Tabitha's Guardian (13 page)

Tabitha was relieved when the painful
chastisement stopped. She tried to push herself up and off of his
lap, but he merely tightened his hold. “We are not through here,
Tabitha Rose. You are still going to be spanked for forgetting to
put your communicator in your purse.” He pushed up her dress and
the long slip she wore beneath the thin fabric. Then he slid his
hand underneath the waistband of her panties and pushed them down
over her reddened cheeks, her sit spots, and her thighs. He eased
them down her calves, and over her ankles and the slipper shoes she
was still wearing, to toss them on the bed behind him. Tabby would
not want to put the panties on again this day, he was sure. She was
going to be very sore by the time he finished with this lesson.

“I do not need more punishment, Owen! Truly!
You have made your point of view as clear as can be!” Tabitha
protested, trying to wiggle free of the hold he had on her.
“Please, I will listen to you, and I promise I will do much better
in remembering to take along my communicator. I was merely excited
at the prospect of trying to start a career, and I did not think of
much else because I was so caught up in choosing the right fabrics
to make samples of my designs. Now this day is completely ruined,
and I do not care if I ever sew again!” She burst into tears.

Owen would have suspected that she was
trying to manipulate him, if she were anyone else but the sweet
Tabby he knew and loved. Her tears were genuine. “Tabby, your
emotions are taking over now, and we will talk about your career,
but right now, we are going to finish this spanking, and I want
your attention where it needs to be.” He gave her reddened bottom a
hearty spank, and she jerked and cried out in pain. “Now you are
going to get the reminder I intended when I first came up
here.”

Tabitha’s bottom was already sore, and when
Owen started spanking again, this time on her bare skin, it was as
painful as could be. “I am sorry!” she called out, frantic to stop
the awful spanking.

“What are you sorry for?” Owen wanted to
know.

“I am sorry I was so caught up in my plans
that I forgot my communicator.”

“Is there anything else?” he asked, and his
tone of voice let her know that he thought there should be.

“Yes, ow! Please, Owen! I cannot think while
you are spanking me! It hurts too much!”

“The spanking continues until you satisfy me
that you are aware of what you did wrong. If you want it to stop,
then you need to concentrate on why you are here.” He emphasized
his words with spanks to her sit spots.

“Ow! You are hurting me, Owen!” she sobbed
the words.

He still did not stop, but continued to set
fire to her bottom. “What else are you sorry for?” he encouraged
her to speak.

“For not paying attention to what was going
on around me. I should have been watching to make sure we were not
being followed.”

“Yes, you should have been. Were you not
asked to do this?”

“Yes! I am so sorry, Owen! Please stop
now!”

“Are you the one who decides when a
punishment is over, Tabitha Rose?”

“No! But, it really hurts, and I am
sorry!”

“I believe you, honey. There is one more
issue to discuss. I want some assurance that you are going to
remain in this house while I am not here to keep watch over you. I
want to know that you intend to obey me.”

“I do not wish to be confined to this house
indefinitely, husband! I have done nothing wrong, and I do not wish
to be punished!”

“It is not a punishment.” Owen enforced the
words with another hard smack to her right cheek, followed with one
to the sit spot right below. “It is a precaution.” This time it was
her left side that was spanked.

“You call it a precaution, but it is a
punishment to me!”

“Very well… I still want your promise that
you will obey.”

Tabitha wanted to refuse, she really did,
but she was sure that Owen would spank her even harder if she did.
“I will obey you.” She was not happy about it.

“Very well.” He helped her up, but when he
tried to comfort her, she pushed him away,

“I do not like you right now, Owen Patrick.
Please give me some time alone.”

“Pouting will only earn you another
spanking.”

“I am not pouting; I am angry! Please go
away and give me some time to calm down before I say something
hurtful.”

Owen was surprised by her reaction. “Tabby,
we need to discuss this right now. Why are you so angry with
me?”

