by Piper Stone
The crowd was gone. Cass looked up into her husband’s face. “I’m sorry, Matthew,” she whispered. “About all the Christmas, and the decorations. I didn’t know—” She paused when he put a finger to her lips and brought her close, touching his forehead to hers.
“Cassandra, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’ve been foolish not to allow you to celebrate.” He kissed her gently. “I know I said I wouldn’t tell you why, but I’m going to. It was on Christmas four years ago that I lost Elizabeth. I thought I could never face it again, but the truth is, I’ve missed it.” Another kiss trailed down her ear. “I almost caused you to miss it too.”
“But I didn’t,” she whispered. “I have a Christmas full of miracles, right here.” Her gaze up into his eyes was full of emotion. “I love you, Matthew, even if you do spank me for following you up the mountain.”
His expression changed. “And about that, young lady,” he said firmly.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, I promise. You don’t need to spank me.”
“Cassandra, I told you – not once but twice, not to follow me up the mountain today. And numerous other times, remember? I can’t let you get away with that.” He paused, tilting her face up to his. “But the baby – it’s true?”
She was counting, trying to think of the last time her menses had occurred, and looked up into his face, nodding. “But Matthew, it’s Christmas. You wouldn’t spank me now, would you?” She poked out her lower lip, and he leaned down to kiss it.
“We’ll see.” He held her in front of him, staring thoughtfully down into her eyes.
“What are you going to do?” she whispered.
He leaned forward, kissing her forehead. “First,” he said, sweeping her up into his arms, “I’m taking you upstairs.” Instead of throwing her over his shoulder, he carried her gently, cradling her, into their bedroom. “Then, I’m going to undress you, bit by bit, while I kiss my way down your delicious little curves. And then I’m going to make love to you until you sleep from exhaustion.”
He was unbuttoning her bodice now, and kissing his way down. “And you have orders never to wear this blasted corset again.”
She giggled, as he pulled the shift over her head and went back to kissing the small of her back.
“And then you’re going to take a nice long nap.”
She growled. “A nap? Oh Matthew, I’m not a child.”
He planted a smack on her bare bottom, and she squealed. “No,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “But you’re carrying one, and it’s mine. Now, you asked what I’m going to do? I’ll show you.” Laying her gently back among the pillows, he took his time. His hands found every sensitive inch of her, followed by his mouth, and finally, when he was sure she’d been satisfied, he entered, thrusting more gently than he ever had. When she began to push back against him, he smiled down into her face.
“Eyes on me, Cassandra.” His whispered order caused the fierce shattering of her body, as wave after glorious wave rolled through her, and he took his own relief, joining with her.
A few moments later, his deep-timbered voice spoke into her hair. “And now that I’ve loved you to distraction, my darling girl, would you like to know what comes after that?”
Her eyes were closed now, as she snuggled into his neck. “Yes, please?”
“Next?” His hand was trailing down her bottom now, caressing her, just before giving her a sharp swat. “I’m taking you to the doctor, to find out exactly how hard a pregnant woman can be spanked when she misbehaves, without hurting her or the baby. No, don’t poke out that lower lip at me. I have to keep my eye on you every minute, and you know it.”
“Matthew, what about the emerald Lucas found?”
“Ah. Changing the subject, are you? But I’ll tell you. I’m taking a group of men to the hole we found Lucas in today, and we’ll look it over. If the emerald he found is any indication of the way the cave is, we’ll get busy and open up the new mine.”
“And tomorrow?”
“I’m taking you to meet my father, and we’ll give him the news. You can spend all day arguing with him if it will keep you from being homesick.” He kissed her again. “We’ll name the baby after my father. I know he’ll love that.”
She sighed sleepily. “What’s his name?”
“Orville.”
Cass’s eyes popped open, and she wrinkled her nose. “Orville?”
He blinked. “You’re right; perhaps not. He has a brother named Maximilian—”
She was hooting with laughter. “How about Matthew? And anyway, how can you be sure it’s a boy?”
He raised a brow. “Of course it’s a boy.”
She shook her head. “It could be a girl, you know.”
He studied her face, and a slow smile spread across his mouth. “If so, she’ll be just like you. Beautiful, caring… loving, giving.” Leaning over her to kiss her mouth, he held her away from him a moment. His eyes grew wide, as he continued. “Sassy, mischievous, disobedient.” His eyes were completely wide now.
“God help us.”
The End
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Pippa Greathouse
Pippa Greathouse has been writing since the fifth grade, after each student was given an assignment to read aloud a story to the class of their writing. One horrified teacher later, and a class of students who thought the horror story was “cool,” and she was hooked.
She is married, and has two fantastic children, who have grown and left the nest.
