“June knows how to do her job! She’s been working here most of your life and if shedoesneed to be yelled at, I’ll take care of it because I’m her boss, not you!” he snapped.
The reminder that she had no power on the ranch rankled her and she gave him a dirty look, which he ignored. His lecture continued, and she made a show of tuning him out. She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes dramatically just to watch the lines around his mouth deepen. His blue eyes narrowed, piercing her with a look of irritation.
She knew she’d been out of line with June. Hell, she knew her attitude had been out of control all week. Her body ached, she was exhausted, but worse she was lacking in Sam time. She’d gotten used to having her needs filled by him and the dry spell had really messed with her mood.
What she needed was a good hard spanking followed by a good hard…something else. For a second, she thought she was going to get it too, but then he was hustling her out of his office with a few more smacks to the back of her jeans. “Get to work or go home if you can’t behave like an adult, but get out of my sight before I do something you’ll regret,” he snarled and then slammed the door behind her.
The timing wasn’t ideal. Ben had been approaching with a roster in hand and caught the whole thing. He turned red and looked away awkwardly, but she felt humiliated that he’d witnessed her being yelled at (not to mention having her ass smacked) and she blamed Sam for that.
Going home would be the same as surrendering so she stayed, but she didn’t speak to him for the rest of the day. Things remained strained between them during the week, but there was good news for the ranch. The storm dissipated before it reached them, and the work slowed to a less desperate pace which lightened the pressure on everyone.
Unfortunately, not speaking to Sam meant after dark activities were still curtailed, and her mood continued to deteriorate. She found herself deliberately trying to annoy him. Nothing major, just small things like rolling her eyes and sighing when he was giving out assignments. Or showing up late to help—they both knew she wasn’t required to be there at all, so he couldn’t complain about it, but it did throw off his schedule.
As much as she enjoyed being a thorn in his side, by the time the baling was finished and things started to go back to normal, she was ready to be over it. She missed him, missed their nights together. And if pushing and prodding all his hot buttons hadn’t gotten her the punishment she wanted, it had at least got her enough stern glances and warnings to stir her fantasies.
The problem was that her efforts had riled him up to the point that she now irritated him without even trying. Small things she said or did seemed to irk him, and she couldn’t get back on his good side. She wasn’t getting punished, but she also wasn’t getting hot kinky sex out of him either.
She set out to change that and get things back on track. She waited a couple days so they could both rest up, doing her best not to aggravate him more, and then she made a trip over to his house after dark. It took her a minute to get up the courage to knock timidly on the door. The lights were off in the barn, so she knew he was in there, but it took long enough for him to answer, that she’d begun to wonder if he had gone to bed early.
“Yeah?” was all the greeting she got, and he stayed right there in the doorway giving her a look she couldn’t decipher.
It wasn’t a promising start and she shifted on his doorstep, nervous about the reception. She’d had a whole little speech planned but it went out the window and she had to scramble to come up with a reply. It came out, “Hi. I thought you might like some company?” which was pretty lame but the best she could do.
He snorted, “You know, I think I’ve had enough of your company this week, Charlie.” The door closed firmly in her face and she was left gaping in shock at the peeling paint
Of all the things she might have expected to happen that one hadn’t even made the list. She stood there feeling stupid and a little hurt. Part of her wanted to turn around and go home, instead she knocked again, more insistently this time.
Clearly, he’d expected that since the door flew open immediately. “Charlie, I really don’t have the patience for you right now,” he said in a voice barely above a growl.
She ducked under his arm and pushed past him into the house before he could stop her. “Look, I know it’s been a rough week and we’ve all been a little on edge, but things are slowing down now, and I really think…”
He cut her off right there. “You’ve been a brat all week, on purpose. You areliterallythe main reason it was a rough week for me, and now you want to play nice? Why? Oh, never mind, I know why.” He snorted and shook his head. “Let me guess. You’ve got an itch you want scratched, right? You’re unbelievably bad at manipulation.”
Well, yeah, when he said it like that it sounded horrible. “Sam, I just hate fighting. I was hoping we could make up now that things have calmed down a little.” Her hand slid up to twine the end of her ponytail around her fingers, as she looked at him with big brown eyes full of pleading. Her bottom lip poked out in a pout to complete the picture.
She was completely aware of the effect it had on him when she did the lost little girl routine. She just wasn’t sure it would be enough to override the irritation this time.
He closed his eyes and sighed. “You get away with way too much, brat.” After a second, he kicked the door shut and she found herself being dragged into his arms and thoroughly kissed.
He was right and she knew it, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t given him the key to making her behave. The punishment thing, at first it had just been the fact that thinking about it had turned her on. The idea of a real pants-down, blistering punishment that wouldn’t stop untilhedecided she’d had enough was enough to soak her panties all the way through.
But it had taken a bigger place in her mind. She believed him when he told her that she had no idea what real discipline would be like with him. And there was a good chance she was biting off more than she could chew, but that didn’t stop her from wanting it.
She broke off the kiss to catch her breath, arms winding around his neck as she clung to him. “I’m sorry I’ve been a brat all week.”
He narrowed his eyes, looking down at her. “Want to tell me why?” he asked. It wasn’t quite a demand, but a strong suggestion.
She bit her bottom lip and then hid her face against his chest. It seemed too complicated to put into words and she sighed as she considered what to say. “I guess it was a lot of things. Being tired and sore from all the work didn’t help. Not getting any time with you because we were so busy and worn out was probably the biggest thing. And then…” She trailed off.
He didn’t say anything though his grip around her waist tightened as he waited.
“I really think you ought to just spank the brat out of me, Sam. I feel like my life is spinning out of control and I just…I need you to take control,” she said finally. She’d never had so much trouble finding the right words in her life, but once they were out he just looked at her quietly.
“You’re talking about punishment again.” Not a question; he knew.
“Yeah. I’m not saying I was pushing your buttonsjustfor that, but I’m pretty sure it was part of it. You threatened a few times and I really wanted to see if you’d follow through.” It wasn’t easy to admit that, and her voice got softer with every word until the last were barely above a whisper.
“Guess I’m going to have to follow through then.”
