by Beth Bennett
“Did you buy it yourself or did a gentleman purchase it for you?”
“Good gracious. I don’t remember. I do not consider the topic of my hats the least bit interesting.”
Jackson decided to dive in. “How are your finances, Lucy? It must be hard since your father died.”
Her face turned a light shade of red as her face tightened in suspicion. Jackson did not miss the little beads of sweat that broke out on her brow. “My father has been dead for over a year. I don’t remember you showing even a scrap of concern till now. I’ll have you know my finances are none of your business.”
Jackson gave a nod. “I apologize for that. I should have sent my condolences. However, I was out of the state, if you remember, and the Post moves slowly between New York and Virginia. I did not find out till much later.” He took a roll from a serving dish.
“Oh, never mind.” She settled in her chair. “Good heavens, my temper seems to get the best of me these days. Come let us talk of more pleasant things.”
Lucy chatted the rest of the evening of inconsequential matters. She was wise enough not to press Jackson for more romantic overtures, and he wisely did not bring up financial matters again. The evening ended on a steady note. He managed to kiss Lucy on the cheek in farewell which seemed to satisfy her.
“Till we meet again, Jackson,” she called out the carriage window.
He gave her a bow and watched as the carriage pulled into the night.
Chapter 21
Olivia had already gone to bed by the time he got home. His mother was still up. “Did you notice Olivia this evening?”
“Why, yes, dear.”
“How was she?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Did she seem well? Did she eat her dinner?”
“Why, yes. She seemed perfectly fine. She ate as well as she usually does.”
“Good.”
“Is something amiss?”
“She didn’t seem well last evening but it seems my apprehensions were for nothing.” He leaned down and kissed Mrs. Daniels on the cheek. “Goodnight, Mother.”
“Goodnight, dear.”
While dressing for bed, thoughts of Olivia kept going round in his head. He felt unexplainably irritated with himself. She was so pitiful lying in that bed all alone. As he undid his tie, he thought of her muffled sobs. Her small shoulders shook so hard. Why did she keep saying she wanted to go home? I thought she was perfectly happy here. He threw his tie upon the bed in disgust. I won’t get a wink of sleep if I don’t go check on her.
He took the steps in his stockinged feet. Olivia’s door was slightly ajar. Noiselessly, he pushed it open. Her bed was empty! His heart began to pound and his throat went dry. Quickly he rifled through her dresser drawers and threw open the wardrobe. All was as it should be. Not a thing was missing. Even her little leather trunk peeked out from beneath her bed. Where the devil could she be? I’ll spank her till she can’t move! It was fear rather than anger that was driving him, now.
He pushed open the door to Hettie’s room. There was only one form lightly snoring in the bed. Hurrying down the stairs, he stopped for his shoes and then made his way to the kitchen. Not a sound stirred in the entire house. Turning up the lamp, he decided to take a look outside. As soon as he opened the back door, the jangle of a harness and the low whinny of a horse floated to his ears. The hollow clop of shifting hooves grated against cobblestone. The stables? What would Olivia be doing out there?
Quietly, Jackson left the house and followed the short path to the small out-building. The moon touched everything in its path as it lit the way. The warm glow of a lantern, greeted him and the smell of hay and horses filled his nostrils. A female voice floated from the tack room.
“I don’t know why in the world your harness didn’t get put away. It needs a good polishing if you ask me.” Olivia came out holding a curry brush. Jackson quickly ducked behind some hay bales. He could not believe it. She was wearing her old overalls! She was exasperating. I’m going to spank her till she can’t sit down.
She opened the door to a horse stall and disappeared. He could hear the calm sweep of the brush across the horse’s back. “You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” The horse nickered in response. “I should have gotten you a sugar lump before I came out.” The horse huffed in agreement.
Jackson crept closer and moved to where he could observe Olivia’s movements. SHE’S GOT THAT FILTHY, FLOPPY HAT ON! It was all he could do to keep from rushing in and turning her over his knee.
Over and over, she brushed the horse. “If I had a mind, I would braid your tail. Don’t spose Jackson would like that.” Brush, brush. “He doesn’t seem to like much of what I do.” Her movements stilled and she lay her forehead against the horse’s side. Jackson heard a hitching intake of breath, then, deep, gut-wrenching sobs. Fat tears fell along the horse’s shinny coat and dropped to the straw below. “You fit in better than I do in this big old city.” She gave the horse a pat. “At least you know what’s expected of you.” She turned her head and lay it on the horse’s side. Her eyes were closed. “I’m so tired. I just want to go home.”
Jackson could stand no more. “Olivia.” He stepped into the light of the lantern.
She fell back against the wall, hurriedly wiping away her tears.
He held out his hand. “Come out of the stall.” His voice was low and gentle. She looked up, her face still wet with tears. He took a step closer. She did not retreat. He held out both hands. “Come here, Olivia.” She did and he folded her in his arms.
“Why didn’t you come to me?” She only shook her head against his chest as he held her close. “I like everything you do. I think you are wonderful. Whatever has gotten you so upset?” She wouldn’t answer. He gently tugged the old hat off her head. “I see you managed to procure an outfit from home.”
