Kayla & the Rancher Read online

  Unable to believe that she had actual y made it this far, she stood for a

  moment, expecting Dalton Jeffries to come around the corner and pounce on

  her. But he didn’t, and she suddenly realized that the longer she stood there, the better her chances were of being discovered.

  Taking a deep breath, she slowly edged along the wall of the cabin and

  peered around the corner. She could hear the low murmur of voices coming

  from somewhere, but couldn’t see anyone. She could see the horses in the

  makeshift corral, though, and she just hoped that the men wouldn’t be able to see her before she got to the animals.

  Nervously chewing on her lower lip, she slowly made her way over to where

  the horses stood. They snorted and stamped as she came near, and she

  jerked her head toward the front of the cabin, fearing that Dalton and his men would come running, but they didn’t. She chose the horse that was closest to her and took hold of its reins, climbing into the saddle. Nudging the animal with her heels, she turned the horse around and galloped out of the corral and away from the cabin.

  Her escape did not go unnoticed, however, and she heard shouting behind

  her almost immediately as Dalton and his men realized what was happening.

  Throwing a quick look over her shoulder, she saw that they had mounted the remaining horses and were now chasing her.

  She refused to let herself panic. She had a pretty good head start on them, so all she had to do was keep ahead of them. With that in mind, Kayla leaned

  over her horse’s neck and urged her mount faster. Without knowing where

  she was, she real y had no idea where she was going, but she suspected that Dalton would have taken her to his ranch, so she kept the sun on her right and headed south, hoping that she would get to Cord’s ranch or someplace

  she recognized before they caught up with her.

  The sooner the better, she thought, glancing over her shoulder again. Her

  pursuers had cut into her lead faster than she would have thought they could.

  They were still a ways back, but gaining on her. She kicked her horse harder and rode as fast as she could. After a few minutes, she looked back again, and almost cried out as she realized that not only had she not increased her lead, but that they were even closer to her. If she didn’t reach safety quickly, then they would almost certainly catch up with her in a few more minutes.

  Then suddenly, she saw something that she recognized! The gorge that she

  had almost ridden down the day Cord had taken her on a picnic. That meant

  she was already on Cord’s property, she realized with relief. But another

  quick look over her shoulder told her that Dalton wasn’t about to give up the chase simply because she was on the ranch.

  Which meant that she had to get to the ranch house and to Cord as quickly as possible. And that meant riding down the gorge.

  With Cord’s warning echoing in her ears, Kayla gripped the reins tighter and rode straight for the gorge that had killed Dalton’s wife.

  The quickest way to Jeffries’ ranch was across Cord’s own, and he was just racing across the valley between the two when he saw a horse and rider at

  the top of the gorge. He frowned, not recognizing the rider at first, but then he saw long hair whipping in the wind and the rider’s petite form, and he knew it could only be Kayla.

  For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. She was going to try to ride down the

  gorge, he realized. The little idiot! he thought. What the hell was she thinking?

  When he got his hands on her, he was going to put her over his knee and

  paddle her bottom so hard that she wouldn’t be able to sit for days! After he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, of course.

  Cord’s heart was in his throat as he watched Kayla maneuver her horse down the rocky slope of the gorge. He couldn’t understand it. She was riding way too fast, almost out of control. Then he saw why. She had no choice but to move quickly as two men followed her immediately into the gorge, one of

  them firing at her with a pistol.

  Cord kicked his horse as hard as he could toward the bottom of the gorge, but he knew it was hopeless. He could never make it there in time to help her.

  She would either fall and kill herself just as Hannah had done, or the men following her would shoot her.

  Rocks were flying down the slope all around Kayla, and for a moment, Cord

  couldn’t help but admire her riding skills. The gorge was so steep that her horse was almost sitting on its haunches to stay in control, but Kayla kept the animal moving.

  The men who had been pursuing her were apparently not as skilled. Both of

  their horses lost their footing, and the men were lost in the sliding rock before they were halfway down the slope. Seeing how their bodies were battered by the flying rocks, Cord could only hold his breath and pray that the same didn’t happen to her.

  With a final leap over a large boulder, Kayla reached the bottom, heading

  directly toward Cord. He reined in his horse and dismounted just as Kayla

  reached him, and she slid from the saddle to run into his arms. Tears ran

  down her cheeks, and though she tried to make them stop as she clung to the man she loved, she couldn’t seem to. The events of the past twenty-four

  hours were suddenly just too much for her.

  “Cord, I...I thought you were dead,” she said, the words muffled against his chest.

  His arms tightened around her and she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head. “I know, sweetheart. I know. Did he hurt you?”

  Kayla knew exactly whom Cord was talking about, and she shook her head.

