03 Cutler Brides Read online

  Madoc shook his head. “No way would my brother ever give his wife a spanking. He’s too uptight.

  The closest he probably comes to being adventurous in the bedroom is leaving the lights on.”

  Though Shayna doubted Riley and Cade’s sex life was as boring as her husband made it out to be, she couldn’t help but laugh anyway. Having been spanked quite often since meeting Madoc, Shayna recognized the signs of a tender bottom when she saw one, and Riley looked like hers had definitely been tender last night. But since Shayna couldn’t very well come out and ask her sister-in-law if Cade spanked her, she supposed she would just have to continue to wonder.

  Over breakfast, Arlene asked what everyone planned on doing that day. Madoc said that since Shayna and Riley wanted to start searching for the Confederate gold, he and Cade were going to ride down to the southern end of the property and help the ranch hands mend some of the fences there.

  “Just remember, stay away from that mining property we told you about,” Cade warned.

  “We will,” Riley promised.

  After taking a closer look at the map with Riley after breakfast, however, Shayna saw that there was a big X just to the north of the Cutler ranch, specifically in the area that both men had told them to stay away from. When she pointed it out to Riley, though, the other girl just shrugged.

  “What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” she said. “Besides, we’ll stay away from anything marked private property.”

  Shayna supposed her sister-in-law was right. Madoc and Cade had no interest in looking for the buried treasure, and therefore no interest in the map, she reasoned. The only way their husbands would find out what they’d been up to was if she or Riley told them, which they wouldn’t. Unless they found the Confederate gold, of course. Shayna couldn’t help but smile at that.

  Yeah, right.

  Madoc and Cade already had horses saddled and waiting for them when she and Riley walked out to the barn a little while later. Shayna hadn’t ridden for years, but she’d taken riding lessons when she was a kid, and she climbed into the saddle eagerly. Of course, the guys had picked out really sweet horses for them to ride. She and Riley wouldn’t have any problem at all.

  “Be careful,” Madoc told her.

  “We will,” she said, leaning down to give him a kiss.

  Even though the map didn’t have any modern landmarks on it, it would still be easy to get to the location of the supposed treasure. If she and Riley kept an eye on the land formations as they rode north, they should have no problem. According to the map, there was a big river that split into two smaller streams right near the location where the treasure was thought to be.

  All they had to do was find the river, and then follow it until they came to the part where it branched off.

  Even if the treasure hunt was a wild goose chase, the ride was certainly worth it. The Texas countryside was beautiful, Shayna thought. In fact, it reminded her a lot of the area where she’d grown up in Colorado.

  “I think we’re supposed to head in that direction,” Riley said, urging her mare alongside Shayna’s to show her the map.

  Shayna studied the map for a moment before lifting her gaze to survey their surroundings. According to the map, the big river should be somewhere on the other side of that hill up ahead.

  Urging their horses forward, she and Riley rode in that direction. When they got to the top of the hill, however, they found that the river was a whole lot bigger than it looked on the map. Shayna realized they would have to cross over it at some point to get to the X on the map, but they sure as heck couldn’t do it here.

  “What’s that?” Riley asked.

  Shayna turned her attention away from the river to look in the direction her friend was pointing. In the distance on the other side of the river, she could see a big cloud of dust being kicked up. She was just able to make out several trucks and a bulldozer, as well as a lot of men moving around. She and Riley were too far away to see what the men were doing, however.

  “They must be doing some mining,” she told Riley.

  Riley agreed that there was no way they could traverse the river right there, especially since they didn’t want to attract the attention of the men working on the mining property. With that in mind, they decided it would be better to ride parallel to it until they found the fork in the river. Hopefully, it would be shallow enough to cross there, Shayna thought.

  They had been riding for ten minutes or so when Shayna spotted something wedged in the branches of a fallen tree on the far side of the river. A quick glance in Riley’s direction told her the blond girl had seen it, too. Something about the shape made Shayna think it was definitely out of place.

  “What is that, do you think?” Shayna asked.

  Riley shook her head. “I don’t know. Let’s go see.”

  Curious, they urged their horses forward toward the riverbank, only to both come to an abrupt halt.

  “Oh God,” Shayna breathed. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Beside her, Riley was standing up in her stirrups, trying to get a better look. “I think you’re right,” she said after a moment. “It’s a person.”

  Shayna swallowed hard. “Do you think he’s alive?”

  Riley sat down in her saddle, but said nothing for a moment. Then she shook her head.

  “I don’t think so. He’s facedown and that looks like blood on the back of his shirt.”

  Shayna chewed on her lower lip, wondering if they should check anyway, but then decided that the other girl was right. “Do you think we should try to go out there and get him?”

  “No way,” Riley said. “That river’s moving too fast. We’d be risking our own lives trying to get to him.”

  Shayna silently agreed. “Then we have no choice. We have to go back and tell Madoc and Cade.”

  She didn’t really want to do that, especially considering how much trouble it was going to her and Riley into, but what could they do? They couldn’t just leave the guy there.

