Bella

Honk!

My eyes flew open. I stretched, yawning and trying to clear my head from the dream I had been having. Early morning sunlight streamed through the curtains. Looking around me I realized I had fallen asleep on my couch. I hadn’t even showered, too worn out from the cleaning and thinking over that contract.

“Oh, shit!” Not only had I not showered I was wearing the same outfit as yesterday and the jeans I had wiped my hands off on after my moment of weakness on the couch last night. I looked out the window. There was Garrett’s pristine gray pickup. Yesterday he had said he would only honk once.

“Double shit,” I whispered to myself. Running to the door, I threw it open, throwing on my best wide awake been up since dawn smile and shouted, “Be there in just a sec, Garrett.”

Slamming the door before he could respond I hurried back to my room and grabbed a clean pair of jeans. I couldn’t find any clean underwear, so I’d just go without. No time for a shower, I pulled on the jeans and a lightweight baby pink sweater that I had found hanging in the closet.

I pulled my long hair into a high ponytail. Leaning down I gave my armpit a little sniff. Not too bad. Just to be safe I sprayed my vanilla bean body spray over my sweater in the hopes it would cover up any odor I had obtained during my cleaning spree.

Grabbing my purse, I headed for the door. My hand on the knob, ready to turn, I paused. “Right, contract.”

I turned back into the living room eyeing the piece of paper momentarily. It was now or never. I would do this for Oliver and the stability it would bring him. Hell… I would do this for me. Because the hard truth I had had to face last night was that I did need this job. I did need the discipline Garrett could offer me.

Picking up the contract I rushed out the door.

When I arrived at the truck I took a deep breath gathering myself before opening the passenger side door.

“Good morning,” I said brightly. Considering the face of the stern cowboy boss in the seat, I held my breath waiting for him to speak.

His long finger tapped the clock on his dashboard. “Seven fifteen. But we can address that at the office.”

I gulped nervously.

“That the contract?” he asked, looking at the papers as he turned over his shoulder, backing down my driveway.

“Yes,” I whispered quietly.

“Good.” He turned the wheel, cautiously looking both ways before pulling out onto the road. “You get your dishes done?”

Oops. “I, ah, I had to help my neighbor find his cat then I kinda fell asleep on my couch. But I’ll get to them tonight.” Why was I explaining to him about my dishes? Surely the cleanliness of my kitchen didn’t fall under his umbrella of authority. Sneaking a peek at his hard jawline I suddenly had a feeling that he thought it did.

“Good.”

The tension that ran between our bodies made me sit rigid in my seat. Did he feel it too? A mix of sexual energy and something else—dominance balanced with a new submissive state that I kept finding myself in around Garrett. I had no idea what it was, but it was making me squirm in my plush leather seat.

“When we get to the ranch we’ll go straight to my office. There are a few things I’d like to address.”

“Okay.” I gulped, looking out my window to avoid catching glimpses of his stunning profile.

“How long do you think your car will be out of commission?”

Forever. I had no idea what was wrong with old Bessie but I did know one thing. There was not enough money in my bank account to cover what it would cost to fix her. I waved my hand casually in the air. “Oh, not too long. I’ve just got to get her down to my mechanic for a peeksie-poo. He’s the best. He will have that old Wagoneer running…” I trailed off unable to finish my lie.

“I can loan you the money—an advance on your salary, if you need it.” He shot me a knowing look.

“Maybe. It’s just that I make it a habit to not borrow money.”

“Like you make it a habit to quit your jobs for no good reason?”

My head slowly turned on my neck until I was all the way facing him. My cheeks burned with anger as I pronounced the words, “Excuse me?”

“I do a reference check on all of my employees. You left your last job as a secretary for Bob’s Tires citing ‘irreconcilable differences’.”

“That’s because Bob was pushing more than just used tires on people. He would rub up against me and had this gross look he would give me. Like he was at an all you can eat buffet serving baby back ribs.” I shuddered at the memory of my lecherous last boss.

“And the job before that?”

“At the kennel?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t get along with the groomer. He was such an ass and whenever we boarded overnight guests he would refuse to bathe them—”

“And the HEB?”

“Unfair hours. I didn’t have a Saturday off for two months…”

“And the cleaners?”

“I swear one of the girls was stealing jewelry from our clients. I didn’t want to get mixed up in that.” I didn’t add that it turned out I had also been terrible at cleaning and was most likely going to be fired. He had probably already figured that out from his visit last night.

