The spanking started again. Mac spanked her sensitive sit spots and he spanked hard. He heard Emily crying hard, and then she was sobbing. Her wiggling and struggles finally stopped. Mac gave her another twenty-five, making sure she felt each one on her sit spots. “Will you talk to me now, honey?” he asked, his tone of voice patient and gentle.
“No!” She managed to shock him. He was so confident and sure that he’d made his point. Emily was stubborn, but so was he.
“Emily, are you sure you want to be so stubborn? I won’t tolerate your cursing me and raging over this situation. As your husband I have a right to know what is going on with you. As a lawman, I have no choice but get to the bottom of this. Those papers on my desk are legal, and I can’t throw them in the trash and pretend they don’t exist. Now, I’m a fair man. I don’t like having to spank you on our first night in our home together, but if I have to, I’ll spank you until you are begging to talk to me.” He paused, and gave her a couple of minutes to lie there and think about the matter. Her butt was a deep dark red, and the heat radiating from her skin gave proof to the fact that she’d been soundly spanked. He hated the idea of starting all over and bruising her or leaving welts, but that is exactly what was going to happen if she persisted with this stubborn attitude. He rubbed her back and felt her relax. When he thought she was properly calm, he asked, “Well, honey…? What is it to be? Are you ready to talk to me now?”
Chapter Seven
Henry was nervous about Lucy’s reaction when he led the child up the steps to his office and walked inside. The bell tinkled and moments later Lucy came to see who needed his services. He could see that she’d been crying and he felt like an ass. Her lovely eyes fell on Kathy, and then she looked at Henry in surprise, but she smiled and said, “Hello, Kathy. I’m happy to see you.” Henry felt the child relax and he knew he’d never loved his wife more than he did in that moment.
He smiled at Lucy and said, “I would like to examine Kathy, Lucy, if you would help her undress to her shift. We are looking for bruises and such. Kathy, if you could, please tell Lucy where you hurt. We’ll do our best to help you feel better.”
“I have supper almost done, and there is a chocolate cake for dessert,” Lucy added as she led Kathy into a treatment room. She had no clue what was going on and it was obvious that someone, probably Sylvia, had hit Kathy right under her eye! She wanted to go and take out that woman, and she was going to if she didn’t stop beating the little girl. Someone needed to show Sylvia what it felt like!
“Mrs. Z, I hurt something awful,” Sylvia whispered, drawing her attention, “But Ma said that letting a man look at me was dirty and I shouldn’t ever do it.”
“Kathy, Henry is a doctor, and he doesn’t count. He looks at people all the time because it is his job. There is nothing wrong in allowing him to see your hurts. He can’t help you if he can’t see what is wrong.”
Kathy tipped her head sideways, trying to decide if that made things alright. She finally nodded and permitted Lucy to help her take off her dress and her petticoats and her stockings. Lucy told her that she needed to take off her drawers, too, and Kathy whispered, “My behind is what hurts most, Mrs. Z.”
“I understand, honey. It will be all right, I promise.” She wasn’t so sure about her own backside. She was throbbing mercilessly, but even sorer was her heart. She ached to be in Henry’s strong arms, seeking his forgiveness and love. She needed his understanding more than she needed air to breathe… but leaving Kathy alone right now would be cruel. It was obvious the child was frightened. She heard a tap on the door and she called out to Henry that he could come in the room. His eyes met hers and she was surprised to see that he was hurting, too.
“I’ll start with your face, Kathy,” he said softly, talking as he gently examined the spot, making sure there weren’t any broken bones. “You’ll have a bruise for a while, but there won’t be any permanent damage, honey. Now, let me see your arms.” There were bruises, old and new, up and down both of her tiny arms. “Did your Ma do this?” he asked quietly, doing his best not to frighten her by raising his voice or allowing his outrage to show.
Kathy nodded. “She grabs me and shakes me a lot. She says I daydream too much and don’t pay attention to my chores like I should.”
