Brady caught her by the wrist and pulled her down onto his lap, his arm around her waist. "Now, what is it that's bothering you, darlin'?"
"Nothing is bothering me," Jessie said, trying to get up off his lap.
But Brady held her there and turned her head to face him. "Don't try to tell me that. Your bad mood is more than obvious. You don't get into a bad mood for no reason, so what is it?"
Jessie set her teeth and said, "There is nothing bothering me. Isn't a woman entitled to be in a bad mood now and then? It happens to everyone, you know. I'm fine; just let me clean up this mess."
"Jessie, when something is wrong, we talk about it. We don't keep it in and let it ruin the day; we talk it out. Now talk."
"I don't want to talk about it. Can't you just leave me alone?"
"Nope. I don't think I can. We'll just sit here until you're ready to talk."
Finally, Jessie was really pissed. "God damn it, Brady, I told you I don't want to talk about it! Now let me up and just leave me alone!"
Brady studied her silently and then said, "We've had conversations about times like this. We've made rules, ones that we don't need very often, but we still have them. Are you ready to talk to me?"
"No, I'm not ready to fucking talk to you! And fuck your rules; I'm a grown woman, not a little kid and just…fuck your rules!"
Grimly, Brady said, "They're not my rules; they're our rules, and we made them for a reason. This is exactly the kind of reason we made them for. Now go over to the back door and get that paddle."
Jessie gasped and said, "No! No, I changed my mind! I don't need the rules; I don't want them anymore."
Brady got up, spilling her off his lap, and said, "I haven't heard a safeword in all of that."
Jessie stared at him and opened her mouth, but something stopped her. There was a storm raging in her head and her heart, and she watched him walk over and take the paddle off its hook without saying a word. Brady walked back to the chair where she was still standing and sat down.
He patted his lap as she stared at him. "Come on, over here."
Hardly believing what she was doing, Jessie lay over his lap and he laid the paddle on her jeans-clad butt. He paused for a moment and then raised his arm and brought the paddle down with a sharp swat. Jessie sucked in a breath, and he swatted the other cheek. He brought the paddle down in hard, swift whacks that burned like fire. In a moment, Jessie was kicking and struggling to get away from the painful smacks of the paddle.
"Ow! Ow, stop! Brady, stop, that hurts!"
"That's good; I'm doing it right," Brady said, continuing to paddle her.
Jessie wailed and kicked, and her butt burned and throbbed. When Brady suddenly stopped, she was hugely relieved and yet a little disappointed. That didn't last long, though. Then, he undid her jeans and tugged them down over her hips while she cried out in alarm. He pulled her panties down and laid a hand on her hot, red cheeks.
"Do you think you've had enough?" Brady asked.
"I-I don't…no, no, it's not enough," Jessie blurted out.
The paddle came down with a crisp crack of wood on flesh. He paddled her bottom all over, concentrating most on the vulnerable spot right at the top of her thighs. Jessie yelled and wailed as he smacked her bottom with the wooden paddle, and finally, she felt something break open inside her and she burst into sobs. There were a few more cracks of the paddle while she lay limp over his lap, and then he laid the paddle down and gathered her into his arms. Jessie cuddled against him and cried, letting out all the hurt and frustration of the day.
Eventually, she cried herself out and Brady continued to hold and rock her, smoothing back her hair and murmuring to her.
With a little hiccup, Jessie said miserably, "Oh, Brady, I'm so sorry. You didn't do anything, and I took it all out on you. I really am a brat and not the cute kind."
Brady smiled and said, "Oh, you're mighty cute when you're being a brat. This wasn't that. Tell me what was upsetting you so much."
"It was Devon; she sent me a card."
"Well, that doesn't sound bad."
"It was a thank you card, but she wrote a note and very politely told me that she wasn't up for a friendship and more or less that she wants me to leave her alone."
"Ah. That probably hurt."
"It did. But she has a right to that if it's what she really wants. Maybe she has good reasons why she can't afford to make friends. I know that, but I still let it get me hurt and mad. And then I took it all out on you."
