by Aubrey Cara
Enough was enough. She was obviously begging for a spanking and he was going to make sure she didn't sit for a week.
*** ***
Kat felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and didn't even move to glance and see who it was from. She had a feeling it was a text from Caleb letting her know her ass was getting painted red later. What sucked was knowing she deserved it; had subconsciously been begging for a butt blistering, and in a twisted way she even looked forward to it. Maybe then she wouldn't feel so out of control emotionally.
Kat kicked herself for leaving the house without so much as a goodbye. If she were being honest with herself, she'd admit that she'd snuck out. But she wasn't being honest with herself and she was taking out all her insecurities and fears on Caleb. It wasn't fair to him, but she just couldn't stop herself. Her stomach was sick. It had been in knots for weeks, ever since the last box of her stuff had been set down in Caleb's living room.
It had all started over Christmas. The holiday was one of the best she'd had in years. Her mom had gone down to Virginia to be with her sister and her sister’s partner Sally. Kat had stayed in Texas guilt free. Delia, her husband Jake, and their son Steven were staying with Jake's parents Di and Jack, out at the ranch. Which meant Kat got a week of much needed quality time with her bestie, Delia.
What she hadn't counted on was the longing looks Caleb had cast Delia's six months pregnant belly's way. Or the way he then looked at Kat's midriff like he was fantasizing about her belly being just as swollen with his kid.
Kat hadn't been the only one to notice. Jake ribbed him about it quite loudly and Caleb had just shrugged and smiled. That had been enough to make her double check her birth control to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. It wasn't that she didn't want kids as much as the thought of having kids punched her inner panic button into high alert.
Christmas day Caleb had asked her to move in with him. Part of her had wanted to scream yes, the other part of her—the part that could recall the exact second she witnessed the man's biological clock start ticking—was justifiably reluctant. She'd said if they were still going strong in a month and he still wanted her to live with him, then she'd move in. For some reason she'd never expected it would actually happen. And everyone had made it so damned easy.
The apartment manager had let her break her lease without penalty. She had gone down to the office with Caleb thinking that they would give her trouble and she could use it as an excuse not to move. No such luck. If that weren't bad enough, a whole bunch of the guys from the ranch offered to help her move. Who volunteered to help someone move? Her personal moving crew had her things moved out of her little apartment and into Caleb's house in under two hours.
She knew she was being illogical. For months she'd watched him laugh and joke with the guys at the ranch while longing to have that kind of easy camaraderie with him. She'd watched him work and nearly drooled on herself from the fantasies her overheated brain had conjured up.
Now that she had him and was a part of his life she realized it was better than anything she could have imagined.
She loved him and wanted to spend her life with him more than she'd wanted anything. She'd never been more sure of anything in her life. Which scared the hell out of her since she was indecisive about everything. How could she trust she wasn't making a huge mistake?
On top of that she'd already started her and Gigi's online store and things were selling well. Gigi was only too excited to be working with Kat and included in her son's life in a way that had been lacking for over a decade. Kat found out the space they wanted to lease for their store was priced very reasonably and there was no reason they couldn't be up and running in a few months' time. They were shooting for fall at the latest.
Everything was going great and she kept waiting for her bubble to burst. Determined to not let the rug slip out from under her, she'd started moving things along. She'd been picking fights with Caleb who'd turned into Mr. Compromise. He was ridiculously easy to live with. The poor man deserved so much better than her crazy ass. She'd been certifiable this afternoon when she started pulling out every piece of clothing in their room. She hadn't moved to put away anything in the bathroom all week.
Twice a day she'd wanted to pick up, and instead threw whatever towel was hanging up or wet onto the floor. Her behavior was surely a sign of insanity. Her mother was kind of loony. It was probably genetic. How else could she explain actively trying to sabotage her own happiness? Caleb's happiness also a little voice inside her whispered.
