Spank or Treat 2014 Read online

  “Wait up, come back.” Shawna chased after the other woman. They couldn’t let one little spell gone bad ruin a lifetime friendship.

  Dru moved fast while angry, and pretty soon Shawna turned left and then right, and then went around an oversized oak that she swore she’d gone around twice before. The sky darkened under a new moon. What little light there was failed to permeate the thick tree line. She shivered in the cold.

  Lost. I’m lost in the dark woods.

  Try as she might, Shawna couldn’t stop the thought from repeating through her might. An obscene chant.

  I’m lost. I’m lost. I’m lost.

  Would she ever make it back? She’d die loveless, and why? Because she rejected the one who opened herself to love?

  All sorts of screeches and howls cut through the night. She may be walking alone, but she wasn’t alone in the woods. A cacophony of animal sounds greeted her, and no amount of stomping and clomping chased them away. In her haste, she picked up the pace to a trot. Her foot slammed down on an overgrown tree root, and she twisted her ankle, tumbling to the ground.

  Tears streaked down her face. She wiped them away, mixing the dirt into mud. What a sight she must be. She sat on the floor, rubbing her ankle and checking for anything broken. It hurt like hell, but she doubted it was permanent. After a few moments, she caught her breath and stood, testing out a little bit of weight. Although she winced at an initial burst of pain, it felt good enough to continue on.

  What was the alternative?

  She knew Dru pretty well. She didn't take much shit in relationships. She was a strong woman, who went after what she wanted. Determined. When Shawna whined about this guy or that guy in the past, Dru folded her arms over her chest and gave her this look that said, “If you were mine, I’d have you flipped over my knee and spanked until you stopped.”

  One look and Shawna shut up fast. That’s all it took. Forget about when she raised her eyebrow. That’s when the real trouble threatened.

  Where the hell did that thought come from? Dru spanking her? It’s not like Shawna regularly harbored spanking fantasies. But the idea of being pressed down on Dru’s skirts, a cool breeze caressing Shawna’s bare ass. Well, it got her all hot and bothered.

  She needed to find her way out of the god-forsaken forest and call her best friend. After an hour or so of veering off the path, she heard water running. If she was close to the stream, that meant she had to be near where she started. How could she have been stupid enough to run off without her backpack, or even her flashlight? The original intent had been to grab Dru, and then return for her stuff.

  Near the edge of the stream, the trees thinned out. Shawna followed the water, winding its way toward the encampment, until she saw a hint of red glowing light. The fire? Oh, please, don’t let the fire have spread. That’s the last thing she needed, was to be responsible for a forest fire. It had been so dry this past summer, and the rain was slow to start, that every living thing thirsted for a good drenching.

  Exhausted, she’d stumbled into the clearing, and found Dru sitting on the bench, looking perfectly comfortable and relaxed. In fact, she was roasting a marshmallow, and next to her sat some graham crackers and chocolate chunks. No way! She was going to make smores? And here Shawna was near death, lost in the woods?

  What if I met the Big Bad Wolf? The better to eat you with dearie.

  At the shuffling of leaves—or maybe it was Shawna’s huffing and puffing—Dru looked up. One eyebrow cocked up.

  “Decided to return after your wooded excursion, did you?” she said.

  “I-I-I was lost, you, you were sitting here the entire time? Why didn’t you come looking for me?”

  “What’s the first rule when you get lost?” Dru asked. “Do you remember that one from being young?”

  She plopped on the bench next to her friend, and tried to think. What was she supposed to do?

  “Water?” Dru handed over a chilled bottle, and Shawna drank it down with gusto. It tasted so good. Then she remembered, “Stay in one spot.”

  “Right, and did you? When you first realized you were lost did you stop and wait for me, or someone else to find you?”

  “No.”

  Truth dawned on her. She stumbled in circles for countless hours, and why? Because I was chasing after Dru.

  “Was that smart?” her friend asked.

