Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has said he will not resign, despite mounting anti-government protests.

Mr Samak earlier held an unexpected meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who normally stays above politics.

Thousands of protesters continue to occupy government offices in Bangkok, two provincial airports remain closed, and rail travel has been disrupted.

The protesters accuse the government of being a front for the exiled former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and has fled the country to avoid facing trial over corruption charges.

‘Threats’

As the political unrest continued across Thailand on Friday, Mr Samak flew to the coastal town of Hua Hin to brief King Bhumibol on the political situation.

The BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok says the king normally keeps out of political squabbles, but what started as a last-ditch attempt to force out the prime minister by a die-hard group of protestors, has in the space of 24 hours turned into a national crisis.

Earlier, military and government sources told the BBC that the army commander, Gen Anupong Paochinda, who until this week had stood by the prime minister, had told him he had no choice but to resign.

But in a televised ceremony honouring the royal family on Saturday, Mr Samak again reiterated his refusal to step down, saying he had “come to office in the appropriate way” when his People Power Party (PPP) was elected.

“I will never resign in response to these threats,” he said.

“I came to this job under a legal mandate. I will only go if the law does not allow me to stay and not simply because someone issues threats and puts pressure on me,” he added.

Later, one of the protest leaders repeated a promise that they would not to relent until Mr Samak had been forced out of office.

“The protest has already developed into a people’s revolution,” Sondhi Limthongkul told the Associated Press news agency.

Airports closed

The protests against Mr Samak’s government are being led by a conservative group called the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

On Tuesday, thousands of PAD supporters took to the streets of Bangkok and forced their way into government buildings.

Mr Samak was initially praised for his restraint in dealing with the protests, but he suddenly found his position weakened on Friday when the police pulled back and the triumphant protest leaders were left in control of the government complex.

About 2,000 protesters then besieged the city’s police headquarters, prompting the police to fire what appeared to be tear gas to disperse them.

Although the atmosphere was calmer on Saturday, the demonstrations continued outside police headquarters and thousands remained camped out at the prime minister’s official compound, Government House.

For a second day, demonstrations also closed two major airports - Phuket and Krabi - in the south of the country, where protesters prevented planes from landing and taking off by occupying the runways. A third regional airport, Hat Yai, reopened on Saturday.

The PAD was originally formed in the months before the 2006 coup, to demand Mr Thaksin’s resignation. It has re-emerged now that the country is being led by his former ally Mr Samak.

It has a passionate following in various parts of the country, especially Bangkok, and some powerful backers among the elite, our correspondent says.

But it has little support in most of rural Thailand, which voted strongly for Prime Minister Samak, and Mr Thaksin before him.

SINGAPORE: The controversy surrounding the Singapore Table Tennis Association has been called to a close by the Ministry for Community Development, Youth and Sports.

In a special media conference on Friday evening, it announced that team manager Antony Lee will continue for another three months, to finish up his Olympics reports. He will then move to the Singapore National Olympic Council in November.

The association will also have two separate head coaches, one each for the women’s and men’s teams.

President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association, Lee Bee Wah, apologised for causing grievances and stress. With that, the dust has settled over a week-long saga that mired Singapore’s silver medal win at the Olympic Games.

Minister of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan said the issue was caused by misunderstandings and ties have been mended.

He added that the local sports scene, especially the Singapore Table Tennis Association, has emerged stronger from the incident.

He said the strong public reactions such as those online, showed how sports play an important role in unifying Singaporeans and that the sports scene here has come of age.

Dr Balakrishnan said: “Can I promise there will never be a problem? I can’t make such promises. What is more important is the trust and discipline is in place in the team to overcome these problems, get on with the mission, do their best and hopefully their best is good enough to win medals for us.”

When asked for their reactions, the table tennis team members stood up in solidarity and said they were all very satisfied with the discussions and decisions.

Other officials also called for Singaporeans’ continued support, especially for the association’s president Lee Bee Wah.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Teo Ser Luck, said: “For Ms Lee to come in and carry on this work, she will need time. She is only a month-plus old.

“And I believe that she will need the time in order to know what’s happening and to gain that knowledge in order to run STTA and bring it to greater heights.”

Ng Ser Miang, vice-president, Singapore National Olympic Council, said: “Its time for the athletes to reflect on the values, become true Olympians and go back to our celebrations.”

The table tennis team will meet their fans on Saturday at a special autograph session in Ang Mo Kio.

JAKARTA: Indonesia has seized US$134 million from a firm linked to Suharto’s youngest son, reports said Saturday, in the latest move to bring the ex-dictator’s family to account for alleged graft.

The finance ministry ordered Bank Mandiri to hand over US$134 million belonging to Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra’s now-defunct car company Timor Putra Nasional, The Jakarta Post daily reported.

“(The seizure) is an effort to help secure state assets,” Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.

The move comes amid a protracted legal battle over alleged graft involving the car company, which was granted exclusive rights during Suharto’s reign to import South Korean cars and remake them as Indonesia’s national car.

The ministry has launched a civil graft case alleging Tommy illegally sold off assets from Timor to five of his companies at a discount to avoid paying off state loans made to the troubled car importer during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The former dictator’s son has filed a countersuit against the ministry, accusing it of pursuing the US$440 million case in order to justify a freeze on his assets in Guernsey, a British crown dependency off the French coast.

The countersuit is seeking US$21.8 million in compensation and a public apology.

Tommy, who was reputedly the favourite of the late Suharto, enjoyed favoured access to business deals during the heady years of crony capitalism before the financial crisis and his father’s 1998 fall.

Tommy successfully fought off a separate US$61-million civil corruption case against him in February this year, winning US$550,000 in a countersuit.

One of six children, he also served less than a third of a 15-year jail term for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court judge in July 2002. He was released in October 2006.

BEIJING: Chinese police killed six people and arrested three others during a clash in the restive Muslim northwest region of Xinjiang, state media reported on Saturday.

Police carried out an operation late Friday in Kashgar prefecture in the far west of Xinjiang against a group of people suspected of involvement in an attack on August 12 in which three security guards were killed, the Xinhua and China News agencies said.

They discovered the nine suspects armed with knives in a corn field, where they resisted arrest and injured two members of the security forces, the agencies said.

The police fought back, killing six of the suspects and wounding the three others.

Local police contacted by AFP Saturday refused to comment on the reported clash in the remote region which borders Central Asia.

Xinjiang has suffered a wave of violence over the past month, with 16 policemen killed on August 4 in Kashgar in the most deadly attack.

Six days later, an attack on a police station in Kuqa resulted in the deaths of 10 of the attackers and a security guard.

In the August 12 incident, three security guards were killed and a fourth wounded by knife-wielding assailants during an attack on a checkpoint at Yamanya, a town 30 kilometres from Kashgar.

On Wednesday two policemen were killed and five wounded while searching a corn field near Kashgar for a suspect connected with an earlier attack.

