The Edge of Intention Pt. 07

Sara was confused about her own feelings. She did not know where they originated or if it even mattered. But she did know this; she was attracted to Daniel. She was falling for him faster than she wanted to admit. She was a little bit afraid of him. She liked how bossy and strong he was. But regardless of all of that, right now she was mad at him. She was afraid to show it at the moment; but she was mad. She plodded through her day, completing every task she was given but remaining quiet. She did not bother to turn her music on; something she enjoyed listening to every day.

It wasn't until lunch time that the thought crossed Sara's mind that she felt...depressed.

Daniel was about to go into a lunch meeting and knew he would ask her to attend and take notes. It was 11:00 a.m. and she grabbed her handbag and flew out the door to her car. As she was leaving the parking lot she could hear a text message notification on her phone. She reached over and shut off the phone without even looking at it. She wanted to sit and stare and do nothing. Her car seemed to pull her into the parking lot of Panera Bread where she could have her ultimate comfort food. She seated herself near the fireplace and a big picture window and consumed her all time favorite; Cheesy Broccoli Soup and a baguette.

As she stared out the window, she thought about the night before. She wasn't sure what she was more depressed about; being faced with James and all of the memories that brought flooding back or the fact that Daniel had been so hard on her. As the soup began to warm her insides and hunger subsided she felt better able to assess what was happening on the inside of her. Long after her food was gone she sat staring out the window. Customers came and went, lunch turned into dinner and time marched on without Sara seeming to notice. When she checked back into this dimension, the sun was going down. A single tear slid down her cheek as she thought of powering on her phone and going home to face Daniel.

Sara drove for an hour down beautiful country roads and circled around the city just thinking. When she finally parked her car she was at the fanciest resort hotel in town and determined to get a massage and a good night's sleep.

She dropped her credit card at the front desk and booked a room and headed off for the resort salon. She felt hours of stress drain away as her skin was kneaded, pushed and pulled in every direction. She had paid for an hour and a half Swedish massage with a hot rock finish. She barely had what it took to walk to her room when they got done with her. She ordered a fancy salad up to her room and ate dinner alone. She borrowed a phone charger from the front desk, turned off her phone and put it on the charger for the night. She knew Daniel was going to be looking for her furiously. She wanted to sleep on all she had thought about before she faced him. With that last thought, the lights in her world went out in an instant.

When Sara woke up she powered on her phone out of habit. There was a single text from Daniel that came in from the night before.

Daniel: You realize you used my company credit card and I know where to find you right?

Sara: I will have the balance transferred to my card when the bank opens.

Daniel: No need. Take whatever time you need, Sweet Pea.

Sara decided not to respond. The hotel delivered breakfast to her room along with a list of spa treatments she could enjoy at a discount since she had spent the money on a massage. She sent the card back with a manicure, pedicure, haircut and color and a facial. She decided to make a day of it. She also planned to eat in their Cafe to break up the spa schedule. She was laying out in the sun by the pool with her eyes closed when she felt a shadow darken the sun.

"I do hope you are enjoying the use of my credit card, Miss Beckett."

Sara immediately jumped to her feet. She blocked the sun with her arm as she looked up at Daniel.

"It's like you are getting paid to play all day; at my expense."

"I said I would have the balance transferred."

Daniel stared at her for a long time before answering.

"No. It's okay. I said take the time you need and I meant it. Even though it is a work day. I can survive a day without you in the office."

Sara peered warily at from behind her raised arm as it blocked the sun. Daniel reached out and gently cupped her jawline with his hand and ran his thumb over her chin. His hand found its way to the back of her neck and he pulled her close. Sara was nervous as she looked up into his eyes. She found tenderness there as he spoke.

"Take whatever time you need. I would like to see you in the office today but if you have a day planned here, it can all wait until tomorrow."

Sara nodded as he folded her into an embrace. Her arms came up under his arms as she hugged him back and she fought hard to swallow her tears. However, her battle was quickly lost as the first tear slid down her cheek. She was falling in love with Daniel and he had hurt her. That single tear opened the floodgates from deep within her and there was no dam to stop the flow.

