A Quiet Christmas Alone...Kinda

by Misty Malone

  He didn’t give her a chance to argue with him. He unzipped her jeans and pulled them down and off. He got the sweat pants out, and in one quick movement, which he knew she was not expecting, he pulled her panties down and off, and had the sweat pants on. He tried hard not to chuckle at the look on her face. “Sorry, honey, but I knew if I warned you what I was going to do you’d get all upset. Now you don’t have to. It’s over and done with, and trust me, it had to be done. We have to do the same with your shirt, though, and now that you know what I’m doing, please don’t fight me with it. We have to get all your wet, cold clothes off and get the sweatshirt on.”

  “All of them?”

  He nodded. “All of them.” He was sure she knew that included her bra, but he didn’t say it. He didn’t want to embarrass her. Instead, he quickly did what he needed to do, and in just a couple minutes she was dressed in his warm, dry clothes. He wrapped the dry blanket around her. “Feel better?”

  “Yes, I do,” she admitted.

  “I’ll go put your wet clothes in the dryer, and I’ll be right back.”

  When he came back, he could tell she was doing better. She’d stopped shaking, and her hands were functioning well enough that she was holding the blanket close around her. “How about some more coffee, or I can make some hot chocolate?”

  She shook her head. “No. This feels good, though, in dry clothes in front of the fire. Thank you.”

  He smiled, but didn’t answer. “I’m going to go run a warm bath for you.”

  “A hot bath sounds wonderful.”

  “We’ll start with a warm bath. If you get into hot water while you’re this cold you’ll feel like a thousand needles are jabbing you. You have to warm up slowly. We’ll get you in warm water, and when you’re doing okay with that we’ll add more hot water. We’ll warm you up slowly that way. You wait here in front of the fire.”

  He left, and she started thinking. Once again, Todd had rescued her. He said he’d heard something outside and called to be sure it wasn’t her. When she didn’t answer, he went out looking for her, ready with everything he might need. Like before, he didn’t have to do that. He could have stayed in his warm cabin. Boy, did that say a lot about what kind of man he was.

  The more she thought about him, the more troubled she was. He’d been so good to her, and she’d been awful to him. She was putting him through all this, going out in the cold again to rescue her, again, simply because she was going against what he was telling her. She basically went out today to try and get groceries to spite him and tell him she didn’t want the help he offered. This whole thing was her fault. She’d like to deny it, but she couldn’t.

  She didn’t want to stay at his cabin, so she went out on her own, which even she had to admit now was a very dangerous thing to do. And why did she feel compelled to do something so dangerous? Because she was too stubborn to stay at his cabin. Tears came to her eyes as she realized that he was right. She was a stubborn lady who didn’t pay attention to her safety. But what was worse is that by ignoring her safety, she’d risked his. He’d had to go out in this because of her. She blinked her eyes, trying to fight back the tears, but it was no use.

  When Todd came back out to get her, he saw the tears and hurried to her side. “What is it, Lucy? Do you hurt somewhere?”

  “No,” she said through the tears. “Yes. I don’t know.”

  “Talk to me, honey. What hurts?”

  “My ego. I’m so sorry. You were out there today because of me. You’ve been so good to me, and I dragged you out there today because I’m so stubborn. You’re right.”

  He pulled her in against his chest and held her, wondering what brought about this sudden change in her attitude. As he did, it was like the dam broke, and tears streamed down her cheeks, onto his shirt. “It’s all right, honey. You’re okay, and I’m okay. Whatever’s bothering you, we’ll talk it out.”

  “But it’s all my fault. Again. You could have gotten hurt.”

  “I didn’t, and neither did you,” he assured her.

  “But you could have. And it would have been all my fault. Why didn’t I just listen to you?”

  He held her tight and listened to what she was saying. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He knew what the problem was. The sweet lady he knew was inside her was coming to the surface, and she was full of guilt. That was good – and bad. If she felt guilty, that meant she had a conscience, and was the sweet lady he thought he saw glimpses of. But guilt was a hard thing to deal with. He knew exactly how to rid her of it, but he couldn’t, not yet anyway. He had to get her warmed up first so he knew she’d be okay. Then he’d deal with her guilt.

  Chapter Four

  Now Todd had a dilemma. Knowing what the problem is was one thing, but knowing what to do about it was something entirely different. Maybe the best way to deal with a stubborn, headstrong young lady was to be up front with her. He pulled Lucy back from his chest far enough to meet her eyes. “Are you feeling guilty?”

  She looked away and leaned against his chest again. “Guilty? No.” And then with no hesitation at all, changed her tone. “Yes, maybe.”

  He couldn’t hold back a chuckle. He pulled her away far enough to see her eyes again. He kissed her forehead and smiled. “Which is it? I’m guessing the sweet little lady I’ve been hoping to meet is feeling guilty. Am I right?”

  Her eyes dropped down to the floor, but she nodded her head. “Yes, and I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t blame you,” he said as he pulled her back in against his chest. “Guilt is a hard thing to live with. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, though, honey. I have a very effective way of dealing with guilt, and I’ll help you with that as soon as we get you warmed up. First, though, let’s get you in the tub. I want to be sure you’re okay, especially your toes and fingers.”

