Cowboy Caveat (5 page)

Later, while Lucy was brushing her hair, Ed
came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, his thumbs
caressing her nipples through her gossamer-thin nightgown. Lucy
stopped her brushing and watched in her dressing table mirror as
her nipples surged to hard peaks under her husband’s teasing
fingers. Ed grinned as Lucy let out a shuddering sigh and leaned
back into his naked embrace.

“
You look beautiful,
darlin’. Can you feel how much I want you?” he whispered in her
ear. Lucy could feel it, his hardness pressed up against her
buttocks, and as she reached a hand around to the front of him to
grasp his aching member, it was Ed’s turn to sigh. He turned her
around and reached down for the hem of her nightdress, pulling it
up over her head and tossing it into a corner. Lucy fell into his
arms; this was what she needed, the reassuring arms of her husband
holding her close. Ed lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her,
their tongues dancing, teasing and tasting.

Ed scooped his wife up and placed her onto
the bed, settling beside her, and then he stroked her with
work-callused hands. Pressing her soft flesh firmly, he slid his
hands slowly down from her shoulders, stopping briefly to cup her
breasts, and then tweak her nipples playfully. Keeping one hand on
her breast, his hand followed the slope of her belly. Lucy parted
her legs with a pretty blush and lowered eyes.

Afterwards they lay satiated, still and
drowsy, drifting gently into sleep. Suddenly a loud hammering on
the door below shocked them apart. Ed sat upright, listening, and
when the pounding at the door began again, he leaped up and dragged
on his trousers. He ran barefoot and bare-chested down the stairs
to the door, grabbing his rifle as he went.

Ed recognized Ethan’s voice as he pulled
open the door, and Ethan pushed his way inside.

“
Where is
Amy
?” Ethan yelled at his
sister.

“
Where is
who
?” Ed asked,
bewildered. “She stayed at Jayne’s in town and Millie’s with
her.”

“
What? No, she
ain’t!
Where’s Lucy
!” Ethan shouted, starting toward the stairs.

Ed stretched out his arm and grabbed
Ethan.“Woah, there! What’s going on, Eth?”

Ethan spun round and
glared at Ed. “
Where is
Lucy
!” he demanded again.

“
I’m here. What is this,
Ethan?” Lucy had put on her robe and followed the racket
downstairs. Her heart sank; Ethan had somehow found out about the
shooting but just in case he didn’t know, she would play
dumb.

“
Where is Amy hiding?”
Ethan asked his sister, his voice still raised.

“
Why don’t we all sit down
and you can explain what is going on, Ethan,” Ed
suggested.

“
You don’t know, do you?
She hasn’t told you a darn thing!” Ethan pointed at Lucy and Lucy
paled.

“
I don’t have a clue what
you are talking about, Eth. What hasn’t Lucy told me?” Ed asked,
frowning.

Ethan looked at Lucy
fiercely. “Will you tell him,
dearest
sis,
or shall I?”

Lucy gulped and spread her palms upward
toward her husband. “I was going to tell you tomorrow when they
were safe...ly aw...ay,” she said with a pleading whine.

Ed was starting to get
annoyed and barked, “Will one of you tell me what the
hell
is going
on?”

Ethan turned to him. “Amy shot Henderson in
the shoulder. He was unarmed, and he is pressing charges of
attempted murder. Amy and Millie are missing and my dearest sister
knows exactly where they are both hiding!”

Here he turned and looked
at Lucy, shouting, “I’m going to
beat
the answer out of her if she
doesn’t start singing right
NOW
!”

Ed, shocked, turned to his wife, who had
drawn her bare feet up under her and had shrunk back into the
corner of the sofa.

“
Lucy?”

“
OK, OK,
OK
! Ethan’s right, but Henderson barged
into us and knocked Millie off the sidewalk into the dirt! Next
thing I knew, Amy had shot Henderson. I think...he, he threatened
her!” Lucy added and nodded to emphasize the point.

Ed and Ethan both started to speak at once.
Ed raised his voice to a shout. “I cannot believe you haven’t told
me any of this!”

