Diamond in the Rough (The Red Petticoat Saloon) Read online

  Removing his jacket, he draped it over a chair and then unbuckled his gun belt, laying it on the seat. Rolling up his shirt sleeves, he moved to stand on the opposite side of the bed, crouching down until his face was level with hers. When he saw her hand clutching a wooden hairbrush, he knew she was asking for him to guide her, to spank her until her bottom was burning, to release her from the guilt she must be harboring. He'd do all of that and then he'd hold her, soothe the pain from her punishment and then remind her of how it felt to be loved by the man who'd willingly give his life for hers. He stroked a fingertip down her cheek, watching her lids flutter open to reveal her unique yellow-green eyes, grateful to see no fear in them, only a need that she needn't voice for him to understand. When he reached for the brush, she released it to him, giving him a small sigh.

  "This isn't going to be just a spanking. This is going to be a punishment, Delaney, and it's going to hurt. You've earned a very hot bottom and, sweetheart, I'm going to give it to you. But, remember, I only do so because I love you so very much."

  "I… I know, sir. I love you too."

  Nodding, he bent forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead before asking, "Are you ready, ladybug?"

  "Yes, sir. Please punish me and then… love me."

  "I'll love every moment of my life," he promised, rising and moving back around the bed as she laid her cheek down onto the mattress.

  Setting the brush aside, he pressed his palm against her lower back both to hold her in place but more importantly to connect with her… to let her know that while he would truly roast her rear, he would keep her safe. Loud cracks began to fill the room, one after another as he moved his strokes all over the surface of her bottom. She didn't make a sound until her bottom began to turn a darker pink as he covered the original vivid handprints his first few strokes had raised on her flesh with additional smacks. When her bottom began to wag, he smacked the back of her thighs.

  "Settle down. Naughty girls get their bottoms spanked, don't they, Laney?"

  "Yes, sir!" she yelped, her head lifting as he continued to spank her thighs. "Ow! It hurts!"

  "It's supposed to hurt," he said calmly, changing direction so that the next smack lifted her bottom cheek to punish the sensitive area where her rear meshed into her thighs. "Naughtiness causes pain and must be atoned for with a hot little ass. Push it up for me now."

  "Pl… please, not there!" she cried but with a harder smack, she pushed her bottom up, accepting his right to blister her sit spots, crying out with each smack but keeping her behind lifted for him.

  "Your ass is turning a nice shade of pink. I believe it's ready for a good, hard lesson, don't you?"

  "Oh… please… I…" she gasped and then shuddered, her head returning to the mattress. "Yes, sir…"

  "Good girl," he praised, moving to sit down on the edge of the bed. Reaching over, he patted her warm flesh as he picked up the brush. "Climb over my lap now so I can give you a good paddling."

  He wasn't surprised to see her hesitate but was very pleased when she pushed herself up and moved to drape herself across his knees. Reaching for a pillow, he said, "Lift up your head. You can scream into this." Her eyes widened but had yet to release the tears he could see shimmering in them. They'd be flowing freely before they were done… of that he had no doubt. Once she was clutching the pillow, her torso supported on the bed, her legs laying across the mattress, he placed an arm around her waist, tugging her closer.

  "Do not reach back, Delaney. I don't want to smack your hands. Keep your legs down as well. I'm going to paddle your bottom until it is very red and then, I'm going to finish with a dozen stripes of my belt. Do you understand why?"

  "Ye… yes, sir. I disobeyed you and Gabe and Sheriff Justice when I ran after you. I… I have been disrespectful and disobedient. I… I said some awful things to you. I was horrible!"

  "No, you were very naughty but not horrible, sweetheart. Let this cleanse you of those bad feelings and know that you will be forgiven and will always been loved. Ready?"

  "I—yes, sir."

  Tripp lifted the brush and brought it down. Her head arched up and she howled but quickly dropped her face into the pillow. Cracks that sounded like gunshots replaced the earlier smacks as each one left a white oval on her flesh before blooming red, each one overlapping the last until her entire bottom was crimson. Her hand flew back when he smacked the back of her thigh.

