by Dina Chapel
“There you are!” Beau exclaimed, seeming just as pleased as punch with himself. “Miss Rose said you’d be along shortly.”
Cal felt the steam come out of his ears at that statement. He imagined her saying that as casually as Beau made it sound too. As if it was an agreed-upon arrangement between them. He nodded to Beau.
“Thanks for seeing to Gypsy for me, Beau,” Cal’s voice was tight and controlled. “I appreciate it.”
“No problem, Cal, no problem at all.” Beau patted the horse’s flank. “I love this old gal.” Beau seemed genuinely glad to be giving Gypsy her rubdown and Cal figured as much. Beau had admired that horse from the moment he began working for the Arnots. And Cal really didn’t ever let just anyone handle her.
Cal smiled then and admired the horse he had called his own for so many years now. She was a good horse. At least Gypsy had been the horse he was riding when Rose pulled this stunt. He didn’t have to worry about anything happening to her in that respect on the ride home. Gypsy knew her way around and would step lightly, that was for sure. He did still worry a bit; Rose wasn’t a very experienced rider, from all accounts.
At the thought of the worry she had caused him and the risks she had taken this day, Cal’s anger renewed itself. He turned back to Beau.
“And where is our Miss Rose now?” He tried to keep his voice even and light. Beau didn’t seem to notice Cal’s chagrin; if he did, to his credit, he didn’t comment on it. And he had to have noticed Rose’s mood. Cal would bet the horse standing in front of him—and he loved this horse—that Rose was in a state when she got back here. Probably a bundle of nerves.
“She went inside.” Beau continued to groom as he spoke. “At first, she asked if the Arnots were back from the Sunday services yet. Seemed real anxious to see’em. But they’re not and I told her as much, too. That’s when she went inside.”
Cal nodded. “Thanks, Beau.” He stroked the horse’s nose. “And thanks for taking care of my Gypsy.”
Beau nodded and continued what he was doing, paying no mind to Cal after that. Cal headed for the house, intent on teaching Rose a lesson that she wouldn’t soon forget.
Chapter 3
Rose paced her small bedroom, nervously wringing her hands and listening for even the slightest indication that Sara and James Arnot had returned home from church.
As it was, enough time had passed that Rose was sure Cal would be along any moment now. Maybe he was back already and had decided to keep his distance. maybe he was cooling off, so to speak, in the bunkhouse. Maybe he was just waiting for the Arnots to return too, just like she was, so he could talk to them about what he felt was her bad behavior. Maybe—
“Rose!!!” Cal’s booming and angry voice interrupted Rose’s train of wishful thinking. “Are you in there?!?” Cal yelled for her as she heard his heavy footsteps make their clomping way down the short hall from the kitchen at the back of the house, where Rose’s small room was located.
Rose had closed the door but there was no lock on it. He was almost at the door when she decided she really didn’t want to face him just yet. Oh, where were Mr. and Mrs. Arnot?
Rose grabbed the chair that stood by the dresser and quickly wedged it under the doorknob. She really didn’t want to be spanked.
He stopped right outside her bedroom door. “Rose! Answer me, young lady, or I’m coming in!”
“You can’t come in my bedroom, Mr. Monroe! It isn’t proper and you know it!” Rose thought she could actually hear the steam coming out his ears.
She saw the doorknob turn and then the door pressed against the expertly wedged chair, doing exactly what Rose had intended—keeping Cal Monroe on the other side of it.
Rose thought she heard Cal mutter a cuss word under his breath. Then she heard other voices. The Arnots! Thank goodness they were back from church services. The footsteps of more than one person shuffled just outside her door, then down the hall as the voices faded away a bit. Rose couldn’t make out what they were saying at all. It was a little disconcerting. After a few moments, there was a soft knock at the door.
“Rose, dear, it’s Sara. Can you hear me?” Sara Arnot’s voice was gentle and kind and Rose actually began to feel guilty about all the trouble and fuss that she had created. Well, she and Cal.
