Peppermint Sticks for Susie (9 page)

Jennifer told herself it was time to stop arguing. Alex had answered all of her questions and explained his reasoning. He'd been patient so far, but now he was fast losing patience and it would be very foolish of her to earn extra punishment simply because she was embarrassed to bare her fanny. But, try as she might, she simply couldn't make herself untie the ribbons holding her drawers in place. "I keep telling myself not to be stubborn, but, Alex, I can't bring myself to do this. It's just too embarrassing. Please...?" she begged.

Alex felt it was time to prove he was a man of his word. He moved with lightning quick speed, and Jennifer's drawers were quickly down around her knees and her backside was bared. She kept protesting long after it was a moot point. Alex decided that a good hand spanking would warm her skin for the switching she was going to get, so he held her down and started spanking, first one cheek and then the other, repeating the pattern over and over while she protested!

Jenny was embarrassed to have Alex's bare hand striking her bared bottom. It was too intimate, and too upsetting by far. She'd wanted his first touch to be sexy and instead it was painful. How on earth his hand could feel like a board was a complete mystery to her, but it did. She felt the heat growing as he spanked her over and over. When she said she was sorry and begged him to stop spanking her, he said he would stop when he felt she'd been spanked long enough. He then spanked lower, spanking her thighs and sit spots until they were stinging as much as her bottom.

"I believe you are ready for the switch now, Miss Jenny. I am not going to hold you down; I expect you to stay in place and take this punishment. If I have to chase you around this room, or hold you down, or keep reminding you to stay in place, I will add extra strokes." He took the switch and drew it back and then laid a line across her cheeks. She immediately screamed and he saw a red welt rise on her skin. He knew from personal experience on the end of a switch that the pain would grow and then the itching would start. His Jennifer was not going to find any relief from that itch or the sting for a long while. It would make the lesson memorable.

The switch hurt even worse than she expected it to! It was like a line of white hot fire gliding across her skin and burning like crazy! The second stripe fell right below the first and seemed to make the first one burn even more! "Please, Alex! No more! I've learned my lesson, I promise. I can't bear this!" she declared, even as the switch fell once again, this time on her lower bottom. "Owwwwwwww! No more, no more, no more!" she begged, but Alex was either deaf or ignoring her. He striped her thighs next; right down to her knees! When Jenny thought it couldn't get much worse, Alex laid a welt on her sit spots, and then twice more. She was sobbing and lying limply on the table.

"Now then, Jenny, that was all the switching I intended to give you, but you didn't take down your drawers when you were told to and you earned yourself twenty-five extras. Since I am not completely heartless, I'll use my hand for the first twenty, but we will end up using the switch for the last five, all on your sit spots."

Jennifer wanted to beg for mercy, but she was crying too hard to be understood, and by then Alex was already spanking her with his hand again, right over the tops of all those lines covering her bottom. He spread the spanks out over her cheeks and thighs and her sit spots, and there wasn't an inch of her that wasn't hurting by the time he stopped. She tried then to get up and avoid the switch, but he put her right back where she'd been and proceeded to give her five hard licks with the switch, all to her sore and burning sit spots. She sagged in relief, believing the horrible punishment over with, but Alex held her down. "You are getting five more for trying to get up and run, Jennifer. I won't tolerate that."

Jennifer screamed each time the switch fell. Her sit spots were raw, but Alex showed her no mercy, and he punished her severely. She begged him to stop, telling him she was sorry she tried to avoid the switching, but he merely told her she would think the next time she found herself in trouble. Finally, it did end, and it was Alex who pulled her drawers up over her abused flesh. He even tied the ribbon into a pretty bow, and then he smoothed her skirts until they were hanging properly around her legs. Jennifer was crying too hard to care about her modesty. She'd never had such a serious punishment and she simply did not know what to do with herself.