Analysts have said Xinjiang is enduring its worst violence in years, partly triggered by separatists wanting to raise publicity while the world spotlight was focused on China for the Beijing Olympics, which ended on Sunday.

Many of Xinjiang’s 8.3 million Turkic-speaking ethnic Muslim Uighurs say they have suffered decades of repression under communist Chinese rule.

Chinese authorities have blamed much of the recent violence on Xinjiang’s East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which is listed by China and the United Nations as a terrorist organisation.

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has briefed King Bhumibol Adulaydej on the anti-government protests spreading around the country, a government official said Saturday.

The premier flew from Bangkok around midnight by private jet to the nearby seaside resort town of Hua Hin, where the king is in residence, the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He reported to the king on the current situation and he will return to Bangkok today,” the official said.

News of the royal briefing comes after Thai police fired tear gas and scuffled with protesters who are demanding the premier step down, on Friday night.

As protests spread across Thailand, shutting airports in the southern tourist hotspots, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej insisted he was not going to give in to the protesters’ demands.

“I will not quit. At this moment, I will not declare emergency rule, I will wait and see tomorrow,” he told reporters.

Up to 25,000 protesters aligned with the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have barricaded themselves in the main government complex, accusing Samak of being a figurehead for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and calling for him to resign.

Skirmishes erupted throughout the day as police used shields and batons to deal with angry mobs, causing slight injuries to a few protesters.

About 2,000 demonstrators left the besieged Government House compound and marched to the nearby police headquarters on Friday evening to demand the officers involved in the clashes be handed over, prompting police to fire tear gas, witnesses at the scene said.

A government-run medical emergency centre said it had treated 35 people after the incident.

A meeting of the government’s ruling coalition made up of Samak’s People Power Party (PPP) and five others was quickly called on Friday evening, and an urgent parliamentary debate was scheduled for Sunday to discuss the crisis.

Asked if the debate could pacify protesters, Banharn Silpa-Archa, leader of the PPP’s main coalition partner Chart Thai Party, said: “I don’t know, it’s up to PAD.”

But retired general Chumlong Srimuang, one of PAD’s leaders, has repeatedly said protest rather than parliament was the only way to solve Thailand’s political problems.

Samak has vowed to end the demonstrations without violence, a promise he reiterated earlier Friday.

“Police will still adhere to my earlier order - they merely went to post a court order, not to clear protesters,” Samak told reporters, referring to a court injunction put up at the site ordering protesters to leave.

Deputy national police spokesman Major General Surapol Tuanthong said the crowds had swelled and 25,000 people were now in the grounds of the compound.

As the situation spiralled Friday, the powerful army chief reassured the nation the military would not intervene unless asked.

“There will be no coup because a coup will not be able to solve the problems,” General Anupong Paojinda told reporters, adding: “I am confident that police are able to oversee the situation.”

Police, however, appeared to be struggling to contain the demonstrators, with Surapol telling AFP that all the officers who were stationed inside the compound had now withdrawn because of the risk of clashes.

“There are now up to 3,000 police deployed outside Government House,” Surapol said.

The restraint of the police seems to have emboldened the protest movement.

“I am convinced that the military will not forcibly crack down on us,” PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila told reporters.

“PAD must go ahead and intensify the protest - we think that more unions will join us and it will lead to more airport closures.”

PAD has been demonstrating against Samak for months, but events took a new turn on Tuesday when protesters stormed a TV station and barricaded themselves inside the Government House grounds.

The courts have ordered the protesters to leave the site and issued arrest warrants for nine of the ringleaders on charges including rebellion.

Outside Bangkok, thousands of protesters forced the closure of three airports in the south. Phuket International Airport was the first to shut its doors after PAD sympathisers invaded the runway.

Similar rallies soon prompted officials to close Hat Yai and Krabi airports, said Sereerat Prasutanont, president of Airports of Thailand.

The State Railways of Thailand, meanwhile, said 248 drivers and mechanics called in sick on Friday, halting a quarter of all services in the kingdom.

PAD - which despite its name is trying to bring down Samak’s elected government - began its campaign at the end of May, just over three months after the coalition government was formed.

PAD protests helped lead to the 2006 coup that unseated Thaksin, and the entry into government of his ally Samak after elections in December has infuriated the country’s old power elites in the military and palace.

They also object to Samak’s plans to amend a constitution drafted and approved under military rule following the coup.

I should have guessed something was afoot. However, even if I had surmised that Laurie was planning something, I would never have imagined that she had set her plan in motion so far in advance or that it had such an astonishing number of details. Frankly, I generally considered her to be a “fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants” type of girl. And her incredible feminine intuition usually made her quite successful in that approach to things. As a methodical physics teacher, I was the one who usually developed plans.

Anyway, last Tuesday when we were getting ready for bed, I had kept my usual watchful eye on Laurie as she undressed and put on her nightshirt. I always enjoy doing that, but of course it does not always drive me to make a passionate, sexual advance. And it did not do so that night–I was simply planning to go to bed and snuggle together with my arm around her. Laurie was still sitting on the side of the bed when I climbed in behind her and began messaging her shoulders. She always liked that. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back slightly, and moaned softly in pleasurable satisfaction. That was when my own thoughts began to change. Despite my original plans just to curl up with her that night, I detected the familiar stirrings of physical arousal. That led me to begin a few gentle caresses lower down, provocatively brushing against her breasts.

Next I reached down and began to pull her nightshirt up, slowly revealing more and more of her legs. Then I saw that sexy white triangle appear as her panties became visible in the dresser mirror. That did it for me. I wanted her…badly. I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Let’s make mad, passionate love tonight.”

Laurie opened her eyes, smiled, and turned her head toward mine. Our lips met, and we kissed lightly. “You really know how to tempt a girl,” she said. “But no, I just want to go to bed to night. Let’s get in now. Put your arm around me and…’come on and hold me tight.’”

She mimicked that seductive tone of the Troggs. So “Wild Thing” was on her mind! That was the second time that evening she had quoted an old rock-n-roll song. Those quotes should have been the first clue that some plan was in motion, but of course I was oblivious to it. She was thinking of herself as the Wild Thing all right, but the wild time was not to be that night.

Wednesday night I tried again, and again Laurie said no. I began thinking that she must be trying to build up my desire to extraordinary heights, but I still had no idea of the magnitude of her real plan.

To understand what occurred Thursday night, I must explain something. Laurie is always an affectionate, loving wife. For example, if she wants to say something to me while I’m sitting at my desk at home, she might very well come over and put her arm around me or softly caress my neck while talking to me. She often sits close to me and holds my hand while we watch television. Even after some years of marriage, my skin still tingles when she touches me.

But on Thursday night she really poured it on! Earlier in the evening, I had just sat down at my desk, and Laurie brought the mail over to me. As she put it down, she reached her arm around me and gently stroked my face. Then she bent down and kissed me. Later when we were watching TV, I had my arm around her as usual. She snuggled up as closely as she could, laid her head on my shoulder (Paul Anka style), and put her hand on my leg, shall we say…relatively high up, but not quite all the way. And her fingers where never still as her hand rested on my thigh. She had already put on her nightshirt and was paying no attention whatsoever to how much it was creeping upward with each slight shift in position.