Daniel sat on the chaise lounger and brought Sara down onto his lap. She curled up and fell asleep on his chest after a long cry. As he held her he sat thinking. He did not mind that she spent the money for spa treatments. He didn't even mind that she needed time away from him. But he did not like the fact that she would not talk about it before she disappeared on him. Honestly though, he had to admit, he would never have allowed her to take the day off and go to the spa if she had simply asked. He would have told her it was a work day and she had better be there and on time at that. There may be no fixing what ailed him at the moment. He was falling in love with this woman and he needed to be careful if he intended to hang onto her.

Daniel would never be the type to allow a woman to take over and push him around. He enjoyed the power dynamic a domestic discipline relationship provided. He also delighted in giving tender loving care to a feminine woman who wasn't afraid to allow him to be a man. But he drew the line at direct disobedience and she had definitely crossed it. There were many reasons he wanted her to keep quiet at that meeting and she should have followed orders.

When the hostess came to get Sara for her facial, Daniel woke her up. They both stood and he kissed and hugged her goodbye. Before they parted ways he leaned into her ear and whispered,

"Please do not spend anymore money without asking me first." She looked up at him and nodded.

"Okay. I promise."

The rest of the day went smoothly and Sara was glad Daniel came and found her. She was better able to relax about spending the day on his credit card.

Sara went for a cocktail and dinner when she got done with her day at the spa. She sat in a small bistro and had a salad for dinner at 7:00pm. She sat deep in thought for two hours and then returned home. When she let herself into her flat she was greeted by dark silence. She made it to the bedroom where she heard Daniel's light breathing. She stripped her clothes off and climbed in next to him.

She did not want to wake him up so she stayed on her own side of the bed and stayed still until she fell asleep. She awoke at 3 a.m. and could not sleep. She could hear Daniel snoring softly next to her. She laid awake thinking about his punishments and the things he had said to her in the previous days. Something about the way he talked to her had her distracted beyond rational thought. She could not argue with the man because he was too smart. She had always fancied herself as a highly intelligent woman, able to hold her own in any argument or while bantering in good fun. But Daniel was different. He not only held his own; he knew things she did not. He was smarter than her. If she poked him in jest, he poked right back. There would never be a doubt in hers or anyone else's mind about who was running the show. It didn't matter how mad she got, if he believed he was right, it would take a lot of energy to sway him. She laid there thinking about what goes through her mind as she does and says things she knows will upset him. Sara wondered what drove her to forge ahead knowing her mouth could get her into trouble. There was a tipping point when she felt like no matter what she did she was already in over her head and she gave up and just jumped in with both feet. She did not have that flag that went up in most people's minds that told her when to stop. This was, perhaps, why she had attracted such punishment. It was possibly her subconscious trying to reign her in. In any case, whatever it was, it set her soul up in flames where Daniel was concerned. She knew he liked her a lot. She could feel it in the way he looked at her and watched her and stalked her and stayed close by her at all times. He involved her in every meeting he possibly could and they ran errands together whenever possible. He spoiled her and took her to lunch often and bought her little treats and made sure she had unfettered access to not only the company credit card; his personal credit card.

He spoiled her and loved her but punished her for ill-behavior and she loved him for it. While she was strangely frightened of the things he might do to her, she waited for it with baited breath at the same time. In an odd way, she needed time away to be able to face him after punishment. Something inside of her made her feel shy to face him after he spanked her.

When she finally passed out, it was 5:30 a.m. Daniel leaned down to kiss her goodbye when he left for work but decided to let her sleep. She looked like she was in a deep sleep and he hated to wake her. He would text her later and see if he could coax her into coming to work.

Sara slowly woke up in a fog and stretched. She could tell by the brightness of the her bedroom that the sun had been up for a very long time. She jerked her head toward the clock and it read 1:18 p.m. She jumped up in a panic and grabbed her phone. There were several text messages and two missed calls from Daniel. She called him immediately.

"Daniel!" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"Daniel, I am so sorry! I fell asleep at 5:30 this morning and had no clue it was so late!"

