by Holla Dean
It was mostly a sleepless night for the men. They took turns resting on the cots for a few hours at a time. Two men sat at the small kitchen table and managed to catch a little sleep resting their heads on their folded arms. The final two men sat on the floor or stretched out and tried to sleep. There was one extra blanket but staying warm wasn't a problem with six men in the small space and the fire going in the stove.
In the morning Seth went out to check on the horses and found they were fine. They had huddled together on the side of the shack that gave them the most protection from the wind. Food for the horses was going to be a problem if they couldn't get out sometime today.
According to the weather radio that all the line shacks had, the blizzard conditions had slowed, and while it was still snowing, it wasn't nearly as much as during the worst of it in the night. The best course of action would be for the men to stay together. They would go together to check on the cattle and then half of them could return to the ranch house for some much-needed sleep before returning and relieving the rest of the men. It would probably take over an hour plodding through the heavy snow drifts to get to the cattle. From there, it would be three or more hours to get back to the ranch house.
He wasn't overly worried about Julie or Mrs. Alvarez. The housekeeper should've left before the blizzard really started and she should've made it home safely. If she had stayed late to take care of Julie, hopefully she had enough sense to spend the night in the guest room rather than try and get home. He knew Julie would be fine, she'd grown up on a ranch. There was plenty of food at the house and every room had at least one gas lantern.
He did wonder if she'd be worried about him once she realized he wasn't going to be home for the night. He chuckled to himself when he thought how the blizzard managed to help her avoid the punishment he had in mind for her. Little did she know, it was only a temporary reprieve.
*****
Julie woke up at dawn with a stiff neck. She'd fallen asleep on the sofa and she sat up now and looked around. It looked like the power was still out and she got up and went to the window. The lantern had run out of fuel while she was asleep giving her a little pang of guilt. What if someone had been relying on that light to find their way back?
It was still snowing, but not nearly as much and it looked as though the wind had subsided. It was cold in the house and she rubbed her bare arms to try and generate some heat. She went to Seth's bedroom and put on a sweater. She had two choices for warmth; the oven in the kitchen or the fireplace in the living room. She decided to go with the fireplace since it would be more comfortable sitting in the living room. There was plenty of wood on the back porch and more on the side of the house.
She had put the chili and bread away last night after loading her used bowl in the dishwasher. She was hungry and tried to think of what was in the fridge before she opened it and let the cold air out. Eggs, milk, and cheese would make an omelet and she’d have a piece of last night’s bread with it. That meant she also had to pull out the butter and jam.
Opening the fridge door, she quickly found the items she needed and pulled them out. When she took the portions of each item, she quickly returned them to the fridge and set about making her breakfast.
Six o'clock came and went and there was no sign of Mrs. Alvarez. Julie hadn't really expected her to show up this morning. She suddenly wondered if Mrs. Alvarez had made it home without any difficulty the previous night. She had left just shortly before the worst of the storm started. There was no way for her to find out now though.
She sat in the living room dressed in her flannel pajamas, a sweater and the throw from the sofa wrapped around her shoulders. At eight o'clock she thought she should probably go out to the barn again, milk the cow and make sure the animals were all right and had enough food. She should probably muck out the stalls as well. It would give her something to do to pass the time until she heard from Seth or Mrs. Alvarez.
After bundling up to brave the outdoors once again, Julie went out the back door, grabbed the snow shovel and cleared the stairs. The snow was heavy and by the time she finished, she thought she was ready for another nap. But she grabbed hold of the rope and made her way to the barn. It took her nearly 2 hours to clean the stalls, feed the animals and milk the cow. She was ready to go back into the house and heat up some of last night’s chili. All her work in the barn had given her an appetite.
Stamping the snow off her boots before entering the house, the door suddenly opened and Mrs. Alvarez started with the questions, "Where is Señor Seth? What were you doing in the barn by yourself?"
"How did you know I was in the barn by myself?"
"I see only one set of footprints, and they’re two small to belong to Señor Seth. Where is he?"
"I don't know. He never made it home last night. I'm hoping he spent the night in one of the line shacks and that we’ll see him soon."
"Nobody is in the bunkhouse, either. I saw no tracks, so no one came home last night. I hope everyone is well." She gave the sign of the cross in a quick prayer that all the men were safe.
"How did you get here?" Julie asked. "There's too much snow for your little car to make it."
"I drive my husband’s four-wheel-drive truck. He not need it today."
"Well I'm glad you're here, though I didn't expect you to show up today."
"Sit down, we will eat lunch and then we will make food for the men. They will be hungry when they come home. There's nothing to eat in those line shacks except beans and canned chili. No good food."
After eating, they spent the next few hours making a large pan of beef enchiladas and another one of chicken enchiladas. Mrs. Alvarez made her homemade version of refried beans, Mexican rice, and then kept everything warm in the oven.