Since then, the writing has continued. She now is an author for Blushing Books, and still loves what she does. Her favorite genre is writing historical fiction romances, where men are “strong, Alpha men” and their feisty ladies respond to that. And historical fiction is perfect for that! However, she also loves writing contemporary romantic fiction.
pippagreathouse.com
Looking for the Purple Sage
12 Naughty Days of Christmas 2017
Chula Stone
©2017 by Blushing Books® and Chula Stone
All rights reserved.
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Blushing Books®,
a subsidiary of
ABCD Graphics and Design
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA 22901
The trademark Blushing Books®
is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Chula Stone
Looking for the Purple Sage
Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.
Chapter 1
“The only thing left is the celebration,” Salk declared, his distinctive New York accent cutting through the darkness like a searchlight. In one levered jerk, he powered to his feet and dusted off the front of his black form fitting sweater and cargo pants. The other two men on the rooftop craned their necks to look up at him.
“Celebration? Until the handcuffs are on the bad guys, the job’s
not done,” Jeep objected in a calm growl. He rolled to his feet and put a hand on Salk’s shoulder to force him down.
Salk offered no resistance, but rather went down to one knee and looked from his watch to his boss’s face and back. “Okay, big guy.” Big guy was right. Salk was not the smallest of Sentry Security’s employees, but next to Jeep’s massive frame, he looked practically childlike. “Maybe it would be a good idea to keep under cover. Jenny will kill me if you come home to her with that pretty face scratched up with no time left to heal before your family Christmas pictures.”
“If you don’t pipe down, those scumbags in there are going to hear you.” He indicated the dilapidated warehouse that sat not twenty feet away, hunkered down as if flinching from the sting of the chilly autumn drizzle. There were at least ten men moving boxes of contraband inside that building and after all the trouble they had gone to finding their base, Jeep didn’t want any of them getting away.
Salk covered his ears with his hands. “It won’t matter in about…”
Three men spoke at once as they flattened themselves against the concrete surface.
“You didn’t!” Jeep groaned.
“Five… four… three…” Salk counted.
“Of course he did,” Pepper put in calmly.
The explosion covered any further comments. Jeep calculated how long it would take for the ordinance he had authorized Salk to bring on this mission to burn itself out, then moved to the wall surrounding the roof and peered over. Puffs of smoke and thin licks of flame stood no chance against the weather, so the few functioning floodlights were soon the only illumination.
“I count seventeen,” Pepper said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Salk’s little distraction was the most efficient way to flush them out. If this rain would only clear.”
Salk snorted. “You call this rain? I’ve seen dogs drool harder than this.”
“What charming imagery,” Pepper responded. “And you wonder why Jenny had trouble finding you a date.”
Jeep rolled his eyes. “Could you two please stop talking about my wife when we’re on a mission? I don’t need any more distractions. We should probably get down there.”
“Not just yet, boss,” Salk replied. “What’s the use of being a senior operative if you can’t let the young guys do the dirty work in the rain? You need to get on the radio and fill Mr. Tobin in anyway, don’t you? Might as well do it up here.”
Targets scattered in all directions. Jeep watched as one by one the fleeing suspects fell underneath Sentry operatives. Cursing men splashed through oily puddles even after the rain faded into a drippy mist. Jeep finished his initial report, keyed the radio off, and pointed to a man being flanked by two guards. “Isn’t that the ringleader, Juntilla? If they’ve snagged him, that means we’ve got the worst of them. Just like back home: the big granddaddy raccoon hides the highest in the tree. When you’ve got him, you know you’re set.” The commander on the ground seemed to agree. He waved the men toward the street, their captives stumbling ahead of them.
Salk chuckled. “It’s like a little parade of garbage. You want to go down and be drum major, boss?” He led the way to the ladder and flung himself down it end over end, catching only a few of the rungs with the toes of his boots. “Hup, hup!” he cried when he had landed and braced himself, arms up.
“Got to keep in shape somehow.” Pepper gave Jeep a shrug and a grin, then shouted, “Hup!” Over the side he went, using only one hand and skipping several rungs with each spin as he corkscrewed his way down the side of the building to land on Salk’s shoulders.
Jeep climbed down in the more conventional manner necessitated by his standing as chief of this operation and by his huge, muscular frame. Salk and Pepper were both thin and wiry. They could afford to indulge in acrobatics to blow off steam and keep themselves sharp, but Jeep knew that if he tried that, he would squash his partner like a piano dropped from a second story window. By the time he reached the rough pavement that surrounded the warehouses, all the targets were either through the fence or being led toward it in restraints. He pulled his cuffs off his utility belt and looked at them. “These things are going to get rusty if they don’t see more action. Why is it that I never use them any more?”
