"Grace Elizabeth, I said calm down." Olivia scolded as she struggled to maintain her bear hug on her thrashing submissive while Grace screamed bloody murder. Finally, Grace exhausted herself and fell silent aside from the occasional whimper. Olivia loosened her grip on Grace slightly and gently stroked the side of Grace's face, "Good girl, calm down. I promise you are very safe. Can you tell me where we are?"
"On the floor. At home." Grace glanced around the room, breathing heavily.
"Good girl, you are safe at home. And can you tell me why we're on the floor?"
"I don't want to go back to therapy." Grace whimpered fearfully.
"We'll talk about that in a minute. First answer my question. Why are we down here on the floor with you in my arms?"
"I threw a tantrum. I tried to bite you." Grace's lower lip trembled.
"That's right. You are allowed to feel whatever emotions you need to feel, but you are not allowed to try to bite me when you don't like what I have to say. I understand that you don't want to go back to therapy, and I understand that you are afraid. It doesn't make me happy to force you to do anything you don't want to do, but this is one of those times when I'm going to have to force you to do something you don't want to do because it's for your own good. You are going to see Dr. Olivet on Friday whether you like it or not. I am going to go with you and I won't leave your side for even a second, you never have to be alone with her if you don't want to be." Olivia continued to stroke Grace's face as she spoke.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace reluctantly agreed.
"Good girl. Now, we are going to stand up and go to the bedroom for a very serious discussion, little miss mischief. You do not try to bite me, ever. Do you understand what is going to happen?"
"Beat me." Grace's big blue eyes filled with tears.
"No. You know I don't believe in beating my good girl. Try again."
"A spanking."
"That's right. I'm going to lay you over my lap, and where am I going to spank you?"
"My bare bottom."
"Good girl. I'm going to lay you over my lap and spank your bare bottom with the hairbrush, and then when it's over I will cuddle you just the same as always. Let's go get it over with now, I don't like it any more than you do."
With Olivia's strong arms still around her, Grace was guided up to her feet and down the hall to the bedroom, and Olivia made sure that Grace saw her take the hairbrush out of the bedside table drawer. Olivia sat down on the bed and gently pulled Grace's jeans and panties down to her knees before taking Grace by her wrist and gently guiding her over her lap. Grace obediently laid herself down the rest of the way into the proper position, offering her bare bottom for punishment.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am." Grace whimpered genuinely.
"I know you are, and you've already been forgiven. But when I tell you that you're going to be punished for something, then you're going to be punished for it. Tell me again why you're getting a spanking."
"I tried to bite you while I was having a tantrum." Grace's lower lip trembled as it fully dawned on her what she had done.
"Just this once, I am willing to overlook the tantrum itself. In the future, you are never to throw a fit like that again, and if you do you will be put to bed early every night for a week. However, I will not overlook you trying to bite me. You are not two years old, you know how to use your words. Do you want me to start treating you like a two year old?"
"No, Ma'am."
"Then prove to me that I don't have to, and you can start by accepting this spanking like a good girl."
"Owie!" Grace yelped when the hairbrush connected sharply with her tender bottom, followed quickly by another, and another, and another, and another.
It didn't take very long before Grace was crying freely and gripping the bed sheets to resist the urge to reach back and shield her poor bottom. She knew that she really hadn't been a very good girl lately; it had been three weeks since Grace was attacked in Dr. Lindstrom's office, and everything in Grace's world was scary and bad and wrong now. She woke up screaming almost every night, and she was barely eating enough to keep a bird alive. Olivia was doing her best to balance consistency with compassion, and Grace knew that she had been taking advantage of Olivia's leniency in order to manipulate and get her own way. She couldn't explain it, it was almost as if Grace just really needed the spanking she was currently getting to prove that she was safe and that Olivia would take care of her and put her in her place. What Grace didn't know was that Olivia knew full well that Grace was manipulating her, and it was only today during Grace's tantrum that Olivia realized that she was doing her sweet little submissive a massive disservice by letting her get away with her behavior. The dominant brunette was going to put a stop to it right here and right now.
"I am going to start tightening the reins around here again, little miss mischief. No more whining to get your way, no more half-finished chores, no more talking back, and definitely no more tantrums or trying to bite. Good girls always get rewards, and naughty behavior always gets punished. Do you understand?" Olivia scolded as she continued to spank.
"Yes, Ma'am, I'm sorry!"
