“Honestly.”
“I hope so. Have you entered Tuck’s stall again after our discussion?”
Anna gasped. The question took her by surprise and she hesitated for far too long. Her heart sank. Her hesitation would be proof enough that she had disobeyed, so it would be stupid for her to lie to him on top of it. She cried, knowing whatever she said guaranteed a round of swats that would set her roasted buns on fire even worse than they were.
“Only once,” she whimpered, which was the truth.
“Only once…” he repeated slowly, sounding amazed.
As she knew it would, the punishment continued in a most painful way. The swats were hard, deliberate, and applied to every inch of her bottom. She wailed anew when he applied his hard hand to her thighs.
“Oh Carter, please!” she screamed.
“Oh Carter, please what? Please punish my disobedient backside in a most severe manner? Unless those were the words you planned to say, hobble your lip and accept your punishment. I should take my belt to you.”
Anna accepted the rest of her punishment for visiting Tuck without speaking. She sobbed and cried out but didn’t utter another word. Finally his hand settled. He released her wrist and waist from his grip and rubbed some of the sting out of her bottom. Her thighs trembled.
She thought the spanking was over. It had been long and hard and so painful that she thought it couldn’t be anything except complete. She reached back to rub a place where it was smarting.
“Hold your horses, young lady. We’re not quite done here.” Carter took her wrist and moved it up her back, then held her hand as he planted a few more sound swats on her punished bottom. She winced and cried out. How could he not be finished? She knew he wasn’t cruel, but he was acting the opposite of gentle. Perhaps he didn’t know how punished and remorseful she felt.
“Please, Carter,” she said through her tears. “I can’t take anymore. I’m sorry for not answering your question. I’m even sorrier for visiting Tuck. I have learned my lesson. Please, can’t it be over now?”
Carter responded in a voice that was firm, “I know you’re sorry and that it hurts, Anna, but we’re not finished. Another thing you must learn today is that you don’t get to decide when your punishment is over.”
Anna moaned and Carter continued to hold the wandering hand that he’d moved up her back. He caressed her fingers with his thumb and didn’t spank her for a few minutes, letting her calm down. Her soft cries were the only sounds in the barn until he spoke again, his voice still stern.
“We’re going to continue. Be a good girl and it will be over soon. Do you think you can be good for me and accept the last of your punishment?”
Anna sniffled. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s my girl. I’m going to continue holding your hand in mine. I’m here to support you even as I am punishing you, and I hope you know I will hold all of you when we’re done.”
“All right,” she whimpered. To her amazement, the handholding offered her considerable reassurance for the rest of the spanking. It provided a suggestion of the comfort she would soon receive.
He squeezed her hand gently and resumed the spanking, half as hard as before, but still igniting a fire on her sore backside. “I only have one more thing to discuss with you, and it’s important. Although I thought it unwise when you ran all the way into my arms after getting hurt, instead of going home, you made something very clear to me.” He gave her three hard swats that made Anna cry out. He continued to spank her before her cries ceased.
“That day you chose to make me responsible for taking care of you and protecting you, didn’t you, Anna?”
“Yes, sir,” she gasped.
“I take that responsibility seriously. I want you to be mine, and I always protect what’s mine.”
The final four swats were firm and measured.
“Protecting you includes disciplining you,” Spank. “When you choose to be reckless,” Spank. “When you disobey,” Spank. “And when you don’t take your discipline seriously.” Spank.
“Have I make myself quite clear on all accounts tonight, young lady?”
“Yes,” Anna moaned, the word leaving her mouth slowly in misery.
“Then we’re finished.” Carter folded her skirt back over her bottom.
Anna hung over his legs and cried. When her cries settled a bit, she said, “I’ll never do anything to earn another spanking like that. Never, ever, ever.”
Carter gathered her into a hug on his lap. “I almost believe that. You’re a good girl.” He wiped away the tears on her cheek and pushed a piece of hair that escaped her braid behind her ear.
