Kaelyn Radcliff sat back and gave the handsome man beside her a sidelong glance as they drove back to her apartment. Her friend, Madison, had introduced her to Holt McCall when she had moved back to Seattle several months ago and she was so glad that the other girl had. Though Kaelyn had always had her reservations about blind dates and set-ups, this time had been completely different. She had gotten along with the sexy software engineer from the moment she’d met him. Not only was he absolutely gorgeous, (thus dispelling the myth that all software geeks were “geeks”) but the conversation had flowed as if they had known each other for years. She didn’t want to sabotage things by putting a label on it too soon, but she thought their relationship might have the potential to really go someplace, and she couldn’t be happier. She was going to owe Madison really big if this worked out.

That evening, Holt had taken her out for a dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in the city, which had been wonderful. What had made it even better though, was that the place had a dance floor, which they had made great use of. Holt was a fantastic dancer, and the way he moved his body against hers as they’d danced had gotten her really hot and bothered. But that was no surprise, she thought, since Holt had been getting her excited almost from their very first date. In fact, she couldn’t wait for him to get her home so he could move that athletic body against hers a little bit more. Albeit, with much less clothing on.

Apparently, Holt couldn’t wait to touch her either, because the moment they got inside her apartment, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately on the mouth. Kaelyn melted against him with a sigh, her lips parting beneath his as he slid his hand into her long auburn hair to cup the back of her head.

When he lifted his head, his blue eyes were hungry with desire as he gazed down into her amber ones. Then, with a grin, Holt took her hand and led her through the combination living room and kitchen toward the bedroom.

The bedroom was bathed in the glow of light coming from the streetlamp outside the window. The shadows accentuated Holt’s chiseled features, making him look even more handsome, and Kaelyn caught her breath. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a more gorgeous man.

“You’ve been driving me crazy all evening, you know that?” he said softly, reaching out to run his hand over her bare shoulder and down her arm to interlace his fingers with hers.

A delicious shiver of anticipation coursed through Kaelyn as he took a step closer. “Really? What did I do?” she said innocently.

Holt bent his head to trail gentle kisses along the curve of her jaw. “Hmmm,” he mused. “First, you greet me at the door wearing nothing but a short robe, and then torture me by insisting that I wait in the living room while you finish getting dressed. Then you leave your door open a crack while you’re changing, just so I can catch occasional glimpses of your scantily clad body.”

Kaelyn smiled, a soft little laugh escaping her as she remembered the impulse she’d had earlier in the evening to answer the door wearing only her lingerie. And of course, she had purposely left the door ajar, knowing he would try to watch.

“Then, on top of that,” he admonished. “You wear this sexy little dress that shows off your incredible body. And I couldn’t help but notice that you went to great lengths to make sure that I got to feel that body rubbing up against me while we danced. All I could do the entire time we were out was think about getting this dress off you.”

Feeling suddenly shy, Kaelyn had to giggle at that. She had been putting extra effort into getting him excited, and she was glad that he had noticed.

While they stood, his free hand went around her back to the zipper there. Holt undressed her slowly, unzipping her dress and sliding the straps off her shoulders before urging it over her hips and letting it fall to the floor at her feet. Kaelyn almost smiled when his eyes went wide at what she was wearing underneath. In silence, he took in her sexy lace push-up bra and skimpy panties before his gaze slid down to the thigh-high stockings and stilettos she had on.

Holt grinned. “Now I can see why you told me to wait in the living room while you got dressed,” he said. “If I’d seen you wearing this, I guarantee we would have been ordering take-out tonight.”

Kaelyn felt herself blush. She had never worn anything so overtly sexy before, but one look at the lingerie in the store and she hadn’t been able to resist. Seeing the unmasked desire in Holt’s blue eyes as she stood before him now, she was glad that she’d given into the urge and purchased the skimpy underthings. Even if they did end up on the floor along with her dress, she thought, having to stifle the impulse she had to giggle as her boyfriend reached around to undo the clasp of her bra. Her tiny panties quickly followed, leaving her clad only in her high-heels and the thigh-high stockings, which Holt slid down her legs with agonizing slowness.

