Cowboy Welcome

by Alyssa Bailey

  A cajoling Zane was something new to Shanna. She was accustomed to the demanding, commanding, boot stomping, bottom warming Zane and so the Zane that presented right now was a little bit confusing. It also gave her encouragement to push her point.

  “No worries, I will just be there for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. You tell me when you want supper. I promise to have already been home and have supper done and waiting for you. That is, unless you want it in an hour and half.”

  “Sweetheart, I’m giving into you because I know you had a really rough time yesterday. However, I do not want you to get in the habit of expecting it because this isn’t going to happen often. One and a half hours is all you have to do some office work, after that, home. And to make sure that you are home, I am going to show up in between an hour and a half, and two hours from now. Then you can cook dinner or I will help you cook dinner, so long as you aren’t too fancy.”

  Zane’s voice was solid and sure and Shanna knew he was back in control. That few moments of weakness, where Zane was willing to give into Shanna was passed. Now he expected her to follow his direction. Shanna was sure that she needed to do that if she intended to sit properly at all for the next evening. She was just planning to make steaks for dinner. So she pulled the potatoes out and stuck them in the oven on a low enough heat so that they would be done when she got back from the clinic.

  Shanna got into her car and drove over to the clinic, excited that she had a little bit of extra time to get her files in order before Monday morning. Shanna acknowledged to herself that she would always be one of those people that like to start with a clean slate at the beginning of the week. No matter how crazy it got, she liked to go home with everything done that she could possibly do, and having left earlier in the week, she didn’t get that opportunity.

  Settling into her office, she worked with deep concentration, feeling quite accomplished by the time she sat back and looked at her desk. She cleaned off everything that had been outstanding. Satisfied with what she had accomplished, Shanna was preparing to leave when she heard a hard knock on her side office door. The door was thrown open and an extremely irritated Zane filled the doorway.

  Shanna looked up, a little bit confused that Zane was at her door. Shanna quickly looked over at the clock and her eyes grew wide as her hand flew to her mouth. As realization began to settle in, she looked over at Zane with an apologetic half smile and a shrug, hoping to defuse some of his anger. She stared at Zane for a few minutes and noticed he was not really that angry. He looked more extremely annoyed. Shanna was pretty darn sure that an irritated Zane was not much better than an angry Zane. Both of them would be looking to make a point, and teach a lesson and both of them would be looking at her as the pupil.

  “Zane, I am sorry. I am so sorry. I know I promised, but time must have gotten away from me. You have to know what that is like. I didn’t mean to stay late, but I did.” Shanna rushed on to try to defuse what she knew could be a dramatic response from Zane. “I didn’t think that I had many things to do, so I didn’t pay attention to how long it took me to do them. I thought I would be done in plenty of time. In fact, I didn’t imagine it would even take an hour and a half.” Looking over at the clock on the wall Shanna re-verified that she had been there two and a half hours. Then she looked back at Zane, fighting the urge to put her head down in defeat. It happens, she told herself.

  “Really, Zane, I am sorry. Let’s just go. I apologize. I did not mean to do this. But on the bright side, I am absolutely, totally caught up with everything.”

  It did not look like Zane was as pleased as she had hoped that she had caught up with everything. Yes, it had taken two and a half hours, but what else could she do? She decided not to say anything else. She became a little bit irritated that he would even get upset about this because this was her career for heaven sakes. She decided to stand her ground and state her point.

  “I do not talk to you about the time you spend on the ranch, sometimes taking off being gone for an overnight. I don’t because I know that is your job, your land, your home, and I know that is what you live for, and you need to learn to treat me the same way.”

  “Not anymore, darlin’. You have overtaken the ranch as my primary concern, my preoccupation. You are what I live for now. And,” he leaned in and lowered his voice, “I think that scares you.”

  “It’s not likely…I mean, I am not scared. You don’t scare me.”

  “Oh, I know that I don’t scare you, but those feelings do. You are afraid to have me take over the steering wheel of your private life. You are afraid to be responsible to a man, one that makes you his priority. It is a commitment that the last time you made it, the results were disastrous. Unfulfilling. Degrading. A lie.”

  Determined not to answer Zane or open up this conversation any further, Shanna began to walk up to the door with Zane bringing up the rear hurrying her along. At that moment, Shanna remembered her potatoes and she let out a squeal as she started rushing to the car.

  “What?” Zane missed his grasp on her arm as she twirled away and scooted out the door.

  “Nothing. It is nothing. I am not going to tell you what I am squealing about, so do not ask.”

  She missed the unmistakable expression on Zane’s face after that statement because if she had, she would have worried about the future state of her bottom. Instead, she jumped into the car, turned it on and got home as quickly as she could legally. She was not out to give Zane any other reason to be upset with her and speeding would certainly put him over the top. She parked in the driveway, keys in hand, raced into the house threw open the oven and went to grab the potatoes as she simultaneously reached to flip the oven off.

