Unfortunately, Trevor had heard the conversation and he did want an answer. "So you went missing this morning, Sweetie? Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Maybe I was in the restroom or something."
He looked at her rather oddly, but said, "I've gotta get back out there. We've got a lot more to do yet today. I'll see you this evening." He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss before putting his hat on and heading back toward the barn.
Consuela returned then and handed her a message. Sam took it, saying, "Thank you, Consuela. I'll take care of this this afternoon."
Sam went back into the office and waited until she heard Consuela doing the dishes in the kitchen before sneaking back out the side door and back up into her hiding spot in the tree. Her afternoon went much as her morning did. Once again, when she saw them quitting for the day she climbed back down out of the tree and back into the house. Again she quickly went to the computer.
Trevor came into the office looking tired, but extremely sexy. She went over to meet him at the door, reaching up to meet his descending lips. "I smell like my cattle right now, Sweetheart. I'm going to take a shower, then I'll be back. I'll give you a real kiss then."
"Oooh, that sounds nice," Sam sighed, "although the scent of you with a touch of cattle isn't at all hard to take." She reached up and kissed his cheek again as he turned to leave.
He chuckled as he said, "You really do like living on a ranch, don't you?"
"I love it," she admitted. "And I love you, with or without a little cattle scent mixed in."
He stopped and turned back toward her, a big smile on his face. He retraced his footsteps until he was standing in front of her again. He gently took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes as he said, "Sam, I'm really glad you get to live on a ranch again because I can see how much you really do like it. I want to always be able to give you things that mean this much to you. I want you to be happy and safe more than I want anything in this world. I love you, Sam." He leaned down and kissed her lips gently, but very passionately."
He pulled away and said, "Now I really do have to go shower. See you in a bit," and left.
Supper was an entertaining time for Sam, as the men talked about their afternoon's activities. When they were about done eating, finishing desert, Trevor asked, "So, Sam, what did you do today?"
Sam's head jerked up to look at him. He'd never asked her that before and she heard something in his voice that she couldn't quite identify. She nonchalantly answered, "Oh, you know, mostly worked on the computer."
Without missing a bite of his pie he asked, "Was it hard to do that from your perch in the tree?"
Sam dropped her fork and looked at him. Grant and Consuela looked at each other, both totally perplexed. They looked at Trevor and Sam and saw the look between them. Sam quietly asked, "How did you know?"
"The sun caught the lens on your binoculars. I had to look to see what the glare was coming from. To say I was shocked to see you sitting up that high in that huge tree is a bit of an understatement." Their eyes met and held a few moments.
Consuela said, "I'm going to do the dishes. Grant, would you mind helping me take the dishes to the kitchen?"
"Not at all. As a matter of fact, I'm not doing anything special this evening. I'll just help you do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Sam, why don't you and the boss take a walk or something?"
Trevor quickly said, "Thank you both, I appreciate it. Sam and I are going to take a walk to the guesthouse. We have a couple things we need to discuss."
Sam knew better than to object. Instead, she took his proffered hand and walked with him, hand in hand, although he was holding hers tighter than she would have preferred, through the kitchen and down the walk out back. Once inside, he took them to the living room, where he sat on the couch, sitting her on his lap.
She hadn't said a word yet. He wondered what was going through her mind. He also wondered whether she'd share it with him.
Not one to draw things out much, he started right in. "Sam, I want to know what you were thinking, but first I want you to know what I was thinking. When I first saw you there I was upset. I was scared to death that you'd fall out."
"But I've ––"
"Ssshh, let me finish, please. I thought about it and realized that you've probably been climbing trees since you were a spoiled little girl. I also realized then how badly you wanted to be out there with us. I was proud of you for not going out."
"I wanted to at least go out to watch, but I didn't want to worry you." She dropped her head as she said, "Apparently I worried you anyway."
"Yes, you did," he said sternly. "When I saw you up there my heart about stopped." His voice gentled then as he said, "But then I realized you were probably doing that so I wouldn't worry about you."
"So how mad are you?"
He chuckled as he said, "It depends on when you ask me. I think about you up there in that tree, high enough to really get hurt if you fell and I'm angry. Then I think about you watching it from there instead of closer so I wouldn't worry and my anger dissipates a bit." He had a frown on his face as he said, "But one thing that I think about that always upsets me is that you didn't talk to me about it."
"What?"
"Sam, I want you to be happy. If watching the branding meant that much to you, I wish you had told me that. We could have talked about it."
"But I was afraid you'd say no, I couldn't go out there and watch because you'd still be worried about me. I didn't want to put you at risk because you weren't concentrating on what you were doing, so I figured if I watched from here you wouldn't know, so you wouldn't worry about me."
"I understand, but you didn't even give me a chance to solve the problem. You must not have much faith in me."
"I didn't think there was any other solution."
"But again, you didn't even give me a chance."
"What would you have said?"
"I would have suggested you watch from the outside patio off of my bedroom upstairs."
