by Delta James
Instead of drawing her over his lap to spank her, he stood up and led her into their bathroom where he turned on the water, testing it to ensure it wasn’t too hot. He then soaped up his left hand while he grabbed a fistful of her hair with the right.
“While you’re getting your mouth washed out with soap, little girl, I want you to understand that not only are you going to get punished for lying to me, but you will tell me whatever the hell it is that you’re keeping secret. Now open your mouth.”
“Luc, please,” she started.
Her plea was cut off as Luc put his hand in her mouth and washed the soap suds all over her teeth and her tongue. When he’d coated the interior surfaces of her mouth, he removed his hand and handed her a small cup of water with barely any liquid.
“Rinse,” he said.
Once she had complied, he led her back to their bed. Melody began to cry again. Instead of drawing her over his lap once he sat down, he drew her into it to sit.
“Enough, Melody,” he said in a stern but not angry or unkind tone.
The fact that he seemed more concerned for her well-being than angry with her made her feel worse and caused her crying to increase. She felt Luc’s arms go around her, cradling her close to his body. He rocked her gently while murmuring to her in French. At first, it only made her cry harder. How could he be so kind to her when she had not been honest with him from the very beginning?
“Shh,” he crooned. “It will be all right, sweetheart. Whatever it is, we will face it together or I will face it for you, but I cannot allow you to continue to upset yourself like this. You deny yourself all the joy you could be embracing because of whatever this is. Are you really going to force me to spank it out of you? Isn’t your pretty little bottom sore enough as it is?”
Melody cried harder.
“Melody, you answer me. Don’t you have enough sting in your tail?”
She nodded.
“Am I going to have to spank you to get you to tell me?”
She shook her head.
“Then, little girl, you’d best talk to me. If I don’t start getting verbal answers, I’ll put you over my knee until I do.”
She remained quiet but was able to stop crying. That was almost undone when Luc took his handkerchief and wiped away her tears. Luc jostled his lap, causing her to wince and reminding her that her backside had already endured enough punishment for a while.
“Tell me.” The voice was quiet, but the lack of volume did nothing to lessen the command that was there.
Melody finally raised her eyes to meet his. She took a deep breath and said softly, “I can’t ride and I’m terrified of horses.”
There, she’d finally said it. It may have cost her the most wonderful man she’d ever met and destroyed their relationship, but she had finally told him. Melody expected disbelief or anger, but was unprepared for Luc’s reaction.
He started to chuckle, which quickly turned into outright laughter.
“That’s it? That’s what you’ve been afraid to tell me?”
“It’s not funny, Luc. I’m supposed to be a part of all of this and deal with guests and horses that are guests and...” Melody realized he was still laughing. “Stop it.”
“Sweetheart, Sierra didn’t hire you to lead trail rides or take care of horses. She hired you to be the bridal consultant. Really? That’s your big, bad secret that you can’t ride?”
“And I’m afraid of the horses, Luc. How can I work on a ranch and be afraid?”
Luc hugged her. “First, you aren’t afraid, you just have no experience. If you were afraid, you would never have walked into the corral with Queenie and her mares. If you were afraid, she never would have trusted you enough to follow you onto unknown footing. Horses can smell fear and they don’t trust those who fear them. She took her cues from you. You can’t ride? So what. Do you want to learn?”
“Very much,” she whispered.
“Then we’ll take one of the horses we bought for the trail riding string that’s quiet and gentle and I’ll teach you to ride. Although we might want to wait to start those lessons until after those welts have healed.”
He started to laugh again and shook his head.
“Jesus, Melody, I ought to spank you anyway. Do you have any idea of the things I’ve thought it could be? The longer you went without telling Sierra or me, the worse I thought it had to be. We’d ruled out murder, but your ex has been looking for you and spreading some very unkind rumors for which he will answer to me. But I was afraid you were married and I was going to have to deal with getting you legally divorced before I could get you legally married to me.”
“You want to get married? To me?” she said in a kind of amazement.
“Well, who the hell else would I marry? Queenie?”
She laughed softly but with true joy. Her heart felt open and free. Not only wasn’t he furious with her, he wanted to marry her. Her Luc, her wonderful bullfighter turned rodeo stock manager wanted to marry her.
“Really? You’re French.”
“Actually French-Canadian, but what’s that got to do with anything?”
“The French are so romantic and you usually are. But this is the way you propose to me—as I sit naked on your lap with a welted butt, a soaped mouth, a recently fucked ass that now has a plug up in it, and snot coming out of my nose. Is this your idea of a romantic proposal?”
Luc smiled. “You have a point. Here, blow.” He held his handkerchief up to her nose. She tried to take it away from him. “No, blow.”
She giggled again and did as he wanted.
“No. I haven’t given it much thought as I thought I’d have to deal with legal entanglements. Do you want a romantic proposal?”
She smiled, took his face in both hands and kissed him with reverence, passion, and all the love she felt for him. “No, I just want you. As long as I have you, I have everything I want or need.”
“I love you, but there is still the matter of you having lied to me to deal with.”
