“Yes, Sir.”
She squirmed under his touch. “I think I’d behave for a while if I were you. This will be sore tomorrow.” He squeezed and pinched her ass, filling his hands with the plump, soft flesh.
“I’m going to pour some warm wax onto your body.”
Her head swiveled, the large eyes not even blinking. “You’re going to do... what?”
“Trust me, Clara. You’ll like this. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve done it before. It’s very relaxing and sensual.” He carefully took a wet washcloth and wiped her back and freshly spanked bottom.
“Mmmm.” She squirmed, lifting her hips. He obliged her, sliding his hand down, cupping her pussy, her juices coating his palm. Angus slipped a finger into her, rubbing her special spot until a low growl rose from her chest.
“My girl seems ready for more play already.” He kissed her reddened cheeks, the warmth of her punished flesh upon his lips making his cock jerk to attention. “We’ll start with your back, and shoulders.”
He held up the candles in front of her. He’d chosen a yellow, red, and black tapered paraffin candle. “These are paraffin wax, much more gentle than beeswax. It won’t sting as much and you’ll just feel a nice soothing warmth as it runs down your back and spine. The yellow feels cool to the skin, and the red and black feel hotter.”
She still wasn’t sure about this. Candles were hot — and they burned! She’d warned the kids about them for years, but she promised him she’d trust and obey, and after her spanking and the sex, she wasn’t exactly sure she had the energy required to tangle with Angus again.
“Raise up, I want to put this pillow under your hips.” He lifted her pelvis until her bottom felt as if it had been elevated to an obscene height, all of her treasures on blatant display. “Now, close your eyes. I just want you to feel.”
She looked one last time as he held up two yellow candles, one in each hand, about four feet over her back. At the quirk of his brow, she quickly closed her eyes, her heart racing in anticipation.
The first drop felt cool upon impact, but as it slid down her spine, the trail left a warm glow in its wake. The drips fell consistently and almost in a rhythm, moving and gliding down the length of her spine. The drops started just above her bottom, gliding to the small of her back. She felt a few drops fall onto her buttocks, but they didn’t feel as cool hitting her spanked flesh, but rather they were almost… comforting. Her hips jerked and she gasped.
Should I move? Will it make him to burn me?
“You’re fine, girl. You can move — it’s meant to be arousing. So, if you feel like grinding yourself on that pillow, you just go ahead. As a matter of fact, I kinda recommend it.” He chuckled above her.
The hot fluid continued to slide down her ass to the small of her back, with random drips upon her bottom every time her hips were unable to stay still. Her clit rubbed on the cotton fabric of the pillow, her flexing hips pressing into the pillow, seeking her release.
“Remember, you aren’t allowed to come until I give you permission. Rub all you want, but don’t bring yourself to completion.” He had an edge to his voice that brooked no disobedience.
“Did I know that rule? I’m not sure I knew that rule?” She peeked an eye at him.
“You do now. See that you heed it.” He nodded at her before putting the yellow candles in their holders, picking up their red and black counterparts.
“Close your eyes.” He dripped the wax over her shoulder blades, running over her ribcage. Warm. Warmer than the yellow. The fluid fell in hot rivulets until her rib cage felt completely warmed and relaxed.
Then the wax cascaded onto her bottom in random patterns, the heat right on the edge of uncomfortable, drawing a gasp from her.
“It burns landing on that naughty backside, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, Sir.” She moaned, wiggling in response. “I’m not sure I like it.”
“We won’t stay there for long... this time.”
What did he mean by that?
He moved up her spine, leaving a nice, warm trail of wax settling into her back. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt this relaxed. She lay there, reveling and relaxing into the wax, eyes closed as the world melted away, only warm versus hot versus cold permeating her consciousness.
