God, she would never be able to escape him if he kept this up.
What kind of woman fell for every man who cooked her a delicious meal? She was some kind of foodie groupie. But what kind of woman could resist a cowboy? One who wanted to put her in the corner?
Chapter 3
Earl slipped his leg over the saddle and slid to the ground. Tying the horse to the rail in front of the saloon, he strode toward the door. Not one day on the trail had he been able to put her out of his mind. Audrey. The woman’s blue eyes and dark hair shot through with every color of blonde and red haunted his dreams. By now she’d have caught the train for the East. His brother couldn’t even be bothered to come out and pick her up, but he’d sent money for a train ticket.
At least Earl wouldn’t have to see her every time he came into town. She’d returned to where she came from. Where they both came from. The rivalry between him and his brother had ended, and, as long as he never went home again, he’d never have to see them together.
Acid bit the back of his throat at the image, but he shoved it aside and raised a hand to push the saloon door open. He’d grab the first woman he saw and accompany her upstairs where he’d put her over his knee and spank her until she cried. Then fuck her until she screamed.
All the things he’d never considered doing with Audrey. She was a lady. Would his brother mind his leavings? He’d do it one time, to get her out of his system.
But his urges, unnatural though they were, made it impossible for him to stay loyal. He’d taken them to the saloon the next week and she’d found out.
Why couldn’t she understand a man sometimes had desires he couldn’t satisfy with a good woman? The ache in the pit of his stomach never eased. Even Cooky’s food had to share space with it.
She’d be better off without him.
He’d kill his brother if he ever mistreated her. He’d like to kill him either way, but some wisp of conscience made fratricide impossible. Their mother was a good woman, if a little distant. And their father had gone elsewhere to satisfy his needs when the doctor said no more babies. He’d listened outside their door once and hadn’t understood it all then, but did now. She wept and begged him not to step out, and he told her he wouldn’t be responsible for his wife’s death after two stillbirths in a row. A man who wanted a wife had to make choices and not ones he could make. If he had Audrey, he’d have no other and she might end up dead in childbirth like so many others because he wouldn’t be able to control himself. No, he’d head on upstairs and sate his needs with a whore.
Why couldn’t Audrey understand he couldn’t have her, didn’t have the money or the standing to give her what she needed?
The roar of the Friday night crowd in the saloon echoed in his ears as he took a step inside. A blonde soiled dove waved him over but he froze at a gasp from behind him.
John cradled Felicity in his arms, inhaling her scent and kissing her until he had to pause for breath. She snuggled closer and he bent to her lips again. She felt so fragile, so delicate, and he wondered how a woman like her fit in the spanking lifestyle. Would she moan in passion when he applied the flogger to her buttocks? Would she wriggle on his lap and leave a trail of cream on his thigh?
Would she welcome his dominance? His guidance?
She sure was good at kissing.
Trailing his fingers over her cheek and down her throat, he flipped open the first button on her shirt then the second, waiting for her reaction before continuing to open it all the way down. She mumbled something against his mouth but it didn’t feel like a protest and her fingers gripped his biceps rather than pushing him away.
Breaking the kiss, he rubbed his palm over the rose satin bra, her nipples tightening against his hand. He buried his face in the valley of her cleavage, inhaling her scent and nuzzling her skin. Felicity arched her back and he accepted her encouragement and flicked the front clasp of her bra.
The two sides fell apart and revealed perfect, creamy breasts, their tips the same deep rose as her bra. “Sweet, so sweet,” he murmured cupping one mound to bring the nipple to his lips. When he closed them around it, she shuddered. Lifting his head, he observed her fluttering lashes over closed eyes and parted lips. The flush of passion colored her chest and he bent to suck her nipple again, rubbing languorous circles around the other with his thumb.
If he’d known a few biscuits would bring her his way, he’d have made them long ago.
Moving his mouth to the second nipple, he latched on and sucked, her gasping breaths a counterpoint to his nibbles and laps. Wanting to test her reaction to a little pain, he nipped hard and she shrieked and tangled her fingers in his hair, holding him tighter.
Who’d have thought it? The lady liked a little pain with her pleasure.
Of course, he liked to give more than a little.
He opened her slacks button and slid the zipper down. Her panties were the same soft satin and his fingers wriggled under the waistband to her shaven mound. Nothing in the way of her pleasure or his. She jerked a little and he lapped at her nipple and murmured, “Easy, darlin, I just want to make you feel good.”
She nodded, taking short, shuddering breaths. Delving into her pussy, he stroked through cream, finding her hot button and gliding the pad of his finger over it a couple of times but when she tensed, he stopped. He had more plans for her and wanted to keep her on edge for a while.
Releasing her nipple, he withdrew his fingers and stood her on her feet in front of him. She trembled, and he almost brought her back to him, but he wanted to test further. He’d been willing to settle for meaningless one-night stands in the past, but this woman wasn’t going away. She lived next door and, in a small community, where everyone seemed to have a pretty good idea of what everyone else got up to—if the overheard grocery store gossip held any validity—he didn’t want people saying he didn’t treat her right.
