The Ranch Contract: A Cowboy Daddy Romance by Dinah McLeod – Extended Preview

Nate pointed to the car. “If you don’t want to take your spanking on that bench right there, in front of anyone who cares to look, then I suggest we move this conversation to the car.”

“You can’t do that.” Lora felt a surge of anger of her own. “We’re back on my turf now. You can’t just spank me anytime you feel like it.” Nate did not look impressed, so she added a hurried, “Sir.”

“If you recall, I didn’t ask your permission the first time, and I won’t ask you now. You’re a little girl in need of a spanking, and you’re going to get one. What happens to us after, I’m not sure, but believe me when I tell you that you will be spanked.”

Lora was so mesmerized by what he’d said that she didn’t even think to be embarrassed by the fact that he wasn’t even trying to lower his voice. She didn’t try to argue. She put her hand on the door handle, but when he nodded his head to the backseat she moved to the back.

“Lucky you have tinted windows,” he noted as he closed the door behind them.

“Nate… you’re not really going to spank me here, are you?”

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t.”

She forced herself to look at him, to face his anger, and was surprised by what she saw. He was mad, yes, but what she saw made her think that it was for different reasons than she’d first assumed. His eyes were flashing, but she also saw the hurt she’d caused him. And… was that fear, lurking there beneath the stern expression? What did Nate have to fear?

“I’m sorry.” She reached for him, tenderly stroking the side of his face. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“That isn’t going to get you out of a spanking,” he informed her, but his tone had softened.

“I’m not trying to get out of it. You’re right—I earned it, and I’ll take what I have coming. Just, not in the car, please?”

He considered her for several long moments. “Even though we’re on your turf?”

She winced at having her words thrown back at her. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s true.”

“Well, yes, but that still didn’t give me any right to speak to you like that.”

Nate stared at her, his expression pensive, before saying, “A dozen, right here, on the bare. If you stay quiet, no one will know.”

“That’s—”

“I want you to have something to think about as you drive home.”

She nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Was it her imagination, or did his pants bulge? When she laid herself over his lap, she knew it hadn’t been. He was hard, his cock pressing against her thigh as she waited to be punished.

Nate didn’t waste any time scolding her. Perhaps he was saving that for later. He only pulled down her jeans, tugging her underwear down with them, and administered quick, brisk spanks that made her bite down on her tongue until it hurt. His hard, callused hand worked its way down her backside, then back up, then back down again. Tears had gathered in her eyes by the time he was finished, but it had little to do with the spanking.

Then he was pulling her up, taking her roughly by the shoulders. “Don’t you ever do that again. If you disappear on me again—”

“I won’t,” was her breathy promise.

He kissed her then, his lips hard on hers, pressing her own mouth to yield. She did so, gladly, opening her lips, submitting to his tongue. When he pulled away, she was breathless, but she’d also never been more turned on in her life.

Then he was spreading her thighs with his hand. He slid a finger inside of her, making her breath catch. She tossed her head back as tendrils of pleasure shot through her. She could feel her muscles tightening the way they did before she orgasmed. Then, suddenly, he stopped.

“Do not pull your pants up,” he instructed, but the hardness had gone from his voice.

Lora stared at him blankly, feeling on edge, her pussy throbbing with unmet desire. “I… are you…”

“Am I?”

Too embarrassed to say the word, she nodded toward her pussy.

Nate followed her gaze, then shook his head. “No. You are not allowed to come.”

She swallowed hard before nodding. “Yes, Sir.”

Even though her butt was sore, even though she knew it would be much worse before they were okay again, even though he wouldn’t let her come, she couldn’t help but smile. Couldn’t help but feel happy that he’d come for her.

Lora had thought Atlanta’s roads well paved, until her sore, bare cheeks were experiencing the impact of every single bump in the road. She winced each time, thinking that she might change out the leather seats when she got the chance. It was only insulating the heat in her bottom, and she was worried about how much standing up would hurt if her cheeks were stuck to the seat.

Fortunately, that didn’t prove to be the case, but her relief was short lived. When she moved to pull up her panties, Nate issued a stern, “Leave them,” which had her gazing helplessly at him.

“But I can’t…”

“Can’t?” he echoed, his face showing that there would be no mercy on this issue.