“C’mon, girl.” He sat her up on the bed, letting her catch her bearings. He knelt behind her. “Now, I’m going to take this wax off of you. I’ll be using the dull side of my knife to separate it from your skin. We’ll go slow, so it doesn’t hurt or become uncomfortable.” The blade was cold against her warm skin as the wax was removed. It tugged, but wasn’t painful. The quiet process of peeling it off helped her come back to reality.
“What time is it, Angus?” She had no sense of how long they’d been playing with the wax. For the first time in years, she’d been lost in something that didn’t entail cleaning, cooking, or family. And she didn’t feel guilty about it either; it had been such a calming process.
“It’s about eleven o’clock at night.” He slowly pulled off a sheet of wax that covered most of her upper back. He showed her the large piece, and she took it from his grasp.
“Oh, Angus. I’m not sure I want to throw this away. I loved this, and I can’t believe it’s that late. How long did we do this?”
“That’s the whole point. It’s soothing for you — and for me. I loved watching you in that light slumber, relaxed under my wax painting.” He continued to pull off more of the sticky stuff. “Lie on your belly. I need to get this all off your bottom.”
She rolled over onto her tummy, still feeling embarrassed to be so exposed to him even after everything they’d done. The knife didn’t feel as comfortable on her sore flesh and the tugging on the skin hurt much more where she’d been punished. “Ow! That kinda hurts… there.”
“That’s why I didn’t let much wax settle there. Misbehave again, and there is always a risk that I’ll wax your bottom as a whole. Of course, I’ll stay away from your anus and your sex, but having hot wax dripped on a freshly spanked ass and then scraped off, is a punishment all in itself. Keep it in mind, girl.”
“Yes, Sir.”
She didn’t even want to think about how much such a punishment would hurt.
Chapter Fourteen
She was relieved that she didn’t have to wake to the women grumbling and had a husband to wake up beside her. Nelly and Rose stayed in the wagon as they had been, Angus insisting from day one that they sleep off the ground and in the safety of the wagon.
And to keep the grumbling and gossip down — even though the women of the Widow Wagon seemed happy for Clara and Angus— Clara made sure to be up in time to assist with the morning chores and normal routines. Today, it was her job to cook breakfast with Sam. She started a large pot of corn porridge while Margie cooked the bacon and Sam made Johnnycakes. After a couple months of this, they had quite a system going and the women could literally do it while still half asleep.
Meanwhile, Minnie and Lizzie had been rolling up the bedding, loading it in the wagon. It would be their job to wash the dishes after breakfast was over. The women had been seeking Angus out to escort them on the walk out to do their morning business. Sometimes, they went as a group and other mornings they just went out in pairs.
“I’m telling you I ain’t doin’ it. I’m got my womanly, and I’m not getting him or you to come with me just so I can relieve my bladder. It’s just embarrassing and there hasn’t been a damn thing that’s happened here since he warned us.”
Minnie.
Of course, it was Minnie bucking at the rules again. She’d been struggling with his strict orders since he’d instituted them.
Clara couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “Minnie, you know as well as I do that there were Indians just the other day. And if I recall — which I’m sure you can too — you got your ass paddled for it. So, if I were you, I’d just swallow my pride and go do your business with Angus nearby for protection.”
“Of course,
that’s your response. I wouldn’t expect you to say anything less. You’re his wife now. You must obey his rules. I don’t have to, and I’m gonna do what I want.” Minnie scanned the campsite, obviously looking for Angus. “While he’s gone rustling up the cattle and oxen, you women cover for me. He won’t even know I’m gone.”
Minnie hiked up her skirts, running toward the area they used for times such as these. Clara hated this; she knew that Minnie put herself at risk doing this with renegades and Indians around. They’d been told that East of Soda Springs the renegades were the biggest issue, west of Soda Springs the Shoshone were the issue.
She stopped cooking, looking over at Margie. “Should I follow her anyway? Angus will be cross — and he may be pissed at me for not saying something.”
