Rancher's Creed (Ciaran O'Connor Book 2) Read online

  "Nothing, just those things I told you but he was a bit more aggressive than I liked."

  "Umm-hmm. Is that it? Is that all of it?"

  "Yes," she stuttered. He wasn't convinced but let her do the telling.

  "Do you think I'm like him?"

  "No. God, no." She adamantly shook her head.

  "I already spanked you for behavior. While that wasn't an intense spanking, it's about what you can expect for breaking our family rules unintentionally or thoughtlessly. Purposely will be a different story. Lying is not to be tolerated and the lie of omission counts as a lie. Are you sure you don't want to tell me anything else?"

  "No. I told you everything."

  He didn't believe her, but it was her story to tell so he moved on, knowing they would be here again at some point. He hoped that by the time she got to that point, too much had not already happened to make the telling painful.

  "Remember these are rules that we create together, tonight. So let's get started."

  Katie tried to get up, but Ciarán did not allow it. He knew her well enough to know that if she physically separated she could mentally do the same. She had used that tactic earlier. They began the negotiations and came to some reasonable expectations for their marriage that both agreed to.

  As they were preparing to leave, Ciaran kissed Katie and then said, "We have one last bit of business before we go home."

  "What's that?"

  "I want to start us off right and so I'm going to spank you for jeopardizing our relationship with the information you had about that previous boyfriend that you didn't share with me. Because you doubted the strength of my love for you. Katherine, I want you to agree by placing yourself over my lap."

  "What? Ciaran we didn't have that rule in place and I hadn't agreed to it until just now."

  "So are you telling me that you didn't think that you should have divulged this information before now? That you didn't have any idea, it would harm our relationship if it came out later? That I didn't have a right to know you had a previous relationship that got out of control? One that dealt with the same things we discussed were going to be part of our marriage, therefore, letting me know that there are some things needed to be done with caution as I prove to you through showing you I will not turn the way he did. Have you stopped having panic attacks?"

  "Ciaran it was an old boyfriend. I didn't know whether it was important or not."

  "Really? Not even after we talked about what we would experiment with in the bedroom and what we mutually enjoyed? Not even when you have panic attacks associated with that time? And you are set off by other things?"

  Katie let out a sigh and her shoulders slumped as she dropped her head. "No, I knew I should tell you. I just didn't know how." Her head came up. "I didn't want you to ask me a bunch of questions about it because I just want to forget it."

  "So now you understand why I think this qualifies for a spanking. You knowingly jeopardized our relationship by withholding information. And you believed my love wasn't strong enough to handle it and you didn't even give me the chance to do right by you."

  "I know. I guess I'm still worried you might go overboard by accident."

  Ciarán's tone changed to one of calm authority that she had heard in Liam so often when he was trying to sway Jocelyn to his way of thinking. He scooted her out of his lap and helped her to stand between his thighs. He helped her lay over his knee, helping her into position over the sofa cushion. He calmly rubbed her back and bottom as she tried to calm her fears to a manageable level as she wiggled and squirmed.

  "Trust me, Katie, settle some."

  He made sure she had a pillow from the sofa for her head or to cover her head and he said, "You can yell all you want out here; you won't bother anyone."

  "Yell? Am I going to want to? Kie, wait, maybe we don't need to start this until we are married."

  "Cute. We already started it. Now do you know why we are having this little session, a lómhara, my precious?

  "Because I made you mad. I didn't tell you things earlier. Ciarán, please, I believe you, I trust you. I won't do it again."

  Ciarán thought she had not told it all even now, but he was not addressing that tonight. She needed to know that she should not keep things from him that could jeopardize their relationship.

  "You are partly right. I am not angry, but you withheld things that could have helped our relationship and could have hurt it if you didn't disclose it. You believed I would take my love back and my love was not strong enough to deal with some information." Ciarán reached down and felt the padded thickness of her flannel lined jeans and reached around to unsnap and began to unzip them, startling Katie.

