Box Set: The Divine Creek Ranch Collection, Volume 2 [Book 4 - Rosemary's Double Delight (MFM), Book 5 - Spurs and Heels (MF)] (Siren Publishing Romance Collection)

by Heather Rainier

  “That doesn’t matter. Come here,” Evan said evenly as he sat on her big bed.

  Rosemary walked over to him, not wanting to believe that he’d actually follow through on this.

  “Do you remember your safe word?” His voice was soft and emotionless. She looked up at Wes, and he met her eyes, waiting expectantly. Something crumpled a little inside of her. Motionless, she looked back at Evan as he sat there patiently.

  Part of her wanted to make a run for it, but she could see the conflict in his eyes. He didn’t want to do this. Another part of her wanted to make this right with him. For them. She nodded, but didn’t use the safe word.

  “I need you to unbutton and remove your blue jeans, Rosemary.”

  “Why do I have to take off my jeans?” She didn’t think she’d benefit from the additional humiliation of being undressed.

  “Because I don’t want to spank you too hard. I need to warm your bottom first so that you won’t have any marks or be so sore. It needs to sting, but we don’t want to physically harm you. Wes and I agree that you’ll receive five licks.” The muscles in his jaw were bunched and tense. She didn’t want to push him any farther.

  “I’m scared,” she whispered, her fingers clutched together.

  Wes knelt down in front of her, beside Evan, and took her hands. “Rosemary, please don’t be scared. Our intent is not to harm you but to teach you to take care of yourself, to protect yourself. Please, can’t we get this over with?” His tone implored, asking her for mercy. None of them wanted this, but they had to move forward.

  Rosemary had waited years and had overcome all kinds of obstacles to be with these men. She knew they were right about apprehending the shoplifter. It was unsafe to follow him, regardless of the circumstances or her responsibilities. Rosemary came into this relationship with them knowing that they felt strongly about this issue. She also knew without a doubt that they’d never really hurt her. She trusted them.

  Rosemary unbuckled her belt and unzipped the fly on her jeans. She toed her boots off and pushed her jeans down and slipped them off, pushing her socks off with them.

  “Panties, too, baby,” Wes said quietly, and she thought she heard a repressed groan slip from his throat.

  Biting her lip uncertainly, she slid her black, lace thong off, confused that she felt a throb between her legs, whether at the thought of them seeing her naked or the thought that she was about to get a spanking, she wasn’t sure. She wanted to kick herself. She had a feeling this wasn’t going to be one of the fun spankings Evan had teased her about.

  “Come here, baby.” Wes led her to Evan’s lap and drew her over his thighs as Evan laid a hand across her back to brace her. She was balanced on her tiptoes and fingertips. Wes stroked her arms, and she was grateful he stayed nearby, grounding her.

  She whimpered when she felt Evan’s other hand slide down her lower back and then over the cheeks of her ass. This was such a vulnerable position to be in, and her cheeks burned in mortification as she made close eye contact with Wes and saw that he hated this, too. Rosemary hung her head in shame when she almost opened her lips to appeal to Wes to save her from this spanking. She knew she could no longer play the brothers against each other like that. She needed to take her licks and get on with it.

  Evan’s callused hand massaged the cheeks of her ass firmly, and she felt warmth spread over her flesh. She cringed, knowing he could see her pussy in the position she was in and might even be able to tell that she was wet, insane as that thought was. His fingers and palms were thorough and firm, stroking and massaging her. A light pop landed on one cheek. It didn’t even really sting.

  Oh. This she could handle.

  Another and another followed in quick succession. Deeper heat spread over the flesh of her ass. She imagined it was probably turning a nice pink color, and she felt confident that they’d be satisfied with having gone through the motions of spanking her. This wasn’t bad at all.

  Several more pops landed on her tingling skin, and she felt certain that he had already reached his allotment of five licks. Fine. At this rate, she’d give him an extra few freebies. Maybe even thank him afterward. Shoot, who needed a safe word for this?