“Seems like a lot of jobs.” His eyes cut to mine. “And a lot of excuses. What’s it going to be at the ranch?”

“What’s what going to be at the ranch?”

“Your excuse to me when you try to quit?”

“I haven’t even had my first day. Why are you saying I’ll quit?”

“Because that’s what you do. You have quite a track record. But you’ve never had a boss like me.”

His hand went to my knee, giving it a hard squeeze that made me gasp.

“I won’t let you get away with that crap. You are in for a rude, much needed awakening, Ms. Buchanan.”

My face was on fire, my eyes stinging with angry shamed tears. I had nothing to say so I sat quietly, trying to swallow as my throat tightened. My only consolation from the harsh reality check was that his hand did not leave my knee.

When we arrived at the ranch I jumped out of the truck as fast as I could, wiping at my eyes when I was sure Garrett couldn’t see me. Taking a deep breath, I steeled my nerves. I could do this. I had to do this. Failure was not an option.

“This way,” he said, calmly. I pasted a confident smile on my face, but he went walking in front of me without so much as a backward glance. Garrett led the way to his office.

Flip-flop, flip-flop went my stomach as I followed my new boss on shaking legs. He stood at the door—tall and calm and confident—waiting for me to enter. With a gulp, I stepped over the threshold into the office of my boss. The door shut with a soft thud. I heard the click of the lock.

* * *

He was going to spank me. I was going to be spanked. In this office. On this ranch. With eyes and ears all around. My bottom wiggled back and forth on the hard-wooden chair. Garrett Love sat across from me at his desk with his elbows resting on his desk calendar. Each square was filled out in his neat penmanship.

“I’ll take the contract, now.” He reached out to me expectantly.

The papers were slightly crumpled inside of my damp hand. Hesitantly, I held them out to him.

Taking them carefully, as if they were worth a lot of money, he placed the papers on the desk, giving me a stern glance as he smoothed the creased paper.

“You read it?”

I nodded.

A brow raised in a questioning arch. “All of it?”

“Yes,” I hissed, stopping myself just before rolling my eyes. My nerves had me on edge as I had no idea what to expect.

He gave me a hard look but didn’t call out my obvious lie.

“The best way to set the tone and expectations of our boss/employee working relationship is to get right down to it. Don’t you think?”

I gulped. “Right down to what… exactly?”

“The spanking?”

“What spanking? The contract said if I broke rules. What rule could I have possibly broken already? I just got here?” I chattered nervously.

“As you read, it also states that discipline sessions are at my discretion. Warranted or not. If I feel it would be to your benefit, then it will be so. But you already know that because you read the contract, as you said. Right?”

Garrett stood from behind his desk. His full height was daunting from my position across the desk. His broad shoulders filled out his shirt, the curves of his biceps pulled at the fabric.

“Shall we?” he asked, casually unbuttoning the tiny button at the wrist of the sleeve of his work shirt.

“Shall we what?” I squeaked. Gulping I eyed the door that was past Garrett, trying to decide whether I could get around the huge cowboy.

“Get your spanking out of the way,” he replied casually. His eyes never left mine as he slowly, neatly, deliberately, rolled up his sleeve to just above his elbow.

“I’m having second thoughts,” I mumbled, preparing myself to spring from my seat and rush the door. I eyed the lock on the knob knowing I would have to turn it before I could break free of the office where another employee would surely come to my rescue. This was nuts. Why had I signed the damn thing? I did not need a job this badly.

Garrett turned his head from me following my gaze and eyeing the door.

This was my chance. Three, two, one…

Anticipating my move, a huge, tree branch like arm shot out slamming into my ribcage as I was flying by the side of the desk.

“Oomph!” The wind was knocked from me. A big wall of a chest was suddenly in front of me blocking my way. My torso was turned towards the side edge of the desk. A hand pushed down on my back until my chest and the side of my cheek was flat against the desk. The hard edge of the wood dug into my stomach. An arm locked around my waist, pinning me in place.

“Get off me you brute!” I screamed, the air returning to my lungs.

“After I spank your ass.”

“Don’t you dare—”

My words were cut off by the hardest slap I have ever felt landing on the center of my right butt cheek.

“Yeoch!”

“Just be glad I left your jeans on for this one.”

