by Gray Gardner
He had debated whether or not to stand and tuck her under his arm, hold her in place, and spank her standing up. But that didn’t seem as intimate as what he wanted to do. He wanted her as close to him as possible, and with her draped over his left leg, she was pressed into his side and his groin. It didn’t get much closer than that. He had to suck in a quick breath every time her thigh rubbed against his semi-erection.
“Calm down, Eve,” he said in a voice that wasn’t overbearing or bossy, just worried. He looked at the back of her ponytail flopping around as she pounded her fist back, trying to hit him. “You know what’s good for you and what isn’t. And if you ever forget, I’m here to remind you.”
He raised his hand and slapped it down.
She squealed, but stilled her squirming.
He could hear her breathing, though, and watched as she let her forehead fall to the couch cushion. Her thoughts were basically screaming at him, telling him to just do it.
“You aren’t weak, you know,” he began, spanking her every couple of seconds. “You’re one of the strongest, most determined women I’ve ever met. You’re smart. You know what you want. But sometimes, you just don’t know what you need.”
He increased his speed and her whimpering increased, as well as her legs swinging around. He paused and waited for her breathing to slow down. She seemed okay, though he had her inhaler nearby, just in case. She still hadn’t said anything, but she wasn’t damning him to die a thousand painful deaths, so he figured this first spanking was going pretty well.
He grabbed the waistband of her jeans and lifted up, quickly reaching under and popping them open.
She started communicating then. “Bradley, Brad-Bradley!”
He grasped a handful of her now loosened jeans and pulled them down her thighs, loving the sound of his name on her lips. He had to inhale a few times to get his erection under control when he grabbed the waistband of her pink underwear and she squealed his name.
The creamy pale skin on her thighs contrasted to the hot pink skin splotching her round cheeks. And the back of her ears couldn’t have turned any darker pink, as she struggled to regain some kind of control. He ran his hand in circles over the heated skin and waited a minute for her to calm down.
“You’re over my knee, Eve, with your jeans and underwear pulled down and your very pink, spanked behind up and ready for the rest of your lesson. What have you learned so far?”
“Jesus,” she mumbled into the couch, shaking her head slightly.
He just waited patiently, admiring her pink skin and the shape of her ass.
She finally responded in a rush, “I need to eat and not do things that bring on an asthma attack. Can I get up?”
“You’re being so sweet.” He made sure to praise her in a voice that was low and firm. “We’re almost done. Like I said, you’re a good girl. I need you to remember this, though, the next time you ignore the time or think that maybe your work is more important than your health.”
He spanked her quickly, holding her trim waist as she struggled against his hold. She’d already kicked off her jeans and underwear, so he gave her three final hard smacks and then pulled her up to straddle him, holding her head into his neck with his other arm around her back. He made sure her backside wasn’t touching anything as he widened his legs and held her. He noticed her glasses had fallen off somewhere.
“Don’t ever do that again,” she whined into his neck.
Christ, he wanted to do it every day, after getting his first taste. He grinned indulgently down at her in his arms, though, so trusting and chastised. Nodding, he leaned down and kissed her pout.
“Don’t make me promise that. You’ll turn me into a liar.” He grinned when she smacked his arm, but held her in place with a serious stare when she tried to get up. “Now it’s time for your reward, Eve.”
“I don’t want a reward if that’s how I get it,” she grumbled, turning her head every time he tried to capture her mouth.
He laughed softly and squeezed his big hands around her chastened cheeks, making her arch her back and rub herself right up against his erection as it pushed at his jeans. She looked at him with those resolute blue eyes and he closed the distance between them, kissing her intensely.
“Such a good girl,” he mumbled, kissing around her jaw and gently laying her back on the couch.
She squirmed a little bit when her skin hit the cushions, but moaned softly when he laid over her and kissed her again, licking into her mouth. He knew she liked him on top of her, and he was all too happy to prop himself on his elbows and indulge her. She worked his belt buckle and jeans open, grabbing him in her palm and making him groan into her mouth.
He rocked his hips forward and she guided him inside her, a look of pure pleasure on her face, which if he wasn’t careful, would give him a big head. But it was like they were made for one another. A perfect fit in every way. He rolled his hips into her relentlessly, staring into her blue eyes that he loved so much.
She clenched around him, wrapping her legs around his waist and squeezing her eyes closed. He reached under her and lifted her spanked ass, driving into her until he felt himself start to come, going rigid and holding her with both hands.
He fell to the couch next to her and gathered her close, stroking her warm, pink skin as he kissed her forehead.
“That was so amazing.” He exhaled and grinned down at her. He knew she was trying to decide if she should say it was good for her too, reluctant to acknowledge the spanking before the sex.
She went with obstinance. “Yeah, well remember it, because it’s not happening again.” She turned her eyes up to him as she snuggled into his chest.
