by Jenny Plumb
Despite her flash of annoyance, she also felt a nibble of arousal at being exposed in such a way to her husband. She moved her hands to either side of her hips and watched his gaze travel south. His expression darkened, and she knew he was enjoying the view, hungering after her as much as she wanted to be consumed by him.
He would not be dissuaded from his task, however. His shirtsleeves were rolled up. He’d also unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt at the collar, revealing a smattering of dark chest hair. His trousers and shirt hugged his body and revealed the muscles underneath. She dropped her eyes to his large hands, which were each splayed over a knee, and marveled over how big they looked. Her husband was strong and handsome, and she wished very much that his hand was going to be used for pleasure instead of punishment that night.
“Do you know why I made you strip for me?” he asked, his gaze now pointed straight at her face.
“To make spanking easier for you,” she guessed. She glanced at the wooden spoon on the bed next to his left side, thinking it looked far too readily available.
“No. I only need to bare your bottom to make a spanking easy.”
“To humiliate me?”
“No, honey. Of course not.” He crooked a finger at her, indicating that she was to come to him. As she made slow steps in his direction, he said, “I made you remove your clothes because I want you to feel that I see you – every part of you. You’re not allowed to hide from me. You’re mine. Mine to hold, protect, care for, and punish.”
She stopped in front of him. His words were spoken seriously but also lovingly, and she didn’t know quite how to feel about them, let alone what to say in return, so she only nodded. She felt dangerously close to tears, as well as aroused in an embarrassing way, and the spanking hadn’t even started.
“I’m yours too, but in a different way,” he continued. “I’m yours to rely and lean on, to trust, and to find solace with. I’m the person who loves and accepts you. But that’s not how you’ve been treating me, is it?”
She looked down at her bare feet on the floor, causing her blonde hair to spill forward. “I guess not.” She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She hoped the scolding wouldn’t go on for much longer.
Jude reached out with both hands and tucked her hair behind her ears, then took her face in his hands, lifting it so she had no choice but to look into his stern eyes. She wanted to close her eyes because she felt even more exposed than when his eyes roamed her body. Now it felt as though he was staring straight into her soul, where he could see every bad thing about her.
“You don’t get to lie to me, sweetheart. That’s a way of hiding who you are, and I love who you are.”
She felt her lower lip quivering and a burning in her nose indicating she was moments from crying. She was almost relieved when he stopped talking and pulled her naked body over his lap.
Her stomach pressed against his left leg, and the majority of her upper body rested on the bed, while her legs and feet dandled in the air, spread apart enough that she felt cool air brushing her sex.
Part of her marveled over how she felt. Despite being an embarrassing and vulnerable position, it was actually quite comfortable lying over Jude’s lap. She knew her bottom was about to be punished soundly, but when Jude’s left hand anchored her to him and his right hand rested on her bottom, she felt secure and loved.
She supposed part of the reason a spanking made her feel loved was because during it she received so much focused attention from him. When Jude punished her, his mind was wholly on the task, for he was intent on teaching her a lesson and also on ensuring he was not too harsh with her. Of course, their ideas about what qualified as too harsh differed. Callie felt that using a wooden spoon on her bare bottom was too harsh, but Jude didn’t seem to believe so. He reached for it immediately, not even warming her seat up with his hand first.
“I let your lying go on for far too long,” he said, and brought the spoon down on her right cheek. He gave the same attention to the left. “I really hoped you would confess to me. If you had, I wouldn’t be punishing you. I’m very disappointed in you.” With that, the spanking commenced. He spanked her crisply over and over. The smacks with the unforgiving wood felt unbearable nearly immediately.
She squirmed and clenched her bottom, desperately trying to absorb the sting. Oh! If only she had confessed to him yesterday when she suspected he knew, she wouldn’t be in a world of misery at that very moment. His words about how she disappointed him hurt her as much as the spanking. That was the whole reason she’d lied to him in the first place – so he wouldn’t see her as a disappointment.
Jude stopped spanking, and she dared to hope he was finished, but she was not at all surprised when he made it clear he’d only stopped for a lecture. “Tell me why you’re getting this spanking, Callie Mae.”
She wiped her damp cheek. She hadn’t been crying in earnest, but a few tears had escaped. “Because I lied to you.”
“That’s right. Do you think I would punish you for not knowing how to cook?”
She shook her head. “No, I knew you wouldn’t punish me for that. But…” Her voice tapered off.
“But what?” Jude prompted.
She drew a shuddering breath. “I worried that you might be disappointed that you’d married me, since I don’t know how to do wifely things. I thought…”
Silence hung in the air. “Go on,” he said.
She knew she was treading dangerous ground, but he said he wanted her to be honest, so she continued. “I thought you might wish you’d married someone else if you found out I can’t cook.” At speaking her greatest fear aloud, she hung limply over his knee, breathing hard and trying not to dissolve into a puddle of tears.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “Just so as you know, Callie, I married you because of who you are, not because of what you can or can’t do.”
As much as she wanted to believe him, she couldn’t fully accept it. She scoffed. “I’m just an orphan, a nobody,” she reminded him.
