Erotica- Forever His/ Spanking (6 page)

Chapter Four

“Now you calm down, Seth Stevenson. Stop your scowling, too.” Maybelle faced him with a frown of her own, hands on her ample hips. She stepped in front of Teri like a protective mother hen. “Whatcha doing back so soon, anyway? Usually when you take off for your line shack, you’re gone a week or so.”

Teri peeked around the older woman and looked at him curiously, one eyebrow raised. “Yes, I thought Walker told me you wouldn’t be back until at least the weekend.”

He wasn’t used to being questioned about his comings and goings and it didn’t sit well with him. It was true when he took off out of need for privacy during his turning time, he usually stayed away for a week. Not that he needed to, he generally used the extra few days to do some work on a manuscript, away from any interruptions from the men. This time he hadn’t taken anything with him, not his flash drives or his laptop. He’d been in too much of a hurry and Teri had been there distracting him. Even caught up in the monthly need to change into his wolf form, she’d been on his mind. He was finding it harder to resist bedding her when so much about her drew him. Worse, his wolf part desperately wanted to mate with her. His life was a hell of a mess at the moment.

“Came back earlier than usual,” he finally stated and then narrowed his eyes at Teri. “You were gone. So was the truck I said that you could have when you decided to take off.”  When Walker had told him she’d left the ranch, he’d panicked. Rage had torn through him. He’d nearly shifted into wolf form right there in front of his friend. The wolf demanding that he go after her. Thank god he’d been able to keep it together and not shift. He might have totally lost it if Walked hadn’t told him Teri had only gone to see Maybelle. Still, he hadn’t liked her not being there when he came home.

Her expression softened and she gave him a reassuring smile then shifted from behind Maybelle. “I won’t leave without talking about it with you first. I just got lonely. Missed you…” She clamped her mouth shut as if she hadn’t wanted to admit she’d missed him.

His gaze held hers and he forgot everyone else in the diner. Her reluctant admission touched him in ways nothing else had in a very long time. “Missed me even after…” He didn’t finish the thought, but was sure she understood.

A blush slid over her face, but she shot him a killing look. Yep, she knew he meant even after he’d spanked her sexy little bottom. He remembered every second of the experience. The feminine scent of her, especially when she’d become aroused. Every small gasp she’d made, every breathless sigh, every tiny sob. And the pleasing sight of her reddened flesh…oh, yes, he remembered that. He also recalled telling her to have dinner ready at 5, only he’d had to leave before then.

He glanced at the wall above the cash register, 2:30.  “You best be getting back to the ranch, darlin’, if you’re going to have the meal on the table by 5.”

Irritation snapped in her eyes. “I’ve got some casseroles--”

She’d made casseroles while he was gone. She didn’t really like to cook, so she really had been bored. The idea warmed him even more.  He didn’t want to focus on that right now. “I’m not in the mood for a casserole.” He hated the way hurt whispered across her face for an instant.

But she stuck her chin out in that cute, stubborn way of hers. “There’s lasagna or chicken cacciatore,” she stated as if that might tempt him.

Damn, he liked lasagna, but he found that he liked testing her, pushing her buttons more. “I don’t want a casserole of any kind.”

“You’re being a real stinker today, Seth,” Maybelle inserted. She cocked her head and studied him, slowly smiling as if she had discovered something. Then she glanced at Teri and grinned at the way the younger woman had thinned her lips and was tapping a toe in annoyance. “You two need to take this discussion somewhere else. I’ve got to get back to work.”

“Yeah, the place looks real busy,” Seth countered, but he concentrated on Teri. “Maybelle’s right. We need to head home.”

Again, Teri’s expression softened, probably in response to the huskiness he hadn’t been able to keep out of his tone. “I need to stop by the grocery store first.”

He wanted her back in his home, wanted to be with her, but he bit down on his disappointment. “Fine. I’ll see you at the ranch. Just don’t take too long.” He left the diner before he made an even bigger fool of himself. She was doing crazy things to him and he didn’t like it.