Well, I am only flesh and blood. And by the end of the evening, that blood was red-hot and definitely starting to flow to a certain well-defined destination. There was no doubt at all that Laurie was trying to turn me on. I thought to myself, “Aha! Now I’ve figured it out. She’s been building me up for a really spectacular session of passionate love.” I even thought I saw the relevance of the rock-n-roll hints. She was now thinking of Rod Stewart and his song, “Tonight’s the Night!”

So much for the male capacity to unravel the mysteries of the female mind! And so much for Rod Stewart. To my utter astonishment, and in spite of my very best bedroom techniques of seduction, we did not make love that night.

I was not angry, of course, and when we got under the covers to go to sleep, Laurie was very sweetly affectionate…again, more so than usual. She put her arm around me and pulled me as close to her as she could. She practically wrapped her self around me as she snuggled up.

However, I was bewildered. I thought earlier that I had figured the whole thing out. Oh well, Doc Brown had yet to publish the solution to that “other mystery of the universe–women!” (Back to the Future II).

Some may wonder how it affects me when Laurie says no. It is difficult to describe the exact effect. Emotions are such slippery devils–so difficult to pin down and define precisely. One thing is certain: I have never felt any resentment or rejection. Laurie’s strategy is designed to increase my desire for her and my enjoyment of sex. It does. When she does say no, she does it in such a cute, often teasing, way that she excites me even more. She just seems so sexy on those occasions, and I want her so much that the next day I can hardly wait to try again! She can build my desire like a master craftsman. And she is always so affectionate, even more so than usual, on those nights.

There is also some nebulous emotion associated with girl-control of sex in our marriage. I cannot fully explain it, but somehow that also makes sex more desirable, more exciting–at least it does for me. After all, it is not that much different from a guy’s dating days, which were certainly exciting.

Are there negative emotions when Laurie says no? Sure, there is disappointment in a certain sense, but it is not…profound: I never feel rejected in any way. It is just a simple reaction because a physical desire has not been immediately gratified. The desire then builds, and the next day I am quite acutely aware of that desire!

Returning to the present, Thursday night and Friday fit that pattern precisely. In fact, because Thursday was the third night in a row that Laurie had not wanted to make love, my thoughts and desires on Friday were running wild.

And it was Friday morning that her real plan began to unfold before me. We often go out to eat on Friday evenings. Just before I left for the university, Laurie came to me. Standing right in front of me, she put both her hands on my shoulders and with the cutest smile said, “I thought we’d do something different tonight. Let’s make it a date! I mean a real date, like before we were married. When you come back tonight, it’ll be like picking me up. What do you say?” Her whole demeanor radiated a childlike excitement. You could almost hear it: “Can we? Can we?”

I smiled and shook my head a little. “You are a hopeless romantic! But, then, so am I. Maybe that’s why we get along so well. It’s a fantastic idea.”

“Then here,” she replied, handing me a tape. There’s one song on this. Play it this morning on your way in. It’ll make you think of me and our date tonight.”

After getting in the car, I slipped the cassette into the player, and the Turtles began singing:

“From the time I fall asleep
‘Till the morning comes
I dream about you baby.
And I feel all right
‘Cause I know tonight
I’ll be with you baby.”

I burst out laughing. What a girl! It was becoming apparent that Laurie planned and prepared a lot for this “date.” But as yet I still had little concept of how extensive her whole plan really was.

And yes, I did “feel all right.” All day long, when I was not forcing my mind to concentrate on something else, my thoughts went to Laurie. My physical desire for her was at an all-time high, and I also was really looking forward to going out on a “date” again. It really was a cute idea. But then a thought popped into my head, not an altogether welcome one. Neither Laurie nor I believe in premarital sex. We never had sex when we were dating. What was she going to do about that tonight? Hopefully, some sort of mixture of the date motif and reality. Oh well, I’ll just have to wait and see. So for most of the day my thoughts centered on two things: the youthful anticipation of a date with a pretty girl that night and, I have to admit, a very intense desire for sex!

I had an office hour after my last class, so it was about five o’clock when I finally arrived home. We played the roles: instead of walking right in, I knocked on the door. Laurie had not asked me to do that, but I could tell that she was very pleased. With one of her brightest smiles, she said, “Oh, Terry, come on in. I have to change yet, but I’ll be ready in about twenty minutes. The reservations at the restaurant are for 6:30.”

So…she had made reservations too! Another detail of her extensive plan revealed. She surely must have been planning this for a long time.

As Laurie turned to walk into the bedroom to change her clothes, I began to follow, intending to conduct one of my most exciting activities–watching her get dressed. But when she saw me follow, she turned and raised her eyes to mine. We both stopped, and she reached up with one hand and gently pressed it against my face. Dropping the role-playing, she said, “Oh, Terry, please, if you don’t mind, could you wait out here? I know how much you like to watch, and I like it too. But tonight is supposed to be like a date. Would you do it for me…please?”

Her tone and expression melted me on the spot. She was not making a demand, and there was no confidence in her voice either. Her eyes were almost…”pleading”…could that be the right word? I could tell how much this meant to her, but she was having difficulty even asking.

I reached up and took her hand in mine. “Sure, Laurie, just like when we were dating.” I gave her hand a squeeze, turned, and walked back into the living room.

Some fifteen minutes later, she came out of the bedroom. I do not know how she did it–I could not put my finger on exactly what gave the impression. But somehow I felt as if I had walked through a time portal. Her face had a radiant smile, and she looked like…a girl from an earlier era.

Even though Laurie and I were not dating then, she knew I liked the aura and music of the late Sixties, and that was the impression she wanted to create. Somehow she did it!

There were subtle changes in her…yes, maybe even in the way she walked. And her hair–what was it about her hair? It was different. When I had gotten home tonight, her hair was tied back with some sort of scarf. But now: it surely looked like a Sixties style. I think she might even have gotten it cut and styled earlier in the day. Another aspect of her plan! She had bangs on her forehead. The rest of her hair rested gently on her shoulders, and the ends were flared slightly outward. Yes, a very popular style in the Sixties.

I had never before seen the outfit she was wearing either. Apparently another part of her plan. I doubt that her attire would really be considered out-of-style today, but again, it would certainly have been popular in the Sixties. She had on a sleeveless jumper. Underneath she wore a black, long-sleeved turtleneck shirt. The jumper was plaidish in design, with a diamond-shaped pattern on top and squares on the skirt part. The predominant color was red. On the right there were two decorative, six-inch “belts,” like you might see on a kilt. On the left there was a large pocket. The skirt was neither tight nor loose, but had a typical jumper cut. The length was not overly short–just one or two inches above the knees. To top off the effect, she was wearing a pair of black tights.

What a sight! I think my mouth must have dropped open and my eyes widened. Finally, I managed to get something out: “Laurie, you look so cute!”