  “No, he didn’t have time,” she said. She didn’t add anything else. All she wanted to do was to stay in Cord’s arms forever, but then the thought of

  Dalton Jeffries intruded, and she took a step back to look up at Cord.

  “Dalton and some of his men were chasing me.” She looked around wildly,

  but didn’t see him anywhere. “I don’t know where he is...”

  Cord’s jaw clenched for a moment, but then his expression softened as he

  gently brushed her hair back from her face. “I know, sweetheart, but you’re with me, now. I won’t let Jeffries hurt you.” He glanced over her shoulder, frowning for a moment before turning his attention back to her. “Come on.

  Let’s get you home.”

  He took her arm, leading her to where their horses stood, but before either of them could mount, a gunshot echoed through the valley. Startled, Kayla

  jumped, instinctively taking a step closer to Cord, only to see him grimacing.

  Her mouth went dry as she saw blood running down his arm.

  “Cord...?” she began, but he shook his head.

  “It’s nothing. Keep going, get to the horses,” he told her.

  He would have gotten both of them on their horses and out of the open, but the animals had gotten so spooked by the gunshot that they had taken off.

  With no choice but to face Jeffries, he drew his pistol and turned to face the man, shoving Kayla behind him as he did so.

  Instead of riding down the gorge like his men, Dalton Jeffries must have

  ridden around, and was now bearing down on him and Kayla. Behind him,

  Cord could feel her trembling as he lifted his pistol. Though Dalton’s bullet had only grazed him, it still made it difficult to hold his arm out straight, and it trembled as he aimed at Jeffries.

  “Cord...” Kayla said nervously as Jeffries continued to draw nearer, firing continuously.

  Cord didn’t answer. Unlike Jeffries, he was waiting until his target got closer; when he shot, he wanted it to count. Grinding his jaw, he released the breath he had been holding and slowly squeezed the trigger. His aim was true and

  Dalton Jeffries fell from his horse to tumble to the ground.
/>   Behind him, Cord heard Kayla’s soft sob of relief, and he turned to wrap his good arm around her.

  “It’s over, sweetheart,” he said softly against her hair. “It’s all over.”

  An hour later, Cord and Kayla were back home. Lucas and a group of men,

  many of the ranch hands among them, had met up with them as they were on

  their way back. Kayla had listened as Cord explained what had happened at

  the gorge, and had been relieved when the forman said that he would take

  care of things. All she had wanted to do was go home and be with Cord.

  Now, as she looked at the bandage encircling his upper arm, she frowned

  slightly. “Are you sure that you shouldn’t have the doctor look at that?” she asked.

  He gave her a lopsided grin as he pulled her into his arms. “I’m fine,” he said.

  “Anyway, having the doc take a look at it would mean going into town, and all I want to do is be alone with you,” he added, kissing her gently on the mouth.

  Unwilling to argue with that, she rested her hands on the smooth muscles of his bare chest and parted her lips under his. When he lifted his head a

  moment later, she saw that he was regarding her intently.

  “You know,” he said, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I believe that we were in the middle of something when we were interrupted last night,

  weren’t we sweetheart?”

  Kayla’s brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, and then her eyes widened in surprise. He couldn’t possibly be referring to the spanking, could he?

  “Cord...”

  His mouth quirked again. “If I remember correctly, you over my knee and

  waiting to be spanked with your hairbrush, weren’t you?”

  Kayla blushed as she felt a familiar tingle between her legs. “But your arm...”

  she protested as he gently took her hand and led her over to the straight-

  backed chair that was still sitting in the center of the bedroom.

  “Is fine,” he told her as he sat down, and then smilingly added, “Besides, a little exercise will be good for it.”

  Though Kayla smiled at their light banter, her pulse fluttered as Cord gently guided her over his lap. She had taken the pins out of her hair when they had come in, and it fell over her shoulder in thick waves to skim the floor as she placed her hands down to balance herself. She had also taken off her dress when they’d come in, and so wore only her undergarments. She caught her

  breath as Cord slowly lifted her petticoat to reveal her pantaloons, which he wasted no time in pulling down. With her bottom bared to his gaze, she began to get even more aroused, and she waited breathlessly for him to begin.

  He didn’t begin right away, however, but gently caressed her bare cheeks

  with his hand, and she moaned softly.

  “So, tell me, Kayla,” he said as he continued to rub her bottom. “What exactly are you being spanked for?”

  She didn’t answer right away. Though he had certainly admonished her

  before when he had spanked her, this particular type of scolding was new to their relationship, and she realized that she liked it.

  “Well, Kayla?” Cord prompted, giving her bottom a sharp smack with his

  hand.

  The spank stung, and she gave a little yelp. “For lying to you,” she said in a small voice.

