Off of the Beaten Path

by Lizbeth Dusseau

  “You know, I’m only letting you do this because I want you to,” she wailed at him.

  “Of course you want me to, you love submitting to me.”

  “I do not!” she yelled.

  He brought the hairbrush down in steady staccato of smacks, moving the thing around her butt so that the whole thing would be covered with red.

  “Yeah, tell me. If you didn’t want this, you didn’t have to tell me about your trip. You knew I’d be pissed, and you wanted to submit to this as much I wanted to give it to you.”

  She was crying too much by then to frame any reasonable protest, though she’d give him a piece of her mind when she was done.

  “You’re a sassy bitch, and an independent woman, but you really want a man to subdue you.”

  “I do not!” she barked a necessary retort, while the hairbrush continued its vicious journey. Her bottom was burning madly, as she tried to wriggle away from the fierce bite. When Jess caught the side of her thigh with one nasty cut, she howled.

  “Stay in one place, Ashley, and that won’t happen,” he said with little sympathy in his voice.

  “I despise you!” she blared, when he paused, just to get his grip on the implement again.

  He laid a last ferocious blast of smacks on her tender bottom and then stopped.

  Ashley charged up from his lap as soon as she realized that the spanking was over. “You’re horrible!” she blared at him, standing over him as he still sat passively on the bed.

  “That’s why you love me,” he charged.

  “I don’t love you.”

  “I’m disappointed. I love you,” he answered warmly.

  She looked flustered, not expecting to hear that from him. But her mood seemed to soften.

  “I don’t need you to dominate me, Jess. That’s not what I want, you’d better get that straight. I don’t want any man to subdue me.” She said the word with a spiteful tone, then turning away from him, she strolled absently about the room.

  “Whatever you say, Ash. I just see it differently. You want to have sex or not?”

  “Well that’s some kind of romantic proposal,” she said, turning back around.

  “Usually, all I need to do is spank you to have you hot and ready.”

  She had a look of consternation on her face. She was horny. Very horny. Spanking always made her feel that way. She couldn’t imagine letting Jess take off without going to bed with him. She wanted him badly. But how to get him in bed without looking like a total sap. She glared at him for some time, actually wishing he’d made a move. But it appeared he was planning to torture her by doing nothing. It would make him happy as a clam to see her squirming.

  “Of course I want to have sex with you; but I want you to get one thing straight,” she warned.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “I don’t have this deep seated need to be taken and tamed. You got that? You’re living in another world, another time to think that. I need your respect,” she added, really wondering if she had it. She moved closer to him, until he grabbed her and pulled her close.

  Jess looked up at her with his own expression altering noticeably. He put his hands on her waist, just to make sure she wouldn’t storm off.

  “I do respect you Ashley. I think you’re the most exciting, daring, enjoyable woman I’ve ever known. And it’s not just your body I admire.” He caressed her tenderly as he spoke. “I wouldn’t fly down to Venezuela to talk you into coming to California, if I didn’t want you for the passionate woman you are. And I certainly wouldn’t worry about you doing foolish things like flying off into some danger, if I didn’t respect you.”

  “But you don’t respect my judgment,” she said. “That’s obvious.”

  “I don’t think that’s it,” he said. “Yes, I think you sometimes take undo risks, and maybe that’s just part of who you are. I’d just like you to see another side of the story … that maybe you don’t see. That maybe you might be avoiding personal entanglements because you’re a little scared. Hell, I’m a little scared of personal entanglements. We both have a history of burying ourselves in places where it’s hard to find them.”

  He was sounding exasperatingly levelheaded. It would be easier not to want him, if he was just a typically masculine bore of a man, but he wasn’t. He made her really think, and that was dangerous to her well-ordered, well-controlled life.

  “My trouble is, Ash, I left the jungle to face a few things I couldn’t face there, and the woman I really want to face things with is still here.”

  “Damn, you make things hard on me,” she admitted.

  Jess pulled her down on the bed next to him and surrounded her with his arms. She wasn’t sure why she fought this so fiercely, she really wanted to be in his arms. There was a security there she found nowhere else. For the moment, she gave in to him, falling back on the bed beside him, their bodies tangled together in the lusty heat. At least sexually, they didn’t war, they enjoyed each other’s bodies at will with pure passion. They gave and received with equal measure. It was one place where they could enjoy perfect satisfaction, especially once her fair pert bottom was duly warmed.

  Chapter Five

  There was fog at the airport when Ashley arrived the next morning. She had slipped out of Jess’s hotel room with a peck on his cheek. She assumed she’d see him later that evening, when she got back. He’d promised her that he’d stay around that long. And this time, she really wanted him to. The night before had jogged her brain, heart, bottom and loins so much she couldn’t avoid thinking of Jess in a much more serious way than she ever had. She wasn’t used to having a man take such a hold on her. She wanted to like it, and in a way she did; but she imagined her own will disappearing in his, and that frightened her.

  The fog was making Ashley anxious. She wanted to get on her way, as much because she wanted a little space to think, about Jess, the job; her whole life seemed to be up in the air. When the fog finally lifted, she checked the weather report, assured that it was a perfect day for her flight. She was adjusting a few things on the Cessna, after having loaded her cargo, when an old Jeep suddenly pulled up close to the tarmac and Jess jumped out.