Once the cooking was done, there wasn’t much else left to do other than wait. Julie was tempted to get on a horse and head towards the area she and Seth were the day before. She was sure the cattle were still there and there’d be some men there that could possibly tell her where Seth was. She might even run into some of the men coming home. The one thing that kept her at the house was her lack of confidence in knowing exactly how to get back where they were the day before. She hadn’t paid that much attention and though she was fairly sure she could find it, she wasn’t positive and she wasn’t willing to risk getting lost in this kind of weather with so many landmarks hidden by the huge snow drifts.
Why did she care anyway? She’d asked herself that question more than once since she realized Seth wasn’t going to make it home last night. It wasn’t like she was in love with him. Sure, she cared about him. But only to the degree she cared about any other human being. She had so special feelings or attachment to Seth.
Then why do you keep thinking about the time you spent in the line shack with him? Like the proverbial conscience sitting on her shoulder, she couldn’t get that out of her mind.
She’d been keeping herself from thinking about that interlude. It had been the most wow sex she’d ever had. Not that she was all that experienced when it came to sex, but she’d had a few relationships. Enough to know what satisfying sex was. What she’d experienced in the shack with Seth went far beyond satisfying sex.
Julie didn’t want to get all mushy on the subject, but it had been as though they had become one. It sounded corny to her, but she didn’t know how else to describe it. It wasn’t just that they had become one in the physical sense—no, their beings, their souls had become as one. There hadn’t been any of that awkwardness that so often comes with the first time you have sex with someone.
There had been nothing tentative about the things Seth did to her body. He had just dived right in—no pun intended she told herself—and done the things he wanted to do. He didn’t pause at any time in his actions and verify that she liked what he was doing. No, none of that. Either he’d been so arrogant that he knew she liked what he was doing or her own actions had told him she liked it.
She told herself now that it didn’t matter
which one it was. Sure, she had liked every minute they’d spent on that narrow cot in the line shack. But that didn’t mean she cared about him. All it meant, or so she told herself, was that they had had a really great physical connection.
She walked to the living room window and gazed out at the stark white landscape. The snow had lightened up considerably and she could see quite a distance away. There was a speck out there, too far away for her to tell what it was, but it did seem to be moving. Moving closer.
She felt her heart skip a beat in her chest, but didn’t think anything of it. She stood there and watched for several more minutes until the speck divided itself into three separate and distinct specks. It soon was clear that three horsemen were headed towards the ranch house.
“Mrs. Alvarez! I see three riders coming!”
The housekeeper rushed into the living room and peered out the window.
She lifted her hand and gave the sign of the cross before muttering, “Mother of God! Do you think it is Señor Seth?”
“I don’t know. I can’t tell yet. They’re still too far away.”
“Whoever they are, they will be hungry,” she said as she hustled back to the kitchen to make sure the food was hot.
As the riders drew closer, Julie could tell by the way the lead writer was sitting his horse that it was Seth. She rushed to the back door slipped into her boots, grabbed her parka and shrugged into it as she ran back to the front door. Ripping the door open, and forgetting to close it behind her, she ran down the front steps in a rush to get to Seth
She saw him grinning at her and she smiled back at him. When they were close enough, he swung down from the horse, wrapped his arms around her and twirled her around in a huge circle.
“I’m so glad to see you,” she gasped.
“Baby, it is sure good to see you!” Seth said at the same time.
So this is love. The fleeting thought barely registered in her mind as she tried to make sense of everything she was feeling. Happiness was at the top of the list. Relief and the feeling of a heavy burden being lifted followed. It was more than she was willing to analyze right now.
Looking up at him, she asked, “Where are the rest of the men?”
“Making sure the cattle are all right. We want to eat something, grab three or four hours of sleep, and then we’ll go and relieve them. It’d be really helpful if you could make sure they’re fed when they come in.”
He walked beside her with his arm around her shoulder and his other hand on his horse’s lead. A warm feeling came over her, the feeling of belonging. She liked being tucked close to him and feeling safe.
“Of course I’ll see that they are fed. Mrs. Alvarez made enchiladas and there’s a lot of leftover chili from last night.”
He kissed her temple and said, “Thanks. That’ll help a lot if they don’t have to worry about making their own dinner at the bunkhouse.”
When they reached the stairs, he told the other men to take his horse and put them all up in the barn before coming back to the kitchen and getting some chow.
Chapter Thirteen
Mrs. Alvarez went home once the two ranch hands were fed and had gone to sleep in the bunkhouse. Seth took a shower and fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed. Julie lay down next to him and tried to sleep since she would have to be awake when the other three hands came in for chow. It was now early evening, and Seth planned to be on his way no later than ten o’clock. The snow had all but stopped, and even though they’d be riding in the dark, he knew every inch of his land and would have no trouble getting back to the herd and the other men. The men they were relieving would probably show up at the house somewhere between one and two in the morning and they’d be ready to eat.