  “No.” She felt like a chided child. She sighed with the realization that she’d probably made it that much worse.

  “And if you did something wrong, what should be the punishment?”

  Here it came. How did I know?

  Something sounding like “eeep” escaped from her mouth. She watched Dru’s lips move, not even listening at first, simply knowing what she was going to say next.

  “I know exactly what you need,” she said.

  Suddenly, she wasn’t talking anymore. Dru grabbed Shawna’s arm, and pulled her close. Their faces were inches apart, and Shawna focused on those lips. She wasn’t ready for the first kiss, but this time she would be. She shut her eyes, anticipating the next touch.

  “If you think I’m going to kiss you right now, you have another thing coming,” Dru said. “I think you need a spanking.”

  Eyes open now, Shawna felt herself being flipped over Dru’s lap. Her soft breasts brushed against Shawna’s cheek, and she realized if she turned over so slightly she’d be nipple height. Her sex pulsed with heat, and need. How could the thought of being spanked turn her on so much?

  Dru lifted the back of her long skirt up, and over her back, tsking the entire time. “Look at what you did. Ruined the fabric. The hem’s torn out. You know what it’s going to take to clean this?”

  Slender hands tugged on the back of her underwear. She wouldn’t, would she? Shawna struggled to get loose, and while she was physically bigger than Dru, it’s like the other woman had used some type of binding spell to hold her in place. She couldn’t break free.

  A soft caress trailed along the underside of her ass cheek, soothing and tempting. “I’m not going to spank you if you don’t want me to,” Dru coaxed. “I’m all about free will and consent.”

  “Then why did you bind me? Why can’t I move?”

  “If you really wanted to, you could break free, see. It comes in handy to learn the truth, too,” Dru said. “Now what’s a nice, safe word you’d like to use if it becomes too much.”

  “Warts!”

  The other woman’s laughter rumbled through her body, causing Shawna to bounce.

  “Apropos,” she said. “Now count off for me. We’ll see how you do before I decide how many you get.”

  With that warning, Dru smacked her hand against Shawna’s bare flesh. She whelped, more from surprise than hurt.

  “One.”

  The next three rained in a quick sensation. “Two, three, four.” Her ass heated up— “five, six, seven” —and the other woman knew just the right amount of space to move over to get a new area.

  By ten, Shawna squirmed all over the place, thinking she may be able to avoid the next strike. Dru stopped, and Shawna interpreted it as the spanking was over. She was so wrong.

  Leaning over, Dru shuffled through her bag until she found what she was looking for: a wooden spoon. From the corner of her eye, Shawna swore she saw the blasted thing sparkle in the firelight.

  “What’s that for?” As soon as she asked, she knew she didn’t want to hear the answer.

  “I don’t think you’ve quite learned your lesson yet. I always think the best type of learning is one that builds upon itself in layers, and we’ve only just begun.”

  It would be the start of a very long, and fulfilling relationship. When Shawna cast her spell for love in the forest on All Hallow’s Eve, the spirits listened. And she learned.

  Note:

  This short story started as a piece of flash fiction inspired by Siobhan Muir’s ThursThreads contest. Check it out! Plus, a special thanks to Anastasia
Vitsky, who mentioned more than once that she wanted to see a F/F witch story.

  About Louisa Bacio

  A Southern California native, Louisa Bacio can’t imagine living far away from the ocean. The multi-published author of erotic romance enjoys writing within all realms – from short stories to full-length novels.

  Bacio shares her household with a supportive husband, two daughters growing “too fast,” and a multitude pet craziness: Two dogs, five fish tanks, an aviary, hamsters, rabbits and hermit crabs. In her other life, she teaches college classes in English, journalism and popular culture.

  http://louisabacio.blogspot.com

  http://www.Facebook.com/LouisaBacio

  http://www.Twitter.com/LouisaBacio

  Charity Benshaw’s Enchanted Paddle Emporium by Erzabet Bishop

  Chapter One

  Charity Benshaw stared hopelessly at the line of applicants for the job fair, each one more dreadful than the last. What she’d expected to find when her compatriot from the shopping center mentioned she was going was a fleet of semiprofessional candidates. Or perhaps some students looking for a part time job. Finding an apprentice for her shop should have been an easy task. At least in her mind. But the reality was turning out to be far more difficult than she otherwise would have anticipated.

