How Miss West Was Won (14 page)

Eli wanted to ask if that included spanking her, because he’d done that a few times; and he planned on doing it again tonight.

* * *

Cordelia looked out the window again, wondering exactly where Eli had gone. After Jacob’s visit that morning, Eli had gone out to work, as he had said he was going to do earlier. He had come in for dinner, but had eaten quickly and then gone back out, telling her he would return sometime before it was dark.

But it was dark now, and he had not returned. Not long after dark, true, but it was still past the time when he had said he would be back. Her stomach was in nervous knots as she waited.

Today’s news had been unwelcomed; not the news about Constance, because she had been sure that was a given fact. But the information Jacob had brought, that someone had broken into the general store, added a whole new twist to things.

How could this be related to the problems happening here? Jacob was sure the events were intertwined, but Cordelia was not. Try as she might, she could not find something to link them together. Maybe she and Eli could talk about it tonight and come up with an answer together.

In the meantime, she knew Jacob would be out on the streets of Boulder tonight, watching the hotel were Constance stayed, to see if he could come up with more information.

On top of that, there was something else that had bothered her all day. She had only told Eli part of what Mr. Tuttle’s telegram had said. Her boss was very curious about what was happening in Colorado. He demanded a report; including a date for Cordelia’s return so he could start plugging her story.

Reading his words had made her remember that she was only here for a short while, that she would be back in New York at some time, working behind her desk, with nothing to look forward to at the end of the day.

It was not an idea she savored, but it was how life was. Losing William had taught her that life was not fair, that you did not always get what you wanted, and the reality of things was much different than the fantasies that helped most people get through the day.

What would she think of now while she did Mr. Tuttle’s biding? She thought about it for a few long moments, and nothing came to mind. After William’s death she had been sad, almost beyond belief. But she had gotten over it, had resigned herself to the fact that she would be alone, and felt like she could live with it.

But now, after she had given herself to Eli like she had, how could she leave and go back home to nothing?

Something told her that Eli would not ask her to stay, though, after the way she had treated Constance not once, but twice. She had embarrassed him, and she knew he was angry about the situation. He would not want her here permanently, since she was so unpredictable.

Cordelia sighed. She had never been this way before. What had caused it to happen now, she wondered?

As she processed the thought, she looked out the window. She could now see Eli walking across the expansive space between the barn and the house. He looked tired, as if the day had taken all his energy.

She wondered if he had recovered from the injury he had received in the kitchen. He said he was better, but it was her experience that sometimes men tried to hide their illnesses so they would not seem weak. William had been that way. She wondered if Eli was the same.

As he drew nearer, Cordelia hurried to the front door. She pulled it open just as he climbed the stairs to the porch. “How has your day been?” She nervously twisted her hair around her finger. “I expected you sooner, and I was beginning to worry.”

“We had some work on the fence that needed to be repaired,” Eli said. He brushed past her as he entered the house. “It hasn’t been that long since you’ve seen me, Cordelia. I was just here a few hours ago for dinner.” He turned in the hallway. “Did you miss me, Cordelia?”

Admitting something like that would make things worse when she had to leave. “No, I was just wondering where you were. We have not heard anything from Jacob, although I truthfully do not expect news until the morning.”

“Right,” Eli said as he made his way into the library. As Cordelia came into the room he sat down in the middle of the sofa.

“Are you feeling all right?”

“I am,” he said. “Well enough to spank you as punishment for what you did at the party.”

Cordelia stopped in the doorway. Her mouth was slightly open, and Eli was staring at her, a very serious look on his face. “You not serious.”

“Very serious,” he said. “I can’t believe you did that. After the scene you caused in the store, I would have thought you knew I didn’t want something like that to happen. Yet you did it, as if my wishes didn’t matter.”

Cordelia crossed her arms over her chest. She knew this was coming, but she was not sure how to proceed. It took her a few minutes, but she finally decided it was best to postpone this conversation. The best way to do it was to go upstairs to her bedroom, and to let him know he was not invited into her lair.

“Eli, you have had a difficult few days. This is not something we need to discuss right now.”

“On the contrary,” he said. “I don’t want to leave the situation open any longer. It needs to be dealt with. Something like that will never happen again, Cordelia, and to emphasize my words, you will be spanked. Now. On your bare bottom.”

Cordelia thought about arguing with him, but she knew it would do no good. The last time she argued, it ended badly. If she just agreed to the spanking, took the discipline and then went upstairs, things would be better.