Naked now, Kaelyn lay back on the bed and watched in eager anticipation as Holt took off his tie and began to unbutton his shirt. They had started sleeping together after a few dates, so even though she’d seen him naked before, his well-defined chest and washboard stomach still made her catch her breath, and she felt her pulse kick into high gear when he pushed down his dress pants and briefs to reveal the hard length of his cock.

Joining her in bed, he took her in his arms and kissed her, his mouth moving over hers hungrily. Still kissing her, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. He ran his hand down to her slim waist, and then over the curve of her hip to cup her bottom before giving it a gentle squeeze.

Kaelyn felt herself tense a little at the movement. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Holt to touch her there; it was just that her boyfriend seemed to have a fascination with that part of her body more so than any other man she’d ever gone out with. At first, she’d thought it was because he might want to have anal sex with her, and though that really wasn’t her thing, she was willing to give it a try if he asked her to. But then recently he’d said some things to make her think that his interest might not have anything to do with anal sex at all, but with spanking! And that most definitely was not her thing. The only problem was, she didn’t know how to tell him that.

Kaelyn held her breath, half expecting him to give her a spank on the bottom right then, like he had done several other times before, but to her relief, Holt simply slid his hand up her back to pull her closer. It bothered her a little that there remained this one particular subject that neither of them seemed able to bring up. But for now, she was only too happy to forget all about spanking, and whether or not her boyfriend was into it, and kiss him back. Maybe it was something she should bring up later, but definitely not now, while they were in the middle of making out.

Feeling his hardness pressed against her pussy, she began to slowly rotate her hips so that the head of his cock was rubbing against her clit with each little circle she made, and she sighed with pleasure.

But Holt only let her tease them both for only a little while, however, before he took matters into his own hands, and Kaelyn felt her pulse skip a beat as her boyfriend guided his hardness into perfect alignment with her pussy. He grabbed hold of her hips and sank himself in deep with one thrust. They both groaned at the intense pleasure that flowed through them. Kaelyn began to immediately ride up and down on him wildly, knowing her orgasm was already close. But Holt quickly took charge of her gyrating hips and slowed her down to a more leisurely pace, a playful grin on his face. She leaned forward to kiss him while he held onto her hips and thrust into her slowly. She loved that he liked taking his time when they had sex; she’d never been with a man who was so patient and concerned about her pleasure. But she knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold out for long. Soon he would be thrusting into her much more forcefully, and she allowed herself to take her time and wait for him to be the first one to lose control.

But just when she thought he was about to start, he rolled over on the bed, taking her with him. That was okay with her; she certainly loved the basic missionary position just as much. But Holt surprised her by rolling her onto her stomach and guiding her onto her hands and knees. Extremely traditional when it came to making love, she hadn’t ever had sex doggie-style before going out with Holt, but next to girl-on-top, it was quickly becoming her favorite position, and she let out moan as he slowly ran the head of his hard cock up and down her pussy lips. Suddenly impatient to have him inside her, she pushed her bottom back toward him.

To her relief, Holt was more than happy to oblige. With a throaty chuckle, he slid his hard length into her pussy, only to let out a groan when her tight wetness surrounded him. Gripping her hips, he began to slowly thrust in and out. She didn’t know why, but there was something so naughty about this position, something so primal.

Kaelyn let herself get lost in the pleasurable sensations that coursed through her, oblivious to everything else around her until she felt a light smack on her right cheek, which was immediately followed by another slap on her left. Oh, God! He was going to spank her, she thought in horror.

Unable to help herself, Kaelyn tensed, any thought of her approaching orgasm completely gone now. She held her breath, sure that Holt must have felt the change in her and waited for him to say something, anything. But instead, he simply went on as if nothing had happened, his hand going back to her hip as he continued his gentle thrusting.

It took a few minutes, but gradually, Kaelyn felt herself relax, felt herself building back to orgasm from what Holt was doing to her. He had this way of knowing exactly where she needed his cock to go inside of her to give her the most stimulation. And then, just as she began to thrust her hips back to meet his, he slid his hand around and began finger her clit. Just like that, she went off like a firecracker, the orgasm rushing through her and making her scream out in pleasure. Her orgasm went on and on, and she could hardly believe it when she heard herself begging him to thrust harder. Only when she was at the height of her pleasure did Holt let himself go, and she cried out even louder when she felt his pleasure pour into her.

