by Delta James
“No, sir. I’ll be your good girl.”
Melody stretched up to kiss him. Luc smiled.
“Even when you’re being naughty, you are always my good girl.”
Chapter Twelve
Luc woke to a noticeable loss. The woman he had reached for and who had reached for him in the night was no longer nestled at his side. He scowled as he sat up on the side of the bed. If Melody had left the house against his explicit orders, she was going to regret it.
All thoughts of having to punish Melody quickly left as he heard her heading back into their bedroom and inhaled the enticing aromas she was bringing with her. He got out of bed and opened the door for her. The fact that she was naked pleased him probably more than it should have.
“You’re awake. I made breakfast,” she said as she slipped past him.
He smiled as he observed her backside. It was still showing the residual color of the spanking he’d given her the night before. His face might have been smiling, but his cock was quickly becoming erect in appreciation of the same sight. She was bent over slightly as she placed the tray on the bed.
Luc came up behind her, sliding his now fully engorged cock between her legs as his hands ran under her body to cup her breasts and flick the quickly beading nipples with his thumbs. He ran one hand down her torso and then between her legs to play briefly with her clit before stroking her lower lips and parting them to slip a finger up inside of her, making her catch her breath.
“Do you remember what I told you the other morning when you made me French toast?” he asked seductively.
“I believe it was something along the lines of pussy before coffee?” she purred.
“You remember. Good girl,” he said as he slowly mounted her from behind to the sound of her sighing in contentment and desire. “I think my good girl likes to be pleasured before anything else as well.”
Slowly and with restrained power he thrust in and out of her, reveling in her response. She arched her body so that her pussy was more easily used for their mutual pleasure. Luc could feel her body responding to his. There was no doubt in his mind that Melody was thriving in their relationship as was he. He fucked her long and hard and only made her come once before he thrust home and came with her on her second orgasm.
When he uncoupled from her, she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his head down to kiss her.
“She most definitely does,” she whispered.
“Good girl,” he crooned again as he hugged her close before running his hands down her back to gently cup her ass.
She grimaced but did not try to move his hands. His thumb traced down the crack between her cheeks, pausing briefly to fondle her puckered entrance. His smile broadened as for the first time she did not shy away from his touch.
“Very good girl,” he said before kissing her again.
They sat on the bed and enjoyed a shared breakfast made from the leftovers of the entree portion of the previous night’s dinner scrambled with eggs.
“So,” Melody started. “I was supposed to work with Sierra today at the Flying M.”
“That could prove to be a problem as you are grounded to the house.”
“Luc, it’s my job.”
“Melody, it’s Sierra you’re talking about. You call and explain to her that you’re grounded. It’s not like she hasn’t been grounded herself. If you want she can come here, but you are not leaving the house until Monday.”
“What if she insists I come there?”
“Then tell her you’ll have to take a sick day. You are to stay at the house. I want you where I know where you are and can keep a close eye on you.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair is what I deem it to be. If you need a reminder of why being obedient is something you want to do, I have a black rubber reminder that proved most effective last night.”
Luc stifled the laughter that threatened to escape his lips at the instant change in her demeanor.
“No. That won’t be necessary. I’ll go call Sierra.”
“Do me a favor and put some clothes on before you do that.”
“What’s the matter, tough guy? Afraid the big bad bullfighter can’t resist having another go?” she said teasingly as she darted toward the walk-in closet.
She squealed as she saw him coming after her and pushed the closet door shut. Luc pried the door open and advanced on her in the small space.
“The big bad bullfighter doesn’t have to resist that urge because the sexy siren he calls his own never refuses him and always responds in a wildly erotic way.” He gave her a hard, demanding kiss, cradling her face in his strong hands. “Quit being a brat or you and that butt plug will spend the day together.”
She shook her head. “Please, no. I can behave without it.”
“And who makes that decision?”
“You do,” she said quietly.
He kissed her again. “Then see that you do.”
Luc grabbed what he needed to finish getting dressed and left her in the closet. He was just tucking in his shirt and fastening his belt buckle when she came out in a pair of leggings, knee-high furred moccasins, and a long sweater that gently cupped her backside.
He caught her eye and patted his thigh. Seeing the look of concern on her face, he smiled.
“Come sit on my lap a moment before I have to go outside to work.”
She did and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him.
“I want to make sure we’re on the same page about yesterday,” Luc said.
Melody nodded. “I’m not going to tell you I enjoyed being punished.”
Luc laughed. “Good. Because if you did, I didn’t get the job done right.”
Melody laughed as well. “Oh, you know you got the job done more than right.”
“And you understand that if you put yourself in danger like that again, the punishment, especially your spanking, will be a whole lot worse?”
She nodded.
“Bien. You know what the mustang stallion looks like and which stall he’s in. In the next few days, we’ll be getting another stallion who will be in the stall at the other end of the barn. He’s a big dapple gray. You are to stay away from both of them. Under no circumstances are you to go in their stalls. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Luc,” she said with just a bit of exasperation.