My memory flashed back to that morning when in lieu of finding clean underwear, I had chosen to go without. Judging by his current hold on me this man was strong enough to keep me pinned in place while he tore my jeans off. To expose my bare-naked bottom to his gaze.

I bit my lip, held my tongue, and willed my temper to cool it. I did not want to risk pushing his limits and having him pull down my pants. I could endure one spanking. Right? Then straight to the police office to turn in this scoundrel and his crazy operation.

His huge hand came down again. This time on the center of my left cheek, leaving a matching burn where it landed.

“Ow!” I cried.

“Spankings hurt, don’t they, little girl? Tell me, have you ever been spanked before?”

“No,” I hissed through clenched teeth.

“Your daddy never took your naughty little behind over his knees and spanked you?”

“Gross.”

He laughed. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’. Shame. Now, I have to do the job for him.” My face pressed further into the desk and I squeezed my eyes shut tight as his hand came down again, once on each of those same spots he had just punished. My skin was burning, and my breath caught in my throat at the pain.

“You don’t seem to mind too much,” I managed to mutter after the initial sting subsided.

“Oh, I don’t mind at all. In fact,” his hand came down hard, five times in fast succession right on the center of my seat, “I think getting you in line will be my new life’s focus.”

Groaning from the humiliation, I squirmed under his weight. My movement only caused his hold to tighten on my waist. “Are we having fun yet?”

“Fun? No!”

“Are you learning your lesson yet?”

“Yes—I mean, what lesson? What did I even do?” I groaned.

“You were late this morning. But I can let that pass. It’s the lying that really gets under my skin.” Spanking the tender spot where my bottom met the tops of my thighs, I tried to hold still. The spanks were coming harder and faster now. I could barely think straight from the stinging. But I was feeling something else, something that caused me shame.

My pussy was throbbing. The burning had somehow spread from my sore bottom to my sex. I could feel it burning and pulsing, the same as the punished skin on my bottom. My hand clutched the sides of the desk, my fingers gripping the edge.

“You didn’t read page two, did you?” His hand hovered over my bottom, momentarily pausing the punishment.

My fingers curled tighter around the edge of the desk. Somehow, I managed to squeak out, “There’s a page two?” It took so much for me just to sign the contract I hadn’t bothered to flip the page over.

“It states very clearly that when you are being disciplined in my office, you are to refer to me as ‘sir’.”

“That’s so messed up,” I crooned, hoping he wouldn’t detect the desire in my voice.

Fingertips lightly brushed over the curve of my bottom. I shivered, my spine quivering under his hold. “Is it? Or is it exactly what you need? The discipline of a boss. Someone to set you straight, spank your ass. Take care of you.”

The words slipped out before I could stop it. “Yes, sir,” I breathed.

“Then it is how I thought. And page two states that you will refer to me as sir when you are being disciplined, so let’s start over.”

“Start over! No! I can’t take anymore.” I stood on my tippy toes, shifting my weight from one side to the other.

“You should have read the contract before you signed it. And you shouldn’t have lied about reading it. Correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then let’s begin again and this time I think the lesson will be best learned on the bare.”

I gasped. “No! Please, don’t!”

Releasing his hold on me, Garrett took a step back from me.

I sprang up from my squished position on the desk, turning to face him, my hand instinctively covering the button of my jeans.

Dark eyes flashing at me, one brow raised in an expectant arch.

“Take them down.”

“But I’m not… I’m not wearing any panties.” Tears sprung in my eyes.

“Do you know what ‘bare’ means?”

“Yes. But… you’ll… see me.”

“I can’t fully punish you unless you are bare. So, yes, technically I will ‘see’ you. But you should have thought more about your modesty before you chose to lie. Take them down.”

The features of his face were set. His jaw twitched impatiently. Crossing his arms over his chest, his gaze burned into me as he looked down at me—waiting.

Nervously, fingers trembling, I unbuttoned the waist of my jeans. Eyes on the floor, I unzipped the zipper. The office was so quiet I could hear the metal teeth separating as the fabric opened.

Sneaking a glance at Garrett, there was a satisfied look but also one that said he would not wait much longer. Squeezing my eyes shut, I put my hands on the denim at my waist and with one quick motion, pushed them down around my mid thighs.

I stood in my boss’ office, my bottom bare. My mound exposed, red curly hair and all. The smell of my own arousal reached me and made my face burn mournfully. I could not look up.

