Cat and Mouse: A Lesbian Romance Spanking Novella
Cat and Mouse: Chapter 8

The beginning of summer semester was right around the corner, but before classes could start up again next week, Lauren and Cassidy had decided it would be a fun idea to take a little road trip down to visit Cassidy’s family to celebrate her birthday together that weekend. Well, to be fair, calling their little trek a “road trip” would have been overstating things just a little bit since it was only about a two hour drive to her parent’s house, but they planned on staying there all weekend and driving back Monday morning, so as far as either of them were concerned it was close enough.

“Cassie, if you don’t stop messing with the radio and just pick a station, I’m going to pull this car over,” warned Lauren, only half-meaning it.

She could tell that the other girl was feeling antsy about their upcoming visit to her parents’ house, and not only because she hadn’t seen them in person since Christmas break. This weekend was going to be the first time that her mother and father, and her younger sister, were going to get a chance to properly meet the person she’d been dating for so long now. Lauren knew that Cassidy’s family was well aware that they were an item by now. There was no way that Cassidy would ever be able to keep something like that to herself for long. She usually called to check in with them about once every other week and would spend close to an hour chit-chatting with her mother and sister, catching each other up on what had been happening in their lives, and as far as she’d been able to tell from the details she’d managed to get out of her (often under the duress of a few sharp swats), they all seemed to be totally fine with having a lesbian in the family. Cassidy had never really given her the impression that either of her parents, or her younger sister for that matter, were particularly backwards thinking when it came to things like that, but it was still reassuring to know that she wouldn’t be introducing Lauren as her “special friend” to anybody that weekend.

“Fine, fine, whatever…”

Cassidy eventually settled on a station that played Top 40 hits, and the two of them began to sing along with what was playing before the song came to an end and the broadcast cut to a commercial.

“Ugh, I hate terrestrial radio,” she whined. “Why didn’t you pack an aux cord or something?”

“I did pack an aux cord,” corrected Lauren gently. “It’s just that our stupid phones are ‘too advanced’ for headphone jacks, and neither of us thought to bring an adapter. Remember?”

“Whatever,” huffed Cassidy again, pouting more for the sake of it than out of any actual strong feelings on the subject.

She and Lauren had debated the merits of omitting headphone jacks on smartphones enough times by now to know perfectly well where each of them stood on the issue, and it wasn’t worth another round of trying to explain to her that nobody ever used regular headphones anymore since wireless headsets were so cheap. Besides, the last time she’d tried to extoll the virtues of phasing out obsolete interfaces in the name of progress, she’d wound up spending most of the night sitting on a sore bottom and writing lines (by hand, ugh) while Lauren watched TV next to her and gloated.

Cassidy continued to flip through a few more stations, much to the annoyance of her girlfriend who was happy to just endure a few minutes of inane local advertising rather than keep bouncing around for something new every few seconds, and eventually she settled back on the station she’d started at in the first place just as the commercial break was wrapping up. They listened to three more songs, blessedly without any interruptions save for a station identification, but it was quickly growing more and more apparent that Cassidy was getting bored.

“I hate car trips,” she complained to nobody in particular. “Are we there yet?”

“Are you seriously asking me that, again?” demanded Lauren, laughing a little in spite of the twinge of annoyance the question brought with it. Cassidy had been asking her the same question, or at least some slight variation of it, off and on ever since they’d started driving. It was cute the first time, but much less so by the third time. She knew she was doing it mostly because it bugged her, but it was really starting to get old now. She motioned in exasperation with her right hand toward the dashboard. “You can see the GPS right there. You know we’re still about an hour out, so quit asking.”

“Or what?” taunted Cassidy with an impish grin. “You’ll turn this car around and take us home?”

“No,” answered Lauren slowly, letting some of her strained patience leak into her voice as she flicked on her turn signal and wove her way around a car in front of them that was driving ten miles below the speed limit. “But I will pull over at the nearest rest top I can replace and put you over my knee.”

She knew that that sounded like more of an invitation than an actual threat, and truth be told, she was pretty okay with that. She loved it when Cassidy bratted her, especially when she got all bashful and nervous whenever she threatened to do something about it, but she was also getting sick of hearing the same question over and over again. If her girlfriend decided to keep pushing her luck, she was going to replace herself paying for it dearly.

“I didn’t forget to pack the Attitude Adjuster, you know,” added Lauren with a dangerous twitch of her lips. “And I’d be more than happy to put it to work if I think your attitude needs some adjusting, cutie pie.”

That little revelation made the smirk on Cassidy’s face go a bit crooked, but at the same time it did an excellent job of making her lower abdomen clench with a giddy thrill. Getting spanked at a rest stop would definitely be something new and exciting in their little game of cat and mouse, although it would be devastatingly humiliating if Lauren actually decided to make good on her promise. Even if she was fairly certain that she’d park somewhere out of the way and keep the windows rolled up while she had her across her knee in the middle of the back seat, Cassidy still couldn’t be sure that someone wouldn’t notice what was happening. So far, or at least so far as she was aware at any rate, she’d been fortunate enough to avoid having anybody actually see Lauren spanking her. Or if they had seen her, they hadn’t done anything other than smirk to themselves and move on about their business. Either way, the thought of someone else standing by and watching her get spanked like the naughty little brat she so often was made her squirm more than anything else could, except for maybe that darn Attitude Adjuster, and it ended up proving far too great a temptation to resist.

