“You could let me go,” Wade suggested. “Nothing all that bad happened. Not like I stole money or anything.”
“I could, yes,” the marshal allowed, “but that would be irresponsible of me, don’t you think?”
Wade’s irritation grew. He didn’t like being in suspense over his fate. He rose from his chair. “Look, Marshal, I’m sorry I stole the bread. I was hungry. Just give me a seeing-to and be done with it. I’ll move on and won’t steal again. Wasn’t planning on staying in this two-horse town anyway. I got better places to be.”
“Sit your ass down,” the marshal ordered, more sharply than he had spoken previously.
The harsh edge to the marshal’s voice caused Wade to obey immediately. He glared at him, now fearful once again in addition to being annoyed.
“Believe it or not, I am giving you a seeing-to, just not the kind you expect,” the marshal explained, a bit more gently. “You are a child without a home. I don’t think it would be wise to put you back on the streets where you more than likely will steal again, either here or in the next town.”
Wade’s hands formed into fists, and his heartbeat quickened with the news that the marshal had no intention of letting him go.
The marshal must have seen the fear in his expression. “I’m not going to punish you, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m not in the habit of beating starving children.”
Wade let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Life had afforded him few mercies, and he certainly hadn’t expected mercy at the hands of the severe-looking lawman.
“I have five kids at home,” the marshal said. “The oldest is just a year or so younger than you.”
Wade stared down at the faded denim covering his knees. He failed to understand the marshal’s reason for telling him about his kids.
As though reading his mind, the marshal said, “I’m lenient with children, as I have a whole brood of them at home. I believe children should be given second chances, and third, fourth, and fifth chances too.”
Wade gritted his teeth. He would never admit it to anyone, but the jealously he felt for boys and girls with parents was sometimes so painful he could hardly bear it. The nausea from earlier turned his stomach once again. “Good for you and your kids,” Wade mumbled resentfully.
“Were your parents good to you before you lost them?” the marshal asked.
The frank question took Wade aback, and it immediately made him defensive. “Of course they were,” he lied. “Why would you ask that?”
“I’m trying to get a read on you. You’re very angry, it seems, and I know for a fact that not all parents are kind to their children. You wouldn’t be the first boy I’ve met who was unfortunate in that regard and who acted angry on account of it.”
“You don’t know anything about me or my parents,” Wade spat, and turned his head to study the bare wall. He was alarmed to feel tears prickling his eyes, and he prayed the marshal didn’t notice. Wade never cried, not even when he’d dislocated his shoulder or when his ma had died of typhoid or when he’d been made an example of at the orphanage. Wade couldn’t understand why the marshal’s words had inspired such emotion.
“Right.” The marshal cleared his throat. “You have two choices. You can either stay the night in the cell back there,” he said, jabbing a thumb toward the door behind him, “or you can stay the night at my house. I have an extra cot you can use if you want to stay at my place.”
Wade’s gaze snapped to the marshal’s eyes. “You said you weren’t going to punish me. What do you call throwing me in jail?”
“I call it keeping you safe and out of trouble.” His expression was implacable, and Wade could see that the man’s mind was made up.
He wouldn’t admit it, but a small part of him felt pleased by the marshal’s invitation to his house. The marshal was the first person Wade could remember who wasn’t treating him as an annoyance to be cast aside.
“Guess I’ll go home with you, if those are my only two choices,” Wade mumbled.
“Jolly good,” the marshal said, standing. He walked around the desk and stared down at Wade. His eyes grew hard as he issued a warning. “You behave yourself at my house. No stealing, no brawling, no disrespect. That clear?”
Wade swallowed. “Yeah.”
The marshal held out his hand to shake on it. “That’s ‘yes, Mr. Shaw’ or ‘yes, Clyde’ will be fine too.”
Wade placed his hand in the marshal’s. “Yes, Mr. Shaw.”
For the first time, Clyde smiled, which caused the last of Wade’s fear to fade away. “And what’s your name, son?”
“Wade Hunter.”
“All right then, Wade Hunter. Come along. I’ll introduce you to my family.”
***
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About Amelia Smarts
Amelia Smarts is a USA Today bestselling author who writes kinky romance novels containing domestic discipline, spanking, and Dominance/submission. Usually her stories involve a cowboy, and they always involve a man’s firm hand connecting with a woman’s naughty backside. Amelia holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in creative writing and English. She loves to read, which allows her writing to be influenced by many different genres in addition to romance, including mystery, adventure, history, and suspense.
