Rescuing Lilly (5 page)

"That'd be great. I just figured you were too busy for something like that," she said, her voice trailing off at the end of the sentence.

Jake pulled her head back to look at her in confusion. "Why would you think that? I can make some free time every now and then," he said, smiling.

"Sylvia just told me that all you pretty much do is work," she answered somberly.

"What else did Sylvia tell you about me?" he said playfully, squeezing her tightly against him.

"Nothing," she squeaked. "Just that you are a giant ogre and you lock women up in your bedrooms to bore them to death." She laughed as his face made an 'O.' After a second, his face turned to a playful smile and he moved his hands to her waist

"Oh yeah," he said, starting to tickle her waist until she burst into laughter. "What else did she tell you?" Lilly rolled back and forth on the bed attempting to escape from his tickling grip. She laughed until her eyes were brimming with tears before she started pleading.

"Ok! She really didn't say that!" she said in between bouts of laughter. "I made it up! I made it up!"

Jake stopped and leaned on his elbow next to her on the bed. "What did I tell you about lying, young lady?" he asked, sounding extremely serious. Lilly's face dropped and her spine began to tingle. Jake noticed her reaction and realized she didn't know he was playing. "I'm just kidding," he grinned. "You ready for some dinner?"

Lilly nodded her head and smiled. He was starting to seem nicer every day. Well, he at least had nice moments so far in each day. When he got up off the bed and held out his hand for her to take, she smiled and put her hand in his and they walked downstairs to the kitchen.

---oOo---

Dinner was more pleasant than Lilly could have imagined. Sylvia and Jake acted as if they were family, joking back and forth between each other. She hadn't seen Jake act so casually and nonchalant other than a few minutes ago in the bed room. It wasn't until Sylvia started asking Lilly more personal questions about her life that things became a little more awkward.

"So what brings you to Texas, Lilly?" Sylvia asked, gathering the plates off of the table.

"Oh you know, just traveling. No particular reason," Lilly tried to answer coolly. She noticed Jake's glare from across the table but decided to ignore it.

"Most people that are planning to drive for a vacation have their vehicles checked before making such a long trip," Jake interjected, getting a sense that there were a lot of details Lilly was omitting from her story. "Nobody advised you of that when you told them you were leaving? A boyfriend? A brother?" he goaded, trying to get her to reveal the truth.

Lilly felt like shrinking in her chair. She didn't want to explain why she just upped and left. It wasn't always her style to drop everything and run away, but she had felt so trapped and knew that no one would just let her leave if she told them she was planning it. Lilly decided to change the subject. "Would anyone like another glass of wine?" she asked, getting up from the table and walking over to the counter to pour herself another glass.

Lilly gulped down the remainder in her glass and yanked the cork out of the opened bottle. She poured herself a generous amount and turned it up to gulp it down, thinking maybe a little alcohol would dull the moment and she could slip back upstairs without answering any more questions. Before she could take two sips, Jake's hand was on her wrist.

"That's enough," he said firmly.

Lilly paused and looked into his determined stare. His anger emanated off of his body and she felt like running, but his grip on her wrist was tightening. Reluctantly she set the glass on the counter.

"I want to know what's going on and I want to know now," he demanded.

"It's none of your business!" Lilly screeched, realizing how much she sounded like a dramatic teenager afterwards. She yanked her arm out of his grip and turned for the stairs, practically running once she reached them.

"Jake!" Sylvia scolded as she heard Lilly's door slam, "Why don't you stop pressuring the poor girl and then maybe she will talk to you."

"It doesn't matter if I'm pressuring her or not, I'm not going to sit back and let her act like a bratty child. I'm going up there," he stated, turning on his heel to head to Lilly's room.

Sylvia almost interrupted but knew she couldn't persuade Jake to change his mind once he set it. She started cleaning up the dishes, waiting for the yelling to start.

---oOo---

Lilly slammed the bedroom door behind her and began throwing her clothes into her suitcase. She refused to stay a minute longer and have that man force her to talk to him. It wasn't any of his business. Sure he saved her from dying on the highway and he gave her a place to stay, but that didn't mean he had to know every detail of her life. Just as she was zipping up the bag, Jake flung the door open.

"Don't you know how to knock!" Lilly screamed.

"I shouldn't have to knock in my own house," he said in an eerily calm voice that made her even more nervous about his presence. "Sit down, Lilly."

Lilly obediently sat down, unsure of his calm demeanor. She fidgeted with the bedspread as he took two steps closer to her. His arms were crossed and his hair was disheveled, as if he had been running his hand through it in frustration. The muscle in his jaw continued to tighten and loosen as if he was holding back a rant. Lilly watched him as he paced two steps one way and then two steps back horizontally in front of her.

"If you are going to say something, will you just go ahead and say it," she spat at him, frustrated that he was getting to her just by his actions.

He immediately stopped his pacing, took the last two steps toward her until he was inches from her face. He put his hands on either side of her hips on the bed, leaning over her. "You are going to stop this attitude right now. I have every mind to put you over my knee for how you acted downstairs. You were disrespectful to Sylvia and to me when we were only trying to get to know you a little better."

Lilly felt like a scolded child. She hadn't been treated like this since she was kid and didn't know how to react. Jake's intense closeness prevented her from running away and the guilt she felt for treating Sylvia badly was building up like thick cement pouring into her stomach. She felt rooted to the bed.

"Lilly, start talking or I'll follow through with that spanking," Jake promised.

"I don't think you have the right to know anything," she responded defiantly. She wasn't sure if he would actually follow through but she was not about to tell this stranger her entire past, no matter what he threatened to do.

"Alright," he said grimly, grabbing her upper arm, he put his arm around her waist and lifted her up off the bed. "Have it your way."