  She was really damp now, the blood coursed hotly through her cunt, making her clit more sensitive to each impact from his hand. She “got” the turn-on for erotic spankings now. At one point, she had to stifle a moan as the impact of his hand vibrated through her clit.

  Rosemary thought she heard quiet communication of some sort between the men, and Wes said, “Count, baby.”

  She looked up, her curly black hair hanging in her eyes. “Huh?” She had to concentrate to understand him through her erotic buzz.

  “Count each lick, now,” Wes repeated.

  “Huh?”

  Smack! Wildfire lit up her ass.

  In shock, she howled furiously. “Ow! Motherfucker!”

  “Count,” Evan ground out. “And watch your language. You’re a lady.”

  “One, you son of a bitch! That hurt!” she screeched, writhing on his lap.

  Smack! Harder than the first one, it stung harshly on her other ass cheek.

  “Two! I’m going to get even for this!”

  Smack! The loud crack of sound echoed around the room.

  “Three! You’re both going to hell!” she said, trying in vain to get away from Evan, but he easily held her immobile.

  Smack! Her ass felt like it was on fire. She howled and hated the hitching sob that caught in her throat.

  “Four. I hate you both! I said you were right. I won’t do it again!” she screeched again, anticipating the fifth and hopefully final pop. A great sob welled from her.

  When it finally landed, her voice broke, “Five.” She lay still, waiting for them to release her. Evan’s rough palm smoothed down her spine and over her derriere in soothing strokes. Unfortunately, his touch was having the opposite effect on her.

  Rosemary heard Evan’s shaky sigh as she caught her breath. Both her face and her ass felt like they were on fire. His hand sweeping over her ass seemed to intensify the heat emanating from her abused flesh. “I hope we never have to spank you like that ever again.” He continued massaging her cheeks gently.

  “Me neither,” she whispered then gasped when his fingers strayed to the outer lips of her pussy and found her slick moisture there.

  Evan groaned. “Rosemary, you’re so wet.” His fingers swirled through her wetness, caressing and teasing her. Wes’s hand strayed over her derriere to join Evan’s.

  “Boomerang,” she said with a whimper. They complied immediately and steadied her as she wobbled on her feet. She looked into their vulnerable eyes. They seemed confused that she’d used her safe word. “I might have enjoyed what you were doing at first, but who wouldn’t? I always respond when you touch me. But then you spanked me for real,” she whispered, rubbing her stinging ass. “You’re going to have to give me a little time here. You can’t go from punishing me to making love to me. It’s too confusing.” Tears tracked down her cheeks as she gathered her clothes.

  Both men watched her, seeming unsure what to do next.

  “Take me back to the store. I have work to do, and I need some time alone.”

  Evan’s eyes beseeched her. “We need to talk, Rosemary. Please.”

  Her hand sliced through the air decisively, stopping him from saying more. “No. You’ve proved to me that you don’t back down from a promise.” When they would’ve said more, she silenced them with a look. “I need some time to myself. Please, Evan, Wes, just—don’t.”

  Miserably, they watched her as she dressed quickly. Hitching sobs rasped from her chest every so often before she rushed from her bedroom and out the front door.

  * * * *

  Rosemary slipped her ringing phone from her purse and glanced at the screen as she ran through the stockroom doors and made a beeline for her office. That was Grace calling, and she needed privacy before she broke down in front of everybody.

  �
�Hello.”

  “Hello? Rosemary? Are you okay?” Grace sounded concerned. Rosemary sat down at her desk in the back office after locking the door. She wasn’t sure if the sound that came from her was a sigh or a sob, or maybe a combination. Her ass tingled as she settled slowly in her chair.

  “Um, why?” Was Grace a member of the psychic network?

  “Because Wes and Evan just showed up a minute ago, looking for Jack, Adam, and Ethan, and they look like someone ran over their brand-new puppy.”

  That news did elicit a sob from Rosemary. “They did?” She broke down, bawling like a big baby.

  She’d managed somehow to keep it together on the drive back to the store. She’d refused to talk about the spanking with them. Cruelly, she’d used the protective skill she’d learned from living with her father on them and tuned them out. Even so, she’d still heard the inner struggle and love in their voices.

