Mountain Devil

by Sue Lyndon

  She shivered but said nothing, even as they drove away. The last thing Ella saw was Brandon exiting the diner and heading for his car. Great, she was missing again.

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked, grateful she wasn’t blindfolded this time.

  “To take that walk we should’ve taken yesterday,” he replied over his shoulder.

  Ella could barely think over the constant pounding of her heart, which increased the closer they drove to Ed Peters’s house. When they finally arrived, Ella feared her heart would burst through her chest.

  “Will you behave if I take these off?” Ed asked, tugging on the handcuffs as they stood outside the house.

  “Yes. I promise,” she replied, barely a whisper.

  He leaned close with the key, so close she could smell the musky scent of his aftershave. Repressing a shudder, Ella stood as still as possible. She wanted to kiss Ed and slap him at the same time, but the latter option would only earn her a spanking.

  Not that she didn’t deserve one…

  As they neared the lake, Ella peered curiously at the file in Ed’s hand. “What’s that?” she finally asked.

  Silently, Ed guided her toward a large, flat rock along the lake. When they were seated, he placed the file in her hands, his eyes apologetic. “Read it,” he said. “Read all of it.”

  Halfway through the first page, Ella was in tears.

  Ed hadn’t been lying about Brandon Andrews. One charge she could’ve forgiven, but there were half a dozen crimes listed, none of which she’d known about. “His family and their money,” she murmured angrily, flipping to the next page. Ed put a hand on her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” he said once she’d finished.

  The file slid from Ella’s hands. A heavy weight had been removed from her shoulders. Her parents would understand if she didn’t want to marry Brandon Andrews now. In fact, when she told them about his legal troubles, they would insist the wedding be canceled.

  “I never really liked him in the first place,” she confessed. “There was always something about him that I couldn’t put my finger on. Now I know.” Ed pulled her close, unresisting. “This wasn’t the only thing I wanted to talk about, Ella.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked, not daring to hope for anything more than Ed’s friendship.

  “I want you, Ella Emerson,” he confessed. “I love you.” His deep voice didn’t waver once.

  Had anyone else spoken these words to Ella after only knowing her for a few days, she would’ve laughed in their face. But Ed Peters was different.

  Somehow, she felt as if she’d known him for years.

  Pulling back, she studied his face, the same handsome face that had haunted her dreams the night prior. “I want you, Ed Peters,” she said. “And I love you.” A moment later, Ed leaned down and urgently captured her lips. Ella responded with fervor, wrapping her arms around his neck and losing all sense of time and place.

  “Now,” he rasped seductively, “I believe we have some unfinished business.” In one swift move, Ed swung Ella over his shoulder, caveman-style yet again. They moved toward the house as she giggled.

  The mood changed from playful to serious once they were facing one another in the bedroom. Ed was an arm’s length away, studying her. But before he could speak, Ella realized what she must do. Confess her sins to Ed and accept whatever punishment he saw fit.

  “I lied to everyone. I feel terrible about it, and I intend to tell the truth and set things right with my family,” she said.

  Ed inched closer, his breath fanning against her face. “Don’t forget the bad language,” he reminded her.

  She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I cursed at you, Ed.”

  Gently, he lifted her chin higher. “Lying and foul language are serious offenses, young lady,” he said, his voice as serious as his darkened eyes.

  “I know,” she whispered, trembling in place.

  Ed led her toward the bed, guiding her over his lap. The cool air rushed against her bottom as her dress was pushed up. A large hand rested on her panty-clad bottom, running gentle circles around her mounds and thighs. “You deserve a hard spanking, don’t you Ella?”

  “Yes,” she admitted, her voice trembling. The heavy burden of guilt was too much to bear. But Ed would punish her for her mistakes, and stand by her side while she confessed the truth to family and friends. He wanted her. He loved her .

  “A very hard bare-bottom spanking,” he finished, yanking her panties down. A quick succession of hard slaps fell across her backside, smack after smack after smack.