She started to protest but he shook his head. He was right and she knew it. The even bigger issue was that she hadn’t trusted him or their relationship enough to talk to him.
“You’re right,” she whispered. Melody didn’t want to get spanked, but she knew she deserved it. “I’m so very sorry that I didn’t tell you. At first I was afraid I’d lose my job and then that I’d lose you.”
“And that, little girl, is really what I should spank you for. If you ever doubt my love or my commitment to you and our relationship soon to be marriage again, I will lay so many stripes across your backside, it will resembled a zebra hide. You do not keep secrets from me and you do not lie to me. Is that clear?”
Melody nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Bien. You get up and go stand in the corner.”
Melody stood and then skipped over to the corner, giggling like a mad woman.
“Standing in the corner makes you happy?”
“Nope. I hate it,” she said, still giggling. “I especially hate it with this damn plug in my butt and knowing you’re going to light my ass on fire when you put me over your knee.”
She felt him slip his arm around her waist as his other hand came up to fondle her breast.
“And do you need me to spank you, ma souris? Don’t you think you’ve punished yourself enough for your foolishness? And isn’t being stuck with me the rest of your life punishment enough?” He caressed her face with his hand. “This is a one-time-only offer, little girl. You agree to marry me in no uncertain terms and promise never again to keep something from me that is causing you pain and distress and I will find far more sensual and pleasurable ways to deal with your naughty, wanton nature this night.”
She shivered, not from cold or fear, but from pure, unadulterated lust and the knowledge that she was standing in the arms of the man who could assuage all her carnal desires.
“Yes, sir,” she purred.
Chapter Eighteen
Melody woke and stretched. Sh
e didn’t feel Luc next to her nor could she hear him in the shower. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Melody stood gingerly and slipped on his shirt from the day before. He had noticed early on that she liked to wear his previous day’s shirt the next morning and so had begun to hang them on the bed poster at the foot of their bed on her side. She smiled. Even though all of her girly parts were screaming at her to get back in bed, Melody was quite sure she’d never felt more wonderful in her entire life. Luc loved her and wanted to marry her.
He had made good on his threatened promise the night before. He had repeatedly mounted her from behind the way a stallion mounts his mares. He had ridden her hard and long through most of the night, making her keep the butt plug in her bottom as he did so. Several times as he thrust his cock in and out of her, he’d mimicked the action with the butt plug so that in essence he was doubly fucking her. She had never felt so utterly used and satisfied. It wasn’t until he pulled her to him this morning that he had removed the plug.
She opened the door to their room and could tell he was cooking. Both the sounds and the smells confirmed that. Joyously she ran to join him.
“You’re certainly in a good mood,” he said, laughing. “I’ll have to remember that regardless of how you protest, fucking your pussy while I have something filling your ass is very effective in restoring you to good humor.”
“And you know what else?” she said, opening his fly and freeing his quickly hardening cock.
“What?” he asked as he took their breakfast from the stove and walked her toward the kitchen table.
“Your cock has been gone too long from my pussy. You need to fix that.”
Luc laughed as he reached between her legs and stroked her cunt, ensuring that she was wet enough for him to mount without additional foreplay. He set her up on the table, parted her legs so he could step between them, and then slid her toward him, spearing her with his cock.
“Luc,” she cried out as he drove home.
Luc held her by her thighs and pummeled her pussy with his cock. Repeatedly he pulled almost all of the way out of her before ramming himself back in until he could go no further. It only took a few hard strokes for Melody to climax. He didn’t even seem to notice. He fucked her through a total of three orgasms before allowing himself his own release as she called his name and he groaned heavily with deep satisfaction.
“You, my beautiful wife-to-be, are a very naughty girl.”
“And you love me for it.”
Luc laughed. “You have found me out. That I do. I can’t think of anything that makes me happier than knowing I get to spend the rest of my life with you—laughing, loving...”
“Fucking,” she offered with dancing eyes.
Luc nodded. “Yes, fucking... and fucking whatever pleasure portal of yours I choose. Not to mention spanking that glorious ass of yours for discipline and fun.”
“You know the only problem with fucking me here on the table?”
“Problem? I don’t recall a problem. I do recall hearing you make a lot of pleasured noises and coming several times. Neither of which is, in my humble opinion, a problem.”
Melody loved the fact that he was still buried in her. She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately. “We’re here and breakfast is over there,” she said, gesturing to where he’d left their breakfast on the stove.
“Not a problem. Wrap your legs around my back.”
“What?” she asked.
“You heard me,” he said, pulling her even closer. “Wrap your legs around my back.”
She did so and gasped as he lifted her by her thighs and carried her back into the kitchen.
“Pick up the pan. Everything should be finished and grab the fork.”
When she’d done so, he carried her still impaled on his cock back to the table where once again he gently placed her. They proceeded to have breakfast as they often did eating out of whatever pan they had prepared breakfast in and sharing a single fork to feed each other.
Finally, she felt him begin to pull out of her.
Locking her legs around him, she said, “No, please.”
“Enough, souris. I have things to do as do you.”