Caleb hadn't said he loved her, but she knew he did. She could feel it in every touch. Every time he looked at her like she was the most brilliant, beautiful woman on Earth. Every night he snuggled her close, kissed her hair and whispered, “forever and a day,” before drifting off to sleep. She had an idea that he was talking about them as a couple. Or maybe wanting that moment in time to last that long. However he meant it, the words never failed to make her want to turn and tell him how much she loved him and beg him never to leave her or stop loving her.
In a blinding flash she realized if she succeeded in pushing him away she wouldn't be the only one devastated. Caleb was constantly thinking of her, putting her first. Hell, he worked most weekends yet he came out at one, two in the morning to pick her up from her shift at Rusty Spur. He never complained, but she knew he was tired. He'd even said she could quit working altogether and focus on her new business. She refused to be wholly dependent on him and had kept her job at the bar. But had she wanted to, she could quit working right now and he'd happily take care of her.
What had she done to take care of him? Had she put him first at all this month or had she been wrapped up in her own mental drama? She was such a selfish cow. With an ill feeling she realized she'd let him down. Kat had promised to devote herself to giving their relationship a fighting chance. And here she was three months later trying to throw imaginary boulders in their path to happily ever after.
“Where the hell is Candice?”
John's youngest son Hank's words broke Kat from her road to self loathing. She was midway through her shift. It was Friday and everyone seemed to have spring fever. Hank was the same age as Kat, nearly as big as his dad, but where John was round and blotchy from too much food and alcohol, Hank was chiseled muscle and ruddy glow of health. He also had a shock of red hair and beard that made Kat wonder what his mom looked like. Kat had been wanting to ask which number wife his mother had been but she thought it might be rude. They hadn't worked together that much and weren't very good friends.
She looked around for Candice and shrugged at Hank. “I haven't seen her. She's probably out back having a smoke.”
“She's smoking again?” asked Hank, incredulously.
“I didn't know she quit.”
Hank growled low in his throat. Had Caleb made that sound, she knew she'd be two-point-one seconds from getting her hiney tenderized. Her butt cheeks involuntarily clenched in a way they never would have before being with Caleb. She was being silly. She doubted Hank would spank his fellow employee. Or maybe he was more of an employer. He was the owner's son. Either way, she didn't think he'd be spanking Candice. Not everybody was spanking obsessed, she reminded herself.
“Why don't I go check and see where's she at?” Kat said, heading toward the back of the bar.
“Let her know her ass is grass the next time I see her.”
Hank's threat made Kat wonder if perhaps she'd erred in her judgment of him. Maybe spanking was a Texan thing.
As Kat walked through the little kitchen on her way to the back door, she couldn't help but miss Mimi. Working at the bar wasn't the same without her. The only plus about Mimi working at the office and Kat not being at the ranch was they now saw each other much more often outside of work. They'd been meeting for lunch at least once a week for the past two months.
The night air was a mixture of fresh grass scents of the bar's country setting and the rotting waste of the big garbage container to the right of the
back door. She could hear Candice's whiny voice and almost called out as she rounded the corner before she heard a man's voice that knocked all the air out of her lungs.
She could place that voice anywhere. It haunted her. You're going to get fucked you little fat bitch, rang in her ears and she fought vertigo. Out of sight, she leaned up against the dumpster trying to get her breathing under control.
She couldn't be sure it was him. People's voices were similar. Besides, it had been months ago. She listened to Candice argue with the man another minute before Kat worked up enough courage to peek around the corner. The couple was standing in front of a familiar black truck. The same black truck she'd watched tear out of the parking lot after her attack. Was her attacker Candice's boyfriend? Had that little bitch known this entire time who he'd been and not said anything?
Kat's vision momentarily clouded with righteous indignation. She almost missed the man's hand cracking down across Candice's cheek before he grabbed her arm. Candice struggled.
“Get the fuck off me, Cody. I said we're through. I'm never taking your shit again,” Candice said.
