Her Cowboy Knight (10 page)

Gabby looked at Concorde, and felt her pulse race and her stomach knot. No way could she back down now. “Okay. I’ll do it. And no fair telling Cooper about it beforehand, because he won’t like it.”

Susan stuck her hand out. “Oh, don’t worry, I figured that’s how you’d chicken out was to say Cooper wouldn’t let you.”

Gabby shook her hand briefly. “I’m not chicken, and Cooper is my boss, not my keeper.”

Susan said, “Riiiight… Come on, you’ve taken up enough of my time.”

* * *

Turned out that a modern roundup was nothing like the old westerns. As much as Gabby wanted to help, she felt quite let down when Cooper handed her a clicker and had her count the cattle as they went through a chute into the trucks. She knew that she would have placed herself in that position if she had been handing out assignments, given her experience level on a ranch, but it still stung to see everyone else moving in tandem to herd the animals, knowing exactly what to do, while she looked on as a novice, moving only her finger.

The next morning, most of the staff set out for one of the far pastures to round up some of Cooper’s cattle. Cooper asked Gabby to clean out one of the machinery sheds. When she needed one of the combines moved, she had to find Jed.

She finally found him in the tack room oiling one of the saddles. “Mr. Harris?”

He looked up and smiled. “Hi, Miss Gabby, what can I do for you?”

“I’m in need your driving skills. Can you help me?”

Jed nodded at his saddle. “Sure thing. Soon as I finish up here, I will be right over there to help you out.”

Gabby went back to the shed and piddled around until Jed came to move the combine about thirty minutes later. She watched everything he did from her vantage point outside the cab of the huge machine until he got out of her line of sight. He drove out to the field and walked back to the doorway of the shed. “Might as well leave that out there. We’ll be cutting hay next week anyway, so we will need all of the combines out in the fields.”

Gabby nodded. “Thanks for moving that for me.”

He tipped his hat. “No problem. Hey, I’m heading to town. Do you need anything?”

Gabby shook her head and returned to the door of the shed. As she surveyed the filthy space left by the missing combine, she pondered this new direction in her life. A month before, she had known her world and her exact place in it. She had been a valued member of a highly skilled team; now, people checked if she had done the most menial of tasks correctly. She looked back across the field, and it occurred to her that if she increased her skills on the ranch, it would help improve her chances of incorporating fully into ranch life. If she could learn to drive the combine, then she would be able to be more helpful in the haying the next week. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her tablet. Sure enough, after a quick Internet search, she found directions on how to drive a combine, complete with video.

She heard Jed’s truck pull out of the ranch, and she realized that no one else would know if she just tried out a little bit of combine driving. The field provided a nice, safe, wide-open space to get a feel for the machine.

Decision made, she walked across the field and climbed up in the cab. She familiarized herself with the controls and reached for the starting button. When she heard the deep rumble of the engine starting, she grinned. She could do this…

* * *

Five minutes later, Gabby lay in the combine assessing the damage both to herself and the machine. She heard the engine whining and quickly hit the red shutoff button. In the silence that followed, Gabby heard only her own heartbeat, and that was pretty loud. Turned out the Internet hadn’t covered creeks, embankments, and goats.

Suddenly, a wave of anger hit her so violently that her hands started to shake as she pushed open the door that was now above her and hauled her body out of the cab. With stiff, jerky movements, she climbed down the machine and jumped the last few feet.

She turned and attacked the machine with a viciousness she’d never felt toward anything inanimate in her life. She kicked the combine and yelled curses in all the languages in which she knew curses, all the while hurling mud and rocks at the great machine.

She didn’t even hear Cooper approach until he grabbed her arms. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Gabby, honey, are you okay?”

Gabby jerked her arms away and spun on him, eyes blazing and temper flaring. “Do I look fine?! Nothing is fine! I’m a fucking wreck. And I can’t do anything right here! I
am
useless to you. No, worse than useless… I’m a menace, and no wonder you don’t want me around.”

This last was said as she whirled around and started throwing rocks at the combine again.

Cooper said, “Now, just hold on. I didn’t say anything like that. What on earth are you talking about? And stop chucking rocks at my tractor.”

