Of All the Luck! (2 page)

She gasped in stunned disbelief as her whisked her panties down past her knees.  “Griff—IN!” she ended his name on a shriek when he gave her rounded rump a firm spank.  “Ouch!  What are you doing?” she demanded.  He spanked her a second time and she gasped in outrage.  “Oh no!  You are NOT spanking me!”

“I believe I am spanking you, Victoria Sage, and what’s more, I intend to keep right on spanking you until you learn a valuable lesson!”  Griffin suited actions to words and kept right on spanking her cheeks until they felt like they were on fire.

“Stop!  You are hurting me!” she protested, tears stinging her eyes.  “Please, Griffin!  Stop, or I will have you arrested.”

“Now, you shouldn’t have said that, honey.  That means you aren’t the least bit sorry yet…”  He spanked even harder and this time it was her upper thighs and the area between her bottom and thighs that were his target.

Victoria squirmed and kicked.  First one shoe went flying, narrowly missing the television, and the second shoe hit a vase containing silk flowers, knocking them off the table where they normally sat.  “Stop!  Please!  Why are you doing this?” she asked, hurting physically and emotionally.

“Because you disobeyed me, little girl.  You were told to get out of there, to run.  You did not do as you were told.”  He spanked again, this time really hard.

Victoria cried out in pain.  “I couldn’t leave you there alone, Griff!  There were four of them!”

“Precisely.  I had to worry about you while I was fighting.  You disobeyed me, and I won’t have that in a junior partner, especially one who is female.”

“That is chauvinistic!” Victoria informed him.

“That is me.  I am a man; you are a woman.  Man protects; woman obeys… or gets a spanking!”

Victoria was flabbergasted, but he kept right on spanking her inflamed backside until he forced an “I’m sorry” from her, as well as a promise “to obey in the future.”  Only then did he stop and promise her that he would use a paddle if there was ever a next time.

Victoria swallowed hard and recalled several other times that the man had felt she needed a damn good spanking.  The worst of all was the time she felt she needed to get away from him for a few days.  She left a note for Griffin, but to this day she didn’t know what became of it.  Griffin claimed there wasn’t a note, and he went crazy searching for her, wondering if one of their old cases had found her and taken her away to hurt her.  He searched and searched, and all the while she was merely at a luxury spa spending a week being pampered.  She came home, and Griffin was beyond angry:

“I cannot believe you would go away without telling me, Victoria.”

“I left you a note, Griff,” she argued.

“Then where is it, young lady?” he demanded.

“I don’t know.  I put it on the bed, on your pillow.”

All the fear of the last few days erupted at once into a very angry and irate man.  Victoria tried to grab her keys and run, but Griffin was too fast for her.  He caught her, pulled her over to the bed, and threw her face-down on the white comforter.  He took the round wooden paddle from the nightstand and bared her, and then paddled her as if saving her life depended on making sure she could never sit again.  Victoria sobbed and begged him to listen to her… to stop… but he didn’t… Not until she was bruised and swollen.  Even then he refused to apologize, and she quietly packed a bag and left him.

That memory was a painful one.  She divorced Griffin in spite of all his attempts to reconcile with her.  She moved away, halfway across the country, and she legally changed her name from Conway to Jones.  There were hundreds of Victoria Jones across the country, and she did not want him to find her.  But, somehow he had, and she was sure of one thing… She still loved Griffin Conway!

Griff woke instantly and listened cautiously.  He knew he was not alone in the room, but the deep, even breathing told him the other person was asleep, and he knew that breathing as well as he knew his own.  He opened his eyes and spotted Victoria immediately.  She’d fallen asleep in the rocking chair that was only a few feet from the bed.  He was also positive he did not want to startle her.  Victoria had an itchy trigger finger and he would bet a million dollars she had a gun hidden beneath the blanket she was using to keep warm.  He carefully moved his left arm and found it wasn’t nearly as difficult to move as he thought it would be.  It would hurt like hell if he got into a fight, but he wasn’t completely helpless, either.