"I wondered what happened to you. Would you like me to bring you something for lunch? Chipotle Peach BBQ Chicken, perhaps?"

"Sure. Thank you. I have to get up and wake up. I am still tired."

"No, Baby. Just sleep. I will be there soon."

By the time Daniel arrived with her food, Sara had fallen back to sleep and was snoring when he walked in. He decided to let her sleep and work from the livingroom on his laptop.

The next morning Sara woke up in plenty of time to get ready for work. She chose a high waisted black skirt by Ralph Lauren. The brass buttons started at her ribcage and wrapped around the front and went down the side of her skirt. She tucked a white chiffon blouse into the skirt and wore her black LK Bennetts to work with white sheer pantyhose. She stopped for coffee and headed for the office.

Daniel was in the middle of the morning meeting when he looked over and she was just standing there; coffee in hand and listening intently. His breath caught in his throat as he caught a glimpse of her and he had to pause.

"Welcome to work, Sara. It's good to have you back."

She nodded in reply.

Daniel kept talking but was unsure about a damn thing he had said. His eyes kept falling on Sara and what she was wearing. The bodycon skirt with the white blouse and heels drove him mad but he didn't dare comment. He turned the meeting over to Jane and went to stand by her. His hand slipped around the back of her waist and he leaned into her ear as if to say something and just sniffed her. She froze because everyone was watching him. Her elbow instinctively jutted into his ribcage and she let out a whispered giggle and told him to stop and pushed him away. He grinned and looked down at her as she continued to focus on Jane.

When the doors to the executive suite closed, Sara was marching to her desk in annoyance. She plopped into her chair and scooted in forcefully, shooting Daniel a dark look before turning to her computer. She started opening her programs and typing in passwords and said nothing to him.

Daniel watched as Sara's bad manners popped back up for air. He was going to have to deal with that before he could even get to the subject at hand. Daniel walked up behind her, leaned down grabbed both of her wrists from her keyboard and placed them on the arms of her chair. Sara struggled to pull away from him.

"No! Daniel, leave me alone!"

Daniel continued to hold her wrists fast to the chair. She struggled so much he brought them to cross her chest as he hugged her and the chair to him to keep her still. He leaned in and whispered gruffly in her ear.

"Get into my office, right now."

She yanked out of his grip and stomped into his office throwing the tall and solid door hard behind her until it slammed in his face with a force of a bomb going off. Now he was getting angry. How dare she? What the hell is wrong with her? He stood staring at the door as he started unbuckling his belt. By the time he got to the other side of it, he had it in his hand at the ready. He quietly closed the door as he looked at her.

Sara stood staring at the door she had just slammed. She waited and when it didn't immediately open, a shudder ran through her. She wondered what he was doing and why it was taking him so long. When the handle finally turned it took awhile for him to push open the door and step through. He closed it quietly behind him and leaned on the door while fixing his eyes on hers. Sara spoke first.

"You are not spanking me."

"Oh?"

"No. You threatened to spank me for talking to Jane about our personal business and here you go making a scene in front of the entire company at the meeting. You think that wasn't fodder for gossip? Everyone was staring at us!"

"Be that as it may, you could have simply talked to me about it rather than be so rude and disrespectful from jabbing me in the ribs to slamming yet again, another door in my face. I am spanking you whether you like it or not or whether you think it is fair or not."

"No. I want to leave."

Daniel stared hard into her eyes as he watched her face harden.

"Okay. You are free to go." He stepped aside and held his hand toward the door giving her room to walk by him without feeling threatened. Sara slowly walked toward the door as he made his way to his desk chair. Just before she got to the door his voice rang out.

"Leave your keys and your company credit cards on your desk before you leave."

Sara froze. She stared hard at the door she was about to walk through and could not make her feet move. She turned and faced Daniel. His gaze was unrelenting but she did not care. She walked back toward him, dropped her gaze and walked around his desk to stand beside him. She dropped her her knees at his side. He was leaning on an elbow on the arm of his chair. She spoke softly.