“How many chores do you have?” he asked conversationally, and listened as she went on and on, listing off item after item to the point Henry wondered what the hell her Ma did all day long besides berate the child and beat her. Her legs were bruised, too, especially her knees. “Did you fall down?” he asked.
“Yes. We were playing baseball at recess, and I fell a couple days ago.” He nodded, and she smiled. “We won the game, though.”
“That’s good!” Henry said, chuckling. “Now I’m going to have Lucy help me with the rest of this, honey. You’re safe. I just want to see where you are bruised. I need to do that so I can tell Mac and the Judge the truth. Do you understand?” She nodded, but she looked frightened.
“Doc Z won’t hurt you, Kathy. I promise. May I help you with your shift now so that he can see your back?” she asked. “You can hold the blanket in front of you.” Kathy clung to the blanket as Lucy lowered the straps of her shift down over her shoulders and pushed the garment down in back to show Henry all the bruises and welts covering her.
“Did your Ma whip your back, Kathy?” he asked, anger filling his blue eyes.
“Yes, sir. With a belt.”
“I’ll take away the pain, honey.” He went to the cupboard and took out a jar of ointment… the one that Lucy wanted to use on herself in the worst way… and he gently soothed the child’s back. Lucy pulled up her shift.
“Her bottom is where Kathy says she hurts most, Henry.”
“Kathy, I know you are embarrassed, but I need to see. I promise that you are safe here with Lucy and me.”
“I know,” Kathy whispered. “Ma whipped me hard with a switch, and when I cried, she used the belt, too. I couldn’t sit still at school today and Miss Conroy made me stand in the corner, but I didn’t care because it was better than sitting.”
Lucy helped Kathy lie face down on the examining table and then pulled up her shift to expose the child’s bottom and thighs
. She couldn’t control the gasp of shock that came from her lips and when she looked at Henry his eyes were full of angry tears of rage. He gently took the ointment and did his best to soothe Kathy’s pain. “Help Kathy get dressed, Lucy, and if supper is ready, we’ll eat.”
“It’s done,” she said, giving the jar one last longing look as he put it away. Once Henry left the room, she helped Kathy into her clothes and smiled when Kathy told her that she felt much better. She took Kathy to the kitchen with her and Henry made a big deal of placing a pillow on her chair and getting her comfortable, while Kathy giggled at his antics. It was obvious that she felt safe and Lucy was pleased for that much at least. She had a ton of questions for her husband, but those could wait until later, she firmly told herself.
Lucy put food on the table and as was his wont, Henry was waiting to serve until she was seated at the table. Lucy wasn’t a bit sure she could sit on the hard surface of the chair, but she certainly didn’t want to explain that to Kathy. Gingerly, she eased herself on the chair and was shocked to realize there was a pillow on her seat. A very soft pillow that only Henry could have placed there! She looked at him gratefully, and to her surprise, he was silently apologizing to her! She smiled in understanding, and then said, “Please offer grace so we can eat, Henry. I’m sure Kathy is hungry.”
*********************
Mac applied his hand to Emily’s bottom again when she didn’t answer, and again when she told him to go to hell! He had to know what was going on and the only person who could give him answers was his very stubborn and headstrong wife! Hell, he wasn’t even sure of her age now, and if she was underage the marriage could be annulled. He spanked her again and again, doing all he could to break through the wall of resistance she’d bui
lt around herself and the pain she was carrying.
Her bottom hurt from the spanking that seemed as though it would never stop, but her anger was starting to leave her and Emily could think. She’d known this day would come, but she had prayed it wouldn’t come for many, many years! Now, in trying to prevent what was inevitable, she’d earned herself a very sore bottom. Mac had spanked her several times, but this was the worst spanking yet. She couldn’t sit even if she had to! And, still, she felt defiant. She did not want to discuss that bitch of a woman, but Mac was insisting he had a right to answers. He was correct about that, but she didn’t want to discuss the situation with him. She’d talked to only one person in all these years and that was Dove. He’d protected her after her father was killed by a gambler with a short temper and a quick draw.