  "Shh, mo chroí, you're okay. I am just going to take your jeans off, because you aren't going to get any message through them with me just using my hand."

  Ciarán worked quickly. Katie thought how hot this would be if he were not about to warm her up a different way.

  Then Ciarán rubbed small, close circles on her plump, softly rounded nether cheeks covered by utilitarian black cotton panties. He waited until Katie began to relax before landing the first three swats in rapid succession on one cheek, repeating the process on the other cheek before rubbing again. Katie immediately reached back her hand and Ciarán warned that she needed to keep her hands out of the way and held them fast when it was obvious she was unable to do that.

  Katie moaned. She did not want to like the feeling, but she did and she had before, with Stuart. She quickly mentally chanted that this was Kie, not Stuart as her panic button was experiencing pressure. Her legs began to kick with the next few rounds of swats. Her mind was confused between the way her body felt and the way her mind thought.

  Finally needing to gain control, he pinned her legs with his right leg and pulled down her panties.

  "Wait."

  "I need to see your sweet bottom, honey. I need to see how red you are getting."

  He began to swat her bottom cheeks in earnest, all the while talking quietly. "You are going to apologize for not trusting me to love you unconditionally. You must be ready to commit to this marriage and our relationship, starting with you believing and trusting my word. You need to learn to respect me, our relationship and yourself by being honest and forthcoming when something comes up that could jeopardize what we have."

  "Wait, this isn't safety or health."

  "The health of our relationship and mental health. You bet."

  Once over the initial shock, and after he stopped her kicking and swatting at him, he could feel her stiffening and he moaned inwardly at her resolve of not to give in was taking hold.

  "Katherine, mo ghrá, my love, please do not dig in your heels because we are going to be here for as long as we need to and I did not want to finish this evening with a raw butt and a sore hand. I wanted to end it with love, kisses, and promises of more with greater things to come next weekend. Relax and think about this. Absorb the smacks and feel your regret and let it go."

  The tempo increased from slow and methodical to not allowing thought to cohabitate with pain. "Relax and just release, baby, because this is not supposed to be so hard. Please just feel them and let go," he continued to beg, leading her in what she needed to release.

  Katie could be as stubborn as any of the women in the O'Connor family that she was about to join. With a sigh of regret, Ciarán began to spank harder and faster, not giving her any time to do anything but feel. He moved off of her rounded mounds that was her bottom proper and he began to concentrate on the upper and lower regions of her bottom, her sweet spot, as well as moved down to her thighs. The final location move seemed to do the trick and she began to wiggle and squirm again, this time in discomfort accompanied by vocals when each swat happened. Ciarán began to feel hope that this would soon end and he picked up the pace delivering hard, rapid slaps deepening her skin to cranberry.

  "Kie, honey, please, stop, this hurts. You said you wouldn't hurt me."

  "No, I said it would h
urt, but I would not harm you. You are not harmed, it just hurts, two different things. You are fine, pride not hurt, bottom hurting, but that is all."

  "Oh… Oh… please, Ciarán, I know you mean what you say, and I was just scared and worried. Please, please stop. I promise I won't ever doubt your love and I'll tell you everything."

  "What do you need to say, Katie?"

  "Sooorrrryy!" she yelled.

  "Nope. Right word, wrong tone." Swat, swat, swat.

  "Please, please!" And then it happened, what Ciarán had been waiting for; Katie burst into tears and sincerely cried. The fight was visibly gone from her; she was thankfully through the barrier.

  "I am sorry, so sorry. I trust you, I know you love me, I'm just scared." Immediately, Ciarán had her upright on his lap; calming her, kissing her.

  "Shhh, baby, shhh, you're okay now. It is over now. You are fine. Hush, sweetheart. There you go. I don't want you to be scared of us. Of what we are together. Calm now." Ciarán kissed her wet face and cuddled her close, loving her and rocking her until she was under control.

  After leaning into his strength for a while, Katie sat up and said, "Oh my gosh, my butt hurts. It's funny but I feel fine. Better even."