"Okay, Daniel. Spank me. Please do not hurt me. I know you are angry with me."

His chin rested between his thumb and forefinger as he stared down at the top of her head.

"You realize you have a damn good one coming and you are going to sting for a long time when this is over."

She nodded her head.

"I need to hear your response, Sara."

"Yes, Sir." she whispered.

"Stand up."

Sara stood but continued looking at the floor. Daniel reached behind her neck and right shoulder and spun her to face his desk and pushed her face down over the desk. He held her neck and jaw firmly under his hand against his desk while he removed his belt with his other hand. She could hear it whipping through the loops as he pulled it off. He found the hook and zipper to her skirt and unzipped her. The skirt was too long and narrow to pull up and needed to come down from the top. He hooked his fingers into her pantyhose and pulled them down along with her panties. He placed his hand on her back waist and was about to start talking to her.

"Daniel...I am scared." she choked out. Tears spilled down her cheeks and terror spread through her as she contemplated the severity of what he might do to her.

"I know. You should have thought about that when you started down this road this morning. This is not a savage beating, Sara. It's a spanking. And while it will be lengthy as we go over the list of bad behavior you displayed, I have no intent on pushing you past what you can endure."

"Please." she whispered as tears continued to pour down her cheeks.

"Let's take it from the top. First, you had to know elbowing me in the ribs was not going to fly; do I need to go over this?"

"No." she whispered.

Daniel struck her with the belt once.

"No, what?"

Sara sucked a deep breath in.

"No, Sir!" she whispered.

"Okay. Count while I spank you for using your elbow on me."

Daniel struck and she counted ten strikes. He stopped and let her catch her breath for a couple of minutes before talking to her again.

"For storming off and treating me disrespectfully when we left the meeting, count..."

She counted out ten more strikes. By the time the tenth one came she was screaming into her hand. Daniel had to work hard to keep her still. She fell to her knees in front of him when he was done. She poured her heart out to him about how sorry she was for her behavior and pleaded for him not to continue but still Daniel insisted on making her endure the rest of her punishment.

"Can I at least go to the bathroom before you continue?" she inquired through deep and breathy sobs. Daniel nodded and stepped aside. He sat on the edge of his desk while he waited for her thinking. He was upset and did not want anything to do with this punishment so soon after what had already happened. But he would be damned if he was going to let her show the disrespect she had by slamming that door in his face. And it wasn't just any door. It couldn't have been heavier if it had been the entire oak tree. He was very liberal and generous with her. He did not expect anymore than a normal human being should expect. Just because she was an adult did not mean she should be allowed to behave any damn way she wanted. Sara slowly came back into the room. She was still crying and holding her skirt in place as she walked towards him.

He stood and motioned for her to bend over his desk; this time from the front side facing the door into his office. His heart was heavy as he continued the discussion with her. She was looking up at him in a way that made him doubt himself again. There is that look again. What is it? His heart was breaking for her but he refused to relent. She had to learn the rules of decent behavior and all of the charm in the world shouldn't be allowed to get her out of it. It simply would do her no good. Sara looked up at him and started whispering.

"Daniel. I am so sorry I slammed the door in your face. I just got so mad at you. You are so overbearing and forceful and sometimes I wish you would just leave me alone so I can calm down without you pushing me so much."

"I understand and you may be right. I would be willing to consider that but I would have liked it much more if you would have said this to me rather than fight me and then take things from bad to worse with your behavior. Is there anything else you want to say before we finish this?"

Sara shook her head no.

"Okay." He held out his hand motioning for her to bend over. She slowly walked over to his desk and let her skirt drop to its former position and bent over. Her panties and hosiery was still below her bottom. Sara hung on to the other edge of his desk with both hands and stared straight ahead. Daniel started swinging his belt with full force. Oddly she hissed in deep breaths and counted each one in a loud whisper as he delivered each blow. When she had counted twenty strikes with his belt, he stopped. She was breathing heavily but only a single tear was trailing down her cheek. She had for some odd reason stopped fighting it. Daniel was taken back and a bit afraid.