  Abruptly remembering that her husband and brother-in-law had gone to the mend some fences on the opposite side of the ranch, Shayna was afraid Madoc and Cade would still be out, but to her relief, both men were in the barn when she and the other girl rode into the stable.

  From the looks of it, they’d just gotten back, too.

  “Thank God you’re here,” Shayna said, still breathing hard from the long ride back. Not bothering to dismount, she explained about the body she and Riley had seen floating in the river.

  Madoc’s brow furrowed as he exchanged a look with his brother. “Are you sure it was a body you saw?” he asked dubiously.

  Shayna was taken aback by the question. “Yes, we’re sure,” she said. “It was a man and he was floating facedown in the river. We even saw the blood.”

  Madoc exchanged a look with his brother again.

  “Aren’t you going to call the cops or the sheriff or something?” Riley demanded when neither man said anything.

  “Why don’t we ride up there with you and take a look first before we go calling in the sheriff,” Cade suggested.

  Madoc and Cade didn’t believe them, Shayna realized. What did they think, that she and Riley were making it up? Rather than argue about it though, she and the other girl waited impatiently while their husbands mounted their horses.

  By the time they rode back up to the river, however, the body they’d seen floating in it was nowhere to be found, much to Shayna’s consternation.

  “Well?” Cade asked, looking at the two girls. “Where is it?”

  Riley frowned. “I don’t know, but he was here. Shayna and I both saw him. He was wedged up against that tree over there.”

  “Maybe he came loose and floated downstream,” Shayna suggested.

  The brothers exchanged looks, but said nothing as they urged their mounts in that direction. As she and Riley followed, Shayna expected to come upon the man’s body at any moment, but to her surprise, it wasn’t anywhere. After half a mile o
r so, the two men brought their horses to a halt.

  “There’s nothing here,” Cade said. “And a body wouldn’t have made it past this part of the river with all of these rocks.”

  “Well, he couldn’t have just disappeared,” Riley insisted. “We didn’t just make it up, you know.”

  Cade sighed. “We’re not saying that you did. We’re just saying that maybe you were confused about what you saw. Things floating in the water can take on all kinds of shapes.”

  Riley glared at her husband. “We know what we saw, Cade.”

  Shayna saw Madoc’s mouth tighten. “Maybe,” he agreed. “But you girls weren’t even supposed to be up here anyway. Cade and I specifically told you that you weren’t to go near this area.”

  Shayna glanced at her sister-in-law and saw the other girl’s face turn red. “We didn’t realize we’d ridden up this far, I guess,” she told her husband.

  Madoc scowled. “You didn’t see the sign back there that said this was a restricted area and to keep out?”

  “We must have missed it,” Shayna mumbled.

  Madoc shook his head. “Let’s just go back to the house.”

  Shayna groaned inwardly. She recognized that look all right. It meant she was in for a spanking. And not the fun kind, either.

  They rode back to the ranch in silence. Once in the barn, Shayna took her time getting the mare she’d ridden cooled down and back into her stall. She dawdled over giving the horse fresh food and water, and was just finishing up when Madoc came over.

  “In the house,” he growled softly in her ear. “Now.”

  Shayna glared at her husband, but said nothing. As much as she wanted to refuse, she didn’t want to make a scene in front of Riley and Cade, or the ranch hands for that matter. Once up in the bedroom, however, she rounded on Madoc as soon as the door was closed.

  “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this,” she said sullenly.

  Madoc’s brows drew together. “I’m making such a big deal out of it because if you and Riley had gotten caught trespassing on federal property, Cade and I would be bailing you out of jail right now.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating?”

  “No, I don’t,” he said. “Trespassing on federal property is a serious offense around here, Shayna. And considering what a horrible experience being in jail was for you before, I wouldn’t think you’d be in any hurry to go back.”

  That gave Shayna pause and she shivered at the reminder. “What if I tell you that Riley and I won’t go back up there again?” she asked in a small voice.

  “I’d think you were trying to talk me out of giving you a spanking,” he growled. “Now, are you going to take your jeans off or should I?”

  Shayna didn’t move, torn between trying to talk her way out the spanking some more and doing what he’d asked. When her husband had his mind set on spanking her for doing something, there was no talking him out of it, so she might as well just give in and accept her spanking. Besides, she probably did deserve one.

  Taking off her boots, she dropped them on the carpeted floor, then unbuttoned her snug-fitting jeans and wiggled out of them. She wondered if she should take off her panties, too, but then decided against it. While she was sure they’d be coming down at some point during the spanking, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of doing all the work herself.

  While she had been undressing, Madoc had taken a seat on the bench at the foot of the bed and was now looking at her expectantly. “Over my knee,” he said.

  His voice was soft, but still commanding, and Shayna found that she had no choice but to obey. Her pulse fluttering, she slowly walked across the room to where Madoc was sitting, but once she got there, she hesitated. She had draped herself over his knee dozens of times, of course, but there was something so embarrassing about doing it for a bad-girl spanking.

  When she continued to stand there, Madoc lifted a brow. “Shayna?”

  Her face coloring, Shayna took a deep breath and obediently draped herself over his knee.