  Just as Shanna touched her fingertips to the hot pan of over baked potatoes, she jerked it back with a howl. She began jumping up and down, blowing on her fingers and trying to contain her moans as she started to reach the sink to turn on the cold water. That is the way Zane found her, jumping up and down, groaning, shaking her hand, blowing on it, and finally watched Shanna shove her hand into the cold water as she visibly relaxed. When he spoke, Shanna’s body froze in surprise and then sagged in defeat when she knew she was caught.

  Chapter Ten

  “Shanna Marie Parker, I do not know what is going on, but you will tell me. Then you will, with crystal clear precision, explain why you are about to get your bottom blistered. This is not going to be some playful spanking just for fun, a little hide tanning for attention or even a whupping. This is discipline, punishment, teaching and learning lessons.”

  Zane was not a man to make idle threats or promises. This voice was not a voice that said anything its owner did not mean to say. Shanna expected what his tone promised and for some reason, her anger left her, her desire to battle Zane extinguished. Her desire to fight just fled the building. What his ominous declaration also did was make her shake in her boots as she felt her knees grow weak. Boots, literally. In her haste to correct things she knew Zane would have objection to, she had forgotten to remove them. As she was sure it was meant to do, his promise built the fear and anticipation exponentially as every moment passed. Her tummy tingle was in the full firework mode and there were rockets that diverted south instead of going north, reaching for her south of the border girlie bits but then something unexpected happened.

  She flopped in the armchair and just waited, big tears rolling down her cheeks followed by sobs she could not suppress, so decided she wouldn’t. Zane reached over to turn off the oven completing the task Shanna had attempted as he closed the oven door and calmly opened the freezer. He put ice in a zipper bag, wrapped it in a cloth and went towards her.

  “Shanna?” Concern crashed through the anger and settled on Zane as he grabbed her from the chair and claimed the place she had sat holding her in his lap. As he positioned the ice pack on her burning fingers, he tenderly moved the hair from her face, smoothing it and kissing her temple. She allowed his gentle movements and caretaking, cuddling in as the torr
ent of tears continued to rage.

  “Shh, baby, what’s wrong? Your fingers don’t hurt that bad, do they?” Waiting for an answer as he reached to examine them closer, he was confused. He seemed to accept the shake of her head to be his confirmation so he further asked, “Me? Baby, you aren’t truly afraid of me, are you?”

  Another negative shake of her head found Zane releasing pent up anxiety, but it was quickly replaced by more confusion.

  “Then I don’t know what is wrong, honey. Shanna, please be honest with me and tell me what is wrong? If it is something that I have done, I promise to fix it, change it. If it is something else, we will handle it.”

  “Nothing. Every…thing.” Shanna turned her face into Zane’s shirt and soon was hiccupping and playing with his pearlescent snaps on the front. Zane’s big calloused and yet gentle hand covered hers and he kissed the top of her head before speaking.

  “Sunshine, you are going to have to talk to me. I think, no- I know we have left this for too long. Don’t you think it is time we settle some of this craziness so that things calm down?”

  Shrugging her shoulders she said, “Maybe. I guess. I’m not sure what you mean exactly, but something needs to happen,” she said through sniffs.

  “I’ll start, okay? I see we need to have some clear understandings about a few things. One of those things is that I love you. You do know that, right?”

  “Mmm hmm. I guess I knew that after you spanked me the first time, or at least that you thought I might be special to you. Your sisters say you are and Missy says you are, but I wasn’t sure.”

  “Oh, baby, by then, I was over the moon in love. I might have fallen in love before you dropped me off that first night from DFW.” Dropping a kiss on her upturned nose, “I don’t want you to ever doubt I love you, no matter what happens. I also believe and am sure you do too, that you love me. What is that face for?”

  “I don’t think I have a track record worth shouting about. I am not proficient at loving someone or being loved in return. It didn’t work out well the last time. I’m scared to do it again and fail because then I will know absolutely that I’m the broken one. I’m not sure I am up for that realization bombshell.”

  “Yeah, well take it from another man, that it was that dude you married that was the problem. No one in their right mind, no real man, would throw you over for another woman. No real man who loved you, as you deserve to be loved, would have done it. That’s fine with me because it means I get you.”

  “What if you don’t stay in love with me?”

  “Oh darlin’, there is nothing that could make me not love you. You just have to take me at my word. Have I ever said anything I didn’t mean?”

  “No, but sometimes I wish you would change your mind.”

  Zane chuckled in acknowledgment. “I bet you do, but I try my hardest to be a man of my word.”

  “I know.”

  “I think you need to know, too, that I take care of what is mine and that includes keeping things between the lines.”

  “No, I think I got that lesson pretty well, every time you taught it.”

  “So what else do you have questions about?”

  “Umm, do you think, maybe, sometimes, we could do more than a cuddle and kiss? I’m no virgin and I could use some physical expression of your emotional revelation.”

  “Oh, you could, huh? Maybe like this?”

  A kiss was gently placed on her lips, continuing to cover her face with soft urgent kisses. He continued until he had her feeling some desperation in her need to be fulfilled.

  “Zane, please love me.”

  “Oh, you need more?”

  “Mmm hmm. Please?”

  “Well, let’s take this to your bedroom and get you more comfortable for me to love you and let’s see if we can make you feel better, shall we?”

