She was in with Cody a long time, and when she emerged, she appeared shaken. She flashed me an angry look and started in my direction, but Cody reached her before she could say anything. “If I could have everyone’s attention, please?” He walked over to stand beside me and then winked at me. “I think that it is time that Jenn and I shared our little secret. We’ve been dating each other, and would have been doing so a long time ago except for my rule against employees’ dating each other.” He actually looked embarrassed, and my face had to be red, too. “The simple truth is that we fell in love. We’re going to do our best to keep our personal lives out of the restaurant. If anyone has a problem, speak up. If I have learned one thing, it is impossible to make a rule and expect it to hold up when two people fall in love.”
“Does this mean that you and Jenn will want Valentine’s Day off?” the newest hire asked Cody, and it was plain to see that it was going to upset his plans if he couldn’t have the evening off as Cody had promised some time ago.
“Jenn and I will be working, Chris. Those of you who have been here longest know that I work the holidays that we are open, and that is why I try to plan something special that can be handled with a short crew. I know that some spouses already hate the long hours we put in, and I want to give as many of you time with your loved one as possible.” He looked around and then asked, “Any other issues that need discussion?”
“Nothing to discuss, but congratulations to both of you,” Brian said with a grin.
“Thank you,” Cody replied, then said, “There’s work to be done before we open; get to it.”
Once Cody disappeared into his office, Tabitha approached me. “I’m so sorry, Jenn. I couldn’t imagine why you went to Cody and told him what I’d said, but now I understand. You must have been so upset thinking that Alyssa called. I’m so embarrassed, and Cody is right. I shouldn’t have said a word without having my facts straight. I am very sorry.”
“I’m sorry that Cody scolded you. It wasn’t your fault that I overreacted. I’m sorry too.”
“Oh, I’m so glad he isn’t seeing Alyssa. He’s been in such a good mood the last few weeks.”
Tabitha was a friendly person and I gave her a hug, happy that she wasn’t about to hold a grudge over something so silly.
Valentine’s Day finally arrived, and I was full of anticipation. We would be very busy at work, but I suspected that this would be the night that Cody and I made love for the first time. I was sure of my feelings for him, and sure that this was the forever kind of love. I wanted Cody, and if I had my way, we would be together from this day forward.
“Hello, sweet Jenny,” he greeted me when I walked in the door to the kitchen. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” I returned his greeting and kissed him back when he put his arms around me and put his warm lips to mine. “We’re the first ones here.”
“Isn’t it nice?” he teased me, kissing me again. We heard a car pull into the lot and after another steamy kiss we separated and started gathering what we needed to prep for the lunch crowd.
The servers were full of cute stories from the dining room, and even though we were very busy, the day passed quickly and those of us who worked had a great time. Now it was our turn to celebrate. I left a few minutes ahead of Cody and drove a bit faster than I should have to reach my apartment quickly. I put our dinner in the oven to bake, having prepared it earlier that morning for tonight. I took a quick shower and dressed in something I hoped Cody would find irresistibly sexy. I was in the kitchen checking on our dinner when Cody arrived. He’d taken the time to shower and shave, and I felt my heart sing in response. Tonight would be our special night.
He picked me up and kissed me until I was breathless, then his hand landed on my bottom with a sharp little smack. “I’m hungry and something smells good.”
“Ow!” I made a pouty face and rubbed the sting with my hand.
“Feed me and I’ll kiss it all better,” Cody promised.
I felt my toes tingle in anticipation. Warmth spread from that little stinging handprint to the crotch of my panties. I could feel how damp they were and it was enough to make me blush, which I seemed to do regularly around Cody.
I poured wine for us, and then checked in the oven once more. The delicious smells were making me hungry, too, and I quickly dished up our food onto a serving platter and carried it to the table, which was as pretty as could be – even if I did decorate it myself – with white dishes and red napkins and tablecloth. The candles were red, and they gave off a soft glow. It was all very romantic.
“I’m a very happy man, Jenny,” Cody said softly. “Only one thing would make me happier than I am in this minute. Would you marry me, honey?” he asked, and out of nowhere he was holding a small box, which he flipped open to show me an engagement ring.
I was completely surprised, but I immediately said, “Yes! Oh, yes, Cody! I love you so much!”
I can’t tell you what the next little bit was like. I know he must have put the ring on my finger; I marveled at how well it fit. It was so perfect and I couldn’t imagine how he knew my size. We ate dinner and somehow the leftovers got put away and the dirty dishes loaded in the dishwasher.
“I think we have a certain little matter to discuss, sweet Jenny.” The note in Cody’s voice was playful, although he sounded stern. He’d promised to show me just how sexy a spanking could be, and I was wide-eyed at the prospect of learning that he intended to teach me that lesson right now.
“And what would we need to discuss, Cody?” I asked, trying to sound a bit teasing.
