Dalton wasn't around, of course. He had gone off to doctor an animal and she didn't know when he would return. It angered her that she had to ask permission to hire help when she obviously needed it.
Matty ate a salad and pizza for dinner. After burning two separate attempts at a pasta dish, Nicole had stood beside the oven door, watching the slow progression of the baking pizza so it would not burn, too! The whole process of cooking made her angry. The precious time she could have spent in her studio was wasted trying to prepare food when she didn't know how to cook and didn't want to learn how.
Dalton entered his house through the kitchen door, as usual, except it was well past midnight. He was bone tired, having spent the last ten hours fighting to keep a prize bull alive. He had recommended putting the bull down. It had been severely gored multiples times by a rival. Dalton didn't blame the animal for his injuries. He blamed the city-bred weekend rancher who owned the bull. His incompetence as a rancher meant an animal had endured a lot of pain, and would have a tough time recovering if it lived.
Hungry, Dalton lifted the lid on a pot left on the stove only to be met with the acrid smell of something burnt. The second pot was the same. He moved the cookware to the sink pouring water in both of them to soak. He rummaged through the refrigerator and found a slice or two of leftover pizza. It was about as appealing as limp cardboard, but there wasn't much choice. He stuck a slice in the microwave and ate it standing over the sink. He raided the breadbox to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to supplement his dinner and then grabbed a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
He shook his head in dismay at the disaster left in the kitchen. It looked as if Nicole hadn't cleared the mess she had made from cooking dinner. As he passed through the living room, he noticed it was in disarray, too, with toys strewn all over the floor, and coloring books and crayons scattered over the coffee table.
His eyes automatically went to the empty display cabinets in the room. It hurt to see the missing spots where his family's collectibles had stood for years. He had finally called Roy Mac and his Gran to tell them about everything happening at the Double C. They hadn't blamed him, but it still hurt. The ranch and everything that happened on it was his responsibility. He hadn't been able to stop the burglary and he had no idea how he could have prevented it. He was not a collector of anything except maybe animals and those were mostly on a temporary basis only until he could find them decent homes.
Dalton made his way upstairs and looked in on his boy giving him a kiss while he slept. Continuing on to his room, he didn't bother turning on lights but went straight into the bathroom to take a long hot shower. He was exhausted. All he wanted was to curl his body around Nicole's and sleep. He wanted to do more but doubted he had the energy. He climbed into bed and found it empty.
"Damn it to hell," Dalton growled crawling out of bed to find her. Stalking down the hall, he went into the spare room she had only occupied a few nights. She was curled around a pillow in the middle of the bed when she should have been curled around him.
Nicole's eyes flew open the second Dalton's arms closed around her and he lifted her into his arms.
"What're you doing?" she demanded.
"Taking you to where you belong, in my bed!"
"If I wanted to be in your bed, I would be there," Nicole hissed. "Put me down!"
He ignored her protests and carried her to his room, tossing her on the bed and crawling in between the sheets. She made a slight effort to slide to the opposite side of the bed before he snagged her and held her in place.
"What's going on, Nic?"
"I had a bad day. I don't want to be in your bed," Nicole snapped.
"Too bad. My day hasn't exactly been great, either." He grabbed her when she tried to scoot away again and smacked her on the bottom hard enough to leave a sting. "I'm too tired for this nonsense, Nic. Lay still and behave before I snap and give you a reason to be mad at me."
Nicole flipped over to face him her mouth open to give him a piece of her mind. His eyes were already closed in sleep, even if his grip on her hadn't loosened. She looked at the fatigue etched on his face and sighed. He looked exhausted. She rolled over with her back to his front. No matter how frustrated she was at the moment, he had no idea why.
Dalton awakened to his woman spooned against his body. He reacted as he always did with a full-alert hard-on. Then, he remembered Nicole's attitude the night before. He nudged her and held himself steady as she rolled over breast to his chest. He glanced at the bedside clock. They had time for a discussion, and more if she was so inclined.
