Lily smiled and expressed how glad she was to hear the good news, but seeing Max had rattled her, and she didn’t feel like reveling in her success. Her strongest desire was to get home and under the comforting warmth of the quilt on her bed. Taking her leave, she slipped out the back door and started her trek home. After sidestepping a drunk who nearly fell on her, she walked a little faster, pulling her shawl tight around her shoulders.
After a few paces, a deep voice regarded her. “Lily, is that you?”
She started and turned to look at where the voice came from. Max stepped out from the alley next to the saloon and strode toward her.
“Oh. Hi, Max,” she stammered. The light from the full moon allowed Lily to see the blacksmith’s disapproving expression as he approached.
“Please tell me you weren’t planning on walking home alone in the middle of the night after your performance.”
Lily gave him a sheepish look. She knew it was foolish to walk home alone, especially after having been scolded by Jesse not too long ago for the same thing. “I didn’t really think about it one way or the other, to be honest. I didn’t plan anything past the performance.”
“I see. I’ll walk you home then. Let’s go.”
“All right,” she said in a resigned voice. She stepped to his side. “Did you recognize your wife’s hat and that’s how you knew it was me?”
“Yes, she mentioned she gave it to you, so it was easy enough to put two and two together.”
“Charlotte didn’t know about this,” Lily said quickly, not wanting to get her friend in trouble with her no-nonsense husband. “I thought of doing those songs all on my own and only discussed it with the madam. And I’m only doing it because the saloon needs the money.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. Not to me, anyway. And yes, I assumed Charlotte knew nothing of this. She likely would have told me if so.”
They walked a few paces before Lily asked in a small voice, “Are you going to tell Jesse?”
Max gave her a sidelong glance. “No.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, but then he added, “You will tell him though, Lily.”
Her heartbeat quickened. “I can’t!” she exclaimed. “Jesse asked me to marry him before he left. I’m to be his wife, and I can’t bear his disappointment, especially after experiencing how pleased he was with me. Oh, I just can’t bear it,” she repeated, shaking her head in dismay.
Max didn’t say anything for some time. When they were within sight of Lily’s cabin, he finally spoke. “Husbands and wives occasionally get disappointed with each other. It’s unavoidable. But secrets are a real bad way to start a marriage. Jesse is a reasonable man, and he loves you. You two will work it out, and he will be pleased with you once again.”
Lily scowled. “The difference is that a husband doesn’t get spanked when his wife gets disappointed.”
Max smiled slightly. “That’s a fair point. But wives have their own ways of showing displeasure. And husbands are responsible for their wives’ safety. A smack on the bottom to prevent real harm from coming to you is fair enough, don’t you think?”
“In my experience, it’s been more than one smack, and I don’t see how preventing me from singing and dancing at the saloon is preventing harm from coming to me. I’ve never understood it.”
“Don’t you? I’m sure Jesse can explain that if you ask, but first off, you were fixin’ to walk home alone at night. That’s mighty dangerous. Second, the saloon is a rough place full of rough men, and you’re a young woman some might see as easy prey.”
Lily took a moment to take in his words, then sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I should tell him. I hate the thought of keeping this from Jesse anyway. He should know what goes on both with me and his saloon.”
“That’s right smart thinking, Lily. I’m glad you see it that way now.”
They walked up to the porch. “Thanks for walking me home, Max, and thanks for talking to me.”
“No problem. I’ll walk you home after each of your performances this week. You shouldn’t be going anywhere in the dark. All right?”
“All right, Max. I appreciate it, and I’m sure Jesse will appreciate it too when he finds out.”
He half turned to leave and then stopped. “By the way, you sure were something tonight. If I didn’t know it was you, I’d swear on my life that the Red Rose isn’t a hoax. I’d bet every tool in my shop that she exists and that every rumor about her magical voice is true.”
Lily grinned. “I’ll be sure to tell Jesse that, although I’m not sure it will help my case any.”
Max chuckled. “It’ll be all right, honey. Good night.”
* * *
A telegram was waiting for Jesse at the hotel counter when he arrived in Tucson after two long, tiresome days of travel. He sat at the small table in his room with a beer from the downstairs saloon, opened the envelope, and read the note. He read it again, slower. He blinked, shook his head, and read it for a third time, as though somehow the words might change if he did.
The Red Rose came to Weston
Jesse gulped down a final swig from his bottle and slammed it on the table. He stood and paced the room, crumpling the piece of paper in his hand. He knew what the note meant. It meant that his Lily had dressed herself as the Red Rose, with Flo’s help no doubt, and was performing to her little heart’s content in the saloon.
Anger surged through him, followed by worry, which then turned into more anger. He prayed she had sense enough to find herself an escort home. Oh, he would have her hide! His hand itched to smack her disobedient backside, and he flexed his fingers against his palm. How he wished he could be back in Weston right that minute to yank her out of the wretched saloon and teach her a lesson about who was boss, but he was miles away and helpless to do anything.
“Damn and blast,” he said aloud and sank into the chair again.
