Taming Texanna (11 page)

His mother who silently took his wet things as he stripped at the entrance met him at the door. Both women looked away as he walked naked as a jaybird through his house to his bedroom. He strode out of the bedroom in clean, dry clothing and sat his hat by the fireplace to dry it. He had not said anything to the women the night before, as he wasn’t sure until this morning that his marriage would actually happen.

“When are you bringing her home, son?”

Colton smiled as he slowed his step. “Later today, Pia. Her name is Texanna Rae Grant, but we will try to call her Anna because she prefers it.” He continued walking. “I need to have a place for her things cleared in the bedroom. I’ll build her a wardrobe in the next week or so, but right now, she will have to share mine. Give her as much room as you think she will need, but I don’t really know what that is going to be.”

If he expected his mother or grandmother to say much, he was mistaken.

“It is good that you listened. You need a wife and children. Your Pia needs grandchildren.”

Colton stopped and listened to his Kaku but said nothing about how it had happened so fast. He was not going to explain to them that he had whipped Texanna’s perfect little bottom and that is why she was marrying him because in truth that was just the catalyst. He also felt more of an affinity with her than he had with any other unrelated person. He wouldn’t tell the women any of his feelings toward his soon to be wife, because what they didn’t divine, they didn’t need to know.

Kaku said, “Forget her father, my grandson. If you love her, she will make you happy. Bring her to us. She will be our daughter and we will heal her.” His mother was already in the bedroom making space for Texanna. He never said anything to his two protective relatives about the brokenness, and he knew that it was because they had the good medicine of hearing the spirits. It would be helpful for Texanna, and she would be filling an empty space in his life.

When he arrived in town, he took a couple of moments to stop and make sure it was all set up for the nuptials since they were later than expected. He then pulled up to his cousins, only to find out that his little spitfire with the broken spirit was not there. That woman of his was a wood sprite, taking off whenever she had the notion. There was no doubt about it. He shook his head when Mandy told him.

She had gone home again. He would be having some intense conversations about staying where he put her but he was more concerned about the state she would be in when he caught up with her. He got over to the Grants’ place as soon as he could and groaned when he found that his woman was sitting outside on the stoop. She had loaded the wagon that she had obviously retrieved from the stables and was sitting stiffly, impatiently tapping her foot, arms crossed. As he jumped down from his horse, he saw the remnants of tears. Worry etched his face when he walked up to her.

“You’ve been out too much. I’m not pleased to find you outside instead of inside and warm at Mandy’s house, where I put you.”

“Fine, I’m fine,” she said with defiance in her tone. “I thought it would be okay. I thought that I could get my things outside and be ready. But it was safer if I stayed out here and waited with the wagon.” Fresh tears trailed down her cheeks, and he used his thumbs to wipe them.

“Did he hurt you?” The grit in his voice was apparent.

“Well, no, but he wasn’t nice either. I just decided to stay out here. I have lived with him and all this for at least six or seven years, but he just has gotten harder to handle since I have gotten older. That’s all.”

Colt’s hand swept the air, indicating the wagon loaded with her things. “Did he, at least, help you load your things?”

“No. But I didn’t ask him.”

“You didn’t… fine.”

He nodded his head but decided not to chastise her for disobeying him again until they were out of town. He knew these last few days were emotionally charged enough, and it wasn’t her fault that her father had less than parental concern or acceptable behavior. He would get her married first. Then he would show his displeasure.

After taking stock of each bag, he said, “This it?”

“Yep, it is all I want to fight over.” She paused and then looked at Colton straight in the eye. “Is this really what we should be doing? I mean, I have lived with him this long, I could try to do longer.” Her voice called her a liar and he could hear it clearly.

“Yes, it is.”

