by Misty Malone
“Ty was concerned? I don’t think so. He’s the one who hurt me in the first place.”
“Cheyenne, we talked about this. He may have hurt you physically, temporarily, but it was because he was worried about you. He was trying to keep you from being hurt bad later, which would be more than a temporary pain.” He noticed the confused look on her face and tried again to explain it. “Ty should be the one explaining that to you, not me, and he tried to. He wanted to.”
“He did not.”
“Yes, he did. Chey, he was reaching for you and calling for you, but you ran off. He even came up to the house to talk to you. That’s what he wanted to explain to you. He said he wanted to hold you, comfort you, and explain why he did that. I hope you’ll let him, and listen to him. Think about it.” He kissed her cheek. “Are you about ready for supper?”
“No. Clay, supper’s all ready. All you have to do is take the potato salad out of the refrigerator, and the cake is on the counter. The rest is in the crock pot. Can you two please serve yourselves tonight?”
“Why can’t you come eat with us, Cheyenne?”
“I’d be too embarrassed. Please don’t make me be around Ty tonight.”
“Cheyenne, it’ll be harder tomorrow. I want you down there for supper. You have half an hour yet, that’ll give you time to pull yourself together. I’ll see you then, Cheyenne.” He gave her another kiss on her cheek and left.
She thought about what he said, but the more she thought about a man spanking you because he cares, the crazier it sounded. And making her go down for supper tonight was just being mean. By the time she went down for supper she was fighting mad. She put all the food on the table and as they sat down, she fixed herself a plate and walked out of the kitchen.
Clay watched her leaving. “Where are you going, Sis?”
“Upstairs to my room. I don’t feel good.” She ignored whatever it was he was saying as she left, and went to her room and locked the door. She waited until she heard him in his room later that night before she went down and cleaned the kitchen.
Over the next two days she ignored them as much as possible. When Clay told her she had to sit at the table with them, she did but refused to look at either of them and didn’t say a word. Ty tried at least once during every meal to get her to talk, but she refused.
Clay and Ty talked about how to handle her. “It’s my doing,” Ty said. “I’ll handle it. She may hate me afterward, but she’s not talking to me now, so what do I have to lose?”
“Her attitude is not really your problem, Ty. It’s not fair that she’s taking it out on you.”
“Her attitude is because I spanked her, so I’ll handle it. If she won’t talk to me yet tomorrow, I’ll deal with it after supper.”
“If you’re sure. She might be a bit friendlier tomorrow night because Lynelle’s coming over for supper. She’s going to help her aunt tomorrow, so she’s going to stop here for supper. Maybe with a guest Cheyenne will be better behaved.”
“I hope so, but we’ll see.”
Cheyenne was quiet the next day during breakfast and lunch. Clay pulled her aside after lunch. “Remember, Cheyenne, Lynelle’s coming for supper tonight. I expect you to be friendly.”
“Whatever.” He gave her a warning look before going out to work again.
Cheyenne thought a lot about what he’d said. She liked Lynelle and didn’t want to be rude to her, but she still hadn’t forgiven Clay or Ty. She was still uncertain what she was going to do when Clay came in that evening to shower.
She finished up supper, and Clay came back downstairs just as the front doorbell rang. “I’ve got it,” he yelled, as he welcomed Lynelle in. He brought her into the dining room where Cheyenne greeted her warmly. He followed Cheyenne back into the kitchen to get some wine for dinner. In the kitchen he gave her a hug and quietly said, “Thanks, Sis. That means a lot to me.”
Ty walked in the back door of the kitchen and saw Clay smiling at his sister and hoped that was a good sign. He greeted Cheyenne, who didn’t say a word. He then went in to greet Lynelle, and Clay followed shortly after with a bottle of wine. Cheyenne came in after him with the last of supper. Clay seated Lynelle and Ty seated Cheyenne, glad she didn’t object. He smiled at her before sitting down, as well.
The four young people had a nice supper. There was lively conversation, though Cheyenne gave the men short answers only.
