She pulled out his semi-erect cock and reverently took it in her hands. Looking up into his eyes, she licked the head before drawing it into her mouth. Luc moaned as his shaft became rigid under her ministrations.

Melody licked and sucked his cock slowly but thoroughly. She drew him deeply into her mouth while one hand stroked the base and the other lovingly fondled his balls. She could feel the tip of his cock touch the back of her throat and watched him as he closed his eyes and groaned. She was enjoying being allowed to control his pleasure, but was not surprised when he took hold of her head and began to thrust into her mouth.

“No hands,” he whispered as he continued enjoying her oral skills.

Melody sighed as he pleasured himself with her mouth and tongue. Giving a blowjob to Jason had always been a chore. Having Luc fuck her mouth was an entirely different thing and one in which she found great satisfaction. Never once before Luc had she become aroused when performing oral sex. Her nipples would harden and her pussy would begin to get wet.

She knew he was close and never lost eye contact with him. He smiled as he pulled himself from her mouth and helped her to stand.

“Luc?”

He said nothing but led her to the chesterfield sofa. Bending her over the back, he gently removed the butt plug and spit on his hand, using his saliva to prepare her. Luc held her steady and slowly entered her back passage. The plug had done its work. Not only was she feeling submissive to his dominance, but it had kept her relaxed and aroused at the same time.

“Relax, ma souris. Your bottom is ready to take me and I mean to make use of all of you. Your sweet mouth has teased my cock until it wants to take revenge in your ass first and later as it plows your pussy.”

She inhaled deeply. The tight ring of muscle that sealed the hole he now plundered resisted his entrance. Luc was well endowed and breaching her was a bit uncomfortable until her body relaxed and accepted his invasion. He was careful to go slow, allowing her body to adjust and accommodate him. Each time he took her ass, it was easier for her both emotionally and physically.

“Good girl,” he crooned as he stroked her. “I’m going to finish us both here with my cock in your dark hole.”

Even though they were alone, he dropped his voice to a whisper. “I will fill your bottom with so much cum, it will dribble down your body while I take a shower and you make me dinner. Then, my beauty, I’m going to take you to bed and mount you like that stallion wants to mount our mares.”

“But I’m only one girl and there are a lot of mares,” she said between strokes and sighs.

“Then you’ll have to be mounted many times, won’t you?” he said seductively.

“Yes, I will.”

Luc began to thrust deeper and faster. Melody knew that he enjoyed the different sensations he had experienced with each of her pleasure portals. He always made sure that she too received pleasure... usually in excess of his own.

He plunged in and out of her faster and harder as he worked toward releasing in her. She could feel her own sensual response to his use. He reached around her with one hand and began to stroke her clit in the same rhythm with which he was sinking in and out of her.

Her breathing quickened as her body responded to his lovemaking. Even though it was not her pussy he was using for their pleasure, Melody’s pussy pulsed in rhythm to his stroking while producing an abundance of moisture. She knew from past experience that her bottom would not be able to contain all of his cum so it and her own wet response would mingle together between her legs.

The more powerfully he stroked within her, the deeper her feelings of arousal and submission. When he breached and used her back passage, the two feelings combined to create an intense orgasmic response.

“Oh, God, Luc,” she cried just before he began to spill himself in her, which triggered her own orgasm.

Luc’s cum shot deep within her. Melody smiled that an act she would never have considered with another man could bring such deep satisfaction with him.

As he stilled he leaned down over her back, running his hands down her arms.

“Ma petite souris, you give me such great pleasure. I think very soon I’m going to take you for a picnic up to one of the line shacks.”

He carefully withdrew and drew her into his arms. Melody had to force herself to be calm. The idea of spending an afternoon with Luc up in one of the line shacks had great appeal. He had been very specific about what he intended to do to her and she loved the idea. However, having to ride a horse that far, or at all, was still terrifying. And the longer she didn’t tell him, the worse she felt.

“What is it, Melody?” he said softly.

“It’s nothing,” she said, trying to snuggle closer to him and bury her face in his neck.