Colton heard her continue to give excuses for the reasons why they might be making a mistake marrying so soon. She promised to stay at Mandy’s this time if he wanted to wait. After trying to answer her calmly a few more minutes, he had had enough. He knew this wedding was quick and she was scared. He reached down and kissed her lips to quiet her. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well as he had hoped. He knew it was time just to get it done before she had talked herself into a knot. Firmly, he grabbed the excuse-spouting woman by the hand and helped her up to the wagon. He tied the stable horse to the back, dropped it off as they passed the stables and took her to the preacher.

That paragon of imprudence was more than happy to help them say their vows. He had been the same parson who had spoken to Texanna’s father about her improper behavior. That good man didn’t know the reason for the quick wedding, and Colton was not going to enlighten him. They would worship somewhere else. The town had several churches now it had grown.

When he had spoken to him yesterday, the cleric had said, “Well, how I see it is this. If a U.S. Marshal wants to marry a girl, then he should. He should even be able to marry one that seems to cause more trouble than she should if her father is to be believed. I don’t mind saying I agree with him. She’ll do better married.”

Colton knew it had never crossed the parson’s mind to wonder if they were suited for one another. Her oppressive parent came skidding in halfway through the words and that was more than Colton McFadden wanted, but, at least, she would be able to look back and say her father was there if it ever mattered. It actually would work in their favor for no man could say it was not all in proper order and uncontested. Colt had to go find an errant husband once who had taken a wife under suspicious circumstances. Of course, once it was done, it was done.

Colt’s heritage being what it was might make it come under question, but now his new father-in-law could sign the certificate as well as a witness. The ceremony was quickly accomplished and Texanna visibly relaxed. Colton smiled. He paid the reverend the amount he had heard was the expected gratuity, shook both of those men’s hands, signed the paperwork and allowed her father to give a peck on the reluctant cheek of his daughter. After the awkward goodbye, Colt led his new wife off to her new life.

***

Texanna looked over at her husband in the wagon and wondered how far he lived from town. He had said it wasn’t too far but it was further than she had ever lived. She had always lived in the same little house near the creek. When she thought of the creek, she felt sadness for her loss. No longer would she have the solace of the running water to calm her fears, and concerns. She would not have the swift moving stream to carry, symbolically, her burdens to the furthest reaches of the mother river of the Trinity.

She released a soulful sigh and almost immediately felt Colton’s firm, warm hand slide around her waist. He pulled her over to sit closer to him. It gave her a security she hadn’t had in recent years. She leaned into him and shyly looked up at her husband. She watched him look down at her with a gentle smile, then lean down to kiss the top of her head, squeezing her to his side. She would be all right.

“Anna, honey, wake up. Sweetheart, I’m sorry to wake you but we are almost to the house and I need to talk to you.”

She could see that they had pulled to the side into some shade and Colton had tied off the reins. After a few moments, Colt started talking. “I know it has been an emotional couple of days but I believe we need to start our marriage off the way we want it to be and for me, that means certain things. It means that we discuss the things that we want to happen and the things that should not happen again.”

Texanna did not like the way this was going. She knew he said she was getting a spanking but she had hoped he would let it all go and start fresh.

“I know things haven’t been as they should have been.” She looked up at Colton and saw him raise his eyebrows but didn’t respond in any other way. “And I know I should have made some better choices.” Again, she paused and again he said nothing. She sighed and ran her hands down her dress skirt as though she were pressing wrinkles out of it. “And I know you expect better from me. And…” her voice died off.

“And you know you’re getting a spanking.”

“What? No. I mean, I know you said that yesterday and I know I didn’t listen very well, but there were circumstances that made that happen. It wasn’t as though I wanted to disobey you.”

“You just took an oath to love, honor and obey me and I made one to love, honor and protect. You aren’t meeting your obligation if you don’t do as I say when it is so I can keep my vows.” Colton reached under the bench seat and pulled out the small bundle of switches that he had cleaned the evening before. He had trimmed them and tied them together.

“Um, you aren’t going to use those, are you? I mean are you?” her eyes widened in anxious worry.

