The Demure Bride (16 page)

"I must deal with this situation first; I cannot permit this bastard to harm you as he nearly did today." He ran his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping away the dampness. "You will need to obey the restrictions I set for you until he is captured. Will you do this for me?"

"If you insist," she reluctantly agreed.

"I will insist with a switch if I must," he said quietly, but she knew he meant the words.

"I can obey you without a switching," Amanda immediately decided. She'd already felt a switch on her tender backside, and had no desire to repeat that awful experience.

"I know you can, but
will
you...?" Rob was not about to give her a loophole.

"I will... as long as it does not take too long to bring this man to his knees."

"What can you tell me about him, sweetheart?"

"He is an arrogant creep," she replied, but then picked up a pencil from his desk, took a piece of paper, and started sketching from memory. When she was satisfied, she handed Rob the paper.

"I should have known..."

Chapter Eleven

"You recognize this man, Rob?" Amanda asked in surprise as Rob looked at the drawing she'd made. His dark eyes were staring at the drawing in obvious distaste, and Amanda was positive that he was furious and trying to control his temper.

"Yes, I do." His voice was low, but reflected his anger. "He blames me for his son's death."

"I don't understand, Rob. Why would he blame you?"

"Because I am the one who shot him, Mandy," he answered softly, and then said, "I need to get you home. You should be safe there as long as you obey your father and remain inside your house. Sir Gregory Flockton's hatred runs deep, and if he can take you captive he would do so and love every moment of torturing you because he has learned from others that you mean the world to me."

"I won't permit him to take me captive, Rob. I am rather good with a gun as long as I am wearing one, and after this, I will be sure to have one in my hands when I am riding."

"You will not be going riding at all, Amanda. It is not safe, and I must insist that you stay inside and keep the doors and windows locked. I want your Father to post a guard as well. There is no sense in taking chances."

"I am not going to live as a prisoner, Robert Thorne!" Amanda's green eyes were flashing. "We've already been through this, and I am not afraid of this Sir Gregory Flockton!"

"I will speak to your father, Mandy. I am sure he will give me his support."

"I refuse!" Amanda declared, stomping her booted foot for emphasis. "Papa can agree with you all he wants, but I am my own boss, and I am not going to hide inside the house just because you fear what this man might do!"

Amanda saw Rob shake his head and in the next minute he picked her up and flipped her over the arm of his sofa. While he held her squirming body down with his left hand, his right hand went to the buckle on his belt, and within seconds he was sliding it through the loops on his pants. Amanda heard the sound and it filled her stomach with dread as she recalled the beating that Ted Fox gave her! She did not want a strapping, especially on top of the firm spanking he'd given her such a short time ago! "No, Rob!" she ordered. "Don't you dare think you are going to take your belt to me! I haven't done anything wrong!" There was a whistling sound and she felt the doubled leather land on the seat of her tight jeans. "Owwww!" She couldn't prevent herself from crying out. "You already spanked me and I'm sore, Robert Thorne! Stop!"

"I will not stop until you agree to stop thinking like a spoiled child, Amanda Chambers," Rob stated clearly. "I am going to give you a small sample of the strapping I will give you if you disobey me and leave your house before I deal with Sir Gregory Flockton."

The belt landed again, this time on her sensitive and sore sit spots. Amanda cried out, and tried to wiggle free of the hold he had on her. She somehow managed to get up and ran around the sofa, evading the long arm he threw out to stop her. "That was not smart, young lady. You have doubled the punishment I planned to give you."

"I do not deserve to be punished because you are afraid for me!"

"You deserve to be punished for your childish stubbornness."

"I do not! I merely stated how I feel, and there is nothing wrong with that in
this
country."

"Amanda, you are arguing over semantics. You earned a strapping and you are going to get a strapping. If you want to triple it, continue to stand there defying me. I'll give you ten seconds to come over here and bend yourself over the arm of this sofa. If you are not here by then, I will come after you, and I will make you wish you had stayed in place and accepted your due." He glared at her and then said, "I am counting."