"Hmmm," Nicole murmured.
"Wake up."
She opened her eyes, smiled, and then frowned.
"Tell me what last night was about."
Nicole shifted to sit up, but he tightened his hold on her and held her in place.
"Talk to me."
"What good would it do? You're not listening."
"If you don't tell me what the problem is, I can't help or fix it," Dalton said firmly.
"I need help," Nicole exclaimed, this time pulling out of his embrace.
Dalton sat up against the headboard and punched both his and her pillows behind him.
"Help in what?"
"Everything," Nicole exploded. "I'm not your wife. I cannot be in multiple places at the same time. I can't do my work, be a full-time mother, and housekeeper, and cook, and do the laundry and the cleaning! That woman who was coming once a week has not shown up since Helen left. I don't have time to do the millions of things you seem to think I should be doing around here!"
"Let's take one thing at a time," Dalton said grumpily. "You're not my wife because you won't give me a date. I want you to be my wife. You're the one who keeps putting off the inevitable. Take the number one complaint off the table, because that one is 100% on you.
"Second, if you're overworked, you should have said so. I haven't asked you to cook. I haven't asked you to do the laundry. The only thing I have asked of you was to run a few errands when you go into town."
"Do you have any idea how long those few errands take?" she demanded. "I pick up things from the hardware store, the feed store, the drug store, and the grocery. The list never ends! No, you haven't asked me to do the cooking or the laundry, but I haven't seen you pick up the slack and do those chores, either. I want to hire a housekeeper! I need someone who can drive Matty to school once in a while, instead of my having to drag Kim Johnson out of bed. She's lazy and I don't have the time or patience to deal with her. I need someone to do the cooking and the cleaning and all the other things I've been doing. I'm lousy at housekeeping and worse at cooking. I am an artist. I need to concentrate on my work!
"I know you're busy. I know it's not Helen's fault her sister is hurt, but I need help. Dealing with Kim was supposed to make things easier, not harder. I'm doing it all, and I can't do it anymore."
"Why didn't you say so?" Dalton asked.
"I have!"
"No, you haven't," Dalton said evenly. He rose from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. "I appreciated you trying to fill in for Gran and Mrs. Jackson. I have not heard you say once, 'we need to hire help.' I haven't heard you say it, Nicole. You have worked yourself into an angry fit and are blindsiding me. You haven't talked to me about this. I am not a mind reader.
"If you think we need house help, we'll get it. I'm sure there must be someone in the area who would like a job. If you don't want to run the ranch errands, you should have said so.
"As far as you driving Matty to school, it was your decision, not mine. There are eleven kids on this ranch who all ride the bus. Our son is not any better than the rest of them. Marty Higgins has been driving the same bus route for thirty years. As far as I know, she has never had an accident. I rode the same bus on the same route when I was a kid. It didn't hurt me. It won't hurt Matty.
"I don't want Matty riding the bus," Nicole snapped.
"Then you take him to school," Dalton said firmly. "It's your deci
sion. You have to accept the responsibility for it! Why isn't Kim Johnson working out? Why do you have to wake her up? Isn't she doing her share of driving?"
Nicole didn't answer.
"Is Kim doing her share of the driving?" Dalton asked, again, instantly recognizing Nicole's reluctance to respond.
"Not exactly."
"Explain it to me. Is Kim driving or does she let you do all the driving? She's going with you every day, isn't she?"
Nicole avoided answering, instead grabbing her robe and pulling it on. "I have to get Matty."
Dalton stepped in her path, blocking her. "It's Saturday. Matty doesn't have anything to do, or anywhere to go. What is going on? You'd better tell me and not make me drag it out of you."
She backed away from him. "Kim isn't ready when we get there in the mornings and I can't wait for her. I don't want Matty to be late for school every day."
He absorbed the information and the full implication. "So, you have been driving Matty to school and picking him up in the afternoons by yourself. Kim has not been accompanying you. Is that what you're telling me?"
