by Kimber Davis
She was very right when she said that he'd done nothing more than punish the both of them. His body throbbed painfully with unresolved need, and she was doing exactly what he'd told her not to.
He supposed the real question would be whether or not her questions would bring about results. Would she be able to get some of the men to spread rumors about Tyler, to make him nervous and possibly push him into making a wrong move?
It was a nice thought, but somehow he didn't think it would work. Of course he didn't think Tyler would stoop so low as to bribe someone into filing a lawsuit that would effectively destroy the Ivy, and everyone associated with it.
Stuart knew he should go over and stop her, but it would only make a scene. The best thing he could do was watch her, make sure no real trouble started from the questions she was asking.
And when the night was over he would have to decide whether to make love to her, or to spank her again for going against both James' directive, and his own wishes.
Chapter Nine
Ivy was as giddy as a schoolgirl on the last day of classes before summer vacation. Her head swam with victory as she pondered the information given to her by the gentlemen sitting at the table tonight. She wished she could remember their names, but the truth was she didn't. They were regulars, but they'd never offered to tell her who they were. And tonight had been no different.
But they had told her what she'd wanted to know. Martin had been reluctant to file the lawsuit against them so Tyler had dangled a carrot: a huge one. He'd offered Martin half-stake in The Ivy after the lawsuit was won. Martin had turned it down, so Tyler had gone up to sixty percent. And Martin had taken the bait.
Of course everyone knew Tyler wasn't a man of his word, and would never follow through. He'd convinced Martin there didn't need to be a written agreement, since they were basically filing a false lawsuit and a written agreement, if found, could get them both into a huge amount of trouble.
Which meant, everyone knew, that if Martin won, he wouldn't see any money, or have any part in the running of The Ivy. Tyler would take it all, and Martin was generally too drunk to have figured this out on his own.
"So all we have to do is get the men to testify on our behalf," Ivy said to Stuart as they wiped down the bar after closing time. "Either that or we talk to Martin, tell him the jig is up and that he needs to drop the lawsuit. When that happens, we'll be home free."
"What men? You don't even know their names."
"No, but you do." She pushed him gently on the shoulder. "Don't be a weenie just because you're mad that I got results when you didn't want me to do anything. This is too funny!"
Stuart put down his towel and turned to her. "I know you think you've solved everything, but all you've done is confirm what we already knew. Martin is a drunk, remember? He won't believe you if you tell him the sky is blue. Tyler has convinced him that he's getting The Ivy, and there will be no way to change his mind. He may be stupid, but he's also stubborn, just like someone else I know."
Ivy's eyes bulged out and she took a step backward. "Excuse me? You're comparing me to Martin? That hurts. A lot."
"I'm not comparing you to him at all." Stuart passed the rag over the bar one more time. "What I said was that you had the same trait, stubbornness. That doesn't mean you're just like him."
She crossed her arms over her chest, angry that he wasn't as excited about what she'd found out as she was. After all, this was a step in the right direction. It could solve all their problems if they could convince Martin he was being used.
"I'll call James. I bet he'll agree with me."
"I bet he won't." Stuart threw the rag into the container at the end of the bar. It arched and hit its target perfectly. Then he crossed his arms over his chest, mirroring her position. "He's the one who told us to lie low and not muck about, remember?"
"I'm not mucking!" She threw her hands in the air and stalked to the end of the counter, wheeling around and pointing her finger at him. "You're just mad because I was successful. Why? I don't understand it."
"Did it ever occur to you that those gentlemen told you what you wanted to hear? They're not exactly friends of your Da's. Sure, they're nice to him, but they're not people he would have over to the house for dinner. Who's to say they didn't run to Tyler and tell him what they said to you. Maybe he's at home, laughing, knowing this is bothering you enough to talk about it with every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes into the bar."
"Quit raining on my parade." There was a huge part of her that knew he was probably right. Talking to the crowd at large tonight was probably not a good idea. She'd been too blunt, and should have left it to the investigator that James hired. Still, she was tired of waiting around, tired of having this hanging over her head.
Things had been too stressful of late. A good screw would have helped, but that had been nipped in the bud earlier tonight. Maybe she should see if Stuart wanted to end what they had started.
"Want to go into the back room?" She wiggled her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips, jiggling them, hoping it made her look seductive.
"Tempting." He rubbed his chin and gave her a mock glare. "But I'm thinking you need another spanking."
"No!" She stomped around the bar, facing him from the other side. "I'll behave from now on, I promise. I won't mention the lawsuit to anyone but our inner circle until James gives the go ahead. I swear it."
"Darling, I don't believe you." He winked at her, which made her feel a little better. At least he wasn't angry with her, just a little miffed. She'd seen his angry side, and she knew if that were the case she'd be over his knee right now with her panties bunched around her ankles, his hand slapping her bottom repeatedly.
Maybe she should get him angry. Maybe a good, sound spanking would help the both of them. Heavens knew the one he'd given her earlier tonight had done nothing more than get her motor running, and leave them both revving their engines in anticipation for more action.
