by Elly Knight
He was ready to kick himself when Charli wrenched herself out of his embrace and stepped back. “I’m not ready yet, please Ben…” she implored him, her blue eyes wide with unshed tears.
“What are you afraid of Charli Rae?” he asked her gently. She turned away from him and moved to the kitchen, busying herself with anything she could find to do. Which wasn’t much really given they’d already cleaned up after supper.
“I just need more time to get used to the idea,” she said when she heard Ben’s footsteps approaching.
“I understand,” Ben said as he leant back on the table. Charlotte’s back was facing him and he could see the tension in her shoulders dissipate a little as he spoke. “I meant what I said about giving you a week to get used to the idea.”
Charli hoped she was going to be able to talk him into giving her more time because she very doubted that her feelings were going to change all that much in the next three days.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ben decided that Charli needed some space and made himself scarce the next day. He spent the morning fixing a section of the pig pen. The piglets were growing rapidly now and he could sense his wife’s excitement as the time to sell them drew closer. All her hopes were pinned on getting a good price for the piglets and the bigger they grew, the better the final price would be. Ben hoped it was in her plan to use one for meat for themselves. He could almost taste it already. In fact, he’d have to look into building a smoker so they could cure it ready to store for the coming winter months.
After lunch, he returned to town on a mission. He knew that part of Charli’s problem with moving into the bedroom was the memories of her Papa that it invoked and figured perhaps it was time to change it up a little. Martha was able to give him the name of a person in town known for their crochet work and it turned out he was in luck as she’d recently finished a project that had been planned as a gift. She offered it to Ben instead insisting that she had time to make another.
He whistled as he made his way back to the farm, feeling more than a little content with the way life was working out. He had the bride he always wanted and together they had a small piece of land. All he needed now was a way to purchase the neighboring land, which had once belonged to his Papa, and he’d be a very happy man. That and having his wife in his bed.
Charli was nowhere to be seen so Ben set to work in the bedroom, shifting furniture around to change the look of the room. He spun the bed by ninety degrees. The wardrobe was much heavier and he broke out in such a sweat as he shifted it that he decided to remove his shirt. Once all the furniture was situated to his liking, he carefully removed the faded quilt that had been on the bed and placed it on top of the wardrobe before spreading out the new blanket he’d purchased. The colors in it were stunning and really lifted the feel of the whole room. He hoped Charli would be pleased.
A tiny gasp was the only thing that alerted him to his wife’s presence as Ben took a wash at the rain barrel outside. He hadn’t heard her horse so she must have been in the barn when he came out. Ben turned with a grin and Charli couldn’t help but blush.
She hadn’t seen her husband without his shirt on and his clearly defined muscles rippled as he picked up the scrap of fabric to dry himself, his eyes never once leaving her face. “Have you eaten?” he asked her, his deep voice breaking the silence. “You didn’t come in for lunch so I hope you took something with you,” he added, his voice carrying the slightest hint of censure to it. His wife was not very good at looking after herself.
“I wasn’t that hungry,” Charli responded with a shrug.
“Charlotte!” Ben growled. His hand itched to swat her behind when she rolled her eyes at him. “You need to eat! What if you’re out on the farm somewhere and faint?” he challenged her.
“Seriously Ben, you worry too much. I’m going to end up bigger than Sadie if you keep pushing all this food on me!” Sadie was the name she’d given their sow. This time Ben couldn’t help himself and his hand swatted her behind. “Owwww, what was that for?” Charli squealed as she moved to get away from his reach.
“You could do with a little more meat on those bones Charli Rae,” he scolded her. “I don’t want you making yourself sick.”
“I don’t think skipping one meal is going to make me that sick,” she retorted.
“We’re not going to find out,” Ben told her. “There’ll be no more skipping meals. I’ll make you come back to the house during the day if you’re not going to take food with you.”
Charli huffed in response but just managed to refrain from another eye roll. Instead, she stomped her way inside the house to begin preparing the evening meal.
“I want to show you something before you get too involved there,” Ben said as he followed her inside the house.
“Make up your mind Ben!” Charli retorted with no small amount of sass in her tone. “You want me to eat, you don’t want me to eat!”
Ben had just about reached the end of his tether with her attitude. He took a firm hold on her arm and forced her to stand close to him. With his other hand he took a firm hold on her chin and narrowed his eyes, giving her his sternest glare. “If you don’t tame down the attitude young lady, I’m going to tame it for you. In the form of putting you over my knee and lighting a fire in your behind,” he warned her seriously.
Charli’s face blushed red and her entire body flooded with a heat that wasn’t altogether unpleasant. She was tempted to sass him again, just to see if he’d follow through on his threat. But then she recalled him baring her bottom the last time he’d spanked her and self-preservation kicked in. She lowered her eyes submissively. “What did you want to show me?” she asked with a sigh, her body language showing her capitulation.