"She has been with me," Nicole hedged.
"How often?"
She chewed her lip and raised her eyes angrily. "After the first week, never. She is lazy and unreliable. I have been making the trip myself. The car windows are dark. No one can possibly know I'm alone."
"Damn it," he exploded. "What does it take to get through to you? You were almost killed by being run off the road! Whoever did it is still out there. We don't know if they're after you, the ranch, or me. We talked about this. You agreed. You agreed you wouldn't leave the ranch without someone with you!"
"We didn't talk about it. You made it an order, an impossible one," Nicole countered. "Oh, it sounds good; it sounds safe, except everyone is too busy. You can't spare a ranch worker to go with me. I've been making the trip with no problems. The only problem I have is the housework and the cooking. We're supposed to be discussing the housekeeping problem."
"The issue of housekeeper has been resolved," Dalton said ominously. "On the other hand, you totally ignoring my warnings and my orders hasn't been discussed thoroughly or resolved."
"I don't take orders from you," Nicole blustered. "I'm an adult who makes my own decisions. I'm my own woman."
"No, you're my woman. You are not my wife yet, but you will be. I already think of you as my wife. I would have hoped by now you would not lie to me!"
"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you! Sometimes, you're unreasonable."
Dalton blinked at her words. "Is it unreasonable for me to want to keep you safe?"
She was silent.
"Answer me!"
"No."
"Is it unreasonable for me to put rules into place to keep my wif… to keep you and my son out of harm's way? Didn't I make arrangements so you wouldn't be driving to town by yourself?"
"You didn't, Neeley did, and Kim is unreliable."
"You should have said so! I have told you before. I expect, expect you to use common sense. You have been alone on the road with Matty. What if you had been attacked, again?"
"I wasn't."
"Yet," Dalton thundered. "Jesus, Nicole. You tell me you want to be treated like an adult and then you pull something like this. Those weren't my orders!" He drew his hand over his face in frustration. "Maybe I was high-handed about issuing orders to you, but they were based on the advice of the sheriff and the chief of police. Until we know who is behind these attacks, you have to take precautions."
"I have been careful."
"You've been irresponsible! Not only with your life but with Matty's."
Dalton advanced on her with a dangerous glint in his eyes. "What has been my first question to you every single day since this mess began?"
She swallowed, but Dalton answered for her.
"Every single day, I walk through the door of this house and ask the same thing. 'Did anything happen today? Are you okay'? Well, apparently a lot has been happening because you ignored the orders from the sheriff and me. You have been on the road driving by yourself. By not telling me Kim wasn't working out as a carpool companion, you lied to me."
"I didn't…" Nicole never finished her denial. One second she was facing Dalton, and the next she was staring at the hardwood floor.
"No!" she exclaimed, but he was pulling her tee shirt out of the way and exposing her bare bottom. The first spank was a sharp crack. The sting spread like wildfire across her buttocks. Before she could even get her breath, another followed, and then more in a rapid-fire bombardment of pain.
She had been here before and rather belatedly realized nothing would stop him. While she might have a bad temper, Dalton's anger translated into actions she didn't appreciate.
"Oh," she squealed as the stinging heat began to build from his heavy hand. She barely had time to catch a breath between whacks, as one explosion of pain led to another. He set her ass on fire, moving around making sure he covered her entire bottom with hard spanks. Dalton had big rough hands and he covered both her cheeks with each swat.
"Stop," she cried. "I didn't want you worrying about me!"
"Worry?" Dalton questioned. His hand stopped, resting on her tender, hot skin. "Try terrified, Nic! Someone has drawn a target on us! Do you want Matty to be next?"
"No, but walloping me won't change it!"
"Maybe not, but the next time you get behind the wheel of a car, I want you to remember how much it hurts to sit. I want you to remember why there had better be a second, adult person in the front seat with you!" He spanked her already hot, burning flesh even harder.