  Madoc immediately placed one hand on the small of her back to hold her there; he rested the other lightly on her panty-covered bottom.

  “Ready?” Madoc asked.

  Wordlessly, Shayna nodded her head.

  A moment later, he lifted his hand and brought it down with a sharp smack on her right cheek. He could at least give her a warm-up first, Shayna thought as she let out a little yelp.

  Madoc, of course, ignored her protest, delivering a firm smack to the opposite cheek. He went back and forth like that, spanking first one cheek, and then the other until her bottom felt hot all over. And he hadn’t even taken down her panties yet!

  As if reading her mind, Madoc stopped right then to abruptly pull down her panties.

  Shayna lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Couldn’t you rub my bottom some in between?” she said, and then added in a small voice, “Please.”

  Madoc lifted a brow, obviously aware she was trying to use her feminine powers of persuasion on him.

  “I think you’re missing the point of this spanking.”

  She thrust her lower lip out in a pout. “But honey, it stings.”

  “It’s supposed to,” he told her. “How else are you going to remember to behave yourself and do as I tell you?”

  Shayna gave him another pout, but turned back around to focus her attention on the floor again. It was useless to argue with her husband about it, especially when she was over his knee.

  When his hand came down on her bare ass a moment later Shayna had to bite her lip to stifle a yelp.

  Ouch

  , that stung, she thought, stifling another protest as he delivered a resounding smack, this time to her very sensitive sit-spot.

  Each smack seemed harder than the one before it, and Shayna squirmed and kicked her feet for all she was worth. She desperately tried to stifle her squeals, but every so often one would escape her lips.

  God, she hoped no one could hear her. She’d be mortified if someone figured out she’d gotten a spanking!

  “Honey, please,” she begged. “That really...owwwww!... stings!”

  “Good,” he told her in between spanks. “That way you won’t be tempted to go where you’re not supposed to the next time you’re out riding. When I give you a warning to stay out of a certain place, I’m doing it for your own good. I want to make sure you remember that.”

  Shayna bit back another yelp as his hand connected with her ass again. It felt like her poor bottom was on fire! “I promised I wouldn’t go up there again,” she complained.

  Madoc’s hand came down again. “Then a couple of more smacks will make sure of that.”

  A couple of more turned out to be twenty or so, though Shayna couldn’t be sure because she didn’t keep count. But somewhere in the middle, an unusual, but familiar sound caught her attention. Was that yelping she heard? She strained her ears, stifling her own yelps as she tried to hear over the spanking Madoc was giving her. But before she could figure out what she was hearing, her husband put her back on his feet and pulled her down to sit on his lap.

  Shayna gasped as her freshly-spanked asscheeks came into contact with the rough material of his jeans.

  Madoc gently brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m serious about not going up there, Shayna,” he said softly. “These strip-mining companies have been known to run people off their property with guns and I don’t want you getting hurt. Promise me you won’t go up there again. Shayna, are you listening to me?”

  She dragged her gaze away from the door to look at him. “What? Yes, of course.”

  But Shayna hadn’t been listening. Instead, she’d been trying to figure out what those sounds were that she heard coming from down the hall. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Riley was getting a spanking, too!

  Madoc gently slipped his fingers beneath her chin. “Shayna, promise me you won’t go up there again.”

  �
�I won’t,” she said softly. “Promise.”

  That seemed to satisfy her husband because he pulled her close for a kiss. Even though Shayna hooked her arms around his neck and returned his kiss, she still couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in the next room.

  Shayna and Madoc were already in the kitchen making lunch by the time Riley and Cade came downstairs a little while later. Since Arlene and John were out for the day, it was just the four of them for lunch and Riley hoped that neither Shayna nor Madoc noticed she was sitting a bit gingerly.

  Riley had known from the expression on her husband’s face that she would be getting a spanking when they got back to the ranch, but she’d still been a little surprised when Cade had taken her upstairs to their bedroom the minute they had finished cooling down the horses.

  “But honey,” she’d protested. “Your brother and Shayna are in the next room.”

  Cade, however, hadn’t been dissuaded. “Then you’ll have to keep your protests to a minimum, won’t you?”

  Five minutes later, Riley was over his knee getting her bottom reddened. She had really tried to do as Cade had suggested and keep her protests to a minimum, but she couldn’t help letting out the occasional squeal. She only hoped Shayna and Madoc hadn’t heard. God, that would be so embarrassing!

  After lunch, the two girls decided to go into town to check out some of the shops they hadn’t gone into the day before. As Riley pulled out of the driveway and onto the road, she glanced at Shayna.

  “Madoc wasn’t too angry with you for going up there, was he?” she asked. Though her brother-in-law hadn’t seemed upset at lunch, Madoc had looked furious when they’d gotten back to the barn earlier.

  Beside her, Shayna shook her head. “No, he was just worried about me,” she said. “How about Cade?

  Was he very mad?”

  Riley turned her gaze back to the road, afraid the other girl would see her blush. “A little bit. But he was more concerned than anything.”

  They rode in silence for a little while before Riley spoke again.