“We're through whenever the fuck I say we're through. Get in the fucking truck now, bitch,” he said.
“Are you high, Cody? Why don't you go do another line of coke and let me get back to work. You're going to get me fired,” Candice said.
When he hit Candice again, the pretty blonde fell to the gravel in much the same way Kat had months ago. The sight snapped her out of her trance of being an observer. Heeding the sudden call for action she whipped open the back door and grabbed the first thing her eyes landed on. Mop in hand, she threw open the door between the kitchen and the bar and yelled, “Somebody call the cops!”
She had no idea if anyone had heard her as she rushed back outside. The wooden mop handle felt sturdy in her hands as she charged at this Cody guy who was leaning over a crying Candice who was still on the ground. Kat lifted the handle over her head and brought it down with all her strength across his back just as he was about to kick Candice.
He stumbled a little before coming up swinging. Pain exploded in Kat's face as she fell. She may have blacked out for a second. Dazed, Kat heard an enraged cry. Cody was smashed against the tailgate of his truck as a huge man beat his face in. It took her pain fuzzed brain a second to register it was Caleb. Her Caleb was here and beating the shit out of Cody.
“Stop, you're going to kill him!” Candice screamed.
Hank came storming through the back door and managed to break Caleb away from his attack. She could hear Hank saying, “Calm down man. It's over. You don't want to go to jail for trash like him. The cops are on their way. It's over, man.”
Caleb's bloodied fists were still clenched tight at his sides. His chest heaved in and out with each breath he took. His face, an unreadable mask of rage, was starting to clear if only slightly. Hanks words were slowly getting through to him.
Kat pushed herself up off the graveled ground, drawing Caleb's attention to her. She was caught in his intense gaze, ready to go to him when she saw Cody stagger up, pulling a gun out from behind him. Hank pushed Caleb out of the way of fire as he threw himself on Candice at the same time Kat leaped the two feet separating them. Caleb, already knocked off balance, fell back clutching Kat as a shot rang out.
She heard a scream tear from her throat as hot pain sliced across her right hip. The engine of the truck roared a second before they were sprayed by gravel as Cody tore out of the parking lot. The blare of sirens could be heard in the distance as Kat clung to the front of Caleb, trying not to move.
Panting, she met Caleb's gaze as he lifted her chin. His eyes, filled with rage only seconds ago, were now filled with terror.
“Kat?”
Kat made the mistake of looking back at the bloody mess and exposed flesh of her backside. Caleb must have followed her gaze because he tore himself from out from under her, calling for an ambulance even as he whipped off his shirt. He pressed the cloth tight to her wound, making her cry out. She tried to wrench away but he held her firmly around the waist.
“It's okay baby. It's going to be okay. It looks like it just grazed you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
“Fuck,” Kat choked through her tears as he pressed a little harder. “That hurts.”
Two squad cars pulled up. The doors hadn't even opened as Caleb was shouting for an ambulance. One cop that wasn't calling for backup rushed over. Caleb spouted off the make model, and license plate number of Cody's truck and the direction the little bastard had headed in.
When the officer asked if anyone knew who the assailant was, Candice pipped up. “Cody Matthews. He's my ex-boyfriend. He was also the one who attacked Kat back in December.”
She looked at Kat with an apologetic look and Kat wanted to punch her face in. Three damned months that girl hadn't said one word when she'd known all along.
On her stomach in the gravel with tears streaming down her face from the pain of having her flesh shot off, Kat pointed an angry finger at Candice. Between clenched teeth she said, “I'm going to kick your ass.”
Candice's eyes went wide with shock. “I'm sorry!” she cried. Hank put his arms around the distraught blonde, giving Kat an admonishing look.
Kat just growled back at Hank saying, “I'll kick your ass too, carrot top. Don't think I won't.”
Kat could feel Caleb shaking and with a glance realized he was laughing. She was shot and he was laughing! “What's so funny, Tex?”