“
To
hell
with all that!
WHERE IS AMY RIGHT NOW
?!” Ethan bellowed

Lucy snapped her mouth shut with a stubborn
set to her jaw. Ethan dived across the room, pulled his sister to
her feet and shook her until her teeth rattled.

“
What are you doing!” Lucy
squeaked.

“
I’m going to paddle your
backside, that’s what, and I won’t stop until you tell me where Amy
is.....
that’s
what I intend to do!”

There was a loud click as
Ed brought up his rifle to his shoulder. “Back away from my wife
right now, Ethan Walker,” he said quietly. “
No one
handles my wife like that –
not even her brother!”

Ethan dropped Lucy’s arm and she scuttled
over to stand behind Ed, who lowered his rifle and broke it, making
it safe. He turned to face Lucy, a vein throbbing in his neck and
his jaw clenched. Ignoring Ethan completely, he took his wife’s
chin gently but firmly in his hand and tilted her face up to his
own. He looked deep into her blue eyes before asking her, “Now
then, darlin’, where are Amy and Millie?”

Lucy bit her lip, unsure
what to say. Ed gave her a moment to think, and then he took hold
of her upper arm and gave her a little shake. “Now you listen, and
listen well, my girl. I am going to take my belt to you for this
stunt, regardless of what you say or do right now. You know why and
you know that you deserve it but Lucy, be warned, I will also do as
Ethan suggests and paddle the hell out of your backside unless you
tell me where my sisters are right
this
minute and darlin’,
I promise
you I won’t be
stopping until you tell me the truth
- DO
YOU UNDERSTAND ME
?”

Lucy shivered and nodded,
shocked.
Never
had Ed spoken to her in that way before, and he had never
laid a finger on her before either. Well, apart from a frisky
little hand spanking for not coming home when she had said that she
would but that was when they were first married. It had been kinda
sexy at the time, but this was
completely
different.

Lucy had never seen Ed like this before.
“I-I can’t tell you until tomorrow morning where they are, I’m so
sorry but I-I promised them, Ed!”

“
Not as sorry as yer gonna
be, darlin’,” Ed growled, his face tight with fury. “Wait outside,
Eth. I’ll come tell you what I find out in a short
while.”

“
Make sure you give her a
hard whack from me!” Ethan added, giving Lucy a triumphant glare as
he donned his hat and banged the door on his way out.

Ed turned to Lucy and pointed to the
kitchen. “In there, now!”

Lucy pulled her robe around her. She was
naked underneath it, and she had never felt so vulnerable before.
Ed pulled a chair out and away from the table and sat down. He
pulled Lucy to stand between his thighs and held her hands firmly
in both of his.

His tone had softened a little. “Last
chance, Lucy. Fess up, and I’ll go easier on you tomorrow.”

“
Tomorrow?” Lucy jerked
her head up in surprise.

“
Yes ma’am. I can’t
believe you kept this a secret from me even after all that lovin’
tonight an’ you still said nothin’ – well darlin’, that’s gonna
cost you, because I intend to make darn sure you never, ever, keep
something like this from me again. Now, you gonna tell me where
those girls are or not? Your choice.” Ed quirked his eyebrows in
question.

Lucy tried to pull her hands out and away
from Ed, then stamped her foot when she found that she could
not.

“
I’m taking that as a
‘no’, darlin’.....over you go!”

If Lucy was surprised by how quickly she
ended up over her husband’s hard lap, she was downright shocked
when he pulled her robe aside and his hand descended with a
resounding slap on her tender white bottom. “When you are ready to
spill the beans just call out Amy’s name and I’ll stop smacking,
understood?” Ed said. Lucy mumbled something, then shrieked when
two hard spanks landed across the top of her thighs. “I asked you a
question and I expect a clear answer back from you, Mrs.
Campbell!”

“
Yes
!” squeaked Lucy, loud and clear.

“
Yes
what
!”

Lucy wriggled
uncomfortably, replying quickly, “
Yes
sir
!”