“Very well, Eli. Would you like to spank me here, or in the bedroom?” She put her hands on her hips. “Or perhaps you would like to use the porch. That worked well for you once, I believe. Or perhaps the kitchen table. The only problem with that is you will think about spanking me every time you have a meal there.”

“Your sarcasm is not appreciated,” he said. “We will do it right here. I want you to bare your ass and come across my lap.”

“Fine.” Cordelia started to unfasten her dress. “But I would like you to remember that I cooperated in this endeavor.”

She sat down in the chair opposite him and took off her boots, taking her time to undo the laces slowly. When they were off, she carefully placed them next to the chair. Then she stood up, her heart racing just a little at the thought of what she was about to do. She really should just lift her skirts and pull down her pantalets and let him spank her.

But there was a part of her that wanted to be naughty, and she knew he would not appreciate what she was about to do.

Cordelia put her hands on her buttons and started to work them. Once her buttons were undone, she let the dress drop to the ground.

“What are you doing?” he asked as she pushed down one of her petticoats.

“You wanted my bare ass,” Cordelia said as she stepped out of the petticoat. She kicked it aside and pushed down the second one. “I decided to give you a bare body instead of just the ass.”

The second petticoat was tossed aside, and Cordelia started to work the laces on her pantalets.

“Cordelia, may I remind you we are in the library. What would happen if someone came in?”

Cordelia shrugged. “You should have thought about that before you demanded I bare my ass.”

Once the pantalets were undone she pushed them down. She stepped out of them and tossed them on top of the petticoats. She thought about asking him if he wanted her top bared also, but decided doing so would ruin what she had already done. With deft fingers she undid the laces on her bustier. It dropped off her shoulders moments later and she was naked.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the view, but I think you’ve taken things a little too far.” Eli stayed where he was, but Cordelia could see by the look on his face that he was indeed happy to see her naked. Perhaps she could convince him to forget the spanking and they could make love. That would make her happy.

“Perhaps we could do another activity,” she said, hoping her voice was seductive. “After all, I am already naked, and it would only take a few moments to divest you of your clothing.”

He was definitely feeling lust. She could see it in his face, and in his crotch, which barely contained a nice bulge.

For a moment, she thought she had succeeded. But then he patted his lap. “If you are naughty, you deserve punishment,” he said. “Come across my lap and receive what you deserve.”

“Fine,” Cordelia said as she crossed the room and lowered herself across his lap. Maybe the feel of her body against his would change his mind.

Or maybe not, she thought, as the first swat landed on her bare bottom.

Cordelia braced herself against the harsh slap on her ass. The sheer force of the first strike told her it was going to be a long spanking. Why had she undressed and allowed herself to be spanked?

She wiggled on Eli’s lap in an effort to get away from him. Before she could drop to the floor, though, he put his hand on her outer thigh and pulled her back into position. The ease with which he moved her was stunning. It was as if she weighed nothing at all.

“Don’t even think you’re going anywhere,” he said. “You’re the one who stripped and opened yourself for this. All I asked for was a bare bum. You’re going to take the spanking I give you.”

He slapped her ass repeatedly until Cordelia felt as if her nether cheeks would catch on fire. She held back from crying out though, because she thought it would provide validation for what he was doing. It was a hard thing to do, because each swat stung like the devil. In an effort to keep hold of herself, Cordelia started to count in her mind. She did not count the number of swats. Instead, she kept track of the time.

Three minutes into the spanking, Cordelia tried another tactic. The swats continued to sting, and the counting was not helping. So she focused on the number this time. By the time she figured out he could slap her ass up to sixty times in a minute with no rests in between, she cried out, “Enough!”

Eli slapped her ass three more times. “I hope you remember this the next time you antagonize Constance.”

Two more slaps, a pause, two more, another pause, and then two more. Cordelia wiggled in an effort to get away from him. He held her fast again, and this time with his free hand he slapped each cheek ten times. She bit her lip to keep from screaming at him one more time.

After the last three, Eli put his hand on her shoulder as if he would try to help her stand. Cordelia pushed away his hand and stood. She took a few steps away from him and put her hands on her hips. “How dare you.” She kept her voice low and even. “I told you the last time this happened, you had no right.”

Eli lifted his eyebrows and smirked. “Would that warning have come in between your moans of pleasure?”

Bringing up the erotic spanking he had given her further angered Cordelia. She leaned toward him. “I hope you enjoyed that moaning, because you will never hear it again.”

Eli shook his head slowly. “You know perfectly well why you were spanked. You needed it because of what happened. If something similar happens in the future, I will spank you again.”

