Olivia lovingly rubbed Alex's red bottom with arnica, tenderly praising her while Alex laid on the bed floating in subspace. Alex's tired baby blue eyes began to droop and eventually closed as she drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep with her Mistress's gentle voice swirling in her ears. When Olivia was certain that Alex was asleep, she carefully stood from the bed and bent down to drop a light kiss on Alex's temple. The brunette detective walked back into the adjoining room of the suite and began to clean up from their recent activities, keeping her ears carefully focused in case Alex woke up again in need of comfort. Olivia then went to the kitchenette, poured a glass of water, and sipped it slowly to replenish her own energy. Alex slept soundly for about an hour, then began to stir.

"Mistress?... Mistress?!" Alex whimpered.

"I'm here. I'm right here, my princess." Olivia appeared almost instantly, sitting on the bed and placing a comforting hand on Alex's belly, rubbing lightly to soothe her. Alex often woke up dazed and disoriented after a particularly intense scene.

Alex focused on Olivia's gentle hand as she breathed very calmly the way she had been taught.

"That's my good girl." Olivia praised lovingly, welcoming Alex into her arms to cuddle her.

Once Alex felt grounded and secure, they went down to the beach. Alex sat cuddled on Olivia's lap while they watched a group of people play a rousing game of volleyball. It was dominants versus their submissives, and to make the game more interesting all of the submissives were handcuffed. The stakes were high; if the submissives lost the game, it meant sound spankings for each and every one of them right there on the beach. So far, the dominants had more points. A few feet away, a submissive was buried in the sand trying not to burst into hysterical laughter as a dominant tickled her feet while another dominant hovered above her face instructing her to pleasure them with her tongue. Yet another submissive was on his hands and knees in the sand, his back functioning as a table, holding his Mistress's drink, sunglasses, tanning lotion, and a magazine while she lounged in the sun.

"Go get us some fruit punch, baby. And get a yogurt for yourself, whatever flavor you want." Olivia handed Alex some money.

"Yes, Mistress." Alex stood up from Olivia's lap and made her way to the refreshment stand.

"Two fruit punches and a strawberry-banana yogurt, please." Alex requested politely.

"Room number?"

"Two forty seven."

Olivia fed Alex her yogurt. The volleyball game was over and the submissives were now bent over their dominants' laps being spanked for whoever cared to watch. Olivia instructed Alex to build a sandcastle. Alex loved it when Olivia gave her tasks to complete and immediately set to work. Once the initial structure was complete, Alex spent some time dripping wet sand over the dry sand, creating an interesting effect. Then she searched the beach for shells to decorate her castle, being careful to stay within Olivia's eyesight the entire time. When she was finished, Alex beamed as she was praised for a job well done. Olivia instructed Alex to lie down on the beach towel and Alex obeyed, lying down on her back. Olivia reached into the beach bag and retrieved several sharpies in different colors. Alex smiled happily, knowing exactly what was about to happen. Olivia uncapped the black sharpie and began to draw a flower on Alex's stomach, using Alex's belly button as the center of the flower. Alex giggled softly.

"Stay still, baby. If I mess up, no more spankings for you until we get home." Olivia teased. Once her drawing was complete, she used the other colors to fill in the design.

Before long, Alex's entire torso, arms, and legs were covered with doodlings and rather suggestive words. Alex stood up when instructed to do so. They took a romantic walk around the beach and Alex smiled, proudly displaying Olivia's work for all to see. Alex bent down to retrieve a seashell that caught her attention, revealing a blue star on her right bottom cheek. Alex giggled when Olivia playfully swatted her bottom on top of the star.

"I shouldn't have let you put that there. It makes it too easy for you to aim." Alex smiled.

"Sassy girl. There's nothing wrong with my aim." Olivia argued, gently tickling Alex's sides.

"Are we going to the protocol dinner tonight, Mistress?" Alex inquired when her giggles died down.

"No. You're going to bed early tonight, so we won't be able to stay out late. There's another protocol dinner tomorrow evening, we'll go to that one."