"Good girl. I am more than willing to give you all the extra love and affection you need, but you will behave and obey me. You don't need to manipulate me to get my attention, you only need to use your words and I will give you the attention you need. When we are done in here, we are going to go to the kitchen and you are going to eat. I let you skip breakfast again, but you are going to eat lunch and you are not going to skip dinner again."
"Please, Ma'am, no more! I'm sorry! I'll be a good girl!" Grace wailed as the wicked hairbrush began to pay a little bit more attention to her tender sit spots. A few minutes later, Grace went limp on Olivia's lap and just sobbed helplessly. As soon as she felt Grace go limp, Olivia threw down the hairbrush as if it had burned her.
"Okay, baby, all done. That's my good girl." Olivia soothed as she gently rubbed Grace's freshly spanked bottom until Grace was a little bit calmer, "Get up when you want to, my baby."
When Grace felt strong enough, she pushed herself up from Olivia's lap and crawled into Olivia's lap to be cuddled and comforted, grateful when Olivia welcomed her into her arms immediately. Olivia gently kissed Grace's temple while she rocked her and continued to rub her bottom to soothe the pain.
"There, there. That's my good girl. It's over now, angel. All done and forgiven. I'm right here, my baby, I know that was hard. You just rest now and cry it out, you are very safe right here with me." Olivia soothed. Grace sobbed on Olivia's shoulder, clinging to her Mistress for dear life, babbling apologies and promises to be a good girl, but she had to admit that in a strange way she felt lighter and more secure. She would most likely find herself on the receiving end of Olivia's loving discipline again at some point in the near future until she stopped feeling the need to test the waters, but Olivia was still lovingly in charge and everything would be okay.
Olivia cuddled and comforted Grace for a long time until Grace was completely calm. With one more gentle kiss to her forehead, Olivia very gently pulled Grace's jeans and panties up over her sore bottom. Grace whimpered and winced, but didn't fuss.
"Come here, my baby, it's time to put some food in your belly." Olivia instructed.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace reluctantly agreed.
In the kitchen, Grace knelt by Olivia's chair to wait and gently rubbed her bottom while Olivia prepared Grace's favorite orange chicken with a side of broccoli. When it was ready, Olivia set the plate down on the table and sat down on her chair with Grace kneeling at her feet. Grace obediently ate two bites of chicken and one bite of broccoli, and then she laid her head down on Olivia's lap to signal that she was full.
"No, little one, you're not done yet. You haven't been eating properly, and I cannot let it continue. You can take your time and eat at your own pace, but I expect to see this plate empty. You can fight me all you want, but you are going to eat, and if you make too much of a fuss about it you'll go right back over my lap and then you'll eat sitting instead of kneeling."
Grace reluctantly ate the rest of her lunch with tears streaming down her pretty face; her freshly spanked bottom was enough to convince her that it would be in her best interest to just do as she was told. When her plate was empty, Olivia showered her sweet little submissive with praise.
"That's my good girl. I'm so proud of you for eating all of your lunch without fighting me, sweetheart. That was very, very good." Olivia praised, cuddling Grace close to her heart while the submissive woman knelt up on her knees between Olivia's legs with her arms wrapped around Olivia's middle, "I think my good girl deserves a reward. Go look in the cookie jar; you can have two."
Grace smiled through her tears when she took the lid off of the cookie jar and discovered that it was filled with her favorite cranberry and white chocolate cookies.
Friday afternoon came much too soon for Grace's liking as she was loaded into the car and driven downtown to Dr. Olivet's office. Grace was a little comforted by the fact that Olivia had said that she herself had gone to see Dr. Olivet at one point, but the young submissive didn't trust any therapist, man or woman, and had no intention of letting her Mistress out of her sight. Olivia held Grace's hand securely in her own as the two rode in the elevator up to the correct floor of the tall building.
"Grace I understand that you've been traumatized by a therapist who was supposed to be someone you can trust, and I am going to do my best to show you that you can trust me and that I won't hurt you." Dr. Olivet spoke kindly after all of the paperwork had been signed, "I specialize in a different kind of therapy; the environment around here is very relaxed and informal, and while you are here you will be allowed to draw or paint or put together a puzzle or whatever else you would like to do. I have dolls and legos and other toys because some of my clients are young children, but you don't have to use any of those. It may seem somewhat juvenile at first, but I've found that even with adults it helps them to relax and open up more easily if they have something else to focus their attention on while they are speaking to me. Would you like to choose something to do?"
Grace looked up at Olivia hesitantly.
"Go ahead, my baby, you can choose something to do. I'm right here, I'm not leaving." Olivia assured her kindly.