Sam looked like she'd seen a ghost. He gave her a hug and said, "Honey, if you were there I could look up and see the little woman that owns my heart, but know she's safe. Tomorrow while we finish the process that's where I suggest you watch from. You'll be able to see as well as from the tree, but I won't have to worry about you falling."
She was quiet a moment, before softly saying, "I never even thought of that."
"That's because you've never been in my bedroom, so you've never been out on the deck. You don't know what the view is like from there. I'll take you out there tomorrow morning and you can watch from there."
"Thank you, Trevor."
"You're welcome." He kissed her forehead before saying, "But we need to discuss a few things here and make sure they never happen again."
"That means you're going to ––"
"That means you're going to bed with a sore butt tonight." She sighed and pouted. "Before you get yourself in trouble for pouting, I suggest we get started."
He helped her stand in front of him and made quick work of unfastening her jeans and pulling them down. She found herself over his leg again, her upper body lying on the couch before she could object. He handed her a pillow from the couch saying, "We have a lot to discuss, Honey. It's a nice night out and the hands are probably all sitting outside enjoying the cool breeze. You may want to scream into the pillow before we're done."
She swallowed hard as she took the pillow. That didn't sound good at all. By now, though, she knew not to argue with him during a spanking, so she didn't say anything, just steeled herself and vowed to think of the aftercare. She could get through this.
Once she was over his lap, exactly how he wanted her, he lowered her panties, baring the cutest, most spankable bottom he'd ever seen. He'd never tire of spanking her, though he would prefer to give her a much different kind of spanking. Some day he would, he was sure, but for now he took a deep breath and prepared to do what he knew he had to do.
He started
the spanking with quick, crisp swats covering her entire bottom. Once the initial warming was accomplished, he began his talk. "Samantha, we're going to talk about a few things, so I want you to listen carefully. Do you hear me?"
"Yes."
"Good. We're going to be talking about your safety again."
"But I've been climbing trees since I was a kid. I've never gotten hurt doing it."
Trevor gave her six swats, harder than any yet, to the tender place where her bottom met her thighs.
"Ooowww! Trevor, no, that hurts!"
"I said I want you to listen, not argue."
"Sorry."
"Now, let's try this again." He started spanking as he said, "We're going to be talking about your safety again. I'm glad you haven't been hurt climbing trees before, but it's still a risk, there's still an obvious chance of injury. But what I had in mind when I said we were going to be talking about your safety is that you don't take your safety seriously. You do things without even considering that it could be dangerous."
He was still spanking while talking and though he knew she was feeling it, he could also tell she was considering his words. "For instance, when you decided to climb that tree, did you even stop and think for one second that it could be dangerous?"
He waited, but got no answer. Six more good swats to her sit spots later, she yelled, "No! I'm sorry." She started sobbing and he knew she was being honest. Just as he'd thought, it had never entered her mind. He talked about that for a bit and how that was going to change.
He stopped the spanking for a moment, resting his hand on her bare bottom. "Have we covered your safety sufficiently now, or should we go over it again?"
"No. No, I get it," she cried.
"Good. From now on I expect you to stop and think about your safety before doing things like climbing into a tree like that."
"I will, I promise."
"Okay. We have one more thing to talk about before this spanking is over."
Chapter 10
Trevor rubbed her bare bottom, which was dark pink now. As much as he hated to, he knew it would be red before this spanking was over. Anxious for it to be done, he told her, "The other thing we have to talk about tonight is the fact you didn't talk to me. Honey, I want to fix any problems you have, but I can't fix it if you don't tell me about it. You have to at least give me a chance to fix it."
"But I didn't think there was anything you could do."
"You didn't think there was anything you could do, but you didn't trust me enough to see if there was anything I could do."
She started crying again, as she said, "It's not really about trust. I'm just not used to anyone ––" She paused, looking for the words she wanted.
"You're not used to anyone telling you what to do and expecting you to listen to them."
"That's not what I meant."
"Maybe not, but it's the truth. You're not used to anyone suggesting anything to you, or telling you to do or not to do something, even though it's for your own good. And you're especially not used to someone expecting you to listen to them when they tell you these things." He rubbed her bottom, easing a bit of the sting, as he said, "Well, that's changed now, Sam. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I do care. And I will do whatever I have to do to keep you safe, even if that means spanking you every day."
Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she listened to his words. It wasn't the words as much as the sincerity she felt behind them. He really did love her and he really was going to protect her.
He patted her bottom. "When I tell you things, like to be more mindful of your own safety, I say it for a reason, Sam."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Your safety is something I don't take lightly. I want you to trust me, Samantha. Trust me enough to give me a chance to solve your problems in a safe way. That's one lesson you need to learn and I hope you learn it now." With that he started spanking her again. This time, though, he'd said what he planned to say, so he spanked her hard and fast.
He knew it hurt, but he meant to teach her this lesson once and for all. He continued to quickly and firmly redden her bare bottom, knowing she'd be reminded of this lesson the next day or two when she sat down. When she started yelling louder, he reminded her to use her pillow, which she did.
