Our story began here.

At the back of the house were two tennis courts much like the ones Chloe had had at school. They were set against a backdrop of three great cedar trees which shaded an immaculate lawn where Victorian ladies might have sat in the shade and taken tea.

Chloe felt self-conscious in her painfully short skirt and it was all she could do not to keep tugging at it. This was a compulsion revealed by a fluttering hand around her hemline that made Alice smile.

“I really can’t play tennis,” Chloe said as she met Alice’s gaze with a blush.

Alice shrugged and turned away to watch a game in progress on one of the courts.

It was a game of mixed doubles between a sandy-haired couple in their 20s and an older pair. The sandy-haired man smiled pleasantly at Chloe and Alice before returning his full attention to the game. Not really her type, Chloe thought guiltily, wondering if such comparisons would make Adrian jealous. It was a foolish thought of course. Adrian could have any woman he wanted.

The other man on court might have been 60, although his firm physique and hard grey eyes defied that. He was the kind of man one saw running companies; a man with presence and a severe energy pent-up behind the eyes.

I bet when he spanks, girls can’t sit down for months; Chloe thought mischievously and then blushed at her own wicked thought. A hard glance from the man went right through her and she quailed. It was almost as if he knew her thoughts.

The older woman at his side might have been his wife, Chloe mused as she sized her up. She was a handsome woman in her early mid-forties at most. She had grey-streaked pale blonde hair and had she not been standing next to the severe looking man, Chloe would have easily taken her for a captain of industry or the glamorous headmistress of an exclusive girls’ school.

“Our senior members are John and Wendy,” Alice whispered, “Quite the stars here.”

Alice seemed to shudder as she spoke and Chloe noticed that she girlishly bit her lower lip, the first hint of lack of confidence she had seen from her new friend.

“Adam and Helen are our newest members,” Alice continued, indicating the sandy-haired couple with her head. “John and Wendy are mentoring them in domestic discipline.”

I bet, Chloe thought, but she didn’t comment.

“When they are finished I’ll play you and the winner will stay on and play a winner from this game,” Alice explained.

“That will be you,” Chloe said emphatically.

“I almost hope you are wrong,” Alice said lightly, “because that means I’ll have to play John or Wendy.”

Sure enough as soon as she spoke the match before them came to an end and the players exchanged handshakes.

“They are not going to… you know,” Chloe gaped. “I mean, men too…”

Chloe was suddenly fazed by the ridiculous and not to say unsexy image of Adam being given whacks by Wendy or John.

“All-male games are a pound a point. There are other rules for mixed doubles,” Alice chuckled. “But I have no idea what private arrangements are made. It’s girl subs only at this house.”

“This house… then are other places like this?” Chloe was suddenly filled with awe.

But Alice only smiled enigmatically.

“Come along Alice, let’s see what the new girl is made of,” Helen called out cheerily.

“Aren’t we forgetting something?” It was an iron-edged bark issued by John and it fit his severe demeanour perfectly.

“I ’spose,” Helen mumbled sucking in her cheeks.

“Shall I do the honours dear?” Wendy asked.

“Since our Helen here was trying to duck out of it I think I’ll teach her a lesson,” John growled.

“Yes dear,” Wendy said with a chuckle.

“Come here girl,” John said crooking his finger at a rather meek-looking Helen. As he did so he sat down on a bench at the court side and waited for the now humble Helen to cross the court.

Helen blushed and her mouth worked overtime although no sound came out. She shot a glance at Chloe as if the prospect of getting a spanking in front of a stranger was too much.

“Helen,” John warned, his voice heavily on the angry paternal side now, “I won’t tell you again.”

Adam glared at her and she glowered back at him, which prompted an even sharper look from her husband.

“Fine,” Helen said huffily and crossed the court with great deliberate strides.

John wasted no time in taking her across his knee and flipping her skirt into the small of her back. Like Chloe she was wearing no sports pants or knickers of any kind.

“Ooh,” Helen wailed miserably throwing a sad look over her shoulder at Chloe.

There was some major lop-sided lip chewing going on but Chloe’s gaze was drawn to Helen’s small tight pert bottom, which looked impossibly vulnerable bent over John’s lap.

