Betsy - Reawakened Ch. 13

"I love you too," she sighed, eyeing the pingpong paddle he was holding in his right hand.

Her husband punished her for not following his rules. She'd done something sexual with Joel, which was fine. But she'd waited far too long for Darren's liking to inform him. She was supposed to tell him within a day. She'd waited two. For that, she got her ass blistered with the paddle.

It wasn't a precursor to sex, like part of some kind of bondage session they dabbled in from time to time. They'd already had sex. This was straight discipline. She got on all fours, put her face in a pillow, and sobbed uncontrollably as Darren paddled her cheeks until they were a shade of deep red, bordering on purple. He hadn't given her a number of swats, or a duration of time... something tangible that would let her know when the end was nearing. He paddled her until he knew for certain that she'd learned her lesson. As she'd put it when she'd basically challenged him to keep her in check, he didn't stop until he knew she was centered again.

She tried not to let it show, but it was difficult to walk. And wearing clothes, even just a bikini bottom, was irritating to her sensitive skin. There was no denying her ass hurt, but it wasn't something that was going to keep her from doing the things she set out to do, or in this case, needed to do.

Looking at her son, she went into mother mode and asked, "Where did you say you're off to?"

"The lot. Jimmy is getting a game together."

"Did you eat?"

"Rice Krispies."

"Okay. Be home by dinner."

"I will," he said as he lifted his banana-seat bike off the cement of the carport.

"Neil, I've talked to you about using the kickstand."

He was fitting the strap of the glove over one of the handles, when he said, "Awe, mom. Nobody uses a kickstand. Most of my friends don't even have them. I get teased when I use it."

"Really? Teased?"

"Uh huh. I... I'll use it at home. I promise. But please don't make me do it around my friends if you see it."

"How about instead, you run down to dad's workbench and get what you need to take it off your bike."

"Are you serious?"

"I don't want you getting picked on sweetie. And I can't get on you for not using it if there's not one on the bike. Go get what you need and take it off. Just make sure you put his tools back where they belong when you're done. We don't want you getting into trouble with your father. Trust me on that," she said with a wince as she ran her hand over her left ass cheek.

She waited until Neil completed the task, amazed at how fast he accomplished it. He looked at the way the kickstand was mounted, eyeing the four nuts and bolts that fastened it in place. He took off, returning with a half-inch open, and a small adjustable wrench. Putting the open wrench on the back side, he fitted the adjustable one quickly and began loosening the nuts. He made quick work of it, removing the apparatus in less than five minutes.

He put the bolts in the holes of the bracket, screwing on the nuts so they wouldn't get lost. Then he was off to the basement again.

"Where did you put the kickstand?" she wondered when he came back.

"In the bin of spare parts. I can put it back on if we ever get rid of the bike," he replied, planting the seed again for getting a ten-speed when he got a little older. Just like his father, he never threw anything away that still worked, never knowing when it might be needed. He'd been taught to be practical, and he was incredible with his hands. He really did know how to work with tools. It impressed her how he only brought two back with him, and they did the job. She compared that to her older son, who likely would have made three trips, or would have brought the entire tool box with him. It was yet another remarkable difference between the two.

Neil was off shortly after, and Betsy made her way back to Elaine's. She was surprised to find she was waiting patiently, having stopped their routine, not wanting to keep going without her. She was more surprised that the atmosphere in the area they were sharing had drastically changed.

"Uh... did I miss something?" she asked, looking at her sexy neighbor, who had removed her bikini.

"This is how I prefer to practice my yoga. I just don't get to do it outside very often. I was hoping you wouldn't mind, now that Neil is gone for the day. I'm not wrong about you, am I?"

Betsy looked around, trying to determine just how exposed she was going to be. Then she looked at Elaine, who was incredibly relaxed. Shrugging, Betsy took off her top, and then she removed the bottom.

Elaine offered encouragement, saying, "Pretty much everyone else in the neighborhood is gone too, Betsy. We won't be interrupted. The only one I've ever really worried about seeing me is Neil."

"I trust you, Elaine. Lord knows I'm glad to be out of the bikini."

