Erotica- Forever His/ Spanking (5 page)

His nostrils flared and he stopped several steps down from her. Tension radiated from him. “Came back to tell you I’ll be gone for the next few days.”

Disappointment spun through her.  They didn’t spend a lot of time together, but she had started looking forward to when he joined her for the evening meal and then watching some mind-numbing TV for an hour or so before they each retired to their bedrooms. “Why?” It wasn’t her place to ask him, but she was curious.

He avoided meeting her eyes, focused on the wall beside her head. “I’ve got some chores to do out on the far range. It’s easier if I stay in the line shack.”

“You can’t drive back for meals, at least the evening one? You can’t sleep here overnight?” Did it sound like she was begging him? Stupid, really stupid. But something seemed odd. The ranch was big, but still…

Now he glanced at her irritation clear in the tightness around his mouth, in his narrowed eyes. “I’d think you would be relieved to have me gone for a while.” He shifted his gaze lower on her body. “Especially after what I did a short while ago.”

Her face heated as she understood his reference to the spanking. But she chose not to mention it. She gave him a weak smile. “I’ll miss your sunny disposition. Your witty conversation at the dinner table.” Both knew he said very little as they shared a meal, but she liked having him there. He let her babble on about this and that, about whatever came to her mind. He even grunted some kind of response occasionally. The house would feel empty without him. Lonely.

A hint of amusement sparked in his eyes. “Witty conversation, huh?” Then he tensed, his whole body tightening. He clenched and unclenched his hands. “I need to go,” he gritted out and turned to head back down the staircase.

Something was definitely wrong with him. His face had mirrored strain. Pain? “Are you okay?”

He kept moving but nodded.

He wasn’t okay and she sensed it, but he was so incredibly stubborn sometimes. She followed after him. “Don’t you need to pack a change of clothes? Have me get you some food to take with you?” Why was he in such a hurry? Why did she sense his urgency to leave?

Seth stopped with his hand on the front door handle, looking at her. Tension etched his handsome face. “I’ve got clothes and canned goods at the shack.” His eyes were darker, more intense. “Stay out of trouble while I’m gone. Stay away from Walker.”

“I don’t get into trouble.” She thrust up her chin. “No problem with staying away from Walker. He can’t stand me anyway.”

He seemed to draw in a steadying breath, then corrected, “Not just you. He’s uncomfortable with all women. For good reason. Just leave him be.”

Well, now she was curious. She pushed that matter aside for now and inched closer to Seth as he turned toward the porch steps. “Before you leave you should know that your ex-wife phoned a few minutes ago. She said you needed to call her by tonight. She didn’t sound happy.”

Seth growled—didn’t he?—and he didn’t turn to face her. He strode down the steps, his voice lower, more gravely now. “She’ll have to wait until I get back. And she’s never happy.”

“But she--”

He glanced up at her and his face looked more strained than it had a few minutes before. “Don’t answer the house phone anymore.”

Teri studied him, something definitely odd was happening to him. Migraine? Worried about a bigger ranch problem than he’d mentioned? What? “Talk to me, Seth. I can tell there is something bothering you. Something…” She slammed her mouth shut at his dark look.

He straddled the four-wheeler and clamped his hands around the handlebars in what appeared to be a death grip. “I’ll be fine.”

Before she could question him again, he revved the engine and tore off across the ranch yard. Odd. Really odd.

* * *

Seth had been gone for two days and Teri was bored to death. Cleaning house had no entertainment value. Doing laundry and changing sheets just made her pheromones go crazy as she encountered the scent of him. She’d made casseroles and pies and filled the freezer. What was a bored faery used to action to do? Go into town and get a friendly-face fix by visiting Maybelle at the diner. Even if she had to go nose-to-nose with Walker about borrowing the old truck Seth had told her she could use.

She pulled in front of Cassie Mae’s Diner, killed the engine, and felt a wave of relief at being away from the ranch…and Walker. He didn’t scare her, not even with his grim, “Seth won’t like you going into town by yourself.” He’d only gotten more upset when she’d told him, “Do I look like I care?” There had been more challenging words spoken by both of them before she’d gotten into the truck and driven away, the tires spitting gravel back at him.

