Reckless

That did sound like Tim, maybe he felt slightly responsible for the severity of last nights punishment, he had to be one who told on her anyway. Matt let out a soft chuckle and looked down at her "So be sure to thank him profusely!" He kissed the top of her head and gave her backside a quick slap. "Get dressed and get over there quickly, before he comes to check on us." She scooped up the clothes she'd just set on the bed and headed for the shower.

"Let's get going Jesse! Jackie!" He called down the hall as he stepped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

*****************

Clare cleared her throat nervously as she stepped into the garage across the street from her house. "Morning Tim." She said a little too quietly to the pair of legs jutting out from under an old car. Tim slid out from under the car on a flat cart and looked at her.

"Well good morning neighbor!" He said in a voice far too cheery for the situation. His broad smile brought a shy smile to her face.

She held out the brown bag to him and said "Matt asked me to return this to you." The paddle felt heavy in the paper sack, and she remembered just how it had felt on her bottom the night before.

Tim raised to his feet and took the bag from her, carrying it to his workbench and setting it down. His face had turned serious, and butterflies filled Clare's stomach. Tim was never serious with her, they had always enjoyed a light fun relationship, today felt different. Tim produced a couple of camping chairs from a pile against the wall and motioned to her to join him.

"Come sit down." He said, unfolding a chair and motioning for her to take it and then unfolding a second chair for himself.

"Sitting is a little difficult this morning." She admitted awkwardly, rubbing her hand over her bottom as explanation.

Tim let out a short chuckle "I can imagine." He said. "How many?"

"With that?" Clare gestured with her head toward the bag. "Seventeen."

Tim thought for a second. "Hmmm, one for each mile over."

"Yes." Clare nodded, then added "plus ten with his belt for being dishonest." She wasn't sure if Matt had already told Tim what happened, but she wasn't taking any chances on withholding information again.

"Dishonest?" Tim raised an eyebrow and then took a seat in his chair.

"Yes." Clare said, wincing as her bottom hit the chair, at least it wasn't a hard chair, the nylon chair was a little more accommodating of her soreness.

"You told him a different story than Deputy Clemmons?" Tim looked incredulous.

"No, he messaged me as I was arriving at work, and asked if I was OK, he hadn't heard that I was safe at work by the usual time, so he was concerned. I just replied that I was OK. I didn't tell him about getting pulled over."

Tims lips pulled tight as he imagined the scenario, nodding his head in understanding. "I could see that as a problem."

"Well, I didn't until it was too late." Clare admitted.

Tim chucked quietly, "You won't make that mistake again."

"No." Clare agreed. They fell silent for another minute and Clare wondered if she should leave, but then Tim drew in a deep breath and said

"Can we talk about something personal Clare?"

"Sure." she replied.

"How are thing going between you and Matt? Really, how are things?" His face was serious and he suddenly looked as official as when he was in his Sheriffs department uniform.

"They are really good." Clare said confused at his concern. "Matt takes good care of me and the girls, he's a good person."

Tim nodded. "OK, I just want to make sure that whatever is happening over on your side of the street is something you want."

Suddenly Clare understood his concern. "It is Tim, he never does anything without asking me for consent."

Tim nodded approvingly "Good." He thought for a moment and said "Matt hasn't told me anything, but I've known him a long time, and I know how he is. I figured you were OK with things when you accepted his marriage proposal, but after yesterday I thought it was time for us to have an open conversation about it."

Clare wasn't sure what to say next, she fidgeted with the arm rests on her chair, still unsure that she wanted to have this level of conversation with Tim, who she had considered a casual friend until just now.

Finally she broke the silence "Do you use that thing on Shannon?" Her eyes traveled back to the brown paper bag on the workbench.

Tim pressed two fingers to his lips and thought for a moment. "You can ask her those questions, I'm not going to talk about what happens on our side of the street." Clare nodded understanding. Tim drew in a deep breath "I feel a little responsible for you Clare."

Clares face clouded over "Why?" She asked.

"Do you remember a couple years back when we had that tornado and that big tree blew down in our front yard? Clare nodded.