Margie wiped her hands on her apron. “As I see it, she’s a grown woman — and one with a sore ass to boot. If she chooses to disobey, it isn’t my problem. And furthermore, it isn’t up to me to tell on her.”
Clara nodded. There was logic in that. Minnie made her own decisions, even when Clara tried to tell her not to. She’d done all she could.
Angus ambled up to them, swiping a piece of hot bacon out of the pan. “How’s it going this morning?”
They exchanged looks, wondering how they should respond. Clara spoke up first. “Good. Everything is good.”
“Why do y’all seem a little off today?” His keen gaze scanned them as he spoke.
Damn him!
“What do you mean? We’re tired, Angus. It’s early.” Clara said it with enough attitude that his eyes narrowed at her.
He then sighed. “Yeah, it is early. I’m tired too.”
“Wait... where?” He spun in a circle and Clara’s heart started to beat so fast she found it hard to swallow. “Where’s Minnie?”
Clara and the women stood, none of them speaking a word, staring at him, hoping he’d just forget — or become distracted.
And distracted is what they all became.
“Help! No! Put me down. Put me down now! Help!” Minnie screamed in the distance. Everyone dropped what they were doing, running instinctively toward her cries. The men first shouted for the women to get in the wagons, then grabbed their weapons and charged toward the direction of Minnie’s distress.
Clara dove for her girls, rushing them into their own wagon. Peeking out of the back, it appeared that there were four unidentified cowboys on horses, and Minnie, her green dress fluttering in the wind, could be seen flailing and screaming, thrown onto her belly over one of the horses.
Angus and the other men shot at the outlaws, hoping to stop even one of them. Several of the men ran to their own horses, apparently intent on trying to catch up to the bandits, if only to rescue Minnie.
But all too soon, the outlaws made their escape with Minnie. She’d been kidnapped by a bunch of renegades!
* * *
Angus and the men called the women out of the wagons, telling them that it was safe now. They had some of the older girls to take the children to play a safe distance while they interrogated the pioneers.
The women in the Widow Wagon had been evasive when he asked where Minnie was, and they seemed downright skittish before that. Now he knew why, and he’d just have to find out what they knew — and why they didn’t say anything.
“I know there’s a lot of you gathered here today and many of you weren’t even traveling in Minnie’s wagon. But we want to know anything you saw this morning.” He paced slowly in front of all them, making eye contact with each one. “I want you to tell us any details, anything that didn’t seem right. If you saw her this morning, when you saw her, where she was, and if you saw anything in the distance. These are important facts if we’re going to get her back.”
As suspected, it was his women who couldn’t keep eye contact — at all.
“I’m going to address those of you from other wagons first. Did any of ya see her this morning? Raise your hands if you did.”
Only two raised their hands.
“The rest of you are dismissed. You can go back to fixing breakfast and doing bedrolls. We’ll call you back if we need to.” He walked up to the two women who had admitted to seeing Minnie.
“Where and when did you see Minnie this morning?”
The first woman, if you could call her that, appeared to be no more than fifteen — and frightened as hell. Her eyes were large, and her hands shook.
“Baby, it’s all right,” Angus said. “You ain’t in trouble, okay?”
He rubbed his hand down her arm. “I’m just asking questions. You wanna help us find her, right?”
“Yes, S-sir.”
“When did you see her?”
“She was doing the b-bedrolls, and I heard her t-talking to the women.” She wrung her hands in front of her. Angus felt bad for her, the young girl obviously afraid either of the situation or him — or both.
“Did you hear her say anything that would help us find her?”
“No, S-sir. I swear I didn’t see anything but that.”
“There, you’re done. You did fine, sweetie. You can go back to doing what you were doing before the commotion.” He watched her go.
Then he addressed the second woman. At first glance, she seemed young, but the laugh lines at the edges of her eyes indicated she was probably closer to thirty five than twenty five. Or was it that Angus, the closer he got to forty, thought everyone seemed young now.