Brady said, "So how do you feel now?"
"My ass hurts; how do you think?"
Brady chuckled. "Is that all?"
"No. No, I feel like there's a huge load off me now. I feel like I let it all go." Jessie turned her face up for a kiss.
"I love you, Jessie. You could have stopped me, you know."
A little surprised, she said, "I know. I knew exactly what to say if I wanted you to stop. But I-I don't know, I needed it. And now all the tension is gone."
"That's good. If that wasn't the case, then I think this would be the wrong thing for us. But it looks like it's the right thing."
"I never imagined living a life where I felt the need to be spanked. But sometimes I do. Does that make me weird?"
"No, baby, that makes it right for us. Everybody's different, but this is right for us."
Jessie snuggled closer to him. "I love you so much. You're the perfect man for me, Brady."
"I'm thankful for that, because you're the perfect woman for me, Jessie."
He helped her clean the kitchen, then he made her lie on the bed while he smoothed some soothing lotion into the scorched skin of her butt. When they fell asleep that night, Jessie was cuddled against him, his arms protectively around her.
Chapter 9
A couple of weeks went by, and true to her word, Devon made no attempt to contact Jessie and Jessie made no attempt to contact Devon. Jessie had talked the whole thing over with Brady and he agreed that it was best to leave her alone. However, he still had a strong desire to know just what the woman was hiding. He wasn't sure that it had anything to do with being abused in the past. Devon just didn't appear to be a woman who could be victimized in any way. So, he quietly put out some feelers to see what he could find out about her.
Jessie had another weekend with Brady's mom and sister and Kayla, when they shopped for bridesmaids' dresses. They had a great time, just as they had before, and when they were successful in finding the perfect dresses, they had another celebration just as they had the last time. The weekend went by too quickly and Jessie hated to see them go, but they were planning yet another weekend a little closer to fall.
Jessie had talked about what had happened with Devon to Kayla, knowing that Kayla was absolutely to be trusted with a secret. Kayla didn't have any more ideas than Jessie about why Devon would be so secretive, but she also agreed that Jessie had no choice but to respect Devon's wishes. So, several weeks went by with no contact at all.
The second cutting of hay was in and Brady was considering the possibility of needing another hay barn. He and Jessie had discussed it endlessly. If he sold enough hay, he wouldn't really need it, but he couldn't count on selling the hay quickly enough that he wouldn't need to store it, and he wasn't about to leave it out in the weather. They made the decision to build another simple barn for hay. Jessie still got a little jittery when they needed to spend a chunk of money, but she was better about it than she'd been at the beginning of her ranching experiences.
The morning came when the lumber for the new barn was delivered and there was an air of excitement at Dusty Dreams. Jessie got a thrill when the truckload of lumber was unloaded, and she watched in fascination as the posts were set and the skeleton of the barn started to go up. Red and Tom were both working on the barn, while Brady and Jessie kept them supplied with food and cold drinks. The ranch buzzed with the unusual activity and the air was filled with the sounds of power tools and hammers.
Jessie grilled what seem
ed like a mountain of fat, juicy hamburgers on the grill for the guys at the end of the day. She had homemade potato and pasta salads along with a freshly baked peach pie that she served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. The three men were groaning when they finished eating, and Red and Tom headed for home almost as soon as they were finished.
Brady laughed at them as they left. "They're really dragging," he observed. "And I have to admit, this has been one long day and there's another one coming tomorrow."
Jessie was gathering up things to take back to the house. Brady helped her carry everything in and she stopped him from starting to put leftovers away. "I'll take care of this. You go take a shower. I think you're going to start feeling the long day any minute now."
Brady started to protest when he was interrupted by a huge yawn. Grinning sheepishly, he said, "Okay, I guess you're right."
He gave her a quick kiss, and a minute later, she could hear the shower running. When he came out, Jessie had the kitchen back in order and the two of them settled down on the couch to watch the news. Within minutes, Brady was finding it nearly impossible to keep his eyes open.