Who could forget that storm, she and the girls were huddled in the downstairs bathroom in terror at the sound of the wind moving through. They weren't in the path of destruction but dozens of homes were destroyed and several people were killed. "It was awful." She said, barely above a whisper, recalling the trauma that visited their whole community as they recovered from the tragedy. Tim had been on duty for days afterward helping with rescue and recovery of victims and Shannon had been pulling extra shifts at the hospital through it. She couldn't imagine the things the two of them had witnessed. It was weeks after the storm before they could finally get around to clearing the damaged trees on their own property.

"Well," Tim continued. "That was the first time Matt saw you. We were out here with chainsaws cutting that big thing up into firewood and you were heading out with the 'twins' to somewhere. You must have forgotten something at the house because after you backed out you suddenly pulled back into your driveway, hopped out and ran into the house through the front door. As you went up your steps Matt got a good look at you, and he looked over at me and said that you had the most spankable bottom he'd ever seen." Clare blushed. She had heard that from Matt, but never expected to hear it from Tim. "Of course, I couldn't agree, because I'm partial to Shannons bottom, but I could see where he was coming from," A half smile played across Tims face as he thought about it.

"So you're the one who brought Matt to game night?" She asked after a long silence.

"Yeah, but not right away. I asked Shannon what she thought, and she wanted to make sure it would be something you were open to before we agreed to it."

"And I had no idea on any of this." Clare said, feeling sheepish.

"You figured it out pretty quickly though!" Tim laughed. "Shannon was the one who decided game night would be the best option to introduce you. Matt was asking for us to set you up on a blind date. Shannon was right, as usual."

"Would have only been half-blind if he already knew who he was meeting wouldn't it?" Clare shot back. Tim laughed and agreed.

The conversation stalled another minute, and then Tim broke the silence. "Did Matt ever tell you about our conversation right before your wedding?"

Clare shook her head "no" and waited for him to respond.

"Right before we got ready to walk out from the back room at the start of the ceremony Matt turned to me and said 'Brother, thanks for being here on the happiest day of my life. I wouldn't be half the person I am if it weren't for you, and I sure as hell wouldn't have Clare and the 'twins' in my life. I just want to ask you for one more thing. If anything happens to me, will you make sure they're taken care of?' I looked at him and said I'd do it, but if he ever harmed any of you, I'd slap the cuffs on him and drive his ass to jail myself."

Clare coughed and said "What did he say to that?"

"He looked me dead in the eye, stuck his hand out to shake mine and said 'Deal'. And Clare, I absolutely mean that. If he ever gets carried away and crosses a line, you need to tell me. I will make good on that promise."

Clare studied her feet for a minute then quietly said "Thanks Tim, you're a good friend. Matt's been absolutely amazing to me and the girls. He's not gonna harm us."

They fell silent, then Clare asked "Will you tell me how yesterday morning happened.... are you the one who told Matt I was pulled over?"

Tim chuckled. "I wondered how long it would take for you to ask." He thought for a moment and said "Here's how it went. Deputy Clemmons radioed in a traffic stop and the location. I was the closest unit, so I responded to back him up. When I got there I recognized your vehicle, and he had your ID pulled up on his computer screen. I told him that you were Matts wife. He'd never met you, so he didn't know that. We decided we could save both of ourselves a little paperwork by giving Matt a call."

Clares hand rubbed her hip almost involuntarily, contemplating how much that 'paperwork' was worth to her. "Deputy Clemmons made the call, but we were on speaker phone. He told Matt that he had you pulled over with the potential for a reckless driving charge, but that he would most likely only write you a speeding citation and told Matt that he was willing to make a deal to save us some paperwork. Matt was quick to accept. He said he'd get a proper apology out of you and make sure you never drive that fast again."

"You knew he was gonna spank me?" Clare asked.

"Well, we know Matt, so we suspected it would involve a trip over his knee. I wasn't expecting him to ask if he could borrow 'The Enforcer'. But Clare, Deputy Clemmons and I have both had to bag up people who were driving too fast through that stretch many times, and neither one of us could imagine having to bag up you or telling Matt and the 'twins' about it afterward. So I agreed with the stipulation that you return it right after so I can see that you're OK. I figured that would help him use it judiciously."

"Judge, Jury and Executioner." thought Clare. But instead she said "Thanks for looking out for me Tim, for all of us. I won't make that mistake again."