She cocked her head just slightly, smiled, and reached out her hand. I took it, and she said, “Come on, let’s go.”

As we walked to the car holding hands, I could not help wondering, since I had not watched her dress, what she was wearing underneath that jumper! I must confess that during my dating years, I often wondered the same thing about the girls I dated. Such thoughts guys have! There was always a certain excitement involved in asking myself those questions and pondering the possible answers. And Laurie knew all this as well as I did. Moreover, those thoughts certainly did start the male imagination working. Laurie was also very aware of that effect. I had no doubt that this was another aspect of her plan. That was the main reason she did not want me to watch her dress. There would have been no mystery, no tantalizing mental visions of what wondrous things lie hidden just beneath the service.

Well, with such thoughts spinning around in my head, we drove to the restaurant. Fortunately, we did not have bucket seats in our car. Laurie moved over as closely to me as she could get, and I put my arm around her. Like two teenagers!

On the way to the restaurant, she revealed the next stage of her plan. She extracted another tape from her purse. She put it in the player, and one after another, my favorite songs from the Sixties came on. How long had it taken her to do all this taping? She must have been planning this date for weeks!

First, the strange electronic tones of “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf filled the car. What a nostalgic high: to hear the throbbing, thundering sound of Sixties hard rock music again. The second song, “Somebody to Love,” by Jefferson Airplane began.

“When the truth is found to be lies,
And all the joy within you dies:
Don’t you want somebody to love?
Don’t you need somebody to love?
Wouldn’t you love somebody to love?
You better find somebody to love.”

The incredible, pounding rhythm of this song and the sheer power of lead singer Grace Slick almost overwhelmed me as usual. It had an intense, driving power, equaled by few other songs. I was almost transported back to that time. Laurie had thought of everything to make this a very special evening for me.

The hard rock continued unabated. Then the music switched to the psychedelic: “Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In” (Kenny Rogers & The First Edition), “Pictures of Matchstick Men” (Status Quo), “Incense and Peppermints” (Strawberry Alarm Clock), and “Itchycoo Park” (Small Faces).

It was actually difficult to stop the tape when we arrived at the restaurant!

I had never been to the restaurant where Laurie had made the reservations, but she obviously had been there to check it out. Normally, I do not notice many of the domestic details that occupy the female mind, such as curtains, carpets, wallpaper, color schemes, etc. But I do like red and white checkered tablecloths. This restaurant had them, and Laurie knew they were my favorite. I also managed to notice that the lights were low and that there was a single wide-diameter candle on each table. The fragrance of incense was in the air. Even with my rather dull male mind, I could tell that this was a very romantic setting.

There was a lull in our conversation at one point while we were waiting for the food to arrive. I had both my hands on the table. Laurie looked at me, smiled, and reached across the table and placed her hand on mine. I turned my hand over, taking her fingers in mine and began gently stroking them. She tilted her head slightly and just kept looking into my eyes. It reminded me of how Meg Ryan kept looking at Tom Hanks at the end of “Sleepless in Seattle” as they walked toward the elevator. This was really a very special night for Laurie.

Our food happened to arrive while we were thus engaged with each other. The waitress must have thought we were either nuts or having an adulterous affair.

After we finished eating, I got up to visit the men’s room. When I got back, I received another shock as I took in an absolutely astonishing and utterly unexpected sight. As I was still some distance away, I could see under our table. Laurie had her legs crossed, and her skirt was poised at just the right angle to expose a tiny inch of a white pantygirdle! The contrast with her black tights supercharged the scene so much that it took my breath away.

Her eyes had been locked on mine the whole time, but her face was a mask of sweet innocence. However, I was well aware that there was nothing innocent about what was going on in her mind.

No one else could see what I saw. By the time I sat down, she had uncrossed her legs and smoothed her skirt down. But it had been enough–one of those tantalizing glimpses! Like the car of a drag racer, my imagination started working at warp speed.

The pantygirdle definitely had a certain allure during the late Sixties and early Seventies. Here was another facet of Laurie’s amazing plan. During those years, the “girdle glimpse” had tremendous power. Skirts were getting shorter, but girls still regularly wore pantygirdles. So it was something of a regular and quite innocent occurrence–that brief glimpse at the hem of a girl’s skirt, just the bottom inch or two of those girdles. But, officially, you were not supposed to be able to see that. Therefore, it was a really big deal when you did, a sexually charged moment. While an actual view of everything would have destroyed the magic and the mystery, the sudden, unexpected, and fleeting glimpse was indeed a thrill.

So here again, Laurie was consciously re-creating a certain light, but somewhat sexy aura that pervaded the dating scene of an earlier era. Amazing attention to detail and a really profound understanding of men!

The effect this aspect of her plan had on me was enormous, even if quite predictable. From that point on, there was a sexual field in the air between us. A “field,” I mean, in the physics sense–every bit as real as a crackling electric field. So in the parking lot on the way to our car, I put my arm around her waist. Laurie also put hers around mine, but in my case I had an ulterior motive: with my figures, I felt for the waistband of her girdle. Again I experienced the time displacement–that special type of “wow” thrill experienced when a guy, while doing something perfectly acceptable, happened to feel just a hint of one of those hidden mysteries that girls wore.

This time, however, I allowed myself more liberties than I would have if I had been on a real date. So before removing my arm to open the car door for Laurie, I let my hand casually “slip” down and brush her hip. I could feel the girdle–smooth, tight, and incredibly feminine. And in my mind I pictured it!

Once we started driving home, Laurie allowed her skirt to ride up, mixing, as I had hoped, the date motif with reality. She knew perfectly well that I was able to see a little of the white, lace-trimmed, pantygirdle leg. It’s a wonder we made it home without an accident. For Laurie, I’m sure it was an equally powerful experience: to know that she was able so thoroughly to fire my sexual imagination must have given her a real sense of the power of her femininity.

But she was certainly not done with her surprises yet. While we were driving, she reached into her purse and pulled out yet another tape. This time she hit me with one romantic song after another. The King began it:

“Wise men say,
Only fools rush in,
But I can’t help falling in love with you.

Like a river flows surely to the sea,
Darling so it goes,
Some things are meant to be.

So take my hand,
Take my whole life too,
‘Cause I can’t help falling in love with you.
No, I can’t help falling in love with you.

Then the Association sang their biggest hit ever:

“Cherish is the word that I use to describe
All the feelings that I have right in here for you inside…”

Next was “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers. For those of us who are old enough, that was an incredibly romantic song for us long before the movie “Ghost” revived it.

The tape continued as Frankie Valli sang,

“You’re just too good to be true,
Can’t take my eyes off of you,
You’d be like heaven to touch,
I want to hold you so much…”

Suddenly Laurie reached up, put her arm around me, and started caressing my neck and running her fingers through my hair. I was basking in this amorous affection when she whispered, “Let’s not go home just yet. You know what I’d like to do? Let’s go to a taillight park.”