“Melody. If I catch you even touching one of the stall fronts of either of those stallions, I’ll put you over my knee so fast it’ll make your head spin. They are both dangerous and there is no reason for you to be around either of them.”
There it was... that look on Melody’s face that he would see fleetingly. It was so brief and she was so good at hiding it that he could never quite figure out what it was. He thought to himself Ryder was right. Her hiding something, whatever it was, from him was not good for her or for their relationship.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Whatever it is you don’t want me or anyone else to know. Don’t bother denying it. I know there’s something as do the others. Whatever it is, we will deal with it together. Is it your ex? Are you afraid of him?”
She smiled. “No. But I’d pay good money to watch you punch his lights out.”
“Then what?” Luc said, trying to cajole her.
“It’s nothing.”
“Melody, please don’t insult me by lying and saying that there’s nothing wrong. The longer you don’t say something, the more concerned I become that it is something significant and I need to know. My patience in waiting for you to tell me is drawing to a close.”
“I’m entitled to my own thoughts and feelings,” she said defensively.
“Of course you are. But there will not be secrets between us. At some point, I will make you fess up.”
“Not if I didn’t want to.” Her tone had gone from defensive to defiant.
Luc smiled at her. “That I doubt. I think having to wear a butt p
lug and then being offered the chance to either tell me what it is or being punished further with it still in would be effective... don’t you?”
“That’s not fair.” Melody tried unsuccessfully to get off of his lap.
“And we’re back to you needing a reminder about who decides what’s fair.”
Once she ceased struggling, Luc helped her up.
“I’m giving you until tonight to decide to tell me. I love you and whatever it is, we’ll deal with it... together. Now, I need to get down to the barn.”
He kissed her again, patted her bottom, and then headed outside without giving her a chance to respond or even to fully realize that he had plainly stated his feelings for her.
Chapter Thirteen
Shit! Things had been going so well between them. Even though she hadn’t liked being punished from a physical sense, the structure and discipline that Luc had been providing had given her a sense of well-being, self-confidence, and if she had to admit it, love. There. She hadn’t said it to anyone or even admitted it to herself. But she had fallen in love with her strong, bullfighting cowboy.
Melody also realized that he was right... there should be no secrets between them. But if she conquered her fear on her own, then she would no longer be afraid and no longer have a secret. She wasn’t sure why it was so important to her that her friends and lover never knew that the enormous beasts they took as an ordinary part of life were terrifying to her. Well, all but Queenie. Surely there was a way to use her comfort with Queenie to get over her fear.
She was just about to call Sierra when her phone rang with a call from the very same person.
“Good morning, Sierra,” said Melody.
“Hi. You all right? Luc seemed pretty pissed under that cowboy stoic thing they do.”
“Most of me is just dandy.”
Sierra giggled. “I take it your backside not so much?”
Melody joined in her laughter. “What’s worse is I’m told I’m grounded. That is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t push him. Ryder said you scared the both of them to death. Me too, truth be told.”
“I wasn’t thinking...”
“Obviously,” teased her friend.
“Tell me, why is it they think if they punish our ass, it’ll make our brains work better?”
“Not sure, but I have to tell you... it works.”
Melody sighed. “I know. It’s so annoying.”
“I kind of figured he might want you close to home. How about if I come over there?”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I’ll see you in about half an hour.”
They hung up. Melody grabbed her coffee and walked out onto the porch just as Luc got to the top of the steps. In his fist was a bouquet of the wildflowers that grew out in the pasture behind Queenie and her mares. Melody threw her arms around him.
“Those are beautiful,” she said. “By the way, I heard what you said.”
“Did you?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “All of it, most especially the ‘I love you’ part.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“I know. Let me fix that. I love you too, Luc Girard.”
He kissed her until she was breathless. “You’d better.”
“Why the flowers—trying to make up for last night?”
“I have nothing to make up for. As I recall, after you got punished, you were forgiven in a most spectacular manner, and responded with great enthusiasm. The flowers are for no reason other than we’re going to put Queenie and her band of mares out in that pasture today. The horses will most likely destroy them. I thought maybe, if you can behave yourself, I’d let you come down to the corral to be there.”
“I’d love that. Can you wait until Sierra gets here? I think she’d want to see as well.”
“Of course, but go change out of those moccasins. They wouldn’t provide your feet with any protection.”
She ran in and exchanged the moccasins for boots, joining him back on the porch in just a few minutes. With their arms wrapped around each other’s waist, they returned to the barn.
“How are the mustangs?” she asked.
“The stallion is having a meltdown, which is to be expected but he does seem to take a bit of comfort that his mares are close by where he can see them. The mares are a bit fractious but they’ll settle in. I’m going to put you and Sierra where you can see everything but still be safe.”
