by Megan McCoy
Was he mad still? Maybe she should just go to the bathroom and compose herself? She didn’t know what to do. She’d never been punished like that before. Miserable and sore, she pulled her panties up, and then her jeans, wincing at the burn in her bottom, it felt swollen it hurt so much. Man, he’d been serious. She wasn’t going to sit well for a few days. No horseback riding for her today. She could not look at him. Couldn’t face him.
He simply stood there, waiting, for what? She tried to calm her hitching breaths, and wiped her wet cheeks, sniffled a few times, then said, staring at her feet, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Apparently, that had been what he wanted to hear, because he took a step toward her and pulled her into his arms. “It’s over now. We won’t talk about it again, okay?” He kissed the top of her head as she gave another broken sob and nodded into his chest. She couldn’t stand this. Nothing in the world had been that horrible—even giving birth hadn’t been that humiliating, though she wasn’t certain she was talking about the spanking or the lie she’d told. She didn’t want to do either one, ever again.
“Are you going to do that every time I’m naughty?” She finally asked, her voice hitching.
Matt laughed, softly, “I don’t know. Maybe. Every time stands on its own. You planning to be naughty often?”
Liz shook her head hard. “No, sir!” she said emphatically. “I plan to be very good.”
“At least till your butt feels better,” he teased.
“No, I’ll remember. That wasn’t real fun,” she finally raised his head to look up at him, still mortified, over the spanking, her reaction, over the money.
“It wasn’t supposed to be. Punishment is a deterrent.”
Nodding, Liz agreed with him. She sure didn’t want one of those again, ever. Yet, she realized if she stayed with Matt, they would happen if not fairly often, then regularly. Apparently, she had herself a hot spanking cowboy. Spankings weren’t as much fun or as hot as the ones in the books. They hurt and you acted like an idiot when they were happening. She wasn’t a fan of either being hurt or an idiot.
Matt hugged her again, “I’ve got to get to work. You go wash your face, and then do whatever it was you were going to do this morning. I should be back for lunch. You want to eat here or the mess hall?”
“I’ll cook us something,” she said, not wanting to face anyone else, though, of course no one knew. “Will see you then.”
She watched as he strode out the door. Well, that had gone… somehow. Her brain still spun in circles. Her man, her guy, the man she loved, actually had turned her over his knee and blistered her butt.
And she’d gone willingly over his lap. Let him do it. Accepted it. It hadn’t been fun at all. Or sexy at all. But.
For some strange reason, it felt right.
And that just had to be wrong.
Chapter Two
Blaze leaned back and looked up at the softly rolling hills. This was his life. This was what he loved. He didn’t want anything else. Some of his high school friends had gone on to college. Many had gone to work on their family farms or on his family’s ranch. His dad and granddad were the biggest employer in town. He’d been born here, lived here till he was six, then his mom divorced his dad and moved to St. Louis, where her family lived. His mom loved the big city. He loved her. But he wanted to be out here. He just never felt right in town, content or like he belonged there.
After that, he’d done six years of back and forth, between city and country. Between mom and dad. Between where he was supposed to be and where he wanted to be. Finally, the summer he was twelve, he just decided he was going to stay. He still loved his mom and saw her often, texted her, they called each other, skyped, but he wasn’t going back to live in St. Louis. He called his mom, and told her first. Luckily, his folks were sane, and both of them let him do what he needed to do. He had a few friends whose parents weren’t as amicable and they had many worse years than he did.
Blaze knew this was his life. He only wanted to be here. For the rest of his life.
For the first time in his life, though, he hoped, worried, actually, that he’d be able to stay. This was a small, stolid town. His family, like it or not, was very important in the area, which had never bothered him before. They had a reputation. Rose’s Ranch was the biggest employer in town. Like the songs said, everyone knew his name.
Blaze sighed, and turned slightly, “Gabriel? Gabe? What are we going to do?”
