Bringing Trouble Home (Lost and Found in Thorndale Book 1)

by Amelia Smarts

  He grunted. “That will not make me more lenient on you. I gave you a simple order to return at a decent hour, and you not only failed to do that, you also didn’t come home at all.”

  Her eyes drifted to Heath’s large hand holding the reins loosely. Would he thrash her with an open palm, or would he whip her with a strip of leather? She was afraid to ask.

  When the horse pulled the buggy in front of the cabin, she climbed down and looked longingly at the front door. She felt torn between wanting to get the punishment over with and wanting to spend some time in her room to get her mind wrapped around the idea.

  Heath didn’t give her a choice. “Come here, Willow.”

  She drew a deep breath and walked to him, feeling like her boots were made of lead. Finding it hard to look at him, she kept her head bent. She was resigned to her fate and willing to accept punishment. Despite her apprehension, she knew Heath wouldn’t be cruel, and she was used to discomfort. Would a spanking be any worse than going hungry for a few days? She didn’t think so. She stopped in front of him and looked down at his dusty boots.

  “I don’t want to do this, but I made a promise,” he said.

  She said nothing, but nodded her understanding in the direction of the ground.

  He took hold of her hand. He walked toward the barn with her in tow and entered through the back door. It was still light outside, but the barn was dim and shadowed by the slats of stalls. A pitchfork jutted out from a pile of hay that nearly reached the ceiling. The milk cow mooed upon seeing them, and the mare Willow had ridden to town nickered at them before dipping her head and resuming her meal of alfalfa. Though occupied by her thoughts of the impending punishment, vaguely Willow felt grateful that Ashton was safe despite her negligence.

  Heath continued to hold her hand as he looked around for something in the shadows. His gaze stopped at a large, unused trough propped against the barn wall. He released her long enough to pull the trough out, shove it upside down, and sit on the flat surface.

  With a firm tug, he pulled her to him, swiftly planting her upturned bottom over his right leg and her stomach over his left. With a squawk, she clawed the air for balance.

  “I’ve got you. Hands on the ground,” he said, holding her firmly against him.

  She whimpered and obeyed, lowering her arms until her palms connected with the straw-covered ground. Despite being in a position for punishment, she was comfortable lying across Heath’s lap. Her body’s softness seemed to mold around his thighs, and his hold on her was secure.

  He landed a hard spank across her trouser-clad bottom. Before she knew it, he had landed four more, alternating between cheeks. There was force behind the swats, each one causing her to lurch forward and let out a small yelp. She would have leapt off his lap if his hand weren’t so firmly planted against her hip, pulling her body tight against his stomach.

  When he paused, she took a large gulp of air. “That really hurts.”

  “It’s supposed to.” He rubbed her bottom in a circle. “You’re not across my lap for a good time, young lady.”

  Her breath caught. Heath’s touch on her bottom and his words felt good, somehow. They made her want to accept the intimacy, the scolding, and the spanking itself, and to prove that she could be good like he wanted.

  “To answer your question from before,” he said, “I am very angry with you. It scared me half to death when you didn’t come home. I thought something terrible had happened to you.”

  She looked back at him over her shoulder. His jaw was hard and his eyes locked with hers. She licked her dry lips. “I’m sorry I made you angry, Heath. I wasn’t trying to.”

  “I’m sure you weren’t. There wasn’t much thought at all to how you behaved, was there?”

  “No,” she admitted, and returned her gaze to the ground.

  “And you agree this punishment is what you deserve, Willow?”

  She nodded.

  He spanked her once, hard. “While you’re over my lap getting your naughty bottom tanned, you’ll answer with ‘yes, sir’ and ‘no, sir’. Your lack of respect for authority has landed you here, and I want some proof this punishment is doing something to mend that. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, sir!” she exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut. His voice was sterner than she’d ever heard it. Reconciling this side of Heath with the man who had been so patient with her was swirling in her mind. She’d known there was a tougher side, the side of the man who wore a scar across his hand and commanded the respect of all the cowboys at his ranch. She hadn’t seen him being so stern with anyone else, probably because no one else had dared to disobey him so recklessly. Her only desire was to submit to him and make him pleased with her once again. She hoped she hadn’t ruined everything.

