Mastering Maeve (11 page)

The right thing for Maeve would have been to send her off for a few years to the States, but with all that had happened, Bridie was afraid to let her go. What if something had happened to her? Bridie was always afraid that with the way life had heaped a pile of dung at Maeve’s door at such an impressionable age, drugs would have been an easy option for her. It was hard enough to let her go off to Dublin to college. She was all Bridie had left. She couldn’t bear to lose her too. In one way Larry might not be the ideal man as he might end up dragging Maeve away, but even if he did, at least he’d do what he could to keep her on the straight and narrow. And safe!

America would also give her tons of opportunities, if she chose to use them wisely. Of course, if Bridie could manage to work it that Larry would move to Ireland, that would be even better. She certainly intended to try her best, but even her powers of persuasion had limits. As it stood, she knew his plans were to spend as much of the foreseeable future here as his ranch would allow him. Bridie tried not to dwell too much on the long term; mostly she worried that she could keep Larry here for as long as it took to implement her plan.

Chapter Seven

The delays were really frustrating, but finally the contract was in place and the money was through. The bank was paid off and it had been a very busy season so far thanks to The Gathering, a government-backed tourist incentive designed to bring as many part-Irish people into the country as possible that summer. An added bonus of unexpectedly good weather, coupled with the recession, also meant that Irish people stayed home for a
staycation
and by the end of July they had not only been completely booked out for the previous six weeks, but August was full too. They even had to turf Larry out of his room and put him up in the private quarters, at his suggestion. He wasn’t a paying guest, he reasoned, so it was silly to waste the income from the room.

While she was relieved to feel the release from the financial burden, Maeve found the place was so busy she hadn’t as much time to spend alone with Larry as she would have liked; they made the most of what they had, either working together or in the company of others, and had become really close. So close that even Bridie had been let in on the secret and to Maeve’s utter astonishment, when Larry moved over to the private quarters, she put him in Maeve’s room.

“Sure yiz will only be sneaking around behind my back, having to stay up ‘til I’m asleep, and then getting up early before I catch yiz. Sleep is hard enough got around here in the summer season without being at those antics,” she announced.

“Ma’am, I wouldn’t want to cause you any upset,” Larry tried to put her off, mortified by her forthrightness.

“Ach, sure you weren’t too worried about upsetting me when you were sneaking around behind my back; it’s only now you’re thinking of it when it’s out in the open, you scamp you. Get on out of that,” she countered. “And while we’re at it, you must have the bookwork down to a fine art by now, so isn’t it time Maeve showed you the ropes in the bar and the dining room? If you’re going to be here, you might as well earn your keep.”

Maeve had to admire the way Bridie was managing the whole situation. She had roped in another set of hands, without having to pay wages, and had freed his room up for paying guests. On top of that, she still had him eating out of her hands thinking she was a sweet harmless old lady. He was forever doing little jobs for her. Although she teased Larry about it, his kindness to her grandmother was one of the qualities Maeve really liked about him. He always treated her with the utmost patience and respect, even when she went into ‘me mode’ as Maeve called it. He was becoming more and more like one of the family. It would be much more difficult to say goodbye next time he left. She was dying to go to visit Texas, but knew she’d have to wait until the end of September after the bulk of the tourist season was over.

Of course the downside of their sleeping arrangements meant that they had to be pretty quiet and the schoolhouse, once a place of horrendous corporal punishment, ironically soon became the prime location for their spanking pleasures. Trips were frequent as she learned more and more of the sensual delights that came with a red hot bottom. Amazingly, she had managed to avoid incurring his wrath since the day she sacked Kathleen, in spite of the fact that they were now spending so much time together. Responsibility and being in charge suited her. She was a different person since she had learned what it was like to be in control. She quickly learned that being in the hospitality industry meant that you had to keep your head and your own counsel, and now the success or failure of the business was largely going to be a measure of her own mettle.