Cordelia narrowed her eyes. “You touch me one more time and I will slap your ass. If you think that is an idle threat, think again.”

His laughter pushed her anger past the boiling point. “I am going upstairs. I will not make a threat to leave, because the job is not finished. But if you touch me one more time, in any manner, I will call your friend the marshal and tell him you have assaulted me and have him throw you in his jail cell.”

Cordelia turned toward the door. She held her head up high. Part of her thought she should stop to pick up the clothing that littered the library floor, but she decided against it; she would get up early in the morning and come down to pick up the items so that Mrs. Dunlap would not find them.

As she walked up the stairs, naked, she hoped she looked dignified instead of ridiculous. Of course, no one was there to see her. Eli had not come out of the library, and as far as she knew they were the only people in the house.

Once she was in her bedroom she locked the door, and wished for a lock on the connecting portal. She wondered what she had been thinking earlier, when she said she would want to stay with Eli in Colorado instead of going back to New York.

There was no way she would ever stay with him now.

* * *

Eli stared at the mound of clothing on the library floor. The evening would have been more satisfactory if he and Cordelia had been able to enjoy an erotic encounter similar to the last one they had enjoyed.

But, as always, Constance caused a problem and there was no way he was going to find comfort in Cordelia’s arms tonight. Part of him wished he had talked to her about the incident instead of spanking her, but he hoped the physical punishment would help her to remember if something like this happened again.

Something like this, in other words, another incident with Constance. Would this ever end? Would they ever find out who hired Constance and why she was here? The Four Fours was valuable land, true, but it wasn’t enough to cause all this trouble, was it?

What would happen if he marched into Constance’s hotel room, announced that he knew she was a fake and demanded to know who had hired her and what they wanted? Constance seemed very stubborn, and he wondered if she would give in to his demands; maybe if he offered her money, or threatened to have her arrested.

He needed to talk to Jacob and see if anyone had been to see her in the last few days. If they had not, then Eli’s new idea might have merit.

In the meantime, he needed to think of a way to get back in Cordelia’s good graces. The spanking hadn’t been that hard, just tough enough so she would remember this if she ever decided to dump liquid on Constance’s head again.

He thought about ways he could court her. Then decided there was one way he could get her to smile again.

Or so he hoped.

* * *

Cordelia shifted in her chair. As usual, Mrs. Dunlap refused her offer to help with the cleaning after breakfast, or at any other time, and Eli had left the house as soon as their morning meal was over. Their conversation had been civil, but limited. She was still angry about last night, but not as angry as she had been.

When she had gotten out of bed she was surprised to find her clothes from the night before on the chair in her room. They had been neatly folded and she wondered if Eli thought she would forgive him for doing her that small favor. She certainly hoped not, because there was no way she was giving in that easily.

After she had gone upstairs last evening, she had thought about making notes for her story, but she had not done so. Instead, she had wrapped herself in a robe and stared out the window at the wide expanse of Colorado sky, lit up by the beautiful stars and the quarter moon. The scenery at the Four Fours always managed to make her feel at peace, even in the dark of the night when she’d just been spanked by a man whom everyone thought was her husband.

In the eyes of those who thought she and Eli were married, he would have the right to spank her as punishment. But she knew the truth, and to her he had no right to spank her, unless it was that incredible time where he’d included it in their coupling. Just thinking about that made her tingle.

“Would you like more coffee?” Mrs. Dunlap asked, casually. Cordelia glanced up at her. The older woman was packing up a satchel with food and a few containers of water.

“No, thank you,” Cordelia said, wondering how Mrs. Dunlap would react if she asked why she was packing the food. Would she tell her to mind her own business, or would she say that Eli had decided to stay away for the rest of the day, and before he left for the fields, he was stopping by to pick up his lunch?

Cordelia decided she did not want to know the answer. She pushed back from the table and stood. “Thank you for breakfast.”

As she headed toward the door, Mrs. Dunlap said to her, “You do own trousers don’t you? It will be easier to ride in pants.”

Cordelia turned and said, “Excuse me?”

Mrs. Dunlap pointed to her skirt. “There isn’t a sidesaddle here, at least I don’t think there is. Plus, the area where you are going is not exactly an easy ride. You will need to change before Eli returns.”

The words made sense, but Cordelia had a small problem computing them. “Eli and I are going somewhere?” she finally asked.

“You’re riding along the water, to see if he can find the trail of the person who was in the house the other evening.” The housekeeper sounded confused, as if Cordelia should already know that information. “I do believe you should be getting ready, don’t you? You do have trousers, right?”