“Because you are taking that moron’s side,
and you are giving him the satisfaction of causing fear and panic.
Your idea of protecting me only feeds that creep’s ego! It is not
fair to me. Not one bit fair! Do you hear me? You are wrong, Owen!
You may be stronger than me, and able to spank me to get me to
agree with you in order to stop the pain, but you are wrong, and
nothing is going to change that. Are you satisfied now? You and
Daddy are giving him what he wants.” She turned her back to Owen,
and then she headed for the washroom for some privacy. She firmly
shut the door, and then she locked it for good measure.

Owen heard the shower and knew she was
trying to cool the heat of the spanking he gave her. He felt like
an ogre. Had the spanking been so bad that he had forced her
compliance? And, more importantly, would she really obey him and
stay here where he could keep her safe? He sat there and fumed and
thought, and waited and waited for the shower to stop and for Tabby
to leave their bathroom and come out. He felt like an ass and he
did not know why. He was trying to keep her safe, and she was angry
with him. He did not understand.

Finally, the door opened, and Tabby walked
out. She started when she saw him sitting there on their bed, and
she came over to him and whispered his name. He stood and took her
in his arms and held her trembling body close to his. Owen could
tell she was crying, and he was shocked to feel tears in his eyes,
too.

“I am sorry I yelled at you, Owen. I love
you,” she whispered.

“I am sorry you felt I was being unfair,
honey. We should have talked more before I spanked you that last
time. My guardian instincts are still with me, and I need to
develop my husband instincts more, and not treat you like my ward
instead of my wife, who is entitled to an opinion. Forgive me?” he
asked, earnestly needing her absolution.

“You are forgiven, my darling. Please
forgive me, too? I realize that you are protecting me out of
love.”

“Of course I forgive you, Tabby Rose. I love
you.” He took considerable time to show her how much she was loved,
and Tabby eagerly gave herself to him, anxious to prove her
devotion. When they were finished making love, they lingered
together on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. “Thank you,
honey. I needed your reassurance.”

“I will always love you, Owen, even when I am
angry and say horrible things,” she whispered and then kissed him
gently.

“Honey, I am human, and there are times I
will make mistakes. I hope you will always know that I love you,
and you will forgive me those times.”

“Owen, of course I will forgive you. I know
you love me, and I love you with all my heart. We might argue now
and then, but we will make up like we did today, and we will go on
with our lives, with a deeper understanding of each other.”

“You are wise beyond your years,” he said,
smiling.

“I am also needed in the kitchen if we are to
have dinner at a respectable hour.”

He reluctantly released her, and then got to
his feet when she did. “I will come down and help you, wife.”

She flashed him a big smile, and within
minutes they were dressed and downstairs in the kitchen. Tabitha
gave him the task of tearing lettuce for a salad, and Owen found it
was not so difficult. While they were working, Jenson came into the
kitchen and reminded them that the interviews were to begin in
ninety minutes.

“Daddy, Janice and I do not need a keeper! I
would have you reconsider this, please!”

“Absolutely not. For my peace of mind I need
to know that you will be safe when Owen and I are not here. I have
a company to run, and Owen is just back to work after a long
vacation. While we wish we could be here, we cannot. I will hire a
man to look after you and Janice while we are at work, and that is
final, Tabitha Rose.” Jenson turned and marched from the kitchen,
shaking his head and muttering to himself.

“This is insane!” Tabitha smacked her chef’s
knife on the cutting board she was using to chop onions for the
salad. “Some fool touched Janice, but did nothing. He touched me in
the same manner, but ran when I screamed. Now Daddy is hiring men
with guns! This character is probably mentally ill, or mentally
challenged, and playing some silly game. Even if he is a predator,
we would be safe here without a guard!”

“Tabby, my palm is starting to itch again,”
Owen warned. “Jenson wishes to protect you, and I agree with him.
Now stop complaining about this. Your father is worried sick right
now. He fears that one of my former clients is out to harm
you.”

“I thought all your clients were
females.”