Jude tossed the spoon aside and took to spanking her hard with his palm. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by insulting yourself,” he growled.
Callie yelped and squirmed. Jude seemed to focus his attention on one part of her bottom, and it burned so much she thought she’d die if he spanked it one more time. “Please, Jude, spank the other side!” she wailed.
He obliged and spanked her other cheek until it stung just as much, then continued spanking back and forth for what seemed like ages. When he finally stopped, her bottom felt like she’d sat on a lit stove.
He rubbed her bottom slowly in circles, relieving some of the sting. “Am I getting through to you how I feel about you lying to me?”
“Yes, sir,” she whimpered.
“And what do I need to say to make you believe I love you just the way you are?”
“I believe it, Jude,” she said, sniffling. “I just might forget once in a while is all.”
“Well, I will be here to remind you.” He gave her bottom a smack. “Stand up. I still owe you five licks with the belt.”
She stifled a groan and stood to her feet. Her hands itched to rub her bottom, and she reached around to clasp her burning globes.
“Ah ah,” Jude said, shaking his head. “No rubbing until I give you permission. You know your punishment isn’t over and I want your bottom burning. Bend over the bed.”
Callie let out a giant sigh and moved her hands to her side, after which Jude gave her bottom another good smack that made her squeak.
“I heard that sigh. Don’t be a brat.” He pointed at the bed. “Bend over.”
Callie struggled to keep her face from twisting into a scowl at how ridiculously strict he was being. Before he could see the rebellion on her face, she laid herself over the bed and buried her face in the quilt. The clink of Jude’s belt as he removed it from his trousers made her stomach summersault.
She felt surprised when she felt Jude’s hand on her head. H
is fingers wove in her hair and tightened into a gentle fist. He lifted her head off the quilt so that she was forced to see him.
“You’re going to keep your bottom high and your head lifted. After each of the first two strokes, I want to hear you say, ‘I will not lie to my husband.’ Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, blinking as she met his stern gaze. All the feelings of rebellion were gone, replaced by apprehension and respect.
He tapped her bottom twice and then snapped the belt across it.
She sucked in a breath. “I will not lie to my husband.”
He lashed her again, even harder. She moaned and repeated the words, vowing to never tell another lie. She had to remind herself of this pain the next time she felt tempted. It stung worse than any spanking previously, and she knew lying was something he’d punish just as harshly if it happened again.
“Three more, and then we’ll go eat Eva’s supper,” he commented wryly.
She shifted a little. “I made the bread this time,” she informed him in a whimper. “It actually turned out pretty good.”
Jude moved her head to the side so he could look in her eyes. “Is that right? Good job, darlin’. I look forward to tasting it.”
Hearing his praise flooded her heart with good feelings. She always wanted him to feel proud of her. As though reading her mind, he said, “After each of the final three strokes, I want to hear you say, ‘My husband loves me and is proud of me.’”
Without waiting for her acknowledgement, he smacked the belt against her left cheek. She winced and spoke the words as instructed. After he punished her right cheek with a lash, she repeated the phrase and burst into tears. She believed the words. How had she doubted it? She saw the love in his eyes every time he looked at her. Even in that moment, when she was being punished, she felt his love.
“I’m sorry for lying to you,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry for thinking you might not want me if I couldn’t cook.”
“I know you are, sweetheart.” He gave her the final smack with his belt, tossed it aside, and gathered her into his arms as she repeated the words as instructed. She sobbed on his shoulder, while he stroked her hair and murmured affirming words in her ear. “All is forgiven, baby.”
As her tears receded, she felt so much better. She hadn’t realized how tense she’d been feeling, having to keep up the façade of being able to cook.
When Jude praised her enthusiastically after tasting the bread she baked, she beamed with pride. “It was because of the article in the paper that you read to me. That’s how I learned,” she told him.
“You know what I think you should do? I think you should go ask your friends for recipes for each dish you want to learn. If you have it written out like it was in the newspaper, you’ll be able to follow it and have more luck.”
She nodded. “I’ll ask Annie. I almost wish you had spanked me a couple weeks ago. I would know more about cooking by now if I hadn’t been pretending all this time.”
Jude grunted. “I wish I had spanked you sooner too. I let that go on far too long. Not to worry, it won’t happen again. You’ll be over my knee in a jiffy if you lie again. That’s a promise.”
She felt warmth rise to her cheeks as it always did when he threatened a spanking. There was also something oddly comforting about knowing she would get spanked again if she lied. She knew she could depend on Jude for everything, including keeping her on track.
Callie passed Jude the bowl of cooked carrots from Eva’s Restaurant. “I visited Annie today.”
“Yeah? How is she doing?”
“She’s good. I invited her and Billy over for Christmas dinner. I hope that’s all right,” she said belatedly. “I plan to cook the whole meal. I thought if I had a goal like having to cook dinner for four people, I might succeed at it.”
He frowned at her and shook his head. “I can’t understand your reasoning, darlin’.”
“I know, it’s a little backwards,” she acknowledged. “But I will swallow my pride and ask Annie for some recipes, so everything will turn out just fine.”