“Get married and live happily ever after?” Gabe snuggled into the crook of his arm as if he belonged there. He did belong there. Blaze knew it. There was no doubt in his mind. He settled his head on Gabe’s and stroked his arm. He’d loved him since high school, but he couldn’t come out. Couldn’t tell anyone. He was a Lyon male.
A Lyon man was strong, confident, hot, and not gay.
Except that he was.
His dad wouldn’t understand. His grandpa would not be able to deal with it.
How would the ranch hands and the town handle this?
“Blaze, you are not that important,” Gabe told him, not for the first time. “Life will go on. You are still you, you aren’t different. You can still go to work. You can still be the hot cowboy the tourists drool over. I drool over you, after all.” Gabe kissed him and Blaze shut his eyes in wondrous happiness. “The world won’t end. People will adjust.”
“We can move to St. Louis,” Blaze said, cautiously. “No one knows us there.”
Gabe laughed and Blaze wanted nothing more than to hear that laugh for the rest of his life. “Silly,” Gabe said affectionately, and pulled Blaze even closer. “We aren’t moving. We like being cowboys. Did you also forget I have a seasonal job that sort of involves teaching math to kids all school year? I already signed the contract for next year.”
“It’s not your family business that might be in trouble,” Blaze protested.
“Oh my god! Yes. Your grandpa is going to go bankrupt and no one will ever come here again because you love me!” Gabe was being dramatic and Blaze knew it, but still, he didn’t seem to understand.
Blaze sighed, and pulled his guy closer. He loved it here at the ranch. Loved what he did. Loved everything about it. He never wanted to leave.
But he couldn’t figure out how to marry Gabe, which was what they both wanted, and… and what? Keep his family? His job? Why wasn’t Gabe worried about his teaching job?
“Okay,” Gabe said, softly. “Let’s both pick one person to tell. We can start there. I just know I want to be with you always, and I’m not willing to be in the bunk below you anymore. I’m tired of the studio apartment I’ve been renting, which is why I let the lease go and moved to the bunkhouse this summer. I want to share your bed and I want us to have a house we live in, and just belong to you, and have everyone know you are mine.”
One person? “I can’t think of anyone,” Blaze said. His mom? Maybe.
“Well, let’s think on it while we’re gone. One good thing, we get to share a tent this week on the camp out. Three nights together. Just like adults.”
“Yeah, just me and you and twenty tourists and my teenage almost stepbrother,” Blaze said, dryly. “That will be fun times.”
“Life is always fun with you around,” Gabe said, and rolled over on top of him, while Blaze laughed.
* * *
Liz winced as she kneeled down to weed and dead head the roses. How did kneeling make her sore butt throb? Deciding to ignore it, she focused on the roses. Almost time to get them ready for winter. Some of them had another good month or two left though, but she loved to see them all gorgeous and blooming and the air smelt heavenly. Someone should bottle this, in a way that didn’t smell fake.
“Hi, Liz,” she heard a friendly voice call out.
“Hi, Cassandra,” she said, almost shyly. Cassandra was only a few years older than she was, and yet she seemed to run the entire ranch effortlessly and acted as if she’d lived there forever. Liz knew that she and Jeb had a wedding right h
ere last year, though.
“Oh, you can call me Candy if you want,” the blonde said, sitting cross-legged in the dirt watching her prune. “Looks like you are family now.”
Liz laughed, “Well, I’m hoping so, but might be too soon to tell.”
“Yeah, well, Lyon men don’t look at every woman like Matt looks at you,” Candy said, leaning over to smell the roses.
“He is kind of amazing,” Liz admitted. “Sometimes this all feels like a fairy tale.”
“For me, too,” Candy agreed. “I came down for a summer job, and ended up with the hottest cowboy alive and a job for life.” She looked down at her boot-clad feet and said, almost sadly, “I don’t remember the last time I wore real heels.”
“That’s one thing I don’t miss,” Liz laughed. “Or getting up at three in the morning to go to work.”
“I remember three in the morning,” Candy laughed. “I think it’s hiding with my black pumps and sparkly spring sandals.”
