03 Cutler Brides (3 page)

While Riley and Shayna didn’t have any intention of helping tag the calves, neither of them minded sitting on the fence and watching their sexy husbands work up a sweat as they herded the animals into the corral the next morning. While Cade usually wore jeans and a button-up shirt on his days off, Riley had never seen him in a cowboy hat before, but just seeing him in the Stetson with his shirt off had her temperature rising in a way that had nothing to do with the Texas heat. Beside her, Riley noticed Shayna was eyeing Madoc with the same lusty look, and she couldn’t help but smile. Who knew jeans and a cowboy hat could be so darn sexy?

Then again, Riley thought, the brothers would probably look sexy in anything.

After getting the first group of calves into the corral, Cade and Madoc made their way over to where Riley and Shayna were perched on the fence.

“You sure you girls don’t want to stay and help us with the tagging instead of going into Fort Worth today?” Cade asked, giving Riley a teasing grin.

Riley exchanged a look with her sister-in-law. “We’re sure,” she laughed.

“Okay, but you’re going to miss out on all the fun,” Madoc told them.

“Yeah, after we get done with the tagging, we thought we’d go out and do a few fence repairs, then come back and shoe some horses,” Cade added.

Shayna laughed. “That sounds like so much fun, but I think we’ll pass. Thanks anyway.”

Cade and Madoc both chuckled at that, making Riley think the two men had been teasing them. Before she could call her husband on it, however, he closed his mouth over hers in a kiss.

“Have fun shopping,” he told her when he finally lifted his head. “And be careful.”

“We will,” Riley promised even as Shayna told Madoc the same thing.

After another lingering kiss from their husbands, Riley and Shayna hopped down from the fence and walked back to the house to grab their purses. They had asked Arlene over breakfast if she wanted to join them, but the older woman had declined, saying she was going to be busy all day.

It took about an hour to drive to Fort Worth, but it seemed much less than that, Riley thought, mainly because she and Shayna spent the whole time talking. Though she and the other girl had grown up in different parts of the country, they were close enough in age to have a lot in common, and as Riley had suspected, they hit it off great.

Of course, most of their conversation centered on Cade and Madoc. It was amazing how alike the two men were, Riley thought. The brothers didn’t realize it, but they were almost carbon copies of each other. Besides both of them being U.S. Marshals, they both also loved the outdoors, liked the same kind of movies, ate the same kind of foods, and had even fallen for the same type of independent, outgoing girl.

Since their husbands wanted to take them sightseeing, Riley and Shayna concentrated their focus on shopping, something they knew neither of the men would care to do anyway.

Their main priority was finding shoes for Riley to wear to the anniversary party, so they made sure to stop at every shoe store in the popular shopping area of University Village. As it turned out, Riley quickly found a cute pair of strappy high-heeled sandals that would go perfectly with her dress. But she also found the most gorgeous pair of cowboy boots, and though they were a bit on the pricey side even on sale, once she tried them on, she couldn’t resist buying them. It just didn’t seem right to come to Texas and not buy a pair of cowboy boots, she told herself.

Shayna apparently agreed because she bought a pair as well.

After a light lunch, the two women did some more shopping in Fort Worth before deciding to head back to the ranch. On the way, they stopped in Riverville, the small town near the ranch that John Cutler had mentioned to them the night before at dinner.

Finding parking on the main street was easy and Riley and Shayna took their time wandering around the small town. Though nowhere near as big as Fort Worth, Riverville had quite a few quaint, little shops that piqued both their interests.

Remembering the general store Cade had talked about, she and Shayna made it a point to stop there.

Though designed to resemble the general stores of the old west, it sold modern goods, including the usual tourist stuff like magnets, shot glasses, and T-shirts. While Shayna looked for a magnet to add to her collection, Riley browsed through the other things for sale up at the counter. Her gaze immediately fell on the stack of treasure maps and she eagerly picked one up.

“Look what I found,” she said, holding it up so that her sister-in-law could see. “Want to get it?”

Shayna glanced up from the magnets, her eyes lighting up when she saw the map.

“Definitely!”