Alex solved that problem for her, too. He sat down on one of the chairs and carefully pulled her down to sit her on his lap so he could hold her and offer comfort. "Shhhh now, honey. It's all over with now. You won't ever make that same mistake, will you?" he asked gently, and as if knowing she couldn't speak, he answered his question himself, "No, you won't. You aren't a bad girl, and you didn't mean to disobey me this time. I know that. But now you know me a bit better and you won't make the mistake of thinking I won't come after I've said I will. That is a matter of trust. Trust takes time, but I think you know now that I am a man of my word, and a man to be trusted. Isn't that right?" he asked, and like before, he answered, "Yes, it is. You go ahead and cry it all out. You had a bad, bad scare, and Lefty is now where he can't hurt you. We'll see him in prison for most of his miserable life, and when he gets out... if he gets out... he'll be so old he won't want to do anything but sit in a rocking chair on someone's porch for the rest of his days. He's no good. And you were so brave, honey. You stood up to him and you were smart about it. You held him off until I could get to you and help you. I am so proud of you, Jenny. I love everything about you; you're brave, smart, kind, gentle, and on top of all that, you are so beautiful that my eyes will never get tired of looking at you. I love you, honey."

"I would hate to see what you would do to someone you hated!" she finally spoke. "That was absolutely terrible, Alex Martin! I hurt so much I can't abide it!"

"I wouldn't bother to spank someone I didn't love, Jenny. You can measure my love for you by how much your backside stings right now."

Jenny could see that he was sincere and that he meant the words. She felt the love burning, especially her sit spots! They were raw, and sitting on the seat of the buggy for the long ride back to town was going to be impossible! "You might love me this much, Alex, but I hope you have something up your sleep to help me get back to town without having to walk the distance.

"I do," he told her. "You will sit on the seat without complaining."

"I can't do it, Alex. It is totally out of the question."

"You might not wish to sit, but you will, Jennifer. I expect your obedience."

There it was... Alex was telling her to obey, and she would either obey him or he would probably spank her again, and perhaps even take another switch to her! Jenny felt her eyes fill with tears again. "I'll try, Alex. I'm just not sure I can endure riding in the buggy for that long."

"I know you are sore, honey. We'll take a break or two if necessary," he said, offering a compromise. "I do think I should get you out of here, though, and you won't be coming back again until the rustlers are caught and dealt with."

As soon as he finished speaking the back door opened and slammed shut, and then opened and slammed shut again! Alex quickly put Jennifer on her feet and went running to see what he could see. There was nothing there.

"It was Kieran O'Malley," Jenny said quietly, looking all around for the dead man, and wondering what he would do next. "Do you think he was trying to tell us something?" she questioned. The door opened again, but this time it stayed open. "Kieran wants us to come outside, Alex," she said excitedly, heading for the door.

"Hold on, Jenny. You let me go first just in case someone is out there. If there is, you run for the buggy and hightail it back to town and to the Sheriff and tell him to get out here fast. Then you go to Angus and stay with him. Hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you," she said. There was simply no way she would leave him here alone and in danger.

"Jennifer, I mean it. If you disobey me and we survive, I will cut four switches and wear them out on your backside," he promised.

"Don't be so silly, Alex! There is probably no one out there. Kieran wouldn't want us to get hurt." She didn't know why she was so certain of that, but she was.

"I thought you were afraid of him...?" Alex teased the redhead.

"I was... until yesterday. I think he likes us. Now let's go and see what he wants us to see."

Alex drew his gun and preceded her out the door. It was easy to see where the grass was trampled down, leaving a clear path. They walked a good distance, with both of them looking and listening for anything that would warn them of danger. When it appeared that the trail was disappearing into thin air, Alex holstered his gun and reached for Jennifer's soft hand. "We're going back, honey."

"But, I think we should..."

"Jenny, this is one of those times I am telling you 'no' for your own safety and well-being. I am taking you back to town. No arguments, now, or I'll think I didn't switch you long enough."

"Believe me, you did," she quickly assured Alex, and then she offered no arguments or resistance as he walked her back to the house. When they were inside she said, "Don't worry, Kieran, we'll find them."