She reached out to suck the hollow of his throat and yelped as his hand connected painfully with her behind, choosing to avoid the welts on one side.

“What did I tell you about lying to me?”

Melody tried to pull away from him, but he held her fast.

“No, Melody. You answer me. What did I tell you?”

When she remained silent, he swatted her other cheek, reigniting the fire from the welts. Again she tried to pull away. He retaliated with another blow to her backside.

“Ow, Luc, that hurts. Jesus, that hurts. Let me go.”

“No. What did I tell you about lying to me?”

“That you’d wash my mouth out with soap and spank me.”

“Bien. So you do remember. Take yourself into our room and put yourself in the corner.”

He loosened his hold and she turned toward the bedroom. Luc stilled her and pushed her back over the sofa. Melody felt him pull her cheeks apart and then reinsert the plug into the hole he had just used to give them both so much pleasure.

He stood her up, turned her toward their room, and said, “Go,” as he gave her a light tap on her bottom.

Melody rushed to their room and stood in the corner. She heard him run the shower and then get back out. She heard him pull on a pair of jeans and cringed. She knew if he’d pulled on his jeans, he planned to do as he’d threatened and spank her. She began to cry. The bed creaked as he sat down on the edge.

“Now, my naughty girl, you come here to me.”

Melody felt strangely calm as she walked toward Luc. She wasn’t in any way looking forward to having her mouth washed out with soap or being spanked again. And she felt tremendous guilt in both disappointing Luc as well as not telling him the truth from the beginning. She joined him by the bed but couldn’t bear to look at him.

Instead of drawing her over his lap to spank her, he stood up and led her into their bathroom where he turned on the water, testing it to ensure it wasn’t too hot. He then soaped up his left hand while he grabbed a fistful of her hair with the right.

“While you’re getting your mouth washed out with soap, little girl, I want you to understand that not only are you going to get punished for lying to me, but you will tell me whatever the hell it is that you’re keeping secret. Now open your mouth.”

“Luc, please,” she started.

Her plea was cut off as Luc put his hand in her mouth and washed the soap suds all over her teeth and her tongue. When he’d coated the interior surfaces of her mouth, he removed his hand and handed her a small cup of water with barely any liquid.

“Rinse,” he said.

Once she had complied, he led her back to their bed. Melody began to cry again. Instead of drawing her over his lap once he sat down, he drew her into it to sit.

“Enough, Melody,” he said in a stern but not angry or unkind tone.

The fact that he seemed more concerned for her well-being than angry with her made her feel worse and caused her crying to increase. She felt Luc’s arms go around her, cradling her close to his body. He rocked her gently while murmuring to her in French. At first, it only made her cry harder. How could he be so kind to her when she had not been honest with him from the very beginning?

“Shh,” he crooned. “It will be all right, sweetheart. Whatever it is, we will face it together or I will face it for you, but I cannot allow you to continue to upset yourself like this. You deny yourself all the joy you could be embracing because of whatever this is. Are you really going to force me to spank it out of you? Isn’t your pretty little bottom sore enough as it is?”

Melody cried harder.

“Melody, you answer me. Don’t you have enough sting in your tail?”

She nodded.

“Am I going to have to spank you to get you to tell me?”

She shook her head.

“Then, little girl, you’d best talk to me. If I don’t start getting verbal answers, I’ll put you over my knee until I do.”

She remained quiet but was able to stop crying. That was almost undone when Luc took his handkerchief and wiped away her tears. Luc jostled his lap, causing her to wince and reminding her that her backside had already endured enough punishment for a while.

“Tell me.” The voice was quiet, but the lack of volume did nothing to lessen the command that was there.

Melody finally raised her eyes to meet his. She took a deep breath and said softly, “I can’t ride and I’m terrified of horses.”

There, she’d finally said it. It may have cost her the most wonderful man she’d ever met and destroyed their relationship, but she had finally told him. Melody expected disbelief or anger, but was unprepared for Luc’s reaction.

He started to chuckle, which quickly turned into outright laughter.

“That’s it? That’s what you’ve been afraid to tell me?”