“I know you feel I was hard on you, but that spanking won’t hurt past tonight.” He cuddled her into him and stroked her back, his hands now gentle and comforting.
Anna buried her face in the curve of his neck and shoulder and basked in his comfort for some time. When she found her normal voice, she made a three-word declaration that made his hand freeze on her back mid-rub.
“You love me.”
Carter was silent a moment before he let out a long, soft chuckle. “Anna, you are the most transparent woman I’ve ever met, yet you surprise me.” He sighed. “This isn’t exactly when or how I wanted to say it to you the first time, but yes, I do love you. I’d have to be crazy or dead not to love you.”
“I love you too,” Anna said.
“That’s obvious, honey. Adorably and ridiculously obvious. But I thank you for saying it.”
Chapter 11 - Leaky Mouths
It was the morning after the spanking, and Carter dawdled in the cabin for some time before leaving for work. He didn’t want to focus on anything but Anna’s beautiful, glowing face. She glanced shyly at him all morning, smiling more than he’d ever seen her smile. He smiled back when he caught her eye. The spanking had been just what she needed to understand that he cared about her, and it had been just what he needed to establish the kind of relationship they would have. He was a man good at taking charge, and she was a woman who thrived off his authority.
Anna sat at the table for a spell after washing the dishes and asked for a cup of coffee, which Carter served to her. He sat down with his own cup and watched her make a face when she took her first sip.
He smiled. “It’s an acquired taste, love. Much like whiskey. You know something about that, don’t you?”
Anna’s cheeks grew pink. “You called me love,” she said. She twirled a braid between her fingers.
“I did. Stop blushing, love.”
She blushed harder, and he chuckled. “You haven’t already forgotten what happens when you disobey, have you?”
Anna’s eyes widened and she protested. “That’s not fair. I can’t help what my face does.”
“I know,” he said, grinning.
Anna slapped him lightly on his arm and he caught her wrist. There were two drops of water on her hand leftover from washing the dishes. He kissed each drop.
“I like your hands,” he said. “They’re so small.”
“I like yours too. They’re… not small.”
“No, they’re not.” He grinned devilishly. “I wager I can wrap one of my hands around both of your wrists.” He clasped her two hands together. His thumb and middle finger trapped her wrists in the handcuff of his making. Anna looked at her captured hands, blushing furiously. He released her.
“I’ve got to stop teasing you so often, but you make it hard. You’re adorable when you blush.”
Anna took a sip of coffee and made another face. “You’re not nice.”
“No,” he agreed. “Nice wouldn’t be a good description of me.”
“In fact you’re most disagreeable,” she asserted.
“Am I? I suppose I agree. Yes, I will agree that I am most disagreeable,” he said, winking at her. Anna caught the irony and giggled.
Paddy wandered over and climbed onto Carter’s lap. Carter wrapped him in his arms and squeezed him, then growled and attacked him with a few r
ough kisses that made Paddy squeal and jerk around in his arms. “Stop it, Pa! Your beard hurts.”
Carter ran a hand over his face. “Sorry, little man. Pa needs a scrape.”
“Yes, you do,” Paddy said in a very serious voice.
Anna and Carter laughed. Carter rested his chin on the top of his son’s head and looked at Anna. This was one of those perfect moments in life, he realized. The two people he loved most were within arm’s length. Anna smiled at him, and he took her hand. Her eyes were wet, and he knew she felt the same.
The time had come for him to court her properly so that he could ask her to marry him. Carter no longer wanted her to work for him. He felt the desire to work for her. He hadn’t kissed her again because it didn’t feel right for him to take such liberties while she wasn’t being properly courted. The respectable thing would be to visit her, bring her a gift, take her out for the evening, and leave her with a chaste kiss goodbye. Kissing how they had was scandalous before marriage. He had no qualms about it, but he wanted to protect her from the tongue wagging that would happen behind her back if anyone caught them doing such a thing.