  Rosemary was heartbroken, angry, and embarrassed all at the same time. She was a grown woman, and she didn’t need her ass spanked as if she were an errant child. She’d hated the punishment but was also ashamed of herself for enjoying what had led up to it.

  “I’ll be right there. You stay put, okay?”

  “’Kay.” Rosemary ended the call and grabbed the box of tissue off her desk. She felt torn up inside. She was disappointed in herself for not doing as they’d asked. By placing herself in harm’s way she’d put them in a difficult position, as well.

  It confused Rosemary when moments after delivering the last painful swat, Evan and Wes’s fingers had strayed to her wet, vulnerable pussy, finding for themselves the evidence of her earlier arousal. She’d been embarrassed that it had been there because aroused was the last thing she was by the time Evan was done.

  She’d felt overwhelmed by the desire to be away from that room, away from that house, and away from them. Now, with all her heart, all she wanted to do was go back and have a do-over.

  Shit, do over the whole damn day.

  Rosemary would’ve put her cell phone in her pocket before she put her purse in her desk. She would’ve told someone to get Randy before she left the store. She’d have called 911 after locating the criminal and his family in the store, instead of confronting him with Arnold.

  A spanking wouldn’t have been necessary. It would’ve still been only a playful, erotic threat. With all her melodrama, she’d messed that up. They’d risked everything with her today to show her that she mattered to them, and she’d run from them. Like a child. A woman would’ve faced the situation head on.

  Grace arrived five minutes later, and Rosemary told her everything.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Evan came in the back door with Wes, feeling exhausted and miserable. After finding and talking at length with Jack Warner, Ethan Grant, and Adam Davis, they’d returned to the house and spent the rest of the day hard at work in the shop, prepping to fill the orders that had come in, thanks to the Home Builder’s Association convention.

  Several of the online orders had contained special comments from customers regarding their charming and lovely sales representative. Instead of making him feel better, it’d only made Evan feel worse.

  After snagging ice-cold beers from the kitchen, they both made their way back to the bathroom they shared. Bringing their beers into the shower with them, they left them sweating on a high shelf while they availed themselves of the multiple showerheads.

  “I feel like utter dogshit,” Evan muttered as he scrubbed his head mercilessly under the hot spray.

  “Me, too.”

  Fucking doubtful. Evan was the one to always fuck things up between them.

  Dejected, Evan continued, “I haven’t felt this rotten since before Rosemary took us back. God, what did I do?”

  “It’s who you are, Evan. It’s part of what makes you, you. It’s also part of why she loves you. You like to be in control. She’s not used to someone else calling the shots on her yet. But don’t take on too much of the guilt because the three of us should bear it equally.”

  Bullshit. I could’ve kept my mouth shut. I could’ve let you take the lead. We wouldn’t be in this mess now if I had.

  “I shouldn’t have done it. We could’ve had a heart-to-heart talk with her and left it at that.”

  Wes shrugged as he lathered. “Can’t change the past. We’ll give her a day or two to cool off. Maybe she’ll talk to us then. Look at it this way. She knows now that we’re serious about her not doing stupid things that endanger her anymore.” Wes turned and started rinsing and looked Evan in the eye. “She was aroused by the warm-up. The spanking turned her off, and we got our wires crossed in the heat of the moment.”

  “I took too long preparing her.”

  Evan hit the valve and shut off the water. He dried off as Wes did the same, wrapping the towel around his hips. They exited the bathroom and went to their bedrooms. A flash of color caught Evan’s eye as he looked behind his bedroom door for his robe. He glanced into Rosemary’s bedroom, assuming she’d left something behind. Then he did a double take. He went in search of his brother and motioned him to follow him back down the hallway.

  Her little, red cowgirl boots standing by her bed were what caught his eye, but Evan and Wes were both drawn by something else entirely. Rosemary lay curled on her side, cuddled to a pillow.

  She was undressed and wearing Evan’s thick fleece robe, which explained why he was unable to find it. She was sound asleep, her hair spread out in disarray around her. Evan could make out tracks on her cheeks where her tears had dried. She must’ve been really wiped out to not have heard them when they’d come in.