Sleep didn’t come easy with all the thoughts running through her head. Had she actually fallen in love with a spanking cowboy? Was he in love with her? How would she cope with his proclivity towards spanking? So far, thanks to the weather, she had avoided the talk he’d promised her. The talk that she was sure meant a spanking. And he’d promised her next spanking was going to be on her bare bottom.
With that thought, she felt her butt cheeks involuntarily squeeze together. What would it feel like to be pulled over his knee, her bottom exposed, and his big calloused hand coming down in hard smacks across her flesh? She was sure it would be far different from the two spankings she’d had with her clothes on. It would even be different from the spanking where he’d pulled down her pajamas and gave her several swats.
Her pussy tingled and clenched tightly. She slid her hand under her panties and sure enough, she was wet. When her finger brushed against her clit she would swear she had a mini orgasm. If just thinking about spanking caused this, what was going to happen when her daydreams became a reality?
The sharp high-pitched tone from the alarm clock startled her into wakefulness. She slapped her hand on it to still the racket and only then became aware of Seth’s body spooning hers with his arm around her side and his hand gently cupping her breasts.
“We need to have our talk,” Seth said lowly into her ear.”
“Okay,” she mumbled, still half asleep and somewhat confused over her body’s reaction to the thought of being over his knee.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up. Then he pulled and tugged her until she was sitting next to him.
“I want to make sure you understand about the dangers of heading off to somewhere on the ranch without telling anyone where you are going. There are so many things that could happen to anyone—not just you—out there alone. Even a simple fall could cause a broken bone rendering you unable to get on your horse and ride back home. I know you know better than that, having been raised on Jason’s ranch. Yet, even though you know better, even though I warned you the first time you did it, you went ahead and did it again.”
“Sometimes I just act before I think and when I saw that other stray, I thought I’d be helping by trying to go after it.” She hoped he’d accept her excuse since it had been some time since she’d actually worked on the ranch.
Seth nodded his head and said, “I know, and that impulsive acting before you think has got to stop. And that’s why I’m going to spank you now. I want to be sure that you get the message and don’t repeat that behavior.”
Julie was sure as soon as she heard him say the word ‘spank,’ she felt her pussy getting wet again. Her thighs squeezed together and she felt the faint moisture on her panties. Her head was bent and her eyes closed, but she nodded her head. She didn’t want to nod, but she couldn’t help herself, her body’s reaction made her want to feel what a real spanking would be like. And truth be told, she knew she had it coming. As much as she hated the idea of being spanked like a little naughty girl, Seth was right. In many ways, life on a ranch could be far more dangerous than life in the city. She did need to slow down and think before acting impulsively.
She swallowed hard at the realization that this time she was agreeing to being spanked. Even knowing this spanking was not going to be the same as the few swats he’d delivered the previous times he’s spanked her, she was actually giving her consent. It was hard for her to believe.
“All right then, just put yourself over my knee and let’s get this over with.”
It was awkward, but Julie did what he asked. He was naked, having fallen into bed straight after his shower. She wore a tank top and panties. His left hand skimmed down her back and settled at her waist and held her firmly. She could feel his penis growing harder against her hip and something told her once he was finished spanking her, she would be feeling that hard cock inside her.
Her head jerked up suddenly when he yanked her panties down with his right hand.
“No! I want to leave them on.”
“This isn’t about what you want.”
“But…but…”
“You’re right, this is all about your butt,” and with that, his hand came down in a stinging smack.
“Ouch!”
He ignored h
er and smacked her several more times. She moaned and groaned. She let out exclamations of ouchiness. She gasped at the unexpected extra sharpness of some of them. Her legs kicked and he caught them in a scissor of his legs. When she reached back with her arm in an attempt to protect her bottom, he caught the arm and held it to the small of her back as he covered every inch of her ass and the very top of her thighs were they met her butt.
Even though her squirming and wriggling required him to concentrate on what he was doing, he managed to keep up a running lecture of the dangers of being on a ranch and not letting anyone know where you were going.
Finally, when she thought he must have smacked her ass at least a hundred times, he stopped and asked, “Do you understand the dangers about ranch life?”
She nodded her head in reply.
“I need to hear it,” he said and then emphasized it with another smack to her backside.
“Ow! Yes!”
Feeling as though she were on the verge of tears, when he started rubbing her ass she dropped her head to the bed while he launched into horror stories of what could happen out alone on the range.
It felt so good to have him rub her heated rear. She loved the way his hand grabbed a chunk of her butt cheek and squeezed it gently. Sometimes the squeeze was not too gentle. Slowly she relaxed and her legs parted a little more.
His hand caressed the back of her thighs all the way down to just above her knees. On its return trip, he slipped between her legs and skimmed along her inner thighs. She let out a sigh and her legs opened up further. His hand came out from between her legs and lightly ran along the soft crease where her bottom met her thigh.
"Hmmm."
"Does that feel good?"
"Hmmm... It does. Especially after you must've smacked me a hundred times."
He gave a chuckle and said, "It was twenty-five spanks, not a hundred. No, make that twenty-six counting the last one to get you to answer my question."