Her head rested on one arm and his other arm continued to rest on her hip, caressing her backside.
“We’ll see, historian. Why don’t we finish that journal?”
Chapter 10
Silver Creek Ranch Lodge, 1870
“I don’t understand.”
The train ride had been long and the horses had moved slowly through the snow on the road back to the ranch. Holly frowned at the large, three-story house towering over her as she shivered in the snow. She turned and frowned up at Pryce as he jumped off Lancelot and grinned at Flip as he handed the reins off to one of the ten men standing on the side of the house by the white barn and stables.
“Thanks for getting it all ready, Flip.” He turned and grinned down at her. “I told you it wasn’t ready when you got here. Now, well, this is your new home.”
Holly’s mouth dropped open, as she stared at the huge house with a wraparound porch. Surely, this wasn’t their house. Surely, this was some sort of joke. They would be heading back to their one room cabin any minute.
“Got the Christmas garland hung too,” Flip said, breaking the silence and winking at Holly. “These cowboys will handle the day to day around here, while I attend to the mine. If you ever get lonely, though, don’t hesitate to knock on the door of our house down the road there. The missus just had our first child and it’s getting hard for her to get around with a new baby in the snow.”
“You land on a name yet?” Pryce asked, wrapping his arm around Holly’s shoulders.
“Name was good enough for my father and good enough for me, so he’ll be William Robert Childress, III. I think we’ll call him Willy.”
“That’s a fine name.” Pryce took Holly’s hand and cleared his throat. “Think I’ll be carrying her over the threshold now.”
“All right, that’s it for today, boys,” Flip called, tipping his hat to Holly.
She was still very confused, as Pryce grabbed her up in his arms, walked up the steps, and pushed through the tall, shiny double doors. Warmth engulfed them, as green Christmas garland and pinecones draped over the rails up the wide staircase and around the towering windows. Holly sucked in a breath as she looked around. Even the impressive chandelier over her head had every candle lit.
“I,” she began, shaking her head and looking around. She looked
up at Pryce as he gently set her down. “This… How come you had to use a service to find a wife?”
He chuckled at her response to the house his parents had started, and he and Flip had finished.
“You wanted me in that tiny hunting cabin.”
“How the hell am I supposed to take care of this house?” she asked, frowning. She quickly cleared her throat and looked up at him through her lashes. She’d definitely been spending too much time with Shay Daniels and Rose Zachary. “Sorry.”
His lip twitched up into a grin as he took her hand and kissed it. “We’ll figure it out.”
She pressed her lips together and removed the bonnet from her crown of blonde braids. “What’s the bedroom like?”
“We have a lifetime to see what every room is like.” His voice was low as he took her chin and brushed his lips over hers.
She blushed and grinned, squealing when he reached down and picked her up again.
“But yes, let’s start with our bedroom. It’s time to start filling this house.”
Silver Creek Ranch Lodge
Eve looked at Bradley over her shoulder as she leaned back against his chest by the fire. She closed the journal and smiled.
“Happy New Year,” he said in a low voice, kissing behind her ear and squeezing her close.
“Is it already midnight?” she asked incredulously, looking down at her watch. She’d been so determined to get through Holly and Pryce’s story, she hadn’t noticed the clock.
He took her chin and pressed his mouth to hers, tracing her lips with his tongue in a way that promised much, much more. Eve grabbed his shirt and flipped around, straddling him in the way she liked to do and kissing him again. She ground her hips into him as he wrapped his arms around her back, both of them only in plaid pajamas, a thin layer between them.
Bradley slid his hand down her back and squeezed her ass, pushing her harder onto the erection he just seemed to constantly have around her. She moaned into his mouth, ready for him to remove their clothing and lay her back on the soft rug in front of the fire.
The doorbell rang, sending a melodious ringing of bells throughout the house.
“The fuck,” Bradley growled, letting his forehead fall against Eve’s shoulder. She smiled and stood up, pushing her pajamas around back to the appropriate places, as he protested. “Hey, don’t answer that. It’s midnight.”
“Must be good then,” she giggled, skirting out of his reach and running off as he stood and tried to follow, adjusting himself along the way.
She checked the window and frowned, throwing open one of the double doors and letting the cool air slowly blow in. She wondered if another relative had died.
“Happy New Year!” Mellie Simson smiled, taking a sparkly noisemaker out of her pocket and blowing it loudly.
Eve pressed her lips together to hide a smile, as Bradley grumbled up behind her.
“You’ll pay for that later, historian. It’s dangerous to open the door to- Ms. Simson?”
“Dr. Friendly!” She grinned, leaning forward and pointing at him. “So glad you’re here. This-sinvolves-syou, too.”
Eve held a finger up to Bradley, so that the obviously drunk attorney could finish whatever she’d driven all the way out there for.