Now that the money worries had eased up and Granny had taken more of a back seat, Maeve was quite enjoying managing the hotel, but she had to admit to herself it wouldn’t be her first choice of career. She still had a hankering to use her degree. She even knew the idea of creating the museum, while a pleasant distraction, would not be enough to keep her hand in. In truth, she had been so busy she hadn’t even had time to consider the museum project yet. Larry talked about it often, trying to encourage her, but there were only so many hours in the day. She’d be better able to turn her mind to it over the quieter winter months.

“I’ve got to go home for a while, longer than usual. There are some staffing problems on the ranch that I have to take care of,” Larry announced at the end of August. “I’ll be gone at least a month, maybe more.”

Maeve was disappointed. A month seemed like such a long time and she realised with a childish pang that he was going to be away for her birthday. But she understood he too had a business to run and knew how much time he spent on his damn Smartphone running it remotely. Sometimes she could see he was worried about it. She wasn’t going to make a fuss and make it harder for him.

“I’ll miss you, when do you have to go?”

“The day after tomorrow, if I can get a flight. Can you take tomorrow night off? I’d like to take you out to dinner.”

“I’ll make sure I get the night off, even if I have to bribe Granny by offering to buy her a new broomstick,” she joked. He still got annoyed with her for comments like that, as Bridie charmed the pants off him all the time, but Maeve liked to tease him just to watch his reaction. He was learning though.

“I know you’re really asking for a spanking by that comment, and your punishment is you’re not going to get it,” he laughed. “Besides, she has a ton of them out back, and they’re all in working order. I saw her bringing them for a test run.”

“Oh dear, it looks like I’m going to have to swear at you instead,” she smirked. “Or I could just ask you to smack the arse off me.”

“Schoolhouse, now,” he replied. Maeve spotted Bridie watching them from an upper window as they made their way across the path. She wondered if she had any idea what they got up to in there. Nothing about that woman would surprise her. She was probably looking into her crystal ball, watching the whole scene unfold. She might joke about it but honestly, sometimes Maeve thought she was scarily shrewd. And then when she heard the old dear talking about the folk cures and the banshee and such like, it was almost proof that there was more to her than met the eye. She shuddered at the thought, drove it from her mind and thought instead of what was awaiting her.

“Beautiful,” Larry said appreciatively as she allowed her skirt fall to the floor.

“I knew you’d like them, that’s why I bought them,” she grinned. At this stage she knew exactly what he liked in underwear. She stood away from him and deliberately bent down to pick up her skirt, showing as much of her rounded bottom as possible in the white cotton panties with pale pink polka dots and pink lace trim, cut in his favourite shorts style. She wiggled her bum for him before straightening up.

“Get over here, wench,” he demanded in a husky voice and she inwardly gloated. This would be one of the last memories he had of her before he left; it would encourage him to come back for more. Feigning shyness, she approached him slowly.

“Lean over the desk,” he ordered.

“Should I remove my panties?” she asked.

“Don’t you dare.”

As she leaned over treating him to another wiggle, he hiked her panties up firmly between the cheeks, exposing her buttocks. Rather than starting straight into the spanking, he rubbed her bottom, then fingered the soft cotton.

“Wear these again tomorrow, I want your scent on them.” he told her. He raised his hand and brought it sharply down on one cheek, then before she had even drawn a breath he had repeated it on the other.

“Ahh, beautiful!” he breathed. His reaction added a new dimension of spice. She really had connected with his desires. It made her feel a sublime mixture of powerful and submissive as she gratefully accepted his firm swats, each one increasing in intensity and pleasure. She loved this intimacy. Maeve writhed and wriggled, not so much to escape his hand—although there was an element of that as it stung badly—but also to increase her pleasure as the mixture of endorphins and increased blood flow to her maidenly regions sent her into a forbidden frenzy. He continued to spank over and over. She wanted it both to stop and to go on forever. At each stroke she was tempted to call “Enough,” but as soon as his hand landed and the shock subsided, she knew she wanted more. Every time, she was torn like this. A little part of her wished he would push her beyond what she thought was her limit, but he always stopped just short. And yet when he did finally stop, she would have sworn on her life it was absolutely the last wallop she could have endured. He seemed to understand her limits better than she did.