  “Okay.”

  Lucy reached her hand out and let Todd help her up and they headed for his bathroom. “Later tonight we’ll cuddle up and have some hot chocolate in front of the fire, and you won’t have to worry about feeling guilty. You’ll feel like a weight’s been lifted off your shoulders. You’ll see,” he assured her.

  “That sounds wonderful,” she said. They got to the bathroom and she saw a bubble bath waiting for her, and forgot about what they’d been talking about. “You made me a bubble bath?”

  “My sister and her husband came here for a week last summer, and she must have left the bubble stuff. I put it in so you wouldn’t have to feel embarrassed in the tub.”

  “What do you mean? Why would I feel embarrassed?”

  “I’m not leaving, Lucy. Until I’m sure you’re okay, I’m not leaving you alone. I won’t risk you falling and getting hurt.”

  “I’ll be fine. Why would I fall?”

  He tipped her chin up so she was looking at him. “You don’t have full feeling in your feet or hands yet, do you?” She tried to look away, but he anticipated that and held her chin still. “Do you, Lucy?”

  She sighed, but answered honestly. “No, but I’ll be okay.”

  “Yes, you will, because I’m going to help you in and out of the tub. I’ll remind you, I care about you and you can trust me. Now, here’s a large towel for you. Wrap it around you as I pull your clothes off.” He didn’t give her time to object, but simply did as he said.

  She wrapped the towel around her without giving any thought to it. “You’re getting awfully good at that,” she said quietly. “You do it so fast I can’t object.”

  “My plan exactly,” he admitted. “It’s done in much less time than it would take to argue or fret over. Go ahead and step in whenever you’re ready. I’m going to hold on to you, just in case you get a little wobbly when your cold feet hit the warm water.”

  She nodded, and within a minute or two he had her sitting in the water, surrounded by enough bubbles that she was sure he couldn’t see anything. She leaned back slowly, and sighed when she was lying fully against the tub. He smiled at the expression on her face. She l
ooked so relaxed and peaceful, almost angelic, and beautiful. “Are you okay? Is the water too hot?”

  “No, it’s perfect,” she purred.

  “Good. In a little bit we’ll warm the water up some. We’ll gradually get you warmed back up and make sure your fingers and toes are all moving again.”

  He did exactly as he said, and half an hour later she felt like herself again. “Stay right there while I go get your clothes. They should be dry now.”

  “Okay.” When he came back a few minutes later with her clothes, she thanked him. “I’m okay now, Todd. You can go on out and I’ll get out and get dressed.”

  “I’ll leave you alone once you’re out and I see you have your balance, but not before.” Again, without giving her time to argue, he got the towel and held it open for her. “Give me your hand, then I’ll turn my head while you stand up and wrap this around you. I’ll help you out, and if you’re okay, I’ll leave.”

  She hesitated, but only momentarily. She’d decided his method was probably the best. If you just do it, without thinking about it, you’re better off. Before she could change her mind, she took his hand and allowed him to help her stand. True to his word, he was looking to the side so he couldn’t see her. She wrapped the towel around herself. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said.

  Without a comment, he held onto her waist as she stepped out. He let go tentatively. “Are you okay?”

  “Yep, I’m fine.”

  “All right. I’ll be right out there, though. If you need anything, just yell.” And just that quickly, he left. She found herself again thinking about him as she dressed. She checked the mirror quickly, and went out to the living room.

  He stood and met her. “Feel better?”

  “Much better,” she assured him.

  “Good. Let’s sit down then.” He led her to the couch with a gentle hand on her back. “I made us some hot chocolate. It’s staying warm on the stove.”

  Their earlier conversation came back to mind. “Good. Now all I need is this magical way you claim to have of getting rid of the guilt, and we can cuddle up with our hot chocolate. That sounds nice.”

  “That sounds nice to me too. Why don’t you rest a little bit before we work on the guilt? You’ve been through quite an ordeal today.”

  “I’m not sure I can rest yet. I really feel bad about getting you out in the cold today.”

  “Okay, let’s talk about that then. You said you were out there because you were being stubborn.” She nodded. “What did you mean? What were you doing out there?”

  “I was going to go into town and get groceries.”

  He turned and looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face. “You never would have made it.”

  “I believe you now.”

  “Why were you going to do that; just because I said you shouldn’t, or did you not want to stay here that badly?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Have I mentioned my thoughts on honesty?”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, honestly, it was some of both. I was being stubborn, I admit that. You told me I had to come down here, and I don’t like being told what to do.”

  “So you decided to be stubborn instead?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “So did you not want to stay here more because you don’t like being told what to do, or because you found the thought of staying with me that bad?”

  “It isn’t that I find it that bad, Todd. You’re a nice guy. That’s becoming clearer the more I get to know you. But I was scared.”

  “Scared of what? Did you think I would try to take advantage of you?”

  “No.” Her face turned red and she dropped her eyes to the floor. “I was afraid you were serious when you said you would spank me.”