She remembered the drill
from when her father had spanked her many, many years ago. She
didn’t like it then and she sure as hell didn’t like it now
especially since this was her own
husband
spanking her!

Ed was genuinely enraged with his wife, but
he was also hurt that she didn’t trust him enough to do what was
best for Amy. He had never been a man given to spank his wife but
now he felt justified in teaching Lucy the error of her ways. Her
actions had a consequence and this was the consequence, a darn good
spanking! He smacked and slapped his squirming wife’s cute bottom
until she resembled a ripe and rosy peach.

Finally, he stopped and pulled Lucy to her
feet. Lucy felt utter relief that it was all over. She’d had quite
a day all in all, and right now she just wanted her bed.

“
Go to the wall and fetch
me the wooden butter pat.”

Lucy’s head snapped up at
Ed’s request. “
Huh
?”

Ed had been thinking about his promise of a
paddling and realized that he didn’t have any such a thing as a
paddle. As he spanked Lucy, he had glanced around the kitchen and
his eye had fallen on the wooden butter pat, hanging innocently on
the wall. Larger than a hairbrush but similar in shape to one, it
was embossed on one side to pattern the butter and flat on the
other side, perfect for correcting wayward wives.

“
You heard me, Lucy, the
butter pat hanging on the wall...
now
!”

“
Land sakes, Ed, you
spanked me already. I’m tired and I want to go to bed!”

Ed shook his head at his wife. “OK then,
darlin’, where are Amy and Millie?”

Lucy clamped her lips tight; she couldn’t
trust herself to speak in case she weakened.

“
Just as I thought, Little
Miss Stubborn – go fetch the butter pat. You ain’t helping your
case none by dawdling.”

Lucy slapped her hand down on the table and
stamped her foot.

“
NO... I’ve had enough,
Ed! I’m going to bed but I promise I’ll tell you come morning where
both of them are!”

Lucy spun away and made for the door,
shrieking as she was grabbed from behind and hauled back into the
kitchen. Ed dragged his wife around the table to snatch the butter
pat from the wall. There then followed quite a struggle in which
somehow Lucy ended up without her robe on. While Ed ignored Lucy’s
invective insults and her snapping teeth, inside he was stunned
that his usually demure little wife had attempted to bite him! By
jiminy, she’d pay for that!

Ed flung her buck naked across the table and
placed a hand firmly in the middle of her back. He raised his arm
and smacked her bottom repeatedly with the butter pat. Shocked by
the scalding sting that the swats elicited, Lucy wailed and kicked,
but for all her struggles, Ed held her fast and delivered a painful
lesson in obedience to his wife’s now tender posterior.

After a while Lucy was blubbering and
begging Ed to stop, her bottom afire. Ed gritted his teeth and
carried on heating her derrière with ruthless resolve; this was no
time for half measures.

When Lucy could truly take
no more, she sobbed, “
Amy, Amy,
Amy,
” over and over until at last it was
finished. Ed helped his wife off the table, whereupon Lucy hopped
from one leg to another, dancing frantically whilst rubbing her
sizzling bottom. Ed pulled her hands in front of her and held them
in his.

“
No rubbing ‘til you tell
me where they are,” he told her firmly.

Lucy sobbed quietly and mumbled Rose’s
name.

“
They are at your friend
Rose’s place?” Ed asked urgently. Lucy nodded, exhausted. Ed handed
her the robe and said, “Put that on. I’ll go tell Ethan”

Ethan looked from the
sniffling Lucy still frantically rubbing her painful behind, to Ed,
respect written all over his face. “Way to go Ed, good job well
done!” Lucy glared at her brother and snapped, “
Shut up Ethan
!” Ed gave her a
glowering look which silenced any further comments she was about to
make.

“
Alright then, what was
your plan of escape for the girls?” Ed asked her, the tension
rolling off him. Lucy sighed and gave in fully, telling them what
they wanted to know but adding a plea that the girls be left to
catch the train in the morning as planned. Ed nodded at his wife
when she had finished her tale.