Over the Barrel (14 page)

True to her word, Blair was awake early,
stoking the fire and boiling coffee in the beaten-up kettle.
 
She forced a smile as Sloan sat up and
rubbed his face.
 
"Good
morning.
 
I used some of the flour
and made flapjacks."

Sloan looked doubtful.
 
"Did you put salt in it?"

"No.
 
Was I supposed to?"

"Did you poke holes in the top to
let the bread breathe while frying?"

"No." Blair's face fell.
 
"I did it all wrong, didn't
I?"

"Honey, trail cooking is an
art.
 
And it doesn't always come out
tasty.
 
Let's see what you got
here," Sloan said, crawling over to the fire.
 
He picked up a "flapjack" and
tapped it on a rock.

"It's a little hard," Blair
cringed.
 
"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry.
 
You didn't know it, but you made hard
tack.
 
It travels well and can be
tossed into a cup of coffee or tea to soften it so as you don't break your
teeth."

Blair wrinkled her nose.
 
"We could always use them to throw
at the bad men."

Sloan laughed.
 
"Lemme get cleaned up a bit, and
I'll teach you some things.
 
Blair?"

"Yes, Sloan?" she looked up at
him, her expression somewhat defeated.

"You did good, kid.
 
The first step is trying.
 
I'm proud of you.
 
Let's take a day off the trail, and I'll
show you some things."

His words brought encouragement to her
that lasted the rest of the day.
 
He
taught her how to make biscuits, skin and roast a rabbit, and how to build a
rock oven where they baked stone cakes for their journey.
 
Blair even found a beehive, which, after
much discussion, she decided to abandon, for Sloan's sake.

"Sorry, girly, but last time I tried
to smoke out a nest, I got stung pretty badly.
 
I'm just getting over my encounter with
that skunk," he pointed to the recently unpatched eye.
 
"I'm not willing to engage nature
at her worse just yet."

"How do you smoke out a nest?"
Blair asked, slyly.

"Don't you even think about it,
young lady.
 
Bee stings on your
pretty skin won't count for anything, compared to the blistering I will give
you."

"You don't have to be mean.
 
I was simply asking out of
curiosity."

"Keep your curiosity away from
things that sting, bite, or claw.
 
I
mean it, girl."

"I hear you," Blair
sighed.
 
"Sloan?"

"What, darling?"

"It's unusually warm tonight,"
she observed, glancing up at the sparkling sky.
 
"Do you think it's safe for me to
take a dip?"

"Skinwalker hasn't given us any
reason to suspect there is anything around to cause us harm.
 
Horses are pretty good
watchdogs."
 
Sloan considered,
poking a potato around the fire ashes.
 
"Go ahead.
 
Just be
careful."

Blair nodded and stood gracefully, aware
of his watchful eyes on her back as she picked her way over the rocks and down
to the running stream.
 
She stood on
a flat rock, her back to him, and slowly allowed her clothing to fall, layer by
layer, to the rocky ground below.
 
She paused as the moonlight reflected off her snowy skin, and unwrapped
her waist-long hair to fall in a loose wave of curls down her back.
 
Her skin shivered in response to the
knowledge that she was being watched.
 
Without glancing behind her, Blair entered the cold stream.

She leaned back against the sandy bank
and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the water as it raced over her body
and washed away the sweat and grime from the day.
 
A tiny breeze caressed her wet face as
she lifted her chin to the sky.
 
Blair
hid a smile as the sound of crunching footsteps neared her, followed by the
rustling of clothing being removed.
 
She kept her eyes closed as Sloan sank into the water next to her.

"It feels wonderful, doesn't
it?" she asked, not daring to turn in his direction.

"Sure does." Sloan said
quietly.

"If you want to kiss me again, I
would not prevent you."

"I do want to kiss you.
 
I just don't want to be rejected
again.
 
Doesn't do well for a man's
ego."

"I didn't reject you!
 
It was my fear of you refusing me
further that spoke those words.
 
I …
my confusion confounds me.
 
You are
right about this feeling of being torn between what I desire and what is
considered proper.
 
I certainly do
not wish to present myself unmarried to my grandfather and be with child."

"I would marry you should that
occur," Sloan said.

"Of course you would, but would we
repeat the miseries of your last marriage?
 
I say no.
 
If I were to
marry, I would do so for love, not for a child.
 
'Tis selfish of me, true, but I would
not wish to have a child be raised with someone who did not truly love her as
his own," Blair said sadly, but firmly.

"How could I not love a child as my
own?
 
She would be the result of our
time together."

Blair exhaled, nodding in agreement.
 
"Yes, you are correct.
 
I misspoke once again.
 
Sloan, my desire for you is all-consuming,
but it would be foolish of us to consummate a relationship when none
exists.
 
If there were another way
…"

"There is, but you might find it
distasteful.
 
Some women do,"
Sloan said, placing her foot in his lap and massaging her instep.

"I did not find that lover's kiss
distasteful once I tried.
 
Please,
tell me."

"I hesitate.
 
Have you ever read the Miller's Tale, by
Chaucer?"

"Oh my!
 
Yes," Blair confessed.
 
"I found an old copy of the book
hidden in my aunt's library.
 
