was the condition of my bottom. Alicia told me early on that she might mark me, but that she would not bruise me or draw blood. Her spanking of me, and my acceptance of it, were expressions of love. Beating me would have not have been the affectionate gesture that spanking was. Also, I was never hit on the face, only on the bottom.

Before I was spanked, I was thoroughly examined by Alicia. If I was marked too much, she laid off me until I healed. I told her that it wasn't really necessary. I had really developed a high tolerance for the pain but, she refused to spank if I was marked up too badly.

* * *

As the Thanksgiving holiday approached, Alicia and I decided to take a weekend trip together. Alicia liked the shore, so we decided that we would go to Sunset Beach, a rather little-known beach near the South Carolina border. I had been there years before with a old girlfriend of mine, and had really liked it. As a rule, it was nearly deserted at this time of the year. It would be very private.

We left on a Friday afternoon. The weather was clear and cool, a perfect late November day. We chose a route that would take us through the country, preferring back roads over the more direct interstate. On the way, we listed to music on the radio and talked. Alicia hinted to me that we might try a few different things that weekend.

The house that we had rented sat right on the beach. It was a beautiful two-bedroom affair with a full kitchen and fireplace. It was also expensive, which was why I never could have afforded it for us on the money I made. I said as much to Alicia.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I wanted someplace nice. Besides, you pay your share."

By the time we got settled in, it was dark outside. As I bustled around in the kitchen preparing dinner, Alicia sat at the counter and watched me. I had poured her some wine, a nice chablis, and she was starting to mellow a little.

"I've never felt like this before," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've never had anyone who stuck it out with me for so long. How long have we been together, Phillip?"

"Oh, about eleven weeks, I guess."

"Getting tired of me?" she asked.

"No way," I said. "I'm just starting to learn about you."

"Good," she said. "You know, I think that you were born to take care of people. You have such a caregiver's attitude. I certainly appreciate the way that you take care of me and my house."

"I believe that I was born to take care of you, Mistress," I said.

Over dinner, I noticed that she seemed tired. We talked, but her eyes kept drooping a little. The hospital had been really busy, and she'd often worked late. After dinner, she dozed in front of the fire I made.

"Come on, Mistress, you need to go to bed," I said, pulling her to her feet.

She got up and hugged me, mumbling, "Faithful Phillip, always taking care of me."

I skillfully undressed her and put her in her favorite flannel nightshirt, then tucked her in. Then, I spent the next hour reading in front of the fireplace. I could just barely hear the wind whistling around the eaves of the house. It was cold outside, but it was warm inside.

I thought about my relationship with Alicia. I had had other girlfriends, of course. But I had never made the connection with them that I had made with Alicia. Alicia and I seemed to fit together perfectly, at least from my perspective. She had been right, I had a caregiver's mentality. I felt best when I was taking care of someone. I also needed a strong personality in my life. I needed someone who could love me, guide me, and punish me if I screwed up. Alicia filled the bill perfectly. However, as we grew closer I came to realize that, as much as I needed Alicia, she also needed me.

I undressed down to a tee shirt and no underwear, the way Alicia liked me, and got into bed. The bedroom was dark and quiet. All I could hear were the sounds of Alicia's steady breathing and the wind outside. Everything seemed so perfect for us right now. I hoped that it would never end and never change.