Slumping against the seat back, she wondered why the big man rubbed her so wrong. He didn’t even have to open his mouth and she wanted to take him down a notch. What was that about? She wasn’t usually so aggressive. One of these days she needed to have a talk with Seth about his foreman, find out what was the deal with the grouchy man.

“Are you going to sit in there all day?” Maybelle called to her from the doorway of the diner. Her eyes sparked with happiness, welcome.

Teri’s issues with Walker fell away and she climbed out of the truck. She felt a hundred percent better now that she faced a person who actually wanted to see her. “Do you hassle all of your customers?” she teased and smiled as she hurried over.

Maybelle swept her into a bear hug that nearly crushed Teri. “You and my boy Seth get past your little disagreement? Didya kiss and makeup?”

Teri eased away, pulling in a much needed breath. She thought about that one kiss he’d given her and tingled all over. She wanted more of that. A lot more. But she laughed at Maybelle and countered, “Your boy—and he’s definitely not a boy—can be a bit…opinionated at times. He sees things his way and only his way.”

“So you noticed Seth’s a man, a God’s-gift-to-woman handsome man?” Maybelle giggled and nudged Teri into the nearly empty diner. “And you’re right. He has a tendency to view things a certain way. He’s one of those ‘his way or the highway’ type men.”

She edged Teri toward the first booth. “Guess you’re okay with ‘his way,’ since you ain’t took to the highway yet.”

“I’m more flexible than he is…most of the time.” Teri pulled one of the thick, plastic-covered menus from next to the silver aluminum napkin holders. “We have our moments.” She thought about the spanking he’d given her and worried her bottom lip. Would he spank her for coming into town on her own? He’d vaguely mentioned that it wasn’t a good idea, because she tended to get in trouble around those two old ladies that always seemed to be around wherever she went.

She glanced around the small building, relieved to see only a couple of elderly men at a far booth sipping coffee and talking.

“The Dunston sisters went to Denver to visit relatives.” Maybelle smiled down at her. “In case you were looking for them.”

“You heard about the … the…” She didn’t quite know how to put what had happened in the general store that fateful day.

Maybelle’s eyes danced in merriment. “I suspect most of the town knows about the little fracas. They guard our boy like hawks ever since that devil woman ex of his…”

“Don’t stop now,” Teri prodded, sitting up to listen closely. “First, why do they act so protectively of him? Second, tell me about this ‘devil woman.’ I talked to her on the phone briefly the other day and she sure sounded like a b..ch, if you know what I mean.”

“I really don’t care much for gossiping.” Maybelle eased her plump body onto the opposite seat in the booth. “But seeing as you’re becoming involved with the man I see like another son, I’ll tell you a bit about him.”

Teri blinked and shook her head. “We’re not getting involved.” She might want to, but it didn’t seem likely to happen in spite of the heated looks he gave her now and then.

“Riiiight,” Maybelle said, making clear her disbelief. “The two spinsters’ house burned to the ground a few years back. They lost everything and they didn’t have much to begin with.” She smiled and continued proudly, “Seth stepped in to help them. He sent them to stay in a hotel in Topeka, paid for it, too. Then he and his men used every spare minute they had to build them a new house, far better than what they had. Paid for the whole thing. Furnishings, too. Although a few others around town helped some with that. Seth Stevenson is one fine man.”

Warm feelings tugged at Teri’s heart. She’d known there was a lot hidden behind his gruff exterior. No wonder the ladies felt so protective of him. “I can understand their concern for him, but why do I bother them? They don’t even know me. But from the first time they saw me here in the diner, they’ve not liked me.”

Maybelle reached over to pat Teri’s hand where it rested on the table. “They don’t like any woman who looks at him, who they sense might be interested in him. Because of Sarah Jennings. B…ch fits the woman perfectly.”

“Can we get some more coffee?” The two older men held up their cups and called out to Maybelle. “If it isn’t too much bother.”

Maybelle rolled her eyes at them and stood. “You two are always a lot of bother. But I’ll fetch you some.” She walked away smiling. “You stay put, young lady. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Teri watched the kindly woman go about her business and then studied the menu. She wasn’t really hungry, except for a chance to talk to someone. She was a social person, visiting with anyone and everyone wherever she went. These last couple of weeks living around Seth had been a huge dry spell of almost no communication. She needed to get Seth to open up more. But then how much longer was she going to stay here? She really needed to figure out where she wanted to go next, what she wanted to do. Yet she hated the idea of leaving here, leaving Seth. Oh, she could see the last of Walker and be fine with that. But, oddly, she would miss Seth.