"What makes you say it like that?" Betsy turned, and showed off her reddened ass. "My word. What did you do to deserve that?"

"It... it's kind of a long story. I'm not sure how I'd even explain it. I wouldn't want you to think differently about me and Darren."

"Darren and I," she corrected, the school teacher coming out on her.

"Ha! Yes. And I was an English major, believe it or not. Minored in history. Wanted to be a journalist. Instead... I'm a mom."

"It's the most important job in the world. I can say that, even though we don't have kids."

"Why is that?"

"Why is what?"

"Why don't you have children? You're obviously great with them."

"Well, we had a son. Steven. He died shortly before his third birthday. He was such a happy child, even through all the pain. Even through the operations. He had a birth defect. The doctors said that Timothy and I... it was our genes. There's an issue with our genes, when they combine. The genetics specialist said there was a very high risk of it happening again. We had to make a choice. It's possible that we could have conceived and everything would have been fine. But I couldn't. So, I chose to put my energies elsewhere. Starting with Timothy. He was such a rock for me. I never would have gotten through that if not for him. But I knew I couldn't go through it again. I couldn't even bear the thought of chancing it. So instead, the risk of putting another innocent child through that misery, or adoption, which we found difficult since we did have a child of our own, I chose to focus on the kids I could have an impact on, and on proving to my husband that my life was fulfilling enough because I have him in it. I've yet to be proven wrong about that decision."

"Elaine, I don't know what to say. It was so callus of me to assume that you just didn't have kids... like you maybe didn't want them. I'm so sorry."

"Nonsense, Betsy. First, I'm the one that brought it up. And I accepted our decision long ago. We're happy. We have an incredible life together. We gave up on trying to have children. We most certainly didn't give up on having sex. Trust me when I say, I've had the best of both worlds. I've learned to look at it more philosophically; I was able to positively impact hundreds and hundreds of children's lives in my career. Not just one. I doubt I would have continued teaching if Steven had lived. As for my marriage, I got to come home and become the wild, wanton woman of my husband's desires, without any other worldly responsibilities to wear me down. Prim and proper teacher by day, willing and available vixen by night. I commend you for finding ways to make Darren's lust rage for you. I know that isn't easy, yet I've seen the looks he gives you."

She chuckled at the thought. "Are you sure he wasn't directing them at you? Perhaps he got a look at one of your naked workouts."

"I meant what I said. You have him tripping on his tongue, drooling over you, and you're doing it with an eleven-year-old at home. Not to mention that Darren's only home every other week. I could come home, grade papers and plan the next days lesson while I cooked, and by the time Timothy came home and we had dinner, we'd have hours to play if we wanted. You've got a lot less of an opportunity to be naughty. Kudos to you, by the way, for being a bad enough girl that he saw fit to discipline you last night. Now... what did you do?"

"Are you sure you really want to know? Once I tell you, I can't un-tell you."

"Only if you feel comfortable. If you want, I could share with you how Timothy disciplined me the last time I was bad... as well as how I was bad."

"Can we share and do yoga at the same time? I'm only day four into this routine, and I want to stay committed. To this, and to you."

"Well, we won't be able to concentrate on the meditation part of it, but I think this will bring us closer, so why not?"

"Closer? You already got me naked. I'm beginning to wonder if you have ulterior motives."

"Not at the moment. But I should be honest and admit I'm comfortable like this. You wouldn't be my first woman," she giggled.

"Yeah? You wouldn't be my fiftieth," Betsy winked back.

"Fifty... women?" she asked, shocked by the way Betsy phrased her quip.

"Well, no. Encounters? Most definitely. The number of women is far less. The number of times? Far, far more, actually. My college years were quite fun."

"Oh... so it's been a while."

"I never said that. Darren has encouraged me... well, I like to think that I've been sexually reawakened the past few years. There aren't the opportunities to explore that part of my sexuality as easily as others, but I've taken advantage of them when they've been presented. The most recent was just in the past few weeks."

"My. This is quite exciting, I must say."