“It’s not funny, Luc. I’m supposed to be a part of all of this and deal with guests and horses that are guests and...” Melody realized he was still laughing. “Stop it.”

“Sweetheart, Sierra didn’t hire you to lead trail rides or take care of horses. She hired you to be the bridal consultant. Really? That’s your big, bad secret that you can’t ride?”

“And I’m afraid of the horses, Luc. How can I work on a ranch and be afraid?”

Luc hugged her. “First, you aren’t afraid, you just have no experience. If you were afraid, you would never have walked into the corral with Queenie and her mares. If you were afraid, she never would have trusted you enough to follow you onto unknown footing. Horses can smell fear and they don’t trust those who fear them. She took her cues from you. You can’t ride? So what. Do you want to learn?”

“Very much,” she whispered.

“Then we’ll take one of the horses we bought for the trail riding string that’s quiet and gentle and I’ll teach you to ride. Although we might want to wait to start those lessons until after those welts have healed.”

He started to laugh again and shook his head.

“Jesus, Melody, I ought to spank you anyway. Do you have any idea of the things I’ve thought it could be? The longer you went without telling Sierra or me, the worse I thought it had to be. We’d ruled out murder, but your ex has been looking for you and spreading some very unkind rumors for which he will answer to me. But I was afraid you were married and I was going to have to deal with getting you legally divorced before I could get you legally married to me.”

“You want to get married? To me?” she said in a kind of amazement.

“Well, who the hell else would I marry? Queenie?”

She laughed softly but with true joy. Her heart felt open and free. Not only wasn’t he furious with her, he wanted to marry her. Her Luc, her wonderful bullfighter turned rodeo stock manager wanted to marry her.

“Really? You’re French.”

“Actually French-Canadian, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

“The French are so romantic and you usually are. But this is the way you propose to me—as I sit naked on your lap with a welted butt, a soaped mouth, a recently fucked ass that now has a plug up in it, and snot coming out of my nose. Is this your idea of a romantic proposal?”

Luc smiled. “You have a point. Here, blow.” He held his handkerchief up to her nose. She tried to take it away from him. “No, blow.”

She giggled again and did as he wanted.

“No. I haven’t given it much thought as I thought I’d have to deal with legal entanglements. Do you want a romantic proposal?”

She smiled, took his face in both hands and kissed him with reverence, passion, and all the love she felt for him. “No, I just want you. As long as I have you, I have everything I want or need.”

“I love you, but there is still the matter of you having lied to me to deal with.”

She started to protest but he shook his head. He was right and she knew it. The even bigger issue was that she hadn’t trusted him or their relationship enough to talk to him.

“You’re right,” she whispered. Melody didn’t want to get spanked, but she knew she deserved it. “I’m so very sorry that I didn’t tell you. At first I was afraid I’d lose my job and then that I’d lose you.”

“And that, little girl, is really what I should spank you for. If you ever doubt my love or my commitment to you and our relationship soon to be marriage again, I will lay so many stripes across your backside, it will resembled a zebra hide. You do not keep secrets from me and you do not lie to me. Is that clear?”

Melody nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Bien. You get up and go stand in the corner.”

Melody stood and then skipped over to the corner, giggling like a mad woman.

“Standing in the corner makes you happy?”

“Nope. I hate it,” she said, still giggling. “I especially hate it with this damn plug in my butt and knowing you’re going to light my ass on fire when you put me over your knee.”

She felt him slip his arm around her waist as his other hand came up to fondle her breast.

“And do you need me to spank you, ma souris? Don’t you think you’ve punished yourself enough for your foolishness? And isn’t being stuck with me the rest of your life punishment enough?” He caressed her face with his hand. “This is a one-time-only offer, little girl. You agree to marry me in no uncertain terms and promise never again to keep something from me that is causing you pain and distress and I will find far more sensual and pleasurable ways to deal with your naughty, wanton nature this night.”

She shivered, not from cold or fear, but from pure, unadulterated lust and the knowledge that she was standing in the arms of the man who could assuage all her carnal desires.

“Yes, sir,” she purred.