Felicity was not a one-night stand. In fact, he already hated the idea she might ever date anyone else again. But she’d have to know where he stood.
“Take it off, darlin’. I want to see all of you.” Would she obey? “You don’t mind a little inspection, do you?”
For a long moment, he thought she might refuse. Then she slid her sweater off and followed it with the shirt. When she bent to her shoes, he grasped her hips and turned her around to face away from him. Her bottom offered everything he wanted and more, rounded, firm, and bitable. She straightened and, without changing her direction, drew her slacks and panties down and stepped out of them.
John parted his legs and pulled her close. The smooth perfection of her ass cheeks called to him, made him want to mark them, to lay a pattern of stripes on them claiming her as his. Spanking had never meant possession to him before, only the satisfying of an urge.
Everything about Felicity was different.
Felicity’s legs wobbled, and she fought to stay straight. Inspection? She’d almost forgotten about the experience, but her pussy hadn’t. And her nipples were hard as steel. She’d have to exercise care to keep from falling, both literally and figuratively. Closing her eyes, she focused on his rough fingers tracing her shoulders and down her arms all the way to her fingertips, then back upward, as if mapping her outline. They came to her upper back and one hand stopped to rest on her waist, holding her steady, while the other glided along her spine until it came to her tailbone then paused.
“You okay?” His rumble added to the sensory overload and her teeth chattered.
“Y-yes. Fine.”
“Not a mark on your bottom.” He chuckled. “I thought spanking was a mandatory part of dating in Corbin’s Bend.”
She stiffened. “No, of course not.” And she had no obligation to tell him she hadn’t had a date in a very long time.
“Joking.” He rested his palm on her left cheek. “But it is part of being with me.”
If she trembled any harder, she’d be in a heap on the floor. Only his thighs bracketing hers gave her any stability at all. The seams of his d
enim bit into her skin, amping up her desire.
“Well?” He squeezed her cheek, and her core tightened. “I don’t know much about you, except that you live in this town. Felicity, what is your opinion about spanking and relationships?”
Was he freaking kidding? She was about to come just from his hand resting on her ass. One slap and bam! And he wanted to discuss her philosophy on spanking? She couldn’t remember her name at the moment.
So she did the single thing she could think of that didn’t require talking. The next step in inspection, as she knew it.
She bent and grasped her ankles.
His harsh gasp lent satisfaction to a position giving him full access to her. Not just for spanking. Bent like this, she hid nothing from him.
“Darlin’, you take my breath away.”
For tonight… I’ll figure out the rest tomorrow. I’m not making a commitment, only letting off steam.
Her heart thudding in her ears, Felicity tightened her grip on her shins as the man behind her trailed a finger through her wetness from front all the way to the back and circled her anus. He rubbed his cheek against her bottom, the roughness of his evening beard shadow scraping over the skin and making her want to scream.
One night, mister. Take what you want, and tomorrow I’ll go back to normal.
Why did he have to live next door?
He pulled her cheeks apart and she whimpered.
“You’re so wet, darlin’. I’m starting to think you like me taking charge.”
She nodded, not even sure he could see it in her position.
“I like that, too.” He sounded closer, and murmured against her, “I like lots of things. Reward and punishment… do you like that game?”
Depends. “I’d need to… to know the rules.”
“Mmm. Tonight you’ve been good and deserve a reward.”
He slid a finger inside her pussy and stroked it in and out and Felicity pushed back against it, wanting more, wanting everything.
He added a second. “Your pussy is so tight. But so wet for me. I want to fuck your brains out—would you like me to do that?”
Like it? She’d love it.
“Yes, please… please.” She ended on a shriek when he tickled her clit with his tongue.
“I don’t know. You haven’t agreed to the game.”
Withdrawing his fingers, he let a long moment pass. Game… the game.
“Yes,” she said, knees buckling. “Anything. Just fuck me now!”
John caught her before she could hit the floor and buried his mouth in her pussy, driving her to orgasm so fast her blood surged in her veins and she forgot to breath. Then, as she shuddered in his grip, he eased her to his knees in front of him. Sucking deep, gasping breaths, she eyed him over her shoulder as he unbuckled his belt, yanked open his jeans, and freed his cock. Long, broad, and erect. Were they supposed to be that big?
“Commando?” she quipped, buying time.
“The better to fuck you with, darlin’. As you insisted. What I can’t decide is whether you’ve earned a reward or punishment with your demands.” Lounging back against the couch, he grasped her hair and dragged her toward him. “Why don’t you spend a little time sucking my dick while I think about it?”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. Parting her lips, she opened her mouth, eager to see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
A loud ring shattered the tension between them and they both jumped.
Shrugging free of his hold on her hair, she crawled toward her slacks. “I have to get that.”
“Now?” He gaped at her.
“There may be an emergency at the hospital.”
When he frowned, she realized she’d never told him an important fact of her life.
“I’m a doctor.”
Chapter 4
Earl spun then gasped. “Audrey! What are you doing here?”
Glancing around, she stumbled backward through the swinging doors and stopped on the boardwalk outside. “A question I don’t have to ask you. Looking to get lucky again?”
