Molly's Cop (12 page)

"I'm sorry I risked my life," she finally said the words he wanted to hear.

"I sincerely hope you mean that, Molly," he replied, using his left hand to gently rub her back in a loving way. "Ten more now and it will be all over. Count them," he ordered. He knew it would be hard, but he wanted her to focus on what was happening. "Count them and promise me that you will not risk your life again."

Molly was shocked that Michael planned to continue the punishment, but when she tried to protest he told her that if she was truly sorry she wouldn't be arguing with him. He asked if she wanted to make it twenty more. She quickly said 'no', and he told her to do as she was told then.

Michael did not go easy on the feisty redhead. He gave the first five in different spots all over her cheeks and upper thighs, but the last five fell in the same place, her sit spots. Molly was sobbing so hard by the time he reached seven that he had to help her finish counting.

When it was over, he put his belt through the loops on his pants and watched her collapse in a sobbing mess over the arm of the sofa. She didn't even try to get up, and he was positive she would feel the effects of the spanking for the next few days. Her butt was a deep dark red and covered with welts that had to be stinging like the very devil. Michael carefully lifted her to her feet and said, "Pull up your clothes, Molly."

"No!" She shook her head. "I can't! I hurt too much!"

"Honey, you need to cover up right now. Since those are the only clothes you have here, then you will pull them up." He waited for her to move to obey him, but she continued to cry and shake her head 'no'. He could see she wasn't trying to provoke him; Molly was simply in more pain than she knew how to cope with. He sighed and then reached down and pulled up her panties as if she were a small child. Her jeans were harder to slide over her hips and swollen buttocks and she cried out as the fabric rubbed over her welts. "Let me hold you now, honey," he offered, gently pulling her into his arms.

"You really hurt me, Michael!" she whispered once she calmed down a bit.

"That spanking was minor to the pain I would have endured if you'd been shot today," he answered quietly. "Do you realize that if I hadn't grabbed that gun at the precise moment I did, you would have been hurt or killed? Do you even remember the bullet that barely missed you and Drake Bridges?"

She'd done her best to try and forget about that, but Michael's gentle scolding brought it back with absolute clarity. She closed her green eyes and snuggled into Michael's shoulder. "I was so scared," she finally admitted.

"Good. You should have been scared. I was scared, too," he admitted, holding her even tighter. "When that gun fired, I was terrified I would turn around and find you dead," he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. "Damn it, Molly, don't you ever put me through that again!" he begged.

Molly was shocked when she looked up and saw the tears on his handsome face. Suddenly, everything that Seamus said made perfect sense. Michael spanked her so hard because he loved her, and because she'd frightened him so badly he had to do something... and that something was the worst spanking possible! If the pain she was feeling on her posterior was a measure of Michael's love, then she knew she was truly loved. She probably should be furious with him for being so harsh with her, but all she could do was smile and do her best to offer him comfort. "I love you, Michael."

"Thank God you weren't hurt," he answered, and he held her close until he heard her stomach rumble. He chuckled and said, "I'd better feed you, Molly, before you faint from hunger!"

"I don't want to go anywhere right now," she hurriedly informed him. "Michael, I couldn't sit down right now if I had to. I was still tender from before, and now... I don't know how on earth I will be able to sit on a car seat to get back to your parents' house!"

"Part of a spanking is dealing with the aftereffects," he said softly, his dark eyes full of sympathy for her. "Just remember that I love you when you try to sit down."

"I'm going to have to put a pillow on my chair at work!" she commented.

"No, honey. That is not permitted. Sitting after a spanking is part of the punishment; if I come in and catch you sitting on a pillow that isn't attached to the chair in a permanent manner, I will remove the pillow, then bend you over and reheat your backside."

"Michael, that is mean!" she argued, but he merely smiled and warned her to behave. The drive home was arduous, but not nearly as painful as sitting on her chair at work all day Tuesday! Michael came by with lunch, and she suspected it was also to check up on her and make sure she was obeying the 'no pillow' rule. If her boss noticed she wasn't sitting well, and seemed to be jumping up and down a lot more often for a few days, he simply smiled and kept his own counsel. Drake Bridges wholly approved of Michael O'Keefe.