“Maybe Sierra could help.”
“There really isn’t anything to help with. It should be interesting. For some of these mares, it’ll be the first time they’ve ever been on grass.”
“That’s so sad.”
“It is, but at least for them, that won’t ever be their life again.”
As they got to the barn, Billy ran up to them.
“I hate to interrupt, but I just wanted to thank you for giving the job to Julie. I can’t remember when she was this happy.”
“Do you think someone should be with her when she speaks to her father?” asked Melody.
“She wants to tell him this morning and I need to be here,” said Billy.
“No,” said Luc. “You go be with Julie. If it goes badly, get her packed up and bring her back here. We’ll fix a temporary space for her until we get something permanent decided. She’s a member of this crew now. We take care of each other.”
Billy smiled. “Thanks, boss. See you in a bit.”
“Take all the time you need, Billy.”
They watched him head for his truck to go lend his support to Julie.
“Where do you think is the best place for her?” asked Melody.
“I thought we’d fix up the old foreman’s cabin. It would give them some privacy.”
“Did you mean her as in Julie by herself? Or them as in Julie and Billy? You can’t fool me. The truth is you just want to make sure you have privacy so you can ravish me in the kitchen whenever you like.”
“As I recall, sweetheart, you rather liked being ravished,” he dropped his voice from a quiet level to a whisper, “at least all the sounds you made indicated that.”
She elbowed him, laughing. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”
They looked up to see Sierra’s truck headed into the barnyard. She parked and got out of the cab.
“I didn’t expect to see you down at the barn,” she said to Melody.
“They’re going to turn Queenie and her mares out into the pasture for the first time. Luc thought I’d want to be here. I told him to wait for you.”
The three continued down to the corral. Queenie came over to greet Luc and Melody.
“You two stay here until I get them out in the pasture. Once the gate has closed between the pasture and corral, you can come to the pasture fence. But both of you are to stay out of the pasture.”
Luc eased into the corral with the mares. Most had become used to his presence in their crowded space. Queenie always stayed close. He slowly walked across the paddock and climbed the fence to the other side. The gate swung into the pasture.
“Luc will want to pull the gate toward him and then get up on the fence,” explained Sierra. “That way if the mares stampede, he won’t get trampled.”
Melody watched fascinated as Luc slowly drew the gate open. Instead of stampeding, the mares all looked out into the pasture but didn’t venture past the opening.
“Why aren’t they going?” whispered Melody to Sierra.
“They don’t know what grass is. They don’t know that they can trust the footing.”
Luc climbed down off of the fence and secured the gate. He then walked out into the field before turning and calling to Queenie. “Come on, pretty girl. You can do this.”
Melody could see Sierra was holding her breath.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Melody asked.
“Yes,” answered Sierra. “He’s counting on Queenie wanting to follow him and his ability to stay out of the mar
es’ way if they charge.”
Queenie looked at Luc, shook her head, and trotted back to Melody.
Melody reached up to stroke her face. “It’s all right, Queenie. You know we won’t let anything happen to you.”
Luc called to Queenie again, who answered him with a nervous whinny.
Before Sierra could stop her and without really thinking, Melody climbed into the corral and put her hand on Queenie’s neck before walking across the corral. The big mare turned to go with her.
Melody heard Eddie whisper, “Holy shit.”
“Come on, sweetie, it’ll be okay,” said Melody comfortingly to Queenie.
The mare took step by step with her. When they got to the opening into the pasture, Melody stepped across and waited for Queenie to join her. As she did so, Melody stroked her face and cooed to her before walking to Luc. Queenie stayed at her side.
Melody could hear the other mares as they came through the gate behind their leader. As the mares realized the grass was solid ground some began to graze. Others trotted out and away to really stretch their legs for the first time.
Melody reached Luc with Queenie right next to her. He petted the big mare and whispered to Melody, “Tonight we will have a discussion about what part of ‘stay here’ you failed to understand.”
“She was scared. I thought if I came with her, she wouldn’t be as frightened and she’d lead her mares out. And now, here she is.”
“We’ll talk later.”
Luc patted Queenie and then gently pushed her to get her to leave. The mare trotted away. She stopped and looked back at Luc and Melody and then with an excited nicker, picked up a lope, which quickly became a gallop.
Not only could Melody see the other mares rushing to follow their leader, but she felt them as they thundered past and Luc enfolded her in his strong embrace. Melody was mesmerized by the sight of the mares flocking to Queenie, who then led them on a galloping and bucking spree around the pasture.
“It’s like they’re shedding all their cares and fears,” whispered Melody.
After several trips around the pasture, the mares began to settle down. Some found places to graze. Others laid down and rolled in the grass before getting back up to frolic some more. Queenie rejoined Luc and Melody, wanting to be petted. Once she seemed happy with the amount of attention she’d been given, she wandered off and Luc and Melody headed back to the barn.