Amelia’s accolades include:
Golden Flogger Award Finalist for Best BDSM Book of 2017 (Emma’s Surrender)
Voted #1 Favorite Historical Romance Author in The Bashful Bookwhore’s 2017 Poll
Voted Best New Spanking Romance Author in the 2016 Spanking Romance Reviews Reader’s Poll
Winner: Best Sweet Spanking Romance (Fetching Charlotte Rose) in the 2016 Spanking Romance Reviews Reader’s Poll
Runner-up: Best Historical Western Romance (Claimed by the Mountain Man) in the 2016 Spanking Romance Reviews Reader’s Poll
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More Books by Amelia Smarts
Daddy Takes Charge
Jackson Kane has always had a special place in his heart for Lydia Morgan. After her father's death leaves her alone in the world, Jackson provides her with room and board in return for help around his ranch. But his generosity is met with one act of petulant rebellion after another, until she finally pushes him too far and he decides it is long past time to take her over his knee.
As embarrassing as it is to be spanked with her panties down like a naughty little girl, it is when Jackson makes her call him daddy that Lydia's cheeks truly blush crimson. But a bright red backside is just the start of Jackson's plans for Lydia, and soon he is bathing her, baring her in the most intimate way possible, and bringing her to a shameful climax right there in the tub.
Over the coming days, Jackson sets about teaching his little girl how easily her daddy can make her quiver with need, but when the ranch faces financial trouble can Lydia find a way to help?
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Cowboy Daddies: Two Western Romances
Part One by Amelia Smarts
Eighteen-year-old orphan Abigail Jones has been doing her best to survive while also saving money to put her younger sister through college one day, but when she takes up residence in an abandoned bunkhouse at a ranch she quickly ends up in trouble with the ranch’s owner.
After he catches Abigail trespassing and riding his favorite horse without permission, Clay Ashton scolds her thoroughly. He also makes it clear that she’ll be coming back to his house for a proper meal, whether she likes it or not, and when the beautiful, sassy girl refuses to accept his charity he doesn�
�t hesitate to take her over his knee for a sound spanking.
Though being punished like a naughty little girl leaves Abigail blushing crimson, she cannot deny her body’s reaction to Clay’s strict chastisement, and soon enough she is calling him daddy and promising to be good. Over the coming weeks she learns what it means to be guided, corrected, and cared for by a firm but loving daddy. But when her pride causes her to make a terrible mistake, can Clay show her that no matter what she will always be his little girl?
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Fetching Charlotte Rose
As soon as she steps off the train into the hot western sun, Charlotte Rose wonders if she has made a mistake. Leaving Boston to take a job as the schoolmarm of the small town of Weston, Arizona had seemed like a good idea, but the man sent to fetch her from the station almost changes her mind. The handsome but uncivilized brute who introduces himself as Max Harrison not only calls Charlotte by her first name, he even demands that she change her outfit.
Her humiliation is complete when, after ignoring his advice to put on something more suitable for the summer weather, she faints from the heat. To her utter shame, Charlotte is forced to endure being undressed down to her underthings to cool down, and worse still, Max warns her in no uncertain terms that any further foolishness will earn her a sound spanking on her bare bottom. Yet somehow, despite his threat to chastise her in such a barbaric fashion, Charlotte cannot deny that being in Max’s presence sets her heart fluttering like nothing ever has before.
Though she may be the feistiest woman he has ever laid eyes on, Max finds himself longing to see more of Charlotte—much more, in fact—and when he discovers that she feels the same way, he sets about courting her. But Weston is a very different place from Boston, and Max makes it clear to Charlotte that he will do whatever needs doing to keep his girl safe, even if that means taking her over his knee for a good, hard spanking as often as her behavior warrants it.
Charlotte’s love for Max grows deeper with each passing day, but she cannot help wondering if he sees her as nothing more than a silly girl in need of his constant protection, and matters come to a head when a violent, hateful man with a grudge against Max seeks to disrupt their lives. Will Charlotte’s pride be her undoing, or will she finally get the chance to prove herself to Max?
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His Little Red Lily
Lily has dreamed of performing on stage since she was a small child, and at the age of eighteen she approaches Jesse, the owner of the local saloon, to ask for a job singing and dancing for his customers. Lily has been secretly in love with Jesse ever since the day he took it upon himself to comfort her when she was in tears one day in town, and that only makes it more painful when he refuses to hire her, telling her that a saloon is no place for a sweet, innocent girl like her.