Ben pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Good girl,” he praised her, sending another flood of warmth rushing through her. Taking her by the hand, he led her into the bedroom.
The minute she entered the room, Charli gasped in horror. “What did you do with my mother’s quilt?” she demanded to know. She knew it was worn and fading but it was the only reminder she had left of her mother and meant the world to her.
A frown crossed Ben’s face as he took in her less than pleased reaction. “It’s neatly folded all safe and sound on top of the wardrobe,” he told her. “I know this room brings you painful memories and I thought it would help if we made it more our own.”
“Did you stop and think for a second that maybe those memories, no matter how painful, are all I have left of my parents?” Charli snapped at him before spinning on her heel and running out of the room.
Ben sat down on the end of the bed and sighed in defeat. Clearly that hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped.
<<<<>>>>
The meal that night was painfully silent. Ben had gone for a walk to clear his head and give his wife some space. When he returned, it was clear she’d been crying. He was at a loss as to what to do to help her. All he’d wanted was to try and make the room less painful for her and yet it seemed he’d caused her more pain. Perhaps he was pushing her too hard and it would be better to allow things to evolve naturally.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you Charli,” he said softly to her as the meal came to a conclusion. “I was only trying to make the transition easier for you. I really want us to become husband and wife in all senses of the word. What can I do to help you?”
“You have to understand that a week ago I had no intention of ever marrying. It might take me a little longer than this to get used to the idea,” she told him as she stood from the table and began to clear the plates.
“I’ll get them,” Ben offered, holding his plate out of her reach. “Go and put your feet up. You’ve been working hard.”
“And you haven’t?” Charli challenged him.
“Really, Charlotte?” Ben asked with an exasperated sigh. “You can’t just let me do something nice for you without turning it into a “thing”.
“FINE! I’m going for a walk!” she spat at him and turn
ed for the door.
“HOLD IT!” Ben said in a voice that brooked no disobedience. Charli froze momentarily and then turned to give him a piece of her mind. Ben held up his hand and she froze again, her mouth open as she had been about to speak. “It’s getting dark outside. You are NOT going out there alone.”
“I’m a grown woman Ben. I survived just fine on my own until now. I don’t need a husband telling me what I can and can’t do!”
“You may not NEED a husband but you’ve got one and he’s telling you you’re not going out in the dark alone,” Ben responded firmly.
Charli’s fists clenched angrily and she stomped her foot, her face screwed up in a scowl. “You’re being ridiculous Ben!” she spat at him as she turned once more for the door, intent on doing her own thing regardless.
“And you’re behaving like a spoilt brat,” he said calmly. “You step one foot out that door and I’m going to tan your hide so soundly you won’t sit comfortably for days,” he warned her, his own temper beginning to rise.
Charlotte froze with her hand on the door. He’d already proven he was willing and able to spank her, so she had no reason to doubt him following through on his threat. And as tempted as she was to see if she could outrun him, she knew he’d catch her before she reached the bottom of the back steps. “I HATE YOU!” she yelled at him as she turned and stomped into the living room, throwing herself onto the settee in a fit of rage.
Ben sighed as he turned to put water on the stove to heat for the dishes. It felt like they were constantly doing the merry dance of one step forwards, one step backwards. His dream of having a happy marriage with the love of his youth felt like it was fading before his very eyes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The sheriff did his best not to laugh as Ben shared his altercation with Charlotte the evening before. She was stubborn all right and his heart went out to the young lad.
“Did you spank her?” he asked Ben when he finished his story.
“Of course not!” Ben told him, sounding horrified at the very thought. It wasn’t that he was opposed to spanking his wife. But if he spanked her every time they had some kind of disagreement, she may as well be permanently over his knee. “I threatened to spank her if she went outside and she didn’t. I could hardly spank her anyway,” he argued.
The sheriff sighed. “I’m afraid that girl needs a heck of a lot of sweetenin’ up and I only know of one good way to achieve that,” he told him. “You might have to spank her every day but eventually she’ll submit. I’m sure of it.”
“I don’t want her to be afraid of me,” Ben told him.
“A woman’s behind is perfectly able to take quite a spanking without it bringing her no harm,” the sheriff pointed out. “My Mildred was more than a handful as a young ‘un but she sweetened right up after a few months of sitting tenderly,” he told him, his eyes moistening slightly as he remembered his late wife. “The key is to do is right. You must make sure they can feel it the next day. Have you given her the court ordered spanking yet?”
Ben shook his head. “I wanted to give her time to get used to having me as a husband first,” he admitted.
“You’ve obviously given her at least one spanking since the wedding,” the sheriff pointed out, referring to Ben’s use of his office a few days before.