“I saw a poster in town today,” Ty said as they were finishing their dessert. “That new place, Good Meat & Happy Feet, opens Saturday night. I’ll bet it’ll be busy.”
Clay agreed. “I bet it will. They say it’s a chef who owns it and his food’s really good. Are they having a live band?”
Ty nodded his head. “Live bands on Friday and Saturday nights and on other special occasions. The rest of the time they’re having taped music for dancing, with different themes, to be announced. They’re planning on having nights where they play country music, other nights with ballroom dancing. I heard they’re even planning a couple fun nights, with disco, polka, or square dancing.”
Lynelle was excited. “I think it sounds like a lot of fun. Can we go there Saturday for the opening, Clay?”
“We’ll go next weekend if you want, but we can’t go Saturday.”
“Why not?”
“You told your cousin we’d go over and watch her kids for her while they go to a wedding.”
Lynelle frowned. “I’ll just have to call and tell her something came up and we can’t do it.”
Clay’s eyes opened wide. “Lynelle, you can’t do that. She’s counting on us. She might not be able to find someone else on this short notice.”
“But I want to go there, Clay. I’m sure if she looks she’ll be able to find someone.”
Clay shook his head. “No, Lynelle. You gave your word. We’ll go next weekend.”
Ty and Cheyenne were watching and listening, wondering how this would end. They both knew Lynelle had a temper, but they were also both pretty sure Lynelle would not be going dancing Saturday.
“Oh, Clay, come on, don’t be a stick in the mud. I want to go Saturday.”
“And I said no, Lynelle. You gave your word.” She started to argue further, but he cut her off. “Lynelle, settle down. We can talk about it further if you feel the need, but later.”
“No, I want to talk about it now. I say we go Saturday.”
Clay got up from the table and went to her. “Okay, brat, if you want to talk about it now we’ll talk about it now. Let’s go.” He took her arm and pulled her up from the table. He looked at Ty and Cheyenne. “Please excuse us. Apparently we have something Lynelle’s anxious to discuss.”
Ty tried to hide a smile, and Cheyenne’s eyes were wide, seeing the look on Clay’s face. She knew what kind of discussion they were going to be having.
Lynelle, however, had no clue. She tried to pull out of Clay’s grasp. “Let go of me. Where are we going? Why are you looking like that? Clay, what are you doing?”
Without realizing what she was saying or why, Cheyenne spoke up. “Jeez, Lynelle, don’t be stupid. He’s taking you somewhere private so he can show you how much he cares for you by busting your ass. The more he cares for you the more your ass will hurt when he’s done showing his affection.”
Lynelle turned to look at Cheyenne, eyes wide. “What?” She turned to Clay next. “What the hell is she talking about?”
“Cheyenne, that’s enough,” Clay warned. He looked at Lynelle then and addressed her next. “And you need to watch your language.”
Cheyenne looked at her brother, then at Lynelle, who looked totally clueless. She suddenly felt all the anger she’d had inside her come to the surface and, as if she couldn’t control her mouth, words started spewing out. “He’s going to take you somewhere private, probably so there’s no witnesses, and pull you down over his knees and whack your bare ass royally. These stupid cowboys seem to think that’s going to somehow prove how terribly much they care about you. If you’re real
ly lucky and he cares a whole lot about you, your ass will be so sore you won’t be able to sit for several days. But don’t worry, they seem to think you’re somehow going to feel wonderful after they show you how much they care about you.” She paused a minute, but didn’t seem to be able to stop. “So go with your cowboy now and let him set your ass on fire so you know how much he cares about you.”
Cheyenne got up and started to storm out of the room, but Ty was at her side, holding her upper arm before she reached the door. She tried to shrug out of his hold, with no luck. He looked down at her. “It’s time we talk. In fact, it’s past time.”
“Let go of me.”
“Not until we talk.” He turned to Clay next. “I’m sorry, Clay. Apparently I should have done this a day or two earlier.”