“Emily, are you going to answer my questions or do I need to continue this spanking?” Mac waited, fully prepared to continue should it be necessary, even though her bottom was already a deep, dark shade of red and bruised. He didn’t want to inflict more pain on Emily, but he had to know what was wrong so he could protect her. “You are my wife, and I stand on your side, honey, but I need to know what I am fighting.”
She heard his words, really heard them. “I’ll talk now, darling. Please stop spanking me! I’m sorry for all the horrible things I said to you. This is so hard for me, and I’m not used to being married and to having you on my side. I like the feeling.”
When she finally gave in she did it with grace and Mac was truly relieved to have this spanking over. He gently helped her to rise. “I hated being so hard on you, Em, but I didn’t know any other way to break through that wall of stubbornness surrounding you.” He got to his feet and pulled her close to hug her. “I love you, Emily. Talk to me now and trust me to protect you.”
“I’ll settle for you standing by me, husband. I can protect myself as long as I know I have you.”
“You have me.” He swept her off her feet and blew out the lights as they made their way into the bedroom. Mac slowly undressed his bride, kissing every inch of skin that he uncovered. “I want to make love to you, honey, and prove to you how much I love you.”
“I want that, too, darling,” she whispered, her trembling fingers helping him undress, just as he did her. Mac moaned as her warm lips caressed his skin, leaving a burning trail of need where they traveled. He was soon standing in front of her, just as God made him, his body showing her how much he needed to be one within her. His shy little bride decided to kiss him there, too, and Mac trembled. Emily managed to affect him as no experienced woman ever had. Her lips and tongue traveled the length of his manhood and he moaned with pleasure.
Emily was aching with need and she wanted Mac to ache for her, too. She tormented him with her tongue and lips until he’d had enough and picked her up and put her on their bed. She couldn’t help but cry out in pain as her spanked bottom made contact with the quilt, but her discomfort was short-lived as Mac put a pillow under the small of her back and then put her legs over his shoulders, lifting her bottom from the bed. He knelt before her and when she thought he was finally going to take her, she learned she was wrong. Mac had other ideas and he lowered himself until he was between her legs, and then it was his turn to torment her with his lips and his tongue, and he did so until she was bucking and begging for him to come inside her. Mac was more than ready, and he entered her in one long and slow plunge, giving her body time to accept him within her. Emily gave herself over to pleasure as her husband made sweet love to her. Finally, when she could bear no more pleasure, she cried out in release, and a short moment later it was Mac’s cries that filled their bedroom.
He held her close, listening to her ragged breathing until it calmed. “I love you, Mrs. Forrester.”
“I love you, Mr. Forrester,” she said in return, meaning the words with all her heart. She was touched when he went to the kitchen and returned with a pitcher of warm water from the stove’s reservoir and gently cleansed her and then himself. When that little chore was finished he lie down beside her again and pulled her close so that they were lying on their sides. Her bottom appreciated his tender care.
“It is time to talk to me, Emily Forrester,” he said, using her new name deliberately to remind her that she belonged to him and that he would keep her safe.
“She is a terrible woman, Mac,” Emily spoke softly, but he could feel the tension in her body. “The only way to tell you about her is to start at the very beginning. She was the only child of a wealthy businessman. Her father gave her everything she wanted and spoiled her outrageously.
Mac noticed that Emily kept referring to her mother as ‘she’. It did not bode well and he felt himself prepare for a battle.
