From the Top Shelf - The Central City Discussion Club

This week's story is the first half of the late, great Rollin Hand's short story, "The Central City Discussion Club", from his collection of stories published as The Romance of Spanking, Volume 2. In this tale, the spanking is safe, sane and consensual, although something of a new experience to the young lady in the story.

“Ivanhoe”, actually Hal Stryker, checked his watch for about the fifth time. She was late. He wondered if she would really show. He didn’t usually do this sort of thing, but she had been so insistent on meeting him. It was flattering, he had to admit that. Here was a true fan of his stories, one he had corresponded with for weeks, and he had agreed to meet her here at Starbucks. On a web site that had members world wide, it was interesting that a reader-member lived right here in his home city. Well, it was a big city. There were probably more like her.

It wasn’t the kind of meeting you’d normally expect. He figured that people with a mutual interest in a certain type of erotica usually met for one purpose---to hook up. That was not her intent, she had said. There was a problem, she said, and perhaps he could help her with it. That had certainly piqued his curiosity. He felt like he’d come to know her through their correspondence. She seemed like a nice person and he was intrigued. Also he was single and she was too, so, who knew? Anything could happen. He looked at his watch again.

Julie Anders looked frantically for a parking place. There! Right in front. She pulled in. She was nervous. It wasn’t as if she was going to do anything with Ivanhoe—what did they call it---a scene? No, actually she needed his help, and that is why she had fostered the relationship from the beginning. She hoped he’d understand and would not be angry with her.

Hal looked up as the attractive young woman with the blond streaked chestnut hair entered the coffee shop. She stopped and looked around. Is that her? She was about five foot six, nice figure, and very pretty. She had small facial features that made her look more cute than glamorous. The girl next door, he thought. She looked mid to late twenties in age. A little young for his forty-one. He caught her eye.

She mouthed, Ivanhoe? He nodded. She looked relieved. As she approached he stood, pulled out a chair for her, and motioned for her to sit.

“You don’t look anything like what I thought,” she blurted.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” asked Hal, chuckling.

She blushed. “Oh, no…I meant...well, you know. You always have a picture in your mind of someone before you meet.”

Hal smiled indulgently. “It’s ok.”

“Actually, you look just fine,” she said. Actually he did, and now Julie was regretting that this was going to be strictly business. He was a good looking guy, a bit older than she, but very, very easy on the eyes. “So. Ok, I’m Julie.” She stuck out her hand.

“And I’m Ivanhoe, er, actually, Hal.” He took it. “So we finally meet.”

“Yes,” she said. “This is awkward, I guess.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” said Hal, still smiling. That seemed to put her at ease.

“I really like your stories,” she said in an attempt to quell the awkwardness.

“So you said. But, you said you wanted help with something and, I take it, it’s not creative writing class.”

“No,” she said. “But first I have a confession to make. I hope you will understand.” Now her face wore a guilty look. So now Hal was really curious. “I…I’m not really into those things on the story site. But I wanted to learn. I’m looking for information.”

“Well, that’s disappointing, I guess, but go on,” said Hal. She was hot. Definitely hot. Too bad. But she was pretty young anyway.

“Sorry,” she said with a wince. She took a deep breath. “Here’s the thing. I need to get close to Carl Bellino, and I think you can help.”

Hal scratched his head. “Who is Carl Bellino?” The name sounded familiar.

“Carl Bellino is a real estate developer. He has his own company, Apex Properties. Two years ago he started buying up property around five corners and Corning Road---that area.”

Hal remembered now. A depressed area in East county that was making a comeback. It was slated to become a new multi-use complex--office space, condos and a big shopping mall.

“My brother has land with a small business on it, an auto restoration shop that is right in the middle of that area. Bellino tried to buy it from him. Jim wouldn’t sell. It is one of the last parcels that Bellino needs. Bellino has decided to squeeze him out.”

“How can he do that?”

“My brother was given that land for life by my great uncle. Uncle Leo used to restore old cars as a hobby in that shop. Jimmy used to hang around the shop and he learned from Uncle Leo. It was a passion they shared for years. So Jimmy said that Uncle Leo told him he’d give Jimmy the shop when he was gone. Well, he died recently and Bellino wants that land. See, Bellino and my uncle knew each other. In fact, Bellino bought Uncle Leo’s house when he moved into assisted living. It’s that bigmansion out off Johnson’s Creek Road. Uncle Leo owned a lot of that Five Corners property and Bellino wanted to buy it. Leo sold him a few lots but told Bellino that Jimmy had a life something-or-other in the plot that housed that business.”

“A life estate?” asked Hal.

“Yes, yes, a life estate. But then it turns out that Uncle Leo died intestate, they said. No will was found. So the administrators can just sell the property to Bellino. And without Jimmy’s life estate, hegets kicked out. But there is a will, a real one.”

”Ok, so where is the real will?”

“I know where it is. It’s hidden in Uncle Leo’s old house, the one Bellino now owns. Jimmy said Uncle Leo showed it to him.”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like this.” Julie showed him a photograph. A scroll bearing the words LAST WILL (blank)TESTAMENT was bound by a dark maroon ribbon. It appeared that an ampersand was beneath the ribbon.”