Cassidy kept her mouth shut and pretended to sulk while she let the radio play on through a few more songs, not wanting to seem too obvious about things when she decided to make her next move. She let Lauren think that maybe her threats had properly cowed her enough that she was going to be quiet for the rest of the trip, which honestly wasn’t too far off from the truth since the threat of a session with the Attitude Adjuster was enough to make her take pause, all the while biding her time and thinking of just the right sassy remark to use next. Then, just when she thought she might burst from the tension of it all, she struck.

“Lauren,” she whined, stretching her girlfriend’s name out for several extra syllables as she flopped herself back against her seat in irritation. “How much longer do you think it’s going to be? Can’t you go any faster? I’m so bored!”

She even stamped her feet for good measure, just to be safe. She might’ve been laying it on a little thick, but she knew how much Lauren loved taking her to task for throwing a tantrum. And apparently that afternoon was no exception.

“Okay then,” Lauren sighed heavily, running a hand over her forehead and through her dark hair in exasperation, but also smiling far too much to be convincingly upset about her girlfriend’s antics. She flicked on her turn signal and merged over into the far right lane, taking the first exit they came upon. “I guess we’re doing this the hard way.”

By some horribly cruel twist of fate, or possibly good depending on your perspective on the situation, Cassidy had picked the perfect moment to start throwing a fit. As it so happened, the particular stretch of highway they’d been driving along was positively littered with tiny rest stops spread out every few miles all up and down its feeder roads. All competing fiercely with one another to entice the motorists passing them by to pull off for a quick break, to make use of their restrooms, maybe enjoy a roadside picnic, or just resupply on snacks and drinks from their little stores before continuing on their way.

Not five minutes later, far, far sooner than Cassidy would have liked, they were pulling up in front of a squat collection of brick buildings arranged in a neat row in front of a modest parking lot, with a small field and a handful of wooden picnic tables off to one side. Putting their car into park, Lauren twisted in her seat and snatched her backpack from the seat behind her. She took her time unzipping it with her usual unhurried grace, and smiling broadly drew out the Attitude Adjuster paddle from its tightly packed confines, giving it a menacing whack against her palm once it was freed.

“Eep!”

The color had drained from Cassidy’s face, as her eyes stared transfixed at the bold white letters that spelled out her impending doom.

“Come on then, cutie pie,” said Lauren, pushing her door open and standing to stretch her stiff limbs before leaning back inside to pin her girlfriend in place with a predatory grin. “We haven’t got all day you know.”

“Babe, I’m sorry,” moaned Cassidy, even as her hands started fumbling with her seatbelt and the handle on her door. “Please just give me another chance. I swear I’ll be good.”

“No can do, hon,” crooned Lauren, enjoying every moment of the other girl’s bubbling humiliation as she tiptoed tentatively around the back of their car to stand in front of her. “You had your chance, and you blew it. Now it’s time to pay up.”

“But-!”

The two of them made quite the sight as Lauren led the way through the parking lot, gripping the Attitude Adjuster by its handle in one hand, and her girlfriend’s wrist in the other.

“Wait, hold on! Can’t we talk about this, please?” whined Cassidy, anxiously trying to backpedal as she was dragged past the out buildings and toward the picnic tables just a few yards away from the women’s restroom. She could see people milling about just outside its entrance, either waiting for a free stall to open up, or just killing time while someone they knew was in there, and the reality of what she’d gotten herself into was starting to crash down around her. With each step she could feel her face flushing a little bit hotter, as butterflies dive-bombed around inside her stomach.

“I warned you what was going to happen if you kept acting up,” lectured Lauren, raising her voice enough so that the people they were passing by could get a good earful. “I made it very clear that if you couldn’t behave yourself while we were driving, then I was going to pull over and put you across my knee. Didn’t I, Cassie?”

“Yes, but,” squeaked Cassidy, throwing a mortified look back over her shoulder at the small knot of people who had turned to watch them now. None of them could have mistaken her and Lauren as anything other than two lovers having a roadside spat, and while it was painfully obvious to everyone involved what was about to happen, they all just stayed where they were and looked on with amused indifference, preparing to enjoy the show.

“No buts,” snapped Lauren, coming to a sudden stop at the first unoccupied picnic table she could replace and putting her left foot up on its attached wooden bench. “Except your butt over my knee, now, missy.”

She gave Cassidy’s wrist an insistent pull, and the protesting girl toppled easily over her propped up thigh, landing with an adorable little “oomph!”

“Lauren, please, I promise I’ll be good,” moaned Cassidy, deciding to play her part to the fullest as she flailed her jackknifed arms and legs ineffectually above the dirt, giving the people watching them just a handful of yards away something to snicker at as she glared at them petulantly.