"Well, you can stop counting, Robert Thorne! I am not going to come over there so you can use your belt on me! I am already in pain from earlier! I have delicate skin, remember?"

"It is too bad your sassy mouth is not delicate," he countered, and then started counting down, "Ten, nine, eight..." To his utter surprise, Amanda cursed him and then took off running just as fast as her feet could carry her. She was out the front door before he recovered from the shock of her flight. He had never met a young woman with as much spirit as the little redhead. Still, there was a time and a place for such spirit, and when he was trying to save her life and protect her from his enemy was not the time to try his patience.

Amanda didn't need to look back to know that Rob was following her. She'd made the man angry, and he simply needed time to cool off. If she could get away from him now, then by the time he came to see her at the Circle C, he would be in a more reasonable frame of mind. Amanda quickly mounted her horse, and took off at a gallop, anxious to get home and to the relative safety her father's presence would provide. She was positive that her Papa would prevent Rob from taking his fear out on her bottom!

Rob was dumbfounded when Amanda jumped on her horse and took off riding hell bent for leather toward home! After all he'd told her about Sir Gregory Flockton she was riding off alone as if she did not have a care in the world. When he caught her, one Miss Amanda Chambers was going to get the spanking of her life! She might not
ever
sit down again!

Rob was already following her and he was gaining on her, Amanda realized. She urged her mount to run even faster, and knew that if her father caught her riding Glimmer so recklessly, he would take the mare away from her and he would tan her! She made herself slow down to a decent pace, and leaned forward to whisper, "I'm sorry, Glimmer. I was being thoughtless..." The mare snorted and nodded and Amanda had to laugh at how indignant she sounded. A glance over her shoulder told her that Rob was rapidly gaining on her now that she was simply riding and not racing.

Rob was relieved when he realized that Amanda was riding sensibly. He did not want her breaking her neck just to avoid a strapping with his belt. It would not be worth all the fuss. He was soon abreast of her and he reached over to take her reins from her hands. The next thing he knew Amanda slapped his hand with the ends of her reins. "You are not leading me like an errant child! I simply will not have it, Robert Thorne!"

Rob was outraged, and he knew he did not dare stop and deal with the headstrong little brat while they were out in the open and so vulnerable. Sir Gregory Flockton could be hiding behind any or
under
any rock... just like a snake, and she was putting herself at risk by riding like a wild Indian! Rob could not wait until he got her alone and taught her to have some care. Daring a man like Sir Gregory Flockton was just plain foolish!

Amanda fully expected Rob to start scolding, but he maintained his disapproving silence all the way to the Circle C. Whitey was home and he took one look at the two of them and took Glimmer's reins. "You'd best let me care for Glimmer, Miss Mandy. Your Pa is gonna be plenty upset when he gets back here and finds out that you took off on your own," he added, his voice low and meant for her ears alone. He intended to make sure the Boss knew exactly what Mandy had been doing while they were both gone and no one was here to stop her.

"I am a grown woman and I can ride anywhere I please, and I do not need anyone's permission to do so."

"I take orders from your Pa, Miss Mandy, and if he tells me not to let you ride out alone, then you won't get past me... no matter how much it upsets the both of us." Whitey made his feelings absolutely clear so his boss' daughter would know she couldn't wheedle her way past him. He owed Matt Chambers his life, and he would do his very best to keep his daughter safe.

"I think you are just as bad as Papa and Rob!" Amanda flounced around him and stomped toward the house.

"The Boss is gonna tan her hide again if she don't settle down some."

"Miss Amanda will not be sitting a saddle any time soon," Rob told the other man, and he made his words perfectly clear by the way he held his hand. He handed Whitey his reins and headed for the house, his long strides easily keep up with her as she marched toward the back door that went in through the kitchen.

The first thing that Amanda noticed was that the kitchen was empty. Goldie was nowhere to be seen, and the kitchen was immaculate, proving that nothing was either on the stove or in the oven. She briefly wondered what her father had found to eat for breakfast, feeling a bit guilty that she hadn't offered to cook for him. Determined to appear busy and have an excuse to ignore Rob, Amanda put on some coffee. "I am home and safe now; you may leave."