“Hell, kitten. Only you could be lying face down in dirt with a gunshot wound sliced across your beautiful ass, threatening to kick the ass of a man three times your size.” His face cleared a bit before he said, “I love you so much, Kat.”
Her heart melted on the spot. She was about to say it back but he continued by saying, “And if you ever throw yourself in front of a bullet again, I will strap your ass so hard the pain from getting shot will pale in comparison. Is that clear?”
Her face scrunched in a scowl even as she bit out, “Yes, sir.”
“And don't think I haven't noticed your call for attention this past month,” he hissed so as not to be overheard. “Prepare to be feeling the sting of my belt like a grown-ass woman as soon as you're healed. Is that understood?”
“Well, fucking hell. Anything else you want to chastise me for as I bleed out here in the parking lot?”
“Besides your language?”
“Oh, now I can't fucking swear?”
“I'm thinking you need to cut back, sailor. And where the hell is my belt?”
Kat looked down and wouldn't meet his gaze. She'd hidden it underneath the kitchen sink in a very childish fit. “I don't know,” she mumbled.
“I guess we'll be adding lying to your tally. Depending on how long it takes you to heal, I have a feeling the list is going to be quite long.”
The ambulance was just pulling in when Kat said, “Caleb?”
“I'm here.”
“Please don't leave me.”
His voice went tender as he said, “I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. I won't leave your side.”
“I'm not talking about right now,” Kat said, sniffing back a new wave of tears. “I meant ever. Please don't leave me, ever. I love you so much. I know I've been so shitty to you, but I love you. I'm so sorry.”
“Hey, shh. It's okay,” he said gruffly. “I'm not leaving you, ever. No matter how crazy you get. You're my forever and a day, kitten.”
Oh God, that was what he meant. She was his forever and a day. “You're my forever and a day, too.”
“Good. Perhaps you could tell your mother that. Preferably before we get married and have kids.”
The EMTs loaded her into the back of the ambulance just as she started shaking. Shock, they said. She noticed Caleb's hands were shaking too and reached out to hold his hand. He took it without hesitation.
“I'm fine, you know.” Which was ridiculous. She had silent tears tracking down her face from the pain of being shot and
she was shivering from the adrenaline drop. Yet she couldn't help but think she was fine. She had been dreading talking to her mother and sister about moving in with Caleb and about the business she was starting. She knew they weren't going to like it. She no longer cared, though. They could say whatever they wanted. The only opinion that mattered came from this man holding her hand and looking at her with so much love and concern. The man who had never offered her anything but support. Her forever and a day.
EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
Kat's sweet juices gushed out over Caleb's tongue as her body trembled through another orgasm. He had counted at least seven.
“I can't come again.”
“You may not want to but you can,” he said gruffly.
At the moment she was splayed wide on her knees on their bed. Her wrists were cuffed behind her head. She had a plug in her naughty bottom that was even now striped from his belt. He eased the vibrating dildo back inside her honey pot. The handle rested on the bed keeping it lodged inside her. He switched it back onto random and her head fell back on a moan, as her lush hips started gently thrusting to the vibrations deep inside her.
It was a day before her store, Wild Gypsies, opened. Her mother and sister had even come into town to offer their support and were staying at their house. Kat was done doing anything she could to get the store ready. There wasn't anything more she could do. His spitfire should have been nervous but excited. Instead she had surpassed her jitters and gone straight to melt down.
Last night Di had a barbeque in honor of the upcoming store opening. All the hands and their families came. Everyone from the bar had been invited.
When John had started flirting with the aging but lovely Ms. Martin, Kat's eye had started twitching. When Kat's mother had starting flirting back, his little kitten had lost it. She said her mother was not going to be 'that man whore's’ (John's) fifth wife. Then she'd gotten into a fight with her sister. Thankfully it was late enough into the evening no one really noticed.