  Resuming the swats at a brisk pace, he continued his lecture, “I was worried you had forgotten my role in this arrangement, and you proved my worries were valid. I don’t appreciate you giving so little thought to my order. You forgot that I’m your boss and you must mind me.”

  “I didn’t forget!” she protested, though she had a little. She had grown to like and respect Heath for his patience and good humor, and she hadn’t expected him to morph into a strict disciplinarian.

  “Don’t. Lie. To. Me.” He punctuated each word with a heavy spank.

  She remained still, forcing herself to accept the hard swats. Though difficult to endure, she knew she deserved every one.

  “How many times have I given you an order?” he asked with a raised voice, while continuing to rain down swats on her already well-warmed bottom.

  She couldn’t focus on the question in the midst of such discomfort. When the spanks became harder, she knew he was punishing her for delaying to answer him. She cried out, “I don’t know how many times. I can’t think.”

  “Try,” he said, unsympathetically, layering swats on the spot where her bottom met her thighs.

  “I can only think of one time! Yesterday morning when you ordered me home before sundown.”

  He stopped spanking, and she let out a sigh of relief, daring to hope her answer was correct.

  “That’s right, young lady. In the two months you’ve been here, I’ve given you one order. One!” Smack. “I hardly think it was too much for me to expect you to follow the one thing I’ve asked of you.” Smack!

  She shook her head. “No, Heath, it wasn’t.”

  “Are you ever going to disobey me again?”

  “No, sir.”

  He grunted. “Why should I believe you? You promised me your obedience yesterday, and we both know what happened.”

  She felt chagrined. “It was only because of the whiskey that I disobeyed you. I got careless. I won’t drink again, and that will help me make the right choices.”

  He rubbed her sore bottom in circles, causing Willow to experience a strange sensation of pleasure. She felt so small and helpless, but she also felt like she was right where she deserved to be, being punished over Heath’s knee like a naughty little girl. If anyone was worthy of her respect and obedience, it was Heath, and she’d given him neither yesterday.

  “I don’t think you need to give up whiskey altogether,” he said. “How about you agree to only drink with me until I can trust you again?”

  “That’s fair,” she said. “I will do whatever you say, anything to earn your trust.” She looked back at him over her shoulder. “You have treated me well, and I betrayed you. I won’t again.”

  She hoped to see a softening in his expression. But his look was hard, and it was clear he was unmoved by her promise. “We’ll see. Talk is cheap, especially when you’re in the middle of a punishment.”

  That hurt her feelings. His opinion of her mattered, and tears sprang to her eyes. Looking down at the ground, she whimpered, “You hate me, don’t you? I’ve failed you.”

  “What?” he exclaimed. “I don’t hate you, Willow.”

  Tears flowed from her eyes. She wanted desperately to believe him, but in that moment she felt
so ashamed and unworthy of his good opinion. “Talk is cheap, as you say,” she said, her voice quivering.

  He laughed then, which might have caused the mood to lighten, if his chuckle didn’t sound so dark and ominous. “That was a very silly thing to say to me, darlin’, especially in your current position. I’m doing a lot more than talking, if you hadn’t noticed.” He hooked his fingers in the waist of her trousers and tugged them down, baring her bottom.

  Chapter Eleven

  She let out a half-yell, half-squeal and twisted frantically, shocked by the sudden exposure. He tightened his hand around her hip and kept her planted on his lap as he continued pushing the trousers down her legs until they were bunched at her ankles.

  “A spanking on your bare bottom will be much more effective. Now stop your thrashing about, or I’m going to take off my belt and paint some stripes.”