I watched his denim clad legs as they walked around to the back of the desk to his armless office chair. Taking a seat, he spoke, his voice husky, “Come here, Bella.”

Shuffling over with my pants restricting my movement, I went and stood by his side.

“Over you go.” Guiding me with his firm hands, he bent me over his knees. My hands went to the ground to steady myself as he moved my hips until my bottom was centered over his lap the way he wanted it.

“Who’s in charge here, Bella?”

“You are, sir.”

“And what happens when you disobey me?”

“You spank me, sir.”

“And what is the penalty for lying, young lady?”

“Spanking, sir.”

“You seem to have developed a habit of that, haven’t you?”

“Yes… sir.”

“Then I think it’s high time we corrected that, don’t you?”

“Um.”

The punishment started in earnest then. His hand came down over and over, spanking my skin with hard stinging slaps. I tried to reach behind me with one hand to block the blows, my other hand pushing harder into the ground to balance my weight, but my pathetic shield was quickly pinned to my lower back.

“Naughty girl.”

My hand out of his way, he began again. His hand coming down with hard stinging slaps. His open palm meeting the soft flesh of my now bared bottom. Every inch of my tender skin was being punished. My bottom was on fire, my legs kicking from the pain. He took care of that as well, swinging a long leg over mine and pinning my legs so they could not move. All I could do was lay there and take the punishment.

At first all I could think about was what Garrett Love could see from his vantage point above me. With my pants down and my legs flailing at one point, my face burned imagining what he saw. As the spanks rained down, my mind stilled as I focused on the pain. Finally, I gave over the tension that held my body taut.

Going limp, I hung defeated over his lap. Thoroughly punished, more embarrassed than I had ever been, and shamefully turned on, I felt tears stinging my eyes. Two more spanks landed, and I released the sobs that had been held captive by my sheer determination not to cry.

I was crying—hard. Not a cute cry. It was an ugly cry. And with the tears I released the frustration I had felt over the past forty-eight hours. The feelings of failure and desire to get my life together. After a moment of introspective sobbing, I realized the spanking had stopped. Garrett carefully helped me up. Gathering me in his arms he guided me to sit on his lap.

“Ouch!” I cried as my tender bottom hit his denim covered lap. He held me in place, his arms wrapping around me. My pain gave way to pleasure as he cradled me in his arms.

Beside myself with emotion, I leaned my head on his chest, sobbing into his shirt.

“Shh, it’s okay. We are all done, now.”

Sniffling, I stuttered, “B—but you spanked me. And it hurt!” I wailed.

“Yes, it will hurt when I spank you. But tell me, Bella, how else do you feel?”

I filed through the different emotions I was feeling. I felt—a calmness that I hadn’t before. Like a kind of euphoria, though my ass literally felt like it was on fire. And I somehow felt safe and cared for. At the very hand of the man who had just absolutely blistered my behind.

“I don’t know. My ass is on fire… but good… I guess—which is weird.”

The tip of his finger slowly began to trace circles on the exposed skin of my upper thigh. His voice low, he whispered, “Tell me how else you feel.”

My sex was pulsing, aching in a way that I hadn’t felt before. It longed to be touched, stroked, filled. I squirmed a little on his lap. His delicate touch was making me wet enough I was sure there would be a damp spot beneath me should I stand up.

“Turned on,” I admitted shyly.

His fingertips crept further up my thigh, one after the other. Index finger, middle finger, index finger, middle finger, gaining purchase on my creamy skin, heading up to the place where I was aching so badly. Watching wide eyed, his fingers reached the damp curls of my mound, then disappeared within.

I was shocked. My boss had just laid me across his desk, laid me over his lap, and spanked my ass until it was on fire. Now, he had his fingers in places they didn’t belong. It was wrong, taboo, had to be some kind of illegal—and felt absolutely amazing.

“Oh,” I moaned, my head flying back and my eyes snapping shut. “Oh!”

The tip of his finger slipped along my slick sex, lightly running up and down my slit. To my mortification my hips began to gyrate, my burning bottom digging further into his denim clad lap.

“Good girl.” His breath was hot on my cheek as he whispered into my ear, “There’s a good girl. Taking your spanking like that. Getting all wet from my hand punishing your naughty ass.”