"I am sure you would like for me to leave, but we have unfinished business between us, and that unfinished business has grown into a lesson you will not soon forget. I will give you one chance to make it easier on yourself, Mandy. Come over here and bend over the table and take down those pants. You will get a sound spanking for running off and for riding like a wild Indian. You will still get the promised strapping for refusing to obey me and stay in this house." He watched her eyes narrow and he could tell she was planning her escape. "If you run again, Mandy, I will chase you down and I will take my belt to you wherever I catch you, and no matter who is watching."

"You are being ridiculous!" she scolded. "I haven't done one thing to deserve a spanking, and of course I ran! You would run, too, if you were being treated unfairly!"

"You need a serious lesson, young lady," Rob said slowly, his voice deep. "I don't believe you have a clue how dangerous this situation is, but by the time I am through with you, you will give your promise to stay inside this house until you are told otherwise. Are you going to cooperate?" he asked.

"Rob, do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? I simply exercised my right to say what I please and make my own decisions about where I go and when. Yes, I was accosted by that horrible man, and he did threaten me, but I was able to get away from him."

"Only because my men came to your rescue."

"I would have handled it without their help if necessary," Amanda said with a lot more confidence than she felt. Amanda needed to be firm with Rob in order to convince him she did not need a strapping. "I am not helpless."

"You are tiny, and against a man like Sir Gregory Flockton you would not stand a chance, and you need to realize that. He would inflict so much pain on you that you would beg him to let you do anything to stop the torment. He is one sick bastard." Rob was through talking. He took Amanda's arm and easily pulled her over to the kitchen table and pushed her down.

"No, Rob! I do not deserve a spanking!" she cried out, struggling to get free.

"Wrong. You deserve several spankings, and you will have each one, Amanda. You need to admit that you were wrong, and this spanking will not stop until you do."

Amanda quickly realized that Rob was very serious as his hand fell repeatedly on the seat of her pants. The spanks were stinging and hard and it did not take long for him to set a fire inside her pants that was making her squirm in pain. "Please stop, Rob! Please...!"

"Are you ready to admit you have earned a good strapping?" Rob asked of her.

"But, I don't feel that I do! I simply told you that I wouldn't be confined to this house! You and Papa need to realize that I am an adult and I have the right to make my own choices."

"Not when it comes to your safety, and especially if you will not be reasonable," Rob told her and continued spanking, making sure he spanked even harder on her sit spots.

"Not there, Rob! Not there! It hurts so much!" she complained, wriggling as much as possible to evade the stinging spanks. It did her no good, however. Rob seemed to anticipate which way she would move, and he spanked until Amanda was sobbing and begging him to stop.

Rob's hand was on fire by the time he stopped spanking and pulled her to her feet so he could look into her tear-filled green eyes. "Are you ready to be serious about this situation?" he asked.

"Yes!" Amanda sobbed her reply.

"Take down your jeans," he shocked her by stating.

"What? I can't do that, Rob! It would be too embarrassing."

"That is the whole point. I want you to show me that you understand I am serious about your staying inside this house, and the way you will do that is to submit to the strapping you earned."

Amanda cried even harder at the prospect of another punishment, but she knew that if she didn't cooperate, Rob would continue to spank her sore bottom until she did as he said. Her trembling hands fumbled with the buttons, and eventually she managed to push the tight pants down over her throbbing backside.

"Farther," Rob ordered when she stopped, trying to keep her sit spots and upper thighs covered.

Reluctantly, Amanda pushed the pants down to the tops of her boots. Now the only thing protecting her delicate skin was her thin, cotton drawers. She was wearing the oldest pair she owned, and they were simple. There was no lace or ribbon to make them pretty, and while they were adequate to wear under a riding skirt or a pair of jeans, she was ashamed to have Rob see them. They were plain as could be, thin from so many launderings, and would provide no protection whatsoever from his leather belt.