Brenda was having her usual lazy Saturday afternoon; in a while, she would meet a couple of her girlfriends for tea. John would be home from the office late tonight but she would have his dinner waiting as always. She was a loyal wife but oh so bored! She browsed the lingerie section of the big department store looking for something special to give their evening a little added spice. John had been sleeping early in recent months and she often tossed and turned with restless and unfulfilled desire. Although she'd fantasized about being with another man, she had never dared to try.
A lacy black camisole took her eye and she fondled it and loved the silky texture - $120: she could afford it but why pay? Often and often she had slipped items like this into her bag and walked out - there was a special thrill to it which was habit-forming. She certainly didn't fit the profile of a shoplifter: an older lady with a patrician demeanour. Glancing around, all seemed clear. The store clerk was busy with another customer and so she discretely dropped the camisole into her bag and nonchalantly made her way toward the elevator. Nobody had seen her, she was quite certain of that. She reached the ground floor and strolled to the exit: but, just as she passed through the doorway, a firm hand gripped her arm and a man's voice said:
"Madam, I believe you have an item in your bag that you have not paid for!!"
A terror seized her, and a warm trickle of urine gushed involuntarily. "Oh I must have forgotten!" she cried.
"Please come with me," he said. And he took her to a small office. There he made her open her bag and he took out the camisole: he asked for her driving license and noted down the details. "This is a serious matter," he said, "the store has a zero-tolerance of shoplifting and I am bound to report you to the police and press charges, do you have anything to say?"
She panicked and tears ran down her face: John was a scrupulously honest man and the idea of him getting a phone call from the police station saying that she had been arrested for stealing was unimaginably awful. "Oh! Oh!" she cried, "Please, please overlook it this one time, it would ruin my marriage if my husband found out!"
He looked at her in a considering way. She was in her late forties and quite trim for her age: she had lustrous auburn hair, white skin and light brown eyes. Her breasts were full and her stomach looked quite slender; he took in the broad hips and a nice inviting bottom with well-shaped legs. He pictured her wearing the camisole and realized that it would not cover that generous behind!
"I will give you two choices," said he. "Either I call the police or..." he paused.
"Yes? Yes?" she sobbed, "anything but the police!"
"...or I shall take you to my private quarters for punishment."
He was a little younger than her, above-average height and in good shape. Ordinarily, she would have found him attractive and even carried an image of him in her mind for a future fantasy - but at this moment she was petrified and trembling.
"What do you mean by punishment?" she blurted out.
"Well," he said, "it depends, I would give you a choice there. For some, it would be a good spanking, while for those who cannot take pain, it would be a humiliation. All I could guarantee is that you'd not be physically harmed in any way and an hour from now you'd be able to go back home and there would be no more said on the matter."
She felt indignant and she wanted to ask what he meant by humiliation, but she remained silent, looking desperate and scared. He nodded his head: "But, really, I think the best way is to do this officially," he said, and reached for the telephone.
"No! No! Wait!" she cried, desperate.
He raised an eyebrow: "Yes?"
"I, I don't want the police," she said in a low voice.
He stood up and opened the office door. "Very well, come with me."
She followed him through the shopping crowds to the elevators. Inside, he took out a bundle of keys and inserted one beside the words "Penthouse Offices," the car stopped, and the door opened onto a dark corridor of the deserted floor.
"Since it's Saturday, we shan't be disturbed," he said, ominously, and led her through a huge door into a sumptuous office with oak paneling, grave pictures of former company dignitaries lined the walls and a huge Persian carpet covered most of the floor. The blinds were drawn and it was dark, but he switched on a small, green-shaded standing lamp which stood beside a huge desk with wide bookshelves behind.
He took a seat behind the desk and motioned her to stand in front of the desk. He laid the camisole on the desk in front of her. "What have you to say?" he asked in a judicial voice.
"I am very, very sorry," she whimpered, tears starting again, "and I shall never, never do it again."
"I am glad to hear that," said he, "however it is necessary that you should be punished." He reached behind and took a wicked-looking cane, made from thin, yellowing bamboo from the bookshelf: it looked ancient and stained.
She gave a small scream. "Oh no, don't hurt me!"
"You choose to be humiliated instead?"
She murmured, "I just can't take pain..."
"Then you have to promise to do exactly as I say and if you hesitate you shall be soundly caned on your naked bottom!"
Hearing the words "naked bottom" she shrank inwardly because of the implications - to this point there had been no suggestion of any sexual element in the 'punishment'. She shivered and nodded her head slightly.
"Good, then remember, no hesitation!" his voice was harsh. "Take this camisole, the cause of all your misfortunes, the washroom door is over there. I want you to take off all your clothes ...yes, all of them ... and put on just the camisole. No panties, no bra; just the camisole, is that clear?"
She felt a totally unexpected tingle in her groin at these words and, though still very apprehensive, she realized that she was getting excited.
"When you have 'dressed',” he continued, "come back here and stand in the same place. Go now, and remember, no hesitation... or it will be the cane."
She walked across, went inside, closed the door and locked it. She sat on the toilet and put her head in her hands - she dared not hesitate, so she undressed completely and drew the camisole over her shoulders - if she pulled the front down it just covered her, but she was very conscious that her generous rear was fully exposed.
She looked in the mirror and, seeing all the tear marks and smudged makeup, used some tissue to clean herself somewhat; then, with all the turmoil inside her, she slipped the lock and stepped out into the room, pulling the camisole awkwardly down in front and walking to the spot in front of the desk. The thick carpet gave a very sensual feel to her bare feet.
He had a drink in his hand and he was smiling; the smile gave his face a softer look and relaxed her ever so slightly. She felt a trickle running down the inside of her leg and with shame realized that she was becoming more aroused than she thought possible. He continued to look at her, blatantly taking in her entire body.