Gabby whirled around. “I’ve done it enough damage. Is that what you were going to say? Well, it’s true, isn’t it?” She spun again and threw the rock in her hand, and stooped to pick up another.

“I mean it, Gabby. Stop chucking rocks.”

She stiffened her shoulders. “Just leave me alone.” She snatched up and threw a handful of mud that caught Cooper right on the side of the face.

Her eyes went huge as he slowly wiped his hand down his face and looked at the mud on his hand before turning his cold blue eyes to her. Gabby panicked when Cooper started advancing on her and turned to run, but she slipped slightly in the mud and he caught her in two steps. Her legs bicycled as he lifted her clear off her feet and stalked to the combine where he set her on her feet and pinned her to his chest, and then reached around front of her to unfasten her jeans.

“No! Cooper, no. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. Let me go!”

Cooper made quick work of stripping Gabby’s jean shorts down to her knees along with her panties and tucking her under one arm where he spanked her bare bottom with his hand as hard as he’d ever spanked her. He spanked her despite her kicking and pleading and cursing. When she finally landed a blow from her elbow into his side, he stepped back and unbuckled his belt, pulling it free of his jeans in one yank. He managed to fold it double despite Gabby’s renewed struggles and landed five solid licks before he paused to ask, “Are you ready to settle down?”

Gabby kicked again and almost gained freedom from his tight hold. Cooper tightened his hold. “Fine, then.”

He gave her another ten licks of the belt in fairly fast succession. Gabby suddenly broke down and wept at this onslaught. She crouched in on herself and started sobbing. Cooper felt her collapse and caught her up to his chest. She buried her face in his chest and cried even harder. Cooper sat down on a piece of the tractor and whispered soothing words to her that made no sense at all as she calmed. He felt her shift and loosened his arms to let her look up at him.

“I’ve ruined your tractor.”

Cooper’s eyes crinkled. “We’ll stand that thing up with no problems. If there is any damage, that’s why I have insurance, baby.”

“I threw mud at you.”

Cooper frowned down at her. “Yep, and I spanked your little butt for it, too.” He kissed her hair and pulled her to his chest.

“I’m sorry?”

“Is that a question or a statement? Why don’t you tell me how all this happened?”

Gabby hid her face in his chest. He squeezed her a little. “Not gonna work, little one.”

Gabby groaned and mumbled into his chest, “You’re going to beat me again.”

Cooper lifted her chin. “I didn’t beat you, and you know it. Now come on…” He sat her up on his knee. “Talk.”

Gabby grimaced. “I was cleaning the shed and Jed moved the combine and then I finished and I thought I could learn to drive the tractor so I could be more useful so I Googled the directions and I was doing well until I saw Mabel, and I wanted to see where she went… and then… I crashed.”

Cooper sat there a long time, then his shoulders started to shake. Soon he was laughing so hard he practically dumped both of them in the dirt. Gabby finally had enough and hit his shoulder. “It’s not funny!”

“The goat! You crashed my combine over a goat! Oh, sweetheart, that is definitely funny. And you’re right. I should totally tear your little butt up for that one.”

“But you won’t?”

Cooper hugged her to him. “No, I won’t. You’ve had a bad enough day. Come on, let’s get you home.”

He stood her on her feet, pulled up her shorts and panties, and walked her back to the house. He had her grab a quick shower while he made a sandwich for himself. “Bedtime for you.”

Gabby rubbed her eyes. “But it’s still daylight!”

“Or I could spank you and then put you to bed.”

Gabby pouted, but she let him lay her on the bed. He flipped her onto her stomach and laid two quick swats on her bottom. He turned her back over and tucked her into bed with a kiss on the forehead. “That was for the goat.”

He turned off the lights and went to call Jed to go rescue his combine.

* * *

The next morning, Gabby stepped out of the barn after she finished her first set of chores to find Cooper and Jed examining the combine she had tipped over the day before.

Jed pushed his hat back and looked up. “I don’t think it’s any worse for wear. We’ll weld that fender back in place with no problem, once it’s washed up. For now, I’m heading down to the south pasture to check the fences. Coming, Coop?”