“Yes, ma’am,” Rose answered immediately, rushing to pull the chair away from the door and open it for her employer. “Yes, ma’am,” Rose repeated as she opened the door to Mrs. Arnot, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Arnot.”
Sara Arnot looked confused. “What in heaven’s name is going on here?” She stepped into the room. “Cal Monroe is madder than a boiled owl! Just what did you do to get that man all riled up like that?”
Before Rose even had a chance to open her mouth to answer, Cal came storming down the hall and into her room, with Jim Arnot hot on his heels, talking as he went.
“Now, son, listen here,” James Arnot was saying, “you need to cool off a bit. You need to step outside, Calvin.”
As soon as Cal had entered the room Rose had dashed to the other side of her bed, desperate to put some distance between herself and the angry man. It was a small room and, beyond the bed, there was nowhere to go. (Unless she wanted to jump out the window; Rose decided to reserve that option as her last.)
“I aim to step outside and go on about my business just as soon as I take care of some unfinished business I have right here. With Rose.”
Rose glanced nervously from Jim to Sara Arnot, willing them to put a stop to this madman.
Cal stalked from one side of the bed to the other as Rose paced nervously opposite, in the little space she had to move. Cal kept his eyes trained on her the entire time, as if he was a predator stalking its prey.
Sara Arnot turned to her husband. “Jim.” Her voice held a pleading tone, on Rose’s behalf. “This seems to have gotten out of hand.”
Jim nodded at his wife. “Yes, it has. Although Cal here has made a valid point, to me at least.”
Sara seemed skeptical. “What could she have possibly done, dear?” Sara glanced at Cal, who never took his eyes off Rose during the entire exchange. Not once.
“Well, for one, she went swimming, by herself, in Miller’s hole.”
“Oh, dear.” Sara looked a bit surprised at this news and looked to Rose for confirmation or denial it seemed. Rose, thoroughly ashamed of herself at this point, and wishing she had just gone to church, looked down at the floor.
Jim continued. “Then—”
“There’s more?”
Jim nodded at his wife and she sighed. “So I suppose Cal wants Rose taken to task for her behavior today. Am I correct in that assumption?”
Cal glanced over his shoulder then at Mrs. Arnot, taking his eyes off Rose for the first time since he had entered the room. “Yes, ma’am.” He went back to eyeing Rose like a hawk. “I aim to take her over my knee and wallop her backside until she sees the error of her ways. And has no desire to ever repeat them.”
At this pronouncement, both Jim and Sara looked at Rose and she looked form one to the other, beseeching them with her eyes to intervene on her behalf.
“Please, Mrs. Arnot. Mr. Arnot.” She could feel Cal’s eyes on her, could feel his palm itching to get to it. “Isn’t there some other way I could be disciplined?” And by someone else? she thought.
“No!” Cal barked out an answer before the Arnots even had a chance to form a reply. Sara wavered.
“It seems a bit improper for Cal to discipline Rose, Jim. They’re not relations in any way.”
Jim Arnot looked at the floor and scratched his chin. “It does seem improper at that.” He seemed to be considering and Rose took this as a good sign on her behalf. “But I do believe she should be chastised for her error in judgment.” Jim looked at Rose then. “I do think you need to learn a lesson, young lady. And since it needs doing anyway…” Jim looked to his wife. “Cal here certainly seems more than willing to take on the task. Why, I don’t think at this point he’d allow any ot
her body to do the job.”
He seemed to be talking exclusively to his wife at this point. Rose took a moment to envy their union; they seemed so in tune with each other. He really seemed to want his wife to understand the reason behind the decision he was making, a decision that did not bode well for Rose.
“I’d say we best leave them to it.” Jim Arnot motioned for his wife to exit Rose’s room before him. “For propriety’s sake, we’ll leave the door ajar.” He glanced at Cal then. “Calvin, you check that temper at the door, young man. Discipline should always be dished out with a cool, clear head. You hear what I’m saying?”