Her hair tumbled all the way down to her waist.
“My overalls made me feel better. I’m powerful homesick.”
“Yes, I hear that.”
“Are you angry I kept them?”
“I might have been, till you started crying your eyes out. Now, you’ve got me twisted into knots.”
She tilted her head up and smiled. He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “That’s better.” She was so lovely standing there, her eyes bright from crying, her face still wet with tears. He could not stop himself.
He leaned down and kissed her. Gently, tenderly. She molded herself to him and gave as good as she got. She was as sweet as honey. Their tongues entwined with one another. He was losing himself to her, completely and utterly. If she only knew how wonderful she made him feel. She clung to him, his kisses fluttering over her mouth, her eyelids, her nose, her neck.
Lightly his fingertips ran up and down her back as she lay close against his chest. “I’m in love with you, Olivia Overton and there’s no help for it.”
He was surprised by her response. She turned away from him. “But what about Lucy?”
Touching her arm, his brows rose in question. “What about her?”
“Aren’t you in love with her? You talked to her at the opera. You went to dinner with her. She acts like…”
“She acts like a hoyden, Olivia. I can’t stand the woman. I went to dinner to try to get some information about work. That is all.”
His answer did not satisfy her. “I really thought… But what about the money?”
“Money?”
“Yes, you lied to me.” She went to stand a few feet away. “Lucy told me you didn’t get any money for my farm. You, Hettie, everyone, felt sorry for me. I guess even your mother was in on it.”
Jackson looked flabbergasted. “What in the world are you talking…wait a minute. I remember now, you thanked me for the money I sent you when I first came home at the Astoria Hotel.” Jackson hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I had no idea what you were talking about and I forgot to ask Hettie about it.” He scowled deeply. “What did that Lucy say? The witch.�
��
“Oh, Jackson.” Olivia couldn’t contain her laughter. “I don’t know why I ever listened to her. Hettie did tell a tale about the money, but I needn’t have taken it so personally. She wanted me to buy some clothes that would help me fit in a little better in New York and I wouldn’t unless I thought the money was my own. I’m probably too proud for my own good.”
“Come here.” He motioned to her with his finger. She took a step toward him. “All the way.” Olivia moved until she was standing directly in front of him. “I told you I would never send you here because I felt sorry for you. No one feels sorry for you at all. If anything, I feel sorry for New York, the poor city had no idea what it was in for.”
“Oh!” Olivia shouted
Lightheartedly, he grabbed her before she could run away and together they enjoyed the joke. “You’re horrible to me.” She pouted.
He squeezed her close. “I love you, Olivia Overton.”
She squeezed him back as hard as she could. “I love you too. I think I’ve been in love with you ever since that carriage ride to Staunton.” He gathered her up and pressed his lips to hers. She was too delicious for words.
“You smell so good.” He breathed.
His lips brushed her earlobe. He lightly nipped it with his teeth as his voice rumbled in her ear. “Now to address your current misdeeds.” The words tickled a sweet giggle from her lips. He caught it with his mouth and kissed her with a deep, inexpressible tenderness. Olivia shyly met his kiss with her own. He was overjoyed at her response.
Undoing one strap of her overalls, he slowly slid it off her shoulder. Her eyes never left his. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.”
Jackson smiled and undid the other strap. He pulled the overalls down to her waist and began lightly caressing her breasts on the outside of her old, homespun, shirt. Olivia shivered then groaned. Her small hands found their way into the opening of his shirt. He could feel her testing the springy hair that grew there.
“You are so beautiful,” she whispered.
He was nearly undone. Unbuttoning her shirt, he pulled it off her shoulders. She wore a simple set of homemade cotton underwear. Her nipples strained against the material and begged to be stroked. Jackson lowered his mouth and laved them with his tongue. Olivia writhed and arched her back.
Her hands came between them as she grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Suddenly, she was transformed into Venus, the long tresses of golden streaked curls cascading over her shoulders, the inward curve of her small waist, now emphasized by the clothes hanging loosely about her hips. Her breasts, perfectly formed and aching to be touched.
“You are so beautiful,” came the ragged, whispered words. Pulling her between his legs, he pressed her soft hips against his hardness. She lay completely relaxed in the crook of his arms. Slowly, his fingers grazed across her jaw.
“I think it’s time you received your punishment for your disobedience.”
“Mmm.” Was all she could manage.
“I told you not to bring these clothes with you, yet you did it anyway.”
“Uh huh.”
Her eyes were closed, but she murmured, “Why don’t you spank me?”
She never failed to surprise him. He chuckled in her ear. “That’s just what I was going to suggest. He chuckled again. “I’m glad you’re so…compliant.”
“Oh, Jackson.”
He tugged at her pants and underwear, determined to pull them down together. She held onto his shoulders for balance. He pulled down her pants. Now, they were caught at her ankles. The sharp scent of her arousal met his nostrils as he bent over to pull them off. Her responsiveness was driving him mad. “Raise your foot.”
“Yesss, sir.”
“Raise your other foot.”