"You, young lady, will stay safely in town and let me do my job." His pronouncement was accompanied with a firm smack on her bottom. When she squealed a wooden spoon flew through the air and landed on the floor beside them. There was an eerie laughter as they looked at the spoon in shock. Alex was the first to recover as he bent down and picked up the wooden spoon. "You'd best mind me, girl. Kieran is on my side and thinks I should spank you with this spoon."

"Kieran has no idea how sore my bottom is or he would take a horsewhip to you!" she said, fuming.

Alex just laughed and promised Kieran he would be returning that night to look around. The back door shut with a bang, and Alex was positive the man was letting him know he heard and understood.

Jenny walked as slowly as she could when they were on their way back to the buggy. She did not relish the idea of sitting for the long ride back into town. Her poor hind was still burning and now it was itching furiously, too. She longed for some privacy to rub. "Alex, I need some privacy before we head back into town."

"You can relieve your bladder, Jenny, but there is to be no rubbing of your posterior unless you want to spend several minutes over my knee getting it reheated.

Jennifer felt her cheeks turn a guilty shade of red, but she slipped into the bushes and relieved her bladder, running her hands over the welts that were giving her so much trouble. She did give herself a quick rub and then hurried back to where she left Alex. He stood there waiting, hands on his hips. They walked the rest of the way to where they left the horse and buggy. Alex reached out to put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. His fingers went to her chin to raise her face so he could look into her green eyes. "Well, Miss Jenny, did you earn a spanking back there? Did you rub your bottom?

Jenny felt her face turn a tell-tale red. She never could tell a fib. Since she knew it was obvious, she nodded, but then added, "Just once, though!"

Alex shook his head. He bent on one knee and then pulled her down and over his thigh. Jenny gasped when he tossed up her skirts so close to the road, but her protests did not matter. He gave her a dozen hard spanks to the seat of her drawers, and her butt was soon stinging so badly she was begging to rub. Of course, Alex said no, and plopped her on the buggy seat with orders to sit still... or else. Jenny couldn't imagine that he could do anything else to her that he hadn't already done. Apparently, he felt he could... but she was in so much pain it was hard to think clearly, much less sit still. She wiggled and ignored his gruff admonishments to sit still.

When Jennifer asked him to stop for a break, he refused. "But you promised!" she reminded him.

"Yes, but you have made no attempt to sit still as you were asked to do. You have not earned that consideration, Miss Jenny. If you wish to stop for a few minutes, then you need to sit and earn the relief."

Jennifer looked at him in disbelief. "It is impossible to sit still, Alex! I am suffering!"

"You would have suffered more if Lefty had his way. He hated you, Jenny. I love you, and you are being punished because I love you and care about you. I am getting tired of discussing this with you. I want you to sit quietly and stop squirming. This is the last chance I will give you to avoid more punishment." True to his word, Alex said nothing more and seemed lost in thought.

Jennifer made an attempt to sit still, but found it to be impossible. She was so relieved when town came into view. "Could I walk now, Alex?" she broke the silence to ask. He did not stop the buggy and she pouted and frowned. "You are being so mean to me!" He drove her straight to the Beckley home, then helped her dismount.

"Hello!" Jennifer called out when they went inside. Alma answered, and after permitting the women to say 'hello', Alex spoke up.

"Jennifer is going to be spending the rest of her day in her room. She disobeyed me this morning, and this restriction is meant to be a punishment. I would appreciate it if you would give her a supper tray tonight, Mrs. Beckley, but there is to be no visiting." Alma nodded mutely, and said nothing when Alex took Jennifer's arm and walked her to her room. "You, young lady, will sit on this chair and write a five thousand word essay on accepting punishment when given. I will expect you to hand it to me in the morning when I come to get you and walk you to work. If you leave this room for any reason, we'll be revisiting a switch, and I won't be so gentle and considerate. You have been on your own too long, Miss Jenny, and I am going to have to sit on you hard until you realize that you will mind your future husband."

"I just might decide I don't want a future husband, Alex Martin! Have you considered that possibility?" she threatened, her hands on her hips. "I don't like being bossed around as if I don't have a mind."