My breaths came hard and fast as he added another finger and the two, pressed against one another, began to roughly move up and down within my wetness. They reached my swollen clit and what I thought was heavenly became absolute euphoria. I squirmed and moved with his hand as his fingertips pressed and rubbed harder causing a thrilling friction against my most sensitive spot.

“Oh my, oh my,” I blathered as my mind left my body. I felt the inside of my pussy tightening. My eyes squeezed shut as my body tensed, reaching the brink of release. His fingers worked faster, harder, my hips moving in time with the motion of his hand.

I reached the climax my body had been aching for ever since I had laid eyes on Garrett Love. I cried out as my entire body constricted. I embraced the sweet explosion that he created with just two of his fingers. Then my body went limp, my head against his chest.

My mind felt hazy and my vision blurry as I came to, eyeing Garrett shyly. Nuzzling my head back down on his chest, I whispered, “Was that in the contract?”

Laughing, he kissed me gently on my forehead. “That was a little employee bonus.”

“Then I think I’m going to like working here, very much,” I mumbled, clutching his shirt tightly.

* * *

Garrett

What had I gotten myself into? Not only had I just spanked my first female employee, but I’d fingered her afterwards. The way her pink mouth moved into that little ‘o’ as she came, her fingertips digging into my shoulder as her body tensed, releasing the orgasm that I had built up within her.

I sat at the same desk, looking over my monthly bills, and unable to focus on anything other than that little wet spot she had left on the front of my jeans. Reaching down I shifted my hardened cock in my pants. That spot was damp as well as another one on the top of my throbbing dick. I almost came just listening to the little noises she made as I moved my fingers in her wetness.

But what was I supposed to do? I could smell the sweet scent of intimate desire the second she pulled down her pants and exposed that curly red patch. I couldn’t just leave her hanging, all hot and bothered.

Putting my head in my hands, I heaved a sigh. I had to get my head out of what lay beneath Bella Buchanan’s jeans and get it back to where it belonged—crunching these numbers.

My phone rang just as I was getting the last bill paid. Stretching, I sat up straight in my chair, loosening my spine that had tightened with each check I wrote.

“Hello?”

“You coming to lunch? It’s Bella’s first day.”

“Yeah, Carrie, on the way.”

“Well git—you’re late and nobody likes a cold tamale.”

I laughed at the tenacity of my brother’s wife and hung up the phone. It wouldn’t do for the boss to be absent from his employee’s first day of work, would it? Or would I be better off holed up in this office working? My stomach growled, making the obvious choice for me.

The big ranch house was bustling with ranch hands, Hope Reigns employees, family, and Bella.

I took my seat at the head of the table, giving the group a stiff nod as I spread my napkin over my lap. I avoided Bella’s eyes as I didn’t want anyone to notice me paying special attention to her—that wouldn’t be conducive to a decent work environment, which I prided myself on providing.

I couldn’t help but notice that when Bella sat down to lunch, it was gingerly and with a wince on her lovely face. Her bottom was still sore after the punishing spanking I had given her in my office.

Wes came in giving Carrie a quick kiss and seating himself at the other end of the long table. Carrie passed out platters of homemade tamales that she picked up at the Poke Town market every Saturday. A dish of guacamole and chips made its way around the table as well.

Sliding my gaze over to Bella’s plate I noticed it remained empty. Without a second thought I instantly demanded, “Why isn’t there food on your plate, young lady?”

The pleasant quiet chatter that always filled our lunchtime routine went dead silent. I felt Carrie’s questioning eyes resting on me.

Bella’s cheeks flushed as they tended to do in my presence.

“What?” I asked, directing my question at Carrie. “She thinks she’s going to work all day, mucking out stalls and riding and not eat? I don’t think so.” Timidly, Bella took a tamale and settled it onto her bare plate.

“That’s good,” I said, taking a bite of my own food.

The chatter picked back up where it had left off. I watched as Bella pushed the food around on her plate, pretending to eat. Did she think I was born yesterday?

“Eat the food, Bella.”

Her blue eyes went wide as she looked up at me. Glancing over her shoulder to be sure Carrie was out of ear shot, she looked back at me, hissing, “But I don’t like Mexican food.”

I didn’t always agree with my mama when she was raising us but, on this point, she was one hundred percent right. When someone goes through the trouble of preparing and cooking a meal for you, you eat the food. You don’t have to love it—heck you don’t even have to like it. But you must eat it.