* * *

Teri took her time getting groceries, overloading the cart before she realized what she’d done. As she picked out a pie to add as a special treat, she thought about Seth’s odd appearance at the diner. He’d suddenly shown up and been testy, commanding at first. “You’re not leaving until I say so.” Oh really! Just because she’d let him boss her around at times, let him spank her, he thought he could always tell her what to do? Okay, she probably had given him that impression. Actually, she kind of liked the dominant side of him. It made her feel…cared for? Wanted? Wasn’t that peculiar!

She carefully balanced an apple pie on her pile of groceries. There had been something else “odd” about Seth, something slightly wild, barely tamed. The intense look in his eyes? The strained look to his beard stubbled face? She couldn’t quite decide what it had been, maybe all of it together. And he had emanated a raw animalistic sexuality that had sent shivers of desire through her. Her attraction to him was growing stronger every day…even when he wasn’t around. She sensed he was fighting it as well. She should leave. Today. Forget these groceries; forget going back for her few belongings. Just get in the pickup truck and head on down the road.

The rapid staccato of heels heading in her direction snared her attention. In the next instant a model-thin, long-legged woman stopped next to her cart. Perfectly coiffed brunette hair surrounded what might have been a beautiful face if not for the anger pinching it. “You’re Seth’s housekeeper, aren’t you?”

She’d said the word “housekeeper” as if she’d meant something far more slimy…like “slut.” Teri recognized the woman’s voice from the phone call the other day. Seth’s ex-wife, the one everyone in town—at least Maybelle and the Dunston sisters—detested. Maybe she could accidentally run one of the cart’s wheels over her sandaled foot. No, too tacky.

“I am.” She attempted to push the basket down the aisle.

The woman latched onto the side and stopped her progress. “I told you to have Seth call me. He hasn’t.”

Teri sent her most fierce glower in Sarah’s direction. “I told him. Evidently he doesn’t want to call you.” She shrugged. “Not my problem. Yours.”

“These little games of his will only cost him more.” Sarah released the cart, but continued to look down her nose at Teri. “When I’m finished with him, he won’t even have the money to pay your measly salary. If he pays you that way.”

It occurred to her that the woman saw her as competition for the husband she no longer wanted except to torment. Time to bring her down a notch. “Jealous much?”

“Of you? Hardly.” Sarah snorted and stood taller, thrusting out her less-than-impressive chest. “Seth needs a real woman, not a…near child.”

Okay, she’d had enough. Teri took a quick glance around to make sure they were alone and then lowered her voice. “Honey, I’m a long way from being a ‘child.’” She allowed Seth’s ex to see an older side of her—though still something easily in the mortal range of reality—that of a still attractive woman in her 60s. The change came and went in a second.

Sarah paled and backed away, blinking in disbelief. “You…you…”

“Don’t mess with me again,” Teri said quietly, firmly. “And leave Seth alone, too.” She could have forced the command into Sarah’s mind, but decided to leave it at a threat.

Although she took another step backward, the color returned to Sarah’s face. “You can’t tell me what to do about my husband.”

“Ex-husband.” Teri corrected with a smile. “Seth is my--”

“Your what?” Seth’s familiar deep voice questioned as he walked up behind her. He didn’t sound angry, more amused.

Surprised and curious, because Teri had never heard him sound anything close to being amused, she turned to face him. A hint of amusement lingered in the depths of his dark eyes, but it morphed into heat as he held her gaze. She trembled from the force of it and from her body’s instant reaction to him. She wanted him. Now.

“You can play kissy-face with your lover later, Seth. I want to talk to you.”

“Kissy-face?” Teri asked on a laugh. “I wish.” Then she felt her face heat as she realized what she’d admitted. Yes, she wanted him to kiss her again. But what she really wanted was something much more intimate, much more…well, naughty. She looked away from him, not wanting him to see her desire, focused instead on Sarah.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed.

But before she could speak, Seth moved between them. “I’ll thank you not to harass my employees any more. Not my men, which you and your lawyer have tried to do. Including Walker.”  He glanced at Teri, something heated still in his gaze. “And not my housekeeper.”

Teri found his protectiveness sweet, unnecessary, but endearing. She did take exception to his emphasized ‘housekeeper’ word choice, although that was her position. But what else was she to him? Not his lover, which was kind of too bad. Not his friend, which he didn’t seem to have many of. No, she really was a temporary employee, a woman passing through his life. Oddly, that made her sad.