John himself looked every bit of the stern 1950s father figure as he used his powerful frame to adjust the miscreant loser over his lap.

“I thought it was just a whack per point?” Chloe hissed in Alice’s ear.

“Winner’s privilege,” Alice shrugged.

“I don’t think this little girl has shown the correct attitude,” John growled. “I think a tennis shoe is in order.”

Chloe gulped even though it was not her bottom in the firing line. John’s boardroom presence made him look like some ancient king enthroned on his bench; quite literally holding court.

“Please Mr McCardy…” Helen wailed.

There was a collective gasp from everyone but Chloe.

“Stranger in the house,” Wendy said in a shocked voice. It sounded like a ritual phrase and her tone was dripping with a hint triumph.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please Mr… John…” Helen spluttered.

John shook his head in dismay and looked at Adam in genuine disappointment.

“I think your wife requires some serious punishment for that faux pas,” he said sadly.

“Yes, I agree,” Adam said wearily.

“Ooh,” Helen wailed in frustration.

“We will talk about that later,” John sighed, “Let us get this little matter out of the way first.”

Chloe was confused. It seemed to her that the hapless Helen had been nothing but respectful; well at least once she had finally submitted, in any case. She looked at Alice hoping for an answer.

“It is bad form to use surnames here at Parkway and absolutely verboten in front of outsiders,” Alice whispered. “Most of us don’t even know each other’s surnames.”

Chloe blushed and for the first time not from arousal or embarrassment; she was put out to be considered an outsider, for surely Alice meant her. Then she remembered Adrian had already told his name and clutching at this straw she was secretly thrilled.

*

Helen had been squirming and hissing over John’s lap for several minutes before she really began to pant at the onslaught to her bare bottom. By then the tennis shoe had made quite an impact and her behind was bright red with some plum-coloured grazing in places.

“There aren’t this many pints in the game,” she wailed.

“Game points,” Wendy said in a head girl tone, “Oh I think we are beyond that now don’t you Helen dear?”

“Too sassy still for my liking,” John said sternly not missing a beat as he delivered the very sound spanking.

“Too proud and with as yet, too little to be proud of,” Wendy said dryly, “With your permission Adam I think Helen here needs a long hard lesson in humility.”

“Oh spank away,” Adam said supportively.

“I rather think my wife means something little more creative on top of this,” John growled.

“Oh, oh yes, yes of course sir,” Adam said feeling a little foolish.

Alice gave him a sympathetic look but Chloe was still lost in awe and not a little envy.

“Oh please, oh God,” Helen gasped, by now her eyes shiny wet and a single tear rolled down her right cheek.

“You wanted to play tennis, you knew we would lose and then you made a scene when the time came to pay the piper,” Adam snapped at her showing some real steel for the first time, “So be quiet.”

Chloe looked at him through fresh eyes and a new respect, but he was even younger than she was by two or three years, a spanking from him would be unthinkable. Then she shyly eyed John who was more than a match for her.

Helen broke into her thoughts with a chuckling whining sound that spluttered to noisy tears.

To finish her off John picked up the pace with a series of quick heavy blasts before declaring, “I think she is done for now.”

Helen was lost in squeaky sobs over John’s lap, her bottom a hard red and slightly swollen.

“What do you say?” Adam said sharply.

“Thank you John,” Helen wailed. Only ‘John’ carried the same respect as ‘Sir’ might have done.

“Now, leaving your bottom quite bare, you can go and stand in the corner of the court while these ladies play their game,” John ordered as he set the still crying Helen on her feet.

Everyone but Chloe laughed as she danced a little on the spot with her hands clamped to her bottom with her face dressed in a matching colour.

“Perhaps she wants another spanking Adam,” Wendy suggested casually.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Helen said in a panicky voice and fled to the corner, quickly and almost eagerly bunching her skirt up into the small of her back with both hands.

“How is she taking to the cane at home?” John asked Adam conversationally.

Adam pulled a face.

Chloe strained to hear the rest of the conversation but the two men ambled away towards a small drinks table that had been set-up under the cedar trees.

“Chloe, I want you to meet Wendy,” Alice said brightly. “She is on the committee and is practically a founder here at Parkway.”