  “What are you doing?” he called to her.

  “You know exactly what I’m doing, she replied.

  “I’m going with you?” he said, as he approached the plane.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sakes.”

  “Don’t argue,” he said. He looked inside the plane, seeing two empty seats. It was all the invitation he needed, and she didn’t dare tell him there wasn’t room.

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

  “Because of last night,” he said, staring her in the eye. He knew as well as she did, how much the previous night had gotten inside her, and inside him too.

  “You’re not going to protect me. If the plane goes down, you can’t do anything about it, we both die.”

  “I know that.”

  “I just have a feeling you’ll need me, and I don’t want you to think you have to handle it alone.”

  “Jess, this is silly. I do this all the time without a man to help me handle things.”

  “I know. But how about just for company? You know we’ve never spent much time together, it’ll give us a chance to talk, and see if we really like each other. The jury is out on that one you know.”

  “You’re right about that,” she agreed. “But please don’t start talking about slimy jungle creatures, or your latest research. I’m not interested.”

  “Hey, you have no idea what fascinating things I can converse about.”

  She looked at him suspiciously, but she had to admit that she was falling in love. If she had to have a companion for any trip, which she was perfectly happy to take alone, she thought it might as well be Jess.

  “Just don’t chatter at me the whole way. I use my flight time to think. And I do have a lot to think about.” She made the allusion to their relationship without saying it, but Jess understood.


  “Yeah, well I have a few equations I have to get straight in my head, so you can keep it buttoned too,” he jibed.

  It seemed strange taking off with Jess beside her in the plane. She often thought it might be nice to have dog to accompany her, but she never dreamed it would be a man. They managed to get through the major part of the morning without any significant sparring, the two having to admit they could enjoy each other’s company in close quarters.

  At noon, when they were ready to land, Ashley put the plane down in an incredibly small jungle airstrip that Jess would never have guessed to be large enough to allow her to land.

  “Well there’s something else I respect you for, landing this plane.”

  “I’m good, aren’t I? There just aren’t any challenges like this anywhere else.”

  “Oh, I imagine you could find them anywhere,” he replied, as they both stepped out.

  The stop was one that Mac had planned, one that Ashley was worried about, but that her friend had assured her was completely safe. There had been lots of talk about this particular area of the wilds, and though Jess didn’t share her faith in Mac, she was pretty certain that her boss was being straight with her when he told her there would be no drugs, no funny business, just a typical supply drop, some medical things and general supplies.

  Ashley didn’t discuss her concerns with Jess, deciding that it was better to let the matter rest, and not let him get it in his head that he was protecting her. If this turned out to be a perfectly routine flight, then she wouldn’t have to hear him bark about safety all the way there and back.

  As it turned out, the trip went perfectly, no funny business, no sign of terrorists or bandits or anything else her imagination might have created. The natives were friendly, and even the weird American—there were often weird Americans in these jungle outposts—seemed perfectly harmless, except that he was in need of a bar of soap and a few buckets of warm water. The only potential trouble turned out to be her own, when the radio of the Cessna suddenly went out, the wiring fried by a short. They’d just have to fly without it.

  “It’s not like I need it to fly the plane,” she said, trying to minimize the problem. “Now if we crash land and survive, then we might need it, but that’s not gonna happen.”

  Jess eyed her suspiciously, and decided that she was right. Besides, there was no way to replace the radio until she was back at the airport.

  There were two more stops that afternoon, all uneventful, except for the lively conversation that they shared. By the time they were ready to head back to the city, there was still plenty of daylight and good weather. “See Jess, it’s been a harmless trip,” Ashley said, as they lifted off the tiny runway. “All your worries have been for nothing,” she said.

  “I wasn’t worried,” Jess replied. “And I’ve had a perfectly delightful time.”

  Ashley was still not sure why he had to come on this flight, but she decided it was useless to speculate anymore, since she’d enjoyed it too.

  In the air about forty-five minutes, Ashley was just setting the autopilot, when there was a strange noise coming from the engine.

  “What’s that?” Jess said.

  “I’m not sure,” she said listening for a few minutes. She checked her gauges, suddenly not happy at all with what she was seeing. Thinking she might need to land, she looked out the window for some clear space among the dense green below. It seemed an unlikely possibility that they’d find any opening large enough to bring the plane safely down. She wasn’t as familiar with this part of the country as she’d like to be, and all she could do was pray that they’d find something quickly.

  “Are we going down?” Jess asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said cautiously, though as she spoke she spotted the opening she was hoping for. “I think this will work,” she said as the tense moment bore down on her. Carefully gauging her flight path, Ashley maneuvered toward the clearing, hoping she’d be able to make a quick landing. With the sound of the engine growing more ominous with each second, she made her careful descent, wanting to get back on the ground as fast as possible.

  Weighing her options, she had little choice but to chance it. The engine was making a horrible racket. She could always cut the engine, and let the plane’s natural capability to glide bring them down; but that was risky when the possibility of finding another good landing spot was slim. It was rough jungle all the way back to the city.