“Most were, but in the beginning, I had a
couple of young teens who were males. I found I had better results
with females, and my supervisors agreed. It was felt the boys
needed older men to stand as father figures. Still, I had seven or
eight males who would be the right age for this man. There is no
way of knowing for sure until I get a good look at him… or hear the
name. In the meantime, please do not make this more difficult than
it has to be. Your father is fearful.”

“Since you ask it of me, I will be silent,
but please know that I object… strongly.”

“You have made that clear, dear wife,” he
said with a smile. “You are one feisty lady, do you know that?”

“Too feisty sometimes,” she admitted. “My
poor butt still hurts and I am not sure I will be able to sit at
the table to eat dinner.”

“You know that you will get through the meal,
and with a minimum of squirming.”

“I know that is what you expect, but it is
not your butt that is so sore you feel like crying!”

“I would have thought the shower would have
relieved the soreness a good bit…”

“It eased the sting, but not the hurt,” she
told him.

“You were supposed to wear the sting until
it wore off naturally,” he stated. When her eyes grew big, he
added, “I let it pass this time because I realized that I did not
handle the situation as well as I could have, but the next time I
need to punish you, there will be no shower afterwards to ease away
the sting. It is part of the punishment.”

“I do not think you realize your own
strength, husband. When you are so harsh with me, I feel as though
I have been badly burned and as though I have no skin left! You do
not need to be so firm when you give a lesson. I am not a criminal,
and I usually feel terrible for upsetting you before you start the
spanking. Please think about this, darling.”

Three weeks passed. Both Janice and Tabitha
felt as though they were being kept prisoner in their own home.
Janice complained because she could not go to shops to pick out
items for the wedding, and Tabitha was frustrated that her plans
were put on hold because she wanted to go in person to pick out the
fabrics she wished to use. She had her designs, but she did not
have what she needed to advance her career. If that was not enough
to upset her, she did not like the guard her father and husband had
hired. The man followed them everywhere, and when she slammed a
door in his face, he opened the door and insisted she leave it
open. Janice was more vocal with her dislike, and she scolded
Jenson every opportunity she got for hiring Horace.

“Tabby, why are you frowning? Do you not
feel well?” Jenson asked her.

“I feel fine, Daddy,” she answered with
extreme patience, hoping he would not continue to question her,
but, of course, he did!

“What has you upset? Has Owen stepped on
your toes in some way?” Now her husband was looking at her
questioningly.

“Are you wroth with me, honey?” he asked in
his deep voice.

“I am wroth with the situation, Owen, not
with you. Daddy, I am upset that we have that horrid misfit Horace
here each and every day. Janice and I cannot go into a room
together to have a cup of tea that he is not following us and
listening to each and every word we say. I do not like him; I do
not like the way he looks at me as if I am a specimen of some sort!
He is not discreet at all! I want him gone, today if possible.”

“Daughter, Horace is highly recommended by
the agency that represents him.”

“I do not care. Daddy, you and Owen are not
here all day with the man, as Janice and I are. We do not like him!
I promise you that I am at my wits end.”

“Jenson, I know you have warned me not to
complain further about this situation, but even if it means another
spanking, I must tell you that I completely agree with Tabby.
Horace might have a good reputation according to his
representative, but if we were asked for an opinion, we would
recommend that no one hire him!”

“Janice, I warned you!”

“Yes, you did, Jenson, but that does not
change how I feel.”

“Daddy, you and Owen see him at his best,
before you leave and for a couple of minutes after you arrive home.
It is not a fair assessment.”

“Tabitha Rose, that is more than enough. We
have had this discussion before,” Owen scolded, and the look in his
dark eyes told her that he was serious.

“Yes, Owen. I am sorry for upsetting you,
Daddy.”

“Horace is here to protect you both, and
nothing more, daughter. I swear, if this matter comes up again, I
will spank the two of you!” Jenson got to his feet and left the
kitchen dining area.