“I do have a pair,” Cordelia said. She had bought them on a whim in New York, telling the sales clerk that they were for her husband, who needed them for work. She had tried them on once, and felt naughty as she was walking around the room in them. But she had never worn them in public.

She did not want to tell Mrs. Dunlap that Eli had not informed her of his plans. It was supposed to be a surprise, she was sure, to make up for last night’s spanking.

Cordelia would accept the outing in the spirit he would offer it, but she would not change her clothing until Eli was here to tell her what was happening. With that in mind, she went into the library and perused the shelves. She took down a novel that she was sure Eli’s mother had read, sat down and started to read.

The clock in the hallway counted off the time, much as she had counted if off during the spanking the previous night. It was an hour and a half before Eli appeared in the doorway. “How has your morning been?” he asked, his tone guarded.

“Fine,” she said as she turned a page. “My ass twitches a little from time to time, but other than that, I am enjoying this book very much.” Cordelia did not look up at him. Instead she kept her gaze focused on the page, even though she had trouble making out the words because she could not concentrate on the book. All she could think about was what Eli was going to say next. Would he apologize and then suggest the ride? Or suggest the ride and then apologize? It would be interesting to see which way he went.

“I want to take a ride along the creek to check for tracks from our intruder,” he said. “I would like you to come with me.”

So that was the way it was going to be, Cordelia thought, an invitation with no apology. She thought about saying no, but that would mean she would spend the rest of the afternoon in the house, wondering what Eli was doing. “I do not know how to ride a horse very well,” she said.

“I’ll teach you,” he said. “Go and put on those trousers that are hanging in your wardrobe.”

This time she did look up at him. “Have you been snooping?”

“Of course,” he said, shrugging. “I didn’t know you, and you are in my house. I admit to looking at your things when you came into the house.”

Cordelia thought about protesting his actions, but she realized it was probably something she would have done if she were in Eli’s shoes. “Very well, I will change and meet you in the barn.”

“I can hardly wait,” he said with a wink. Then he turned and left. Cordelia thought he would probably apologize when they stopped to eat. It would be an interesting conversation.

* * *

“Where are you going?” Stuart’s voice seemed to fill the barn. Eli had just saddled his own horse and was picking out the gentler, but still sturdy, mare for Cordelia to ride.

“Up the creek,” Eli answered. “We should have done this sooner, to see if we can find evidence of who came in the house.”

“You’re right, we should have, but I have something I need to talk to you about,” Stuart said. “Can’t the ride wait till tomorrow? Melody and I had an interesting conversation the other night, and—”

“She’s married, Stuart,” Eli said, hoping he didn’t sound as shrill as he thought he did. “Look somewhere else.”

“I’m not talking about that,” Stuart said, his anger apparent. “She told me that—”

“I hope this works,” Cordelia said from the opening to the barn.

Eli shifted his attention to her. She wore the brown trousers he’d seen in her wardrobe, and a white shirt that she usually wore with skirts. On her feet she wore a dainty pair of slippers.

“The shoes,” he said, pointing to her feet. “Those are not going to work very well.”

“It is all I have,” Cordelia said.

“Then we’ll just have to watch where you step,” Eli said. “Stuart, will you help me get her settled in the saddle?” Eli looked at Stuart, whose arms were crossed in front of his chest. His cousin looked like he wanted to punch someone. “We’ll talk when I get back,” Eli said. “I’m sure whatever you want to say can hold until then.”

It was as if a cloud passed over Stuart’s face, and Eli thought about changing his mind. Until Stuart said, “Fine, it’s lasted this long. Why not a few more days? Let’s get her in the saddle.”

It took the both of them to get her settled. Stuart held the reins while Eli helped her to put one foot in the stirrup and lift her leg over the side. Once she was on the horse, she tensed up like someone was pointing a gun at her.

Eli gently patted her leg. “Don’t be nervous. The horse will sense your unease and it will respond in kind. Relax and let me guide you.”

“All right,” Cordelia said. “But Eli, I do not think this is the mode of transportation for me.”

“It’s going to be fine. Stuart is holding on to you while I get my horse.” He mounted his horse quickly and trotted over to her. It took a few minutes to explain how to manage the reins. “Don’t turn the reins hard,” Eli said. “This horse, whose name is Emily, will react much better if you are gentle with her. Left to left, right to go right, pull back to stop. Keep your hands away from the horn unless there is an emergency. Mostly, just let Emily follow me, and things will be fine.”

“Fine,” Cordelia said, her voice a little wobbly. “But I might feel better walking.”