  Making her final decision, Ashley maneuvered the plane for a landing. And while she listened to the engine sputter, she touched down at last, able to slow the craft and bring it to a halt just at the edge of the jungle. It was a bumpy ride, the Cessna taking a beating it didn’t need, but at least they were safe.

  Ashley leaned her head back in the seat, and took a deep breath. Her heart had been pounding, but now she was surprisingly calm.

  “What do we do now?” she wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer. She’d almost forgotten Jess was beside her.

  “Be glad we’re safely on the ground,” Jess answered.

  “Yeah,” she replied sarcastically as she pushed the door open, grabbed her tools and jumped out.

  “What are you going to do?” Jess asked, as he watched her shoot off.

  “Try to fix this and get back in the air,” she said. “If I landed it, I can fly it out.” She sounded sure of herself. Ashley always did. Though with his scant knowledge of airplanes, Jess wondered if Ashley wasn’t just dreaming.

  ***

  “Dammit!” she roared for the umpteenth time. Her blonde hair was in her face, engine grease smudged on her cheek. “What are you snickering at?” she charged at Jess, who had watched her for the last hour, admiring the way her beautiful bottom moved and swayed as she leaned into her broken engine.

  “Just you,” Jess smirked happily.

  “I’ll thank you to stop it!” she barked. “You have no idea what a fix we’re in, and you sit there like a kid ogling me. I’m surprised you’re not making obscene catcalls.”

  “Would that make you angrier than you are?” he asked.

  “Ooooo, I could…” she seethed as she came at him with a wench still gripped in hand.

  “Hey,” he admonished her lightly. “Why don’t you sit down and relax a few minutes and think. Sometimes the most brilliant solutions appear when you give up a little.”

  “I can’t give up!” she wailed.” Now she was more despondent than angry.

  “I didn’t say give up. Just look at it from another point of view.”

  “I’ve already looked at every point of view, let’s face it, Jess, we’re stuck here in this devilish jungle, and this plane won’t go up this afternoon, or tonight, or tomorrow. I think the engine might be gone.”

  He didn’t bother to look more worried than he was. It had crossed his mind a good half hour before that they might well have to walk out, and return later to salvage Ashley’s Cessna.

  The blonde pilot slumped down on the rock next to Jess, and without any encouragement laid her head on his shoulder. He thought maybe he was getting somewhere with her, when she suddenly popped back up, and returned to the aircraft. She began working again furiously as if she had an answer.

  After another fifteen minutes of twisting, turning and hammering, Ashley threw the wrench on the ground, the anger in her rising to a full rage.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here!” she exclaimed, turning around to him. “And don’t you dare keep smirking at me like that, you’re making me feel like a silly brat.”

  “I’m sorry to tell you Ash, you rather look like a silly brat right now.”

  “Don’t you patronize me. I don’t need that. And no “I told you so.” And I don’t need any of your shumcky sympathy.”

  “I wasn’t trying to do any of that,” Jess assured her.

  “Well it sure feels that way! Maybe you don’t see it Jess, but my fuckin’ plane is gone! The engine is shot. It’s gone, it’s not working, and it’s never going to fly out of this jungle.�
�� Her eyes were blazing angrily as she spoke. “This is my life, my livelihood, and it’s gone. Might as well burn the blasted thing!”

  “I think you’re getting a little overwrought,” he said dryly.

  “I’m not getting overwrought!” she fumed.

  “If you’d just calm down,” he tried gently.

  “Damn you! If I want to be upset, I’ll be upset,” she roared at him.

  “Well, there’s one thing for sure. We’re not going to get out of this jungle while you’re standing there looking like a two year old in the middle of a tantrum, like your mommy just took away your favorite toy!”

  “You ass!” she roared. “You fuckin’ ass!”

  “Hey, get a grip, Ashley, the world hasn’t come to an end,” he shot back. “You did one hell of a job landing that bird and saving both our lives, I think you should at least be happy about that!”

  “It might as well have gone down in smoke,” she bellowed.

  Jess could see the tears in her eyes, on the verge of spilling out, but not. “That’s it,” he stated, making a decision of his own. He moved the few feet toward her, pulled her back to the rock where he was sitting, and up ended her over his lap. Then, without explanation, he spanked her bottom with a dozen good sharp smacks meant solely as a wakeup call.

  “Jess you stop this!” she roared at him, kicking her legs.

  “You going to stop acting like an out of control baby?” he asked her.

  “I’m not!” she countered.

  He smacked her bottom again. “I’ll take your pants down, and give it to you really hard, if you don’t settle down and start behaving yourself.”

  “I don’t want to behave myself,” she wailed, sounding ever more like a petulant child. But the tears were finally beginning to flow, and that was good, as far as Jess could see.

  He continued to pepper her bottom with one blast after another, while Ashley did her best to kick and flail her arms and legs as the rage poured from her. When Jess finally tore at her shorts and pulled them down so he could really get to the bottom of the problem, she protested all the more, though there was a strange agreement they’d seem to have reached. Ashley knew she needed this as much as Jess did.