Jessie reached up to kiss him lightly. "Come on, man of mine, let's go to bed."
Brady didn't object but rose and stretched. "Lord, I've got sore muscles in places I didn't know I had muscles."
"Well, come to bed and I'll see if I can rub the soreness out of them," Jessie offered.
"Baby, I'll take that offer," Brady said.
Brady fell asleep in the middle of his backrub and Jessie chuckled softly as she pulled the covers up over him and discovered that the long day had caught up with her too. In another minute, they were both sleeping soundly.
On Saturday afternoon, when the three men stopped working, the barn was ready for the roof. Jessie and Brady were having the metal roof put on and the roofing crew would be there first thing on Monday. They were taking Sunday off and were all more than ready for it. But the barn would be up and ready for the third cutting of hay and it wouldn't be long before it was time to make hay again.
On Sunday morning, Jessie and Brady both slept a little later than usual. The sun was up when Jessie slipped out of bed and went to the kitchen to start coffee. The rich aroma of the fresh coffee woke Brady and he wandered into the kitchen in search of his first cup. Jessie had to laugh at him, bare chested and wearing pajama pants, scratching his chest idly, his hair tousled from sleep.
"What?" Brady asked.
Jessie handed him a cup of coffee and giggled. "You're just so cute this morning."
Brady looked perplexed but shrugged and took a sip of the steaming coffee, figuring that he might understand what she was talking about once he woke up a little. He sat down at the table and Indy poked him with her cold nose, begging to be petted. He scratched behind her ears absently and looked at the newspaper while he cautiously sipped hot coffee.
"Did you sleep well?" Jessie asked as she stirred up some batter for waffles.
"I'd say that's a yes. I was just enjoying how good it felt, you, rubbing my shoulders, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up smelling coffee."
"I don't think you moved all night," Jessie said. "When I got out of bed, you were lying just exactly the way you were when you fell asleep."
Bacon sizzled in the skillet and Jessie plugged in the waffle iron and added pecans to the batter. By the time the first strips of bacon were draining on paper towels, Brady had roused enough to walk over and snatch a strip off the plate before he refilled both their coffee cups. Soon they were sitting down to a Sunday breakfast of pecan waffles, bacon, and fluffy scrambled eggs. Brady poured maple syrup on his waffles and dug in with a blissful look on his face.
"Geez, Jess, that's delicious. It really is a good thing that I have to work hard every day. I'd never be able to get out of the chair if I didn't."
"I figured we both deserved a treat this morning after the week we've had."
"You're not getting any argument from me."
After breakfast, they both did chores, and a couple of hours later, they decided to mount up and take the horses out for a Sunday "drive.” Jessie filled her saddlebags and they started off along the edge of the first hayfield, just trotting and enjoying the day from the backs of their horses. Indy ran along with them and Jessie thought that this was exactly the reason she loved being on the ranch the most. Just to look out over her land, the lush green fields, the pastures dotted with cows and calves, the barns and the tree line where the woods started. It was all so beautiful, and she fell in love with it all over again.
They reached a place where a stream ran and got off their horses then held the reins while they drank. Indy noisily lapped at the water too and Jessie got two cold bottles of water out of her saddlebags. They let the horses graze a little while they sat on a big flat rock and sipped their water, discussing the ranch and how everything was going. It was hard to think about on such a beautiful day, but in a few weeks, they would have to start preparing for the winter season. Time was passing quickly, but Jessie reminded herself that it would bring her that much closer to the day she would become Brady Jensen's wife.
"Hey, I know something you don't know," Brady said with a teasing grin.
"What is it? If it's about ranching, then I probably don't know."
"It's not about ranching. It's about your friend Kayla."
"What? What do you know about Kayla that I don't know?"
Brady looked at her and then said, "Well, on second thought, maybe I shouldn't say anything."
"Brady! You can't drop a hint like that and then decide you shouldn't say anything. That's just…that's just mean! What is it?"
