Hmmmmm...I know I'm resurrecting an older thread, but I like the topic and I just registered today...so too bad.
If I have a strong bond with my spanker, I'm all for rubbing any old time. But I never really got into the habit of rubbing my own bottom because my first Top didn't allow it...it was control thing.
Once, at the end of an intense spanking, I was standing in front of him when he said, sounding both surprised and disapproving: "You're not rubbing are you?" I did it so absent-mindedly that I was as surprised as he was.
Then he asked if I was rubbing my bottom or my back, and I realized that I was rubbing my back out of habit. We both looked relieved. At that point in the evening, I couldn't really handle anymore serious spanking...and he knew it. Phew.