When he felt she’d had enough, he paused, waiting. He fingered her clit over her panties and she rubbed into him harder, greedy in her need. He increased the pressure. Her juices smeared into her panties, soaking them.

“All the better to smell you with, my dear,” he said with a wicked glint in his eye. She was delirious by now. She let go of the desk and dropped to her knees. Her fingers fumblingly undid his fly. He was so hard it was difficult to release him without undoing the button, but she managed, releasing his engorged cock.

“No!’ he protested, but she wasn’t listening. She pushed him back against the desk into a semi-sitting position. She took him in her mouth, savouring his taste and his scent. The salty, musky essence entered her subconscious. Reason was out the window. She forgot about her own satisfaction as she sucked hard, teasing him, nipping lightly on the head of his purple swollen head. She flicked her tongue beneath the helmet, tantalising the sensitive nubs, and traced the outline of the protruding, bulging veins. His groans spurred her on. She was in charge now. She switched to harder, longer mouthfuls, taking him in as deep as her mouth would allow. He grabbed her head with both hands, intending to steady her thrusts, but somehow he just pulled her down more on him. She started using her hands at the base of his shaft too and he was weak, powerless to resist. She could feel him stop fighting his pleasure and he melted into her mouth, becoming one with it. Working with her. She could feel his cock engorge still further, even though she’d have sworn that was impossible. Then she could sense a small vibration, like an electric current. She knew his seed would follow and she was ready; as the hot, salty liquid hit the back of her throat, she accepted it willingly. She had conquered him for once. A look of sheer unadulterated relaxation settled on his features.

“Judging by the look on your face, that’s exactly how I feel after a good smacking,” she giggled affectionately.

“If this is how it makes you feel, I’m going to spank you much more often in the future,” he promised.

* * *

Maeve left his side early. In order to have the evening off, she had a lot of things to take care of. He was happy about that. Much and all as he enjoyed the pleasure of snuggling into her before the craziness of the day began, today he had a lot on his mind. He really needed to speak with Bridie, one to one. Then hopefully he’d make a trip into Galway city, getting back on time to change and take Maeve out to dinner. But much of that depended on Bridie.

He made sure he was up and dressed before Bridie’s usual rising time. He had the kettle boiled. He knew by now there was no talking to Bridie until she had had her first cup of
tay
, as she called it. He put an antique ceramic pot stewing on the range, just the way she liked it when she came into the kitchen.

“Good morning, Larry,” she grunted. He couldn’t help but smile. Maeve was exactly the same in the morning, non-communicative until her first cup of coffee; easy to see where she got it. He sat quietly, sipping his coffee until she indicated that she had woken up.

“Maeve asked me to do her shift in the dining room tonight, are you taking her somewhere nice?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her in spite of her sleepy state.

“Actually, ma’am, there was something I wanted to ask you before then, in loco parentis if you like.”

“Ask away, sonny, but I’m damned if I know what local parents means. You know I’m the nearest relation she has.”

He was too wound up about what he had to say, so he didn’t bother explaining the term to her. “I’d like your permission to ask Maeve to marry me,” he blurted.

“Bless you, lad, you don’t need my permission, you need her to say yes! Good luck with that, sure I’d be delighted to have you as a grandson-in-law.” She rose from the table and gave him a very uncharacteristically demonstrative hug, catching him completely off guard; he had never even seen her embrace Maeve as long as he’d known her. If he knew her better he would have recognised the smug smile as look of victory, but he was still inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt and presumed it was just natural happiness to see her granddaughter’s future secured.

The pressure was on, he needed to find a ring; he was an old-fashioned guy and wanted to be able to go down on one knee and present her with a box. He wanted something that would announce to the world that she was taken, so nothing too small or discreet! He wanted a great big chunk of a diamond. He’d pinched a ring she wore on her right hand from her dressing table and hoped that the jewellery store would be able to figure out her size from that.