Suddenly, a man dressed in a police costume stomped up the porch, knocking snow off his boots and shaking his head. “Mel, I told you to wait until I could call first, oh hey, guys.”
Bradley reached his hand out and shook the other man’s. “Captain, what, uh, what’s up?”
Mellie was rustling around in a brown accordion folder, so the real police captain filled in. “You tell me. We were at a party getting ready to countdown to the new year when she suddenly grabbed me and said we had to go and see something. What? Who the hell knows? For some reason, I just follow her around.” He grinned indulgently at her, as she looked up at him and gave him an air kiss.
“Oh! Got it,” she said, pulling out a stack of papers and clearing her throat. “This is a clause to the… Jim!”
The captain looked at her, then shrugged his shoulders in apology and pulled out his phone. “Sorry, okay, recording now.”
“Thanks, babe.” She smiled, squinting back at the papers. “This is a clause to the Last Will and Testament of William Childress, on this, blah blah blah, heretofore, yadda yadda, if Ms. Eve Browning Childress resides in the home of the deceased at the hour of the new year,” Mellie paused to check her watch and turned it to the phone Jim was holding, “Please note the time and date. It is 12:15 AM. Okay, if, already read that, yes. All property in the name of William Childress excluding that of which, blah blah, including the acreage, the mine, and the residence and structures, etcetera, is hereby bequeathed to Ms. Eve Browning Childress.”
She paused and hiccupped, smiling at Eve; and then frowning at Jim, and waving her hand. “Turn it off.”
Eve stood frozen in the entryway, and not because of the weather.
But Bradley spoke first. “I’m sorry. What?”
Mellie nodded and adjusted the red sparkling headband with ribbon sprouts that looked like fireworks. “When Mr. Chill…” She hiccupped and shook her head. “When Mister…” She hiccupped again and held her finger up, as Jim covered his eyes and shook his head. She cleared her throat. “When Bill came in a year ago to complete his will, he seemed very certain about how he wanted things handled. Nelson and Boone Childress took the ranches he acquired a couple decades back. But this ranch, his home, he wanted to be fair. So, upon his death, he had his remaining relatives out to claim their little piece here and there. And for some reason, he wanted you out here, and more specifically, he wanted you out here with Bradley Daniels. I remember him laughing and saying that if you two didn’t kill each other, you’d be in love by New Year’s. So, against my advice as his legal counsel, no offense, he had me add in that if you were still here on New Year’s Day, the ranch would be yours to run with Dr. Daniels as your foreman.” She burped and looked up at Jim. “I think I might throw up.”
“Hang in there, Mel,” Jim urged, holding her shoulders as she swayed. He looked at Eve. “Sign the papers. She’ll file them in a couple of days. Court’s closed tomorrow anyway.”
Eve looked at the papers in her hand curiously. Surely, surely Uncle Bill hadn’t had the foresight to know that she and Bradley would form a relationship. Right? She signed where the green arrows indicated, slowly and a little incredulously. This was a dream. It had to be.
“And these,” Mellie hiccupped, handing over a few thin leather-bound albums.
“That sneaky son of a bitch.” Bradley chuckled behind her. He was shaking his head and waving at Mellie and Jim, who was practically carrying her back to the squad car in the gravel circle driveway.
The door shut and Eve turned and looked up at him. The only thing she could think of to say was, “How in the hell am I supposed to take care of this house?”
Bradley laughed and leaned down, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her frown. She opened the oxblood album on top of the stack in her hand and sucked in a breath.
“It’s… me.” She flipped through pasted clippings and old yellow pictures. “He’s kept up with my entire life here.”
“He was proud of you,” Bradley said in a quiet voice, hands on her shoulders. “I heard him say so every now and then.”
Eve breathed in and set the albums down. It was a good feeling, knowing that he’d cared so much about her from a distance.
“How am I supposed to do this?” she quietly asked, holding her hands out to the large foyer.
“Didn’t you hear the drunk attorney?” He picked her up and carried her back towards the living room. “With me, of course.”
Eve tried to hide a smile as she narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t get any ideas about family-starting.”
“Oh, I have big plans involving that,” he laughed softly, laying her on the rug and kissing the nape of her neck. “It’s time for your new year to begin.”
; Eve smiled at him in the firelight, the large silver moon in the tall window behind him. Bill Childress may have been the smartest man alive. Yes. New year. New life.
Bradley grinned down at her.
And most importantly, new love.
* * *
The End.
Gray Gardner
About Gray:
Married? Yes
Babies? Yes
Cat? Yes
Anyone else? No, we have a full house!
As someone who has been writing since she could wield a crayon, I never in my wildest dreams thought I could be published. Additionally, as a lover of fantasy fiction I never even considered writing cowboy erotica. But, as they say, write what you know. I know sex (I’ve been married 8 years, you have to get creative!) and I know cowboys (I grew up on a ranch.)
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