Chapter 13

He hadn't really expected her to say that. After the trauma of watching him get hurt, and the way she'd panicked over it, he'd have thought she'd be regretting it all now. He was expecting to have no trouble convincing her to stay away in the future, but maybe he was wrong. She was one hell of a stubborn woman.

"Well, I admit I was happy you were there, the way it all worked out. I'm more comfortable here than I would be back at the ranch, and looking forward to some extra time with you. But I could have done without starting off with such a serious punishment."

"Yeah, okay me too," she admitted. She squirmed in his lap, curling up tighter.

Nick hid the wince and tried not to show how badly his leg was throbbing. He wouldn't have given up the post-spanking cuddles for anything, but his leg was really not loving it. His hand slid down to her bare backside, stroking the heated skin in a gentle caress.

"Daddy?"

"Yep?"

"Are you really going to do this all week?" Her voice was soft, hesitant.

"Sure am. Once a day, right before you do your sentences. And, speaking of…" He trailed off, letting her connect the dots.

"Oh no, please. I don't want to sit down. It's going to hurt." A little whine had crept into her voice.

"Kinda the idea, darlin'. Your butt will hurt the whole time you're writing. That way your brain can connect the pain with the words. Hopefully you'll remember next time."

She complained a little, but the punishment had put her in a docile headspace, and she carefully climbed out of his lap.

There was no way for her to do that without causing him pain, but he gritted his teeth and did his best to hide it until she was up. The strain immediately lessened, and he could breathe easily again.

Katie stooped to grab her jeans, but he stopped her. "Uh-uh. Bare ass on the chair, Katlynn Jean."

The furtive expression made it pretty obvious she hadn't forgotten, but was hoping he had. She sighed dramatically as she retrieved the blue notebook from the counter and plopped it on the table. The chair got a nasty look before she eased herself down on it with extra care.

It was unfortunate that the old dining set was unpadded wood, with no cushion to soften her seat. Not that it would have done her much good—Nick would have had her take the cushion off, or he'd have come up with another way to make her sitting uncomfortable. This just turned out to be simple.

Nick watched her get started and then hauled himself to his feet, fumbling with the crutches. He paused to drop a kiss on the top of her head, and then returned to the couch to put his leg up. He was probably going to regret all the strain on his knee later, but Katie was his first priority. Establishing how things would go from the start was important.

He hadn't given her all that many lines to write, and it wasn't long before she came to join him on the couch. It took some maneuvering, but they managed to fit together without annoying his leg. She was extra snuggly, probably a leftover from the emotional turbulence.

"Feeling okay?" he asked.

"Sleepy, drained."

"That's normal. Punishment can take a lot out of you."

"Yeah, I guess so. It wasn't what I expected." Her voice was quiet, thoughtful.

"I tried to tell you." He was quiet for a minute, waiting to see if she had anything to say. "How do you feel about what happened?"

She tilted her head back, looking up at him. "You mean me turning into a soggy mess?"

He chuckled. "That too."

"Well, I'm not going to push for punishment any time soon."

When she didn't say anything else, he considered asking a more pointed question, but then she started talking again. "I think it was weirdly good for me? I mean, I don't feel guilty anymore, and I see what you mean about the catharsis."

"So, you think you're going to be able to live with rules and consequences?" It felt like a good time to ask, since she seemed to be in a reflective mood.

"Maybe. I mean, I think so, but I'm not sure. Today… well, not lying to your partner, not breaking promises, those are really rules that everyone has. Even if we weren't Dom and sub, you'd have a reason to be mad about that. There'd be some kind of consequence, and this is probably way better than having a big fight."

"True."

"Having rules about my life seems different. I'm not sure yet, but I did write out my lists. Do you want to hear?"

He did, so she told him about the things she wanted to work on, and her long-term goals. They negotiated some first steps that didn't make her too nervous. He built a few rules from that and added a few more that he thought would be good for her.

The final list they decided on was short and simple. "How's that sound, sweetheart?"

"That's… it?"

"Yep."

"Oh. I thought…" She trailed off, her mouth tilted down and forehead creased.

"You thought I'd be giving you bedtimes and having you make your bed every day?"

"Kind of."

He laughed. "Do you need those things?"