Determined to convince him to change his mind, Lily returns the next day. Within moments of stepping through the doors of Jesse’s establishment, however, she finds herself pulled over his knee for a good, hard spanking followed by an embarrassing scolding and a stern warning never to set foot in the saloon again.
Though Jesse tells her to forget about both him and the saloon and find herself a proper, respectable husband, he cannot keep Lily off his mind, even after she takes his advice to heart and begins courting the town’s self-righteous preacher. The situation comes to a head when Jesse catches the preacher in the midst of a vicious crime against one of the saloon girls.
Terrified for Lily’s safety, Jesse takes matters into his own hands and informs her of his feelings for her. He makes it clear that he considers it his duty to provide her with both the love and attention she craves as well as the firm discipline she has needed for so long. But with her former suitor bent on revenge and trying to run Jesse out of town, can he keep his little Lily safe and keep the saloon in business at the same time?
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Claimed by the Mountain Man
Times are hard in Montana in the mid-1800s, and when Nettie finds herself impoverished, desperate, and alone after the death of her husband, she flees the town of Helena to escape the clutches of the local saloon owner. But living off the land quickly proves much more difficult than she’d hoped, and after days without food she resorts to stealing from Jack Abrams, a gruff mountain man and trapper who lives a secluded, uncomplicated life in the woods.
Jack doesn’t take kindly to being stolen from and when he catches her red-handed, Nettie ends up lying naked over his knee for a long, hard spanking. To her surprise, however, after her punishment Jack offers her food and shelter in return for cooking, cleaning, and doing as she is told. But Nettie is determined to never rely on a man again, and with a belly full of food and renewed determination, she abandons him to take another shot at living in the woods on her own.
Jack knows the headstrong girl won’t survive without his help, especially when she chooses a grizzly’s winter cave as her shelter, and he can’t stand by and idly watch her demise. When his irritation with her foolish pride boils over, he decides it is time to show her how thoroughly a man can dominate a woman silly enough to venture into the woods alone. Jack’s stern chastisement and bold mastery of her body leave Nettie begging for more, but is she truly ready to give up her freedom to be claimed by the mountain man?
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Corralling Callie
For eighteen-year-old orphan Callie Broderick, going west as a mail-order bride seems to be the only hope she has for a decent husband. But when she sets out for the gold-mining town of Sacramento with nothing more than the clothes on her back and a stagecoach ticket, she quickly discovers that the trip will be quite a bit different than she expected.
As a former soldier and an experienced coachman, Jude Johnson is used to difficulties and dangers of all kinds during the arduous journey west, but he has never had to deal with trouble like Callie before. Not being the kind of man to kick a penniless orphan off his coach, he puts up with the sassy, disobedient girl for as long as he can, but when Callie’s antics put the lives of his passengers at risk Jude is forced to take matters into his own hands and spank her soundly.
The stern punishment leaves her thoroughly chastened and promising to behave, and Jude soon realizes that when she puts aside her foul-mouthed, defiant façade, the real Callie is as sweet and kind as she is beautiful. As the days pass, he takes it upon himself to guide her, care for her, and give her the loving discipline she so desperately needs, as often as she needs it. But when they reach their destination, will he be able to give her up?
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Emma’s Surrender
When twenty-year-old Emma Brookstone arrives in the town of Bannack, Montana, she seeks out the local marshal, intending to enlist his help in uncovering the truth regarding her father's murder two years earlier. Upon meeting the marshal, however, she is shocked and dismayed to discover that he is none other than the man who gunned her father down that fateful night.
Though Clive Brookstone was an evil man who needed killing, the knowledge that he left a young woman orphaned tore at Nathan Haskin's conscience from the moment he pulled the trigger, and he has secretly provided for Emma's needs since that day. Certain that hearing about her father's legacy of lawless violence would break her heart, he concealed it from her, but now that she has returned to Bannack her persistence eventually prompts him to tell her the full story.
To make matters more complicated, Nathan finds his desire to protect Emma quickly growing into a powerful need to tame and possess her, and when her foolish behavior puts her safety at risk he doesn't hesitate to take her in hand and spank her soundly. His stern chastisement leaves her furious yet helplessly aroused, and it isn't long before he claims her hard and thoroughly.
In her heart, Emma knows what Nathan tells her is true--that her father's death was just--but writhing in ecstasy as she is utterly dominated by the man who killed him fills her with shame nonetheless, and she does her best to deny her lust for the handsome marshal. Wil
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Mail-Order Grooms: The Complete Boxed Set Page 32