Free Dirty Minds by T A Williams Page B

before continuing. ‘Is he doing the spanking or is she?’
    ‘He is.’ She answered without hesitation.
    ‘Right. So, is she a willing participant, or is he thrusting himself upon her?’
    She swallowed, wiped her mouth with the starched napkin and shook her head. ‘I don’t want anything non-consensual. That’s way out of my comfort zone.’
    ‘So she’s got to want it?’
    ‘I suppose so.’ He could hear that she wasn’t convinced.
    ‘Could it be for a bet, maybe?’ He returned to his steak.
    She shook her head.
    ‘For money? Could she be a hooker, a courtesan?’
    ‘No, too easy.’
    ‘Or some kind of rite of initiation, like for a secret society?’
    She turned the idea over in her head. ‘Do women have secret societies? And, if they did, would a man be doing the induction?’
    ‘All right, how about this? She submits to Lord Spankworthy’s evil desires so as to save her husband; protect the man she loves. Maybe a gambling debt? Or he was caught poaching?’
    She took a sip of wine. ‘It’s no good. I really don’t want to write about some poor girl being beaten, unless she’s kinky enough to enjoy it.’
    ‘They do exist, or so I am told. For every sadist, there’s a masochist.’
    She put down her glass firmly. ‘No, it just isn’t me. I don’t think I want to write about spanking after all.’
    ‘So where’s the kink, then?’
    She frowned, deep in thought. It was several mouthfuls of salmon later before she replied. ‘What about the other way round?’
    ‘You mean Lord Spankworthy gets his comeuppance? That’s an idea. Mind you, there’s still the element of non-consensual sex, isn’t there? Sure you are comfortable with that?’
    ‘Oh, God. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just not kinky enough. Should I just forget the whole thing?’ She took a swallow of wine. It went down the wrong way and she coughed and spluttered for several minutes.
    ‘Feeling better now?’ She noticed that his concern for her hadn’t stopped him eating. She pushed her own plate away.
    ‘That’s an omen. No spanking. It spoils the digestion.’
    ‘I still think you should send him your thousand words. You love writing and it could be a lot of fun. Let’s face it, it’s been a lot of fun so far.’ He took a last mouthful of steak and sat back. ‘
Basta, basta
.’
    ‘You sound just like your father. You’re right, I will send in my thousand words. But it’ll be normal sex, not kinky: one man and one woman. And if he wants it kinkier, that’s his hard luck.’
    He somehow managed to find space for dessert. Predictably, he chose tiramisu. Equally predictably, it wasn’t as good as his mother’s. Finally, he led her back to the room. Although they were only on the first floor, her legs felt like lead. When they reached the room, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him. Then she stepped back.
    ‘And now, Luca darling, I’m afraid I really have to get some sleep. I feel exhausted. I can’t think why.’
    He gave her a broad smile. ‘Thank the lord for that. It’ll be a while before the steak kicks in.’

Chapter Thirteen
    The white envelope was lying on the doorstep. It was addressed to Mrs Maggie Perkins. Leaning on the walking stick, she made her way over to it. She was still finding it very difficult to bend down so she used the pick-up reacher to lift the envelope off the floor. After replacing the pick-up stick, she hobbled through to the kitchen.
    She filled the kettle and put a slice of bread in the toaster. By the time she had retrieved the butter and the jam from the fridge, the kettle was boiling. She made the tea, collected her toast and settled down in her chair at the table. It had good strong arms, making getting in and out of it relatively easy.
    She read the letter with interest. Thomas Marshall sounded very organised, for a man. The accompanying sheet of information made sense. All she had to do now was to decide upon what, where and when.
    For the first time since the