"No." She rolled her eyes. "I like my bed unmade, and I get plenty of sleep."

"Then you don't need rules for them. A submissive's rules are meant to improve things and give them a feeling of structure. If it's micromanaging their life, then that's not going to help in the long run." He didn't add that he had no intention of trying to control every move she made. If she didn't know that by now, then she'd figure it out eventually.

"What if I decide I hate the rules we made?"

"Then we'll discuss it and see how it needs to change," he assured her.

"What if I want you to have more control?"

"Then we'll discuss that too. Communication, darlin'. It's the key."

The tension went out of her body, and she slumped against him with a long sigh. "I think I'll be okay with it." She sounded almost surprised.

He laughed. "Good. But sweetheart, I should warn you…"

Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing, as if she expected bad news.

He hid his amusement. She wasn't the only one who liked to tease. "Just because we've added some stuff, doesn't mean we're dropping anything else. There's still gonna be all the sexy bedroom kink you can handle. And as soon as my leg is better, I intend to fuck you properly, because it's been way too long."

Had it only been a couple of weeks since he'd bent her over the bed, tied her legs open and fucked her until she was babbling? It felt like so much longer.

The suspicious expression dropped away. She pursed her lips and shook her head. "You need to hurry up and get better, cowboy. I expect you to keep your word, pronto."

"I intend to. Trust me, darlin'. It'll give me some motivation to get better fast. Give me a week and I'll be ready to go," he said, hoping the promise wasn't too rash.

But it turned out that being in the same house was too much of a temptation for both of them. They made it all of four days before they were too desperate for each other to wait. They probably wouldn't have made it that long, except it turned out that staying on the couch was better for his leg. It was too hard to position himself in the bed, and Katie was a restless sleeper sometimes.

Between the ice and the prednisone, the swelling in his knee was down by Tuesday. The oxy helped with the pain, but meant he slept a lot, so he started tapering off after just a couple of days. He found that keeping it up was the best relief, and by Friday it was barely giving him a twinge unless he was standing for too long.

On Friday night, after Katie had finished her daily lines, she came to him on the couch. She hadn't put her pants back on yet, and was just looking for comfort. "Hmm," she said, examining the way he was sprawled there, with his leg up on a pillow. "I wonder if…"

One eyebrow went up. "Wonder if what?"

"Let me try something." She climbed over him, knees on either side of his hips, and then settled her bare ass down on his crotch. "How does that feel, Daddy?"

Nick groaned. "Like you want another spanking for teasing me." His hands came to rest at her waist.

"Pshh. I mean, is it hurting your leg?" She bounced a little, gently at first and then with more enthusiasm.

His other eyebrow joined the first and disappeared into his tousled hairline. "Actually… no. Not at all."

"Perfect. Then I think, maybe, we can have a little fun before I have to go get ready for work."

She took his face in her hands and kissed him long and deep, exploring his mouth like it was new territory. He groaned as he felt himself harden. The kissing went on until he was pressing painfully against the front of his jeans.

The position meant it was incredibly easy to go from kissing to… more. Her hand walked down the center of his shirt slowly, while her mouth was locked on his, and then he felt her undoing his belt, unbuttoning his fly, and easing his zipper down.

His erection sprang free, and her hand wrapped around it, pumping slowly up and down. He broke away from her mouth and began to kiss his way down to her neck, nipping at the tender flesh under her chin. "Mine, darlin'. All mine."

"All yours," she agreed in a low, breathy voice that was full of eagerness.

His hands skimmed up under her t-shirt to cup her breasts. His thumbs strummed across each nipple until they hardened under the attention. He would never get over how reactive she was. Every part of her seemed to come alive at his touch.

He leaned in, and caught one nipple through the cloth, sucking it into his mouth. His teeth closed on it, slowly increasing the pleasure until she gasped. He switched to the other and gave it the same treatment.

When he got tired of the thin barrier between them, he lifted the shirt over her head, and tossed it away, so he could devour her bare breasts with his mouth and tongue. Her skin was so smooth and soft. She had a slight smell of strawberries from the cheap body wash she used.

And she was all his.

Katie moaned and reached one hand between her thighs to play with her pussy. He could feel her fingers moving busily, smell the scent of her arousal, as she fingered herself. Her other hand continued to stroke his cock with firm up and down motions that had him shifting under her.