Tim nodded wordlessly. Finally he said "Shannon is in her craft room if you wanted to talk with her." Clare took that as his signal that the conversation was over and he needed to get back to work on the car he was restoring and stood.

"Thanks Tim, I mean it." She walked to the kitchen door and let herself in.

*****

"Good morning Shannon" Clare said to the back at the sewing machine, startling her best friend.

"OH! I didn't hear you" Shannon said turning around. "I've been fighting with this ancient machine all morning and I'm about over it." Shannon was always complaining about her sewing machine, but somehow could never make a decision to replace it with a new one. Every Christmas and Birthday Taylor and Clare tried to convince Tim that what Shannon really wanted from him was a new sewing machine, but he never took the hint. Shannon set down the pieces of the machine she was holding and rubbed a hand across the back of her neck, stretching her back in the process. "Sit sit." She motioned to the chair in the corner.

Clare rubbed her backside gently "Sitting is a little difficult today." She admitted.

Shannon smiled and nodded. "I can imagine. Was he hard on you?" Clare wasn't sure how much she wanted to admit to Shannon right now, but clearly Shannon knew something had happened last night.

"What do you already know?" Clare asked.

"I don't really know anything, but I knew you got pulled over by Scott yesterday, and I know Matt, so I assumed that he'd put you over his knee." She paused then added "Clare, I didn't know that Tim was loaning him 'The Enforcer' last night at dinner. I realized it this morning when I opened the closet door and it was missing from the peg it hangs on. I'm so sorry baby, I might have warned you if I'd known."

Clare grinned at the idea of Shannon calling her baby, she was at least a couple years older than Shannon. "Did you know that Matt was spanking me before this?" Clare asked.

"Not explicitly." Shannon paused "But I've known Matt a long time, I know how he is, so I was just assuming. Matt doesn't tell me your personal business." Clare smiled, both Matt and Tim protecting their wives personal business.

"Shannon, does Tim actually use 'The Enforcer' on you?" Clare asked after a thoughtful pause.

Shannon looked toward the ceiling as she contemplated her answer. "He has..... a couple of times.... but it's been at least five years since the last one. It has..... an impact. I'd do anything to avoid having him pull that out on me again." Then she added "I hope he at least dusted it before passing it off to Matt."

Clare laughed. "Well, if he didn't, it should be plenty clean now."

"How many baby?" Shannon put her glasses back on and tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Seventeen."

"OH GOD!" Shannon gasped.

"Yeah." Clare replied.

"I think the first time Tim used that on me I only lasted like three or four and then I gave him the safeword. Made him stop. It was too much. I don't safeword on him very often, and that might have been the first time I had. He was so worried that he'd really hurt me."

"Safeword?" Clare asked. "That's a thing you do? To make it stop?"

Shannon looked at her suddenly concerned. "Matt hasn't told you something specific you can say if you need him to stop?"

Clare thought for a minute then said "I guess so? A couple of times he's said to tell him if it's 'too much', maybe he thinks I will say that if I want him to stop? He checks in on me a lot though, asks me if I'm OK. He makes me agree to the spanking before he starts. I kinda like that and I kinda hate it."

"You should probably ask him that specifically Clare, ask him if that's your safeword, this is something that should be very clear."

Clare nodded "I will." Clare was suddenly filled with curiosity over what Shannon had done to earn a spanking with Tim's 'Enforcer', and couldn't keep herself from asking. "What did you do wrong Shannon?"

Shannon blushed slightly. "Remember how bad I used to be with trying to slip through yellow lights before they turned red?" Clare laughed. Who could forget that, Shannon was the red light running queen. "I got nabbed by the new red light camera one time."

Clare's jaw dropped. "Those things just show up in the mail, and you don't even know that it got you until it does!"

"Yeah." Shannon grimaced. "Tim wasn't happy."

Clare grinned "At least he saved me from having to pay a ticket! You got it from both sides!"

"Right." Shannon continued "Anyway, I stop for yellow lights now, even when I'm sure I could make it through."

"I believe that." Clare said. "The 'Enforcer' is pretty convincing. I'm sure wishing I'd been a little more attentive on the way to work yesterday."

