She was never going through another week like this one, not even another day. Her ass hurt from the second sound spanking in four days. Her heart hurt even more. How could she love Justin so much and dislike him at the same time?

Nicole walked gingerly from the kitchen toward the bedroom. She'd no sooner put the last of the Thanksgiving dinner dishes in the dishwasher after the last of their guests had finally left than Justin had turned on her. Okay, she'd been a little testy today. She was tired. Cooking for two days and getting the house sparkling clean for her in-laws--who didn't seem to like her that much, put her in a mood. Then they'd all but ignored her in the spirited table conversations about the ranch, a family reunion his mother wanted to have next summer, about... Well, about anything other than what she wanted or could talk about.

"No TV either," Justin called after her. "Straight to bed."

Straight to bed. You've been such a naughty girl today. I'm ashamed of your behavior. Yada, yada, yada. She was tired of being treated like a child. They'd been married over five years now. He needed to accept her for who she was.

She reached back to rub her stinging bottom. First thing tomorrow she was going to break every wooden spoon in the kitchen. Toss them in the trash. Maybe she had agreed to domestic discipline when they'd gotten married, but she hadn't really thought he would hold to the idea. At least not this long.

From what he'd said when she'd grudgingly put the spoon in his hand and complained about getting another spanking, she would never be too old to go over his knee. Ha! She was already too old for this nonsense. It was time she made that clear to him.

"Did you hear me?"

Well, maybe she'd make a stand tomorrow about her decision. No sense risking another round with his hand blasting her sore bottom. "Yes. Straight to bed." She gave him the answer he wanted, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

She walked into the large master bedroom and stood in the doorway for a second. Justin had designed the log home and helped build it during their year-long engagement. She'd told him about things that she wanted in the house: a fireplace for the great room with a carved mantle like she'd seen in Branson, large windows to overlook the ranch yard, a kitchen with restaurant-style appliances because she loved to cook, a room for her painting studio, a hot tub on the deck for the two of them, a walk-in closet in the bedroom, and a big bay window with a seat there as well so she could sit and read sometimes. He'd given her all of it and so much more. He was a good man, a good husband...an amazing lover.

She heard him moving around in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator door, probably grabbing a beer. He liked drinking a beer when he watched football, and he planned to watch the game tonight. If his parents and two brothers and their wives hadn't left, they might have stayed to watch the game with him. She'd not encouraged them to stay. Her behavior was complicated, but she'd reached her limit for tolerating them today.

Just once she would have liked to see her husband realize how awkward things were between her and his family. The man was sharp as a tack most of the time, except with anything to do with relationship things, touchy-feely stuff. Then he was lost, totally clueless.

With a sigh of frustration, she closed the door behind her and tossed her jeans and panties on the bench running along the end of the bed. At least he'd made her take them off and hadn't insisted she put them back on after he'd roasted her butt. Walking alone had been tough enough, with fabric rubbing her tender skin it would have been much worse.

She pulled off her T-shirt and bra to add to the small pile of clothes. As she turned, she glanced at the mirror over the dresser. No wonder her bottom felt like she'd been stung by a swarm of bees! There was hardly a square inch that wasn't bright red. He'd sure done the job this time. But then it hadn't helped her any when she'd reached back, somehow managed to grab hold of the spoon, and then whacked one of his shins with it before he snagged it back from her. Bad move on her part.

What was she going to do about this situation? She wanted to be married to Justin. Most of the time he was her true "other half." They could finish each other's sentences, knew what the other wanted at times. But there were also times when he stepped into his head of the household role and took it too seriously. He thought he knew what she needed, meaning some manner of spanking to fix a misbehavior problem. Sort of his "easy way" out of dealing with a problem. She would have preferred talking it out...maybe heatedly discussing whatever it was. Like this time...the issues she had with his family. Maybe it would have led to more problems between them, maybe not. Done deal now, though. What she knew was that this would be the last spanking he'd give her!

Justin settled into the leather recliner and flicked on the TV. He took a swig of beer and set the bottle on the end table next to his chair. There was nothing better than watching football on Thanksgiving night. Except watching it with his dad and brothers.

He located the game with the remote and scowled. He'd be watching the game by himself this year and it pissed him off. Nicci had been a royal brat today. She'd acted strange from the moment his mother and sisters-in-law had come out of the kitchen after offering to help her. His mother had said his wife had everything under control, but he'd heard the underlying hurt in her tone. His sisters-in-law weren't usually big on helping out anyway and appeared to be relieved. When he'd gone into the kitchen to ask Nicci about the situation, she had given him a wounded look and then the usual, "Everything's fine" line.

His attention shifted to the TV but quickly back to his thoughts. What was going on with her lately? She'd started getting cranky earlier this week, grumbling about all the cooking she needed to do for today. He'd even had to burn her ass a couple of days ago because she was having a meltdown. She'd been okay since then, until today. She'd avoided being around his family as much as possible, including insisting that she could finish the meal preparation by herself. She had hidden in the kitchen as long as she could, and then she hadn't said more than two words at the dinner table.

He frowned, puzzled by her behavior. It wasn't like her to be so rude. Her sour attitude had continued when they had started talking about a family reunion. She had clammed up even more, appearing to withdraw further into herself. Except he remembered her muttering something about being too busy even though they hadn't actually set a date. What was that about? Too busy? Finally the conversation had faded off, everyone tense. His family had decided it was best if they left right after the meal. Which was why he was here about to watch football alone, dammit.

He took another swig of beer, listening to the dishwasher in the other room. Not ten minutes ago he'd grabbed a thick wooden spoon from the ceramic utensil holder on the counter and his wife by her arm. He'd dragged her with him to the small table in the nook, sat down, and bent her over his knee. He'd wasted no time in giving her a couple dozen quick licks. The brat had caught hold of the spoon and hit his shin with it, cussing at him. He'd regained control of the spoon and firmly showed her what an error she'd made. She wouldn't be trying that kind of thing again.

The commercial drew his attention for a second, but his focus quickly returned to Nicci. Something was wrong between them. Something that had been growing for a while now. He didn't know what he'd done, but he sensed it was bad. He'd avoided actually asking her what was bothering her, hoping whatever it was would just fade away. Stupid, yes.

Maybe he should go to their room and try to make his way through that minefield of talking about emotions, feelings. Scary stuff, that. One small misstep and he could make the problem worse. If it could get worse.

No. He'd stay here and watch the game. He'd sent her to bed early as part of the punishment, also to let her calm down and, hopefully, get beyond whatever had made her so moody today. Later he'd go up and snuggle with her, maybe entice her into having sex with him. They hadn't made passionate love in a while now. Quick little coming together for satisfying their base needs, yes. But actually spending time playing and enjoying each other, no. He missed that.