  "No, don't be naughty," he admonished, taking her wrist in his hand and pinning it to the small of her back. Two additional cracks sounded before her feet kicked up in a futile attempt to cover her bottom. "Feet down, Laney. Kick up again and you'll earn additional strokes with my belt."

  "It hurts!" she yelled, her feet drumming against the mattress as her bottom wagged from side to side.

  "I know," he acknowledged, "that's why it's called punishment." Though he did truly know she felt as if she'd sat in a blazing fire, he also knew she needed to understand that disobedience, especially in regards to her own safety, would earn her a very sore butt each and every time. Pressing his hand against her calves, stilling her feet, he then again lifted the brush, his target now the pink area beneath the beautiful curve of her buttocks. Each crack had her head lifting to utter a shrill cry and yet she kept her feet down until he'd delivered a half dozen to each sit spot. She'd feel those for a couple of days each time she sat down. Laying the brush aside, he ran his palm over her hot flesh, rubbing a bit of the sting away, allowing her to calm before they finished. Once her body relaxed, he patted her crimson cheeks.

  "All right. Lay yourself in the middle of the bed." He helped her off his lap, ignoring her hiss of pain as she rolled onto her bottom only to instantly roll to her side. He placed the extra pillow in the center of the bed, stacking the one she'd been clutching on top of it. Patting the pillows, he said. "Right over now. Bottom high and hands on the headboard." He helped guide her over the pillows and then stood back. Her face turned towards him at the sound of his belt being pulled from the holsters of his gun belt.

  "Let these remind you what happens when you put yourself in danger, Delaney. I don't like whipping you but know that I will every time you make choices that could take you away from me. I love you, ladybug, but I won't ever hesitate to welt your backside to teach you that you are my heart, my life… my soul."

  "Yes… yes, sir," she stammered and then buried her face in the mattress, her knuckles white from their grip on the rails.

  Swish… crack! The belt whirred through the air to crack against her flanks. Each stroke had her scream into the mattress and her hips bucking from the pain. Her legs began scissoring at the fifth strike but at his command to settle, she obeyed, stilling her legs, slightly open as he'd requested and lifting her bottom for her punishment, no longer fighting, sinking into the mattress as such accepted her discipline. When he'd laid the last stroke across the center of her quivering cheeks, Tripp threw the belt down and gathered her into his arms. She sobbed against his chest, her fingers clutching his shirt.

  "Shhh, you're all right," he said softly, sitting on the bed and cradling her in his arms. "It's over, Laney. You are forgiven… I love you so much."

  He continued to utter soft assurances and stroke her arm and back as she released her pain and her guilt. She mewled loudly when her bottom took her weight but he immediately adjusted her so that she was on her hip and not her blazing red nates. They sat for several minutes until she gave a loud hiccup and pulled away.

  "I'm sorry I was so naughty."

  "I am too," he said with a gentle smile. "I don't like punishing you, Laney. It hurts me as much as it does you…" When her eyes widened, he chuckled. "All right, maybe not as much but I promise, it does hurt my heart to have to blister your bottom." He smiled and bent to kiss the tip of her nose. "I'd much rather teach you how a good girl spanking feels."

  Her eyes widened again and she shook her head. "I don't think I'd like that, sir."

  "Ahh, I beg to disagree," he said, "one d
ay you'll learn that getting your bottom warmed doesn't always have to be so hurtful." Seeing the disbelief in her expression, he bent to kiss the tender spot behind her ear before whispering into it, "Until then, I need to make love to you."

  "I need that too," she agreed, trembling when he blew into her ear and then gasping when he nipped her earlobe between his teeth, his hand moving to cup her breast. "Oh, yes, please…"

  He stood her beside the bed and undressed her, loving the way she blushed as each article of clothing dropped to the floor. Tossing the pillows to the head of the bed and pulling back the covers, he patted the mattress. She smiled and climbed up, moving to slip between the covers, her red bottom shining like a beacon. His cock jerked at the sight and he knew that the next time he roasted her butt, he'd place her in the corner to display that lovely ass to his view. But that was for the next time. Right now, he shed his clothes and joined her in bed.

