Ski Lodge

“Everything okay?”

Sadie felt heat rush up her neck and face but she peeked over the top of her book long enough to respond politely– “I’m okay, just knocked my elbow!” – before hiding behind the pages again. The concerned party was another fireside reader at the ski lodge, and Sadie had drawn their attention by yelping when she shifted in her seat.

Her elbow was fine. Her bottom was not. Caroline had seen to that before heading out to the slopes for the morning. Every time she moved, Sadie could feel the effects of her girlfriend’s attention and along with the pain came the memory of being over her lap and then the inevitable blush. She could barely concentrate on her book as her mind filled with images and impressions– the way soft heat currents made the carpet below her nose dance, the desperate kicks that accompanied the whack of the hairbrush, the threat and eventual presence of tears.

Caroline had not warned her that she would be getting a spanking, and a hard one at that. Sadie had been curled up in bed still, half-asleep as she watched her partner shed her pajamas and then slowly add layers back on. Before she’d donned much more than her long johns, though, she had paused to contemplate her snoozing girlfriend. Something about the shift in her expression alerted Sadie, and she’d sat up with the sudden rush of adrenaline. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I’m thinking about all the ways an unsupervised little girl could get into trouble here today, and how I’m going to keep any of that from happening,” Caroline had responded as she set down the shirt she’d been re-folding, having picked another for the day.

“I’m not going to get in trouble! I’m just going to read my book and drink hot chocolate!” Sadie hated the way her voice had traveled up an octave but she was powerless to stop it. This had been her plan, though. They had discussed it on the drive up the mountain. Sadie might join Caroline one morning of their long weekend, but she wasn’t nearly as fond of skiing as her girlfriend and was happy to part ways until lunch so they could both enjoy their vacation.

“And you’re not going to spend the day on your phone texting or scrolling,” Caroline had said back, still keeping her gaze on the girl in bed. “Lots of ways to behave yourself on this trip.”

Sadie had blushed and pulled the covers further over herself with childlike confidence in their ability to shield her from whatever was coming. “Stop worrying about me! Don’t you want to get out there already?”

“We’ll go downstairs together,” Caroline had said, reaching over to the nightstand drawer and retrieving the oval antique hairbrush she’d put there yesterday afternoon when she had been unpacking. “Time for you to get up, Sadie.”

~   ~   ~

There hadn’t been many more steps between that and Sadie lying face down over her partner’s sturdy lap. She had been shocked by the severity of the spanking she’d gotten and had not taken it with any sort of dignity. The brush landed hard on her freshly bared bottom and Sadie had kicked and cried out from that moment forward. She hadn’t even fought to keep her hands out of the way, instead surrendering her right wrist almost immediately and using the left to grip Caroline hard around the back of her waist. “Please, no, stop, I didn’t do anything!” became her off-rhythm chant as the brush made contact over and over again.

“No, you didn’t do anything,” Caroline had crooned at her, voice gentle where her hand was not. “And it’s my job to see that you keep up this streak of good behavior, even if I’m not here to keep an eye on you every minute.”

Being talked to like that had taken Sadie’s breath away in ways even the hairbrush couldn’t manage. She was not a child in need of minding, but Caroline had no qualms about treating her as such anyway. The fact that Sadie hadn’t been seeking such attention made it all the more embarrassing, and she lay there taking her spanking ungracefully, legs kicking, pleas becoming more garbled with every passing second.

“You are a very good girl, and you are soon going to be a very sore girl. Your poor swollen bottom is going to help you remember to behave yourself until I see you again. You’ll be respectful to the staff here, clean up after yourself, and concentrate on reading. Is that understood?”

Again Sadie’s stomach had lurched– she was going to do all of those things anyway! of course she was!– but the bite of the implement broke through the indignation and instead of insisting, she gasped out, “Yes ma’am! Yes ma’am I will! I promise.”

“Very good,” Caroline had said, approval in her tone even if it didn’t slow the steady smack of the hairbrush. Instead she brought her hand, still gripping Sadie’s wrist, down to the girl’s hip. She secured her partner tightly against her, stopped talking, and concentrated only on using the brush to its full effect. She spent time on her sitspots, on the tops of her thighs, on the full round curve of her bottom. She ignored the hiccuped cries and muffled apologies for a breach that was never committed.

By the time she had finished her task, the sun was fully above the horizon and Sadie had no more words to go with her sniffles. She stood when she was allowed, gingerly reaching back to explore the damage to her now hot and swollen backside. In her earliest morning stupor, she’d contemplated falling back asleep, taking a long shower, eventually wandering downstairs to take up residence by the roaring fireplace in the spacious lodge. She wasn’t going to be allowed back in bed, that was she was sure of, and she had no interest in letting the showerhead blast its usually welcomed heat across her rear end. Now she wanted only cuddles and reassurances.

~   ~   ~

Those she had gotten, as well as a coffee and a freshly filled bottle of water to keep with her. Caroline had put the brush away and finished dressing while Sadie did the same though with fewer layers. They’d taken the elevator down, Sadie only mildly worried that their neighbors might have heard but greatly reassured by Caroline’s confidence that they hadn’t. Not the way their rooms were positioned, she’d said, though Sadie wasn’t sure she cared as much anyway. Her final goodbye had involved a kiss on Sadie’s forehead and a firm, “Be good today,” before she walked out. Caroline didn’t lower her voice and Sadie had been too stunned to say anything back.

Maybe no one had heard anything, but her fellow homebodies were going to notice if she didn’t settle down and stop wiggling. Caroline would probably tease her about that, too, when she got back– a thought that made Sadie roll her eyes with begrudging affection. She wanted to be able to say she’d been still, but that was looking unlikely. Biting her lip to prevent any more escaped noises, Sadie shifted one more time, desperate to find a comfortable perch. She settled into a position that would have to do for now, then looked at her book again. A part of her brain demanded she check her phone one last time before finally diving in, but she ignored it. She could check again at the end of the first chapter, she told herself firmly. She released her bottom lip from the trappings of her teeth, and began to read.