“So, you say you saw Minnie this morning?”
“Yes, Sir.” She glanced at the women of the Widow Wagon. He stole a look his shoulder to see their reactions. Again, avoiding eye contact at all costs, they all became suddenly very interested in the ground in front of them.
Yep, they’re hiding something.
“Tell me what you saw.”
“I saw her leaving toward the area where... where we do our business. But she was alone.” The woman’s eyes widened, no doubt knowing the rules were strict for all the wagons, not just his wagon. No woman or child was to be anywhere alone. Ever.
Angus had just assumed that one of the women went with Minnie even if it wasn’t from his wagon — although the rules were that she was to ask permission first. But, he didn’t think she’d broken two rules. Even Minnie didn’t seem quite that brazen.
Now, he needed to figure out if the women of his wagon knew about any of this.
“Are you sure no one was with her?” He tilted his head, curious to see what her answer would be.
“Yes, Sir. She’d been arguing with the women of your wagon first, and then she stormed off.” She did a quick glance out of the corner of her eye toward the Widow Wagon women.
“Don’t you worry none about my women. They’ll behave. You only answered questions truthfully, and I appreciate it. You can go back to your chores.” After she’d made it back to her site, he turned, hands on his hips as he walked back to his women.
“So are all of you in agreement that Minnie stormed off alone to do her morning business?” The women were all still looking at the ground. “Eyes on me. Now.” All of them looked up, reluctantly making eye contact.
“Yes, Sir,” they murmured, almost in unison.
He sighed. They’d been told many times that under no circumstances was a woman to be alone. They were to find a man and tell him — or go with her, regardless of whether or not she wanted a companion.”
“So, who was she arguing with before she stormed off?” None of the women responded. “Lizzie, who was she arguing with?” Lizzie seemed to be the only one on this wagon that had a mild spirit. She didn’t argue, and did as she was instructed with very little or no complaining. He’d get an honest answer from her.
“Uhm...” Her eyes flicked toward Clara. He quirked an eyebrow at her and she swallowed hard. “Clara, Sir.”
In two strides, he stood in front of his new wife. “Is that so, Mrs. Warren?”
“Yes, Sir.” Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
“And you didn’t think to tell me that
when I came back to the site?” He grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, leaning in closer. “Or to tell one of the other wagon masters? Or, how about this, to follow her anyway?”
“No, Sir. I guess not... I guess I…” She closed her eyes unable to drop her gaze.
“You guess not.” He dropped his hand from her face, letting out an exasperated sigh. “We’ve discussed this. All of you. Over and over again.”
He needed to figure out where Minnie had been taken. He hadn’t lost a woman yet, and he wasn’t going to this time either. But first it was essential that he got his emotions under control.
“So none of you women — none of ya — took the time to follow her or do anything to ensure her safety? We’ll be delayed for a few days here. The Sheriff is gathering a posse of men to find her and catch these renegades. They’ve taken captives before, and they usually just want money to bring the woman back. But this time, they say they’re going after them.”
He couldn’t delay their journey too much longer or they’d risk being in the snow before they made it to Oregon country. He couldn’t risk the lives of his new wife and children, nor any of the other women in order to save one. As much as he wanted to find Minnie, it wouldn’t be worth waiting too long. They’d wait three, maybe four days before leaving — and after that he’d just have to deal with the failure and loss.
“I should paddle every single one of your asses. But I’m not going to. I think the guilt of her being taken is punishment enough.” He waved his hands at them. “You all go back to your chores.”
They started to disperse, but he grabbed Clara’s arm, whispering in her ear. “You, however, will be getting your tail tanned later. Think on that for the rest of the day.” He turned on his heel, leaving her standing there. He needed to talk to the other men and let them know Minnie had been left alone.
Then he needed to calm himself down before tending to his disobedient wife.
Chapter Fifteen
Cinch Your Saddle (The Widow Wagon Book 3) Page 11