  Pulling her to him, he bent to kiss her, his tongue delving into her mouth. His fingers pressed a nipple between them, rolling gently, drawing a deep throated moan from her.

  "Hurry…" she begged, her back arching, her leg moving to lay across his. "I-I need you inside me."

  Tripp hadn't intended on rushing their lovemaking, but heard the desperate need in her voice. "On top," he instructed, laying on his back, his cock pointing straight to the ceiling. "Ride me, ladybug."

  He adored her flush, her facial cheeks only a shade or two lighter than her nether ones. He helped her into position, her knees outside of his legs, her hands braced on his chest. "Put my cock into your pussy." He reached between her legs and slid two fingers between her labia lips. "Right here." She gasped as he flicked her clit and lifted herself up, wrapping one hand around his shaft and guiding it to her entry. "That's right, oh, God, that's perfect," he moaned as she began to sink down, accepting his cock into her body. Her moan joined his and though it took a few minutes, he didn't rush her, knowing her sex needed to adjust to his length and his girth. When she finally settled, the heat of her spanked bottom warming his thighs, he reached to cup both of her breasts in his palms.

  "Good girl, now up and down."

  Her teeth had captured her bottom lip and yet she began to move, lifting and lowering herself, slowly at first and then a bit faster. He rolled her nipples and then began to give them little tugs that had her back arching as if to present her breasts for his pleasure as her head arched back, her hair brushing against his legs.

  "Faster, up and down, back and forth," he commanded, and when she seemed unable to obey, he moved his hands to her hips, teaching her the pace, the movement where she could find her own pleasure with the friction against her clit. "That's it, good girl," he praised, returning one hand to tweak, flick and pull on her nipples while his other hand moved to play between her legs, finding her pleasure button and working it with his fingertips.

  "Oh… ohhhh," she moaned, rocking against his fingers and then back, his shaft appearing and disappearing as she posted on his cock.

  "Come for me, Delaney, come hard." He pressed the bundle of nerves between his thumb and finger as he gave her nipple a tug.

  "Tripp!" she screamed as she came apart, her body convulsing, her muscles contracting around his cock. She collapsed onto him, her breasts smashed between their bodies. Wrapping his arms around her, Tripp rolled until she was beneath him. Ignoring her cry of discomfort as her bottom took her weight, he slid his hand beneath her, gripping the hot globes and lifting her hips as he began to pound into her. She screamed again, her legs wrapping around his waist as her hands grabbed his forearms.

  "Yes… yes, harder!" she cried and when he obeyed, pumping deep and hard, she came again, this time drawing his own release as well. He cried out her name, his cock jerking with a combination of her contractions and his own as he filled her with his essence.

  Leaning over her, he brushed her lips with his before saying, "I love you, Delaney Donahue… soon to be Delaney Houston."

  "I can't wait," she said, releasing his arms to cup his face. "I adore you Tripp Houston even if you make my bottom burn." He chuckled and took her mouth, moments later, taking her to heaven again as they made love, gently this time but finding their bliss again in each other's arms.

  Epilogue

  "You are beautiful," Damaris said as she stood back from the bride.

  "I'm so nervous," Delaney said though her smile only added to her beauty.

  Jewel smiled as she adjusted the veil. "No need to be. You are going to marry the man of your dreams and begin your new life."

  Delaney nodded, her hands running down the sides of her skirt. She was wearing a gown of ivory, the bodice sparkling with crystals to resemble the diamonds of her gem name. With a grin, she looked at her big sister. "I can't believe how everything turned out. I'm leaving the Petticoat to become a rancher's wife and yet you are staying. I still can't believe you won't take my gem name. I mean, what sort of gemstone is coal?"

  Shaking her head, Jewel smiled. "Your sister wouldn't take any other name. Besides, as Gabe says, diamonds come from coal and it suits our Damaris. It reminds her that despite the ugliness and the darkness, beneath the surface there is beauty and light."