  Willow settled down, but remained tense, wondered what he thought about seeing the slopes of her naked bottom. Then she realized he might be seeing even more than that. A surge of humiliation overtook her that made her tears flow faster. “Please, Heath,” she choked out. “It’s wrong, me being exposed like this.” Her face flamed. She could hardly breathe. There was no way she could endure the embarrassment of being naked from the waist down over his knee, let alone the pain that would soon be in tandem with it.

  He spanked her bare cheeks a few times, not hard, more like he was trying to get a feel for his target. “There’s nothing wrong with a naughty girl getting her pretty little bottom spanked. What’s wrong is to accuse the man who cares about you of actually hating you.” He landed a mighty swat to emphasize his point. “That wasn’t wise.”

  “I don’t know why I said that,” she wailed. “I know it’s not true.”

  “I suspect it’s because you need proof. And you’re going to get enough of that, Trouble.”

  She moaned, feeling foolish for saying what she had, but also unburdened. She was relieved that he no longer sounded angry, and she dared to hope he truly cared about her.

  She had no time to reflect on it. The most embarrassing part of the punishment ensued. She felt her supple skin flatten and bounce with every stroke of his hand. As it continued for what seemed like ages, her thoughts scattered, and all she could do was focus on getting through each swat. The humiliation faded, replaced fully with pain.

  He paused after what seemed like an eternity. “After this punishment, will you behave like the smart young lady you are, not like a drunken sailor—chewing, gambling, and staggering around all night without care for your safety?”

  “Yes,” she agreed with a squeal.

  “Yes, sir,” he corrected.

  “Yes, sir!”

  Whap whap whap in measured strokes across her poor exposed cheeks. She must have suffered two dozen more whacks before she let out a long wail. The pain was building to a level she previously would have thought impossible. His palm felt like solid wood, and she was sure bruises were forming. He didn’t let up, even a little, for a long time, and it seemed to her the spanking would last forever.

  “Please stop!” she cried. She gasped for air and clung to two handfuls of straw she’d gathered from the ground at some point. “I can’t take anymore!”

  His hand settled on her trembling cheeks. “You can, and you will, but I’ll give you a chance to calm down. Take some deep breaths.”

  Her mind raced, trying to think of the right combination of words to convince him she’d had enough punishment. She couldn’t think of anything to say besides exactly what she felt. “It hurts. Oh, it hurts so very badly, Heath.”

  “It has to hurt for you understand how serious it is to put yourself in danger. I never want to punish you like this again.” His voice was not without kindness, but he was firm in his intention to continue. “For the rest of this spanking, think about what a good girl you’re going to be from now on so you don’t end up over my lap again.”

  After the break, which seemed entirely too brief, he resumed the discipline, causing her to buck and twist uselessly in his lap. His focus and hold on her was such that her poor bottom barely moved an inch and didn’t evade a single stroke. Without thinking, she reached a hand back to protect her seat, but he trapped it against her lower back without missing a beat.

  She lost all sense of modestly, and at some point she kicked off the trousers from where they’d been bunched at her ankles. Her legs flailed wildly in the air, and she didn’t care that she was giving him an unrestricted view between her legs that no man had ever seen before. She was in a horrid state of pain, and just when she thought she couldn’t bear another swat, another would come, and then another after that.

  He was punishing her much more severely than she would have guessed he would, but at no point did she think he was being unfair. She deserved every painful swat, and she hoped by the end he would forgive her.

  He stopped eventually, long past the point at which she didn’t think she could take it anymore. She collapsed over his lap, trying with little success to control the flow of tears. She didn’t think it was possible to cry so hard. Usually she could control herself, but the spanking had taken away all inhibitions.

  She became aware that Heath’s left hand, which had so firmly gripped her in place during the spanking, was rubbing and patting her back. His punishing hand now gentle, he soothed her scorched skin. “There, there, Trouble. We’re done.”