  “So why would you like to work at the Enchanted Paddle Emporium?”

  The young man swished some long brown hair out of his eyes and blinked. His hooded eyes were red and it was more than obvious he hadn’t bothered to shave.

  “Well, it would be hot right?”

  “Hot?” Charity took in the jeans, wrinkled, ratty T shirt and sneakers that had seen better days. By the smell alone, she would almost bet he hadn’t showered.

  “Sure.”

  Charity bit back a retort and glanced down at the application in front of her. Experience: almost none. References: zilch. Spelling: crazy wrong. How do you misspell sleep as a job skill?

  “What did you do for your last job?”

  “Played video games until the store closed.”

  “Oh.” Hmmmm.

  “On the application, I asked for times you’d be available to work and you didn’t fill out that portion of the form. What is your availability?”

  “Well, I stay up kind of late most nights so I don’t do mornings.”

  “Okay.” Charity resettled in her chair. “What times at night would you be able to take a shift?”

  “I don’t know. I have to meet with my friends for game tournaments and stuff.”

  “So you can ‘t work nights or mornings? What about afternoons?”

  “That’s when I sleep.”

  “I see.” Oh Goddess give me strength.

  “Have you ever had any experience with fixation spells?”

  “Huh?”

  I give up.

  Charity stood , held out her hand then quickly withdrew it as the unwashed odor wafted over across the desk.

  “Thanks for coming by the fair today. I’ll let you know if we’re interested.”

  The ungainly young man shrugged and shuffled off aimlessly toward the convenience store booth on the end, his stink following behind him like a cloud.

  “Goddess bless, this is like speed dating. Only worse.” Her friend Matilda slumped in her chair.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m sorry I asked you to come. I just figured since we were both hiring, it made sense to be each other’s backup.”

  “I know. With this economy, you’d think people would want a job. Especially at your shop. I mean, you sell the best cupcakes in town.” Charity eyed the plastic domed cake tray showing an exhibit of Matilda’s delectable desserts. Salted caramel chocolate cupcakes…lemon cream cookies…sweet vanilla bean petite fours. It was all so adorable. And so delicious.

  Matilda glanced at the nondescript rubber paddle resting on the table in front of Charity.

  “So do you sell those to game stores? I’m sorry I haven’t been by since I moved in.”

  Charity’s lips twitched. “Something like that.” Her glasses had found their way down her nose and she pushed them back into place.

  “I bet they’re great for ping pong. I was an ace at that in college.” Matilda stretched and stood up. “How much longer are you going to stay? I’m thinking of packing it in.”

  “A little longer. I have someone covering the store until I get back.

  “Okay then.” Matilda stood and gathered her purse. “Here,” she pushed the plastic container with the sweets across the folding table toward Charity. “Why don’t you keep these since I’ll just be going back to the bakery anyway?”

  “Umm. Sure.” Charity stood. “Thanks for giving me a call.” Her glasses slid down her nose and she absently pushed them back up onto her face.

  “No problem.” The perky blond slung her purse on her shoulder. Her blue striped business suit accentuated every curve, the heels giving her legs a long and shapely appearance. “I’m only sorry nothing much came out of it.”

  “You and me both,” Charity snorted. She observed Matilda walk away and sighed. The sea of applicants was drying up but then again so was her time. This was pointless and she needed to get back to the shop. She had an order of paddles waiting to go out and the darned things didn’t spell themselves.

  “Excuse me? Are you hiring?”