“I did not get enough kisses today,” he scolded with a perfectly straight face. “There must be a minimum of fifty kisses on Valentine’s Day or it is a spanking for you.”
“Oh, no! Surely you wouldn’t spank for that?” I giggled while trying to sound serious. I loved it when Cody was in a playful mood.
“Yes, and now that we are engaged, it is an even more serious offense.”
“It is?”
“Oh yes. I’m going to have to spank your bare bottom.” Before I could squeal, he flipped me over his lap and started spanking, the swats gentle and playful. Just as it started to sting a bit, Cody stopped and pushed up my dress to caress the area that he’d spanked. He repeated the same scenario again and again, and I begged him for more. Cody picked me up and carried me into the bedroom and gently laid me on the bed. He joined me then, promising to kiss away all the sting. His lips were nice and warm as he kissed a trail across my pink skin, but the kisses sent delicious chills of delight all over my body as I ached for more of his touch. Cody obliged me, undressing me and telling me over and over how beautiful he found me. Everything in his voice and in his eyes told me he meant the words. I felt beautiful for the first time in my entire life, and I knew it would always be so with Cody. He loved me, just as I loved him.
“Please, Cody, I want to see you without clothes too. Let me undo your shirt,” I offered. Cody lay back on the bed and allowed me to have my way with him. I enjoyed doing the things to him that he’d done to me with his fingers and tongue, and when Cody finally made me his, there was only a brief moment of pain as he eased himself into my tight passage, and none a few moments later as he led us both to fulfillment.
“What a wonderful Valentine’s Day, Cody!” I kissed him again and it wasn’t long before we felt the stirrings of passion yet again. This second time was even better than the first, and almost magical. I knew that I now belonged to Cody Andrews for the rest of our very lives. He loves me!
The End.
Author’s Note
Joannie Kay on Dara Ames:
“Dara (dare) came about because I dared myself to try a new style of writing. Dara tells her stories from the first person, and her ‘Angels’ are all BRATS. When I want fun and impossible situations, I let Dara take me there.”
Joannie Kay
Joannie Kay has been writing for some time now, and her favorite genre to read or
write is westerns. She loves the handsome cowboys and the feisty, sassy heroines those men try to tame. Joannie also likes to write about women who aren’t afraid to stand on their own when the situation warrants. Joannie has been married to the same wonderful hero for forty-four years now, and they have two adult children, and two grandchildren they love to drive across the country to visit.
Don’t Miss These Exciting Titles by Joannie Kay and Blushing Books!
The Rancher’s Mail Order Bride
Clary Mae
Chosen by the Viking
In Love with the Sheriff
The Sheriff Wears Pants
A Minx Called Fanny
A New Mam for the Girls
The Impossible Wife
Molly’s Cop
A Cordial Welcome
The Problem with Jordan
Tucker’s Frustration
Hiding Miss Peaches
The Sentenced
Reasonable Explanations
She is My Sister
Miss Carter, Schoolteacher
Someone to Watch Over Me
Hidden in the Walls
The New Panty Collection
Sam’s Law
Sugar and Spice
An Unruly Tongue
Maggie’s Revenge
Ashley’s Joyful Wonders
Wifely Duty
Last Chance
Viking’s Thrall Series
The Tavern Wench
The Runaway Wench
The Alex and Anna Chronicles
The Labor Day Picnic
A Thanksgiving Wedding
A First Christmas
A Wonderful New Year
The Alex and Anna Chronicles, 4 book set
The Rusty Bucket Series
The Firecracker Gets Her Man
Harvest Moon
Spring Blessings
Three-Book Set
Holiday Stories and Collections
The Cutest Valentine Ever
The 12 Naughty Days of Christmas Anthology
A Christmas to Remember
A Christmas Duet
A Christmas Memory
Holiday Wishes
Anthologies
Chosen by the Viking
Her Cowboy’s Discipline
Taming the Wild West, One Fiery Bride at a Time
Saving Valentines
Bethany Bliss
1
Valentine’s Day Is Coming
She shuddered in her sleep, her back trembling against Asher’s chest and startling him awake. Again.
“Cora?” he grumbled groggily, shrugging off the covers that kept the heat locked into place away and allowing a startling chill to seep into his skin and hopefully hers as well. She was clammy with sweat. “Cora?” he asked again, but Cora was trapped in a nightmare as she often was.
The feisty Jersey bounty hunter he had come to love when they had met in Miami was merely a shell of her former self. All his fault of course, if he hadn’t allowed himself to be associated with her, Krone never would have gone after her. Never would have abducted and tortured her. She had become Asher’s whole world, and so had become a target of The Company. He was an assassin, a robot to them and not free to love. Cora had paid the price for that disobedience, almost with her life, and the evidence was carved all over her flesh.
He couldn’t so much as stroke her hip without feeling the fresh pink scars where Krone’s knife had split her open. He had noticed that, now, she always wore long sleeves and pants, and avoided mirrors when she wasn’t. Her wardrobe was nothing like it had been in Miami, there she had worn colorful dresses, her legs always exposed.