A good, hard spanking would relieve some of the tension they were both feeling. Unfortunately it would leave her bottom sore for a few days, and she wasn't sure that was something she wanted. But then again...
"You can be a real jerk, you know it?" His raised eyebrows let her know he didn't appreciate the comment. "Admit it, you can be. And I'm going to talk to Martin, whether you like it or not."
"Excuse me." Stuart put his elbows on the bar and leaned toward her. "Where the woman who just moments ago said she was going to behave? Did she walk out the door at the same time a doppelganger walked in?"
"No, it's still me. I've just come to my senses." She headed toward the office. "I'm going to look up Martin's address and go see him. Tonight. Right now. I don't care if I have to wake him up. It will be worth it. In fact, if I wake him up I'll catch him off guard and that will make things all the more perfect."
"The hell you are." Ivy walked faster, determined to make it to the office. There was a couch in there, and she would be more comfortable over his knee that way. It was the right height for her to put her hands on the floor and steady herself while he spanked her.
"Ivy, get back here!" His anger was evident now and she knew this spanking would be hard. She found herself anticipating it, wanting to feel the swats, to concentrate on them rather than the mess they were in; think about her reddened bottom rather than thinking about her father, who was getting better, yes, but was not out of the woods.
There was the clink of a belt buckle and her heart raced. Stuart was taking off his belt. She hadn't anticipated that, and really didn't want a belt spanking. But it was too late. He would give her one. A hard one.
She went into the office and crossed to the desk. The overhead light was off, and the low light on the desk illuminated the surface, and not much else. Maybe she should have brought him back here for lovemaking instead of a spanking. This was definitely the right mood for it. The door slammed behind her and there was the click of a lock.
"Bare your bottom." Okay, forget the lovemaking.
The tone of his voice let her know that he wasn't happy with her, at all. But, as the old saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. There was no going back now, that was for certain.
"No."
"Don't you dare tell me no. You've provoked this, although I'm not sure why. You knew your actions would bring it about, and now you're going to pay the price. Bare your bottom and bend over the desk, Ivy."
His voice was like steel and Ivy wondered about her actions. She had expected a spanking yes, but not a belt one. Was there a way out of it? "Put your belt back on and use your hand, and I'll do it."
"Bend over the desk before I trade the belt for the nice piece of wood that's sitting over there."
Ivy turned to where he was pointing. A long paddle, a piece of polished wood that seemed to gleam even in the darkened office, was propped up against the wall.
"When did that get there? I've never seen it before."
"That's not surprise, since I just put it there about a week ago. I anticipated your need of a good paddling before this was all over and I wanted to be prepared. Tonight proved to me I was right in being ready. Now, do I said, Ivy. Right. Now."
When she didn't move immediately he took a step toward the corner. She held up her hand and said, "Wait!" Surprise swept through her when he actually stopped.
"Now, let's not be hasty about this. You know that I'm just trying to break the tension between us. Why don't we settle on a nice hand spanking? We can go to the couch and I'll be a good girl and take what's coming to me. But I don't want the belt, or the board."
"Why didn't you just tell me you thought a spanking would be a good idea? Why did you have to get me riled up?"
"Because I..." She had no answer for that question and she spread her arms out, palms up. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Can we go back in the other room and try this again?"
"I think it's a little late for that." He let one part of the belt drop from his hand so that it now rested against the floor. That was a good sign, Ivy decided. A doubled-up belt meant it was ready to be used. One that was just hanging there said there was the possibility it might be used, but not a certainty.
"Please?"
A smile replaced his frown and she felt relief flood her body. "Very well, but it's not going to be a short one. You're going to be spanked very soundly, young lady, and at the end of it you're getting ten swats from the paddle, just to remind you that making me angry isn't the way to go about things."
Well, it wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but it was better than getting the whole spanking with the board, and at least the belt was now out of the equation totally, since he was pulling it back through the loops of his pants.
When it was buckled he looked around her room, his gaze landing on the couch. Then he turned back to her and winked. "We need to work on our communication, darling. I don't have to be angry to give you a spanking. Sometimes one is needed, to break tension like this one will do, and I know that. You should have just told me instead of trying to trick me into giving you one."
"Sorry." She shrugged her shoulders again. "Maybe we should just forget the whole thing."
"No, that would be an incredibly bad idea." He walked to the couch and sat down, then patted his lap. "Come here, bad Ivy."
She stepped up next to him and started to bend over. He put his arm up and shook his head. "Jeans and panties down, you know that."
"I just thought that since we were changing things around that..." She nodded, hoping he would agree with her.
"No. Jeans and panties around your ankles, then come across my lap. Argue with me more and the belt comes back off."
"Fine." She undid her jeans and pulled them down, leaving her panties in place. She put her thumbs into the elastic and waited, her gaze locked on his. They stared at each other for a few, long moments and when he cleared his throat she pulled them down and hurried across his lap.
