Rescuing Lilly (11 page)

Jake grabbed her arm tighter and leaned over next to her ear. "You better mind me on this, young lady. You will not be a happy camper if you don't." With that, he walked to his truck and rode off down the road to meet Jim.

Lilly watched him walk away practically growling as he rode off in his truck. She couldn't believe how angry this man could make her and yet satisfy her so deeply in bed. She couldn't stand being told what she couldn't do. If there was a man who thought he knew everything, Jake was definitely him. She wanted to prove to him that he wasn't right all the time. She could ride by herself and not get lost or hurt. She was not a child or an idiot and she was going to prove it to him. As soon as she decided to re-saddle Raven, the heavens opened up and it began to downpour.

"So much for that idea," she mumbled to herself as she hung the reins back up and headed for the house.

---oOo---

"I don't know if those boys are trying to poison them again or if they are sick from something else," Jim said as he showed Jake the four cattle on the ground before them.

"Hmmm, well I've got some antibiotics back at the house. Should we try those first?" Jake asked as he laid his hand on of the animals.

"It's worth a try. I'll call Sam before I give them anything just in case though," Jim answered. Jim assisted at the vet's office before taking the job as Jake's foreman. It was an added bonus whenever they had a problem with sick animals on the ranch. "Jake, do you really think Lance's boys are trying to pull something over on us? Some of the other guys saw a campfire on the land that borders ours a couple nights ago. They were wondering if some of his boys were keeping a watch on us."

"I'm not sure, but, like I said, better to be safe than sorry. Tell the guys I appreciate them keeping watch. Hopefully this whole thing will just blow over. If not, I guess I'll have to make another trip to our neighbor for a not so friendly conversation," Jake said grimly. He took one more look at the animals and started walking back to his truck. "Let me know what Sam says. If he gives the go ahead, I'll bring you those antibiotics from the house."

"Will do. I appreciate you coming to take a look," Jim answered as Jake started the truck.

By the time Jake made it back to the house it was pouring down with rain. He found Lilly cuddled up under a blanket on the couch fast asleep. Giving her a kiss on the forehead, he headed into the kitchen to talk to Sylvia.

"While I was in town the other day, Jim's wife mentioned something about Lance poisoning your cattle. Is that really true, Jake? What's going on?" Sylvia asked with concern as Jake put his head in hands at the kitchen table.

"Unfortunately, yes. Lance has some vendetta against me because he and my father were enemies and now that I own the ranch, he wants to buy it. When I refused to sell it to him, he took to some other tactics. I suppose he's trying to scare me off the land," Jake answered somberly.

Sylvia sat down next to him. "You don't think he would really do anyone harm though, do you?"

Jake rubbed his temples. "I sure hope not, but I told the guys to keep an eye out just in case. Don't worry though Sylvia, I'm not going to let anything happen to anyone." Absentmindedly, Jake glanced back towards the living room where Lilly was sleeping and closed his eyes in thought.

"Don't worry, Jake. Lilly will be fine. We all will," she said, rubbing his shoulders. Jake jerked his head up at her statement, but she continued at his body language. "I'm not blind you know," she said smiling. "I know you love her."

Jake shook his head and sighed. "Yeah, you got me there. I damn sure do, but good God that girl frustrates the hell out of me I wish she would just listen to me."

Sylvia could hear the exasperation in his voice, but knew she had been just like Lilly when she was young. It took a while to get used to a very dominant man, especially when you're a very independent female. "Jake, she just needs some time. She just isn't used to someone being there for her. Anyone can see that. She is pushing you to make sure you will be consistent and will always be there. I promise... you are doing the right thing."

"I know," he said tiredly, "I just don't want to hurt her or push her away. I couldn't bear to lose her."

"You won't lose her, Jake. She loves you too, whether or not she wants to admit it," Sylvia said, giving him a knowing smile. With that, she set some plates on the island next to the casserole she'd made. "I'm going to head out, okay? My niece is coming to visit this weekend and I want to be home when she gets there. You know, she and Lilly are about the same age How about I bring her over this weekend so Lilly can have some girl-time?"

Jake looked surprised. "You know, that's a great idea Thanks Sylvia, for the pep talk and all," Jake gave her a soft smile and waved her off.

He walked back into the living room to rouse Lilly. Giving her a light shake, he whispered, "Wake up, sweetie. I've got some dinner for us."

Lilly stirred slightly and opened her eyes to Jake's big smile. "Hi," she said groggily, smiling back at him.

"Hey, baby," he cooed, lifting her up so he could sit underneath her She laid her head back down in his lap He ran his fingers through her hair softly as she closed her eyes again. "Thank you for listening to me, honey."

Lilly looked up at him, not knowing what he was referring to. She cocked her head in question.

Jake realized her misunderstanding and clarified. "For not going riding after I left."

Lilly sighed, remembering their 'talk' from earlier. "Oh yeah," she said sarcastically. "It started raining."

"So you were going to do it!" Jake said, raising his voice. He felt his palm start twitching, ready to remind her how much he hated being disobeyed. This girl really knew how to push his buttons.

"Calm down, cowboy," she said with a smirk. "I wasn't really going to. I just like getting you all riled up."

"Oh you do, do you?" he said, realizing her motive. "Well, maybe this time I should give you a pre-emptive punishment just to remind you to listen to me." Jake yanked the blanket from over her and landed a sharp smack on her behind.

"OW!" she yelled, acting quickly to flip over and pull the blanket back over her. Before she could get settled, Jake had pulled her over his lap and flipping her face-down. "Jake, please don't," she whimpered. "I'm sorry! I wasn't really going to do it! I was just mad. And then it started raining and I realized I only wanted to do it to prove you wrong."