“Not your fault, my friend,” Clay said as he glared at his sister.
Ty nodded. “I’ll take her out to my place for our little talk, so you’ll have the privacy you’ll want in the house.”
Clay looked frustrated as he nodded. “Thanks, Ty. Good luck.”
Cheyenne was still fighting to get loose from Ty. “Let go of me. I’m not going out to your house.”
“Oh, darlin’, you most certainly are. I suggest you settle down and walk out there with me. Otherwise I’ll have to help you settle down and then we’ll go out.”
“Like hell we will!” Cheyenne was plain mad now. All the anger she’d been trying to hold in was taking control now and she bent her knee, reared her lower leg back and kicked his shin with every bit of strength she could muster.
Ty’s eyes opened wide as he yelled, “Ow! You little brat! You’ll wish you hadn’t done that shortly, Cheyenne.” She was sure he’d let go of her and grab his shin when she kicked him, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. He tightened his hold on her and pulled her toward the door, limping a bit.
As she was being pulled along, Cheyenne yelled, “No, let go of me!”
Lynelle laughed as she taunted Cheyenne, “Now who’s going to get their ass busted?”
Without turning to look at her, Ty answered, “My guess is both of you.”
He pulled Cheyenne toward the door again, but when she dug in her heels and refused to cooperate, he calmly turned back to her, bent down, and when he stood up she was slung over his shoulder. She started pounding on his back and yelling, “Oooh, put me down, you big bully!”
He reached up and gave her three quick, solid swats to her butt. “Behave.”
Cheyenne was upset, but was absolutely furious when she heard Lynelle laughing at her. She felt vindicated a bit, however, when she saw Clay give her three swats to her butt, as well. “Is it still so funny?” he asked. Lynelle was screaming and hollering, trying to convince Clay he’d half killed her with those three swats. She even cursed at him, which brought a smile to Cheyenne’s face. She knew her brother wouldn’t like that.
Luckily for her Ty didn’t see the smile. He was striding to his foreman’s cabin with one mission on his mind. While he was walking toward his cabin Cheyenne was busy looking around. Any of their ranch hands could be out walking around and see them. “Put me down before someone sees us,” she gritted out.
He never broke his stride. “You should have thought of that when I told you to settle down or I’d help you settle. You didn’t, so I’m helping.”
“Ooh, you put me down right now or else, you big bully, before one of these other stupid cowboys sees us.”
Still not breaking stride he asked, “Or else what?”
“Or else you’ll be sorry, you big brute.”
He gave her another good smack to her butt. “Don’t threaten something you can’t deliver, little girl.”
She started beating on his back again. “I’m not a little girl. And how do you know I can’t deliver?” With that, she pulled his shirt out where it was tucked into his jeans, reached down and grabbed the waistband of his boxers and pulled as hard as she could.
He came to an abrupt stop. Within seconds he had her off his shoulder, he’d bent down on one knee, and had her over his other knee. He landed ten hard smacks to her jean-covered butt. “I’m leaving your jeans up for this only because you’re right, there are ranch hands around that could see you. But you do that again and I won’t be so concerned about your modesty. Do you understand me?”
Cheyenne was biting on her hand, trying to keep from crying out. If she screamed she knew there’d be numerous dumb cowboys running out to see what was going on. This was humiliating enough without that. But his hand hurt. She was panting, trying to catch her breath without crying out. Before she could pull herself together, the big dumb cowboy smacked her two more times. “I’m waiting for an answer. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she cried out, wanting desperately to avoid another swat. She quickly looked around, hoping no one was watching.
Ty watched her looking around and immediately understood her concern. He stood up, taking her with him, and holding her upper arm rather tightly, headed again to his cabin. “If you can behave now, I’ll let you walk.”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she fought the urge to reach back and rub her sore butt while he led her to his cabin.
While they were slowly making their way to Ty’s cabin, Clay quickly made his way to his office, pulling Lynelle with him. He closed and locked the door, closed the blinds on the windows, and sat down on the couch. She was over his lap in no time. She started struggling, determined to get back up, but he held her down with his left arm firmly wrapped around her waist.