Clare's phone dinged, a message from Matt: "The 'twins' and I ran into Taylor, and she wants to take them for a few hours, are you OK with that?" Clare thought for a few minutes before replying that it was fine. She wasn't sure she wanted to be in the house alone with Matt for the rest of the afternoon.

"What are you doing right now?" He messaged back.

"I'm at Shannons listening to her do battle with her sewing machine. lol" She replied.

"Did you return the.... item.... to Tim already?"

"Yes my love."

"Good girl, hurry back home, I want to spend some time with my wife while we have the house to ourselves."

"I need to get home now." Clare told Shannon "Volleyball is over, so I guess I'm back on duty." She stood with some difficulty, feeling the bruises growing on her backside. "How long will this last Shannon?" She asked, a little embarrassed.

Shannon thought for a moment then said "At least tomorrow, maybe another day, it's hard to say. You took a lot, and that thing bruises deep. At least on me it does."

"Ugggh." groaned Clare.

*********

Clare was standing in front of the full length mirror in their bathroom checking out the bruises that had darkened on her backside over night when she heard the door between the house and garage close, announcing Matt's return.

"Baby?" She heard him call out.

She hesitated, brushing her fingertips over the purple marks briefly, feeling her skin tingle at the touch. "In here." She finally called out, quickly straightening her panties over her bottom and letting her dress fall. A few seconds later he joined her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her body tight to his. She turned her face up to kiss him, allowing his lips to part hers, his tongue pressing into her and exploring her fully. His hands wandered down her body until they rested over her sore bottom. She inhaled sharply as his hands grabbed her cheeks and squeezed hard.

"Still tender, aren't you?" He asked, looking into her eyes.

"Very tender." She replied.

"Let me look." He turned her so her back was to the mirror and raised the skirt of her dress until her ass was visible. "Slide your panties down Clare." He directed. Her hands moved to the waist band of her panties, she hooked it with her thumbs and pulled down, revealing her battered cheeks. He let out a low whistle at the large purple blotches on her backside. He ran his hand over her bare skin, sending tingles through her body and setting the butterflies in her stomach aflight. He rubbed harder, her bottom throbbed with his renewed attention.

"OW!" Clare yelped.

"You're gonna be feeling that for a couple days." Matt looked down at her without a trace of sympathy in his gaze. "But you'll be paying close attention to your speedometer from now on, won't you?" Clare replied by scowling at him, and he smacked her bare skin. "That was some attitude there."

"Why does everyone in the neighborhood know you spank me?" She pouted.

"Nobody knows I spank you." He said. "They might think they know I spank you, but they don't know it."

"Well, you do spank me, so if they think they know it, they know it." Clare grumped back.

"You need to change your tone right now." Matts voice went cold. "Or you will not like what comes next." His hand rested on her bottom, but she could sense that it had shifted to prepare to smack her again if needed. She huffed air out of her nose but said nothing. His eyes stayed locked on hers. "I came home thinking about spending a lovely kid-free afternoon making love with you Clare, but if you need to spend a little more time over my knee working out an attitude problem instead we can do that." She glowered at him, feeling her irritation growing, but also not wanting to risk him spanking her already battered bottom again so soon.

"OK." She muttered, turning her face away from him.

"Is that what you're supposed to say?" He asked.

She shuffled her feet a little, tapping one foot against the floor.

"Did you just stomp your foot at me?" He asked.

She resisted the urge to pull away from his hold on her "No." She answered.

"No what?" He demanded.

"No, I didn't just stomp my foot." She grumped.

"That's not the answer I was looking for Clare, and you know it." He pressed his palms into the soft flesh of her bottom, causing her bruises to ache again. "Now, before you make a decision you're gonna regret, I'm gonna give you some time to think it over." He let her dress fall back into place and pointed to the bath tub. "Sit here for a minute. I'll be right back."

Clare lowered herself to sit on the edge of the tub. Her bottom was throbbing between the weight of her body and the hard ledge. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so irritated, but also couldn't bring herself to open up to Matt as she usually had. She chewed her lower lip thoughtfully trying to find words to convey her feelings.

Finally the bathroom door opened and Matt re-entered. He took her hands and helped her to stand. She stepped into his open arms and wrapped her arms around his waist. He stroked his hand up and down her back several times. "You ready to restart this afternoon?" He asked.