  She took in a shuddering breath. “Do you forgive me?” she asked, needing to know the answer right away.

  “Of course, sweetheart. Come, let me hold you.” He helped her stand and then pulled her to sit on his lap. Her burning, naked bottom connected with the rough wool of his trousers, and she winced. Tears continued to flow, and she sniffled and hiccupped helplessly.

  “Shh, it’s alright, darlin’,” Heath said, wrapping his arms around her. “I know I was hard on you, but it’s all over now.”

  She buried her face against his chest. Her voice muffled, she said, “I never thought you would spank me so hard.”

  His arms tightened around her. “That’s why I had to. I can’t have you thinking I won’t lay down the law when your safety is at stake.” He continued to rub her back, murmuring words of comfort. Handing her a clean handkerchief, he asked, “Why did you disobey me?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, wiping her eyes. She blew her nose and looked down, suddenly aware of how very naked she was, sitting on Heath’s lap.

  “I think you do know,” he pressed gently. “Tell me why you got into trouble.”

  She could feel his eyes on her, but she could not meet his gaze. “I guess… I felt restless. I like my job here at the ranch, but sometimes I get bored. I didn’t feel like I could tell you I was bored because I felt selfish, wanting more when you’ve given me so much.”

  Lifting her chin so she had to meet his eyes, he gave her a stern look. “That’s not selfish, that’s awareness of your own needs. In the future, tell me what you need because I’m not good at guessing. Maybe if you take more trips to town, you won’t all of a sudden go so wild when you get some time away.”

  “Yes, that makes sense,” she agreed. It did, but it didn’t solve her most aching problem. Her boredom and restlessness largely had to do with her desire for Heath to treat her differently. He had been kind and polite, but that wasn’t enough for her anymore.

  He searched her eyes, seeming to know she wasn’t saying everything on her mind. “We need to talk about this more,” he said, “but first you need a good meal and a good night’s sleep.”

  She didn’t want to leave the comfort of his lap, but she stood to her feet. He located her trousers and handed them to her. Air hissed through her teeth as she pulled the material over her tender bottom, but she did so quickly to regain modesty. She wondered what Heath thought about seeing her so naked and vulnerable, and she found herself thinking about what he looked like without his trousers. The thought of seeing his manhood caused her to blush furiously, and she was grateful
for the shadows of the barn.

  They walked to the cabin together. Heath escorted her to her room and left, closing the door behind him after saying he would return shortly with some food.

  Willow removed her clothes and observed her spanked bottom in the mirror. It was a bright cherry red. When she ran her hand over the punished flesh, a pleasurable burn ignited. She had an uncontrollable urge to dip her fingers between her legs. She did so with some trepidation, feeling very naughty but also nearly frantic to sooth the ache pulsing between her legs. She slid her fingers in her slit, and the juices of her sex coated her hand. Locating her little nub and swirling her fingers around it, she gasped with the sensations that came to life.

  She couldn’t take it another minute. She had to pleasure herself further. Rushing to open her dresser drawer, she donned her clean nightgown and crawled under the quilt. It would surely take Heath at least ten minutes to whip something up for her to eat, and that was more than enough time. She vibrated her fingers against her clit, rubbing the slick bud with urgency, hearing as she did the slickness of her fingers slapping against the sensitized flesh.

  She heard Heath’s voice in her head, scolding her for being a bad little girl, and she imagined his hand striking her bottom over and over again. What had been so painful moments before was now fueling her desire. His rough, calloused hands, kneading her flesh between swats, slapping her bare bottom firmly. She imagined her legs opening while he pinned her over his lap, and she imagined that he stopped spanking for a moment to rub beneath them.

  It was Heath’s hand, not hers, that was bringing her such pleasure. She moaned, losing all concept of the passing of time, forgetting that the door was unlocked, focused only on her final relief and satisfaction. Her toes curled, her back arched. She rolled to the side as the orgasm exploded through her body. Biting the quilt, she stifled her cry.