My mouth, I know, literally dropped open. For those not from the Chicago area, I must explain. Cook County maintained a number of “Forest Preserves” in the suburbs, perhaps its answer to the Chicago Park District. After dark, the kids used these areas to park. But for reasons really known to nobody, the guys always left their parking lights on. Hence the name.

So here was another surprising aspect to her plan: Laurie wanted to park and make out! A married couple! Well, it certainly stirred some old memories in me.

I drove to the Forest Preserves on Irving Park Road. We pulled in, I shut the motor off, and left the taillights on.

“OK, bring back some memories for me–what it was like back then for you and me. And I know I was not the first girl you took to a taillight park. Show me that smooth technique again.”

I sat there and fidgeted a bit with the steering wheel–probably much the same way I did back in those days.

With just a bit of impatience, Laurie continued, “Now don’t play innocent with me. I know you used to park.”

So I executed the a standard move: I turned to face her, put my right arm around her shoulder, and with my left hand reached over to caress the right side of her face. Then I gathered her hair between my fingers, and slowly pulled her toward me to kiss her. Of course, this was the point where the guy holds his breath. Will she let me kiss her?

Well, Laurie did let me kiss her, and we continued kissing like that for some time.

Then Laurie whispered to me, “You know, we really are married; you can take a few more liberties.” I could sense that her breathing was just a little heavier.

OK, I thought, I know what guys used to do–I’ll show you some moves!

My hand found its way to her knee. I began squeezing and gently rubbing her nylon-covered leg. Very carefully I began to bring my hand higher up under her skirt until I just barely touched the bottom of her pantygirdle. Laurie offered no resistance, but I quickly brought my hand back out (diversionary tactics), and we did some more kissing. This time, I moved from under the steering wheel, and leaned Laurie back against the passenger door. This provided a more aggressive way to kiss.

Now for the ultimate challenge: I brought my left hand down from her face to her side, giving her a hug and using the maneuver to pull her tighter to me for another kiss. But the main objective in moving my hand down was somewhat different. I moved it about just slightly as I continued kissing her. Then ever so slowly I brought my hand around the front and brushed it along her breast.

That did it. Back to the date motif, and her response was quite true-to-form.

She grabbed my wrist with mock severity. “Terry! Do you try that with the other girls you date?” Of course, that is one of those impossible female questions. Either answer, yes or no, would get you in deep trouble. So like most guys, I said nothing. Then Laurie smiled and said, “But I liked it. Do it some more.” I willingly obeyed as we began kissing again. With my right hand I cradled her head and continually ran my fingers through her hair; with my left hand I stroked and caressed her breasts.

By now, however, all of this was really beginning to effect me, and my movements came with increasing ardor. I was getting excited, and Laurie could sense it. Soon, then, she pulled her head back a little. Smiling, she gently ran her fingers down the side of my face. “Maybe we should go home now.”

I returned her smile, pulled myself away from her, and slid back under the steering wheel. I was still breathing a little heavily. As we drove off, Laurie brought out a fourth tape from her purse. She put it in the player but did not start it. Her demeanor seemed to have changed. She moved slowly in marked contrast with the highly energetic activity we had just concluded. There was a certain aura–a deep, tender warmth about her. She slid over close to me, and I again put my arm around her. She laid her head on my shoulder, and rested her hand on my leg. I was very conscience of that tingling sensation.

After a minute or two, she reached out and started the tape.

I flinched suddenly, and I’m sure my face flushed. My concentration immediately refocused entirely on the music that had just begun. As the words began to unfold, tears came to my eyes. Laurie had picked up her head and was watching me. Her eyes seemed to be speaking to me in the words of the song. It was our song. We had played it on our wedding day.

“You ask how much I need you…
Must I explain?
I need you, oh, my darling
Like roses need rain.
You ask how long I’ll love you,
I’ll tell you true:
Until the twelfth of never
I’ll still be loving you.

Hold me close;
Never let me go.
Hold me close;
Melt my heart like April snow.

I’ll love you ’till the blue bells forget to bloom.
I’ll love you ’till the clover has lost its perfume.
I’ll love you ’till the poets run out of rhyme.

Oh, until the twelfth of never,
And that’s a long, long time.
Until the twelfth of never,
And that’s a long, long time.”

An atmosphere filled the car that we had not experienced for a long time. Laurie stopped the tape, and we just drove on without saying a word. She laid her head back on my shoulder and pressed against me as tightly as she could.

Soon we reached home. When we walked up to the door, I hesitated momentarily before unlocking it. I took Laurie by the shoulders and turned her to face me. Then I cupped both of my hands around her face. We looked at each other for just a second. Then I pulled her gently forward and kissed her.

Softly I said, “I always kissed a girl goodnight after a date.” I caressed her face with one finger while she was still watching me. Her smile was unforgettable. I almost thought I could see a tear in her eye.

The moment passed. I unlocked the door, and we went in. The spell was temporarily broken as we scurried around doing those last chores before bed. I was in a hurry, of course, to get into the bedroom and anxious to see how it would all end. Laurie, too, seemed to be moving around with a heightened sense of urgency.

When we finally got into the bedroom, I sat down on the side of the bed, and Laurie came over and stood next to me.

“Well, that was quite a date. But you know, all night I had this desire just to eeeease your skirt up and see what you had on underneath. I know it’s some kind of girdle.”

As I spoke, my arm magically floated out and took the hem of her jumper, slowly pulling it up.

Laurie jumped right back into the playful motif. With an expression of indignation, she twisted away to wrench her skirt from my hand.

In feigned anger she said, “Well, I’m not the kind of girl who lets her boyfriend pull her skirt up!”

“But I’m not giving you a choice.” At that point I jumped up suddenly and tackled her on the bed. We rolled around with wild abandon. I was trying to get hold of her skirt, and she was trying to push my hands away and hold it down at the same time. At this point Laurie was starting to giggle. I attempted to grab her arms and we wrestled some more, each of us trying to get hold of the other’s arms to pin them down. She fought like a little vixen, but by now we were both laughing hysterically. Her legs were flying all which ways, and her girdle was not much hidden any more, although our wrestling was so energetic that I could not really get a concentrated look: just a continuous series of tantalizing flashes of white. Finally, I managed to get her turned over on her stomach. Pinning her shoulders with one hand, I reached down for her skirt with the other. She had mostly stopped struggling now–in order, I am sure, to let me act out my “fantasy.” She had her arms raised somewhat, and she rested her head on them as she lay there.

Her skirt had fallen back into place, but with her arms raised as a headrest, the effect on her jumper was no surprise: it was not quite long enough to completely cover her pantygirdle. The white lacy leg band was visible below her hemline. I admired the sight for a few moments.

Laurie turned her head back to look at me with one of her amused smirks.

But before she said anything, I pulled her skirt up over her bottom. Then, at last, I got my first, full and unobstructed look at her pantygirdle. It was one of those styles called “light control,” designed primarily to keep pantyhose or tights from sagging at the knees. I admired its glistening white material, its satiny texture, its sleek and sexy look as it both shaped and yet conformed to every feminine curve. I imagined that its tightness over that part of her body, like tight shorts on a man, gave small reminders throughout the day of her physical sexuality. My breathing grew a bit heavier as I concentrated on this spectacular sight.

