"Craig, I think you had better leave before I say something that I will really regret."

Looking somewhat stunned Craig got up and going toward Nancy said, "I didn't mean to offend you, I just wanted you to know about my fantasies that involve us."

"Well you can stop fantasizing about us, because I want no part in it, of it or anything like it, Craig. It's disgusting and I really don't know how you could even contemplate such a thing, much less indulge yourself to fantasize about it. Please leave."

Reaching down to touch her Craig had his hand pushed away and realized she was rejecting much more of him than just his hand. He wondered how much damage he had done to their relationship, he loved her as she did him, but he was scared that he might have irreparably harmed her love for him. Damn, why did I ever mention it, but he knew sooner or later he had to tell her. "I'm sorry, Nancy, I never thought it would upset you this much. I'll call you tomorrow."

As he turned toward the door he heard her say, "No Craig, I have a lot to think about. After I have, I'll call you."

Locking the door after he left, Nancy slid down the door until she was sitting on the floor. Her emotions flooded over her like waves crashing on the shore, anger, fear, hate, until they all became mixed together like waves trapped in a lagoon. She wanted to cry, but her anger didn't allow it. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. How could he even think about such a thing? How could I have been so taken in? Could I be wrong, a part of her wanted to think of him as the kind, considerate, fun loving person she knew, and grew to love... until tonight. Craig, an abuser of women, how could I have been so wrong? His words came back to her, "Nancy, I would like to spank you," and she shuttered.

Trembling with anger she remembered the five or six spankings she had received as a child. Her fathered called them spankings, but she remembered then as beatings. Made to lay across a bed with her bottom bare, he hit her over and over with his belt until she was screaming. After he finished all he said was, "Don't you ever do that again, or you'll get it twice as bad next time."

I still resent my father for having done that to me. Yes I deserved to be punished for what I did, but not beaten. As a child, I feared him, as an adult I came to accept and give him respect, but only to conditionally love him. I still cannot forgive him for those beatings. No one will do that to me again, not Craig, or anyone. How could Craig want to inflict pain like that on me and say he loves me? What else don't I know about him? Could I ever trust him again? Confused and mad the tears finally began to roll down her cheeks. Soon she was sobbing as the conflict between her heart and brain became deeper, widening the chasm between them, that she was afraid she would never be able to bridge.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Nancy, you have got to get over this. For the past six weeks all you have done is work, eat and sleep, and not that much eating or sleeping from what I see. You've just toyed with your lunch and the only thing you have told me is how much work you have to do and that you can't come to the beach with us. Remember we planned this trip three months ago. Like it or not Kate and I are picking you up Saturday morning and you had better be packed and ready to go. Remember we rented the cottage for the week."

"Helen I can't, he will be there and I don't want to ruin your or Katie's fun," Nancy said, remembering how they all planned to be at the beach at the same time. Craig, Dan, Katie's SO, and Jim, Helen's new boyfriend, had rented a cottage a block from theirs. They laughed how this trip to the beach wouldn't be the usual surfing and toasting on the beach or trips to the meat markets (bars) looking for dates.

Nancy laughed as she remembered Dan saying, "Yeah, and when you caught most of them, an hour latter you were wondering how you could get off the hook!"

"Well, that's an improvement, first time I've seen you smile in I don't know how long," Helen said. Getting up from the table, Helen told Nancy to be ready Saturday morning and again she heard Nancy say she wouldn't be going.

Dan, Katie, Jim and Helen got together that night to discuss what they knew about why Craig and Nancy had broken up. All they knew was Craig had said he mentioned something to Nancy that he shouldn't have and Nancy saying she didn't know Craig as well as she thought she did. Beyond that, none of them knew why they stopped seeing each other. However, it was obvious to all of them that Nancy and Craig were both miserable.

Dan said, "Helen you said Nancy told you she wasn't going because she thought Craig would be there, and Craig told Jim and me the same thing. So, Helen you tell Nancy that Craig won't be there, because that is what Craig told Jim and me. We'll tell Craig that Nancy won't be there because that is what she told you. Now we just don't tell them about our meeting." After discussing it, no one was able to come up with a better plan, so they agreed to try it.

Katie said, "Its worth a try, nothing else we've tried has worked."

While packing her bags for the beach, Nancy still didn't think it was the right thing to do. She would just be in the way and Helen and Katie would want to include her in whatever they would be doing with Jim and Dan. Laughing she thought, Jim and Dan are going to love that. She had to agree with Helen when she said it would be good for her to get away for a week. For the past six weeks all she had done did sit around, not want to see anyone or do anything. Maybe a change of scenery would pick her up and get her moving again. She sure hoped so. Since she stopped seeing Craig, life had been miserable, feeling like she was just a bystander, an observer of everything, and a doer of nothing.

Walking up to Nancy's door, Helen and Katie still were not sure she would be going with them. Nancy pulling her bags out the door said, "Let's get going before I change my mind for the 14th time this morning."

Dan and Jim were not having as much success with Craig. He insisted he would not go. "I won't be a fifth wheel at the party; all I'll do is spoil your fun."

That changed when Jim challenged him with, "Afraid you've lost your touch, Craig? Can't even get a date at the beach?" Craig threw some things into a bag and they left for the beach, about an hour behind the girls. As they approached the cottage, Craig began regretting his hasty decision to come. He didn't want to meet some girl; he wanted to be with Nancy.

After unpacking, Dan called the girls and they said to come over. Craig said he'd go for a walk on the beach to see what he might find. Dan and Jim tried to talk him out of it but Craig insisted, so they went over to the girl's place, while Craig headed for the beach.

Nancy told Kate and Helen the same thing when she heard that the guys were coming over.