  Evan whispered, “I’m such a dick. I spanked this little thing. What kind of fucking idiot am I?”

  “An idiot completely in love with her. I’ll leave you alone to talk to her,” Wes murmured and then retreated from the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  In a quandary about what to do next, Evan stood there watching her for a minute, thinking over what Jack, Ethan, and Adam had told him. Sure he felt conflicted because he didn’t want to be the one to initiate the reconciliation with her.

  Ethan had put it into perspective for Evan. If he chose to be authoritarian about her safety, then it would always be him initiating the reconciliation until she understood how important this was to him.

  Damn, he never wanted to go here again, had dreaded it from the moment they found out she’d gone off after a shoplifter. His little Rosemary, chasing a shoplifter almost twice her size. Evan didn’t try to suppress his smile. Feisty little brat.

  He knew it was a difficult position for her to be in, too. The store was a family business, and she felt like she needed to protect the store from assholes who thought their needs or wants came before those of the people who owned the establishments and the merchandise.

  Evan sat down on the bed and caressed her cheek, erasing the tear stain. Her brows knit together in her sleep, and her breath hitched a little as if a sob were still trapped inside of her. It made him feel about two inches tall that she’d returned here to them and then cried herself to sleep.

  Why wasn’t she at her apartment pouting? Maybe she’d come here to work it out with them but hadn’t quite been able to face them yet. The important thing to Evan was that she was here. Rosemary hadn’t thrown in the towel. That brought another small smile to his face.

  He fingered one of her long curls, rubbing the dark strands between his fingers. As far back as he could remember, her shiny, ebony curls had always fascinated him. He could recall even in kindergarten, reaching out to touch her hair, to run his fingers through the silky, dark curtain. Being surrounded by it when she bent over him to kiss him was particularly satisfying to him. He bent down to kiss the lock of hair then laid it aside, leaning over her to kiss her pale cheek.

  Rosemary stirred, and then her eyes fluttered open. She looked at him, seeming a little disoriented at first. Turning onto her back, she gazed up at him with troubled eyes.

  “Eva
n, I wish I could tell you I won’t do stupid things in the future, but until I settle in, I may make more mistakes like this. Please don’t give up on me.”

  He cratered a little when her lip trembled as she said the last words. “Rosemary, I should be the one worried about you giving up on me. I love you so much. Are you angry with me?”

  Rosemary still seemed uneasy. “I’m more confused than anything else. When you were spanking my bottom lightly, I thought that was the punishment. The longer you went on, the more I enjoyed it. By the time you were done with the real punishment, I had accepted it and had given in to you. When you realized I was wet, it was humiliating to me, and I didn’t want you to touch me at all. I needed time to recover and get dressed. I’m not a little doll you can play with on a whim like that.”

  Evan nodded, feeling ashamed. “I’m sorry I screwed with your head like that, Rosemary. You’re absolutely right. We realized afterward how confusing it must’ve been for you. You know I’d never intentionally abuse you or want you to be afraid of me, don’t you?”

  Rosemary looked at him, and his heart contracted at the earnest love he saw reflected in her misty eyes. “Of course I know that, Evan. I know you risked a lot today, and I’m going to do my best to never need a real spanking from you again. Although,” she added, her eyes twinkling as she gave him a little grin, “I did enjoy that first part quite a bit. You had my ass nice and warm, along with other parts, too.”

  She was torturing him. Evan smiled and leaned down to kiss her. “I know. I remember, naughty girl. I want to talk to you about something else for a minute.”

  Sitting up, Rosemary put a pillow behind her back. “What is it?”

  “It’s about Wes. He’s put up with a lot over the years. It’s in his personality to be a peacemaker, to handle difficult situations diplomatically. I noticed that you no longer go to him when you’re upset with me, and I want you to know I appreciate that. He appreciates that, too, I imagine. I’ve always been more volatile, more prone to be jealous, and more likely to hog your time and energy. He’s a giver, and I’ve always been a taker.”