Taking a deep breath, Lora dropped her hands and moved toward her apartment as fast as she could manage with her panties and jeans at her knees. Her face was so hot she was sure the color perfectly matched that of her butt, which she hoped against hope no one was around to see. She tried to keep her eyes in front of her to stay focused on hurrying to her apartment, but she couldn’t help herself and her head swiveled from side to side, lingering on the open blinds in one window, the cat circling a doormat. Surely its owner would come to let it in any minute. And if they stuck their head out, wouldn’t they be surprised to see her, bare-assed and waddling as fast as she could to her apartment.

Worse still, when they reached the door her hand was shaking and she missed the keyhole twice. Her nerves were getting the best of her. Finally, she slid it in and unlocked the door. She threw it open and hurried instead, turning to see Nate standing in the doorway, looking around.

“Nice place,” he commented as he looked around.

“Thanks.” She flushed hotter, sure that any moment someone would walk by and spot her. “Um, do you think you could…”

“Sure.” He shut the door, flipped the lock, and put his hands on his hips, eyes flickering over her. “Should we take care of business?”

Her heart stuttered. “I mean, we could talk for a while…”

“I think we better get your punishment out of the way first. Then there’s plenty of time for talking. Well, I take that back. We do have one thing to discuss.”

Lora didn’t know what she expected, but him pulling out the pair of panties she’d stolen when they’d gone clothes shopping would have been the last thing on the list. Her stomach lurched at the sight of the red thong dangling from his fingers.

“It still has the tag on it.”

She could see that.

“And it was in the bag from the department store that you left behind. Funny thing is I don’t remember paying for it. Do you want to explain this?”

“I…” She did consider lying, but only long enough for her to think of what would happen. “I’m sorry.”

The disappointed look he gave her stung. “What I don’t understand is why. You could have asked me to buy it.”

She squirmed. “I know, but… I don’t know. It was exciting. A little thrill, I guess.” She winced, knowing how ridiculous she sounded. “I really am sorry.”

Nate let out a long sigh. “Well, so am I because you are not going to enjoy sitting down for the next few days.” The next thing she knew, he was unbuckling his belt.

The sight of his lean, strong fingers as they worked the metal fascinated her. Then he was pulling it through his belt loops, the whish sound sending an electric current running through her, a mixture of apprehension and anticipation that was becoming quite familiar in his presence. It wasn’t until he took her to bend over the arm of the couch that fear won out.

“Nate… you can’t…”

“I told you,” he said, his tone as calm and patient as she could want, “that for now, I’m Sir. I won’t remind you again.”

“I… I understand, Sir. But please, Sir… you’re not going to… with that?” She couldn’t take her eyes off the belt that he’d looped in his hand.

“Don’t you think you’ve earned a whipping at this point?”

“I… please, can you give me one more chance? If I would have known…”

He tsked his tongue. “No, sweetheart, I’m afraid not. You ran off without telling me where you were going, and you stole.”

“But… you already spanked me for leaving. In the car,” she said, as though perhaps he just needed to be reminded.

Nate chuckled. “You thought that was a spanking? I’ve failed you, sweet Lora.”

When she felt her cheeks flush she wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or the fact that he’d called her sweet. “Stop it. You know that’s not true.”

“I was worried about you.”

She went to him, into his open arms, and let herself be held, ignoring the belt at his side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice muffled as she spoke into his shirt.

“I forgive you. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t still consequences.”

Lora took a deep breath, nodded, and laid over the arm of the couch. She looked back at him, expecting to see the belt in his hand. What she hadn’t counted on was the pride on his face.

“I’m going to give you an even dozen. It’s going to hurt, but try to stay still. It’s for your own good.”

“O-okay.”

Nate moved behind her, and she felt him moving her jeans down further.

She could hear when he moved away, but she squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to look. It only made her apprehension worse, made her want to beg for mercy or, God forbid, move out of position. She knew better. And she wanted to make him proud of her, more than she’d wanted that last part she’d auditioned for.

But nothing could have prepared her for the pain. When the first promised stroke came, her body jerked. She was careful not to move, but when the burning pain came she couldn’t help but cry out. With the second, she scissored her legs, yowling.

“Be still,” Nate reminded her.

She wanted to look back at him, seek reassurance, but she forced herself to keep her eyes staring straight ahead. The third came whistling down, crossing over the same spot at the center of her cheeks that the first two had. Kicking her legs, she finally turned around to look at him. “Please. Stop.”

“I can’t stop. I said twelve, and you’re going to get twelve. You want me to be a man of my word, don’t you?”

If it meant that he’d stop making her butt burn, then actually, she’d prefer that he was a liar, but thinking that he wouldn’t want to hear that she kept it to herself. The fourth smacked her sore ass, and a few seconds later the fifth landed lower than any of the strokes so far.