“She married my father only because her father was insisting she marry a business associate of his and take her place in society. My Papa worked for her father, in his stables. She pretended to love Papa, and threw her body at him until he did what she wanted. Then she insisted that he marry her. They eloped, and then she brought Papa home and told her father that she was married. He was infuriated, but she laughed at him and then proceeded to do as she pleased. Her behavior was shocking to the society people that her father valued so much. He promoted Papa to a position in the company, and gave him a large salary, but she spent much more than Papa earned. Papa tried to be a husband to her, but she told him to go and sleep in the stables. I guess he got angry one night and had too much to drink and he forced himself on her, claiming his rights. I was the result, and she hated me. I made her body large and fat, she told me. She had morning sickness, but in the evenings when she wanted to go to parties and couldn’t. When I was born she hired a nurse to care for me, and she didn’t come by my room unless one of her friends asked to see the baby. She would pretend to be a mother at those times. She tried to keep Papa away from me, too, but the nurse would let Papa into the nursery and he would hold me for hours at a time and give me my bottles. She never knew about that. She did her best to keep me away from Papa, and when I started talking, I asked for him all the time, which infuriated her. I was only a baby and I didn’t understand why she never wanted to hold me. As I grew up, Papa continued to see me behind her back. I took my first steps for him, and he taught me words.”
“What about your grandfather?” Mac interrupted to ask.
“I was a girl, and therefore, worthless. He did not come to see me at all.”
“What a jerk!” Mac muttered.
“Yeah, exactly!” Emily agreed, snuggling closer. “So, when I was about six years old, her father died. She inherited everything, and promptly divorced my father. She threw him off the property and gave orders that he be shot for trespassing if he set foot on the property. I was told later that I cried for Papa all the time. He tried to see me, but the men who worked for her knew that it would mean their jobs if they allowed him to get to the house, where I was hidden from view. She finally realized that the nurse was in cahoots with Papa and she fired her without references, making sure my nurse couldn’t get another job. The new nurse she hired was more of a governess who was to instruct me per my mother’s directions. She also did her best to lie to me about Papa. I would tell her she was wrong and she would have me beaten. I tried to run away when I was ten. She locked me in a closet for two days without anything but water and some bread. When I got out I told her that I hated her and loved my Papa. From then on my life was pure hell. I’ve blocked a lot of it. I learned to be sneaky, and managed to give my governess the slip several times and saw my Papa then. She would always find me, beat me, break anything he gave me, and tell me how much she despised me. I told her to let me go and live with Papa since she hated me so much and she swore she would never let him have me. One day I slipped away while she was gone to see another of her ‘friends’. My governess was in love with one of the other servants, and I allowed her to think I was taking a nap, so she did some slipping away of her own. I was out the door and out of the house and I found my Papa… He had horses, f
ood, and enough money saved to get us away, and we headed west, camping out in secluded areas. If we needed supplies, he would go into town to get them and leave me alone. He taught me to shoot, and how to survive without a roof over my head. I loved being with him. He took good care of me, protected me, and best of all, she was a thing of the past. We took to bounty hunting because it pays good. Papa was good at it. We would stay in hotels, and keep our personal items to a minimum so that we could pack up and be out of town at a moment’s notice. Papa changed our names, of course. Emily is my middle name, and Papa gave it to me. She knew nothing of that. Then, the night of Papa’s death… There was a gambler and he could see beyond the jeans and the dirty face. He realized I was grown, and he figured with Papa out of the way he had a fair chance with me. He lured Papa into a poker game. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but then he started cheating, knowing full well that Papa would call him on it. He shot Papa in cold blood, and then he grabbed me and said I was his to settle Papa’s gambling debt. No one would stand up to him, and Papa insisted I leave my guns back at the hotel, so I was helpless. I was kicking and putting up a real fuss, and he grabbed my hair and slapped me hard. I saw stars and fell to the floor. He yelled at me and told me I would do what I was told to do or there would be more of that. Two men followed us from the saloon, shot the gambler dead, and then tried to have their way with me. Dove came along right about then, and shot them; I left with Dove and he kept me safe from men for two years, and he didn’t expect anything. I figured she’d given up by now.”
“She hasn’t. She’s offered a huge reward for your safe return.”
“I can’t be returned. We’re married, and I am of legal age to be married without her consent.”
“Do you have a birth certificate to prove it, honey?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Is it legal or forged?” Mac hated to ask.
Emily Page 8