But Laurie’s demeanor had now changed. She looked me in the eye and with a seductive voice asked, “Yeah, well, now that you got your little thrill, what are you going to do with me?”

I let my one hand roam over the entire surface of her girdle: over her bottom and down along her legs. Then I reached as far down on her leg as I could and ran my hand up the inside of her tightly held thigh in one long caress. With that, she sighed very softly.

But now I was ready to move on to other things. I just wanted her too much tonight for any long, drawn-out foreplay. So I helped her to her feet, and sat back down on the bed watching her. She straightened out her jumper and shook her head once to bring some order to her hair.

The atmosphere had definitely changed again. Our eyes were locked together, somewhat like we were earlier in the evening. Then there was another subtle shift: I saw Laurie start breathing a little heavier, and although she had a straight face, the expression in her eyes got more intense as she stared deeply into mine.

While still sitting on the side of the bed, I reached out and took her hand in mine. But when I began gently rubbing her fingers, she brought up her other hand as if in slow motion and raised one finger, silently asking me to wait. She withdrew her hand from mine and backed up slowly to the end of the dresser. With our eyes still locked together, she slowly slid downward, bending at the knees, to pick something up. Her smooth, graceful movement exuded feminine charm.

Her knees were pointed in my direction, a few inches apart. She had made no overt attempt to hold them tightly together, but neither had she spread them to create some crude, explicit display. That was not how allurement works, and Laurie knew this. The downward movement was intimate but yet somehow so natural. What made it incredibly powerful, though, was that during the whole time, she never diverted her eyes from mine. For the briefest moment my eyes left hers and darted downward to her knees: my timing perfect, the quick supercharged look up her skirt, and the clear flash of white. The effect on me was like a bolt of lightning. But I did not stare–I could not stare. The power of her eyes drew mine back to hers almost immediately. She had never taken her eyes off mine while I had looked down. My desires were now running wild within me, and my heart was beating furiously. But outwardly, I was completely still. With her eyes still locked on mine, Laurie began to rise, moving with a slow, calm, deliberateness. Her movements were so perfect…almost as if they had been choreographed.

To my shock, what she had picked up was a portable cassette tape player.

A cassette player, and another tape! The last ingredient of her masterful plan. She placed the player on the dresser, started the tape, and again turned toward me.

Her eyes were once more fixed on mine, and there was a deep fire that burned within them. The song began. Laurie lowered her head just slightly and started walking slowly toward the bed as that lusty voice on the tape began, “Kick off your shoes and sit right down…” Outwardly, her face was expressionless, but it projected an intense passion. Her eyes never wavered as they held mine transfixed. She reached the side of the bed just as Rod Stewart reached the line, “Tonight’s the night…”

It was Friday afternoon, and I just didn’t feel like cooking. But what could I do about it? Well, the answer is really quite simple: get my darling husband, Josh, to take me out for dinner. So I walked into the bedroom and took a look at myself in the full-length mirror.

Ugh! This would never do. My hair was a mess and my clothes frumpy. Knowing Josh like I do, something cutesy would make him much more open to suggestion. I brushed my hair and put on white bobby socks, a loose-fitting miniskirt, and a teeshirt.

When he got home from work, I gave him a bright, inviting smile. He returned the smile and looked appreciatively at my legs. Things were definitely moving in the right direction.

“Hey, Josh–how about a kiss for your adoring wife?”

He opened his arms, and I walked into his embrace.

This was not all an act. I love Josh very much, and I just about melt when he holds me tight.

His kiss was warm and tender. As he was caressing my back, it didn’t take long for his hand to drop down and squeeze my bottom. He likes doing that, and I knew it would put him in a good mood.

“How was your day?” I asked as we separated.

He walked over to a chair and sat down.

“A little tiring.”

“Tired, huh? Me too.”

I went over to him and sat down in his lap. We kissed again.

“You know what I’d like to do?”

He started to push my skirt up. “Get into bed and make love?”

“No, silly!” Moving his hand back up to a more discreet position, I pulled my skirt back down–at least as far down as it would go. Then I lowered my voice seductively. “How about taking your sexy wife out to dinner tonight? I’m too tired to cook.”

He hesitated just for a moment, but it was long enough.

“Great!” I said in a tone that implied the issue was settled. “Tell you what. I’ll just jump in the shower, and we’ll be ready to go in a jiffy. In the meantime, why don’t you change?”

I guess I always was just a little bossy. That didn’t change much when I married Josh, the love of my life. Mind you, though, he’s not a wimp. He can put his foot down when he wants to. It’s just that, well…he usually doesn’t, and I get my way.

But being bossy isn’t my only fault. I’m also a little vixen–I love being a tease and used to tease Josh a lot when we were dating. There were times when I’d let me skirt ride up while we were in the car. He’d keep looking down at my legs, and I knew I was turning him on. When I did that, he’d usually want to stop and park. Sometimes I went along with that, but sometimes I wouldn’t–all he’d get was a goodnight kiss. I was so terrible I should be ashamed of myself! But it was really fun to see him get so excited he could hardly control himself, and it was exciting for me to know I could have that effect on him.

I read somewhere–in some novel, I think–that it’s not the man’s job to resist little temptations. He sees, and he wants. It’s the way he’s wired. It’s the girl’s job to resist temptation and keep things from getting out of hand. Not that Josh would ever try to go all the way; he didn’t believe in that. But he would try to get pretty fresh, and I had to decide just how much to let him do.

Well, as far as teasing is concerned, now that we’re married, I’m much worse! You see, we can now make love–and there’s nothing more thrilling for either of us than our sex life. The problem is that Josh would probably want to make love every night, but that would eventually make sex less exciting, wouldn’t it? So I have to put some limits on him.

But I tease him a lot. I’ll dress sexy around the house and do little things to turn him on. Like snuggle up to him when we’re watching a movie, put my hand a little too high on his leg, or put my arm around him and play with his hair and ear. Sometimes I’ll “accidentally” give him a little flash down my shirt or up my skirt. It’s all so much fun! All my teasing gets him really turned, but sometimes I’ll give him my impish smile and make him wait a night or two.

Does that sound mean? Well, it could be, I guess–in some marriages, with certain personalities. But Josh likes my teasing. Not that he isn’t disappointed on those nights when I don’t let him have his way with me. But I know he enjoys how this builds up his excitement. When I’ve said no, he can’t wait for the next night to try again–and he tries a lot harder to seduce me. It’s fun for me, and its fun for him. He’s told me that.

But tonight I found out something: teasing can get a girl into a rather…shocking position!

Last night, Josh had wanted to make love, but despite his best attempts and a lot of giggling on my part, I’d said no. Tonight I decided to really turn on the teasing. And who knows? I might even give him some action tonight. But I always make those decisions on the spur of the moment–depending on how I feel at the time.