“Doesn’t matter. You aren’t going to waste it, and you aren’t going to not eat. Your contract states you will eat one meal on this ranch and I intend that you are going to digest that one meal. Now, take a bite or we will resume this conversation in my office.”

Fuming, I put my knife and fork down and waited.

Considering my face for a moment, she must not have liked what she saw there because the little pink mouth she had opened to argue with me snapped shut. Delicately, she pierced a corner of the soft cornmeal with the prongs of her fork. She brought the small bite to her lips and popped it in, her eyes opening wide as she did.

Chewing slowly, she took a gulp of water from her glass. “It’s good,” she admitted quietly.

“Good. Now, finish it.” I took my fork and knife back up, counting on the rest of my team to resume their playful banter and diminish the awkward turn lunch had taken.

When her plate was clean I gave her a nod that told her she was safe from me—for now. She scurried away from the table, quick as you please. I couldn’t help but laugh. She had so much to learn. And I was more than happy to instill the lessons into her.

* * *

On the drive home, Bella was quiet.

“How was your first day?” I asked, casually, pretending my fingers hadn’t dawdled in her most intimate places just hours ago.

“Good.”

“So, what do you eat, you know, at home?”

“The truth?”

“Yes.”

“You aren’t going to spank me for it?”

“No, but if you try to pull a stunt like that at lunch on the ranch I will pull you over my lap and roast your—”

She was quick to answer my question. “Ice cream.”

“You mean you like to have ice cream for dessert?”

“No, I mean that is what I eat. Ice cream. It has calcium, protein, vitamin D—”

“And sugar and not much else. Are you being serious with me?”

“Yes. I eat ice cream. I also eat cookies sometimes. Once in a while, when I’m feeling healthy I’ll heat up a can of soup. But I don’t do cooking.”

“What does Oliver eat when he visits you?”

She waved a hand in the air. “Oh, we go out. You know, happy meals, that kind of thing. And all the ice cream he can eat. He’s thrilled with the arrangement.” I passed the exit for her house.

“What are you doing? You just passed my house. Where are we going?” she asked incredulously, looking over her shoulder as we passed the green sign for Peach Street.

“A little pitstop.”

She sat quietly, a curious look on her face as I drove down Main Street. I took a right just before we hit downtown, heading for the very same HEB she used to work at.

Pulling in the parking lot of the grocery store, her nose wrinkled in distaste as she said, “You’re taking me grocery shopping.”

“I am. We are going in there and I am going to buy you some real food then I am going to take you home and teach you how to cook it.” Detecting a sigh laden with a hint of disdain from Bella’s side of the car, I turned towards her, grabbed her knee in my hand and squeezed.

“Or, our second option is I bend you over my lap right across this bench seat, heat up your ass, then take you in there with tears in your eyes and buy you some real food. Then take you home and teach you how to cook it while you stand next to me with a sore butt. Your choice.”

Eyeing me warily, she unbuckled her seat belt.

“Good girl.”

Strolling through the store, a rickety wheel on the cart making a click clack noise as we went along, I filled the basket with heaps of real food. Steaks, ground beef—grocery store meat would have to do for now—I’d be sure to send her home with the real stuff from the ranch next week, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes. Her eyes grew wider with each addition to the silver basket.

“I don’t know what to do with any of that stuff.”

“I’ll show you.”

“What if I don’t like the way it tastes.”

I stopped the cart. Turning towards her, my brow raised. A little pickiness in a child I could tolerate. Out and out refusal to eat new foods in a grown woman, I could not. I stared at her hard and waited.

A blush rose to her cheeks and her eyes cast downward. She sheepishly muttered, “Sorry.”

“You will eat the food whether you like it or not.” Returning to pushing the cart at a leisurely pace, I said, “My mama taught me to cook and thus far all I’ve gotten is compliments.”

I had to hide a smile watching her warily eyeing the bag of onions as I added them to the growing pile in the cart.

Back at her house, I put her to work washing dishes while I prepped the veggies for the week. Might as well cook it all and put it into the containers I had purchased at the HEB—I had a feeling the only way she would eat the food I prepared was if it was ready to go into the microwave.

The kitchen filled with the scent of lavender.

“Why are you washing dishes with body soap?”

“I was out of dish soap.”

“Why didn’t you say something at the store?”

“I didn’t think of it.”

