Negotiation is important, as I’ve said in the past. Here’s a brief bit where Shawn (from Weekend Plans) negotiates a scene with a bottom he’s just meeting in person for the first time:

Autumn struggled to her feet — the couch was deep — and went over to introduce herself. Julie offered a hug, and Autumn accepted; Julie’s hair smelled like coconut shampoo. Then she shook Shawn’s hand. “Thank you for agreeing to… meet me.” There was only a slight hiccup as she said it. 

“Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.” He took his girlfriend’s hand. “Julie’s going to do a scene while we play, and then afterward, we’ll do some aftercare, if you want it.”

“That sounds nice.” There was something oddly transactional-sounding about the way Shawn was talking. Businesslike. She wasn’t sure she liked it. But it might just be because this was the first time they’d met in person. Maybe he was being careful.

“Let’s go and find a place to play, and we’ll negotiate.”

“Okay.”

Shawn kissed Julie briefly but thoroughly, and then went toward the big double-doors that led to what Autumn assumed was the rest of the dungeon — she’d only seen the lobby so far, and the bathroom.

Again, the dungeon wasn’t quite what Autumn was expecting, although truthfully she didn’t know what to expect. There were a few dozen people milling around, talking loudly, and some couples were near various pieces of equipment, talking about scenes. She saw spanking benches, a large table, a weird half-circle thing with cushions on it, lots of chairs and benches, and some other paraphernalia she didn’t recognize. Shawn picked up a maroon bag from under one of the benches and led Autumn through the dungeon to a spot near-ish to the middle. There was a spanking bench there, one of the ones that looked like two steps, the top and knee parts cushioned with purple vinyl. “Will this work?”

“Sure.” Autumn tried to sound confident, but she hadn’t really thought this through. She was about to get spanked in the middle of a dungeon, with people watching; yes, she’d been spanked in front of others before, but just at small parties where spanking was the only thing on the menu. This… this was different.

“Great.” Shawn put his bag on a small folding table and opened it. “Since it’s our first time, I don’t want to use too many implements. Are you okay with a paddle and a strap?” He took them out and showed them to her — the paddle was small, a little bigger than his hand, made of wood, and it looked light; the strap was heavy and black, attached to a handle, made of supple, well-used leather.

“Those should be fine. Are you going to use your hand?”

“Of course.” He regarded her. “Is there anything I should know about you, medically? Any injuries or anything?”

Autumn shook her head.

“Red, yellow, and green are okay for safewords?”

A nod.

“And can I touch your back, shoulders, and thighs? Not in a sexual way.”

“I guess that’s all right.”

“Last question.” Good. Autumn was starting to get antsy and nervous. “Bare bottom, panties, or over your dress?”

“We can lift up my dress,” she said. Her bottom was basically bare underneath it, and she wasn’t getting naked, or even half-naked, in the middle of the room.

“Okay. Anything else you need to know about me?”

Another head shake.

“Great.” He patted the spanking bench. “Up you get.”

Autumn climbed onto the bench, kneeling in place, and bent over the top part. She felt absurdly vulnerable, and she still had her dress fully covering her bottom. Her heart raced and she closed her eyes, holding onto the sides of the bench.

Shawn ran his palm over the seat of Autumn’s dress and she bit down on a gasp. The first time anyone new touched her like that, that always happened, but she didn’t want Shawn to think she was afraid.

Even though she was. Just a little bit. Intellectually she knew she was okay — there were all these other people around, and the paperwork she’d signed mentioned Dungeon Monitors, people whose job it was to ensure everyone’s safety — but she was about to get spanked by someone new, and she had no idea what to expect.

Shawn slowly lifted Autumn’s dress, revealing her bottom, and she clenched her muscles tight before forcing herself to relax. He smoothed his hand over her skin and she suppressed a shiver.

Then he spanked her.

This story will appear in the February edition of my holiday stories collections, coming in 2024.