Thrilled that the other girl was up for an adventure, Riley handed it over to the elderly Mexican man behind the counter just as Shayna came over with her magnet.

“So,” he said in slightly accented English as he regarded them with kind, dark eyes.

“You are going to hunt for the treasure.”

Riley smiled. “Yes.”

The old Mexican ran his boney fingers over the piece of vellum, smoothing the edge that had curled.

“This map was taken from the original,” he said. “It is authentic.”

Riley doubted that, but she smiled at the old man nonetheless. Though she knew Cade and Madoc were probably right and there was no gold to be found, Riley also knew she and Shayna would have tons of fun looking for it anyway. Hunting for treasure was just a good reason to get out and go horseback riding.

When they got back to the ranch that evening, Madoc was just coming in from the barn and he offered to help carry their shopping bags into the house.

“Where’s Cade?” Riley asked as they stepped into the entryway.

“Still outside in the barn,” her brother-in-law answered and then glanced at Shayna. “Do all these go upstairs?” he asked, referring to the shopping bags in his hands.

Shayna nodded. “Yes, but I want to show your mother what I bought before we take them up.” She looked at Riley. “Are you going to come show Arlene what you bought?”

Riley thought a moment, her lips curving into a smile as an idea came to her. “Actually, I think I’ll go put on my boots so I can model them for Cade first.”

While she really did think that was the best way to show off her new cowboy boots, Riley had an ulterior motive as well. When Cade saw she had bought a pair of boots in addition to the shoes she’d specifically went to the store to buy, he would surely think a spanking was called for. At least, she hoped he would. And the barn would be a perfect place to get one!

Her pulse fluttering at the possibility of getting a spanking, Riley hurried upstairs to the guest room to change. Kicking off her sandals, she shimmied out of the shorts she was wearing and into the flirty suede mini-skirt she’d bought. Pulling on her new boots, she ran a brush through her long, blond hair, then surveyed her reflection in the full-length mirror, turning first one way and then the other. Paired with the tank top she wore, the skirt and cowboy boots showed off her long legs perfectly.

Cade would take one look at her and be unable to resist putting her over his knee, she thought with a smile.

Cade was in one of the empty stalls when she walked into the barn a few minutes later.

At her entrance, he glanced up from what he was doing, only to do a double take when he saw how she was dressed. He let out a low whistle.

“Wow, do you look hot,” he said. “How come I’ve never seen you in those boots before?”

She walked over to where he stood, adding a little extra wiggle to her hips as she did so.

“Because I just bought them today.”

Cade lifted a brow. “I thought you went shopping for shoes.”

Riley shrugged. “Oh, I did, but then I saw these boots and I just couldn’t resist. And they go so great with this new skirt, don’t you think?”

His golden brown eyes lingered on her legs for a moment. “They do,” he agreed. “But that doesn’t mean you should have bought them. I guess you didn’t learn anything from that spanking I gave you on the plane, did you?”

Riley’s pulse quickened at the mention of a spanking. Her husband was so good at playing this game, she thought. “But honey,” she protested. “I can’t come all the way to Texas and not buy a pair of cowboy boots.”

Cade set the hay fork he’d been holding aside. “That’s fine. As long as you realize it’s going to get you another spanking.”

She formed her lips into a pout, but before she could say anything, her husband took her hand and led her over to the stack of hay bales in one of the other stalls.

“You can’t spank me here!” she complained, knowing her protests were all part of the game.

He turned to face her, an amused expression on his handsome face. “Why not? All the hands have already left for the day and we have much more privacy here than we would up at the house.”

Riley almost smiled. That was exactly what she had been thinking. But still while the barn provided privacy, there was also the possibility of someone walking in and catching them.

For some reason, that only made the whole idea of getting spanked there even more arousing.

The thought of the spanking she was about to get already had her pussy purring!

“Okay,” she agreed. “But don’t spank me too hard.”

Her husband chuckled. “No harder than you deserve, sweetheart.”