  “Mmm.” Was the only response as Zane lifted her up and brought her into the room he had most wanted to visit. Swatting her hands gently away, he slowly undressed Shanna. Every move was deliberate and calculated to raise her libido and it was having great success. As he slowly undressed her, he teased her and touched her gently. His rough and calloused hands added a dimension to the sensation of primal and rugged man causing her breath to catch.

  “You are beautiful, you know that? Without a doubt, you are incredibly breathtaking and perfect for me. Now crawl up on the bed for me and I will be right there to make you feel better.”

  Shanna could feel her pleasure points become slippery. She was so wet and anticipation was adding to the excitement.

  “No, don’t turn over, lay on your tummy. I am almost ready.”

  Tummy tickle went to the zing in her pussy and Shanna was sure she was dripping with readiness.

  “Hurry, I am feeling chilly and desperate.”

  “Well, I have a fix for both of your problems. I’ll fix the chilly first, baby. Remember that I love you and I want this to be so good for you. I also said I was going to spank your bottom for today.”

  “What?” Shanna began to scramble to the head of the bed but felt a vice grip that was Zane’s hand on her ankle.

  “I promise you will feel better after this lesson. Some heat on your bottom, then heat everywhere else. Trust me?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “Not really, but I am getting a better appreciation for those men who like to have no authority but theirs in the bedroom. You keep it up and I might study up on that way of doing things, sweet stuff. Lift up so I can take your panties off and lay on this pillow.”

  “Fine, but if you kill my mood, I swear…” threatened Shanna.

  Zane chuckled. “Believe me, I will make this perfect for you, but there will be warmth and sting before pleasure. Just relax and give into me. Let me show you how it can work for both of us. Trust me?”

  “I guess.”

  He pulled her in the center of the bed again, on her tummy, bottom high and in striking position. He then began by rubbing her thighs and her bottom, gentling her as he did his new mares in heat. He was sure she would not like the comparison, but the needs were similar. God, she was so perfect. Her feet were slender but not overly long, her ankles were petite, calves were muscular, and her thighs were well developed with some extra flesh. He loved it. He was savvy enough to know she would never appreciate it as he did. Her bottom was well shaped and had a spring to it with some extra fleshy globes and he loved to bounce his hand off them. That sensation was one of the most erotic feelings he had ever experienced and now, tonight, he was sure he would be adding to that list of ways she fit his desires exquisitely.

  Shanna tensed thinking he was about to strike, but relaxed as he moved up her back and massaged her back and arms, finally her shoulders and neck. He kissed her neck and brought chills to her skin, pleasant erotic chills. She wiggled and moaned as he began his descent and Shanna’s mewling cries were the verbal expressions of Zane’s inner groans. Knowing she was prepared for her spanking and the pleasure he intended to bring afterward, he stopped at her bottom and began to circle the strike zone again.

  “Shanna, darlin’, we need to talk about what happened today.”

  “Mmm hmm.”

  “So you knew I didn’t want you to leave the house this morning because I kept your keys, but you left anyway with what I assume was a spare. Then you went to the office when you knew I wanted you to rest, you even argued with me about it. Why?”

  “Because you bargained with me and I figured you were hopeful, but not adamant that I stay. I like to push the envelope.”

  Zane continued to massage her thighs and bottom as he spoke low but firmly.

  “My miscommunication combined with your brattiness got you here. Then you were late coming home, got angry with me for finding you and you did not care about your safety at all. Your office door was unlocked, your car was unlocked, and you left the oven on while you were gone and then did not take enough care and burnt your hand. You were so emotionally spent you just sat down and cried. This
is why you should have listened to me and stayed home, relaxed.

  “Sweetheart, it just won’t do. So now, I am going to light up your bottom for a reminder that you have a responsibility to keep what is mine, safe and secure. Then I am going to light up your world to stop those irrational self-doubts that I hear. Be warned, young lady, if I don’t think this is enough of a lesson, I am going to do it again tomorrow so pay attention. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, but do you really have to spank me? I get it. I understand what you are saying and will not disregard you again. I want you so much.”

  Zane felt his sidekick stir at the yearning in his woman’s voice. Nice ego strokes, but she needed to learn to listen to him if this was going to work. And he was determined it was going to work. He could not spend every waking moment of his time worrying about her taking care of herself. It was time to make sure that when he had a strong thought about something, she listened. He blamed himself for not being clear in his communication, but he would not make that mistake again. She needed to hear him plainly.

  “Oh, yes I do. And you are still going to want me to set the rest of you on fire afterward. So don’t worry, my love, you will get what you need, all of what you need,” was his final edict.

  When he kissed her bottom cheeks, she relaxed and then the first sting of a solid swat hit her bottom followed by a rubbing of the offended spot. Shanna was about to screech when she felt the warmth flow into her pussy causing more warm honey to fill her channel. Several more came to land on her bottom and again, just as she was about to yelp, Zane rubbed them into her heated sex. Shanna heard a moan escape and was unconcerned that it came from her.

  “Oh, Zane, this is unbelievable. More, please more. Please, just love me.” Shanna could hear the begging in her voice, but was helpless to change that.