“Now where was I?” Maybelle asked, squeezing into the booth once more. “Maybe we should feed you first.”

Teri shook her head and put the menu back. “No, actually I just came to see you. I was getting a little lonely with Seth gone for a few days.”

“Ah, the time of the month he takes off for a spell.” Maybelle nodded in understanding. “As long as I’ve known him, he just has to get off by himself once in a while. Staying at that old shack gives him a breather from all his responsibilities. Walker can handle the ranch just fine, but Seth prefers being in full charge most of the time. But with all that writing he does in his spare time, all those deadlines… Well, it just becomes too much for him. So he gets away for a bit.”

“Writing?” Teri questioned, confused. “I’ve never seen him doing any writing.”

“Our Seth is one of them bestselling authors. He writes westerns with what they call a paranormal lean to it.” She grinned proudly. “I haven’t read any of them, but I own every one of his books.”

Paranormal westerns? Seriously? No way would she ever have suspected such a thing from him. Interesting. “The man has many facets, doesn’t he?” she said more to herself than to the other woman.

“He’s one big multi-faceted diamond in the rough.” Maybelle giggled at her comparison. Then she grew serious. “Sarah Jennings was a New York publicist sent out here by his publisher. He sure didn’t like the idea. Seth’s a very private man. Won’t do none of them book signing tours or go on a talk show. Nope, likes his privacy.”

She glanced toward the older men still drinking coffee and watching TV nearby their booth. “He didn’t seem to like her at first, but physically he couldn’t resist her. Before we knew it, they went off to Las Vegas and got married.” She shook her head sadly. “Never should have happened. Miss Priss didn’t want anything to do with living out here in the sticks, as she called it. Expected him to sell his ranch and set her up in some fancy house back in New York. He refused, of course. Came to his senses right quick and sent her packing. Nasty divorce.”

With a sigh, she glanced at Teri. “I don’t think she broke his heart; don’t think he more than lusted after her. But she sure danced all over his ego, his pride. And that’s why the Dunston sisters guard him from other women. They—and nobody else around here—don’t want to see him hurt again.”

Teri didn’t know what to say other than, “I won’t hurt him.” She hoped she wouldn’t, anyway. She would have to leave here before much longer, but they weren’t emotionally invested in each other. Yes, she’d seen the desire for her in his eyes from time to time…and, yes, she wanted him, too. She didn’t want more from him than his body for a long night or two. Are you sure?

“You don’t care about all his money, do you? You probably don’t even know how rich our boy is.” Maybelle studied her quietly.

Still confused about just what she did feel for Seth, she said, “Money isn’t important to me. I have more than anyone could possibly ever need.” She did, too. Living as long as she had and having a good friend who handled her finances, she had enough money for a thousand more lifetimes at least.

“You’re rich too?” Maybelle looked shocked, then suspicious. “You come to town—well, almost to town—in a car that breaks down and you’re rich. I don’t understand.”

Things were getting complicated now. Teri never talked with others about who or what she was, and certainly never about her financial details. All such talk would lead to questions she wouldn’t and couldn’t answer. She tied to backpedal. “I mean I’m financially comfortable. But I don’t require much. I don’t have a home. I don’t own much more than I travel with.”

Maybelle’s expression mirrored uneasiness. “Sounds lonely. A mite odd, too.”

It was time to go. Teri eased out of the booth, smiling gently. “Don’t worry about Seth. I’m not after his money and I’m not going to hurt him.”  She stood and reached back for her small purse on the bench seat. “Actually, I’ll probably be leaving in a few days.” Now that she thought about it, the idea seemed good. Before she came to have any deeper feelings for the handsome, gruff rancher.

“No, you won’t.”

Teri and Maybelle both turned to gape in shock at Seth standing just inside the door. His forehead was pinched in disapproval; a vein pulsed in the side of his neck. And his eyes were dark and hard as they met Teri’s. “You’re not leaving until I say so.”