"Oh, no, sir!" Martha quickly answered. "I will accept a spanking," she said, feeling shamed to her very soul.
"Good girl," he replied, a small smile on his lips. He pushed his chair back from his desk. "Come around my desk and lie over my lap," he instructed.
Martha felt as though her feet were made of lead, but she did as she was told, moving slowly. At least he did not have that horrible cane in his hand, she told herself, trying to bolster her courage. As she rounded the desk, Martha saw the telegram lying on the surface of the gleaming, polished wood. She quickly read the words: Man hired stop More after job complete stop Martha had no clue what the words could mean. She was too worried and embarrassed over her own situation to care.
He enjoyed watching the pretty girl hesitate. It would give him an excuse to keep her over his knee even longer, making those chubby cheeks of hers bounce as they turned a deep, dark red. Today he was in the mood to savor the task of actually spanking a young bottom, rather than inflicting serious pain. Oh, she would be in pain long before he stopped, but today he would take his time and savor the experience. "If you do not wish to feel my cane, Martha, you will turn up your bottom right this minute." She all but threw herself over his lap in her anxiety. It pleased him immensely.
Martha felt tears of embarrassment as the Master raised her skirts and then lowered her drawers to bare her. She was shamed to be so exposed to his dark eyes. What he was doing was wrong, and she knew it was wrong, but she didn't know how to prevent it from happening without losing the job she needed so badly. Martha closed her eyes and tensed her muscles in preparation for the first stinging smack, but when it did not happen, she relaxed. That is when he spanked her, almost gently. The next dozen spanks were also gentle, and she decided this was going to be easy to handle; embarrassing, but not too painful. The Master suddenly started spanking harder, and the spanks were stinging, but not enough for her to cry out. She tried to lie still, thinking he would surely stop soon.
The man had no intention of stopping for a long while. The pale cheeks were now a pretty shade of pink, and he spanked a bit lower, making sure her upper thighs matched. Then he increased the severity of the spanking and she cried out in pain. "Now I am making an impression, young lady, and perhaps will impart a good lesson."
"Sir, I will be good now, I promise!" Martha pleaded with him.
"You are just now beginning to turn red," he replied. "A good spanking is a deep, dark burning red. Only then will I feel you have been instructed well enough for a first spanking."
Martha cried, and then sobbed. The Master spanked her until she was limp across his lap, thoroughly spent from the horrible experience. There wasn't one spot on her backside that wasn't burning as though she'd backed into the wood stove!
"Do you feel encouraged to behave as a young lady your age should behave, Martha?" he asked, his voice sharp and demanding she answer properly or face more punishment.
"Yes, sir," she managed to whisper between sobs.
"Very well. You may rise, adjust your clothing, and resume your duties for the day. I expect a full day's work or your wages will be adjusted to reflect the amount of time you took to pout and sulk over a little spanking."
Martha took great pains to get to her feet and pull up her drawers. She took her handkerchief to wipe the tears from her face and to delicately blow her nose. "Thank you for taking an interest in my behavior, sir," she said the words she knew she needed to say to keep her wages.
"You are welcome, Martha," he replied with a smile. "Now get to work. I will check on you later." And he did, and all three times he found her hard at work... in spite of the flaming sore bottom she hid beneath her clothing. He was satisfied, and satisfied that his man in Texas had finally hired someone to kill Robert Thorne. If the next wire he received was good news little Martha's pretty, plump bottom would get another spanking with just his hand. He smiled in anticipation.
Amanda was in so much pain she couldn't stand it! How much longer would Ted Fox beat her? How long would it be before Rob or her Papa found her? The belt landed another vicious blow and another scream was forced from her raw throat. She would not beg. Never in a million years would she beg this unprincipled bastard for mercy! In fact, if she could free herself, she would kill him! He did not deserve to live, and Amanda felt nothing but pity for Helene Patterson. The poor girl had fallen for this man's lies. Amanda screamed again as the belt left another welt. She'd long ago lost count of the number of times Ted struck her with his belt. He wanted her to beg, and she said she would die first. She couldn't help but wonder if anyone had ever died from a strapping?