He rolled so he could lean over her whimpering form. “Cora?” he said louder, sliding one hand behind her head to cradle her as he gently tapped her cheek. “Cor–”
She screamed.
Bolting up from bed, only Asher’s fast reflexes saved him as she slammed her elbow for his jaw. His palm caught it before she could connect and forced her arm down beside her, her wrist locked between his fingers.
“Cora!”
She flailed, lashing out with her opposite fist while aiming a kick up between his legs. He dodged her knee before trapping it beneath his own, his pressed against her inner thigh as he blocked her fist and used her own momentum to trap it with her other wrist.
“It’s me! Cora, it’s me!”
She relaxed but only slightly beneath him, gasping for air as if he had been strangling her rather than defending against her attacks. He couldn’t see her face through the darkness, but they had gone through this enough for him to have memorized her confused expression. It would be clearing by now as she realized whom she was beneath.
She relaxed more and Asher felt safe to release one of her wrists to cup her chin and stroke his thumb along her jawline. “You’re safe.” There was a hollowness to his voice that even he could detect. He didn’t feel safe either. Each day was spent tense, constantly checking for vehicles following him or people walking behind him for too long.
She didn’t comment on it however, instead she just murmured, “Genevieve.”
“What?” he asked.
“My name is Genevieve now.”
Right, he had been having trouble remembering that she went by Genevieve while in Denmark, half the time he didn’t remember his own name was Noah now.
Asher sighed, a quick exhale of air through his nostrils and the only indication that he was concerned.
Cora raised her hand and stroked his scruffy cheek comfortingly, noting again that he didn’t bother to keep himself trimmed, now that The Company wasn’t influencing his every move. His beard was as overgrown as his hair, no longer the professional cut of a CEO that he always kept tidy for his representation of The Company. Seeing him grow out his hair was freeing in a way. A sign of freedom at the very least.
Freedom that Cora had yet to feel for herself.
“I’m joking, Noah, and I’m all right.” The lie rolled off her tongue as his lips traced her fingertips, pressing his face to her extended palm. She was definitely not all right.
Asher continued thinking about Cora through the night and into the next day. Not that that was anything new.
He had obtained a job stacking lumber outside the city, cutting down massive spruces and carving them into building material. It was interesting, doing honest labor rather than dishonest murdering. Taking an axe to a tree trunk rather than a person. Although he had never truly taken an axe to someone – he had been a much cleaner assassin than that – he still found it funny to compare the two jobs.
He was good at slogging through snow without complaint and hacking down the thickest of trunks. He had a partner who didn’t talk much, mostly because he didn’t speak much English, but when Asher, distractedly, almost sliced his hand open by holding the saw improperly – for the third time – Gregor gave Asher a hard stare.
Gregor was a massive man with an overgrown beard just brushing his warm flannel shirt, his hair, tucked beneath a hand-knitted winter hat, hung in long spindles to his shoulders. He was the definition of a mountain man, and though Asher was fit, he was not nearly as solidly built as Gregor. Even the man’s blank stare was intimidating. “Distracted,” he accused simply in that deep rumbling voice. “Why?”
Asher looked at him through the tangle of branches. Gregor still gripped the saw handle on his side, the trunk of the tree barely splintered though they had been sawing for a few minutes. Usually he was more efficient; usually he and Gregor could chop down several spruces in a twenty-minute span. Not today. Today Asher was distracted by his mounting troubles.
“It’s nothing,” Asher said, but Gregor snorted.
“You cut trees fast, work hard, today you slow, distracted. Why?”
“It’s the cold, it’s getting to me,” Asher lied, reaching for a plausible explanation. It was frigid, but the cold had not previously affected his performance and Gregor said as much.
“You not bothered before now.” He stood up to
his full height, nearly two heads taller than Asher.
Asher was not particularly tall, but he had taken down men Gregor’s size before. He hated that his mind went there, as if his prior handler, Krone, had trained him so well he couldn’t help but to size someone up and think of a million ways he could kill if he had to. The instinct had been honed for so long that now it was as natural as breathing. Even so, he still felt a prickle of guilt.
Asher opened his mouth to give another excuse, but then wondered how bad it would be if he just told Gregor his troubles. Lying, too, was so ingrained into him that it came naturally, but he wasn’t an assassin anymore and the only thing he had to lie about to keep him and Cora safe was his name... and past, and, well, everything else except perhaps what was happening in the present. Maybe he could be truthful about their new life in Denmark and find a stable balance between lie and truth. The most effective lie held a grain of truth after all.
“Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night,” he admitted.
He could confide in him, right? That was after all what normal people did, didn’t they? Talk about what troubles them.
Before he could overthink it, he blurted, “Cor– Genevieve, my girl, has been having trouble lately. She hasn’t been herself.”
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