He observed the woman before him choking down the last of her coffee, and his heart swelled with the feeling of his particular love for her. His love for her was different, but just as strong, as his love had been for Nalin. He found it difficult to understand how it could be that the only two women he ever loved were such opposites. With Nalin, he’d been constantly challenged, constantly on his toes, and constantly working to keep her happy. She was exciting, and she baffled and enlightened him with her ideas about women voting and having a say in politics. Everything about her demanded respect, and he gave it to her in heaps.
Anna was too shy to be demanding. Her fragility and innocence brought out in him a need to protect her at all costs. She was strong in her own way, but her strength in relation to him rested in her ability to lower his guard and soften him. One of the ways she did this was by subjecting him to her candor at will and without warning.
Paddy slid off Carter’s lap and announced that he was going to collect eggs from the henhouse, his new favorite chore. As soon as the door closed behind him, Anna turned to Carter and frowned.
“Carter, did you spank your wife?”
Carter choked on the coffee he was in the midst of swallowing and coughed three or four times. “Anna,” he roared. “I cannot believe you just asked me that.”
“You said I could talk to you about sensitive matters, including Nalin,” she reminded him coolly. “I need to know.”
“Why the devil do you need to know?”
“Because I need to know if you love me romantically like you loved your wife.”
Her frank words brought his outrage to a dizzying halt and left him with a headache. He rubbed his forehead before moving his hand to rub the back of his neck. “Anna, your feelings are absurdly undisguised and on the surface, whereas mine need to climb through a few layers of tough skin. Can you not give me the chance to first to tell you how I feel about you before you insist that I speak of it?”
Her frown deepened. He was certain she had no idea what he was talking about. To her, this topic required no artfulness, much like when she informed him that he loved her after he finished paddling her behind. She’d also informed him a few days ago that he found her pretty. Of all the cheek!
“Well? Did you wallop her or not?” Her voice was insistent.
Carter groaned. He wasn’t going to be able to avoid answering this question. He set his coffee down on the table. “I’ll put it this way. I reckon most days there wasn’t a woman in all of Texas who had a more blistered behind than my brazen biddy, nor was there ever a woman who deserved or craved it more.”
Anna’s face broke into a happy smile. “Thank you, Carter. That’s all I needed to know.”
“I’m glad my answer pleases you,” he grunted and then scowled. “If it please you further, permit me to express further sentiments about your beauty and my love for you and any romantic inclinations I might have, without your prodding. I would like to do it on my own, sweet, cotton-pickin’ time! Though truly, I don’t know how much else you’ve left me to say.”
“There is the matter of a marriage propos—”
“Enough!” he shouted, jumping to his feet. He pointed a finger at her. “Not another word, little girl. I mean it. Don’t think I won’t turn you over my knee right now if you speak of that further. I might just spank you anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, focusing her big green eyes at him. They were edged with concern at the mention of another spanking but twinkled at what was surely in her opinion an amusing overreaction from him.
“Very well,” he said wearily. He sat back down.
After a minute, they were back to smiling at each other like two lovesick puppies. Watching her twirl her braid, he realized something. He’d never seen her hair fashioned in any other way, just two straight braids down the front of her dress. He wondered how she would look with her long blonde hair flowing freely around her head.
“When are you going to stop wearing those braids? Aren’t you getting a little old for them?”
Anna stopped twirling and frowned thoughtfully. “I think they look nice. But I’ll stop braiding when I get married. When I get married I won’t care if I look nice because I’ll have already hooked a man. I’ll wear my hair in a knot and get fat off candy.”
Carter laughed. He couldn’t stop. As soon as he thought he had control, he would lose it again. Anna smiled, looking pleased with herself.
“You’re such a strange girl,” he said when he could breathe. “Is that a test to see if I scare off easily?”
“No, I just wanted to make you laugh.”
“Good job, darlin’. You did quite well with that. Just so as you know, I’d love you just as much and find you just as beautiful with more meat on your delicious bones.”