* * *

Summer turned into fall, and Molly and Michael spent as much time together as possible. Molly knew she was head over heels in love with her cop, and she was positive he felt the same about her. She had been careful not to upset him, but she had no trouble recalling the last spanking she'd had weeks ago, and how long it had been before she could sit without recalling the punishment. She was not one bit anxious to cross that line again. The one thing that continued to be a bone of contention between her and Michael and his family was money. She was so flabbergasted she couldn't speak when Seamus took her outside one morning and put a set of keys in her hand and told her the new car in the driveway was hers. Molly protested and argued and pleaded with him to take it back until Seamus lost his patience and told her that any other words on the subject with the exception of 'thank you' was going to earn her a good spanking. Molly could see the large man was serious, and Mary's eyes were wide, expecting trouble. Molly closed her eyes, swallowing her pride, and finally said, "Thank you very much, Seamus and Mary. You are too good to me." She cried then, and kissed them, and then drove to work in her very own brand new car. Seamus had told her it was nothing fancy, but to her it was lovely! It was also her favorite color... red!

When Michael came for dinner that night she ran outside to show him the vehicle, and when he merely grinned at her she accused, "You KNEW!"

"I went shopping with Pop to pick it out. I thought it suited you, but I'd better not catch you speeding... or else!" he warned.

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he swatted her playfully. "I cannot believe you are all so nice to me!" she exclaimed.

"You were right, son," Seamus told him with a growl. "I had to threaten to paddle her backside before she would accept the car. I was this close to it!" he stated, holding his finger and thumb apart by perhaps a quarter of an inch. "You have too much willful pride, young lady," he scolded. "Do you like the car?" he asked hopefully.

"I love it, Seamus. Thank you, truly," she answered emotionally, feeling tears pool in her eyes. "I'm not used to anyone doing such nice things for me; I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

"You'll get used to it in this family, dear," Mary said with one of her gentle smiles. "And, Michael, dear, when are you going to be ready to start on that kitchen? Jenny is already asking me when it will be done."

"Now, Mary, I've not been free to give Michael a hand, and you know that. We'll get to it this winter when other work slows down," Seamus explained, and then added, "We'll also get the master bathroom done over for you," he said with a wink.

"Really, Seamus?" Mary was pleasantly surprised.

"I've heard your sighs when you go in there, wife," he teased.

Things were going so well that it was a shock when Drake Bridges called Molly into his office the last thing on a Friday afternoon. The normally pleasant look on his face was replaced with cold anger. "Sit down, young lady."

Molly sat, and waited to be fired, her mind trying to figure out what she could have done to make her boss look at her so fiercely. There was nothing that came to mind.

"I received a telephone call a few minutes ago from a woman who said she'd overheard you discussing privileged information in a restaurant. She said she was at the next table and you were laughing and talking about a divorce case I handled."

"That is not true!" Molly defended herself. "You told me when I interviewed for this job that I could not discuss the cases outside this office, and I promised you I would never do that. I've kept that promise, Mr. Bridges." She was very near tears as she demanded, "Who was this woman? What restaurant? I don't eat out very often..." she explained.

"Molly, you are an excellent secretary, the best I have ever had, but this charge is extremely serious. If it was made against anyone else who works here, they would already be out the door. I just find it difficult to believe you would do something like this."

"That is because I didn't do it," she proclaimed. "I would swear to that in a court of law," she stated with conviction.

Drake's expression relaxed; he could see that she was telling the absolute truth. As a lawyer he prided himself on being able to read people. He smiled, and said simply, "I believe you, Molly. It would be totally out of character for you to do something like that, but I had to ask." He turned serious again, "Do you have any idea who would try to get you fired?" His observant eyes saw her stiffen, but she shook her head 'no', unwilling to tell him who it was. "I can't put a stop to this if I don't know what is going on, Molly." He wanted to find the other woman and hold her accountable. He would slap a lawsuit on her so fast her head would spin. Instead, Molly was planning to deal with it on her own, and Drake felt frustrated.

