“Ford, it’s beautiful.”
I grinned. She hadn’t even seen the best part yet. I hurried to unhook the cooler and bag from the back of my four-wheeler. Shouldering the bag and grabbing the cooler in one hand, I twined my fingers through Emma’s.
“Come on. Wait until you see this.” I pulled her toward the tree line.
As soon as we cleared the pines, she stopped, dragging us both to a halt.
“Oh, wow.” Her mouth hung open, and even I couldn’t impute lewd thoughts to it at the moment. Well, maybe. Just give me a minute to appreciate her excitement. “It’s amazing.”
“My favorite place on the ranch.”
She tore her eyes away from the vista to look at me. “You can see for miles.”
“Sure can. A lot of it is ours, too. We’ll have to teach you to fly fish next.” I dropped her hand to gesture to the river.
The preconceived notions I had of her were still going strong, because I expected her to wrinkle her nose and demur, but her eyes lit up again.
“Really? That would be cool.”
“How about some food? I’ve got come cold beef tenderloin, veggies, a nice red, some of that goat cheese your mom loves, and chocolate truffles.”
Surprisingly, at this, her nose did wrinkle. I set the cooler and the bag on the ground.
“What? I know you’re not a vegetarian. I’ve seen you eat steak.”
Emma’s shoulders scrunched up to her ears. “It’s not that. It’s just weird knowing that you raised the cows and then you eat them. In my world, steak comes all neatly wrapped up in the supermarket. I just have to dump it on the grill. There’s no calving or branding or butchering involved.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s life. At least here, we know the cattle are treated humanely. They’re our livelihood, so it’s in our interest to make sure we take the best care of them that we can. We take pride in what we do.”
“I know. It’s just hard for a city girl to get over, I guess. I’m more used to killing grapes for wine than a cow for steak.”
“But it’s a damn good steak.”
Emma’s shoulders finally lowered. “Then I guess we’d better eat.”
“I think I want to start with dessert first. Bend over the ATV.”
Emma’s head jerked back and her eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. And in case you were wondering—that was an order.”
“Wait, what?”
“What’s your safe word, Emma?”
“Pink.” She breathed. Her pupils were already dilating; her body was catching up with the change in plans.
“Good. Now bend over. I brought more than just lunch.”
Her whispered “Oh, shit” was too endearing to want to punish her for it … but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give her a few swats for not complying more quickly.
Emma bent over the seat of the ATV, resting her elbows on the seat. I wasted no time reaching around to unbutton, unzip, and peel her jeans down over her ass. I cupped the lush curve of it, unable to hold back a groan. My dick jumped against the zipper of my jeans, and I knew my own patience would be tested in this exercise just as much as her boundaries.
I tugged her panties down and bared the smooth skin. “Jesus, Emma. You’ve got the most perfect fucking ass. I think we need a new rule: No more panties. The next time I tell you bend over, I want you naked under whatever you’re wearing. And if it’s a skirt, I want to be able to reach underneath and feel your tight, wet little pussy without anything in my way.”
She inhaled sharply.
“You like that idea? Or just me telling you what to do?” I shoved her jeans the rest of the way down and let her panties fall to the ground, and she needed no instruction from me to step out of them and kick them aside. It was for the best; they wouldn’t be going back on.
She must have assumed my question was rhetorical, because she didn’t reply. Fucking perfect. I pulled my hand back and landed a solid smack to her ass.
She sucked in another breath. “What was that?”
“You didn’t answer me, sweetheart. I expect an answer when I ask you a question.”
She still didn’t answer, so I pulled back for another swing. Before I connected, she said, “Yes. I understand. But don’t stop. Please.”
Her answer surprised me. “Don’t stop what, sweetheart?”
She whispered, “I like it. When you…”
“When I spank this sweet little ass?”
Emma’s head bobbed, and she quickly added, “Yes.”
“Could you be any more fucking perfect?”
I slid my palm over her ass before landing several more sharp slaps. I soothed the sting away and slipped my hand between her legs to find her soaked. Jesus. She spread her legs without me even asking. Nope. She really couldn’t be any more fucking perfect.