Anna’s face lit up. She sighed. “Oh, Carter. That was so nice of you to say.”
“See? Doesn’t it feel better when my words catch you by surprise and are not delivered at your request?
She blinked at him. She twirled her braid around and seemed to be considering his words, but then she said, “What about if I wore my hair in a knot? Would you still find me beautiful then?”
Carter let out a long, frustrated groan. Without a word, he strode out of the cabin before he spanked her for being clueless and too damn cute.
#
Anna had confirmed that Carter was sweet on her, and she wondered when he would propose. It seemed like he was waiting for something, and she didn’t understand what. The days passed. Her stomach fluttered every time she saw him. She loved him more than she thought it was possible to love anyone and yearned to be with him in a physical way. He held back from touching or kissing her, and Anna grew hungry for his caress. She wanted his hands and lips on every part of her body. She knew that he’d no doubt spank her again if she did something deserving of it, and the thought of him spanking her made her feel nervous and aroused. Still, she didn’t want to incite him to anger just to get a spanking. She wanted him to desire her enough to touch her.
Going about her days with her head in the clouds, she wasn’t prepared for the sudden hardship that life delivers to people in various cruel ways. For Anna it arrived in the form of a man on the doorstep. It was in the early afternoon while Carter and his men were out driving cattle to a greener pasture. Anna sat on the floor of the cabin playing with Paddy. She helped him build a house with the new wood blocks that Carter had bought from town. The door swung open and a man stormed in. Anna recognized him from the restaurant where Carter had taken her for her birthday. He was one of Carter’s ranch hands, Joe, the man who had laughed at her. Her first thought upon seeing him was that Carter was hurt.
“What is it?” she gasped, her hand covering her mouth as if to stifle a scream. “Did something happen?”
The look Joe gave her made her shiver. “Oh, yeah, something happened a
ll right. The boss refused me a fucking raise after all the work I’ve done for him. Seems he’s fixin’ to get rid of me too after this drive.”
Anna felt relief that Carter wasn’t hurt, but it was quickly replaced by fear. She saw the rage in Joe’s eyes. She smelled the whiskey on his breath from three yards away.
“I-I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about that. Carter doesn’t discuss the affairs of his ranch with me.”
He took a step toward her. “No? I thought you were his employee.”
She knew he was mocking her, but she wasn’t angry. She was afraid, and she stayed quiet. She didn’t like the way his eyes roamed her body, and Paddy didn’t seem to like the man either. He climbed into her lap where she was seated cross-legged on the floor. She put her arms about him protectively.
“Maybe you’re more than his servant girl. He did take you to dinner. Some of us are of the mind that he’s having his way with you whenever he likes. Maybe that’s the kind of work you do. Are you a strumpet?”
“I don’t get your meaning,” Anna said, fear creeping up her spine.
Joe laughed a cruel laugh. “You don’t even paint yourself. What kind of a whore are you?”
Anna gasped. “I’m not a whore. I am a respectable farmer’s daughter and a respectable rancher’s employee. Both would be offended if I told them of your obscenity, as am I! What do you want?”
“Good question. I want to make the respectable rancher suffer, one way or another. Somehow I think that includes harassing his tart. It didn’t escape me that he feels it’s his sworn duty to defend your honor. I wonder how he’d like it if I took it and gave him a taste of humble pie.”
Anna held Paddy closer to her. “I’ve got to get this little one down for a nap, Joe. Perhaps you could come for a visit another time.”
Joe laughed again. She felt a desperate need to escape, but it didn’t seem possible. Joe was in front of the door. She might be able to get herself and Paddy to the bedroom before Joe got there, but he’d reach them before they’d be able to climb through the window. Next, Anna considered weapons. Without looking around, she made a mental list. The poker was only a step away at the fireplace’s hearth. A knife was in the kitchen drawer. Anna swallowed and told herself fiercely that she was to be brave and not cry.
The Unbraiding of Anna Brown (Lone Star Love Book 2) Page 8