Cal took his eyes off Rose for only the second time since entering the room in order to look at his boss when he answered him. “Yes, sir. I am in full control of my actions, Mr. Arnot.”
Jim Arnot nodded at them both, then followed his wife out of the room.
* * *
Cal waited until the Arnots had exited and were sure to be at the very least back in the kitchen. James Arnot had pulled the door very nearly closed; it was open just a sliver. He started for the foot of the bed.
Rose seemed to be frozen in place, watching him with huge eyes, when she suddenly sprang into action. As soon as Cal was halfway around the end of the bed, Rose hopped onto the middle of the mattress and tried to scramble across to the other side, the side closest to the door. But she wasn’t fast enough.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Cal muttered as he swiftly backtracked and met her halfway between the bed and the door. “Gotcha!” Cal grabbed Rose’s arm and she shrieked. Had she really thought she could get out of this still? Cal, even in his lingering anger, had to try not to smile.
He wasted no time moving back toward the bed and pulling Rose along with him. He was seated on the edge of the mattress and was pulling her over his lap when she seemed to find her voice.
“Let go of me!” She started fighting him for all she was worth. “You can’t do this!”
Cal held her firmly as he spoke. “I will not let you go until your backside feels as red and hot as I felt walking back to the ranch in this heat. I can do this and I will do this.” Rose continued to struggle over his lap, kicking and squirming.
“And when I’m done with you, little lady, you’ll mind me like you should, from now on.” The flat of Cal’s hand came down hard on Rose’s behind, several times, just to settle her before the real spanking started. Cal hadn’t even taken her drawers down yet, and he fully intended to spank her on the bare.
Those few swats did cause her to still for a moment, so Cal started to flip up her dress and petticoats to reveal the thin cotton drawers underneath. Rose shrieked.
“Mr. Monroe!” Her hands came back trying to stop him from lifting her dress, pushing back down as he pushed up. “What do you think you’re doing?!?”
Cal did actually chuckle then. “I’m getting all these clothes out of my way, out of the way of my spankin’ hand, that’s what I’m doing, Rose.”
“You…you can’t!” Rose sounded desperate. “You can’t see me without my clothes on!” Cal laughed out loud this time.
“I already have, if you’ll recall. I saw you in only your undergarments and nothing else. That’s the reason you’re over my knee right now to begin with.” As Cal spoke and Rose struggled, he had managed to secure both her hands against the small of her back and had gotten the dress and petticoats flipped up and over her back.
Cal spanked her through her bloomers then. They were thin and he was sure she’d feel it well enough. He wanted her to settle down a bit, although he was pretty sure she wouldn’t settle until she had been almost thoroughly disciplined with the flat of his hand, to the point where she collapsed in submission.
She was a feisty one for sure. It definitely made things harder for him, but Cal loved a challenge, and this little lady was proving to be one heck of a challenge for him.
“Settle down now, Rose.” Cal methodically spanked first her left cheek, then her right, then right across both, enjoying the way he could just make out the pinkness of her bottom through her thin cotton drawers. “You settle down and take your punishment, young lady. We’re just getting started.” Cal paused in his spanking and slipped his fingers under the waistband of Rose’s drawers. He started to pull and that’s when she really started fighting.
She bucked and kicked for all she was worth. She tried to wrestle her hands from his tight grip. Cal had to reposition himself to get a much better grip on her, but as far as he was concerned, fight or no, she was goin’ nowhere, except maybe to bed with a hot and sore behind.
With his left arm wrapped tight around her middle, Cal managed to pull her bloomers down with his right hand and settle them around her knees.
“This isn’t right! It isn’t proper!” Rose cried out just before Cal’s calloused hard hand landed firmly right on the middle of her bare behind. Rose cried out again. And then Cal set into spanking without any further delay.
Cal had a method to his discipline. He had spanked a few women before, and he knew what he was doing and how to go about it. He didn’t lecture at first, preferring to set the tone of a good spanking by getting a bare bottom red and hot first, then, figuring to have settled his lady, he could set in to talking about things. Getting his point across. Making sure she understood exactly why she was being punished in the first place.