Nicole couldn't help it. She kicked and tried to cover herself with her hands.
Dalton stopped suddenly, pulling her into his lap and burying his face in her hair as she cried. He held her to him tightly.
"I wouldn't ask you to do anything I didn't think was in your or Matty's best interests. Haven't you realized yet how much I love you and need you in my life? I lost you once. I won't lose you, again. I will not lose you to your silly pride or your foolishness. I don't know what makes you feel compelled to do the exact opposite of what I ask. No more, Nic! Do you understand me? I will not lose you, again!"
Nicole nodded yes and sobbed, then found herself face down on his lap, again, as he laid another barrage of stinging whacks on her already swollen cheeks. She broke into more sobs, and then he lifted her back into his lap holding her while she cried.
"I won't lose you again, Nic. Listen to me this time and hear me. I will not lose you. I'm not letting anything happen to my family, ever again."
Chapter Nineteen
The second time Nicole awakened she was alone. She knew Dalton had gone out to make sure the morning chores were on schedule. He had a routine, talking with his foreman first, and then checking on the animals in his care before coming back in for breakfast.
The next thing she heard was Matty giggling and the low rumble of Dalton's voice in the hall. She made her way to the bathroom to inspect her still aching bottom in the mirror. Her butt cheeks were bright pink in places, especially on the tender underside. She looked longingly at the oversized soaking tub, but instead, turned on the shower jets and stepped into a pulsating hot shower. She would feel the effects of this spanking for the rest of the day or more.
Nicole had given up on changing Dalton's mind about disciplinary spankings. She told herself she loved him enough to let him get away with it. In truth, she really didn't have a choice unless she was willing to walk away from the relationship. She didn't think she could do it, not again. She did love him. She hated his neanderthal attitude and his hard hand.
Helen had discretely left brochures about domestic discipline on Nicole's dresser after their discussion. Nicole hadn't asked where the woman had gotten them. She did online research to understand the tenets of the practice. Often, it was based on religious beliefs. However, in the Calloway family, it had been handed down from one generation to the next. Dalton had descended from tou
gh Western stock where their choices had been to be strong or be dead.
In her previous world and urban upbringing, the word obey had all but disappeared from the English language. It wasn't true in her life, anymore. Dalton was a man who expected his orders followed. Any of his men who deliberately disregarded his orders were fired. There were no unions or arbitration boards for people not willing to do their jobs and follow orders. Dalton was generally open-minded and listened to his experienced men. Even if they disagreed with him, though, he was still the boss. It was his way or the highway.
Back east, even between parents and children, the children seemed mostly in control. Nicole was guilty of allowing it herself. She had become a little stricter with Matty, lately, and his behavior was improving. The difference, as she saw it, was she wasn't a child. Unfortunately, Dalton still demonstrated his displeasure with her behavior on her rear end.
She put on a loose, gauzy dress, and made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She smelled toaster waffles, which were Dalton's and her easy fallback for breakfast.
"Daddy, are you mad at Mommy?" Matty asked.
Nicole stopped before entering the kitchen so she could hear Dalton's answer.
"Why do you think I'm mad at Momma?"
"Because you spanked her this morning," Matty said matter-of-factly. "I heard Mommy crying. You said you wouldn't spank us, but you spanked Mommy and she was crying. Did she do something bad?"
I believe I said I wouldn't spank you unless you did something very, very bad," Dalton said thoughtfully. "Spanking Mommy is something between grown-ups. I am sorry you heard it. I didn't hurt your mommy."
"She was crying," Matty insisted. "You said boys didn't hit girls, but you hit Mommy!"
"Yes, I spanked Mommy and she was crying," Dalton admitted wondering to himself how he could explain a domestic discipline lifestyle to a five-year-old. Then, he realized he couldn't. He remembered Nicole's advice on answering difficult questions from their son. Basically, she had said to use the kiss method: keep it simple, stupid.
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