"Ride me, darlin'. Climb on and ride me," he said. Her fingers made a wet slurping sound as she slid them out of her pussy. He loved that fucking sound.

She knelt up so she could ease his cock between her legs, guiding the head so it slid through her folds and found her entrance. She squirmed a little, adjusting to find just the right angle and then she sank down on his length with a low contented sigh. "I've been missing this."

"Same, sweetheart, same. I thought we were going to have to wait a little longer, but this seems to be working just fine." Better than fine really.

She flexed her muscles around him, caressing him from the inside, and he bit back a groan. "Careful… you don't want it over too soon," he warned her.

She laughed. "No, we wouldn't want that, but let me know if it starts to hurt, Daddy. It's not worth making things worse."

He was absolutely not going to let her know, because at this point, he was committed to finishing. He reached behind her and pinched her ass. After most of a week of daily spankings, she was tender, and the pinch made her yelp and roll her hips as she moved away from the pain. "Daddy! Rude!"

Her pussy tightened around him, squeezing, holding him firmly. The sensation distracted her from worrying about his leg, and distracted him from, well, everything. She grabbed onto his shoulders for balance and began to ride him.

At first it was tentative, and she watched him with a worried look for any hint it was hurting him. She rolled her hips carefully, lifting and settling with each gentle forward motion, but when he didn't show any sign of pain, she gradually picked up speed, until she was bouncing up and down on his cock with glorious enthusiasm.

He gripped her ass in both hands and squeezed to encourage her. He suspected she enjoyed the reminder of the spanking, and it was adding to her arousal, because she worked ever more frantically afterward.

Nick snapped his hips upwards as much as he could without causing himself too much pain, but Katie did most of the work. The way she rose and fell, the way she worked her muscles around him, he couldn't last for long.

"Come for me, Daddy."

He growled. "That's my line, darlin'."

"I'm almost there," she assured him. She let her head tip and her back arch as she reached her arms behind her and braced herself on his thighs. Her hips circled, drawing low noises of pleasure from both of them as she ground down against him.

The change in position shifted everything. He could feel the tight winding coil begin low in his body. His balls felt full and tight as he was dragged toward the edge.

With a breathless laugh she came, and the way she tightened around his cock at the moment of climax, squeezing, milking him, wrenched a curse from his mouth. It was impossible to hold back. He managed one or two hard thrusts upwards as he spilled into her, and then collapsed back against the couch with a grunt.

"Wish we'd figured out this position a few days ago, we would have saved ourselves all this sexual deprivation," she said, sighing as she sprawled against his chest and wiggled to get comfortable.

The movement sent an aftershock through him, and he twitched. Grumbling, "Stop squirming around, Katiegirl."

She giggled, but obeyed, mostly.

There was no hurry to get up, and the closeness of the position was nice for both of them. With his cock still cradled inside of her, it was almost like they were one person, but eventually he softened, and they separated into two again.

The feeling of sliding out of her was almost too much for his overly sensitized body. He gritted his teeth and willed her to stay still until it passed. But then he noticed the time.

"You better get ready for work, or you'll be late," he pointed out. "You're definitely going to need a shower before you go."

"Ugh, that's right and I was supposed to go in early to help with inventory today." She sighed and rolled off him, being careful not to jar his leg.

It was throbbing a little; toward the end he'd been a bit more enthusiastic than he should have been, but it wasn't any worse than when he had to stand for a shower. Some ice would set it right, and it was getting better every day.

After she'd hurried out the door, he was left alone to relax. It was going to be a pleasant night. His body was sated. His heart was full, and he had an old William W. Johnston paperback to read.

It was nice… being here with her. Even if it was only temporary, it felt right. He'd already gotten used to waking up with her daily. Leaving was going to be painful, when he eventually had to go back to work.

But he could see them making it permanent someday. Maybe that day would come sooner, thanks to this little interlude. At least they'd gotten a trial run at living together. Weird to be grateful for a rodeo injury, but he was, in a way.

What the future held, he couldn't say, but one thing was for sure. Katie was his and they were compatible in all the ways that mattered. That was enough for now.

If you loveNick and Katie and want to see more of them, you can find their prequel, and future books here: The Rough Daddy Series. This series will continue.