So she started out for her walk on the beach. After about 15 minutes on the beach, she wished she hadn't come for the walk, having been hit on three times by a creep, an egomaniac and a slob.

Craig saw some very nice looking women who smiled at him when they made eye contact, but he just wasn't into it. The best he could do was say hello or good afternoon as they passed. Then he spotted a girl about 50 yards ahead of him who had about the same figure as Nancy. He started to run to catch up to her, and the closer he got the more she reminded him of Nancy. Then he stopped, thinking what if it is Nancy?

Just then, Nancy turned to get closer to the water and Craig saw that is was Nancy. Without thinking he yelled out, "Nancy".

Nancy turned and saw Craig. She stood frozen like a deer in a car's headlights. She didn't know what to do or say. Finally she said, "Hello, Craig, what are you doing here?" Thinking Katie and Helen set her up when they told her that Craig wasn't coming.

Smiling Craig said, "I could ask you the same question. Dan and Jim told me that you weren't coming. Uh-oh, we were conned into coming. How have you been Nancy"?

"OK, Craig, yourself?"

"Not so good, and from the way you look I don't think you have been any better".

"Well, I've had better days, no make that weeks".

"Nancy lets walk back towards the cottages, we've got to talk, if that's OK with you. I've got to know what I did or said to hurt you so badly".

Nancy just stood there wondering if she could talk about it without crying. "OK Craig, I guess you deserve to know how badly you hurt me, but I may cry before I'm finished because it still hurts."

It was when you said, "I want to spank you."

"How could you, physically and emotionally, deliberately hurt someone you say you love"?

Craig was stunned, he saw tears in her eyes and heard her voice quiver as she told him. "Nancy don't you know that I couldn't deliberately hurt you in any way. As you said, it is because I love you that I couldn't or wouldn't ever do anything like that to you. When I said that I wanted to spank you, I was thinking of a sensual spanking that is a form of foreplay".

Nancy replied "Sensual spanking, I've never heard of such a thing. A spanking hurts really badly. I know, because when I was growing up my father spanked me with his belt a number of times. I was bruised and it hurt to sit down for days."

"Nancy you weren't spanked, you were whipped and that was child abuse in my opinion". Craig now knew why Nancy had a strained relationship with her father. "If you can, let's forget I ever mentioned spanking you. I promise I will never spank you unless you ask me to".

Smiling, Nancy said, "Well don't hold your breath, because that will never happen".

"That's OK with me", Craig said as he took Nancy's hand and they walked back towards the girl's cottage. As they approached the door, Craig, heard the familiar sounds of a hand slapping flesh and then they heard, "Ow, not so hard, Dan, at least give me a warm up first". Craig knew Dan was spanking Katie, because he first met them at a spankers club.

"Nancy, I'm not sure you want to go in, it sounds like Dan is spanking Katie".

"Well it sure sounded like Katie, but from the sound of her voice I don't think she's really hurting. Lets go in Craig, I want to see what's going on".

Craig said, "OK, just as long as you know what's happening", as he opened the door to let Nancy in.

Nancy was startled when she saw Katie over Dan's lap with her bottom pink. Dan was slapping her with his hand and when he hit her, Katie's cheeks would bounce but it didn't look like he was hitting her very hard.

Looking up Katie saw Nancy and with a smile on her face said, "Nancy tell this big brute to quit spanking me, he's killing me. Ow, Dan, not so hard. I won't be able to sit down for a week".

"Two minutes would be more like it, Katie. I haven't really started to spank you yet, brat. After what you did this afternoon you deserve every bit of what I'm going to give you." Dan began spanking Katie a little harder, but the spanks were coming much faster and Katie began to squirm on Dan's lap. Dan stopped spanking and began to rub her bottom.

Nancy was shocked to see that Katie was enjoying the spanking and thought that she was aroused by it. Katie's owws became humms and her squirming became grinding on Dan's lap.

"That's enough of that, Katie. This is a spanking, and it's going to be a good one before we're through. You have been asking for this for days and today you've put yourself over the top and my knee. Kicking sand at everyone, whining about not getting a milk shake, you played the brat every way you knew how. So now I'll spank you every way I can". Dan took off one of his rubber-soled sandals and hit Katie across the middle of both cheeks.

"OWWW", cried Katie, more surprised by the noise it made than the sting, although she knew if he gave her very many of them she would have a fire on her backside very soon. Wiggling her cheeks to avoid the blows, she went into repent mode after the second smack. "Oww, I'll be good, Dan. I've learned my lesson, please stop honey. OWWW, hot so hard, it hurts, I'm on fire".

Nancy jumped at the sound of the first smack of the sandal and thought Dan was really hurting Katie. As Dan continued to spank Katie, Nancy realized that Katie's pleas weren't sincere and that all of this was some kind of game they were playing. Looking at Craig, she saw a grin on his face. This must be the kind of spanking Craig was talking about, she thought.

After ten whacks with the sandal, Dan put it down and started to rub Katie's red bottom. The more he rubbed the more Katie wiggled her butt and gave Dan access to between her thighs. Then Dan said looking at the audience they had, "Honey I think we had better take this to the bedroom".

Looking up Katie said, "Oh, yes" as she got off Dan's lap trying to cover her mound. As she turned to hurry to the bedroom everyone saw her red behind.

In a few minutes, the moans and squeaking bed springs told all of them what was happening in the bedroom.

Nancy couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Katie had wanted the spanking that Dan gave her and that it had aroused her. From Kate's reactions to some of the spanks, Nancy knew that they had to hurt yet Katie wanted more. It didn't make any sense. Then Nancy remembered that one time just before she had an orgasm with Craig he slapped a cheek and she thought that it might have increased the intensity.

Craig and I are going to have to have a serious discussion about his spanking fantasies.