  “Oh!” Ella cried out after a particularly deft blow, but managed to keep still. She deserved this spanking, and Ed loved her enough to deliver it.

  The punishment continued, and Ed left no area untouched. From the top of her backside to the very bottom of her thighs, he skillfully smacked her again and again. It wasn’t long before Ella was sobbing, her shoulders heaving lightly.

  Ed paused abruptly, his hand lingering atop her punished thighs. “As long as we are together, Ella, I intend to spank you each and every time you deserve it,” he said. “And I intend for us to be together for a very long time.” His hand moved to caress her throbbing bottom, rubbing each punished area.

  Ella’s spirits soared, and the guilt melted like butter in a skillet. Before she could respond, his hand delved between her thighs, tracing her slick folds as her moisture gathered and gathered. An urgency built to unbearable heights between Ella’s legs, until she found herself writhing shamelessly against Ed’s hand.

  When his fingers delicately parted her folds, she shuddered and opened up, inviting him inside her hot center.

  Suddenly, Ed abandoned her folds, leaving her empty and trailing his hand upward between her bottom cheeks. “Have you ever been touched here,” he asked, nudging a finger against her most private and unexplored hole.

  Ella gasped and tried squirming away, only for Ed to slap his hand against the slick folds he’d just abandoned. Though she hadn’t answered, her surprised reaction was an obvious no. She was shocked, but his hold was too firm to escape.

  “Bad girl,” he said, pressing his finger against her secret hole, using the moisture stolen from her folds to ease farther and farther inside.

  “Please, Ed,” Ella pleaded, uncertain about this new experience. “Please let me up.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “Your mine now, Ella.” His finger filled her, slipping out a ways only to slid right back in as he built a momentum, steady and certain.

  Though it was difficult, Ella tried to relax. With her legs parted and her bottom pushed high up, Ed had unhindered access to this most private of areas, and he was taking full advantage of it.

  “Starting today,” Ed said, “this is where I will make love to you after a spanking.” Without warning, he thrust deeper and Ella cried out, too shocked to form a coherent response.

  The pain was pleasure and the pleasure was pain, the moisture continuing to pool between her thighs even as the invasion became unbearable. Ella’s mind was spinning at the thought of Ed making love to her there. A finger seemed almost too much to handle, so how could she possibly accommodate anything larger?

  “Starting today?” Ella finally asked, dreading the answer.

  “Yes, my love. Starting today. Stand up.” As Ella faced Ed timidly, she bit her lip and tried to be brave. Ed loved her…he wanted her. Everything was going to be OK. When she nervously fidgeted in place, she felt the warm stickiness of her arousal between her thighs.

  “Take all your clothes off and bend over the bed,” Ed commanded.

  Reluctantly, Ella obeyed, burying her face in the covers to wait…and wait. She heard shoes being kicked off and clothing being shed. Over shoulder, Ed approached in all his naked glory, his arousal protruding like a weapon. She tensed as he moved closer, knowing he would burying deep inside that shy entrance.

  “Pull your cheeks apart, Ella.” His voice was thick with desire.

  �
��Please,” she said. “Take me the usual way.

  Please not there.” Begging was probably pointless, but it was worth a shot. Her lower entrance was slick and ready to be mounted, but she knew Ed had his mind set on the secret hole he’d just explored.

  “You were a bad girl,” he said lustfully. “Bad girls need to be punished, Ella. Now are you going to spread your cheeks apart, or should I get my belt?” She gasped lightly, shaking her head. “I’ll do it.” She relented. Her bottom was already well punished.

  Even still, she had no desire to feel the sting of Ed’s belt. Slowly, she reached back to oblige him, pulling her bottom cheeks apart under a cloud of embarrassment and trepidation.

  “Good girl,” he said. “Now hold just like that.” The tip of his arousal pressed against Ella’s moist crevice, dipping in just far enough to coat his length in her natural juices. Though she tried to sink back and quench the fire between her thighs, he gripped her hips firmly, preventing the attempt. “If you’re a good girl for me, Ella, I’ll give you your pleasure later,” he promised.