They both looked up as they heard hoof beats approaching. Jeb Lyon. The man in charge. Liz swallowed hard. She’d talked to him a few times, but only with Matt around to be a buffer. He intimidated her. What would he think if knew what Matt had done to her earlier—or why he’d done it? Liz felt quite certain that she did not want him to know, either one of those things.
“Hey, pretty ladies,” he smiled down at them from atop the huge horse. “Busy this morning?”
“Yeah, I’m always busy, because my boss is a slave driver,” Candy said, smiling back up at him in a way that made Liz just a little jealous. She wanted to be that confident with Matt.
“Bet he treats you good, though,” Jeb said, kicking his foot out of the stirrup. “You doing fine, Miss Liz? My boy treating you properly?”
“Yes, sir,” she said almost overcome with shyness. Weird. Why, she wondered.
“You tell me if you need anything or if he doesn’t behave himself,” Jeb said, then turned his eyes back to his wife. “Come on. If you aren’t too sore to sit, I’ll give you a ride to the lake. Someone needs you down there to straighten out an issue.”
Gracefully, Candy rose, and Liz wondered at her blush. “I’m fine. We’ll see you later, Liz. We need some girl time soon so we can talk about these guys.”
Jeb reached down and grabbed her hand, as Candy all but flew behind him on the saddle. Apparently they had done that before. “Nice to see you again, Miss Liz.” She almost expected him to tip his hat to her, but he didn’t. “You and me, we’ll have lunch sometime and see who we can trash talk, okay?”
“Hey,” Candy smacked him then gave him a hug.
Liz nodded mutely, watching as Candy snuggled in behind him and wondered if the reason she was sore was the same reason Matt had given her.
Nah. That would be ridiculous. What could elegant, wonderful Candy ever do, to deserve a spanking? She’d probably been working too hard. That, Liz could understand. Candy was all over the ranch, doing everything from helping Mariah in the kitchen, to brushing the horses, to organizing all the guests and staff. She was the go to person for any problem solving, from clients to staff, and everything in between. How did she do it?
It just occurred to her that if she did stay with Matt, she’d be the woman in charge of the ranch some year. Did she want to do that? That was a rather scary thought. She wasn’t a good people soother at all, unless she had them in a recliner chair and her gloved fingers in their mouths. Well, it was nothing she had to worry about now. Right now, she just had to make sure she and Matt would be together for the long haul.
She started clipping the roses again, getting all the dead stuff off. Honestly, she wouldn’t have moved her son here if she hadn’t thought they were going to be forever. It just wasn’t something she’d do. But. Now that Matt had found out about her secret, and not only paid it for her but punished her for it, would he still want her? Maybe she was too much trouble for him? She needed to work harder to be better for him. To behave and be the perfect woman. As much as she could be, as good as Candy was? Don’t be silly, Liz, she laughed at herself. Just do what you can do and don’t strive for perfection.
Mind racing, she thought of things she could do, and how she would act. She didn’t want to mess this up. She liked it here, and yes, she loved Matt. She wanted Ben to grow up here, safe and happy and surrounded by strong men who could show him how to be a grown up. She wanted him to live on this ranch, surrounded by all this fresh air, in this decent school district with no gangs, and lots of hard work to strengthen his character. Plus, good Internet, because a boy needed his gaming, after all.
She would do whatever it took to make sure that Matt was happy with them from here on out.
First thing to do, go clean up and make him a decent lunch. What did she have in the house to make him happy and give him energy for the afternoon? Stopping by the ranch’s vegetable garden, she peered around. She’d worked here a few times, weeding and harvesting, helping out, and Mariah, who was in charge of the kitchen, told her to pick what she wanted anytime. The garden was there for people to use.
Liz picked a red and green pepper, then headed back to the cabin, inhaling their fresh scent. She knew she had tortillas and leftover beef from last night’s steak on the grill. She’d make some beef fajitas for her guy. That should put him in a good mood. Make him see that she aimed to please.
Almost giggling, she thought of her independent self, only wanting to please her guy. Was there something wrong with that? She didn’t think so. She could adapt and adjust and just be as pleasing to him as possible. It was her new plan. She wanted him to love her and wanted to stay here.