"I am not positive of anything, Mr. Bridges," she answered, determined to pay one Natalie Jamison a visit and confront her.

"We could always ask Michael to investigate the matter," he mused, but wasn't surprised when she shook her head 'no'.

"I can't imagine why anyone would say something like that to you, Mr. Bridges. The last time I was in a restaurant, Michael and I took his parents out... and that was three weeks ago! Most of the time we eat at the O'Keefe house with Michael's family."

"You weren't in Checkers a couple of evenings ago?"

"No, sir. In fact, I've never eaten there before. It's a new place, isn't it?"

"Yes," Drake replied with a thoughtful frown. "If you think of anything at all, I want you to call me right away, Molly. If someone has it in for you and she is telling lies of this sort, it could hurt the firm. I want to help you put a stop to her, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Molly replied.

"Good. Let's get out of here. It's time for a nice relaxing weekend after the busy week we've had."

"I still have one more..."

"Forget it until Monday morning," he said firmly. "Life is about more than work, Molly." He waved her out of his office and started packing his briefcase with documents he needed to review before he went to court Monday morning. Once that was done, Drake picked up the telephone and made a call.

It did not take Molly long to shut down her computer and straighten her desk before she put on her coat and grabbed her handbag. She saw the light that indicated her boss was making a call, but she paid it no mind. It was time to pay her former roommate an unannounced visit.

* * *

Natalie smiled smugly at herself in the mirror. It had taken her almost three months to come up with the perfect plan to get even with that bitch for ruining her life, and it was so simple she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it sooner! It was one of her pet peeves about the redhead... She wouldn't talk about any of the cases she was working on! Never. Even when Natalie knew that Molly's boss was representing someone Natalie knew. It was frustrating to live with someone who possessed all the juicy details and wouldn't share. Molly always had the same excuse, too; client confidentiality; it would mean her job if she talked about the clients with anyone. It seemed perfectly fitting that the bitch would lose her job for something she systematically refused to do. Yes, Natalie smiled at herself in the mirror, it would serve the bitch right! All because of her she'd had to move home with her parents as if she was a child. Her father controlled her finances, and her mom no longer slipped her money when she asked. Worst of all, she wasn't permitted to go out unless her father knew who she was to be with and approved. She also had a curfew! It was demeaning, but her job didn't pay enough for her to live anywhere else, and her father flat out refused to back her like he did before Molly and that Cop of hers tattled on her!

The doorbell interrupted her musing, and Natalie reluctantly got to her feet to go and answer. Her mother purchased a new dining room table and Natalie was to let the delivery men inside the house and sign for delivery. To her shocked surprise Molly was standing on the doorstep. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"We need to talk, Natalie," Molly said firmly.

"No, we do not need to talk. I have nothing to say to a bitch like you." Natalie tried to shut the door in Molly's face, but Molly wasn't having it. She gave the door a shove and pushed Natalie back and then she stepped inside. "Get out!" Natalie yelled at her.

"Not until we have a little talk, Natalie. We can either have this out here and now or I'll file a complaint with the police and they can ask you the questions."

"Police?" Natalie turned pale. She didn't want that damn Cop of hers coming around! If not for him, the bitch would have been blamed for everything and her dad would still be paying her bills while she lived where she wanted. No, she did not want that bitch calling in that damn Cop! "I think you have a lot of nerve coming here and threatening me, Molly Henderson!"

"I think you have a lot of nerve in trying to get me fired from my job," Molly stated flatly. "Don't bother denying it, Natalie. It has you written all over it."

"I don't know what you are talking about, bitch! I didn't make any call to your boss!" When Molly smiled and just stared at her, Natalie realized her mistake too late! "Damn you!" she snarled, and then she drew back her hand and slapped Molly hard across the face.