  As her shoulders relaxed for a moment, Ed positioned his length between her spread cheeks.

  Slowly, he pushed inside, farther, farther, mounting her all the way. Ignoring her moans of pain, he began to pump, riding Ella against the bed, faster and faster.

  Ella had never experienced anything quite like this before. Ed was in firm command of her bottom hole, building a quick rhythm of thrusts, sliding in and out with more ease than she had imagined possible. After a while, Ella was able to relax a little and found herself grinding in motion with Ed as the fire spread. When her bundle of nerves began brushing against the edge of the bed, she longed to touch herself. But she dared not disobey Ed. The threat of a belt whipping was enough determent to keep her hands in place.

  So instead, Ella focused on being good. After all, Ed had promised to give her pleasure later—if she behaved.

  After the warmth of Ed’s seed spilled inside her with a shudder, he collapsed on the bed, fully spent.

  Ella fell into his open arms, curling up against his chest as the waves of pleasure and pain receded. They stayed frozen like that for what seemed like hours, gently stroking each other’s hair and face, sharing comfort in the silence. Yes, everything will be OK.

  “I believe it’s your turn,” Ed said, rising above with a wicked gleam in his eye.

  Unsure of what to expect, Ella parted her legs at his beckoning. Slowly, in an almost teasing fashion, his fingers played around her hot moisture, dipping between her delicate folds until his thumb found her bundle of nerves. Gently twisting and rubbing between his thumb and forefinger, he worked Ella until she met his rhythm with grinding hips. Her bottom burned all over, but the pain was soon forgotten as her pleasure built and built.

  When he slipped two fingers deep within her secret walls, Ella helplessly thrust forward again. She lay writhing on her back, feverish and anticipating his next move. As he began trailing her most sensitive spot with his tongue, she felt a wave rushing forward, almost upon her but not quite. His fingers moved steadily inside her, rising up a deep desire, while his tongue and lips feasted hungrily on the swollen pink nub between her spread folds.

  A swell of pleasure overwhelmed Ella, and she screamed through the crest of the wave, shuddering even after the clash had dissipated. Ed pulled her close, and they drifted off blissfully for an afternoon nap secure in each other’s arms. And for the first time in forever, Ella was perfectly content.

  * * *

  The sun was setting over the green mountains, and Ella relaxed with Brandon’s dossier on her lap in the passenger seat on Ed’s SUV. This was it. No more Brandon Andrews.

  Two hours ago, she’d called home to let her parents know of her whereabouts. When her mother had started asking twenty questions about Ed, Ella promised to explain everything when they arrived back in Catoctin. Brandon hadn’t even told them she’d disappeared from the diner, so they hadn’t had a clue she was missing again.

  Despite the implications of what she was about to do—announce she wasn’t going to marry Brandon—

  Ella wasn’t nervous. Not with Ed by her side, calm and projecting enough confidence for them both. Her parents were going to like him, the age difference be damned.

  “Nervous?” Ed asked, smiling warmly over at her.

  Ella took a deep breath and turned. “No,” she said. “This feels right.”

  “Good, and you still plan to tell the truth, don’t you?” His tone was half-scolding, half-teasing, but underneath it all Ella knew he was dead serious. He expected her to explain the entire situation to her parents, no matter how badly she felt for running away in the first place.

  “Yes. I promise.”

  “Good girl,” he said, resting a hand on her leg.

  Just as they crested the mountain to Sidling Hill, the halfway point, Ed pulled into the rest stop. Ella had been here thousands of times. It served as both a rest stop and a tourist attraction. A pedestrian bridge overlooked the highway and led to a museum on the other side of the road. From there, the view was spectacular, miles and miles of stretching farmland and mountains.

  Ella said nothing, and assumed Ed just needed to take care of business. But when he pulled up beside a blue car, a skinny young man jumped out.

  “Be right back,” Ed said, exiting the SUV. Ella watched curiously as the men exchanged a few pleasant words and the younger man drove away.