"Well if that's the case, you're in for quite the treat," Betsy said as she sat, wincing at first. Crossing her legs into the same position Elaine had been in since she returned, she exposed her clean shaven pussy to her neighbor for the first time.

"Hmm... that is a treat. How long have you been... grooming like that?"

"A few weeks. I shaved it off when I saw my girlfriend's was this way when we got together. I can't tell you how incredible it makes sex... I'm so much more sensitive. It's probably psychosomatic, but the orgasms aren't."

"I'm wondering what my Timothy would say if he came home to me like that? I bet it would light a fire that wouldn't go out for weeks."

"Would you like to find out?"

"Pardon?"

"I'd be happy to show you how to do it safely."

"I... I'll have to think about that, dear. This is a lot to internalize."

"Well, perhaps you should start with this. You were bound to discover it anyway, because I am really pushing my boundaries right now, and it will help explain why I was punished last night. What you should know is your nextdoor neighbor is quite the slut."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Betsy had taken a long, hot shower. It helped, even though the steamy water made her ass tingle. The burning sensation from the paddling had diminished, but the water flowing over her cheeks brought back some of that feeling. Oddly, that made her pussy become wet, a different kind of tingling occurring within the walls.

It hurt when she dried off, but things improved when she put aloe lotion on it afterward, the cooling effect bringing some relief. She wasn't trying to protect against the possibility of pain. She'd earned her punishment. Trying to move in a way to minimize the discomfort was a foolish exercise. As painful as it was trying to go through with her yoga poses, she never considered cancelling on Elaine. Instead she embraced her circumstances. As it turned out, it was one of the best decisions she'd ever made.

She didn't go into full detail with her neighbor about her life with Darren, although she did quickly confess that she was in the midst of her sexual reawakening. But she covered some of the highlights. She knew they would be sharing much more. They only stopped as it was because they ran out of time. They both agreed they'd continue their conversation the next day. It was proving enlightening for both of them.

As she left it, Betsy had given an encapsulated history of her college years, and the struggle to regain the life she longed for. As for where she was at the moment along her journey, she only shared a brief account of what happened at the golf course with Joel, and why Darren had punished her for it. She promised to fill in a lot of the plot holes in the life story she began to weave over the coming days... or weeks.

As for Elaine, she was also very forthcoming about her past. As Betsy already suspected, Elaine was extremely sexual. Her insinuation that she'd been with women before was hardly the most telling revelation. But what Betsy took away from their talk, more than anything else, was she had a kindred spirit living next door. One that was experienced, and non-judgmental. And she was married to a man that shared her free spirit when it came to sexual expression.

Both of them were sexually active outside their marriage. It was a recent event; one that Elaine had begun seeking out now that she was retired, no longer constrained by the stigmatization that might come had they tried to pursue it while she was still teaching. Tim happily supported the idea, wanting Elaine to find new ways of expressing her passions now that she didn't have the creative outlet of education. Since her other passion was sex, it came as no surprise that she chose that arena to focus her attention. The increase in her dedication to yoga was a part of that, becoming more in tune with her body and spirit, centering them both toward her goals.

Betsy was not only enlightened by their conversation, she was also excited. She had no idea where it might lead their neighborly relationship, but she hoped they'd become closer. It was early, but she felt drawn to Elaine, already looking at her like a mentor. She wasn't so sure Elaine wasn't looking at her in the same way.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she moved to her dresser. There, on the top, was an old, ornate jewelry box. It was a family heirloom from her grandmother. Lifting it, she turned it backwards. On the back side, there was a small latch hidden within the design. Pulling it, it released a small drawer on the side. Betsy opened it further, a key hidden inside the tiny compartment. She took the key to her closet, pulling down a floral designed lockbox off a top shelf. Inside was her stash of pot. Dozens and dozens of fat, neatly rolled joints inside, along with a couple of zippo lighters, and three hundred dollars in small bills; monies tucked away for future visits to her drug dealer. At least that's how she liked to think of Diane's son, Tony. It seemed much more dangerous, and naughtier to think of the transactions like that. Perhaps that came from the way she'd done them. Both to date had been in the middle of the night, and she'd exposed her body to him as part of the exchange. She knew she'd never go so far as to have sex with him. It was a line she refused to cross, with him being her friend's son. But in her head, she was trading a sexual favor for a discount on the marijuana. Eye candy for her sex candy seemed like a fair trade.

