The Rancher's Bride by Dina Chapel Page A

for good measure, he delivered a few last hard swats to her upper thighs.
    Marie cried out in pain with each one.
    Frank laid the brush down on the bed beside him.
    Marie was limp and sobbing over his left thigh, and seemed to make no attempt to move after Frank stopped spanking her. Frank stroked her lower back, just above her punished and red-hot rear end. They were both silent.
    They stayed like that for only a few minutes when Frank realized that Marie was very softly snoring. She was asleep, completely worn through by his punishment. Frank felt no remorse though, even as he stared down at her mottled behind and looked at the tears drying on her cheeks. He would do it all over again if’n he had to, although he did hope that he never had to punish her like this again. He didn’t enjoy it, not one bit.
    Hearing Marie cry always tore right into him, but Frank was convinced that he would do her an injustice if he didn’t punish her. He needed to reinforce his rules with a firm hand. It was for her own good. He couldn’t always control what other folks had a mind to do—today was a perfect example of that. But if Marie had minded him and stayed put, she wouldn’t have been in harm’s way.
    Frank needed to know that she was going to do exactly what he told her to do. That fact would help him sleep at night. He would ensure it with her over his knee every day if that’s what it took.
    Frank carefully slid his hands under Marie’s hips and shifted her gently from his lap to the bed. He then covered her with the blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed. He closed the door behind him as he left the room and went to fetch supper for the children and himself.
     
    * * *
     
    The following morning before dawn, Marie woke and was at first surprised that she’d slept in her clothes, but then she remembered the events of the previous day. She reached behind her to touch her backside and found the action painful. The skin on her backside burned and stung and she was sure she would feel this spanking for a while.
    She looked over at Frank. He was sound asleep still—it was that early—and she marveled at the feelings that welled up inside her every time she looked at him. She felt like she loved him more every day and yet she wondered how she could love him so much when he punished her so harshly. But she did. And her heart felt heavy when she realized what she had to do.
    Marie knew that she had to leave. Finding out about her past had been one of the most painful experiences of her life. She was so ashamed that her mama and daddy weren’t married. That made her a bastard. There was no other word for it.
    Yet that wasn’t the worst of it. No, as far as Marie was concerned the worst of it was that Frank knew that she was that. He deserved better. He should have stuck with Sarah. Marie was convinced now that she wasn’t good enough for him and that she would be doing him a favor by leaving and freeing him up to find a more fitting wife. Someone more suitable for raising his daughter.
    He would never ask her to end the marriage; Marie knew he was too honorable for that. But this ugly truth would always be there, unspoken between them and Marie didn’t think she could live with it.
    She knew that she needed to take the boys with her. She certainly couldn’t leave them—Frank would have enough trouble finding a new sitter for Emme—and they were really hers anyway. The only problem was getting someone to watch Emme when they left, while giving them enough time to get some space between the ranch and themselves.
    She decided they could leave after lunch. One of the hands was courtin’ a young woman from town who liked to stop by and visit him for his lunch break twice a week, and today just happened to be one of those days. Marie could ask her to watch Emme after lunch, since she napped at that time anyway. She’d make up some excuse about having to take Jack and Henry somewhere—boy, it was a good thing she was