Page 72 of A Flower for Angus

“If that’s the way ye feel, then why be dishonest?” he bit out. He took another step towards her and she took the only backward step she could, which put her back against the door. She scrabbled for the doorknob behind her back.

“Maybe because men always seem to think they know what I need to do?” she jeered. “I have news for you, I’m a big girl. I certainly don’t need anyone to tell me when to go to bed. I can figure that out on my own.”

“Right now, ye’re a sneaky wee lass who’s earned that hidin’ I warned ye about. Dishonesty and deceit are somethin’ I’ll no put up with.” He took two steps forward and bent to scoop her over his shoulder.

“Oomph,” she whined. “Put me down, Angus, this is uncomfortable.”

He went to the sofa with her and stood her on her feet, then held her arms as he sat down and pulled her right across his lap. “Ye’re about to get a lot more uncomfortable.”

Poppy struggled and fought but Angus didn’t have any trouble pinning her upper body on the couch and both of her legs under one of his.

“Let me go,” she raged at him. “Don’t you dare touch me or I’ll have you arrested. I really will, Angus Sangster!”

Angus wasted no time in hooking a finger in her pajamas shorts and panties and dragging them down to her knees. “I don’t scare easy.”

He gave her two sharp spanks, one on each side of her wriggling globes. “And I don’t agree with ye either. Yedon’tknow when to go to bed since ye’re lookin’ like death warmed over. It’s really startin’ to worry me. Doc has told ye to get more rest, and that ye are underweight, and he was right. Instead of getting’ better, it’s getting worse.”

He gave her two more hard smacks to those same two globes, which were now reflecting the outline of his handprints. “Ye know these headaches are stress and lack of rest related, yet ye keep pushin’ yerself beyond yer limits and tryin’ to hide it from me at the same time.” His hand popped twice again, very hard and very decisive.

Poppy screamed in outrage and kicked her heels up trying to loosen his leg over hers. “Doctors can only make suggestions; they can’t make me do anything I don’t want to. Now let me up,” she demanded. She grabbed a throw pillow and slammed it back at him, hitting him on the side of his head.

He grabbed the pillow and tossed it on the floor. “Now ye really did it. Yer fiery temper needs to be doused with a good old-fashioned skelpin’.”

There was nothing gentle or soothing about the spanking Angus administered to Poppy’s backside. He persevered heartily until her cheeks were cherry red and she finally surrendered across his lap, unable to do anything but cry into the other pillow. He felt the fight leave her and stopped swatting her to rest his hand on her heated flesh.

“I’ve been givin’ ye plenty of leeway and support in what yer tryin’ to do, Poppy. But I won’t stand by and watch ye headin’ fer a nervous break-down, or destroy yer health. I care too much about ye to let that happen,” he scolded.

As he rubbed her sore bottom, her sobs started to quiet down but she still hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t apologized either. He debated whether he should sit her up on his lap to continue his lecture, or keep her in this position in case she needed more convincing. He had to give her credit; she was a stubborn wee thing. At least she wasn’t fighting him anymore.

He continued to rub her bottom with his palm enjoying the silky feel of her rounded globes. The curve of a woman’s lower back where it swelled up and over her buttocks was one of the sweetest curves ever created on a woman. He could caress her body all night long.

“I intend to make sure ye listen to me and stay in bed, lass, even if I have to go buy some handcuffs to keep ye there. There’ll be no more sneakin’ out of bed in the middle of the night.” He was expecting a vociferous complaint about the handcuffs but she didn’t respond. “Are ye listenin’ to me, Poppy?”

When she didn’t reply, he reached down and pulled her hair behind her ear. Her face was tucked into the crook of her elbow and Angus realized she’d fallen asleep. He chuckled at himself and shook his head. This was a first. She’d fallen asleep in the middle of her spanking and talking to.

Heaving a sigh, he gently pulled her panties and shorts back into place and turned her over in his arms. She snuggled into his chest immediately. She didn’t wake up; the poor mite was that exhausted. Rather than risk waking her up, he simply stretched out on the oversized sofa and took her with him.

His tadger danced even more at this new position but he ignored it. He turned over the damp side of the throw pillow and put it under his head, then pulled the Chicago Bears throw off the back of the sofa and covered Poppy. He usually slept warm anyway and didn’t need a quilt. A light blanket was all he ever used, if that. Plus, he was still dressed in a sleeveless undershirt and his sweatpants.

Poppy sighed and snuggled closer into him, her head on his shoulder. That was fine by him, it felt right as rain. His lass was in his care, at least for the moment, and right where she belonged. The advantage he had over hormone-driven youth was experience and self-control which enabled him to fall asleep too. Just before the sandman grabbed him, he wondered how she’d feel in the morning?

***

POPPY WOKE UP SLOWLY, the smell of coffee assaulting her nostrils. Her eyes felt swollen and bleary as she pried her eyelids open. Seeing the back of a sofa in her vision she remembered Angus waiting for her in the study. He’d been sitting in the leather chair, the defined muscles of his arms clearly displayed in the wife-beater undershirt like a stern-faced buddha. She ached all over. He was right, she reflected, she was driving herself too hard, but she had so much to do, she just wanted to get it over with.

Speaking of the devil, where was he? Instinctively, she could feel he was in the room with her. Was he watching her? A small smile quirked her lips up. How she would love to have her cell phone in her hand and impudently raise it high in the air as a gesture that she was going to call the police for spanking her butt. She’d love to see those eyebrows crawl to the sky and the warning look light up his eyes. She did love teasing him. He usually responded with a friendly swat, and she’d learned to love that attention too.

Feeling the need to pee, she groaned and finally stretched her legs out to roll to her back. “Ouch,” she squeaked in surprise. She promptly rolled over on her side and rubbed her bottom.

“Feelin’ a mite sore?”

Angus was sitting in that same leather chair. He was dressed in his usual style, a pair of jeans and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked fresh from the shower and held a cup of steaming coffee in his hands.

She shot him an unfriendly glare. “What did you do to me?” she complained, trying to sit up. She finally managed to get up and then stand up, her hands rubbing her butt cheeks.

“It’s more about what yer doin’ to me right now,” he croaked in return. He eyed her up and down with a hungry look that had nothing to do with food. “Do ye have any idea how beautiful ye are with that sleepy tousled look and those long bare legs?” he growled. He sat his coffee cup on the desk and stood up.

She held her hand up to ward him off. “Don’t try to butter me up after what you did. I may still call the police if my backside is black and blue, which I’m sure it is,” she groaned.

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