She
had a locked desk where she kept unsavory novels."

"You broke into the desk?"

"Of course I did!
 
Would you have expected me not
to?"
 
She giggled with her
naughty confession, "I did not understand it, however.
 
It was written in old English and I
found that very laborious."

"I took my favorite passage to memory
when I was attending college," Sloan chuckled, "Would you like to
hear it?"

"Yes.
 
You will have to explain it to me,
though."

"How about if I just tell you what
happened?
 
Absolon went to kiss
Allisoun's lips and was offered her nether parts.
 
He kissed her bum hole."

"Oh My!" Blair's eyes
widened.
 
"That is truly
distasteful."

"He thought the same.
 
However, that brings up the point that
we have an option, if you desire to give it a try."

"You mean …?"

"Yes.
 
Many woman enjoy that act if time is
taken."

"But is that not sodomy?
 
It was spoken of in church.
 
It is a sin!"

"Figures they would teach you about
that but not how to breed," Sloan scoffed.
 
"If you were to judge people's
actions by the clergy and their interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, yes, I
suppose it could be labeled that way.
 
But, like you, my sweet Blair, I choose my own path.
 
My relationship with the Almighty does
not require another man to tell me what is right and wrong, and I interpret the
Good Lord's Word for myself.
 
I
believe, in a marriage bed, all is permitted if both parties agree."

"We are not in a marriage bed,
Sloan."

Sloan lifted her foot out of the water
and pressed her instep against his cheek, kissing it tenderly.
 
"No, we are not.
 
Nor are we in a marriage with another,
so there is no unfaithfulness occurring."

"I don't know if I am ready to
indulge in such sordid behavior.
 
There is no commitment to one another, either, and that tends to cause
an individual to make selfish decisions."

"I respect that.
 
In the meantime," he started to
massage her other foot, "we will just sit here and enjoy a nice warm
evening together."

Blair offered a thankful smile and a tiny
moan as his strong fingers worked their way up to her ankles.
 
The stirring in her groin began to build
as he stroked and rubbed the aches from her calves and thighs.

"Your hands are magic.
 
You seem to know where all my pain
is."

"I have an idea.
 
Come," Sloan said as he stood.
 
Blair wrapped her hair to cover her
breasts as she rose next to him, avoiding his appreciative gaze upon her
person.
 
He led her to a flat rock
near their campsite and tossed a thick horse blanket upon it.
 
Sitting down, he patted his thigh.

"Bend over my knee."

"I will not!
 
I have done nothing to deserve
chastisement, and if you …"

"No back talk.
 
Over my knee," Sloan ordered.

Grumbling, Blair obeyed.
 
She shifted uncomfortably on his hard
thighs, swallowing fearfully as his hand stroked the balmy wetness of her pale
bottom.
 
The smack caught her
unprepared, and Blair shrieked.

"Why are you punishing me?"

"I am not punishing you."
 
He smacked her again, followed by a firm
caress over the reddened blotch.
 
"I am pleasuring you."

"This does not feel
pleasurable.
 
It stings like
bees!
 
Ow!
 
Oh …" her shriek ceased when his
fingers slid between the dip of her thighs.

"As is my intent, darling.
 
I do enjoy not having to struggle
against yards of material when I wish to kiss your delightful bottom with my
hand," Sloan announced, smacking her briskly across her jiggling cheeks
and then returning to finger her wetness.
 
"You have a magnificent rear end, especially when it thrusts upward
towards me.
 
What are you doing,
Blair?" he asked teasingly as she began to gently rub her sex against his
thigh.

"I am thinking of a time that you
would peel my clothing away, layer by layer, and bare my bottom for you to have
pleasure with it."
 
She gasped
as Sloan slapped her sharply upon the right cheek, the crack rebounded against
the tall rock cliffs and sounding like a mid-summer thunderclap.
 
Blair kicked her heels and twisted to
stare as him.
 
"What are you
grinning about, you insufferable man?!
 
That was quite painful!"

Sloan cupped her right cheek in his warm
hand and jiggled it gently.
 
"Was it?
 
Your wetness
shows that it was not too unpleasant."

"I admit that once the sting wears
away, it leaves a strange sensation of warmth.
 
Perhaps you will consider the other side
and allow me to experience balance?" Blair asked slyly, wiggling her
bottom under his hand.

"Nothing would make me happier right
now, my darling.
 
You really are
quite a joy to spank," Sloan stated, raising his right hand and landing
another firm, meaty slap to her left side.

"Yeow!" squealed Blair.
 
"Not so hard!
 
Sloan!"

"Oh, hush yourself.
 
Stop squirming; you are going to wear
yourself out," he stated, adjusting her body to keep her firmly across her
lap after each robust smack.
 
"I wish it wasn't so dark, and I could see the color of this
bottom.
 
I am betting by the heat
that it is turning to a beautiful apple red.
 
Let's see if I can bring up enough color
to see it by the firelight."

Blair moaned, invigorated by the visceral
experience that left her twisting and pleading, yet she never attempted to
depart from her position over his lap.
 
Sloan had spanked her with vigor, and despite the discomfort that left
her softly sobbing, she found the experience absolutely wonderful.