She not only screamed into her pillow now, but she fought with everything she had. She squirmed and kicked and tried to roll off his lap. He held her tight, but she gave it a valiant effort. He continued to spank and watched as she slowly and reluctantly gave up the fight. That's what he'd been waiting for. He wanted her to give in, to accept that this was one thing she couldn't control. When she did that, the spanking ended. He rubbed her back gently while she caught her breath. She was sobbing and it slowly ended while he rubbed her back.
When she had regained a bit of control of her breathing, he gently rolled her over and onto his lap, pulling her into his chest, where she immediately buried her face. Her arms circled his neck and she cried her heart out. He held her tight, whispering, "I love you, Sweetie. It's over and we're good again. You cry it out now, I'll hold you and take care of you. You're safe here, just relax."
He held her for a full ten minutes while she calmed down. He kept his arms around her, talking softly into her ear, assuring her she was safe and he loved her.
"Are you okay now?" he asked, when she grew quiet.
"No. My butt has never hurt like this."
"Will you pay more attention to your safety now?"
"Oh, yeah," she said sincerely.
"Good." He hugged her to him a bit tighter. "Because your safety is very, very important to me. I love you too much to risk losing you to something that could have easily been prevented." He felt her relax a bit until he said, "And I'd hate to have to do that again, but I will if you continue to ignore your safety."
She immediately sat up straighter, looking at him. "What?"
"You heard me, Samantha," he warned in his stern voice. She knew he meant every word he said when he used that voice. "If you ignore your safety again I will blister your butt again. I'd really rather not have to do that to you, but if you persist, so will I." Running his fingers through her hair, he asked, "Do you understand, Sweetheart?"
"Yes."
"That's my girl. Now, unless you're too tired, I want to talk to you about you wanting to do more on the ranch."
"Okay."
"Are you sure you're okay to talk now, or do you need to go to bed and talk in the morning?"
"I'm good now."
"Are you sure? I know you're tired."
"I know, but this is important to me."
"I know. It is to me, too. Because of that, though, will you please give me a few days to think about it?" He could tell she was disappointed, but he said, "My first instinct is to say no, you're safer staying in here. But then I thought a bit more and I understand that your father let you do a lot on the ranch and it means a lot to you. Am I right so far?"
"Yes."
He tugged her to him a bit tighter and kissed her forehead. "Seeing how important it is to you, if you'll give me a few days to think about it, I may be able to come up with a compromise we can both live with at first and we'll see how it goes."
He could tell she was disappointed, but at the same time, happy he wasn't just saying no. He explained, "Please don't think I'm doubting your skills. I'm really not. It's just that growing up I was taught to take care of women, especially the woman you love. I've also been taught that ranching is a man's job, not because a woman couldn't do it, but because it's hard work. You protect women, take care of them and that includes doing the hard work for them."
Trevor could tell she was listening to him carefully and was glad when she started slowly nodding her head. He hoped she understood. Finally, she said, "I think I see what you're saying. As I'm thinking about it now, Dad let me do what I wanted to do, but the ranch hands always did the hard physical stuff."
"Well, I'm glad to at least know that; that someone else did
the heavy physical lifting. I'll keep that in mind while I give it some serious thought." Looking at her he added, "If you're willing to give me a few days to think it through?"
"Now that you explained why you have a problem with it, yeah, I can give you time to think. But will you also consider letting me go out riding alone?"
His eyebrows rose as he asked, "You don't like when we go riding together?"
Snuggling into his chest a little tighter, she said, "I love when we go riding. But sometimes I have something on my mind that I need to think through and that's always been how I do my best thinking."
He kissed her forehead as he said, "Then I'll give that some thought, too. Be patient with me, Honey, I'm not used to women having the skill level and experience you do."
Looking up at him and turning red, she said, "I can be patient with you if you'll be patient with me. Don't give up on me."
"Oh, Honey, I won't ever give up on you. I'm very proud of you. This whole thing is all new to you, I know, and I'm proud of how you've accepted it." He showed her just how proud he was as he cradled her face in his hands and gave her a very passionate kiss. They talked more, cuddling the whole time. He knew it had been a pretty hard spanking and lots of cuddling afterward seemed to put her in a content, happy mood for a while.
It also made her sleepy, so when she yawned the second time he went to the door, reminding her to lock it after he left. He bent down and gave her a kiss meant to invoke good dreams while she slept and left.
As he was getting ready to go to bed himself he got a phone call from Clay. "Hey, buddy, how are you doing?"
Clay answered, "Doing good. How are you and Sam?"
"We're good. Have you been able to find anything yet about Sam's dad or stepmother?"
"That's why I'm calling you. I'll tell you what I've found and you tell me if you want me to go on, investigate further. Her dad died of a heart attack, according to the autopsy. From what I've heard from friends, though, no one ever knew he had any kind of heart problem."
"Curious."
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