Surely there was nothing wrong with that either, was there?
* * *
Inhaling deeply as he walked in the door, Matt smiled. He loved the smell of onions and peppers. He’d hoped that Liz hadn’t been mad and pouting about her punishment this morning. He didn’t regret it. Knowing it had been the right thing to handle it, he was confident in that she got what she needed. He knew women. He hadn’t spanked many, other than in fun, but he just sensed it was the right way to handle Liz. But, really, he’d been concerned about her reaction.
He’d spanked Kimberly, Blaze’s mom, twice, maybe three times, but never very seriously, more of a mood breaker or a stress reliever than punishing. His lips twitched, because he was quite certain he’d be spanking Liz much more regularly. He didn’t like punishing her, but, it seemed a great way to resolve conflict, and seemed to make an impression. She’d handled everything alone too long, he needed her to let him help carry her burdens and to be the one he turned to when she needed anything.
He sure didn’t want to fight about money, of all the stupid things in the world to fight about. There was simply no reason to, if they were both honest about what they had, didn’t have and owed. It was only money. Like the guy on the radio said, “Creditors can’t kill you.” Neither could a butt blistering, but he knew both were a major shock to your system.
If he knew women, and he really didn’t, he knew, she would be trying to make up with him. Letting him know she forgave him for spanking her. Hoping he forgave her. Making him a good lunch. He’d probably have over the top sex tonight. Then tomorrow things would be back to normal. He didn’t mind this routine at all. It actually felt right and normal.
“Hey, Baby, I’m home. Lunch smells good,” he called out. “Missed you!” Reassurance was what she needed. He did know that.
“In here,” he heard her call from the kitchen just out of sight of the front door, past the living room.
He headed back that way, inhaling the deep rich scent of beef and vegetables, listening to his stomach growl, but then forgot about his stomach as he walked into the kitchen.
There was his modest, rather shy, woman dressed only in one of his chambray shirts, and apparently nothing else that he could see as she bent over and took something out of the oven.
Her legs seemed to go for miles and he could see… bareness? Under the shirt where a bit
of dark fluff used to be. Was there this morning. Had she shaved? Why? He saw a couple pink splotches, and a small bruise on her ass as she pulled food out and then stood up and his shirt covered it again.
“Well.” Oh that was brilliant, he thought, standing there and staring.
“Beef fajitas?” She asked.
“Sounds good,” he managed to say. They did smell good, but he wanted to smell her more. “You warm enough?” Yeah, he was so going to blow her away with his brilliance.
In return, she put the hot tray down on the stove and rolled up one sleeve that had slipped down. “Seem to be. You?”
“You got anything on under that?”
Turning around, she reached way up to get a couple plates out of the cabinet, rising on her tiptoes and the shirt riding up.
“Just a sore bottom,” she pouted back. “My jeans hurt too much to wear.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, automatically. Was he? Hell, no.
Scooping a couple of the sizzling fajitas onto his plate, she handed it to him. “I’m sorry you had to. I’m planning to be very good from now on.”
“That was the point,” he said, still not wanting to sit down with his food. Maybe he should eat first then take her to bed. Or just bend her over the table. That sounded like a great idea. Fajitas were best served hot, but other things were hotter.
He sat down and said, “Aren’t you joining me?”
Liz hesitated. “Those chairs look pretty hard.”
“Damn, woman, if you don’t sit down, you’re going to make something else hard,” he growled.
She giggled and sat down, gingerly. Had he really spanked her that hard? He needed to check out the damage after a bit. “I think I failed if it’s not hard already,” she cut a bite of her food, and slowly touched it with her tongue as if testing it for heat. Or teasing him insanely.
She wiggled, and unbuttoned the top button on her—his—shirt, and wrinkled her nose. “Maybe I need a pillow.”
Matt didn’t say a word, but ate his fajita in three bites, burning his tongue in the process. It was probably good but who cared. He had other things on his mind.