  "Hmm, so is this a method we will employ in our marriage within the boundaries we have set out, my beautiful lady?"

  "I guess it works. Okay. But what about if I change my mind? I mean this hurts."

  "Sweetheart, we will always talk."

  "All right, I guess I give my consent. We can have these types of discussions when needed, but they better not be often, Ciarán O'Connor," Katie ended with her feistiness returning.

  "Yes, ma'am, I leave it up to you and your choices." He ducked when she swatted him with the pillow. He leaned in for some long slow kisses.

  One week later, Ciarán James O'Connor and Katherine Jelese Franklin exchanged vows before the whole O'Connor clan, Katherine's father, and some community members. The reception was as magical as Katie had hoped and everyone cheered when the newlyweds drove off for their short honeymoon. Jocelyn said it was more than she got, and Liam, in response, promised her a honeymoon later. For now, he wanted a lazy wife with a beautiful, healthy baby at the end of the adventure. He needed to settle his now large clan into their places. Jocelyn smiled and agreed.

  The first night as a married couple was very tense for Katie. Ciarán, realizing that, set out to make her more comfortable by making her hotter than she had ever been before.

  "Mo brídeach aláinn, my beautiful bride." He unhurriedly removed her clothes creating a slow burn. He carefully took his time by gently taking her lips and pressing them to his, tantalizing them with the moist heat of his mouth. He teased her tongue with his and moved onto her cheeks, her eyes, bathing her face in his warm breath. Her breasts were breaking out in gooseflesh as he slid his tongue and fingers across her skin. Her chest began to rise and fall rapidly as she drew in and forced out air in faster and faster succession.

  Ciarán smiled when she began to moan softly and release quiet mews when he would leave one area to minister to another. Katie's breathing became more pronounced when he reached to touch her mons as his hand glided onto her pulse spot and she quickly reached to stay his hand.

  "Shh, sweetheart, let go and let me love you." He slowly took her hands as he slid her arms up, wrapping them around the spindles of the headboard. He suckled her breasts tenderly, tugging with ever-increasing strength only to release as he massaged the pain to tingling sparks. "Give yourself to me and let me love you," Ciarán said in a deep husky voice filled with emotion.

  He kissed down to her thatch of dark hair and she slid her hands towards the spot he kissed. "No, this, sweetness, belongs to me now, and I want to touch, play, and love it. Put your hands where I put them."

  He helped her move her hands away, giving him access once again to her moist, needy pulse. As he navigated his hungry tongue through her channel and teased her nerve button, he could hear her sighs and mews of arousal. He smiled in gratification as he slowly brought her to the brink of insanity and then eased back repeatedly, as a storm that never quite arrived. She moaned and began to beg for release. Ciarán kissed and rubbed, teased and tormented her heated flesh before asking Katie if she was ready for fireworks. Katherine, barely rational, begged for mercy and mercy he gave, pushing her to the brink and letting her fall over the cliff headlong into ecstasy.

  Long moments later as her pulse began to slow and her body to relax after the explosion, she sighed. "Now is it your turn?"

  To which he moaned, "Oh, no, we will ride this next wave together, in tandem."

  He allowed her some access as he began his quicker ascent to the top of Mount Pleasure. He kissed and pleasured his beautiful bride, bringing her to the pinnacle yet again. It was nearing the time for both of them as she kissed the head of his cock inciting his manhood to leap with pleasure. Ciarán had been careful to orchestrate his arousal with tight control that was nearly exhausted as he prepared to unify their bodies into marital bliss.

  He paused to ask if she was certain she wanted him to go unsheathed and Katie, blinded by anything but pleasure and completion, confirmed the choice as she lifted her hips in an attempt to hurry him along. She moaned and sighed as he merged their lives, body, and soul, skin to skin, to bring them to the edge of the star-studded atmosphere. They were one.