He nodded. “It’ll be nice to spend Christmas with Annie and Billy.” He swallowed a bite of his chicken. “By the way, I went to town and spoke to the marshal about the senator’s accusation. He assured me that you are not a suspect. He thinks he knows who stole the horse – witnesses point to a man named Michael Wood – but they haven’t been able to find him yet.”
“Oh, that’s good, Jude. Thank you for looking into that.”
“Of course, darlin’. Don’t you worry about it even a little bit, all right? Everything will turn out just fine. Our first Christmas together is going to be wonderful.”
Chapter 6
Jude stayed home the following day instead of going to the range. It was raining hard, so mending fences, as he’d intended to do, wouldn’t have been productive. It was too bad about the weather. Christmas was only two days away, which didn’t give Callie much time to learn how to roast a chicken and cook all the fixings. Much to her dismay, he wouldn’t permit her to go to town in the rain to acquire recipes from Annie. Jude knew she would get soaked to the bone if she walked or rode there. Callie pleaded with him to allow her to ride the buggy, but he was firm in his refusal. “It’s not worth the risk, honey,” he explained. “It’s terribly muddy, and the horse could easily slip.”
“But, Jude, I promise I’ll walk the horse real slow. Please?”
He shook his head and walked to his armchair by the fireplace, where he sat down and picked up his newspaper. The conversation was over as far as he was concerned. Callie huffed but didn’t argue with him further. He felt sorry for her that she wasn’t going to get any information about cooking, but her safety was more important to him than a well-cooked supper.
He silently prayed that it wouldn’t rain the following day. Unfortunately, it did, and Callie was beside herself with worry. “I only have one more day. I must get the recipes from Annie,” she told him with the pleading look in her eyes that was very difficult for Jude to resist.
“Darling, I hate to say it, but you got yourself into this pickle. I don’t know why you went and did a fool thing like invite folks over for Christmas supper when you can’t cook.”
“I know I shouldn’t have!” she exclaimed. “But I did and I really must go to town. Maybe you could come with me, and that way it would be safe? Surely you drove horses in worse weather when you traveled the line. Please, Jude?”
Jude ran his hand along his beard and looked into her green eyes. He could see that they were wet and she would burst into tears if he said no. “Oh, all right,” he muttered. “I’ll go hook up the buggy. Meet me in the barn in two shakes.”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, thank you.” She tackled him with a hug. When he lifted her, she wrapped her legs around his hips.
The rubbing of her sex along his crotch caused a tightening in his trousers. He growled, “You’re so much trouble, little hellion.”
She grinned triumphantly as he pried her away from him and set her on her feet. He grabbed his Stetson and left the cabin for the barn.
The barn was only about twenty paces away from the house. Despite running, he was in the rain long enough for his shirt and trousers to get wet. His feet remained dry in his boots, as did his head, which was protected by his hat.
Still, he got wet enough to feel uncomfortable, and they hadn’t even started the trip to town. He sighed, knowing he was a fool for agreeing to this plan. When he entered the barn, he heard the familiar nickers of horses. He shook off the rainwater from his hat and walked along the aisle of the barn, heading in the direction of the last stall, where his trusty new mare was located. He intended to hitch her up to the buggy.
As he made his way to the back, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye from a stall he knew should be empty. Curious, but not concerned, he paused in his mission and approached the stall to look inside. What he saw caused his throat to grow as dry as his shirt was wet. He blinked and stared. His
mind was racing, his thoughts and eyes focused on the sight in front of him. When Callie appeared by his side and let out a high-pitched gasp of surprise, he startled out of his shocked state.
Turning to her, he bellowed, “How the devil did that get in here?” He pointed at the fine specimen of a horse, a rare palomino. There was no mistaking it; it was definitely the senator’s stolen horse.
She glared at him. “Don’t ask me, I didn’t put it there!”
“This isn’t good. Gotta think, gotta think,” he said, rubbing his neck.
“You don’t think I stole it, do you, Jude? You said you didn’t think that.”
“No, honey, but someone’s trying to pin it on you, and that worries me.” He stalked to the barn wall and removed a halter from where it hung on a nail. “We’ve got to get this horse back to town and tell the marshal.”
“No, Jude! Can’t we just set it free? The marshal will think I stole it, just like the senator said.” Her green eyes flashed with fear. “I don’t wanna go to jail.”
“I won’t let you go to jail,” he responded fiercely. He wasn’t angry with Callie. He was angry at the possibility that her getting into trouble with the law might be out of his control. Even if she had stolen the horse, which he didn’t believe, he couldn’t bear for her to suffer in the same way she had been abused as a child. “The best thing is to explain to the marshal exactly what happened,” he said, gentling his voice.
Callie still looked afraid, but she nodded in compliance.
“It’ll be all right, honey,” he said, to reassure himself as much as her. He walked into the stall and hooked the halter around the palomino’s head, then walked out and tied him to the hitching post. Callie patted the gentle giant as Jude harnessed the mare to the buggy.
They traveled to town slowly, with the mare pulling them in the buggy and the palomino tied to the back. The sounds of the rain, thunder, and howling wind were deafening. The wind caused the rainwater to blow into the buggy, so Jude and Callie were soaked along with the two horses by the time they reached town.