  “I was serious,” he said bluntly, “and you are going to get a spanking. That scared you enough to risk your safety today?”

  “I didn’t know I was risking my safety.”

  “You had to know. You had no idea where you were out there today, did you?”

  “No, but I thought I knew how to get to the garage, and from there I thought I could follow the road down to the main road.”

  “But your car wouldn’t have gone a quarter mile in this snow.”

  “I was planning on borrowing a sled from the garage, and taking the snowmobile to town.”

  He simply stared at her several moments. “Good heavens, young lady, I don’t know where to start with you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How were you planning on getting there? When it comes down this hard there’s so much snow you can’t tell where the main road even starts unless you’re familiar with it. And that’s an awfully long way to go on a snowmobile. You would have been frozen by the time you got there. Even if you would have made it to the garage, and found the main road, and made it there okay, following that road back out would have been tricky. How would you have known where to turn off?”

  “I assumed I’d be able to see my car behind the building when we got close enough to it.”

  He stared at her again. “When you were roaming around lost before you got stuck in the drift, how far in front of you could you see?”

  “Not very.” Her eyes dropped to the floor and her shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have been able to find the turnoff, would I?”

  “No, you wouldn’t.” He thought quickly. He was getting frustrated, and he knew if he mentioned the spanking again, she’d freak out, so he did what had worked well so far. Without a word, he pulled her over his lap.

  She reacted quickly this time. “Todd, no. You can’t do this. Let me up.”

  “I can do this, and I’m going to, Lucy. It’s becoming quite clear to me that you need this, and I’ve realized I care too much about you to not give it to you.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. You care too much about me to not spank me?”

  “Exactly. I care about you. In fact, I care more about you than I thought I could this quickly. Because of that, I feel a need to protect you. I’m seeing exactly how much you ignore your safety, and that needs to be dealt with.”

  He started spanking, and she started kicking and squirming. She was determined to stop the spanking. Unfortunately, he was just as determined to continue. He tightened his grip around her waist and put his leg over hers, holding her in place. She tried to kick, only to realize that he had her securely, and she wasn’t going anywhere. She slumped over his lap, unable to do anything else.

  “That’s better,” he said as he gave her five or six swats. He was sure she felt them, but over her jeans, he also knew they hadn’t hurt too much. They were more to get her used to the idea that this was happening. When she seemed resigned to it, he reached underneath her and quickly had her jeans unfastened and was pulling them down.

  “Hey,” she yelled. “Stop doing things so fast I don’t know what you’re doing until it’s too late.”

  “Nope. With you, it’s better that way. If I would have told you I was going to take your jeans down you would have had a fit.”

  “And rightfully so,” she said, trying again to squirm out of his lap, while reaching to reach back to try to stop him from pulling her panties down.

  “If you’ll remember, I said the next time you did something dangerous I’d be giving you a spanking on your cute little bare bottom. What you did today was definitely dangerous.”

  “But I didn’t think you actually meant it,” she tried.

  “If you didn’t, you should have. I told you before that I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He swatted her hand away and quickly pulled her panties down to join her jeans at her ankles, and hurriedly put his leg back in place, holding hers down. Her hands immediately went behind her in an attempt to protect, or hide, he wasn’t sure which, her bare bottom.

  “Lucy, this spanking is going to happen. I’m planning on using only my hand. If you persist in trying to prevent it, like you are now with your hand, I’ll be forced to rethink that plan and
use a paddle.”

  Her head turned quickly and she stared at him. “You have a paddle? Do you do this to every woman you meet?”

  “No, I absolutely do not. And no, I don’t have a paddle per se, but there are all kinds of things that make good paddles. A hairbrush is excellent, although you have to be careful; they can be very painful. A wooden spoon works nicely, as does a bread board. I know there’s a ruler on my desk, and that’s very efficient, as well. The point is, for your first spanking, I would suggest you move your hand and allow me to use only my hand.” When she didn’t move her hand, he sighed. “It’s your choice, though, and if you insist, I can go to the office and get a ruler.”

  She quickly moved her hand. “No! No, Todd, this hurts enough.”

  “Then I would definitely suggest you keep your hands away, because if this hurts now, you certainly don’t want to feel a ruler on this cute little bottom.” He started the spanking again, with lighter swats now, though with no jeans or underwear, he doubted she realized they were lighter. From the way she was squealing, they were definitely getting her attention.

  After a few more swats, he eased up a little on the intensity, and started talking. “Lucy, I care about you. I want to explore a relationship with you, and I hope you’re willing to, as well. But one thing we need to talk about is your safety. It’s obvious to me that you act first and think later, and that has to stop. I cannot and will not stand by and watch you put yourself in danger like that.”

  She was squirming, trying again to get away, but he held her tight. “I also think you need to understand the concept of consequences. I think that’s part of why you don’t think before you do anything. I’m guessing you’ve never had consequences for bad decisions. Well, that’s about to change. When you do something you know you shouldn’t do, from now on you can expect to find yourself in this same place. I think you need this, honey.”