Lora had leapt up, clutching her throbbing cheeks as she shrieked.

Nate watched her for a moment before walking over, taking her by the arm and leading her back over the arm of the couch. “That’s your one and only freebie. If it happens again, that stroke won’t count.”

Tears had begun to fall down her cheeks. “I don’t think I can take any more,” she told him, her lower lip trembling.

“Shh.” He rubbed her back as he soothed. “I know you can. You can do it, baby girl. I’m so proud of you. You’re trying so hard to be a good girl.”

Those words were a balm to her soul, even if they didn’t do much to soothe her scalded behind. It was what she needed to hear to brace herself for the next fall of the belt, which did not disappoint. Lora cried out as it struck, but managed to keep from moving. Then the next fell, just as hard and painful as the last.

“Yeow!” she sobbed, burying her head into her arm as her body shook.

“You’re such a good girl,” he cooed. “Show me you can keep being my obedient girl.”

She wanted to show him that, wanted it so very much. That goal was the only thing that kept her over the couch, fingernails digging into the upholstery as she struggled to think despite the pain.

The belt fell again, leaving a fire in its wake. Lora pulled her legs up to protect her poor, battered rear, and mercifully, Nate waited. As soon as she could bear it, she let her legs down, crying all the while, knowing that there was more pain to come. She’d lost count of how many were left and was too afraid to ask. Better not to know, to just take it.

Another smack landed, making her gasp. There was another right behind it, the pain so intense that Lora almost forgot about being a good girl. She couldn’t think of anything but the burn in her ass.

“Two more, baby,” Nate cooed. “Just two more.”

“No,” she pleaded, tears running down her cheeks so fast that she couldn’t see through them. “Please, Sir. Please. I’ll do anything if you just…” She was crying too hard to speak.

The next thing she knew, Nate had come around and gathered her in his arms. He dropped the belt, using his free hand to wipe away her tears. “Shh. Shh, you’re okay. I’m guessing you’ve never had a whipping before?”

She shook her head emphatically then buried her head in his shirt. After only a minute, she’d soaked it through.

Nate sat down, pulling her along with him. “Let me see.”

Sniffling, she obediently wriggled until he had a good view of her ass.

He whistled, low and long. “All right.” Nate moved her so that she was sitting again, her thighs on his lap and her bottom hanging off, mercifully not pressed against anything. “Tell me why you got punished, little girl.”

“B-because—”

“Look at me, please.”

Lora lifted her head, feeling so embarrassed and ashamed that he was seeing her like this, that he had felt it necessary to spank her at all. “Because I l-left w-with-out talking to you. And be-because I t-took the panties.”

He nodded. “Very good. I’ll give you your last two in the morning.”

She gave a little shudder. It wasn’t as good as not getting them at all, but she could tell by the look on his face that it was as good as she was going to get.

“And then we have the matter of your paddling.”

Lora’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “Don’t tell me you forgot. It’s the same paddling you were going to get when I told you to kneel in the corner. Just think.” He ran a finger lightly over the curve of her cheek. “If you’d just stayed and did what I asked, it would have been done and over with long before now. But, as it stands…” He shrugged. “Now, I’m going to tuck you into bed.”

“But… it’s not even seven-thirty!” Lora spluttered in protest. The stern, no-nonsense look he gave her made her swallow hard. “Yes, Sir.”

“Good girl.” And he scooped her in his arms once more, carrying her down the hall. She told him where to go, and soon he was depositing her into her bed. She watched as he began going through the drawers of her dresser. Then he walked toward her, a comfy, oversize nightshirt in his hand. “Arms up.”

She lifted her hands obediently, both stunned and deliciously pleased as he began to undress her. First, he lifted her shirt and pulled it over her head. He tossed it onto the chair by the bed, then brushed a hand over her hair. Next, he pulled her jeans all the way down and waited patiently as she stepped out of them. Lora kept her eyes on the floor, feeling shy yet special as his fingers brushed against her skin. Then he tugged her panties down the rest of the way. She risked a glimpse at his face and saw that he was gazing at her body with something akin to awe. The sight made her heart thump harder in her chest.

As Nate began to stand up straight, his eyes locked with hers. He smiled, a gentle, loving smile that made her want to throw herself into his arms. Then he was pulling back the comforter on her bed.

No words passed between them as she walked past him and slid into bed. He pulled the comforter up and tucked it in around her as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to take care of her like this.

“Goodnight, Lora.” He gave her a single kiss on the lips that left them tingling before closing the door behind him.