“No. It’s Saturday; my boss doesn’t make me work the weekends.”
“Then you should start planning our wedding. And do not think to keep me waiting with some long engagement. I understand Martin Scott can be persuaded to marry off naughty little girls if they’re being difficult about saying I do.”
She grinned. “And how would you know that?”
“Ryder had a backup plan in case Sierra threw a tantrum.”
Melody laughed. “Of course he did.”
He uncoupled from her, kissing her as he did so.
“But wife-to-be or no, you are still grounded to the house.”
Before Melody could protest, he kissed her again and there was a knock on the door. Sierra poked her head in with her hand, covering her eyes.
“The two of you decent?” she asked happily.
“I am, but the bullfighter here needs to put his cock back in his jeans.”
“Melody,” Luc scolded.
Melody found great humor in the fact that he almost appeared to be blushing.
“You through with it?” Sierra asked politely. “‘Cause I can come back.”
“Unfortunately he tells me I have to be for a while as your husband is a task master and is making him work.”
“Yeah, Ryder can be a real jerk that way.”
“That’s enough out of both of you,” Luc said, chuckling. He tucked his shirt into his jeans and buckled his belt. “And you may be decent enough for her, but she’s the only other person who can see you in that few clothes.” He kissed her again. “Behave yourself... both of you.”
Sierra closed the door behind him.
“My, my... he seems to be in an awfully good mood this morning.”
“He ought to be,” said Melody, laughing. “God knows he fucked me enough times last night.”
“Isn’t that just the best? But it’s more than that. He’s been happy ever since you got here. Happier once the two of you were sleeping together. Ryder has known him a long time and he says Luc has never been happier or more at peace. So what changed last night?”
“I finally told him what’s been bothering me.”
Sierra hugged her. “I’m so glad. I know it’s been weighing on you and not knowing and worrying about it has been killing him. Dare I ask what it was?”
“Well, I was glad to hear the two of you had ruled out murder.”
Sierra laughed. “Yeah... and that jackass of an ex-partner you had? He’d best never show his ugly face in Idaho. Luc wants to take him apart. We had Martin Scott send him a cease and desist letter to tell him we’d sue for defamation and slander. Please tell me you weren’t married to him or if you were that you’re filing for divorce.”
“Gawd, to hear what you all were afraid of. But I do want to apologize to you. I didn’t exactly lie, but I sort of led you to believe something that wasn’t true.”
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s trivial. I’ve loved every minute of working with you and consider you to be one of my closest friends.”
“I can’t ride. And I’m afraid of horses.”
“Bullshit. If you were afraid you’d never have gone in with Queenie or confronted the mustang stallion. And so you don’t know how to ride? Big deal, I’ll teach you.”
“Luc said he would.”
“No, Luc will figure out a way to make it all sexy so he can fuck you some place or some way he hasn’t yet. I’ll actually teach you how to ride. But seriously, that’s what’s had you so concerned?”
Melody nodded. “Though lately I think it was more that I felt I’d lied to all of you and you’re my closest friend too.”
Sierra held up her hand with her little finger crooked. “Pinky swear... I never had anyone to do that with... we don’t keep secrets from each other ever.”
Melod
y hooked her little finger with Sierra’s. “Me either. Pinky swear. Oh, and I’m not sure it’s for publication, but there might be another reason he’s in such a good mood.”
“Tell me!”
“He kind of asked me to marry him. Well, actually he just sort of informed me we were getting married.”
“That’s kind of what Ryder did the second time. Told me he was putting my ring back on my finger and if I ever took it off again, he’d blister my backside. It’s never left my finger.”
Melody giggled. “That’s better than mine. I was sitting naked on his lap with a welted ass, a plug in up my bum, bawling my eyes out because I felt so rotten for not telling him. My face was all blotchy; my nose was running. I was a mess. He just kept cuddling me close and telling me it would be alright.”
Sierra sighed. It seemed to Melody that her friend was genuinely happy for her.
“Don’t you just love it when they do that?” asked Sierra in a dreamy voice. “They’re all big and tough and half the time it’s after he’s spanked my ass good for misbehaving and he’ll just let me cry and get snot all over his chest... ain’t love grand?”
Melody smiled. “It is indeed, my friend. It is indeed.”
“So how long do you have?”
“For what?”
“To get married, silly. He isn’t going to wait forever,” teased Sierra.
“So he told me. He also told me that Martin Scott could be persuaded to do the deed with a protesting bride. Apparently Ryder had that lined up in case you decided to throw a tantrum.”
“That rat! But given how I fucked up our first attempt, I suppose he kind of had cause.”
“I’ve planned so many weddings. Now here I am with mine and don’t even know where to start.”
“I know you’re the wedding planner, but can I make a suggestion?”
“Absolutely,” said Melody.
“We should have at least a couple of the actual ceremony sites done in a month or two. And if you know which one you want, we can landscape it. The kitchen should also be done. You could have it here and we could do pictures for the brochure. What do you think? Terrible idea? Or you could go to France. We have a cottage there you could use to honeymoon.”