"You bitch, start begging!" Ted screamed at her, striking her as hard as he could with the leather belt.
"Never!" Amanda refused. "I am a Chambers and Chambers do not beg!"
"You'll beg or I'll whip your tits until you do!" He was so intent on making the redhead bend to his will that he didn't hear the two men approach the cabin until it was too late and they were inside. Matt Chambers didn't even give him a chance to go for his gun. The older man fired, and Ted Fox fell to the floor of the dirty cabin, dead before he hit the floor.
"Oh, my God, Mandy! Honey, let Papa help you!" He took out his knife and cut the ropes binding her to the bed.
"Are you able to stand, Amanda?" Rob asked, furious with himself for allowing this to happen to the woman he loved. When her legs crumbled beneath her, he caught her and lifted her in his arms. "Let's get her home, Matt, and send for the Doctor," Rob said.
"I wish I could kill this sumbitch all over again!" Matt growled. He felt responsible and guilty as hell. If he'd only listened to Mandy when she told him the man was out to get her... He'd told Ted that Mandy wasn't interested in marrying him, but Ted kept insisting she would come around. Damn, why didn't he do something sooner?
Amanda didn't regain consciousness for the ride home. She wasn't aware that Rob held her in his strong arms for the long ride, or that they'd come across some of the Circle C hands and her father wasted no time in sending one of the men on a dead race to get the Doc out to the ranch in a big hurry. He also told him to ask the Sheriff to come, too.
When they arrived, Matt led the way inside, yelling for Goldie to come quick. The woman wiped her hands on her apron and came running, her eyes wide as she followed Rob up the staircase and down the hallway to Amanda's room.
"Be care with her, Goldie. That bastard Ted Fox was standing over her beating her with a belt when I shot him dead. She fainted when she tried to stand up. I don't know how bad he hurt her."
"Get out and give us some privacy. She's a modest young woman," Goldie said firmly and the two men obeyed, but paced the hallway in front of her door.
Matt finally couldn't stand it any longer. "Damn it, Goldie! How bad is Mandy hurt?" he bellowed through the door.
Goldie opened it and said, "Quiet! You don't want to wake her up right now. She's going to be in terrible pain if she wakes up. Send for Doc!" she ordered.
"I did that already. He should be on his way, unless he was on another call and Gus couldn't find him right off."
"Both of you go downstairs and eat what's on the stove. You can't do anything for Mandy. She's going to need care now and I can't take care of her with you two hovering out here in the hall. Send Doc up right away when he gets here. Hear me?" she demanded of Matt.
"We will, Goldie. Do you need anything?"
"No." She shut the door in their faces.
"Come on, son. Goldie don't boss me around often, but when she does, I got the sense to listen to her." Matt led the way downstairs and into the kitchen. "You look about like I feel."
"Sick to my stomach," Rob said. "I want to cry, but men are not supposed to do that!" He swallowed hard. "I am so sorry, Matt! I should have protected her better. I told her to stay where we were while I went to check out the shots. I should have taken her with me."
"It ain't your fault, boy. It's mine. I refused to fire that son of a bitch when my Mandy asked me to. I thought she was being uppish when she said he was trying to force her into marrying him. I said I'd talk to him and tell him to leave her be, but I should have fired him."
"What a sick excuse for a man," Rob muttered darkly. "If only I'd..."
"He would have ambushed you and shot you dead. Ted Fox was good with a gun," Matt stated, taking two plates from the cupboard. He filled them with ham, potatoes, and green beans, and carried them to the table, and then cut off thick slices of bread for each of them. He also poured two cups of coffee and sat them on the table. "Sit yourself down, Rob. We might as well eat or Goldie will be offended."