She gave Cade another pout, but didn’t protest when he sat down on a bale of hay and gently guided her over his knee. While it certainly wasn’t the best part of the spanking, there was something very exciting about being put over her husband’s knee. Maybe it was the feel of his firm hand on the small her back, she thought. Or maybe it was the way he rested his other hand on her upturned bottom. Or maybe it was simply the anticipation of that first spank.

Whatever it was, it always made her pulse flutter wildly.

Thinking this would be a quickie spanking like the one he’d given her on the plane, Riley expected Cade to lift her skirt, pull down her panties, and start right in on her bare bottom, but she was surprised when he caressed her bottom through her skirt instead.

“This is the second time this week I’ve had to spank you for buying a pair of shoes without permission, sweetheart,” he said. “I think your shoe habit is getting a little out of control, don’t you?”

Riley squirmed on his lap; the mock scolding Cade was giving her was as much of a turn-on as the spanking that would soon accompany it.

Without warning, his hand suddenly came down on her ass with a sharp, resounding smack. She jumped, letting out a startled, little yelp.

“Don’t you?” he prompted again, giving her another smack.

“Owwww!” she squealed. “Not really, no. As I tend to remember, I never agreed to that whole ask-you-for-permission-to-buy-shoes thing.”

That earned her another half dozen spanks. “Oh, really? You don’t remember the conversation we had where you asked me to help you get control of your shoe buying fetish? I agreed because your side of the closet is already filled to capacity.” He paused long enough to administer several more firm smacks to each cheek. “I’m not sure you even have room for these boots.”

She shrugged, as much as she could shrug while hanging upside down over her husband’s knee. Even though the spanks stung, she couldn’t resist provoking him further. “I’ll just put them on your side of the closet then.”

Above her, Cade chuckled. “Ten extra for being so saucy,” he told her.

Riley looked over her shoulder to stick her tongue out at him.

“Make it twenty,” he said.

Though she gave him a pout, Riley couldn’t help but smile at their light banter as she turned back around to focus her gaze on the hay-strewn floor. The hand that came down on her bottom was anything but light, however, and she squirmed and yelped as he applied a series of stinging smacks to her entire bottom.

“Owwwww!” she protested. “Honey, what about my warm-up.”

“This is your warm-up,” he replied, pushing up her skirt. “I’m just getting started.”

A moment later, his hand was coming down on her panty-covered bottom. He moved with a steady rhythm, smacking first one cheek, and then the other until her asscheeks felt hot all over. Only then did he pull down her panties.

Riley held her breath in anticipation as she waited for the spanking to continue, but again Cade surprised her by cupping her ass and giving it a firm squeeze. Her skin tingled where his hand touched and Riley moaned.

“So, how much did these boots cost, sweetheart?” Cade asked softly.

Riley was so caught up in what he was doing with his hand that she barely heard him speak. She lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder. “Wh-what?”

Cade regarded her with an amused expression. “How much did you pay for the boots?”

The question took her by surprise and she had to think before answering. “A hundred-and-twenty-five dollars,” she said.

If her husband was surprised at the dollar amount, he gave no indication of it. Instead, he simply nodded.

“Then I think a hundred-and-twenty-five spanks would be fair, don’t you?”

Riley blinked at the number. Though it sounded high, she was sure Cade gave her that many and much more whenever he spanked her, but still....

Before she could reply, however, Cade lifted his hand and brought it down hard on her right cheek.

“One,” he announced.

Was he really going to count out each and every spank? Riley wondered even as his hand connected with the opposite cheek.

“Two,” he said.

Cade continued spanking her like that, counting each smack as his hand came down on first one cheek and then the other. And while Riley loved every minute of the spanking, she still squirmed and squealed, not to mention kicked her booted feet liked crazy whenever his hand connected with the tender area of her sit-spots.

Ouch!

“One-hundred-twenty-four and one-hundred-twenty-five,” Cade announced, finishing up with two very hard smacks on her bare bottom.

Riley lay limply across her husband’s strong thighs. Thank goodness the boots had been on sale, she thought as he gently rubbed her throbbing asscheeks, because she wasn’t sure if her poor bottom could have taken it if she’d had to pay full price. God, she loved sales!