He was thirsty… and suspected the taste in his mouth was from the pain medication Victoria slipped into the broth.  He would raise hell with her for that one as soon as he was able.  He needed to be able to protect her, and how could he do that if he was drugged!  The woman never did know when to obey him.  He looked at her again and felt his heart ache.  He’d driven her away with his rage.  He’d felt justified in whaling her proper for the stunt she pulled and then for lying about leaving him a note… until he found the note behind the bed when he moved from their house.  By then it was too late to tell her he was a damned fool.  She’d simply disappeared, and he learned then that she was good at hiding.  Of all the cabins in the world, it was just his luck to stumble across Victoria’s.  By the time he finished this mission and cleared himself with the locals, Victoria would be long gone again, unless he kept her cuffed to his side.  Slowly, a plan began to take shape.  When Xavier got here, he would ask his help.

Griffin liked having a plan, and he went back to sleep, determined not to let Victoria escape him again.

* * *

Morning arrived and Victoria was worried when she realized that Griffin hadn’t awakened during the night.  She pushed her blanket aside, and tucked the gun into the waistband of her jeans, pulling her sweater down to hide it.  Her security system was top of the line, but she knew for an absolute that if someone was determined to get inside, they would.  She would shoot first and ask questions later if necessary in order to protect Griffin.  She moved to stand beside the bed and gently placed her hand on his forehead to make sure he wasn’t feverish.  To her relief, he felt normal.  He also opened his dark eyes at her touch.  “Good morning,” she said.

“Good morning, beautiful lady,” he replied, and for a few seconds it was as if the separation and divorce never happened.

“How is your arm, Griff?” Victoria asked in a crisp tone.

“Hurts, honey,” he whined just a bit, courting sympathy.

“I have pain pills,” she said, her blue eyes full of that sympathy he yearned for.

“I need to be alert, Victoria.  Please do not drug me again.”

He made the order sound like a request, but Victoria immediately realized he knew what she’d done.  “You were in so much pain, Griff.  I just wanted to help you.  I know I went against your wishes, but my intentions were the best.”

“I know that, honey, and I’m not angry… this one time,” he said with a smile.  “Do you think I could have some real food this morning?”

“If you will promise me you’ll stay in that bed, I will bring you breakfast… along with more broth.  You really need that because of the blood loss, Griff,” she added when he wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“I’ll drink it down like a good patient, Nurse Victoria,” he answered, then winked at her.  Victoria blushed a fiery red, and he chuckled.  “You were so soft and sexy,” he said in a hoarse whisper, wondering if she noticed the sheet and blanket covering him was suddenly ‘tented’ in a most embarrassing and manly manner.

“I’ll get your breakfast,” she murmured and then took off, practically running to escape the bedroom and those knowing dark eyes.  Once she was in the kitchen, Victoria put her hands on her cheeks and they felt hot to the touch.  She well remembered that night.  They were role playing, something they both enjoyed, and she’d dressed as a nurse in an extremely short white uniform that was low-cut in front and most of her boobs were on display in the white, lacy, push-up bra she was wearing.  Her white heels were four inches high, and her nylons had elastic tops that gently hugged her thighs.  The panties she wore matched her bra, and the little cap on top of her head bobbed up and down as she ‘cured’ him of his ailment, a constant swelling that seemed to come back several times through the evening, with Nurse Victoria getting more and more creative in her attempts to help her patient with his ‘problem’.   For some reason she couldn’t explain, she’d kept that costume… along with several others.  But, she wasn’t going to let Griffin know about that!