“Don’t be impertinent young lady,” but Wendy was grinning, “You know perfectly well that Parkway’s origins go back to…”

Alice let a smile play about her lips as Wendy paused.

Wendy smiled indulgently and then turned to Chloe to include her in the exchange. She then tapped herself on the back of the wrist and humorously said, “Stranger in the house.”

*

The match was a disaster for Chloe. Even when Alice allowed her to change ends so that she wouldn’t be distracted by the cornered Helen, she barely made a point. Most of her shots either piled into the net or went wildly over. The few that she did manage to place were easily returned.

The worse part about it was that every time she reached for a shot she knew that she was flashing John and Adam behind and her cheeks glowed at the unaccustomed exhibitionism.

“Sorry,” Chloe conceded, “It’s is not really my game.”

“Shall I just spank you now,” John chuckled, his voice a warm rumble.

Chloe felt as if she had just stepped off a cliff and missed her footing. A tingle surged through her before she realised that John was talking to Alice and not her.

“Why don’t we pass on the match for today and take Helen somewhere to deal with her?” Wendy suggested.

John nodded and Chloe felt a strange pang of disappointment.

“You have to answer to me, remember,” Alice whispered.

“But…” Chloe watched Wendy and the two men collect Helen from the corner and head back to the house with a sense of loss. “What will they do to her?

Alice shrugged. “We’ll find out I expect.”

Chloe turned to say more but Alice was already sitting on the bench patting her lap.

“Look…” Chloe began.

Alice cocked a quizzical eyebrow.

“I’m not… I mean you’re a girl and I…” Chloe continued.

Alice patted her lap again.

“Or would you rather I ask Wendy to take charge?” she said.

“What if I walked away? What if I went to find Adrian? I am his guest after all. You said yourself this is not part of the test,” Chloe licked her lips and tried to relieve her suddenly dry mouth. “Would I be asked to leave?”

“No,” Alice said firmly, “But you won’t do that will you?”

Chloe heaved a sigh and blushed. The day she played spin-the-bottle and was dared to French-kiss Monica Weaver at college came to mind.

“I suppose…” but Chloe couldn’t finish her sentence and with leaden legs she crossed the tarmac court to Alice. To distract herself and make the situation feel more casual she asked, “Are you… what’s that word, a top?”

“I like to play switch sometimes with women. I have an arrangement with Wendy?”

“You punish Wendy?” Chloe gaped.

“No silly, she handles me,” Alice actually blushed at this admission.

“But I would love to give Helen a seeing to. But really I am like you.”

“Like me?” Chloe was suddenly eager to hear Alice’s opinion of her role here.

“You have a bottom just made to be spanked,” Alice smirked.

“I do not,” Chloe protested, but as she did Alice gently took her arm and pulled her face down across her lap.

Alice slipped her thumb under the hem of Chloe’s skirt and slowly drew it up. Her bottom was full and pert; heavy on the under curve with a deep cleft and prominent in profile. Alice was amused that her friend’s behind was still a tender pink from yesterday’s spanking, but it was well on the mend as a quick squeeze and a pat proved.

Nevertheless, Chloe gasped and wriggled a little.

“You see what I mean?” Alice said huskily.

Chloe blushed furiously and tried to fix her eyes on a point on the floor. It was a strangely vulnerable position, in a way even more so than when she was with Adrian.

“Having fun?” The voice was deep and authoritative.

Both Alice and Chloe looked around like girls caught at the biscuit jar to see John watching them from the gate.

“We were just… you know Chloe lost…” Alice spluttered as if she was in the wrong.

“Wendy is taking care of Helen for now and I thought I might lend a hand here,” John said in a commanding voice that did not entertain an argument.

“Can’t I just…?” Alice protested.

“Now, now, don’t be selfish. You girls get a turn with the new girl here later. I think I need to give her a proper initiation,” John sounded as if he was addressing the board with a fait accompli and was already striding towards them to take Alice’s place.

“Yes Sir,” Alice lisped no longer sounding like Miss Confidence.

Chloe had never been scared and relieved at once before, but strangely she also felt a little disappointed at the intrusion; a complete turnaround she realised. Who am I? She wondered.