Cooper shook his head. “Nope. I’ve got some phone calls to make today.”

Jed headed to his truck, throwing over his shoulder, “Better you than me, buddy. See you later, Miss Gabby!”

Cooper turned to Gabby. “So, guess who gets to wash the combine?”

Gabby scrunched her face. “No mystery there, it’s a shit job around here.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow and pulled her close with a hand to her bottom. “Are you seriously complaining about cleaning up your mess?”

Gabby dropped her eyes and played with his shirt button. “No, sir.”

Cooper spun her around and sent her on her way with a smack to her bottom. “Good. Try to stay out of trouble today, okay?”

After her brief period of complaint, Gabby got to work with due diligence. She meticulously cleaned every part of the combine and soon had it as sparkling clean as a three-year-old piece of farm machinery can get. Cooper came out just as she was finishing the last swipe. He plucked her off the wheel and swung her around. She squealed, “Cooper! Put me down, you’re getting soap everywhere.”

Cooper flipped her in the air and sat her on the wheel. He leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. “Thank you, baby.”

Gabby pouted slightly. “Now my pants are all wet.”

Cooper kissed her. “Sorry.”

Gabby put her hands on his shoulders. “How are you going to make it up to me, big man?”

Cooper kissed her again and reached around to cup her bottom. “Oh, poor baby. I bet it’s cold.”

Gabby squealed as he lifted her again, this time tossing her over his shoulder as he headed into the barn. “Cooper, don’t you dare.”

Cooper had a smile in his voice as he said, “But your little bottom is cold, baby, and we’ve got to warm it up.”

Gabby beat on his back. “I don’t want another spanking, Cooper.”

Cooper just kept walking. “Good thing I get to choose, then, isn’t it?”

They reached the door of her old room and Cooper kicked the door closed and flipped on a light. He let Gabby slide down his body. She started whimpering as he flipped her over an upraised knee, “Yes, ma’am, we’ve got to warm this little bottom up.”

Gabby kicked her feet. “Noooooo.”

As the swats began to fall on her already sore bottom, she wiggled nearly off his knee, but he put his arm across her back. “Be still, you.”

He spanked her a few more times and then set her on her feet, still retaining a hold on her arm. He sat on the stool he’d propped his foot on and stood her in front of him. He looked at her face, which had a pout firmly in place, but the twinkle in her eye encouraged him to go farther. He reached for the button on her shorts. Her eyes went wide when she realized his intention and her hands flew to his. His hands stilled, and he said her name softly. “Gabby…”

She looked into his eyes, and he said with quiet authority, “Move your hands.”

She slowly obeyed his command and he continued unfastening her shorts, skimming them down her legs to rest on her feet. She stood in front of him in her panties, her breath coming in short little pants. He hooked his thumbs in her panties and slid them down her legs with excruciating slowness. He slid his hands up her legs, letting his fingers drift to the inside. When he neared her sex, he teased his fingers around to the sides, up across her belly, and up to span her waist. He turned her to the side and tipped her over his left knee. She offered no protestation as he did.

He nudged her legs apart and let his hands explore between them. Just as she was almost starting to purr with the pleasure his hands were creating, his hands left her, only to return, causing a sharp sting on her bottom. Strangely, though she felt the pain, it only added to her pleasure. As he continued to lay stinging spanks all over her bottom, she ground her body trying to get her tingling sex in contact with his knee.

He let her try for a short while, realizing what she was attempting, but just as she almost reached her goal, he smacked her leg particularly hard three times. “Uh uh uh, Miss Gabby, I’m in control of that. You just lie still and take your spanking like a good little girl.”

She growled at him then, and he chuckled, “Not happy about that, are you, baby?” He leaned down in her ear and whispered, “I promise you, I will take you exactly where you want to go if you let me.” He rubbed the placed behind her ear. “Will you let me?”

Almost hyperventilating, she nodded her head once, then twice more. He smiled and sat back up, reaching between her legs. “That’s so good, baby. Oh, you are so, so wet. Does this feel good?”

Gabby whimpered and dropped her head, writhing her hips to feel more of his hand. He pulled his hand back and smacked her bottom five times. “Don’t move.”