Taking a half-dozen joints from the box, she locked it back up and placed it on the shelf. Putting the key away, she put the other joints in the compartment with the key, the small drawer only able to hold six at a time. Opening the top of the jewelry box, she took out the lighter she kept in her bedroom, but then thought better of it.

Instead she walked through the house in a pair of white heels that strapped around her ankles. Strutting sexily, she let her mood come to her. In truth, she'd been feeling it for days. She was just basking in it more. She attributed a lot of it to her new yoga routine. She was already beginning to feel the impact, although Elaine warned her not to expect the real benefits to come for at least a month. It would take some time to get to a place physically and mentally that would show in her sex life. Betsy doubted it would take that long though. It started with her frame of mind, and that had been set to a sexual setting for well over a month... from the moment she read about an X-rated movie in the paper and she set her sights on finding a way to see it.

Opening the junk drawer in the kitchen, she rooted around, finally finding the disposal lighter she knew was there for emergencies. Lighting candles when the power went out being it's main function.

She walked out onto the carport, feeling excited. With her already having been naked in front of the one neighbor that could possibly see her, she felt a sudden freedom that was liberating. Yes, there was always the off chance someone might drive mistakenly to the end of the dead-end road, using the cul-de-sac to turn around. But that was such a rarity it seemed like a worthwhile risk. So much so that she didn't bother to have anything nearby to cover up with. The closest item would be her raincoat, hanging on a hook on the wall going to the basement, that doorway just inside the mudroom on the left.

With Neil gone until dinner time, and Darren and Timothy both at work, the only person nearby was likely Elaine. And she'd already seen her in the nude, just hours before. Sitting on the swing at the back of the carport, Betsy crossed her legs at the knee and lit her joint, sucking the intoxicating smoke deep into her lungs, holding it there for as long possible before exhaling. She set the lighter on the cement next to her, and smoked while she waited. It was almost eleven-thirty in the morning, and she was hopeful her guest would be arriving soon.

She'd left her car in the driveway instead of pulling it under the carport like she normally would have. She liked the idea of using it to give her a little more privacy; blocking the view of anyone coming down the street. That also played into the surprise she had in store.

The distinctive green van pulled into the driveway some fifteen minutes later. By that time, her buzz was in full effect, that warm, fuzzy feeling inside making her more relaxed. She barely felt her ass on the hard wooden slats of the swing. It was the feeling between her thighs that had her wiggling incessantly.

For a brief moment, she panicked, wondering what if Red had been forced to make the delivery. After all, he'd said it was one of the possibilities that would put him back on the road, covering for an illness or a vacation. Then she became excited by the idea that he might see her the way she was. She wouldn't be able to act on the feelings she was having inside, because Darren's rules forbid her interacting with someone that was married. After the lesson he'd given her the night before, she wasn't going to make another mistake going against the rules. At least, not that soon. And not that rule. The most she would do if it was Red would be to allow his eyes the chance to gaze over her body. She had no intention of covering up.

Wyatt stepped out of the van, his smile beaming at the sight of the beautiful woman waiting for him on the swing.

He said exactly that, his voice calm and controlled beyond his years when he greeted her with, "Good morning, beautiful. I can see you're embracing the day."

"I'm thinking more of seizing it. Carpe diem, as they say," she said as she took another hit from herbal joint. "Can I interest you on some pot?"

"No thanks. I don't do that sort of thing while I work."

"Hmm... I thought Shaggy was stoned all the time. Isn't that why he's always looking for Scooby snacks?"

He laughed at her using the nickname his friends had tagged him with, his resemblance to the cartoon character making it an easy connection. But he was quick to point out, "Shaggy never drives the Mystery Machine. Fred does. And if you notice, Fred's always with the girls. He sends Shaggy off with Scooby every time, leaving him with Daphne and Velma. Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it?"