Jake heard her honesty and just rubbed her back and behind as she spoke. He rested his hand on her bottom. "You don't have to prove me wrong all the time, you know?"

Lilly heard the joking tone in his voice and figured she was safe from his heavy hand. "I know," she said softly, loving the way he rubbed circles on her behind.

"I just want you to trust me that I have your best interest in mind when I tell you to do something or not to do something."

"I do trust you, Jake," she said, turning her head to glance back up at his face. She could see the worry etched into his forehead and turned to sit on his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I was a brat earlier."

Jake laughed and patted her butt. "It's okay. I'm sure it won't be the last time."

---oOo---

The next day Sylvia introduced her niece Sara to Lilly, and just like she suspected, they hit it off immediately. Lilly showed Sara around the stables, introducing her to the animals and her horse, Raven. Sara had visited the ranch plenty of other times but mentioned that she never had anyone, especially another female, to go riding with her.

"Well let's go then!" Lilly said excitedly, grabbing the reins off the wall and heading towards Raven. She got him settled while Sara saddled her horse and they headed off in the distant fields.

The two girls spent the next two hours riding the trails in the woods around the property. Neither of them could believe how much they had in common. Sara was engaged to a rancher named Andrew. They met years back in a riding competition in Dallas. Andrew had insisted she take some time to get out of the house and visit family before their wedding. Since her Aunt Sylvia only lived a few hours away, he didn't mind her spending a few weeks with her getting some female advice for wedding plans - something he wasn't greatly interested in. He just wanted her to be happy with everything.

"You know, Jake has always been such a loner. I'm so glad that he finally found someone," Sara mentioned as they rode.

"Yeah that's what Sylvia said. I don't know how he isn't already married though. He really is a nice guy, and it's not like he's bad looking," Lilly answered, thinking about how sexy her cowboy really was.

"Ha! That's an understatement! I used to have a crush on him when I was little. Of course, we were all younger then. He was a teenager and I was eight or nine. But, as far as the married thing goes, you should know if there is a reason why he's not, given all the time you've spent with him. Does he have some skeletons in the closet or something?" Sara asked, still giggling.

Lilly blushed thinking of what that skeleton could be. She wondered if he'd spanked other women he dated and that's why they left him. Somehow it didn't bother her as much as she thought it would.

Sara noticed Lilly's silence and butted in. "You do know something, don't you? Come on Lilly, spill it!"

"Well, there is this thing. And I'm sure that a lot of girls wouldn't be too happy about it, in fact, I don't know how I feel about it," she trailed off as she became more embarrassed to explain the situation. What would Sara think if she told her?

"Go on," Sara urged, noticeably excited about the subject.

"Okay, but you can't tell anyone. Well, except Sylvia, because I know she already knows," Lilly paused, waiting for Sara's agreement. "He's kind of... well let's just say he can be very strict."

"What do you mean?"

Lilly blew out a breath, knowing no other way to say it. "He spanks me."

Sara said nothing for a moment and then just laughed. "That's it?"

"That's it, yeah - he puts me over his knee like a child!"

Lilly's face grew red when she couldn't understand why Sara was still giggling at the situation.

"Girl, you better get used to that. That's pretty much a common factor around here. Andrew is the same way," she answered, hoping to calm Lilly down.

"He spanks you too!" Lilly couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh yeah," Sara confirmed. "Not as much now as he did when we first started dating, but it definitely still happens. In fact, he threatened to do it right before I left to make sure I would stay out of trouble."

Lilly couldn't believe that this was such a common and accepted practice in the state. Back east, she never heard of anyone being spanked except for children and even that wasn't too common. Before she had chance to say anything further, Sara interrupted her thoughts.

"We should probably start heading back, we've been gone for quite a while." She looked up at the sky. "I don't want to worry Aunt Sylvia."

"What do you mean? You did tell her we were going riding right?" Lilly asked worriedly.

"No. I thought you did when you ran inside to change into your boots."

"No, I didn't," Lilly said softly, feeling her stomach rising to her throat. "We gotta hurry before Jake realizes we're gone. He's gonna kill me!"

Both of them spurred the horses into a gallop and made their way quickly back to the stables. Just as the stable came into view through the woods, Lilly slowed Raven down to a trot when she saw Jake walk out of the stable, a sneer on his face. She could practically feel him growling with anger from fifty feet away.

"Where the hell have you two been!" he yelled as he walked toward them. Every muscle in his jaw and chest appeared to be clenching in anger.

"Jake, really, it was just a misunderstanding," Lilly pleaded as she stopped Raven a few feet from him.

"I'm not quite sure how you misunderstood anything. You know you are supposed to tell someone before you go anywhere and you obviously didn't. What's to misunderstand?" He wasn't yelling anymore, but his tone was less than pleased. He walked directly up to Lilly's horse and held his arms up. "Come down, right now," he ordered. Lilly swung her leg over and leaned toward the side of the horse where he was standing. He caught her under the arms and set her down in front him, keeping a hold on her upper arms. "I am very disappointed in you. I can't believe you disobeyed me on this," he chided, his voice deep and firm.

"But, Jake, just listen," Lilly begged, tears filling her eyes from his disappointment.

"Not now," he interrupted, "Get your behind in the house and wait for me in the bedroom."

Tears rolled down Lilly's face as she gave him a pleading look. Jake said nothing only shook his head and nodded toward the house. Lilly turned around and ran before anyone saw her break out into sobs.

Jake turned to look at Sara who just dismounted her house. "I don't think Andrew is too happy about this either. Sylvia is on the phone with him now," Jake explained as Sylvia came walking out of the back door with a cell phone in her hand.

Sara had never seen her Aunt Sylvia look so mad in her life. She thrust the phone at her without saying a word. Sara put it up to her ear slowly. "Hi, Andrew," she said softly, trying to sound innocent.