  Chapter Two

  Mercy Franklin smiled at the woman in the stylish business suit. The plum color was most unusual, as were the lovely strappy shoes she wore. One didn’t see heels with quite that height normally and it made her pause. How did she walk and not topple over? It boggled Mercy’s mind. Surely someone who wore shoes like that wouldn’t be a bad boss to work for. At least she hoped not. Mercy had heard things about The Enchanted Paddle Emporium and she had a hunch it would be just the job for her. A few more steps and she would be able to meet the witch who would hopefully be the answer to her prayers.

  She clutched the ad in Witch’s Weekly and marched up to the table, smoothing out her expression as she went.

  You are calm.

  You are competent.

  There is no spell you can’t do.

  Breathe. Just breathe.

  The woman’s brown hair was arranged into an attractive up-do and she wore blocky purple glasses that kept sliding down her nose. The rhinestone sparkles on the sides of the frames made Mercy smile. She was busy packing away the items on her table, reaching up every few moments to slide the errant glasses back onto her face. Alarm pulsed through Mercy. Was she too late then? Had the job fair ended?

  Mercy checked her wristwatch. The event was over in two hours but the woman was closing down early. Not good. What if she had already found someone? Mercy rushed forward and cleared her throat, tamping down the anxiety that warred within her. She needed this job. It fit all of her requirements. The Enchanted Paddle Emporium. What could be better than that? Blue spell fire singed the edges of her fingers and she rubbed them against her own plain gray suit.

  Be normal.

  No out of control magic.

  Just apply for the job…

  “Excuse me. Are you hiring?”

  The woman glanced at her askance. “I was. Yes.”

  “I’m sorry to bother you. Were you leaving?”

  “Yes. Can I help you?” The woman barely glanced her way.

  “Are you by chance Charity Benshaw?”

  The woman’s lips curved upward and her eyes finally lifted from what she was doing.

  “I am.”

  “Mercy Franklin.” Mercy held out her hand and heaved a sigh of relief when Ms. Benshaw shook it and didn’t get zapped. “I read in the paper you were looking for an assistant.”

  “Nice to meet you. Do you have a resume?”

  “I do.” Mercy handed the other woman a folder with her resume and references enclosed. She only hoped against hope that she didn’t actually try to call any of them. The spell she cast on the p
aperwork would only hold, at best, until the next day and she really didn’t want to take a chance on her finding out everything all at once. All she needed was one chance. A foot in the door and this job would be the right one.

  “Is this rubber?” Mercy reached down and picked up the implement from the table and gave it a swing. She was no stranger to paddles.

  “It is.” Charity smiled, her peculiar violet eyes observing Mercy’s movements.

  “What position are…ur…were you hiring for?”

  Charity sighed and pushed the glasses back up onto her nose. “I was looking for someone to mind the shop and have a hand in making paddles.”

  Mercy nodded. “I could absolutely do that.”

  “Do you have experience?”

  Mercy nodded once again. “Yes Ma’am. I certainly do.” Nervous sparks burst from her fingertips and she rubbed them on her skirt.

  The other woman met her eyes and considered her for a moment.

  “What paper did you say you read about the job?”

  “Witches Weekly.”

  “I see.” Charity opened up the folder and scanned the contents, closing it immediately.

  “Well then, Ms. Franklin. I do believe you’re hired. Can you start tomorrow?”

  Mercy grinned as Charity held out her hand.

  Chapter Three

  “This is the Paddle Emporium.” Charity led Mercy into the back room. A wall of shelves lined the room but unfortunately they were bare.

  Mercy had shown up as instructed in khakis and a pullover shirt with workable shoes, her long brown hair neatly secured in a ponytail. She looked like a co-ed going to a part time job at a pizza shop.

  “Where are they?”

  “That my dear is why I hired you.” Charity walked over to a large wooden work table with Mercy following close behind. Her own sneakered feet tread across the concrete floor and her jeans brushed together as she moved. Might as well be comfortable. It was going to be a long afternoon.