The feel of his thighs pressed into her body excited her, even though she knew it shouldn't. This wasn't going to be a fun spanking, and she shouldn't get her hopes up that something would come of it in the end. The only thing that would result from this spanking was a throbbing bottom. Well, that and, hopefully, some released tension for the both of them.
He rubbed her bottom, his hand gentle against her soft skin and she sighed softly, trying to prepare herself for what was about to come. The first strike made her groan, and the second one was harder than the first.
"Ouch." Smack. The third one made her tense, even though she knew from experience that would only make it hurt worse. He delivered two more, and then really went to work, hitting her bottom so frequently and in such varied places that she lost count.
Her backside started to throb and she put her hands on the floor, trying to stay still and not let her body grow taut. She wiggled to let him know she thought that was enough but he ignored her, his hand coming down hard and harder, her bottom throbbing more and more.
"Ouch! Ouch! Enough, please."
"I don't think so." The spanking continued, with Stuart's hand seeming to land even harder than it had before. Wasn't this hurting him? It would seem to her that the spanking would hurt his hand as much as it did her bottom, but yet he wasn't complaining about it, nor was he slowing down.
If anything the intensity of the swats increased yet again and the throbbing in her bottom turned into a dull ache that spread through out her lower body.
"Stuart please! Please stop! Enough, I beg you." Especially since there were ten more swats coming from the board. This was not what she had planned at all.
"Tell me what this spanking has taught you." Smack, smack, smack.
"What? This was to relieve tension, it wasn't because I..." Her words trailed off as more swats landed. It took several more for her to realize what he'd been asking.
"I..." Slap, slap, slap. "I shouldn't have..." Slap, slap, slap.
"Yes? You shouldn't have what?"
"Provoked you. I'm sorry." There were two hard slaps, one for each cheek. They made her groan and she hated the idea of the ten that would follow with the board. She wanted to beg him to reconsider but she knew that would only make him increase the number, and she didn't want that.
"I'm sorry, too." He rubbed her bottom, the feel of it sensuous after the stinging pain of the spanking he'd just delivered. He stroked her gently, his hand roaming from side to side and down to her thighs where the swats had landed from time to time.
The softness of his touch made her wonder if maybe, just maybe, he would forgo the ten swats with the board that looked so evil. She lifted her gaze to where it rested against the wall, looking very innocent.
She knew better, though. The board would hurt, badly, and she wasn't really in the mood to taste it, not after the spanking he'd just given her.
"Stuart, I..."
"I know what you're thinking, but it's best if you don't ask, Ivy. I'm just letting your bottom recover a little before we move to the last part of the spanking. Unless you'd like to just get it over with now."
There was a huge part of her that wanted to say yes, let's just do it so I don't have to think about it anymore. But there was an even bigger part of her that wanted to put the paddle swats off as much as possible.
Anything could happen to prevent it. The phone could ring and...well, the phone could ring. But considering how early it was in the morning, or late in the evening, depending on how you looked at it, that was unlikely to happen.
"Are you ready to continue?"
"If I say no will that stop the spanking?"
His deep chuckle made her body stiffen in need, which was unusual considering the spanking she'd just received. Usually a hard spanking didn't leave her feeling frisky, but this one had.
"No, it won't stop it. It may postpone it for a few moments, but the swats are inevitable."
Great, didn't that just make her feel fantastic. So much for her great idea. "Then let's just get it over with, please."
"As you wish." He slapped her b
ottom lightly. "Stand up, naughty Ivy. Go to the desk and bend over."
Under other circumstances she might have enjoyed hearing those words. But right now they sent chills up her spine. This wasn't something that she wanted to happened and she cursed herself once again coming up with the idea a spanking would ease the tension that had them both worked up. She would never think that again, she swore to herself.
The desk was cold under her, adding to the discomfort she felt right now. She could hear Stuart behind her, walking over to where the paddle rested against the wall. Within moments he was next to her, his hand on the small of her back.
He rubbed the wood against her already aching bottom and it felt cool to the touch, which was a feeling she welcomed. She wanted to ask him to take it easy with the spanking, to just give her short, small swats that would reinforce the fact that she'd done something that she shouldn't have, but didn't cause her much more pain than what she was feeling right now.
But asking him that wouldn't help, she knew. It would be best to just take it and get it over with.
As if he could read her thoughts the first swat landed. It wasn't very hard and she almost sighed in relief, until the second one came down, following fast on the heels of the first one, it was harder and the sting lasted longer.
A third one made her yelp and she gasped and reached her hand back as if to block another swat. His hand grasped hers, however, and pushed it to the side. "You know better than that. You could hurt yourself. Keep your hands to your side. This won't take long."
She did know better than that, knowing her hand could come into contact with the paddle and cause damage, but the stings were harsh, and she didn't want anymore.
"Please, that's enough."
"No, we said ten and that's the number you're going to get. Remember, I don't change my mind when it comes to spankings."
Ivy jerked her head back toward him. "Really? You changed your mind from using the belt earlier." The snippy tone was back in her voice and she regretted it at once, knowing she shouldn't have said that.