“Well, let’s go over the problems at hand. You had an awful out of control mouth in my office yesterday. For a woman, my woman, that is just not agreeable. That right?” Colt handled the bunch of reedy limbs carefully.

“I guess you could say that,” she admitted slowly.

“Yep and I’d say that you knew I wanted you to stay at your pa’s house until I was able to talk to you yesterday afternoon. Sound true?” he cocked his head sideways to look at her.

“Sounds true, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed a place to be so I could think.”

“Well, and then when I told you to spend the night at Mandy’s you didn’t do that. You ended up going home, having a row and spending the night outside. Alone. Where no one knew where you were, with no blankets, no fire, nothing to keep you safe.” Colton was warming up to his subject.

“I had a fire. I always carry something to start a fire.” Too late, she saw that response had been ill-advised for he raised his eyebrows ominously.

“Finally, this morning, when I took you back to Mandy’s and told you, ordered you to stay there until I came to get you, you took right off again.” Colton had worked up some irritation and his voice told the story of it.

Texanna knew she had done too many things to get out of her thrashing so she hung her head and said in a voice barely above a whisper, “Yes, sir.”

Colt’s tone lost its hard edge but there was a firm regret when he next spoke. “Well, I don’t expect to have to deal with this again. Untie your drawers unless you don’t have any on now?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, I have them on. But, Colton, what if someone comes along while you’re, um...”

“Spanking your naughty bottom? Well, they aren’t likely to if you hurry but if they do, all they will see is a disobedient young woman getting her sassy bottom spanked. Believe me, there’s nothing unusual about that. Now get on with it.”

She hiked up her skirts so she could untie her bloomers, letting them fall. Colton helped her over his long legs and he settled her in comfortably.

“Now I don’t do much talking during a whipping. You know what this is for and I don’t think we need to hash it out while I am tapping out an understanding on your rebellious bottom.”

He hiked her skirts up and she could feel the slight breeze touch her unexposed skin and knew that soon she would be grateful for the coolness. Colton ran his large warm hands over her plump, rounded bottom and she felt the warmth tingle in her woman’s place. She knew it had to do with men and women; she just wasn’t sure exactly what. Oh! A heavy hand, her husband’s heavy hand, landed solidly on her nates and she screeched.

“Settle down, you have a long way to go, darlin’. Now these are for your sassy tongue.”

Colton set up a consistent rhythm quickly and landed swat after swat on her upturned, pale fanny. She wailed halfheartedly. Colton told her before, the first time he spanked her, that he paid close attention when he spanked. She hoped that he wouldn’t know it was just lip service trying to stop the onslaught to her rear end. She figured he knew she was not at her limit because he just kept swiping her bottom.

“I don’t want to hear some whine that is not truth. You are already in plenty of trouble as it is.”

He continued to spank her ever-reddening fanny. One, two, three in the same spot then move the other cheek and repeat the count only to finish in the middle covering both, now glowing globes, one, two, and three.

“This is for running off when I told you to wait for me. I am not happy about that.”

Her thighs felt the first of Colton’s many smacks. He painted her thighs with an even coat of slaps for a few, stinging moments.

“Be still while I look at you. I want to make sure I do a thorough job but not too harsh. I promise to always abide by my word and I told you I would never cause you hurt and that includes bruising if I can help it.” He rubbed her rear as he spoke and Texanna almost lifted her bottom for him to meet his hand to get more massaging but just as she had relaxed enough to do that, Colton changed it up again. He tilted further so her bottom was more prominent and her hands were all the way to the buckboard floor. Then the slaps to her tender area, at the crease below her bottom and she thought she had never felt anything so sensitive. Begging was in process before he stopped, not having spent as much time on that area.

“For this morning, after I already had told you to expect a spanking, to do as you were told and to not leave Mandy’s house, you did. I will not put up with that young lady.”

She felt him move a little to the side and saw out of the corner of her eye that he had picked up the bundle of switches and said as he repositioned once again how very much he hoped she remembered this whipping.

“These are going to sting but I intend to make my point.”