“They’ve been a couple of instances where she’s required a lesson but I’ve gone pretty easy on her,” Ben admitted. The last thing he wanted was to completely alienate her.
“Perhaps that’s your downfall,” the sheriff suggested. “Believe me, if my Mildred yelled at me that she hated me, she’d have wound up with a red hot bottom for certain. You have to show them who’s boss. Women secretly love that stuff.”
Ben sighed and nodded his head. What the sheriff was saying made sense. He just couldn’t see Charli agreeing to move into his bed if he constantly gave her a throbbing behind.
“You’ve only got two days left before we need to report in to the judge that the sentence has been carried out. Go home and do it tonight,” the sheriff told him, in a tone that suggested it was an order rather than a suggestion. “I know it’s not going to be fun for either of you but I think it’ll help to have it behind you. I also think you’ll be surprised at how Charlotte reacts. Most women don’t want a spanking, particularly while it’s happening. But afterward they want a whole lot of comforting. There aint nothing like holding your woman while she sniffles those tears into your chest. You just want to hold her forever and she won’t be in no hurry to go nowhere either.”
Ben was deep in thought as he made his way home. He desperately wanted to hold his wife, not make her cry but perhaps he couldn’t have one without the other, at least not initially. He’d been reluctant to give Charlotte her court ordered punishment, scared it would turn her away from him. Was it possible it could do the opposite? He sure hoped the sheriff was right.
Charli was inside when Ben returned and he could have sworn she’d been crying.
“Everything all right?” he asked her, watching carefully as she hurriedly wiped the tears from her face before turning to him with a smile that was too bright to be genuine.
“Everything is fine,” she told him. “I’m just heading out to feed the pigs.” Charli beat a hasty exit before Ben could ask too many questions. She was feeling frightened and confused. On the one hand, it had been nice to have someone else to help her with tasks around the farm and she was certainly eating better since Ben had arrived. On the other, whenever he was around, she felt confused about her feelings and desperate to escape his presence. Charli was sure that wasn’t how marriage was supposed to feel.
<<<<>>>>
“I want to get this court ordered punishment dealt with tonight,” Ben told Charli as they were finishing dinner that night.
Charli’s head snapped up in surprise. She’d completely forgotten that the judge had instructed Ben to punish her for shooting at an innocent man. “Can’t we just pretend you’ve carried it out?” she asked him.
Ben regarded her in silence for a moment. “Is that what you really want?” he asked her.
Charli chewed her lip nervously. Of course it was what she wanted, wasn’t it? Who in their right mind would want a spanking if they could get out of it?
“You’d prefer to be married to someone who could easily lie to the law?” he questioned her, his face gravely serious. “Would you like to have a husband whose word you cannot rely on?”
Charlotte’s face blushed as she reluctantly shook her head. Ben was a good man. He’d come all this way and agreed to marry her so that she could keep her Papa’s farm. It wasn’t fair to ask him to lie on her behalf.
“I’m not saying this is going to be fun for either of us sweetheart,” he said sympathetically. The last thing he wanted to do was cause her pain. He loved her so much it hurt. But he also knew that if he didn’t do this right, he was going to be doing them all a disservice, not to mention risking the judge either ordering a do-over or sending her to jail after all. That thought alone caused Ben’s chest to constrict. He’d do whatever it took to prevent his wife going somewhere like that. Ben had visited several jail’s in the city as part of his work and there wasn’t one in the country that was pleasant. “I think we’ll both feel better once this is behind us.”
When Charli gave the slightest nod of her head, Ben stood up from the table. “I’ll come back and clean up later. Let’s get this done.” He reached out his hand, thankful when Charli placed her slender hand in his. Ben gave it a slight squeeze as he helped her stand. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
Ben walked her toward his bedroom, turning to look at Charli when she paused in the doorway. Her face was pale and her eyes wide. “We’re going to do it in here?” she asked him. He nodded his head.
“You’ll be more comfortable over my knee with your upper body resting on the bed,” he explained to her. “This is going to take a little bit of time.”
“H-how long are you goi
ng to beat me?” Charli asked him, her eyes widening in fear.
Ben sighed. “I’m not going to beat you Charli Rae,” he said with a somewhat exasperated tone. “A spanking is not a beating. It’s an opportunity to learn your lesson and earn a clean slate.”
“What if I’ve already learned my lesson?” she challenged him.
Ben closed his eyes and sent up a quick prayer for patience. He was certain his wife still didn’t see the error of her ways and the thought of her injuring herself or worse while handling a weapon made his blood run cold. It also gave him the resolve he needed to get this done and get it right. Without another word he stepped into the room, his tight grip on Charli’s hand giving her no choice but to follow. He sat down on the bed and stood his wife in front of him.