“So what do you need to do?”

“I need to get into Carl Bellino’s house and find that will. I ran into a woman at the planning commission hearings who knew Carl Bellino, and she gave me an earful. She said that recently she worked for Bellino as his assistant. She said Bellino came onto her at work and when she told him to get lost, he fired her. She told me all about him----how he belonged to this special club and was an important member. She also said that frequently meetings were held at Bellino’s house. I thought that if I could join this club, I could get close enough to Bellino, I can gain access to his house and find that will.”

“Well, again I have to ask---what does this have to do with me? Just join the club and then do whatever you need to do to get to Bellino.”

Julie shook her head. “That’s just it. You don’t just join this club. You need an entry---and you need some knowledge about what to do, how to act. You see, Carl Bellino belongs to a BDSM club.”

Hal sat back in his chair. “You’re kidding. Here? In town?”

Julie nodded. “That’s what she told me. He’s really into it. She found all kinds of stuff on his computer. I mean it’s not illegal or anything---these are adults. But they have parties.”

“So what can I do to help you? Coach you so you can crash a party?”

“Not exactly. What I want is for you to take me to one, for us to pose as a couple.”

“What? Take you?” He’d never been to a club like this. He just wrote stories.

“I figure that some of them would know who you are by reputation and that would give you a way of gaining entrance.”

Hal let out a deep breath and sat back. “So let me get this straight. You want me to try and get invited to this club and go there with you---us as a couple---so you can rummage through his house and find your uncle’s will?”

“Yes.”

“Wow,” said Hal. This had turned into an espionage movie. Was he supposed to be Jason Bourne?

“Please, help me,” she said, clutching his arm. “Jim is being ruined. That shop is all he wants. It’s his life. See, he’s good at mechanical things but he’s, well, slow. It’s all he knows how to do.”

* * *

I’m a sucker for a pretty face, thought Hal, as he sat at his computer that night. And, let’s be honest, for a nice ass too. He’d watched her as she left, the nicely rounded posterior twitching in that short tight skirt.

It didn’t take long for him to find it. They called themselves the Central City Discussion Club. He shot them an email, describing his bona-fides and waited. As they described themselves, they were less about hard core BDSM and more about spanking and role play. Well, that was right up his alley.

The reply came three days later. Yes, several members had heard of him and were familiar with his stories. Hal thought he even remembered seeing some of the handles. There was no way to tell if any of them was Carl Bellino. A few email exchanges later came the payoff. They were invited to a party.

The invite gave an address—it was a Johnson Creek Road address. He had to tell Julie.

* * *

“Ok, we’re in,” said Hal as they sat in a diner for lunch.

“Oh, wonderful,” said Julie. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Wait,” said Hal, holding his palm up.

“Ok, what?”

“As new member prospects we have to do a demonstration.”

“A demonstration?”

“Yes. A role play skit. I have a list. We have to pick one and act it out in front of everybody.”

Hal showed her the list. It described several scenarios. He watched while Julie read it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth formed a small “O” as if she were amazed at what she read. Hal had been through it already. On the list were fantasy scenes like “Naughty Schoolgirl Paddled,” “Harem Slave Flogged”, and “Country Girl Strapped.” “Here’s another one---‘Victorian Guardian and Ward’.

“We have to pick one of these?” Julie shook her head in disbelief. “And do it? In front of everyone?”

Hal gave her a meaningful look and nodded. “Well, you have to admit, it’s not that unexpected. I mean, it is a spanking club.”

“Yes, but I didn’t think…”

“You didn’t think you’d have to participate? You thought you could just join and go there and hang out? Julie, these people are really into this and they expect anyone who wants in to be serious players. They don’t want lurkers or gawkers.”

Julie sat back. “Oh my.”

“Well, what do you want to do? If you want to back out I’ll just tell them something came up.” Julie had to think. Time was running short. She had to act. For Jimmy. This was her little brother. She wasn’t going to let some crooked real estate developer ruin him.

“I want to do it,” she said.

“All right,” said Hal. “Who do you want to be?”

She looked at the list again. Holy cow! A public spanking. She had to blush just imagining it. Hmmm…paddled schoolgirl. That could hurt. She’d been paddled once as part of a high school initiation. The five swats of that paddle had burned through her athletic shorts like a hot iron. Harem slave…would she have to wear a costume like “I Dream of Genie?” She was no Barbara Eden. And what would she get it with? A whip?

“What can we get away with where you don’t have to use a paddle or something--just your hand?”

Hal looked at the list. “I think if you’re a ward of an older guardian, Like in ‘Maude Cameron and Her Guardian’ a spanking by hand would work.”

By hand. That meant his hand. Impacting her bottom. She looked at Hal’s hand. It was big. He was a tall lanky guy.

“Who is Maude Cameron?”

“Classic pornography. A wicked guardian has charge of a young girl.”

“And he spanks her?”

“Yes, when she misbehaves.”