He sat quietly then, listening to the ticking clock. Slowly, his anger dissipated, and in its stead came reflection. He stood and walked the length of the room. He placed a palm against the fireplace’s hearth and leaned into it, his other hand on his hip, a stance he adopted when he thought hard about something. He worked to make sense of his feelings about Lily. She was to be his wife. For a long time, he had felt the desire to protect her, like a father would his little girl, but she was also a woman, and as her future husband, he knew he had to try to make her happy.
The trouble was, the way he’d been seeing it, what made her happy endangered her. His natural reaction had been to forbid her from singing in the saloon because he believed her safety more important than her happiness. He wanted to protect her from gossip, lies, rough men, and the criticism that came along with being an entertainer. He believed her to be fragile. And she was fragile, there was no mistaking that, but when he thought about it further, he realized she was also strong. She had strength of will and character, and he had to acknowledge that.
He shook his head as he came to the realization that forbidding something that made her so happy wasn’t the right way to go about things. She was his Lily, his sweet little girl, but she was also a woman, a woman who desired to be the Red Rose. She needed a man who understood and supported both sides of her. With a giant sigh, he resolved to do just that.
His time in Tucson seemed to last forever. After he gave his testimony against Elijah, he didn’t stick around to hear the verdict, knowing he could find it out from the marshal later when word came. He left Tucson one day earlier than he had planned and set out home to Weston. He arrived on a Friday night around ten o’clock. By the time he’d rubbed his mare down, stabled her, and provided her with two extra scoops of grain, it was nearly eleven.
Jesse walked to the saloon. He heard her voice as he neared and was struck by the hush of the large crowd when he walked in. Patrons and employees alike focused their attention on her in rapt silence. And when he gazed upon her beautifu
l form and heard her angelic voice singing ‘It Is Well’ like she was at church and not inside a saloon, he joined everyone else in their wonder and awe.
Chapter Eleven: The Red Lily
Lily saw Jesse walk in during the last half of her song. There was no mistaking the look of recognition he focused on her. As she sang the last note, Lily could only vaguely hear the applause and the coins clinking around her feet. She kept her eyes on the man she loved. All she wanted in that moment was to be his little girl and to curl up in his lap. She wanted to hear him say he loved her and would forgive her for disobeying him.
Lily’s eyes filled with tears as he approached with a gentle but determined look on his face. He took her hand in his, which immediately made her feel a decade younger, and led her off of the stage. The audience whooped, hollered, and whistled as he led her up the stairs to his room. The owner of the saloon taking the Red Rose upstairs made for a perfect ending to the most exciting week-long show Weston had ever known.
Once inside his room, Jesse lit a lamp. He then removed Lily’s hat along with the netting covering her face, tossed it to the side, and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m so sorry, papa. Please forgive me. I love you,” she said against his chest.
His words and the tone in which he spoke them warmed her heart. “Oh, how I love you too, little girl. But we need to have a discussion about obedience.”
She felt at peace then. He still loved her. She didn’t need to do anything but let him take care of her as he saw fit, and she would submit to any discipline he felt necessary.
He indicated that she was to sit on a wooden chair by his dresser. When she was seated, he removed the pins from her hair one by one, freeing her thick locks from the tight bun that had been hidden in her hat. Fetching the hairbrush from the dresser, he proceeded to brush the tangles out of her hair.
“Did you enjoy your time on the stage, honey?”
Her eyes closed from the pleasure she felt. She wouldn’t have guessed that his tending to her hair would feel so wonderful. She answered honestly. “Yes, papa, but I also felt sad thinking about disappointing you.”
“I’m not disappointed.”
She opened her eyes and met his in the mirror over the dresser. “You’re not angry with me then, papa?”
“No, but you disobeyed me, and little girls shouldn’t disobey their papas.”
She sighed. “I know. Are you going to punish me?”
“Yes, I think I probably should.” He set the hairbrush on the dresser and walked to the bed, where he sat down. He patted his leg. “Come over my lap, Lily.”
She stood and trudged to him. As she assumed the position, she felt trepidation growing inside of her. It was such a vulnerable, intimate position being over her papa’s lap, her tender bottom upturned and then bared in preparation to feel the full force of his palm.
He lifted her silk skirt. “This sure is a pretty dress,” he mused. “I never saw you in it.”
“I’m glad you like it,” she said softly. “I chose it hoping you would.”
She wasn’t wearing a petticoat. Jesse ran his hand over the black lacy bloomers she’d borrowed. “These are nice too, sweetheart,” he said before hooking a finger in their waist and sliding them clear off her legs.
She shivered as the air of the room brought a cool breeze to her skin, making her bottom feel oh-so-bare.
His voice grew stern then. “Now, what did papa tell you about singing and dancing in the saloon?” He landed a hard swat.
She yelped. “That I wasn’t allowed to.”
“And what did you do?” Another smack cracked open the quiet of the room and lit her bottom on fire.
“I disobeyed, papa. I’m sorry.”
He landed one final hard swat, then gave her bottom a caress and gathered her in his arms upright on his lap. She frowned at him, confused. “Is that all?”
“That’s all,” he said with a small smile. “I had to punish my little girl, but I want to reward my woman.” Taking her face in his hands and looking into her eyes, he said, “Thank you, Lily, for saving my business. I’m so lucky to have you in my life.”
