He told me to bring the leather strap.
That didn’t seem sufficient, so I brought everything that fit into my monogrammed tote bag — paddles, canes, tawses, cuffs, brushes, a vibrator, plug, lube. (Spanking wasn’t the only thing on my agenda and from our earlier conversation, his plans were likewise freaky.) It had been so long — weeks, months, I’d lost track — since we well and truly played.
With Thai food so hot it made the hair stick to his forehead, reminiscent of other fun diversions, and a glass of wine in his hand, he gave me the look.
“Are you going to spank me?” I asked, measuring his eyes.
“Yes,” he answered without pause.
“Should I go to the bedroom and take my pants off?”
“Go to the bedroom, yes. Leave your pants on,” he said slowly, as if contemplating popping my button himself. I imagined him steering me by the waistband, unsnapping and unzipping my jeans before yanking me over his lap, leaving him easy access for phase two.
“When?” I asked, needing him to say it. I wanted the baritone of direction, although, at least tonight, I’d been comfortable in the lead.
“Now.”
Ah, there it was: the tone, the dominance, the man in control. The man who would demand just the right amount — stretching my capacity to feel and breathe, to give and take — while instilling blissful quiet.

In the bedroom, he didn’t take it slowly. Our kink had been missed and it was time to recover.
With my pants unloosed, just as I had pictured, and with me over his lap, he lifted my shirt and unhooked my bra.
So we’re playing that way, I thought with no objection. Better than cuffs, his hand painfully grabbed my tit and held me in place.
Even in that position, it was hard for me to stop directing. I’m not sure what had gotten into me, but I was petulant and mean. He wasn’t spanking me right. He didn’t warm me up enough. He needed to stop playing my buns like bongo drums — a practice that usually makes me laugh. Even his sharp reprimands against my thighs couldn’t silence my complaints.
A balloon of frustration swelled between us and I longed for it to burst.
Three times he asked me to retrieve another implement from the bag, in addition to the strap and paddle I’d chosen to begin. Three times I left his lap and self-consciously waddled across the room with my pants and panties below my spanked cheeks. Each time, my frustration grew.
Why wasn’t this spanking working? Where was my easy submission? Have we been so far departed from D/s that we couldn’t find our way back?
The cane sliced through my doubt by the fourth stroke as I bit back tears and released the anger I didn’t know I held.

This was not how I pictured our evening together. This was not what I thought I’d needed when I packed that bag earlier in the day and began my drive to him, enthusiastically singing along to the radio. I’d pictured a fun interlude, but instead he delivered what was necessary: a reminder of our desires, our story, and the way that we fit.
He spanked the whole woman last night. He spanked the filthy girl with the lube and the butt plug. He spanked the naughty girl with the witty comebacks and challenging frown. He spanked the quiet girl and the wild child. He laid me bare; he spread me open.
I made the request and he answered with a demand.
Wrapped in the comforter, with him behind me, his thighs rubbing hotly against my welts, I was finally at peace. Finally, joyfully submissive.
But it didn’t stop me from whispering, “Will you fuck me now?”
And he did. On his terms.