She stood completely naked before him. In all his life, he had never seen such a glorious sight. Jackson scooped his arms underneath her, picked her up, and sat upon a hay bale. In one smooth motion, he turned her over his knee. Rubbing the creamy skin at the small of her back, he questioned. “Do you deserve a spanking?”
“Oh, yes, sir. I certainly do.” She made him laugh. “Oh, Jackson, what if…what if somebody walks in?”
He patted her naked bottom. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Everyone is safely in bed. Except for you and me.”
He heard a giggle come up from the straw. He began caressing her back, her bottom, her thighs, taking special care with the soft skin between her legs.
She cried out. “I can’t stand it. I want…something. Please.”
“Soon, my love, soon. First, I want you to arch your back and present your bottom to me for chastisement.” She tried her best to comply. “That’s right. Globe your bottom right towards my hand.”
She groaned with the effort. The sight was almost more than he could stand. His hand came down sharply, but not forcefully, against her up-turned bottom. The sting was just enough to make her moan. He did it again.
“This doesn’t feel like a punishment to me” Olivia said. “Oh, I simply can’t stand it.”
He spanked her sharply, five more times. Her cheeks were taking on a nice rosy hue. “Spread your legs for me.”
“Oh! Jackson, I can’t do that!”
“You can and you will. I demand it.”
Slowly her legs came apart and Jackson gently moved his hand to the spot he had been dreaming of ever since he had spanked her in the library. He lightly brushed her most sensitive area and Olivia clapped her hands over her mouth and screamed. When the last shudder came, he stopped. Sitting her gently back upon his lap, he held her close. She cried.
“What was that? Oh, Jackson, I never knew.”
“Shhh, I know, I know, the first time is rather intense. I’m so glad I was the one who got to experience that with you.” He took off his shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders and rocked her back and forth for a long time.
They sat together in the quiet. The horses shuffled in their stalls, a late night cab rattled by. Finally, Jackson reached over and picked up the discarded overalls from the floor. He held them with his thumb and forefinger. “These, must go into the fire.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself over my knee.”
“In that case, I’ll be sure to keep them.”
He spanked her behind and she squealed. “First, however, I suppose you’ll have to wear them one last time. Unless you want to walk naked into the house.”
She took the overalls and stood. “I wonder what Simmons would think of that?” She stepped away before he could grab her and began to dress. Jackson leaned back to watch. Noticing his interest, she made a great show of putting each leg in her pants and pulling her shirt slowly over her head.
“You’ve no idea how often I’ve dreamed of seeing such a thing.”
She wiggled her bottom. “What? Me in my overalls?”
“Hardly, madam. The view of you without any clothes.” She laughed and finished dressing. They entered the kitchen together. Jackson gave her bottom one last caress, then pushed her toward the back stairway. “Go to bed.”
She turned to go, thought better of it, ran back, and quickly brushed his lips with a kiss. “Goodnight.” He crushed her to him, finishing what she had started.
“You better go,” he whispered.
“Yes,” she dreamily replied and disappeared up the stairs.
Chapter 22
It was impossible to contain themselves at breakfast the next morning. The intensity of the gaze Jackson directed Olivia’s way, was met by her shy glances and giggles. Hettie watched the two of them while Mrs. Daniels feigned complete ignorance and daintily ate her eggs. Hettie set her coffee cup down with a loud clink. “I know something is going on.”
Olivia looked up in wide-eyed innocence and Jackson scowled. “Dear sister, if anything is, ‘going on,’ you shall be the first to be informed. That is, if it is any of your business, which it is not.”
“Mother!”
Mrs. Daniels took a sip of tea. “Minding one’s own business is generally a very good idea.” She took another bite of eggs. Hettie sat back in her seat with a huff.
Jackson managed to find a moment alone with Olivia before he left for work. They stood in an alcove near the front door. “I shall think of you all day, my love.”
“And I, you.”
He brushed her lips with a kiss of farewell.
Mr. Little, the bank examiner, was waiting for him at the downtown offices of Chase and Manhattan. Together, they began to work through the accounts in question.
An idea suddenly popped into Jackson’s head. “Are there any accounts under the name of one, Lucy Spear?”
“I will have to check the bank records to find out.” Mr. Little, ever efficient and attune to detail, scribbled in a small dark notebook. “Her name again?”
“Lucinda Samantha Spear. I think you will find, sir, that Miss Spear, who is personally involved with Mr. Hatchgrove, may be part of this embezzlement scheme. Should you find anything, anything at all, I would like to request that her accounts be frozen and she be included in the current investigation.”
Mr. Little pushed his glasses up to rest upon his bald head. “If what you say turns out to be true, I think we should contact the police as soon as possible. Should the miscreants learn of our inquiries, they may disappear from the city. It has happened before. We have enough evidence on Mr. Hatchgrove as it is.”
By the end of the day, Mr. Little did indeed uncover deposits in Lucy’s name. And sadly, they corresponded to significant amounts of missing money. There would be enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant for both Lucy and Argus but it had taken all day and the hour had grown late.
“Twill be easier to contact a judge for the warrants in the morning,” said Mr. Little.
Jackson was satisfied. “I will be relieved once the two are under lock and key.” Mr. Little nodded his agreement