She beamed at him, and he kissed her. It was the kind of kiss that would have made her knees buckle if she’d been standing. It became more passionate as they moved to lie on the bed. He pulled her close, and his hand traveled along her back, locating the bow at the end of the ribbon that fastened the back of the dress together in a crisscross pattern. “This is such a naughty dress,” he said in a low voice against her neck. “I think it should come off.”
“Me too,” she said, pulling her arms free of the sleeves. With a few more tugs, the dress lay in a wrinkled heap on the floor.
He kissed her along her collarbone down to the middle of her bare breasts. “Tsk tsk, not even wearing a chemise. That’s naughty too.”
She sighed when his hand traveled from her hips to the underside of her breast. Cupping it, he pushed upward and met her nipple with his mouth. Flicking it with his tongue brought a whimper to her lips. When he finished with one, he moved to her other breast to continue his sweet torture.
“I feel…” she said breathlessly.
“What do you feel, sweetheart?” he asked between kisses.
“I feel like how I did that one time. When you spanked me. Remember?”
He paused his ministrations to grin at her. “I’m not sure that’s something I could forget, darlin’, even if I wanted to.”
She felt her face grow warm. “Don’t make fun of me!” she said, suddenly embarrassed and feeling like she wanted to cry. She tried to squirm away but he held onto her.
“I wasn’t making fun of you, honey! I’m sorry.”
She pouted and looked away, blinking back tears.
He flicked her lower lip with his thumb. “Look at me, Lily. I’ll explain my feelings.”
Reluctantly, she shifted her gaze to his face, feeling very vulnerable lying naked next to him all aroused, while he was still fully dressed and seemed perfectly composed.
“I’m sorry I smiled about it, honey, but I wasn’t making fun of you. It’s a very good memory for me. Remembering it has often… well, made me very happy.”
“What do you mean, made you happy?” she asked, growing more curious than offended.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “How about I show you?” He stood and kicked off his shoes. He unbuttoned his shirt first and shrugged out of it, and then unbuttoned his trousers and shoved them to the floor. When he was fully undressed, he lay down next to her again.
She felt better then, not being the only naked one on the bed. She gazed at his body, having never seen a man fully undressed before. She reached out and touched his chest with its dark wisps of hair that matched his forearms. His warm hand covered hers and guided it down along his torso until finally it reached his manhood. She instinctively wrapped her hand around him. Squeezing brought a small moan from him, so she did it again, and he smiled devilishly at her.
“So as I was saying, sometimes I would imagine that time I spanked you and…” He took in a sharp breath when she squeezed again and brushed her thumb over the head of his cock.
He cleared his throat. “And when I imagined it, I would—Ohhh, Jesus, Lily.”
It was Lily’s turn to grin. She had never experienced anything like what she was experiencing then. By holding Jesse’s cock, she felt like she held power—power over a man. She liked the power she felt.
She rubbed him up and down and squeezed. “And you would do what, Jesse?” she prompted.
He groaned. “I would do exactly what you’re doing now, only not quite as good.”
“I see,” she said, still grinning. “That’s very naughty, you know.”
He grabbed her then and pushed her onto her back, which made her squeal with delight. Straddling her, he said, “You haven’t seen naughty yet, darlin’.” He bent and kissed around the shell of her ear and down her neck.
He stopped suddenly. “I’d planned
for us to be married before we made love.”
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We can get married tomorrow, Jesse. Let’s make love tonight.”
He smiled. “Good idea. That settles it.” Jesse moved his hand to the needy spot between her legs and circled her hard little bundle of nerves with his thumb while his fingers thrust into her core.
“That feels so good,” she moaned, arching her back.
Jesse kissed along her neck, which was damp with perspiration. “Someday I will play you as well as I play the piano,” he breathed against her neck. “I will master you. My touch will bring music from your lips.”
She whimpered when he gently squeezed her nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
“Just like that,” he said, and she whimpered again.
He removed his hand from her pussy and moved his cock to her core’s entrance, pressing into her a little at a time. She watched his face until the pain made her squeeze her eyes shut.
It was obvious he was watching her carefully when he said, “I’ll stay right here until you say you’re all right for me to go deeper, honey. We’ll go really slow.” He ran his hand along her forehead and his fingers through her hair.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “You can keep going.”
He smiled back and moved in further, breaking through her barrier. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as he buried himself deep inside of her. She waited for the pain to subside and then opened her eyes again. He was still observing her.
“What happens now?” she asked.
“When you’re ready, I’ll move inside of you. Your tight channel will feel similar to your hand when you squeezed my cock and rubbed it up and down.”
“Oh,” she said, understanding. “Please do it, I’m ready.”
He began thrusting into her pussy, slowly at first, then faster and harder. She remained still, paying mind to every feeling of pleasure his movements brought her. She felt something strong building inside of her, its strength nearly matching the strong emotion she felt from being possessed by her man in such a way. It became overwhelming when his thumb found her clit and rubbed as he thrust deep inside of her. She came and yelled out his name as she did. His release came moments later.
His Little Red Lily Page 10