Grace browsed around the room for a short while and eventually settled down at a table with an adult coloring book and colored pencils. Dr. Olivet and Olivia watched in silence as Grace's body noticeably relaxed as she became focused on the picture she was coloring, and after several minutes of silence, Dr. Olivet began to engage Grace in easy, simple conversation about the weather and other neutral topics. Eventually, Dr. Olivet gently shifted the topic of conversation to the rape that had occurred three weeks earlier. Grace gripped her colored pencil a little more tightly, but otherwise remained relaxed.
"I just don't want my Ma'am to send me to Block C." Grace admitted.
"Well, your Ma'am doesn't have the power to send you to Block C, only a judge can do that. Why would you think anyone would send you there?" Dr. Olivet inquired gently.
"Because now I'm even dirtier than I was before." Grace's big blue eyes never left the page she was coloring.
Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but Dr. Olivet held up her hand to silence her.
"Why do you feel dirty?" Dr. Olivet inquired.
"Before I met my Ma'am, I became a stripper to put myself through college. That's how I met Melissa Steele, at a party one of my college professors was hosting. I made myself dirty, and then people just keep making me dirty and I don't know how to get clean again."
"Is it possible that if you hadn't gone to that party, you could have met Melissa some other way?" Dr. Olivet inquired.
Grace stopped coloring and seemed frozen in place for a long moment before she dropped her pencil and looked up.
"Yes. We used to use the same laundromat down on the corner of Mott and Grand, and we used the same running path in Central Park." Grace admitted as realization suddenly dawned on her, "It wasn't my fault?" Grace's lower lip trembled.
"No, honey, nothing Melissa did to you was your fault, and nothing that Dr. Lindstrom did to you was your fault. Both of them were in positions of power over you and they took advantage of you." Dr. Olivet said kindly.
Grace suddenly broke down into sobs. Olivia immediately moved to comfort her distraught submissive, but once again, Dr. Olivet held up her hand to stop her.
"Tell me what you're thinking, honey." Dr. Olivet said.
"It… it wasn't my fault…. It… it was all her fault… it was all his fault!" Grace sobbed, stomping her foot on the ground a little.
"That's right, honey. None of what has happened to you is your fault." Dr. Olivet confirmed.
"Ma'am!" Grace wailed, reaching out her arms in Olivia's general direction.
"I'm right here, little one. Come see me." Olivia gathered her sweet little submissive into her arms, saying a silent prayer of thanks that Grace seemed to finally be starting to understand that nothing that happened to her was her fault.
"I ran away from her. I did a good thing." Grace choked out, thinking back to Olivia's words to her from what seemed like such a long time ago.
"That's right, my baby. You did a very good thing." Olivia smiled, gently stroking Grace's face.
"Grace, you've made excellent progress in your first session with me. I am very proud of you, and I know your Ma'am is proud of you, and I want you to be proud of yourself too." Dr. Olivet smiled, "We have about fifteen minutes left before your session is over. For these last fifteen minutes, I want you to sit here and finish your coloring, and your Ma'am and I are going to go sit over there and talk. You will be able to see us the whole time." Dr. Olivet pointed over to the couch, and Grace nodded her understanding.
"I wasn't expecting such a huge breakthrough during her first session. The majority of my clients sit in silence with me during their entire first session, or they never get past the 'how's the weather' chit chat I start out with." Dr. Olivet stated as the two women settled down on the couch.
"Well, as far as I'm concerned, you are a miracle worker. I've been trying to convince her since the day I brought her home that what Melissa did to her wasn't her fault." Olivia smiled.
"Just keep in mind that sometimes a giant leap forward can be followed by two or three steps back, and if that happens I don't want either one of you to get frustrated. She may be starting to understand that what Melissa did to her wasn't her fault, but she was raped and there are going to be a whole range of emotions and behaviors that come along with that." Dr. Olivet cautioned.
"Oh, we've already been dealing with some of those. I had to spank her a few days ago for trying to bite me while she was throwing a tantrum. I just feel so bad when I have to get after her for anything." Olivia admitted.
"The best thing for Grace right now is consistency and predictability. By all means, spank her little bottom, or give her whatever consequence is necessary for her behavior, but don't relax the rules and structure in your home. She may not fully understand it, but she depends on it. There is no such thing as too much love and affection, but love and affection has to be balanced with discipline and structure, otherwise you cross the line from love into permissiveness, and that's not good for either one of you." Dr. Olivet stated wisely.