He wanted his woman’s full attention. If he talked before he started into spanking, he found that the woman in question was usually too concerned over the impending punishment of her backside to truly listen. She might possibly even think she had a chance to still talk her way out of it.
No, Cal preferred to start off with a steady few minutes of good solid spanking. Rose started out, for her part, protesting, which was really a waste of her breath and energy, as far as Cal was concerned.
“Please stop! Please!” Rose pleaded. “This isn’t right!” Cal still had her hands secured, but she continued to writhe over his lap and kick her legs. Cal was angry enough over her actions to not allow the scene playing out on his lap affect his ability to administer her punishment, although he was pretty sure all that writhing of her naked fanny would come back to mind later on this evening to haunt him.
Cal continued spanking, hard, as Rose continued to protest. He knew when to stop and that would be when she did. He paused only once, and that was to shift her forward a bit so that he had better access to her sit spot.
He spanked that hard, too, and then he spanked her thighs. When he felt himself slowing down a bit and his hand getting sore, he had only to think about one of their seasonal hands happening upon Rose, floating carelessly in that pond. And what the man would have done. And then he spanked harder.
Cal looked down after a few more minutes to check his progress. Rose’s entire backside, from the first swell of her shapely behind, over the well-rounded mounds down into the crease where her butt met her thighs and then further down her thighs (about halfway to her knees), all was bright red and hot to the touch. He had slowed down to check but was still spanking her thighs.
Rose was sobbing pitifully now. She hadn’t spoken in a minute or two. Now was a good time to talk, as far as Cal was concerned. He stopped spanking and rested his hand on her lower back, just above her butt cheeks. Rose hung limp as a wet noodle over his lap, sniffling and sobbing.
“Are you listening to me, young lady?” Cal kept his voice stern. “Answer me Rose, or I’ll spank you until you do.”
That was all it took. He got his answer immediately.
“Yes, sir.” She sounded contrite; she sniffled.
Good girl, he thought.
“Now that I have your full attention, I want you to understand why you’re being punished.” Cal heard another big sniffle. He wanted more than anything to lift her from over his lap and set her on it. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, comfort her and dry her tears. He wanted to hold her and rock her and kiss her.
But he couldn’t do that. He wasn’t her man, at least not
yet, anyway, and he needed to remain the stern disciplinarian and nothing more. It was a bit frustrating to say the least. He’d be lucky she didn’t hate him forever after this.
“Rose, I spanked you because you took a serious risk today, going down to Miller’s by yourself. Just swimming alone is risky enough, and I do believe you should have known better, young lady.” Cal paused and he would have sworn he heard Rose sobbing softly again. “But then you also showed a serious error in judgment when you decided to compound your foolishness by wearing only an old set of underthings in the water. You may as well have worn nothing at all!” As Cal said the words he tried very hard not to picture the scene in his head. It would do nothing for his concentration at the moment. He didn’t think he’d ever get that picture out of his head. He was also pretty damn sure he’d never want to.
“Do you understand what you did wrong?” He heard her sniffle again. “I’m waiting Rose.”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry.” Rose choked on her sob when she answered him. “They’re all I have.”
Cal didn’t catch the last part for a minute, then he realized what she had said. They weren’t an old pair of bloomers and corset, they were her only pair. Cal didn’t know what to say to that. It made him want to whisk her off to town and buy her some new things. Since he didn’t have the right (yet) to do so, he decided to finish his lecture instead.
“I’m not really that upset about you taking my horse, except for the manner in which you did it.” Cal absentmindedly rubbed her lower back to soothe her as he spoke. “I understand your desire to get away from me at the time. I’ve been told I can appear a bit intimidating when I’m all riled up. I’m sorry if I scared you.”
“It’s okay, really.” Rose sniffed. “I deserved it.” She started crying in earnest all over again.