Victoria gathered her thoughts and quickly put bacon on a tray and placed it in the oven.  She’d learned it was the easiest way to make bacon, even though it took a bit longer than using the microwave.  While that was cooking, she peeled some potatoes and shredded them, added fresh onions, and then put the hash browns on to cook.  She broke some eggs into a bowl, and melted butter in a skillet.  When it was ready, she added the eggs and cooked them until they were light and fluffy.  The toaster popped, and she lightly buttered the pieces and added strawberry jam to Griffin’s.  She poured juice, and then took out the bacon and put it on paper towels to drain off the excess grease.  She filled their plates and then picked up the heavy tray and headed for the bedroom.

“Now this looks like the best food I’ve had in a very long time,” Griffin said truthfully.  He accepted his plate and managed quite well with his right hand.  “This is so good, honey.”  She’d even remembered to put strawberry jam on his toast, even though she detested jam of any kind.  “I’m surprised you keep it on hand,” he made the mistake of saying.

“I do have guests occasionally, Griffin.  You aren’t the only person in the world who eats jam for breakfast.”  She watched the brown eyes turn almost black and knew exactly where his mind had gone in that instant.  He was wondering if she’d been with other men, or was even seeing anyone else.  She wasn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt to let him think otherwise.  With his sexual appetite there was no way he hadn’t filled his bed with countless women, just as he did before they discovered each other.

“Don’t use jealousy on me, honey.  I couldn’t handle it,” Griffin said honestly.  “I know you aren’t the type of woman to sleep around, and if you were involved with someone else, I would know.  You aren’t.”  He said it so simply and so factually that she wanted to smack him!  But in the next breath he added, “There hasn’t been another woman since you left me, Victoria.  There isn’t another woman who could ever take your place.”

She was stunned by the admission, and the knowledge that Griffin was telling the truth.  Before she could say anything else, however, he changed the subject in typical Griffin Conway fashion.  “When is Xavier going to get here, Victoria?”

“I didn’t call him!” she announced, turning her chin up in pure stubbornness.  “I don’t want Xavier in my home!”

“You know what happens when you don’t obey me, little girl!”

"We are no longer married, Griffin Conway, and Xavier is not welcome in my home." Victoria was adamant on the subject. She truly hated Xavier and it would be a miracle if she did not shoot him on sight.

"Don't you think it's time you got over that little tiff?"

"Little tiff? Little tiff! Are you insane, Griffin Conway? The man almost got us killed!" She almost lost Griffin that time, and it was all because Xavier compromised their cover while they were on a cruise ship out in the middle of the ocean and with nowhere to run and hide. They were hurt and bleeding and had to take refuge with a young couple on their honeymoon. She and Griffin took turns holding guns on the frightened couple until they reached port. By then Xavier had realized his mistake and he got them off the ship and to the hospital. A few more hours and Griffin would have died, and she'd come close to losing a kidney. Her back was still scarred, but Griffin bore more scars than she did. It was at the end of their recuperation, when Griffin decided he was ready to take on another assignment, that she decided to get away from him for a while. She needed the distance to keep from shooting him herself! Victoria was positive that she and Griffin would still be together if Xavier would have stayed out of their lives like he was told to do.

"We survived, honey. Now, give me a phone and I'll call Xavier and get some help to deal with this situation. I'm not sure who set me up to take the fall for those tourists, but it's obvious that someone is out to get me."

"That is nothing new, is it, Griffin?" Victoria demanded bitterly. "Well, this is my home and you don't give the orders here. Xavier is not coming around, and if you need help, I will help you."

"I'm not going to put you at risk, Victoria. Now, be reasonable, or I am going to set your tail on fire."

"You are too weak to spank a five-year-old, much less me, Griffin Conway! Now eat your breakfast. I have work to do, and I don't have time to sit here and argue with you."

"We have been apart far too long if you think you can talk to me in that manner and get away with it, Victoria Sage Conway."

"We are no longer married and my name is Jones."

"That is your pen name."

"It is my legal name. You have no right to put a hand to me, Griffin. That is why we divorced, remember?"

"I was wrong, Victoria," he said humbly. "I apologize with every fiber of my being. I found your note behind the bed when I moved. By then it was too late to come and beg forgiveness, but I do so now."