As she lay in his arms in the afterglow of their lovemaking, however, Kaelyn found her mind going back to the light spanks Holt had given her backside, and she realized that her suspicions had been correct. He was definitely into spanking. And Holt would have to be completely blind not to have noticed the negative effect it had had on her.

This had gone unspoken long enough, Kaelyn decided. She had read enough Cosmo magazine articles to know that she was going to have to be the one to start the conversation with him about it. She had no idea how, but she would. Later, though, not after they’d just made love. Perhaps over breakfast tomorrow, she thought. Her mind settled on the subject, she snuggled herself up against him and let herself fall asleep.

But Kaelyn didn’t talk to Holt about it the next day. They took a shower together right after getting up, which invariably led to another round of steamy lovemaking, which in turn led to another shower. By then, they barely had enough time to put on some clothes before they had to leave for the cook-out that Madison and her husband, Trent, were having that afternoon in honor of the unseasonably warm weather. She supposed that she could have brought up the subject of spanking in the car on the way over, but she just couldn’t seem to find a way to slip it into the conversation. As for Holt, he acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual during their lovemaking the night before, so Kaelyn just decided to let the matter drop for the time being. Maybe they would talk tonight after the cookout.

Madison and Trent lived just outside of Seattle in the town of Kirkland in a really pleasant subdivision. Kaelyn had been to see the couple dozens of times since moving back into town and felt almost as comfortable there as she did in her own apartment.

Holt rang the doorbell and then wrapped his arms around Kaelyn while they waited. It was Madison who opened the door. Greeting them both with a hug, the pretty dark-haired girl announced that they were the first to show as she led them into the house.

“Trent’s out back warming up the grill, Holt, if you want to go say hello,” Madison said, gesturing toward the French doors in the spacious living room.

Holt grinned. “I take it that’s my cue to give you girls some privacy,” he said.

“Was I that obvious?” Madison asked Kaelyn, her blue eyes twinkling as they followed Holt’s tall form as he made his way across the room and outside.

Knowing the other woman all too well, Kaelyn only laughed. She and Madison had become good friends while attending the University of Washington years ago, and though Kaelyn had taken a job that required her to move to Denver after graduation, she and Madison had always kept in touch, so it was easy to pick up their friendship where they’d left off.

“So,” Madison said, pouring iced tea into a tall glass and handing it to Kaelyn. “How are things going with Holt?”

Kaelyn smiled as she tossed her long hair back over her shoulder. “Wonderful,” she admitted. “Though you never told me he was so secretive.”

Her friend’s hand stilled for a moment on the tomato she was slicing as she looked at Kaelyn. “What do you mean?”

Kaelyn took a sip of iced tea. “He has tickets to this Halloween party we’re going to, but he won’t tell me anything about it,” she explained. “He’s even picked out my costume, though he won’t let me see it yet.”

Madison smiled as she turned her attention back to the tomato. “Sounds mysterious.”

Kaelyn made a face. “Well it’s driving me crazy,” she muttered, her gaze straying to the back deck. She wouldn’t say it aloud of course, but she hated not being in control of things, even something as simple as a costume party. She didn’t know why, but she’d always been that way.

Through the French doors, Kaelyn could see Holt grin at something Trent said, and her pulse fluttered at the sight of him. “I think I’m falling for him, Madison,” she said softly.

Madison’s head jerked up in surprise, her blue eyes wide. “Kaelyn, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed.

Though Kaelyn was secretly overjoyed at the idea that she could be falling in love with Holt, thinking about the little issue of Holt’s apparent desire to spank her made her frown. Which in turn made Madison’s own brow furrow in concern.

“It is wonderful isn’t it?” the other girl asked.

Kaelyn tried to smile. “Of course,” she said quickly. “Holt’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of. It’s just that...”

“Just what, Kaelyn?” her friend prompted when her voice had trailed off. “Come on, you can tell me.”

