Page 13 of Ranch Rules

Still, she shouldn’t have behaved the way she had. If she had it all to do over again, she would have asked to borrow enough gas to get her to a station and she would have driven back home. That was exactly what she would have done, had she been in a better frame of mind. Which meant that, loath as she was to admit it, she did bear some responsibility here.

Thomas must have sensed that she had softened, because his hand cracked down hard on her bare cheek. First the right, then the left in quick turn. He did not give her the same time in between swats that he had earlier, but instead walloped first one side then the other in quick succession. They were coming so hard and fast, Natalie could not catch her breath.

The combination of fast-swinging smacks and redoubled pain to her defenseless hindquarters was more than she could take. Finally, she could not hold back her tears any longer. Her humiliation was compounded by the hot tears coursing down her cheeks. It was a hard pill to swallow. Lawyers, especially good ones like she was, didn’t like losing.

Once the tears began, her shoulders were shaking with sobs and she was making the most embarrassing noises. Still, the smacking did not let up. Each new spank added to the fire in her ass until she felt sure her skin was actually on fire. Right in that moment, she would have done anything, said anything, to make it stop. But she also knew that she was helpless, totally at the mercy of this man who thought it good entertainment to spank girls and make them cry. It defied all comprehension, and made her cry all the harder.

Natalie wasn’t even aware that the spanking had stopped, but the next thing she knew she felt herself being grasped by the shoulders and turned. She saw his hand reaching for her face and flinched.

To his credit, he dropped his hand. “I would never hurt you.”

She barked a disbelieving laugh as she began wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. “You sp-spank women for fun. How d-do I know wh-what you won’t do?” Unless she missed her guess, she’d offended him, though she was angry enough to be glad about that.

“How do you know it’s for fun? What I did just now was for your own good, Natalie.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just because you believe that doesn’t make it true.”

“And just because it’s for your own good doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it.”

That was the last thing she’d been expecting to hear and her mouth dropped open from the surprise of him admitting it. That settled it. She had to get out of here. “Thank you for your... hospitality. But I think it’s time I get back on the road.”

Thomas nodded.

“I’ll need to purchase some gas.”

“We keep a coupla cans in the barn. I’ll have our guy put them in your tank.”

“Thank you,” she replied, her tone as unstable as acid. “I don’t suppose I could also borrow the phone? Or is that as forbidden as well?”

He nodded to the phone on the desk, not troubling to mention her snooty tone.

She moved around the desk, hyper aware of the pants and panties around her knees. She wanted to pull them up, but felt sure she could benefit from a few more minutes of letting her rear cool off. Besides which, he had already seen all there was to see at this point, so who was she hiding for?

Natalie picked up the receiver and dialed from memory. Pick up, she begged. Please, pick up.

The phone rang four times and just when she was sure it would roll over to voicemail, she heard a familiar, gruff voice in her ear. “Briggs & Spric, this is Dawson.”

“Mr. Dawson.” She breathed a sigh of relief.

“Yes?”

“Hi. I mean, hello. It’s Natalie. Listen, I—”

“Natalie! Hello. Listen, we’re in the middle of a very important meeting and I don’t have time right now—”

“This will just take a minute, sir.”

He must have heard the desperation in her voice, because his sigh reached through the other line into her ear. “What is it?”

She glanced at Thomas who was respectfully studying the tomes on the bookcase and pretending not to listen in on her conversation. “It’s just this... this place you sent me to. Listen, I don’t know what kind of... is this a joke?”

“A joke?” His voice boomed over the other line. “Of course it’s not a joke. I told you, the partners talked and we decided that a little time off would do you some good. Now, I really need to be going. As I said—”

She could hear the growing tension in his voice and knew she was pressing her luck but with Thomas only a few feet away she felt like she had no other choice. “Listen, Mr. Dawson, I know I made a mistake. I get that, I truly do. And if I could go back and do it differently—”

“But you can’t. Now, we’re willing to let bygones be bygones, but this is something we can discuss when you get back.”

Natalie had known the older man long enough to know the signs. The conversation was over, as far as he was concerned. But she couldn’t afford to hang up just yet. “Mr. Dawson... I am fine to keep taking some time off, but I... I can’t stay here, sir.”

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