  Later, lying in each other's arms, loving the afterglow feel of this first night of lovemaking, Ciarán asked his bride if she was truly okay with no protection. Katie shrugged her shoulders and said, "Tonight yes, who knows about tomorrow. If you like, we can deal with it another day but not now."

  Ciarán, ready for round three, just said, "Whatever you say, mo chroí. Roll this way so I have access."

  Chapter Two

  Valentine's Day was never a holiday Ciarán had bothered with as an adult until this year. He always sent his mother something and if he were around one of his sisters, he would buy the token chocolates; but this year, its significance was tangible. He looked over at the woman who was his wife for almost twenty-four hours and his heart almost seized with emotion. He ached with the desire to make life perfect for her.

  He was not any different from most men in his economic position, he had little doubt he could buy her happiness if that is what happiness was. However, for him, happiness was a state of being to be achieved. He and Katherine had worked for this contentment and he was damned if he was going to lessen his efforts. This was the beginning of the hard work to make sure it endured.

  He had room service come at precisely ten-thirty in the morning. It was time enough to sleep in, have a luxurious tumble, a hot shower with hopefully more physical gratification, and then breakfast. His timing was perfect. They ate a lovely breakfast of bellini's, poached eggs with salmon and capers in a delicate hollandaise sauce, toast points and hot coffee. Katherine lowered her guard further each time they made love; each time he showed her how essential she was to his world.

  They took a walk through the resort, enjoying the tropical environment, and each other. They participated in a mystery dinner theater and their table companions laughed when Ciarán turned out to be the murderer because he was obviously more preoccupied with his bride than killing anyone. He took some good-natured ribbing and plenty of congratulations from those vacationing couples who tried to recapture the excruciatingly heady ache of newly wedded love.

  Husband and wife ended the evening with love in their Jacuzzi. Katie showed her appreciation for the special attention to the day by offering some special attention of her own that was received gratefully and reverently by her groom. Outside their window was a St. Valentine's Day fireworks display, however, it was missed by at least one couple in lieu of their own.

  The week flew by. Katie and Ciarán returned home anxious to set up temporary housekeeping at Liam and Jocelyn's. By the end of the first full week home, they were putting in the flooring, installing cabinetry and putting up trim.

  Life began to
take up a new rhythm. Liam and Ciarán sat with their respective managers to draw up plans to expand the equine program to include a dog-breeding plan. Ciarán wanted to extend the training for search and rescue dogs. They had worked with some and wanted to train them and possibly other dogs for other reasons which meant they needed to do some research. Liam added three bisons that were near starvation on the open range and was glad that none of his late season calves was worse for wear so far this winter. Ciarán took the time to work on the expansion of all stock by setting the breeding tables for review.

  The women were preparing for the newness of a different variety. Katie had spoken to Jocelyn and Liam about the good, the bad, and the mess of home births several times. They had decided to deliver at home if things looked good with the doctor coming near the end of her delivery. If Katie were there, she would attend with Liam. Ciarán kindly but quickly declined the offer to attend the birth. Ciarán, however, repeatedly stated to all who would listen, that while he had no place in the decision-making process for Liam and Jocelyn, he had an opinion about his own wife. He proclaimed loudly that Katie was not birthing at home whenever that blessed event occurred for them. Katherine rolled her eyes and kissed her husband tolerantly.

  Katie's routine returned to some normalcy, but every day she came home from very chaotic days to chaos in the new house. It was difficult living at someone else's place, lots of constant planning between the brothers, and sometimes nightly activity in the bedroom, although she did not wish the latter chaos to calm down. Kelli was with Parker most of his off time, but he often came over to roll up his sleeves to help by making unbelievable furniture.

  That left Kelli with Jocelyn, who was eight days past her due date, to entertain themselves in the evenings for a while. The non-stop activity was beginning to take a toll on Katie. Things began to come to the family's attention when she went to the house and stood to watch the brothers putting primer on the walls.

  "I was hoping someone would have asked me if I wanted off-white walls because I would have said 'no'." Katherine was standing with her hands on her hips and looking around irritatedly.