She sighed. “I’m starting to think that Holt may be a little...strange,” she admitted.

Madison looked at her in confusion. “Strange in what way?”

Kaelyn hesitated. She should never have brought this up, she thought to herself, even if she could use her friend’s advice. And Madison being the way she was, Kaelyn knew that the dark-haired girl was not going to simply let the matter drop. “Holt seems to be fascinated with my bottom,” she finally said, the words coming out in a rush.

Her friend was silent a moment. “Trent’s fascinated with my bottom, too, so what’s the problem?”

Kaelyn dropped her gaze to stare down into her iced tea. “I think he wants to...spank me,” she said, the last part coming out as a whisper.

She kept her head down as she spoke, not wanting to see the look of revulsion she was sure was going to be on Madison’s face, but she was surprised to hear the other girl laugh.

“Oh, is that all?” Madison asked lightly.

Kaelyn looked at her pretty dark-haired friend in astonishment. “What do you mean, is that all?” she demanded. “Don’t you think that’s weird?”

Madison gave her a shrug. “I think weird is a rather strong word to be using. It might not be for everyone, I suppose, but with the right man, spanking can be a lot of fun.”

Kaelyn snorted. “How would you know?”

Madison gave her a naughty smile as she placed the sliced tomatoes neatly on the paper plate she’d set out. “Trent’s been known to put me over his knee on occasion,” she admitted.

Kaelyn stared at her friend in disbelief. “You’re not serious?” She couldn’t be, Kaelyn thought. Madison was just saying that to make fun of her.

But Madison’s smiled only broadened. “In fact, he gave me a spanking a few minutes before you and Holt got here. I sort of forgot to buy beer at the store, which made him have to go out and get it this morning. I purposely forgot, of course, but he warmed my bottom quite nicely, all the same.”

Kaelyn studied the other girl’s face, trying to determine if she were kidding or not, when her friend abruptly turned her back to Kaelyn and pulled up her short skirt to reveal two very red asscheeks divided by a miniscule pair of thong panties. The fact that Madison was showing her bottom wasn’t that surprising - they had been roommates in college, after all – but Kaelyn’s eyes went wide as she stared. Madison’s bottom was as red as the tomato she’d been slicing! Kaelyn could even see the outline of handprints overlaying several parts of her bottom.

“Trent spanked you because you forgot to buy beer? And you let him do it?” Kaelyn asked when her friend had turned back around. Try as she might, she couldn’t imagine her pretty friend willingly draping herself over her husband’s lap so that he could spank her.

Madison laughed. “Let him? Like I told you, I forgot the beer on purpose, knowing that a spanking is exactly what I would get. I would have gotten more, too, but you guys got here so early.”

Kaelyn said nothing for a moment. Wow, she thought that there wasn’t anything she didn’t know about Madison. Apparently, she was wrong. But it was quite obvious that this spanking wasn’t a one-time thing with Madison. “And you actually liked it?” she finally asked.

Smiling, her friend only nodded.

Kaelyn shook her head. “I never knew you were so...”

Madison’s blue eyes danced. “What?” she asked. “Kinky?”

Kaelyn flushed. “I was going to say adventurous,” she lied.

Madison laughed. “No you weren’t,” she said, and then shrugged. “But so what if it’s a little kinky? Other people have fun their way; I have fun my way. And spanking is certainly fun.”

Kaelyn didn’t see how having your ass spanked until it was red could be fun, and told her friend as much.

The dark-haired girl lifted a brow. “You’ve tried it before?”

“No, of course not,” Kaelyn told her, horrified at the idea. “But Holt smacked my ass while we were doing it doggie-style the other night and I didn’t like it.”

Madison frowned. “Did you tell that to Holt?”

Kaelyn shook her head. “I think he must have figured it out, though, because he stopped right away.” She sighed. “I’m just hoping that he doesn’t bring it up again. I really am starting to fall for him and I don’t want something as trivial as whether or not I like to be spanked to come between us.”

Her friend regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. “If he does bring it up, though, maybe you should think about giving spanking a try before you decide that you’re not into it. Who knows? You might discover that it’s a real turn-on.”