“I’ll make an appointment for you with my lawyer for tomorrow. His secretary will let you know the time.”  Sarah gifted him with a challenging look and started to move away.

“No.”

She faced him, mouth tight as she bit out, “No?”

He stretched to his full intimidating height. “I’m done with your manipulations. The divorce papers were signed months ago. I was much more generous than I needed to be, and I’ve given you money since then that was not required.” He blew out a deep breath. “We. Are. Done.”

Sarah’s eyes flashed in fury. “You can’t talk to me this way. We--”

“We nothing! Stay away from me. Stay away from my men, my friends, and Teri.”

Teri moved next to him and put a hand on his forearm, where his muscles were tight. He glanced down at her, his nostrils flaring, eyes darkening. She saw the same wild edge she’d seen in him earlier. She could even smell it, something indescribable but potent. “I really need to go check out now. Some of this is refrigerated stuff.” An excuse to break up this prickly party.

He seemed to calm down, the tenseness draining away. “Yes. Go ahead. I’ll be right there.”

She didn’t like the idea of leaving him alone with his ex-wife. Jealous? Well, yes. But she also didn’t like or trust the other woman. “Why don’t you come with me now?”

At first he frowned, that whole I-don’t-like-being-told-what-to-do-thing. Then he gave a curt nod and pushed the basket toward the front of the store. Sarah tried to call after him, but he ignored her. Teri trailed after him, smiling.

Until he stopped for a second, lowered his voice, and said directly to her, “Enjoy sitting on the way home, because you won’t later.”

“What did I…” She gave up questioning him as he headed for the check-out counter. It would be a waste of breath anyway. He’d made up his mind to spank her and that would be that. Stubborn man. Still, she tingled all over in anticipation. Good and bad.

* * *

Seth put the last of the canned goods away in the pantry. Only a few feet from him, Teri closed the lid of the chest freezer at the end of the small room off the kitchen. Being this close to her was driving him slowly crazy. Her scent was almost more than he could stand at the moment. Arousal. Even after he’d all but said he planned to spank her. She wantsme. He knew it with every fiber of his being and it was making his wolf dangerously close to bursting free. He should have stayed away longer, until the beast in him no longer skimmed just below the surface.

“Are you all right?” She stepped beside him, touched his arm with her small, delicate hand.

He jerked away. Hell! How could he punish her for leaving him—okay, she hadn’t really, but that was beside the point—when he couldn’t stand even her lightest touch? He couldn’t put his hand on her bare bottom without… He growled low in his throat and strode out of the too small room.

She was right behind him. “Did you just growl at me?”

He couldn’t look at her, couldn’t let her see the animal in him too near coming out. The man in him wanted to toss her to the floor, spread her legs, and drive into her warm body. His wolf wanted her on all fours, wanted to pound into her over and over. Both would play rough, both would be too much for such a delicate woman.

“Go to your room,” he gritted out, desperate to get more distance between them. If he could calm down, if he could stop thinking with his cock….

She didn’t move. “Please. Let me help you if I can. I know there’s something wrong with you.”

His shoulders tightened. His cock hardened even more. Her gentle concern was unmanning him. No one had worried about him in years. Not after his mate had died all those years ago and he’d abandoned his pack. No one had searched for him, tried to bring him back. Did he blame them? No. Did he want to go back and fight the new alpha to take back his role as leader? No. But he was tired of being alone, of sleeping alone. Sarah had been a stupid mistake, made because he’d let his sexual needs had gotten the better of him. He couldn’t do that again. Wouldn’t.

“I’m fine. I don’t pay you to worry about me.” He bit the words out and hated the way they sounded even to him.

“You’re such a liar,” she countered, surprising him, ignoring the comment about paying her. “You are not all right. Whatever is bothering you is more than your ex-wife harassing you and your men. Talk to me. Please, Seth.”

Her quietly spoken ‘please’ nearly brought him to his knees. He turned and let her see the barely controlled frustration in him. He clenched his hands at his sides to keep from pulling her against him. “You over-step your bounds.”

The tiny woman shrugged one shoulder, which drew his gaze to her breasts. They were impressive for one so small. He longed to taste them, to lick his way around them, to….