Walking over to the coffee table I grabbed the pen and paper I had earlier seen hanging out of its messy drawer. I grabbed a blank sheet, securing it to the fridge with a Smokey the Bear and a South of the Border magnet.

“This,” I said, pointing at the paper, “is a grocery list. When you run out of something, you write it here and then you take it to the store with you when you go.” With the pen, I carefully wrote out the words, ‘dish soap’.

Squeezing the empty bottle, she said, “You’d better add body soap to that list while you are at it.”

Eyeing two overflowing black garbage bags of dirty clothes in the corner of the kitchen, I asked, “And laundry detergent? Is that why you have so many dirty clothes? You ran out?”

“I just haven’t gotten to the laundromat. And now with the car broken down I don’t know when I will. Can’t get there if I’m not allowed to hitchhike.” The idea of Bella with her thumb stuck out on the side of the road flashed in my mind making my spine go rigid. The thought of her at the laundromat, alone in the dead of night made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Even just the thought of another man getting a peak at her underwear when she washed it had me on edge.

“You can bring it to the ranch tomorrow. Switch loads on your break.”

I watched as she bristled at my suggestion. The independent woman who would not accept help but was doing a piss poor job taking care of herself. Or maybe she was just embarrassed by the idea of bringing her dirty clothing to work. Either way sometimes in life you just have to do what needs to be done—one of Mama’s little anecdotes.

My hand instinctively wrapped around the back of her neck, drawing her in to me.

“You will bring that laundry tomorrow. And you will eat healthy. And you will keep this house clean.”

I watched as her baby blue eyes went from wide, to narrowed. Storm clouds gathered in the pools of blue. She did not want to be bossed around. But what we want and what we need in this world are often two entirely different things—another one of Mama’s favorite sayings.

“You can’t tell me what to do in my personal life,” she said, her voice equal parts desire and venom.

My guess was that if I were to reach my fingertips down, she would be dripping wet from my commands.

“Says who?” My grip around her neck tightened tangling into the mass of fiery golden glinting hair. My other hand found its way to the generous curve of her bottom. “You? I’d like to see you try and stop me, half pint.”

Her eyes told me her thoughts—she couldn’t decide if she wanted to slap me or fuck me. I made the decision for her. My mouth went to hers, locking her in a heated kiss. Pressing my lips to hers hard enough to leave a bruise, my tongue entered her mouth, taking possession of its insides.

She gave a sigh, her body betraying her and melting against mine. I shifted my knee so that my upper thigh was resting under her untamed kitty. With a groan, she began to grind against me.

Naughty girl.

I had made assumptions about Bella Buchanan’s desires. I grinned as I kissed her reveling in the knowledge that my guess was accurate—this little redhead was insatiable, loved to be dominated, and came hard and fast.

Fuck the rules I had established for myself. Fuck the penance that I kept paying. Fuck the fucked-up mistakes that were over a decade in my past.

I would have Bella Buchanan.

And I would love her in the way she needed and wanted to be loved.

My hand untangled from her mass of hair trailing slowly down the arch of her back. Reaching its destination, my cock hardened against the denim of my jeans as both of my hands grabbed the sweet curves of that full bottomed ass. If ice cream was what had created this work of art, I’d be a fool to remove it from her diet. My fingertips dug into the magical place where the curve ends, and the tops of her thighs began. With my hands full of her I squeezed, my tongue still exploring the cave of her mouth as she gasped and raised up onto the tips of her toes.

I pulled away from her whispering the words, “Are you clean?”

Her eyes snapped open and she asked in a shocked voice, “What? You know I’m out of body soap.”

“I mean—have you been tested?”

A flush rose to her face. “Yes—after my last boyfriend. He was… unfaithful.” A delicate eyebrow rose in a beautiful, curious arch. “What about you?”

“Freefall alcohol recovery program tests all its new recruits. I was clean.”

“But that was ten years ago.”

“I know.”

“You haven’t… since then?”

“No. I told you I was done making mistakes in my life.”

“That’s a long time. You’re kind of like a… virgin,” she giggled, poking at my ribs.

I gave a deep chuckle. “I assure you—your experiences with me will be anything but virginal.”

Her smile suddenly melted off her face, replaced by a worried looking frown. “But what if this is a mistake? What if I am a mistake?”

“I waited ten years for you, Bella. You are no mistake. A handful, yes. A little girl who is in dire need of discipline and guidance, yes. A mistake? Never.”