  “Most especially that,” he agreed. “And what else?”

  She thought a moment. “For playing cards at the saloon?” That shouldn’t

  really count, she decided, especially since she had gotten his ranch back for him. She didn’t mention that to him, though, not when it was way more fun to be spanked for her misdeeds instead.

  “Mm-hmm. What else?”

  He had started to caress her bottom again, and the feel of his hand on her bare skin was making it difficult to concentrate. “I...I don’t know,” she

  stammered.

  “What about your plan to steal from me?” he reminded her.

  She craned her neck to look over her shoulder at him in surprise. “But I didn’t really go through with it,” she protested.

  “But you did consider it, and so you should still be spanked for it,” he told her matter-of-factly. “What else?”

  Her brow furrowed as she gazed down at the floor. “I can’t think of anything else.”

  “No?” he said. “Well, I can think of one or two. Like coming outside last night when I specifically told you not to.”

  “I was only trying to help,” she said rebelliously.

  “Instead, you got yourself kidnapped,” he said. “Which brings me to your next transgression. Riding down that gorge after I told you how dangerous it was.”

  The memory of her headlong flight down the steep canyon was almost

  enough to make her shudder, but that didn’t stop her from defending herself.

  “But I thought that if I didn’t, then Dalton and his men would catch up to me.”

  He said nothing for a moment, as if considering her point, but then she felt his shoulder lift in a shrug. “Possibly,” he agreed. “But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that you put yourself in that position because you refused to listen to what I told you to do.”

  Kayla made a face, but said nothing.

  “So, let’s see,” Cord continued. “All in all, I think you’ve earned yourself a good hard spanking. Several of them, actually. Don’t you?”

  She squirmed in his lap at the image his words brought to mind. “I suppose you’re right, but not too hard,” she pleaded.

  Above her, Cord’s mouth quirked. “No harder than you deserve,” he assured

  her. “And certainly no harder than you enjoy.”

  His words almost made her moan. How could she get so aroused from a few

  simple words? she wondered. But before she could contemplate that thought

  further, Cord began spanking her.

  The spanks were light at first, love pats designed to warm up her bottom for the real spanking that was to come, she was sure. Cord’s hand smacked her

  right cheek for awhile, and then went to her left, before alternating left, right, left, right until her bottom felt warm and tingly all over. Kayla “ooohed!” and

  “ohhhed!” with each slap, wiggling against him, which only seemed to arouse him, judging from the hardenss she felt pressing against her.

  Deciding that he had warmed Kayla up enough, Cord reached for the

  hairbrush, but then thought better of it, at least for the moment. Instead, he rested his hand lightly on her rosy bottom. Her skin was warm and soft, and he almost groaned as he caressed her smooth cheeks. Perhaps stopping to

  rub her bottom hadn’t been a prudent idea, he thought, but even as he

  questioned his actions, his hand moved lower to delve into the silken folds of her pussy. She was already incredibly wet and ready for him, and it took

  everything in him not to forget al about her spanking, and pick her up and carry her over to the bed instead. The only thing that stopped him was

  knowing how much wetter and hotter she would be if he spanked her even

  more.

  From her position draped over his lap, Kayla moaned with pleasure as he

  slowly slid his finger inside her wetness. As much as she enjoyed being

  spanked, she found herself hoping that Cord would decide she had been

  punished enough and make love to her instead. But then she felt the sharp

  sting of the hairbrush on her bottom, and she knew that the spanking would only make their lovemaking that much more incredible.

  The brush came down on her other cheek, and she let out a squeal of protest as she squirmed on his lap. “Owwww! Cord, not so hard!” she protested.

  She could almost imagine his mouth quirking as he answered. “It’s supposed to sting, sweetheart. You’re being punished, after all. Remember?”

  She certainly d
id remember, but it didn’t feel like she was being punished at all. The brush actually wasn’t unpleasant in the least. It’s just that she knew that if he continued to spank her with it, she might orgasm before they even started making love and she really wanted to save that for him. He paused, rubbing the back of the brush against her upturned bottom. The wood felt cool on her hot skin, and she sighed with pleasure.

  “This,” he said, smacking her defenseless bottom again, “is for coming

  outside last night after I told you not to.” He brought the brush down,

  alternating from the right cheek to the left, careful to give both the attention he so obviously thought they deserved. “You real y should do as you’re told, you know. And this,” he told her as he smacked her again, a little harder this time,

  “is for riding down the gorge.”

  “Owwww!” she said, arching up against him.

  He pushed her back down with a firm hand. “However,” he said, bringing the hairbrush down again. “As you pointed out, you had little choice but to go that way, so we’ll skip to the part about your stealing from me. That should get you a good dozen or so good spanks.”