  Damaris blushed and gave her sister another hug. "I'm just hoping that I can make everyone as proud as you have, Laney."

  "You do," Opal said, moving to wrap her arm around Damaris' waist. "My only fear is that it won't be long before you leave us as well. I've seen the way Ben looks at you. That man never lost as many hands as he has ever since you took over dealing the cards."

  A masculine chuckle had the women looking towards the door. "What can I say? Losing to the house is good for us."

  "Gabe!" Jewel scolded, shaking her head.

  "It's true, querida," Gabe said. "But, I agree with Opal. I'm not a betting man, but even I would wager that all too soon, we'll lose our Coal who is truly another Diamond in the rough." He paused and gave Damaris a smile. "But, it's also true that I'd rather see one of our gems leave on the arm of a man she's chosen than to keep them beneath our roof."

  "Thank you, Gabe," Damaris said, her cheeks flushing, telling of her pleasure in Ben's attention.

  "Ready?" Gabe asked and when Delaney nodded, he offered her his arm.

  The church was full of their friends who were all members of their growing family. When Gabe pulled her to stand in the doorway, Delaney's stomach was flipping and yet stilled the moment she lifted her head to find Tripp. His eyes locked onto hers and his smile melted her heart. She felt as if she were floating as Gabe guided her down the aisle. With her hands now in Tripp's, she repeated the vows given her by Pastor Black, blushing a bit when she promised to obey her husband, knowing that those vows would be met with obedience or with a hot bottom and not wishing to change a single word.

  When they were pronounced husband and wife, tears slid down her cheeks as her husband bent to kiss her.

  "You are my life, my love, my heart, my wife," Tripp whispered.

  "You are my very soul," she murmured, her lips meeting his again in the gentlest of kisses, her body already quickening for the bliss she knew she'd soon find in her husband's arms.

  The End

  Abbie Adams

  Abbie is a little girl at heart. She has always lived in a make-believe world, unwilling to share her fantasies with anyone for fear they would laugh at her, or worse, lock her up. She struggles with her desires to have a daddy who will keep her in line and yet baby her constantly. She writes to stay sane; this is her therapy.

  Hiding her secret desires hasn't helped her, but sharing it with you, those of you who might also enjoy the same yearnings, well, that makes her happy. Come live inside Abbie's head if you dare.

  Visit her blog here:

  http://www.abbieadamsauthor.com

  Don’t miss these exciting titles by Abbie Adams and Blushing Books!

  A Little Training

  A Little Trouble

  A Little Twist (written w/ Emily Tilton)

/>   Buying Brianny (Masters of the Castle)

  A Little Sunshine (written w/ Maggie Ryan)

  We Need a Little Christmas (written w/ Katherine Deane)

  Maggie Ryan

  #1 International and USA Today bestselling author for Blushing Books. I write both contemporary erotica and historical spanking romances. I enjoy writing about characters that enjoy the provocative D/S lifestyle of today’s times, as well as taking a step back into the past to write stories that take place in the Victorian era with age-play as a theme.

  I live in the great Lone Star state with my wonderful husband. I have always loved reading. Growing up in a family with four children, it was difficult finding a place to be alone. I was probably one of the squeakiest clean girls on the planet as I would spend hours in the tub so I could read without being bothered. It wasn’t long before I began to make up my own endings to the books I was reading. From there, it just seemed natural to begin writing my own stories.

  I never try to restrict myself to any one genre because there are just too many delicious possibilities out there and inside my head. I admit to being somewhat of a romantic, though, as my stories always must have a great deal of love, passion, corporal discipline and, of course, great, mind-blowing sex. I want my readers to be able to see, hear, feel and know the characters that I’m creating as well as I do when I bring them to life and transfer their stories to paper. I want my women to be strong of character but also strong enough to know that submission given in love and trust to your partner does not make you weaker, it makes you far stronger. I want my men to be sexy, strong, demanding alpha males who know how to take what they want while acknowledging it is a gift they have been blessed with by the women that have chosen to submit to them. I want there to be no doubt that they truly would die for the other no matter how others might view their relationship.