He grasped her arm, propelling her along the walk until they were well away from the den of iniquity he never imagined he’d see her in. “I don’t mean the saloon. Well, that, too, but I thought you left on the afternoon train.” He’d been torn between anguish at her leaving and gratitude he wouldn’t be there to see her go. “Royal is waiting for you in Boston.”
She shrugged off his hand and glared at him. “Where did you get the idea I was going back to Boston?”
“You mean you aren’t?” He struggled to make sense of her news. “But I wrote him and—”
Audrey scowled. “What I choose to do with my life is my business as you have made quite clear. I owe you no answers.” She pivoted on a heel and headed back the way they came, her skirts swishing behind her. “So please excuse me.”
He took a few hop steps to catch up and paced her. “Where are you going?”
“If you must know, I am speaking to the owner, Mr. Silas Marsh, about employment.”
John closed the door behind Felicity, then looked out the window and watched her sprint for her home. In less than five minutes, she was out the door again and driving down the street faster than he considered safe. Already, the whole evening seemed like a dream. If not for his dick throbbing, demanding relief, he might agree. At least she’d lingered long enough to agree to have dinner with him the next night. A man could look forward to a night with a woman like her.
Returning to the couch, he sat for a moment, stroking the front of his quickly buttoned pants and considering whether he could make it through the night without jacking off to at least take off some pressure. His twitching dick made the decision for him and he drew it out and gripped it in his right hand. As horny as he was, it wouldn’t take long and then maybe he could get on with life.
How often did a doctor leap up in the middle of sex and run for the hospital anyway?
Closing his eyes, John imagined her hand on him, tightening and releasing, rubbing over the head and down his shaft and up again. His cum boiled in his balls, ready to gush out as he thrust into his palm, the lack of any kind of lube making it edgy and faster.
As he sped up the hill toward orgasm, an old fashioned phone bell sounded from his desk. Who the hell was calling in the middle of the night? He refocused but it rang again and, as semen splattered over his chest and stomach and the shirt he should have rolled up out of the way, he growled low in his throat.
Yanking his shirt off, he wiped away the stickiness and marched over to check the machine. If it was a salesman, he’d call back and yell at them. Pressing the missed call button, he blinked and hit return call.
“Cooky? What’s up?”
“You need to get back here, John. They’ve sold off all the horses except two and those go to auction the day after tomorrow. You know what that means for an older horse like Lightning.”
He sure as hell did. “Tell them I’ll be there. I’ll pay more than any knackers would pay. Make them wait.”
Cookie sighed. “I don’t even know who to call. It’s a big corporation, and the people at the ranch say if you want them, you’ll have to go to the auction. You know the place, the one where Big Steve swore none of our animals would ever end up.”
An image of the big quarter horse appeared in his mind. He’d patted the sun-warmed neck too many times to count, ridden him over hills on roundups and to check on the herd. Taken him out on lonely nights when he needed a nonjudgmental ear to listen to his thoughts.
The horse had been his closest friend, but Big Steve assured him the new owners had promised to either keep the horses or rehome them. They’d broken their word and put his friend in danger.
“Which other horse?” Not that it mattered—no Circle X horse would be murdered on his watch. “Any idea?”
“Thunder.”
Shit.
Throwing some clothes in a bag, he remembered his date the following night. Why the hell hadn’t he asked her for her
phone number? He considered leaving a note on her door, but feared it might fall off or blow away.
John called the hospital, but they wouldn’t put him through to Felicity who was dealing with a “situation.” The operator refused to give out her private number. “Just tell her I had to leave town to save some horses and I’ll be back as soon as I can. Give her my contact information.”
“Will she know who’s calling?”
“Not if I don’t tell you. It’s John Estrada. From next door.”
Fifteen minutes later, he hit the road, also driving faster than he considered safe, but he didn’t have any time to lose. It should take about fourteen hours to get to the ranch then some more time to the auction, but if anything happened along the way, he could miss his opportunity to save Lightning and the other horse they considered only good enough to sell for… well, he couldn’t think about it. He didn’t know what he’d do with the horses if he did manage to save them, but there must be a stables somewhere near Corbin’s Bend. He’d call Brent when he secured them and ask. Or Google it. Something. Anything.
First he had to save his horse.
And Thunder. Why did it have to be Thunder?
Felicity sat in her car for a while, too exhausted to even get out. For a small facility, their ER had its moments. The doctor in charge for the night shift had called in. Well, he’d been in the hospital, but in Maternity with his wife in labor.
And an outbreak of some kind of food poisoning among the high school basketball team, returning from an away game, had filled the waiting room with miserable, retching teenagers. Nothing serious, but enough to have the bus driver panicking. And to keep her up all night. Add in the parents, and the waiting room was packed. Each patient had required medication, reassurance, and in most cases an IV to restore fluids lost through vomiting and diarrhea.
The bus driver tearfully explained she’d caved when the victorious team begged her to stop at a roadside hot dog stand. The duty nurse called the health department to ensure nobody else suffered before the actual cause could be determined but after interviewing all the patients, it sounded like something went wrong with the chili.
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