“You’d damn well better be, cutie pie,” growled Lauren playfully as she transferred the Attitude Adjuster to her left hand, freeing her right one up so that she could yank the loose fitting pair of denim cutoffs her girlfriend was wearing down to her knees, exposing the snug, forest-green bikini panties hidden underneath to any and all onlookers.

She let the temperature in Cassidy’s cheeks rise by leaps and bounds for a few agonizingly long seconds as she lovingly rubbed her palm over her buns, before suddenly tugging her panties down to join her shorts, fully baring her pristinely white cheeks to the warm caress of the summer sun high above. Cassidy’s squirming immediately went into overdrive at this, but before she could wrap her lips around any sort of coherent protest, her words were driven out of her in a squeal of pain.

SMACK!

The Attitude Adjuster collided with the centers of both cheeks at the same time, compressing them for a split-second before they sprang back into place with a mesmerizing wobble, now sporting a wide pink rectangle that marked the impact they’d just endured.

“Ow, hey!”

SMACK! SMACK!

Lauren smacked her again before she could say anything else, two swats back-to-back right across her sit-spots.

“Owie! Owie! Geez, watch it!”

“That’s funny,” observed Lauren, dryly arching an eyebrow as she stared down at her girlfriend’s naked and only slightly-pink caboose. “I still haven’t heard an apology yet.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” frantically squeaked out Cassidy in between yelps of pain as three extra-hard swats exploded against the lower half of her bottom.

“That’s more like it,” an amused Lauren snapped, pausing to rub the silky smooth wood of her paddle across Cassidy’s sizzling seat. “Now let’s just see if you can make me believe that.”

It took another twenty fist-clenching, leg-flailing, cheek-scorching swats from the Attitude Adjuster before Lauren was finally convinced that her girlfriend’s attitude had been sufficiently adjusted, and by then Cassidy’s bottom was looking like it had caught one heck of a sunburn. It felt just about as hot as one too as she set her back on her feet, shorts and panties now tangled up around her ankles, and spent a few minutes straightening her hair back into place and delivering an off the cuff lecture about being obedient, before she pulled her in for a tight hug and a kiss.

“Do you need to go potty?” asked Lauren with a teasing smirk as she squatted down in front of the other girl and deftly straightened out her panties and shorts, pulling each back into place with over-exaggerated concern for Cassidy’s throbbing cheeks. “Or maybe you’d like an ice pack from the store?”

“Hah, hah, very funny,” pouted Cassidy, bobbing her fists impatiently at her sides and blushing almost as hot as her bottom felt as she tried not to pay attention to the handful of bemused people dispersing from their front row seats to her humiliation in front of the restrooms. “But no, I’m good, let’s just get out of here.”

“Sure thing, cutie pie,” agreed Lauren, threading her right arm through Cassidy’s left and leading the way back to their car, casually swinging the Attitude Adjuster in her free hand as they walked.

They were soon on their way again, and as Lauren pulled back out into traffic, she said, “Hey, do me a favor and call your mom for me real quick, will you?”

“Uh, okay…” answered Cassidy with a shrug, slipping her phone from her pocket and dialing her mother with a tap on her name from her speed dial. As it started to ring, Lauren plucked the device from her fingers, and put it on speaker. “Hey!”

“Shhh,” hissed Lauren, and a moment later the call was answered.

“Hello?” came a friendly feminine voice from the other end of the line.

“Hi Misses Coleman, it’s Lauren.”

“Oh hello, dear, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” she answered with a smirk, moving the phone out of Cassidy’s reach before she could grab it. “Cassidy’s here too, but she’s kinda in the middle of getting something from the back seat while we’re driving.”

“Hi Mom,” called Cassidy with a wave, flashing her girlfriend a confused look at the lie as she flopped back into her seat, resigning herself to letting Lauren play out her little game.

“Hi honey, we’re all so excited to see you!” answered Cassidy’s mom.

“Us too,” said Lauren. “But it looks like we’re probably going to be a little later than we thought. The traffic’s really starting to get bad, and we’re stuck behind some construction right now.”

“Hah, typical highways in the summer,” sighed the older woman ruefully. “How much longer do you think you’re going to be?”

“Oh, it shouldn’t be much more than an hour, I’d say,” shrugged Lauren. “Forty-five minutes if we’re lucky.”

“Well, that’s not too bad,” Cassidy’s mother observed. “That’ll still give us plenty of time to make our reservations.”

“Excellent,” answered Lauren, sounding relieved. “We’ll see you soon then.”

“Alright then, drive safe. Bye Cassidy, bye Lauren. Love you!”

“Bye Mom, love you too,” called Cassidy, accepting her phone back and hanging up.

“What was that all about?” she asked a moment later, scooting forward in her seat to get a better look out the windshield and further down the road. “There’s not any serious traffic right now…”

“No,” agreed Lauren, smiling wolfishly and moving to pass another car. “But there are about four more of those rest stops between here and your parents’ house, and you and I are going to be stopping at each and every one of them to have a little chat about your attitude.”

“Eep!”