Before she could stop him, Jake had lifted her and set her face-down over his lap so her stomach was resting between his legs and her bottom was facing up directly over his right knee. She attempted to wrestle free of his grip, but his left arm still had a strong hold around her waist.

SMACK!

"OW! Stop that! This is ridiculous!" she yelled, using all of her energy to wriggle off of his lap. He merely continued his rain on her bottom without a word for the next half dozen smacks.

Lilly's short cotton shorts were doing little to prevent the pain of the blows as he continued. The more she struggled, the higher they were riding up her thighs. She didn't think it was possible that it could sting that much! Granted, the first time he did this, she had been wearing jeans. She didn't realize how much of a difference that made! After the next dozen or so, she couldn't bear it any longer and threw her hand back to protect her reddening butt.

"No, I don't think so," he said, latching onto her wrist and stabilizing it with his hand at the base of her back.

Lilly started to panic. She couldn't escape the torturous smacks and she could feel the tears starting to form in her eyes. "Please! Please! It hurts! Stop!" she cried out as he landed two smacks to the top of her bare thighs.

Jake stopped and rested his hand on her bottom. "Are you ready to start talking? Or do I need to continue?"

"I don't know what you want me to say," she whined, praying he was done.

"I want you to tell me what you are running from. I don't know what happened to you, but I can't help you unless you tell me." His voice was strained. He wished she would just start talking, but he didn't think it was going to be that easy.

"Please. Can't you just let it go?" she begged, hoping he would give up.

"No. I'm not going to let it go, especially when you start treating people who are trying to help you disrespectfully. Sylvia has been nothing but nice to you and you ignored her questions, then you ran up here without even thanking her for dinner."

Lilly felt like she was shrinking two feet as he scolded her. Lying over his lap in the vulnerable position didn't help matters either. She knew she shouldn't have treated Sylvia that way, but he was making her so mad the way he was trying to pry answers from her.

When she made no move to answer, Jake grabbed the waistband of her shorts and started pulling them down. Lilly shot her hand back to hold them in place.

"No! Don't! That's embarrassing!"

"I think it's just as embarrassing as the way you behaved downstairs," he countered.

"Jake, please," she begged, "I'm sorry for how I acted but please don't take them down. I'll apologize to Sylvia. I should have never treated her that way."

Jake heard her sincere plea and decided it sounded honest. He didn't want to push her too far away. He shocked himself by letting her up off his lap. He had intended on a longer punishment, but she really did sound apologetic and he didn't want to force her to talk and then regret it. He grabbed her waist and pulled her up to stand in front of him. He held her wrists at her sides as he spoke.

"Listen. I want you to go apologize to Sylvia right now. Then I want you to march right back up here so I can change this bandage for you," he said, nodding at her hand. The doctor had given him all of the gauze, tape, and medication with instructions for changing the bandage every 36 hours.

Lilly turned to walk away, but Jake's hands still held firmly on her wrists. "I'm not done yet," he said pulling on her arm to look back at him. "I'm not going to force you to tell me about what happened to you or what you're running from, but I can promise you I will not hesitate to bare your behind the next time you disrespect me or anyone else on this ranch. Do you understand me?" Lilly nodded. "Answer me please. I don't want any misunderstandings so please tell me in words that you heard me."

"I understand," she muttered, still embarrassed from his mention of spanking her naked behind.

"Ok. Just want to make sure we're clear. Go on downstairs, I'll wait for you here," he said, giving her a light swat as she turned for the door.

Lilly trudged down the steps. She knew that Sylvia had to have heard what happened upstairs, and it made it all the more embarrassing coming to apologize directly after the incident. She walked in the kitchen as Sylvia was washing the pots in the sink. Very slowly, she made her way up next to her and grabbed a towel to help her dry.

"I'm really sorry I was rude earlier. You didn't deserve that," she said honestly, still staring at the dish cloth in her hands.

Sylvia continued washing, acting as if nothing had happened. "Don't you worry about that honey, I know you are probably just stressed right now." Lilly sighed in relief. Sylvia was the most understanding person she had every met in her life. "I should warn you though, Jake is not one to give up on something once he has his mind set. He is a good guy at heart and he can be very sweet if you give him a chance," she added, giving Lilly a meaningful look.

"His hand certainly isn't very sweet," Lilly muttered.

Sylvia turned to face Lilly and rubbed her shoulders. "I know you don't understand now, but he only does that because he cares."

"Seems like a strange way to show it," Lilly uttered. She used to imagine getting spanked by a man when she was in college, and it always seemed so erotic and exciting. She wondered if Jake ever spanked like that. The only spankings she'd received from him were hard and painful. His threat of them still sent those arousal tingles down her spine but she wasn't sure how much she wanted him to actually follow through with those threats, especially after experiencing them twice. "Well I guess I better get back upstairs," Lilly said, leaving Sylvia at the sink.

Sylvia watched as Lilly walked away, glancing at the faint pink handprints at the top of her thighs. She fondly remembered her husband who had no qualms about taking her over his knee before he passed six years ago. She loved that man for his dominance and attentiveness, even if it meant a sore behind. She considered how she could explain Jake's action to Lilly. She didn't want her to be frightened of him, and maybe she could help her understand his values and views on relationships.

Lilly opened the door to her bedroom to find Jake sitting on a chair next to the bed with a tray of gauze, medical tape, and ointment laid out on a tray situated on the nightstand by his side. She walked over to him and sat in front of him on the bed. "Alright Dr. Jake, I'm ready," she joked, smiling at him. She didn't know why she wasn't really angry at him. She actually felt better, de-stressed actually, since he spanked her.