Alex wasn't sure if she should sigh in relief at not having to go to a protocol dinner, pout at the news that she was being sent to bed early, pout at the news that there was a protocol dinner they were going to attend tomorrow, or all three. For some, protocol dinners were highly anticipated and highly enjoyable events, but if Alex had the option she would rather skip them. She didn't like not being allowed to make eye contact with or speak to her Mistress.

"Did I do something wrong, Mistress?" Alex asked, assuming she was being disciplined for some reason by being sent to bed early.

"Not at all, my love. Tomorrow is Friday and you need to be well rested for your big race, that's all." Olivia explained kindly.

They soon left the beach and returned to their room. Since they weren't going to the protocol dinner, they made dinner in their room and Olivia spoiled Alex with a wax scene. Not long after dinner, when Olivia told her that it was time for bed, Alex obediently crawled into bed and laid down on her stomach. Olivia sat down on the bed and lovingly rubbed Alex's bottom until she was certain that Alex was asleep.

On Friday morning, Alex was fed a nutritious breakfast in the dining hall. On her knees at Olivia's feet, Alex obediently opened her mouth to receive another morsel of food when two people approached them.

"We'll be rooting for you out there, dear." The dominant woman winked at Alex and then walked away leading her own submissive on a leash.

"Mistress?" Alex looked up at Olivia.

"Swallow this first, then you may speak, angel." Olivia held a strawberry to Alex's lips.

"Will you be angry with me if I lose the race today?" Alex asked after she had obediently eaten the strawberry.

"No, sweetie. If you lose, I'll have to give you a spanking in the auditorium because it's tradition, but I will be very proud because I know you tried your best." Olivia assured her, offering Alex a sip of milk.

After lunch, Alex was led down to the track wearing nothing but a g-string and her collar. She casually stretched her muscles as she scoped out the competition. Alex was number five of the five people competing and deduced that her only real competition was going to be number one; number one looked mean. Number two was short and stocky, number three looked like she smoked a pack a day, and number four just looked bored. When it was time, the five submissives lined up at the starting line. Alex searched the bleachers for Olivia. Their eyes locked and Alex beamed as Olivia blew her a kiss.

"On your mark… get set…"

Alex prepared to run.

"GO!"

Alex was startled when the person next to her shoved her, causing her to immediately fall down in the mud. She immediately jumped back up and took off running. After the first heat, number four was immediately disqualified for breaking the rules; shoving, hitting, kicking, or tripping another participant was considered cheating and strictly against the rules. As she took a long, slow sip from her water bottle, Alex saw Olivia speaking to the submissive who had pushed Alex and who Alex assumed was her dominant. Alex smiled; she would love to be a fly buzzing around to hear that conversation!

Alex actually won the second heat and beamed proudly. She didn't win the third heat, but she didn't come in last, so when it finally came time for the final heat, it was down to Alex and the submissive that Alex thought looked mean. When the ref called 'GO', Alex took off running. Alex and the other submissive were exactly in line with each other and it looked like it might be a tie when Alex suddenly felt her thigh begin to cramp. She tried to push through it, but fell into the mud a second time while the other submissive ran ahead and crossed the finish line. Olivia stood from her seat in the bleachers and quickly made her way to where Alex sat on the ground.

"Hey, precious. Did you twist an ankle?" Olivia asked with loving concern, squatting down to check on her sweet little submissive.

"No, Mistress. My thigh just cramped." Alex assured her.

Olivia took Alex into a bathroom and tenderly cleaned her up.

"I saw you talking to the submissive who pushed me." Alex commented as Olivia gently washed her.

"Her Master wanted to make her apologize to you, but they couldn't hang around and wait for you to finish the race so he brought her to apologize to me and I gave her a piece of my mind." Olivia smiled.

When Alex was mud-free, she was taken to the auditorium for her spanking, wearing a fresh g-string and her collar. Hairbrush in hand, Olivia sat down on a chair with Alex draped over her lap, her bottom facing the crowd. Olivia brought the hairbrush down sharply, quickly followed by another, and another, and another, and another. Alex sobbed as her bottom was spanked red while the crowd watched.