“Would I be, uh, you know…bare?”

Hal smiled indulgently. “What do you think?”

“Thought so,” she said glumly. Whew!

“Let me ask you something,” said Hal. “Have you ever been spanked? Ever? As a child maybe? Or by a lover?”

Julie had been thinking about that ever since joining the web site. Yeah, she had been spanked, and she had to admit, her experiences had run the gamut. The initiation in high school had been painful but brief. A tantrum at ten years old had earned her a spanking from her dad that she remembered vividly. It hadn’t been that bad, her father just doing what he had to do to deal with her sassy outburst. After it was over she’d been cuddled and forgiven. But the loss of control as she’d been put across her dad’s knee and her little play shorts pulled down, that had been something. Oddly, she couldn’t remember if it had hurt. It was more the embarrassment.

Then there was Wes, her boyfriend in high school. At a party one night she’d teased him relentlessly, flaunting herself then pulling back until he’d finally gotten fed up. He had hustled her into an empty bedroom, sat on a bed and flung her across his knee. To her absolute chagrin, he’d actually lifted her skirt. While she squealed and struggled he’d spanked her panty clad bottom for several minutes, controlling her, lecturing her all the while about being such a tease. The brisk slapping of her thinly covered behind had stung, but it had also made her hot. And after he’d let her up, she’d been incredibly turned on. They had made out right there, his hands all over her, his fingers in her secret places. And if someone hadn’t stumbled in and surprised them, she’d have lost her virginity right there.

But since then, nothing. It just hadn’t come up. Her boyfriends had been--what do they call it? Vanilla. So she had not had negative experiences with spankings. In fact, just the opposite. She supposed that’s why she found the web site somewhat stimulating---especially this man’s stories. Oh, he had bratty heroines and naughty coeds, but his male protagonist, though demanding, usually turned out loving and passionate.

“I got spanked by a boy friend in high school,” she said.

“And?”

Julie laughed. “And we would have gone all the way if someone hadn’t barged in and interrupted.”

“So it was sexy.”

“Yes. You could say that.” Julie tossed her head and blushed.

“Ok. Progress,” said Hal. “Now which one of these do we do?”

“The Victorian thing, I think. Given our age difference that might work.”

“Good choice,” said Hal.

Julie gulped and forced a smile. “If you’re going to give a girl a spanking---will you at least take me to dinner first?”

Hal chuckled. “I’d be delighted.”

* * *

Ohmigod, what does one wear to a spanking? It was a week after their meeting and tonight was it. The party. She thought about Hal. He was few years older than she and more mature. He wasn’t married and had no current lovers, he’d said, because his wife of ten years had passed away a year and a half ago. She had thought that he’d seemed reserved, but now she knew. It was sadness. Her heart went out to him. He was a very attractive man. The writing was a hobby, encouraged by his wife when she’d been alive. “She’d been into this?” Julie had asked. “Very much so,” he said. “She taught me.”

They had talked about attire. She knew a costume shop that had gay nineties stuff and she found a child’s dress, a white frilly thing with short puffy sleeves, a big blue sash and a skirt that came to her knees. Some little white socks and flats completed the childish outfit. She even put her hair into twin pigtails to complete the illusion---a sexy child-woman playing dress up.

But there was nothing childish about her figure in that dress. Last but not least were the panties. She found some white lacy ones. Cute, but she knew they would be coming down. She felt sexually charged just putting them on. She hadn’t worn anything this sexy in a long time. Wait. She wasn’t going to have sex with Hal, it was only….a spanking. On her bottom. Probably her bare bottom if the stories were any indication. From an attractive older man who was mentoring her in all of this.

She looked over her shoulder into the mirror. She did have a nice ass. It was heart shaped, firm and sassy. It wiggled when she walked, if men’s stares were any indication. She patted her bottom. Then slapped it. There was a tingle. She slapped harder. It stung. She left a handprint. A few seconds later it felt hot. Sexy. She finished dressing.

* * *

Dinner was a subdued affair. Hal tried hard, maybe too hard, to joke and put her at ease, but clearly, Julie was nervous.

Finally he said, “Look, just concentrate on the objective. Once we are out of the spotlight you can retrieve the will. Then we’re done. You never even have to see me again.”

Julie was taken aback. She didn’t know if she wanted THAT. He was an attractive man. She understood though, that he was offering her a way to salvage some dignity. What was about to happen was going to be very undignified.

They left and went by her house to change.

“Very nice,” said Hal giving her an approving once over. He was dressed like a Victorian gentleman about town and looked very handsome. They went over the skit until she had it in her head how to play it out. It was fairly basic, a naughty ward who had failed to do her lessons.

Her heart was in her throat as they approached the large manse on Johnson Creek Road. “Has Bellino ever seen you?” asked Hal. “Won’t he know who you are?”

Julie shook her head. “I live on the west side. I wasn’t around much over there and I never met Carl Bellino.”

The house was lit up. There were more than thirty cars parked in the circular driveway and along long approach from the road. It was secluded and private, exactly what you’d want for something like this.

Next week - the party!