Anyway, Josh always likes to watch me dress, so I thought I’d give him a real eye full. My antics might seem a little crass, but I know what turns my husband on. Shouldn’t a wife be sexy for her husband? I think so.

He was in the bedroom dressing when I walked in from my shower with a towel wrapped around me. I saw him standing there watching me, and I got my first idea. Facing just a bit toward him, I bent over to open the dresser drawer where I keep my underwear. As I pulled the drawer open and began to rummage around in it, I let my towel “accidentally” fall open in front.

His eyes almost popped out. Here, not more than six feet from him, was his lovely and vivacious wife bent over at the waist with her bare breasts dangling tantalizingly before his very eyes.

It gave me a bit of a thrill too as I imagined what was going through his mind, and I almost burst out laughing. However, I kept myself under control and managed to feign disgust at the misbehaving towel.

“Good grief! This towel just isn’t big enough. But I don’t need it anymore anyway.” Then I looked up at him and gave him a seductive smile. “Try to control yourself, now, I’m taking it off.”

I stood up straight, pulled the towel off, and threw it on the bed behind me. I was absolutely naked in front of my husband. He returned my smile.

“Well, I must say that you’re not making it very easy to control myself. What time did you say those reservations were for? Do we have time for maybe a little…”

“No, we don’t have time, so don’t get any ideas.”

With that I turned back to the drawer and pulled out a white, lacy bra that hooked in the front and matching white panties. I stepped into my panties and pulled them up. In the mirror, I sneaked a look at Josh. He had not moved an inch and was still staring at me. Needless to say, I was enjoying this immensely.

After putting on my bra, I reached up and with slow, caressing squeezes to adjust the position of my breasts in the bra–all totally unnecessary, of course. From the look on Josh, he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

So, attired only in a bra and panties, I flashed him impish smile, and walked back into the bathroom to blow-dry my hair.

It was only a matter of a minute or two before Josh walked past the bathroom door rather slowly and looked in at me. Then he walked past again. He still hadn’t finished dressing. When he walked past a third time, I shut off the blow dryer and gave him my best disgruntled look.

“Are you ogling my underpants?”

“‘Underpants’? I find the name ‘panties’ much sexier.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why I said ‘underpants.’ I didn’t think you needed any more encouragement right now.”

“Well, you’re sure giving me a lot of it.”

“Am I?” I replied in a tone dripping with sweet innocence.

“Niki, you know very well you are! And I noticed that you put on your sexiest bra and panties…Yeah, now I get it! This can only mean one thing: you’re trying to make amends for saying no last night and making me go to sleep a thoroughly frustrated husband.”

I knew Josh wasn’t really angry with me. He often accuses me of being a tease, but he knows I orchestrate our love life for the best and never gets angry when I say no.

“In your dreams! I’m just trying to get ready so we can go out to eat tonight. Now if you can tear yourself away from the bathroom door, and my panties,” I added with emphasis, “long enough to finish dressing, that might help.”

Josh smiled and turned to go back into the bedroom. By the time I returned, he had finished dressing. I had decided not to wear pantyhose tonight, so opening a few more dresser drawers, I pulled out a pair of white knee socks and a slip. As I bent down to get the socks, I turned my derriere toward Josh and gave him another eye full. I’m so mean! But what is it about men that they just eat this sort of thing up?

Sitting down on the side of the bed facing the dresser, I pulled on the knee socks and noticed that Josh was watching me in the dresser mirror. He must have moved into just the right position so that the mirror allowed him to look up my legs as if he were standing right in front of me. I decided to put on another show.

Of course, I couldn’t make quite the production of pulling on knee socks as I could have done with pantyhose, but I stretched out each leg in turn until my foot rested on the dresser in front of me and then slowly and deliberately smoothed each sock onto my leg. My legs were apart, and Josh could evidently see all the way up to my panties. Men are so predictable!

That done, I stood up and pulled on my slip. Then I walked over to the closest and took out a blouse. Josh walked up, put his arm around me, and kissed me.

“You’re too much, Niki, you know that?”

As he said that to me, he started drawing little circles on my bra with his finger. I took his hand and pulled it away.

“Now behave yourself, Josh. You’re not going to get anything right now, so there’s no use trying.”

When I finished buttoning my blouse, I got out a pleated skirt with a hem that came an inch or two above me knees. It was one that Josh particularly liked. I had one more trick up my sleeve–one of my best. I knew it would make him hot and bothered all the way to the restaurant!

I stepped into the skirt and pulled it up, tucking in my blouse at the same time. Turning to face Josh, I pretended to appraise my side profile in the mirror. My blouse needed straightening, and to do that, all I really needed to pull up was my skirt. But I “clumsily” got my slip caught in my fingers, and slowing raised both all the way to my waist, treating Josh a full, head-on view of my panties.

“Oops,” I remarked, and dropped the slip. After pulling my blouse neatly down, I let the skirt drop. Looking up at Josh, I did a little pirouette.

“Well, do I look okay?”

“You little vixen! You know perfectly well that you look unbelievably sexy and that you just gave me a show that made my heart pound.”

I walked over to him, laying my hand sweetly on his face.

“Oh, you poor darling,” I purred.

“I hope you’ll feel that sorry for me when we get home.”

“Well, you never know, do you?”

I made my sweet smile turn devilish. Then grabbing his hand, I added, “Come on, let’s go. Our sumptuous dinner awaits us.”

At the restaurant, I became real affectionate. While we were waiting for the food to come, I reached across the table and tenderly caressed the top of his hand with my fingers. He loved it, I could tell, and soon took my hand in his. We held hands until the waitress arrived with our meal.

While we were eating, I kicked off one of my shoes and gently ran my foot up and down his leg under the table. It looked to me like he had trouble concentrating on his food.

I’d didn’t do all this just to be a little tease. I love Josh very much, and I show it. I believe in being affectionate, and I love it when he’s affectionate with me.

After dinner, we took in a movie. Just like a couple of teenagers, we looked for some seats with no one around us. During the movie, Josh either had his arm around me or had his hand on my knee, with my skirt pushed a little up out of the way. Yes, my teasing earlier was really paying off.

I figured Josh would try to make love tonight, and during the drive home I thought I was really in the mood. But by the time we got home, it was rather late and I decided to wait one more night. But that didn’t mean I was too tired for a little more teasing.

When we walked into the bedroom, I flopped onto the bed fully dressed. Pulling my knees up, separated just enough, I let my skirt slid up.

That was it! Josh saw that and just couldn’t take anymore. He jumped on the bed next me. Poor Josh! I thought as I turned toward him and smiled.

With one arm, he reached around my shoulder and pulled me into a passionate kiss. At the same time, and ran his hand under my skirt and up my inner thigh. His fingers reached my panties, and I felt that familiar tingling begin. But I knew that at this point I had to put a stop to things.

“Oh, Josh, not tonight. I’m just too tired.”

He backed away and looked at me, breathing hard.