Kaelyn really doubted that, but what her friend said was really starting to worry her. What if Holt expected her to react to a spanking in the way that Madison obviously did? She didn’t want to blow things with him, but she wasn’t sure if she could really try something like that just to satisfy his sexual kink. But maybe Madison was right. Maybe she should at least try it with him before she told him that she hated it. With that thought in mind, Kaelyn opened her mouth to ask Madison how exactly she should bring the subject up to Holt when the doorbell rang, interrupting them.

“That must be Heather and Derek,” Madison said.

As her friend went to answer the door, Kaelyn decided she would talk to Madison about it later. But an interesting thing occurred as the day wore on. Every time she saw Madison and Trent together, her mind was flooded with images of Trent spanking her old college roommate. No matter how hard she tried, Kaelyn couldn’t seem to get the picture of the other girl’s bright red ass out of her mind, and for the rest of the day she couldn’t sit on piece of furniture without wondering if Madison had been spanked there.

“So, how are things with Kaelyn?” Trent asked Holt as he leaned over to grab a beer from the cooler.

Holt’s mouth quirked as he took the bottle his friend offered. He had met Trent and Madison at a spanking workshop that his previous girlfriend, Melanie, had dragged him to several months ago. He and Melanie had gone their separate ways soon after that, however, so Madison had told him that she wanted to set him up with her friend. He’d been reluctant to agree, but when Madison had assured him that there would be no hard feelings if he didn’t hit it off with Kaelyn, he’d thought, what the hell?

But he had been attracted to the tall, slender magazine editor from the moment they’d met. With her long auburn hair, amber-colored eyes, and a sprinkling of freckles across her pert little nose, Kaelyn was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. More than that, though, she was smart and funny and interesting to talk to, qualities that he had found to be sorely lacking in a lot of other women he’d dated. He wanted to think that Kaelyn was perfect for him, but recently he’d begun to think that they might not be as sexually compatible as they should be.

“Not bad,” he finally said in answer to the other man’s question. “Though sometimes, I wish she weren’t so uptight in bed.”

Trent lifted a brow in surprise. “We’re not talking like frigid, are we?”

Holt shook his head. “No, nothing like that. It’s just that I don’t think she’s as turned on by the idea of being spanked as much as I am by the thought of spanking her.”

Trent considered that for a moment. “Have you talked to her about it?”

Holt shook his head. “I’ve hinted at it, but I can’t seem to figure out how to bring it up,” he admitted. “Any thoughts?”

Trent gave him a wry smile. “Madison’s the one you should really be asking for advice. Like you, she couldn’t figure out how to bring it up either. She just hoped that if she dropped enough hints, I’d catch on sooner or later.”

Holt lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a swallow. “And did it work?”

The corner of Trent’s mouth edged up. “Let’s just say that it would have been a hell of a lot easier if she’d just told me that she wanted me to spank her.”

Holt chuckled at that, but sobered quickly again when he thought of his own dilemma. “Yeah, well I have to figure out something before we go to that Halloween party or Kaelyn’s going to be in for a big surprise.”

Then again, he thought, if he didn’t talk to Kaelyn about his interest in spanking, they wouldn’t be going to the party at all. Because it wasn’t just any old Halloween party; it was a spanking party. Holt had bought the tickets months ago, assuming that Kaelyn would be as into spanking as he was, but now he wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea. The party had sounded like fun, though, and with the anonymity the costumes offered, he thought he would be able to talk Kaelyn into it if it turned out that she was shy about getting spanked in public. He just never thought that he’d have to talk her into letting him spank her at all.

But after last night’s episode in bed, Holt was starting to think that maybe he should just drop the whole thing. Kaelyn had tensed up completely at the lightest spank on her bottom. We’re talking from sixty to zero in no seconds flat, he thought. After that, it was amazing that the night had ended as well as it had.

He really liked Kaelyn a lot and he wasn’t willing to risk their relationship by pushing her on the spanking issue. The only problem he had now was the Halloween party. She knew all about the tickets. What was she going to say when Halloween came and they were at home watching a DVD? Maybe he could find another costume party on short notice, he thought, one that didn’t involve spanking. And one where her skimpy costume wouldn’t look out of place.