Salk and Pepper took up positions on either side of Jeep and herded him casually toward their van, waiting just outside the chain link fence. “Just lucky I guess,” Pepper replied.
Salk looked away. “No idea, boss.”
Jeep looked at the other men in turn. “And you two haven’t been in the thick of things either. The last three jobs, you’ve been glued to me except for a few side-trips.”
“Somebody’s got to set up the pins so the thugs can knock ‘em down,” Salk said. “Mr. Tobin trusts the important jobs to you. Nothing wrong with that.”
“And he’s the boss, so he makes the calls,” Pepper added.
It was Jeep’s turn to shrug. “I guess I’d better take it up with him then.”
“He’s probably waiting for us at the Sports and Spuds,” Pepper said. “Once the call came over the police scanner, he’d know it was us. Warehouse explosion? Multiple suspects to take into custody? It’s either his Kooks and Spooks or a Friday night bar brawl… or perhaps both.”
After a quick swing by the Sentry Security building for a shower and change of clothes, the three men headed over to the sports themed restaurant where most work celebrations took place. Mr. Tobin was engaged in earnest conversation with Will, the owner of the establishment who was just ringing up a bill on the cash register that apparently made him very happy. “Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Tobin. I’ll see that your lads are well looked after. Nobody goes away hungry from the Sports and Spuds.”
“That’s why we keep coming back,” Tobin replied. “That and the dozen TVs you’ve got running every athletic competition known to mankind.”
“Thanks to your investment,” Will replied, taking Tobin’s hand. “I couldn’t have the state of the art cable and internet connection I have if it weren’t for you. Gives me quite a leg up on the competition, I can tell you.”
Jeep came up behind his boss and shook Will’s hand as well. “It’s me who owes you, Will. I met my little Jenny in this place.”
“Outside it, as I recall,” Tobin put in. As they walked away, he went on. “I think I deserve most of the credit for getting the two of you together.”
Jeep narrowed an eye at his employer, who also happened to be his best friend. “Once you decided not to shoot me for daring to make a play for her.”
“I had to be sure your intentions were honorable.” Tobin led the way over to the largest table where Sentry employees were busy arguing over the latest football stats and the last potato skin.
Jeep could tell Tobin was only half joking. “After thirty-some odd years of marriage, I hope you’re satisfied.”
“Marginally. You can always do better.” This time Tobin couldn’t hold back his grin.
“That’s what she says,” Jeep replied, helping himself to a fried cheese stick. “You always did have a soft spot for her.” When he looked in Tobin’s face, the reaction he saw there raised all sorts of questions. It didn’t take long for some disturbing answers to follow. “She could always wrap you around her little finger. Was this her idea?”
“What idea?” Tobin’s arrival at the table brought a lull in the conversation. Looking relieved, he addressed the men. “Another job well done. Need I say more?”
But of course he did. He was head honcho and, in Jeep’s opinion, couldn’t get enough of the limelight. That suited him fine. Jeep wanted to be in the background, making things happen, answering questions and following up on leads. He loved leaving the grandstanding to the boss, so he was free to pursue his own thoughts, which kept leading back to one conclusion. Why hadn’t he seen it before? How had he been so blind? Was he losing his edge?
“And of course, a big hand for the big man.” Tobin gestured to Jeep, who was scarcely shorter seated tha
n Tobin was when standing. “Do you know what Feldspar said to me when he called me to let me know the police were putting the finishing touches on the mission? He said, and I quote, ‘Jeep’s done it again.’ And indeed he has!”
As soon as the applause quieted and the noise level rose again so that Jeep could get back around to the topic that interested him, he picked up right where they had left off. “Come off it, Tob. I haven’t been in the thick of the action in weeks. Did Jenny put you up to sidelining me?” He could fairly feel his temperature rising, and if steam wasn’t coming out of his ears, it was only because it was swirling around in his brain with his thoughts too fast to find an exit.
“What transpires between myself and my other employees…” Tobin’s slight British accent betrayed his mother’s origins and his own defensiveness.
Jeep spoke over him. “She hasn’t worked for you since our kids came along.”
“…is confidential. My staffing decisions are…”
“None of her business. What has she been telling you?”
“…determined after much consideration and consultation with experts, including medical advisors.”
“Why, that little…” Jeep could barely get the words out. His hand slapped in an automatic sort of way on his thigh, but it was a certain portion of his wife’s anatomy that he was imagining. “She had no right!”
“I can’t put a man in the field if he isn’t fit,” Tobin said in a low voice, all trace of humor gone.
“Not fit? What are you talking about?”
“Jenny is only looking out for you. She told me about your latest visit to the doctor.”
“The one where the doc told me I have high cholesterol?” Jeep lowered his chin and raised his eyebrows, unable to believe what he was hearing.