  “What’s going on?” Ella asked when Ed opened her door.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Just business. Let’s stretch our legs for a bit and walk across the overpass.” Though she was still curious about the young man, Ella exited the SUV without a word. Maybe it was just bounty hunter business and nothing more. In any case, a walk across the overpass would be nice.

  A breeze followed them up the walkway, and Ella struggled to keep her hair from swallowing her face.

  There were alone on the overpass, and Ed guided her toward the center. They rested against the edge, staring across the green mountains. In a few weeks, Ella knew the mountains would transform from green to a mirage of orange and gold. Fall always came early up here.

  Ed pulled Ella close and she nestled against his chest, enjoying the way his musky scent played against the fresh air.

  “How would you feel about living up here?” Ed asked suddenly, watching Ella’s face closely.

  She smiled a small smile. “It’s beautiful, but it’s the company up here I prefer the most, if you know what I mean.”

  Ed’s normally stern face broke into a smile to match Ella’s. “I think I do.”

  And before Ella realized the implications of his innocent question, Ed was bending down on one knee, the afternoon sun gently kissing his face. “Ella Emerson, will you marry me?”

  From his left pocket, he pulled a little black ring box and opened it. The princess-cut diamond sparkled in the sunlight, but Ella could’ve cared less about how beautiful the ring was. All she wanted was the man holding the box, more than anything she’d ever wanted in her entire life.

  “Yes,” she whispered, releasing her withheld breath. God, she loved this man.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” Ed said, slipping the ring on her finger.

  It was the perfect proposal. No huge audience, just Ella and the one man she adored with her whole heart. And she was certain it would be the perfect wedding. Ed wouldn’t force her to have a huge wedding with hundreds of strangers and acquaintances just because it was good for business.

  Ed wasn’t anything like Brandon.

  About two hours later, they pulled into her driveway in Catoctin. This time, Ed came inside, holding Ella’s hand the whole way into the living room, despite the peculiar looks it earned him. Ed spoke to her parents first, introducing himself before prompting Ella to speak.

  “Your daughter has some things she needs to tell you.”

  Ella squeezed Ed’s hand and composed herself of the couch, meeting the concerned gazes of her pa
rents. She began by telling the truth of her disappearance and meeting Ed in the hiking trail. Her father looked like he would explode when Ella described the encounter with Chuck Dearing. When it was time to speak of Brandon’s sins, both her parents looked disbelieving, until she brandished the dossier provided by Ed.

  “I had no idea,” her mother whispered. “He seems like such a nice kid.”

  “You love his parents more than you love him, Mom,” said Ella. “Ever since we were kids…the four of you conspired to have us together. But I never really loved him. I tried, but love can’t be forced. It something that just…happens.” She glanced shyly at Ed.

  With sad eyes, Ella’s father said, “I’m sorry sweetheart. And we’ll call off the wedding tonight. I’ll take care of letting all the guests know they can leave town.”

  Ella hadn’t thought of that, but a wave of relief washed over her. Her parents understood; they weren’t angry about the canceled wedding. Now for the hard part.

  “Thanks, Dad,” she said. “And there’s something else I must tell you.” She glanced at Ed, nervousness creeping back into her chest.

  Ed suddenly saved her. “Mr. Emerson, could I have a word with you in private?”

  Ella’s father eyed the bounty hunter with curiosity and said, “Yes.”

  “Let’s get everyone some drinks,” Ella’s mother suggested, and the two women shuffled out and toward the kitchen where Rosie busily prepared dinner.

  Ella knew Ed well enough to imagine the conversation taking place in the living room. He was requesting her hand in marriage the old-fashioned way. Although the request was belated, Ella was sure her father wouldn’t take offense. Brandon had never asked first—not that it would’ve made any difference that first time. The past was the past, she thought, smiling a secret smile as Rosie filled a tray with glasses of iced tea.

  Just as the women were returning to the living room, the doorbell rang. Angela was just coming down the staircase and answered.

  On the doorstep holding a dozen red roses, a young man stood wearing the same warm smile he typically reserved for everyone but Ella.