“After everything you’ve done tonight, now you’re going to say no?”

I giggled.

“Oh?” I asked sweetly. “Did I give you the impression I wanted to make love tonight? Well, just think how much you’ll love going after me tomorrow night!”

But as I said that in my playful tone of voice, I looked into his eyes. His face wore an odd expression. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking.

“Okay, Niki, that does it,” he said with a sense of finality.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the time has come for you to pay the price for all the teasing you’ve done and for saying no last night and tonight. You’re going to get a spanking.”

I felt my face flush.

A spanking? A host of images and emotions suddenly flooded my mind. I’d never been spanked before, even as a little girl. He couldn’t really be serious, could he?

But then to my shock, he jumped out of bed and pulled the chair of my little vanity table out to the middle of the room. I began to get really nervous.

“Josh…Josh, what are you going to do?”

“What I said–I’m going to spank you. Let’s just call this the male way to tease.”

I tried to sound firm. “No, you are not going to spank me. Don’t be silly now.”

“Oh, yes, I am.” He started to walk toward me.

“Now…now wait a minute…”

But he wasn’t waiting. He came over to the bed, took my hand in a strong grip, and pulled me up. Then, while still holding my hand, he led me to that chair. I looked at it. All of sudden, it had an ominous aura about it.

I just couldn’t believe what was happening to me. I was going to be spanked! Spanked! Me! My heart was beating pretty fast by now. Was he thinking of turning me over his knee? My gosh, what would that be like?

“Josh, no. I don’t want to do this…really, no. Let’s just go to bed, okay?”

“I’ll put you to bed after your spanking.”

I was feeling a mass of conflicting emotions. My verbal protests seemed to be coming from a part of me that was a little scared–worried about what was going to happen, worried about being embarrassed. Damn it–worried about being spanked like a child!

Yet there was something else going on inside of me. I felt a strange kind of excitement. Why should I be getting excited? What would I do if he turned me over his knee? What could I do?

My heart started beating even faster.

While still holding my hand, Josh sat down on the chair. We looked into each other’s eyes, but just for a moment. Then, before I knew what was happening, he lifted my arm and pulled me right over his knees.

My worst fears had come true. Or was it fear?

“Josh, please…let me up. Come on, this is embarrassing.”

“A spanking is supposed to be embarrassing, Niki. And it should sting, because it’s supposed to teach you a lesson.”

My two arms were stretched out on one side of him, and my legs were dangling helplessly over his lap on the other side. With his one hand, he pushed down on the center of my back to hold me in place.

“Josh, no! I don’t want to be spanked.”

He ignored me. How was he going to do this? Was he really going to slap my bottom? Then another thought flooded my mind: would he pull up my skirt?

Now that really started my heart pounding. But I sensed it now more strongly than before: I was getting excited–sexually excited.

Now why in the world would that be?

But there was no time to think about that now. I felt his other hand on my legs. He was taking the hems of my skirt and slip and pulling them slowing up to my waist.

“No, no! Not that…what are you doing?”

Something, who knows what, caused me to start kicking my legs. Was I trying to escape? Maybe…but somehow I knew I really didn’t want to escape.

So here I was: draped across my husband’s knees, my panty-covered bottom sticking up in the air, utterly exposed and vulnerable, waiting to be spanked.

Incredibly, a question flashed through my mind. What must I look like to Josh in this position? He always found panties sexy. Was this turning him on? Looking down at my panties that were just waiting to be spanked? Was he getting as turned on as I was?

Then a new thought came, and my heart started to do flip-flops. Would he try to lower my panties?

But again, I wasn’t given much time to worry about this. My eyes popped wide open as I felt a sudden slap.

“Owwww…Josh, please, no…that stings…”

A little sting. The realization was almost instantly in my brain. That hadn’t hurt. He certainly wasn’t slapping me hard to hurt me. It was just a sting, but that sting seemed to excite my senses. I could feel a tingling begin in another area in addition to my derriere.

Another spank.

I started kicking my legs harder. I tried to reach around and cover my bottom with my free hand, but Josh grabbed it and pinned it to my back. So there he was–holding my hand and spanking me! My excitement was almost overwhelming.

“Oooooh…no more, please,” I begged. “I’ve learned my lesson…”

Why did I say that? This was not a punishment like a little child might get. Somehow I knew that, and I knew that Josh knew it too. This was excitement…sexual playfulness. Foreplay. Of course! Josh had said himself: this was a male form of teasing. He was teasing me.

And I was loving it!

I also knew that I had learned no such “lesson”: this spanking wasn’t going to stop me from teasing him one bit!

He gave my jiggling posterior several more spanks and then stopped. But instead of letting me up, he began running his hands over my bottom, in a caressing, soothing motion. When I felt his fingers slip down between my legs, I started to go crazy with desire.

I moaned and sighed, but didn’t say a word. I swayed up and down on his lap, pressing myself against his tormenting fingers. How long would he keep doing this? How much longer could I take it without exploding?

Then just as suddenly as he had started, he stopped. Josh took my hand again and lifted me to a standing position. I wanted to throw myself into his arms and press myself against his body, but he was quicker than I was. With one arm around my back and the other under my knees, he swept me up and into his arms.

I never felt safer or warmer in my life.

He walked over to the bed and laid me gently down. I watched his eyes as he pulled off my skirt and then my slip. One-by-one, he undid the buttons of my blouse, teasing my breasts as he did so. I closed my eyes, and I really think I trembled at his touch. Placing his hand behind my neck, he lifted me enough so I could slip my arms out of the blouse.

There I lay: white knee socks, white panties, and a white bra–like a schoolgirl who’d just been spanked!

I looked up at Josh again. He couldn’t take his eyes off me as he stood beside the bed and undressed. There was a passion in his eyes…a longing, a deep desire…And it was for me! I was so tense…my mind had only one thought, one emotion. I wanted him. I wanted him so bad…I had to have him…now…he must take me now…

When he climbed onto the bed, he straddled me on his knees.

“And now, my little tease, you’re going to make mad passionate love to me.”

My arms were already open as he leaned down to kiss me.

MADRID: Espanyol’s Pablo Zabaleta, part of Argentina’s Olympic gold medal-winning team, is to join Manchester City after the English club agreed to pay the eight-million-euro buy-out clause in his contract, the Spanish side said Friday.

“Late on Thursday, Manchester City told RCD Espanyol that it was ready to pay the buy-out clause for Argentine Pablo Zabaleta,” Espanyol, which is based in Barcelona, said on its website.

“Up to the last minute, Espanyol tried to convince Zabaleta to remain in Barcelona, but the defender was determined to continue his career in the Premier League,” the Spanish first division club said.

The 23-year-old right-sided defender is to travel to Manchester Friday for a medical.

Zabaleta was part of the Argentina team that beat Nigeria 1-0 to win the Olympic gold medal in Beijing earlier this month.

Manchester City is owned by former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose assets have been frozen as a result of corruption and fraud charges in Thailand.