“Settle down, Lynelle.”
“Hell, no,” was her response. “You aren’t seriously going to try spanking me, are you? Now let me up.”
He held her down as she struggled, and gave her a couple quick smacks on her jean-covered bottom. “Lynelle, I said settle down and I mean it. We’re going to talk a bit first, but then yes, you are going to get a spanking.”
“No, I’m not,” she firmly stated, again trying to get up. This time she continued fighting, more determined than ever to get up. He let her squirm a while, wearing off a bit of her energy, before reaching underneath her and unfastening her jeans. “What are you doing?”
“Taking your jeans down,” he answered calmly. “Spanking you over your jeans hasn’t gotten through to you a bit yet I see, so we’ll see how effective it is on your bare bottom.”
“Don’t you dare!” She barely got the words out of her mouth before he had both her jeans and panties pulled down to her knees and landed the first smack on her bare bottom. “Oh! Ow! Clay, you have to stop! That really hurts!”
“Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said as he started spanking again, going from one side to the other.
“Clay, no! Didn’t you hear me? It hurts!”
He tried not to chuckle. “Lynelle, that’s the whole idea behind a spanking. You do something that’s beneath you, and I give you a spanking. That spanking hurts. The pain gets your attention and makes you finally realize I’m serious when I tell you I don’t want to hear you cussing.” He gave her a few harder swats as he said that.
“Oh, oh, okay, I get it. I’ll stop cussing. Now stop!”
Ignoring her demand, he started spanking again. “That pain also serves to make you realize I’m serious when I say I won’t put up with your temper tantrums anymore.” Again he gave her a couple harder smacks, and she squealed again.
Continuing the spanking, he continued to talk. “Lynelle, I care a great deal for you and I want to take care of you, protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
“Mostly from yourself,” he answered as he continued the spanking. “You’re a good person, Lynelle. That’s why I care so much for you. But you’re your own worst enemy. Your temper tantrums are going to cause problems for you down the road if you don’t get them under control.”
“Ow! What do you mean?”
He continued spanking as he explained. “You said yourself your boss warned you the last time you had a t
antrum at work.”
“But it wasn’t even that bad a tantrum. He just made me go in the back room.”
He spanked her a bit harder. “Made you go in the back room so his clients wouldn’t see you, and then warned you after you calmed down. Am I right?”
Crying harder after hearing his words, she hung her head. “I guess.”
“And, Lynelle, you embarrass yourself when you act like that in public. You’re a better person than that.” He spanked a bit harder. “And, honey, if you don’t learn to control your temper, one of these days you’re going to have a tantrum in front of the wrong person and it’s going to get you into big trouble.” He gave her six more solid swats. “And I don’t want to see that happen. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
His last words registered somewhere in her brain and she understood what Cheyenne was saying about spanking her because he cared. She broke down crying. She lay over his lap, sobbing, no longer fighting the spanking.
Hoping that was a good thing, Clay gave her about ten more solid swats and stopped. He kept his hand on her bare bottom, feeling the heat. He gave her time to recover a bit, get her breath before he gently turned her over to sit her on his lap. Determined not to let her run off right away like Cheyenne did with Ty, he kept a firm hold on Lynelle until he had his arms wrapped around her, holding her on his lap.
Thinking of Cheyenne and Ty, he momentarily wondered how they were doing, but quickly turned his attention back to his own situation.
Chapter Five
Clay was nervous, after Cheyenne’s reaction to Ty’s spanking. He let out a deep breath when Lynelle timidly laid her head on his shoulder while she cried, and put her hand on his arm that was holding her.
He quietly spoke, as he held her tight. “Are you okay, honey?”
“I am so sore, Clay.”
“I imagine you are, Lynelle. Other than that, how do you feel?”
“I’m okay, but I can’t believe I’m saying that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I think I actually understand what your sister was saying about you spanking me to show me you care.”