John took over his lap easily and bent in half so that her bottom jutted up towards him.

“Don’t you want to know how many points she lost?” Alice asked suddenly feeling like a third wheel.

“No,” John said dismissively as he spanked down hard with the flat of his hand.

The tanging slap stole Chloe’s breath from her and she announced it with a wide-eyed gasp.

“Nice colour don’t you think?” he said to Alice with a tone that suggested ‘are you still here?’

The one-handed applause rang around the court with more enthusiasm than Wimbledon ever saw while Chloe yelped and gasped under John’s stinging palm.

“Please Sir… ouch, Sir… Sir… ow… yah…!” Chloe winced through her limited vocabulary as she was quickly overwhelmed.

Alice felt her buttocks clench as she gazed in awe at the strawberry stain that positively glowed on Chloe’s cute bottom.

“Jesus,” Chloe hissed and crossed and re-crossed her ankles.

“You know if you are still here when I am done, it will be your turn,” John said with not the least regard for Alice’s total innocence.

“Yes Sir,” Alice agreed making not the slightest attempt to go.

“Ooh sheesh,” Chloe moaned, by now panting hard.

“There’s no rush,” John said, addressing them both.

“No Sir,” Alice replied patiently.

Chloe was now beyond a reply.

*

Chloe and Alice had decided to take a slow turn of the grounds before lunch. There was a gentle breeze blowing from the west and they both took slow careful steps as they took in the view from the edge of the ridge. Every few steps one or other of them would lift their skirts behind to reveal a cherry red bottom which they would fan vigorously as much as they were able with so little material to work with.

There was a comfortable silence between them.

“He certainly knows how to spank a girl,” Chloe said ruefully, the first words either of them had uttered in a while.

“Oh yes,” Alice said tartly.

“You could have left,” Chloe accused, as if she had been blamed for Alice’s spanking.

“I was told to remain with you,” Alice said unconvincingly.

“So that’s why you stayed,” Chloe answered managing to keep a straight face.

“Of course,” Alice said, her lips kissing the air with a pout, but Chloe could see the supressed smile eager to break out.

Chloe smirked and then they both giggled.

“This place is crazy,” Chloe hooted and then gasped, “Ouchie,” and clamped her hands to her bottom.

Alice grinned at this and began to ostentatiously fan her behind again, but this only served to make Chloe feel self-conscious again and she fell silent.

Somewhere a bird called out and something darted away. Then high on a wind a red kite soared and dipped, perhaps hunting the other bird they had heard. Then it too was gone on the breeze as free as Chloe suddenly felt.

“What will happen to me? Later I mean,” Chloe asked.

Alice shrugged.

“You’ll find out,” she said.

“John said something about the ‘girls getting a turn,’” Chloe pressed her.

“The sponsor draws first blood as it were. That’s why Adrian spanked you yesterday,” Alice explained. “The second submission is always the hardest in some ways. It is the psychological one I suppose.”

“How do you mean?” Chloe sensed that she shouldn’t ask, but she just had to know.

“Your sponsor is a man; that’s not unusual, so your second test is… counter to your usual experience. You know a bit of girl-on-girl action,” Alice tried to close the conversation down with a joke.

“So you are… bi?” Chloe suggested.

“I’m… complicated,” Alice said breathily. “Before I came here I was… well totally vanilla with men and something of a top with women. But I had secret cravings for… the other side of things, shall we say. In fact if I had been honest with myself, I projected my submissive side onto girls because I could not…”

Alice sighed and looked at the sky. She hadn’t spoken of this for a long time.

“Surrender?” Chloe prompted tentatively.

Alice nodded.

“You knew, but you didn’t know?” Chloe said, although now she might not have been speaking of Alice.

“Now you begin to understand,” Alice beamed.

“Maybe,” Chloe adopted a puzzled expression, “With Adrian and John it felt so… right somehow.”

“And when you were over my knee?” Alice asked.

Chloe shrugged.

“I don’t know, really I don’t. It felt strange; strange but also sort of… nice.”

Chloe chewed at her lip.

“Come on, let’s go to lunch,” Alice said brightly.

“Like this,” Chloe indicated her clothes.

“We’ll find you something.”

To be continued.