I watched as my words settled in. She looked noticeably calmer from my assurances. Her brow raised again. “I am on birth control, just so you know.”

Birth control. Why would my Bella need birth control if we hadn’t slept together? The admission made the back of my neck go red hot. The blood was boiling within my veins. My brain screamed the completely irrational thought of ‘how dare she sleep with other men’. Just as I was about to demand the name and number of every man she was sleeping with, so I could hunt them down and kill them, she continued her speech.

“But I haven’t needed it in quite some time,” she shyly admitted. “It’s just that it regulates my… periods.” Her porcelain hands went to her face as she gave a mortified groan. “That’s too much information for a first date, isn’t it?”

Relieved I was the only one, I pulled her tightly towards me. “Oh, this isn’t a first date. A first date is where I take you out, spoil you and show you off to the world. This is a first fuck. It’s where I show you what you have been missing all the times you’ve been with men who weren’t me.”

Business out of the way, her blue eyes turned up towards mine and locked in. Once again, her sweet body melted against mine. My mouth joined hers. Wet and warm and hitting the core of my being.

“You know I’m still your boss at work, right?” I murmured between kisses.

“Seems like my personal boss as well.”

“That sounds about right. Think you can handle me being both?”

“Yes.”

“You need me to be both?”

“Yes.”

“You need a man who can spoil you, take care of you, and teach you to take care of yourself.”

“Yes.”

“A man who will spank your ass when you don’t?”

“Yes.”

“And a man who will fuck you senseless when you need to be fucked.”

“Yes.”

“Like right now?”

“Yes.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Leading her over to the saggy old couch that would eventually have to go, I laid Bella down on its cushions. My eyes never leaving hers I unbuttoned the little gold button that held her jeans in place. Tugging on the zipper, I watched as the metal teeth came apart, exposing a glint of red curls.

“Lift.”

She obeyed, and her hips raised in the air. I pulled the denim from her waist and over the curve of her bottom, down her shapely legs and over her petite feet.

Throwing the jeans over my shoulder, I took in the vision of her, bare from the waist down. The features of her beautiful face looked nervous, unsettled even. I could cure that. Reaching down, I parted her red curls with the tips of my fingers. My gentle touch elicited a gasp from her. I like what I saw—her pretty kitty all wet and ready. With my tongue I traced a line from the place I would soon drive my cock into, up slowly to the pink nub that would give her ecstasy. My tongue ran circles around that nub, faster and faster. Her hips were grinding and bucking against my mouth. I grabbed one ass cheek in each of my hands, squeezing tightly—I knew my girl loved her ass to be touched.

My tongue continued to move up and down, around and around, licking and sucking. Her whimpers turned to mews then to cries as she screamed out, “Oh my fucking God, Garrett Love!” That was when her pelvis jolted straight up in the air and froze for a half a second before her entire body convulsed.

I knew what had to happen next. Within seconds, I had the metal buckle of my belt undone and my hardened cock freed from my jeans. While she was still quivering from her orgasm, I plunged the full hardness of my cock deep within the cavern of her wetness. Her eyes shut, her back arched, her moan filled the room as I filled her.

As hard as I could, I plunged within her depths again. Grabbing ahold of the back of her head, I leaned my chest down over hers, and thrust again. She cried out as my erection pumped into her. I could feel her wet pussy clenching around my member as I thrust again and again. Within seconds, I could tell we were both getting so close. Always one to hold back—waiting to come, I didn’t want to. I wanted to come with her and this fiery, little redhead sure knew how to pull the trigger quickly.

Reading her moans and screams and inner tightening, I knew it was near. Two more hard thrusts and I had her where I wanted her. As her pussy locked on my cock, I came—right there with her. Ten years of sexual frustration exploded in one long burst. Bella made a beautiful cat like noise, her back high in the air and her entire being locked around mine as she came.

With heavy pants, I laid upon her, her sweaty brow against mine as her arms wrapped around my back. Silently, wordlessly, we laid on that couch. Knowing that all my life I had not known a partner who could match the type of veracity I had just experienced with Bella.

Later as she was laying on my chest, tracing bare circles on my skin, she whispered, “It’s never been like that before.”

“For me either,” I answered honestly.

Sitting up on her elbow, she gave me a curious look. “I wonder why?”

“We are just a match, I guess.”

“I guess so.” Leaning down, her head lay back on my chest. “A perfect match.”