"If I tell you, will you bake one of those coconut cakes again?"
"Yes, whatever you want. Wait…are you bribing me?"
"Well, sure, if I've got something worth a coconut cake, I'm not going to just waste it." He was laughing at her and she punched him in the shoulder.
"Stop teasing me and tell me!"
"Okay, you win. Mitch is going to ask Kayla to go away with him for a weekend."
Jessie sniffed and said, "Oh, that. I knew that."
Brady's mouth dropped open. "How did you know? Mitch just told me, and he said he hadn't breathed a word to anybody, so he swore me to secrecy."
His face was so disappointed that Jessie burst out laughing. "I'm kidding; I didn't know. Oh, Lord, you should see your face! Wait…Mitch is really going to ask Kayla to go away somewhere? For a whole weekend? Where?"
"Oh, no, after that trick, I'm not telling you any more."
"Oh, come on, Brady, you can't do that." But Brady had a familiar, obstinate look on his face. "Brady! Come on; please tell me."
He looked at her, thinking it over. "Well, I don't know."
Jessie looked soulfully at him, her dark eyes wide. "Brady, I'm your soulmate. We should share news like this. And I'll bake you a coconut cake and those shortbread cookies you like so much."
"Mmm, now that's an offer I'm interested in. Okay, he's looking at a weekend trip to Sea Island, off the coast of Georgia."
Jessie's mouth dropped open. "Brady, that's such a great idea. I've heard of Sea Island; it's supposed to be a great resort, all romantic and beautiful. I thought you were going to say the Bahamas or Jamaica or something. They're all beautiful, but it's like everybody goes there. Sea Island is different and unusual. Kayla's going to love that!"
"He has some brochures; it looks great."
Jessie clapped her hands and said, "Oh, I can't wait until he asks her! That's just the sweetest thing."
Brady put his arm around her and kissed her on the tip of her nose. "Now who's being cute? I've never seen anyone get as excited for other people as you do."
"Well, I love Kayla. It's awesome to see something good happen for her. She deserves it."
"I can't argue with that. Mitch is pretty excited and pretty nervous too. He's afraid she'll say no. She's still kind of holding back in their relationship."
"
I know she is. But she just needs to take that first step. Same as she made me promise to do."
"Kayla made you promise to take a first step with me?"
Jessie grinned mischievously at him. "Yep. She made me promise to kiss you before you left to go to your parents for Thanksgiving."
Brady was silent for a moment, and then he said fervently, "Thank the Lord for Kayla! I remember that kiss well. I couldn't stop thinking about it for the whole weekend."
"I know." Jessie giggled. "I could tell as soon as you walked back in the door on Sunday."
Brady smiled, remembering that afternoon, the first time they'd made love. "That was a helluva first step, for sure. And look where we are now."
Jessie snuggled against him and said, "I know. I'm soon to be Mrs. Brady Jensen."
Brady captured her mouth in a long kiss, and they heard Indy flop down in front of them with a huge sigh. Brady laughed and asked, "Are you ready to ride?"
"Yes, let's go."
The two of them rode at a leisurely pace for another hour and then turned back to the barn. It was one of those days they would remember later as a perfect, shining day. Their lovemaking that night was as leisurely as their horseback ride had been, with gentle sighs and lingering touches and a long, slow trip up to the peak that left them both gasping at the depth of their love. Then they tumbled down into a deep, restful slumber.
Chapter 10
A cheer went up as the last strip of metal was screwed to the top of the hay barn. There was still work to do, but the barn was under roof and that called for a celebration. Jessie was sitting on the four-wheeler that she'd driven out with a full cooler in the back of it. Brady pulled out ice-cold beers and handed them around. Red and Tom were there, as well as the five guys on the roofing crew. They all toasted the new roof on the barn and the smooth, efficient work of the crew. Soon they were packing up their tools and cleaning up the scrap from the day's work. After the crew left, Brady passed out another round of beers for the four of them.
A Dusty Dreams Wedding Page 8
