Smiling over at her, Piper replied, “It’s a date.”
Twenty minutes later, a blowout from her right rear tire had Piper struggling to slow the jeep on the dirt road, a feat made even more difficult because she was speeding in an effort to get back to Hope long before Brody and Ian. “Crap,” she muttered as she finally managed to slow enough to pull over and cut the engine. “We are in so much trouble.” Getting out, she walked to the back of her jeep and winced as she saw the tire was completely flat and she would be lucky if the rim wasn’t ruined in her struggle to stop.
“Speak for yourself,” Haley stated as she looked at the ruined tire. “This stunt was your idea and I’m not the one someone seems to have it in for.” Looking up and down the relatively deserted stretch of back road, Haley bit her lip in worry. “This isn’t good, Piper.?
?
“I know, damn it.” Piper was smart enough to worry about being stranded at any time, but with those mysterious missing two days still plaguing her and the vandalism at Haley’s shop still unresolved, her palms grew sweaty with the potential risk she had put herself in. Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed Brody’s number, hoping he was close enough to the cutoff to Tucker’s Pass that it wouldn’t take them long to backtrack and get here. They could change the tire themselves, but the spare was buried under the big boxes from the post office and it would take them twice as long as the guys, time she didn’t want to spend alone out here. “Hi Brody,” she said when he answered. “Uh, we could use a little help.”
Ten minutes later, her ears were still ringing from Brody’s curses and threats, but her relief was palpable when she saw his bright red hot rod spewing dust as he approached them. She knew she was in for a tongue lashing, something her guilty conscience really didn’t need, but that she deserved, and when Haley had noticed the left rear tire slowly going flat while they waited, she added fear to her worry and guilt. A flat wasn’t a sign of foul play, a blowout followed by another flat hinted at tampering.
“Easy, partner,” Ian cautioned Brody when he roared to a stop behind the jeep, his anger and curses stronger than when Piper had taken off in Branson, leaving them behind.
“No, I’m done being easy with her. She agreed to our help and our rules. She’s going to damn well abide by them.” Beneath the anger beating at him was worry and fear and as he saw both tires, the worry and fear out passed the anger.
“Brody, I’m…”
“Be. Quiet,” he told her with quiet, steely emphasis.
Piper thought now would be a good time to heed his order and stepped back while they checked the damage. Within minutes, they found nails embedded in both tires, long, thick nails guaranteed to cause a flat in a short amount of time.
“You thinking what I am?” Brody asked Ian as they stood up from inspecting the tires.
“That anyone could have stuck these in during the two hours we left it unattended in the parking lot? Yep.”
“I’ll call the sheriff to get someone out here to tow it in. We’ll have to retrieve their packages later.”
Piper and Haley simply stood by while they waited for one of Sheriff Norton’s deputies to show up and agree to wait for the tow truck which was on the way. The glares Brody aimed her way, when he chose to look at her, were filled with anger and reprisal, a reprisal Piper would be looking forward to if she wasn’t feeling so bad about her reckless behavior being responsible for her current predicament. The drive back to Hope in Brody’s car was made in tense silence and Piper was relieved when they finally pulled in front of Haley’s shop.
“I’m going to go have a talk with Gary, give him these nails, not that it’ll do any good,” Ian said. “I’ll walk back to the cabin.”
Brody just nodded at him, turned to look at Piper over the hood of his car and stated with tightly controlled anger, “Get in, Piper.”
“I know you’re angry,” Piper said as they pulled out, “and I know I shouldn’t have issued that dare. I’m sorry, I didn’t think…”
“No,” he interrupted her coldly, “you didn’t think. It’s bad enough you didn’t give any thought to your own predicament, but you had your best friend with you today. What’s your excuse for putting her at risk?”
“I don’t have one,” she snapped back, hating that she had to answer to him, hating losing control over her life and most importantly, hating that he was right. If anyone had hurt Haley because of her, she knew she’d never forgive herself. “Damn it,” she muttered, facing out the window so she didn’t have to see if he was gloating. Piper settled in sulky silence and was glad Brody didn’t pursue it. She was going to grab a beer and head out to work in her garden before it got dark. She was always able to relax and clear her head of cobwebs when she had her hands buried in dirt, tending to her vegetables and flowers.
Piper’s muttering was always a telltale sign of her frustration or stress, but Brody had a better way of dealing with her. Pulling to a stop in front of her cabin, he had come to the conclusion he needed to act on his threat of using his belt this time, and God help him if she responded to the sharper pain of leather the way she did his hand, because the way he was feeling, his cock already thick and hard at picturing her ass striped red, he didn’t know if he was going to be able to walk away this time. His fear for her overrode his anger, his good intentions and his common sense, leaving him to wonder if he was fighting a losing battle in keeping himself emotionally, as well as physically apart from her.
When she flounced by him, her head high, her eyes glittering, he simply reacted. Grabbing her hand, he hauled her to the hood of his car and bent her over the top, his taller, stronger body braced against her back to keep her from fleeing.
“I warned you, didn’t I?” he whispered silkily in her ear, the feel of her soft ass against his hard cock egging him on. “Remember what I said would happen the next time you defied me?”
Piper stilled her struggles as she felt not only his cock rubbing her ass, but the hard metal of his belt buckle. Just that quickly, her juices flooded her pussy, her buttocks clenched in anticipation of feeling that delicious fiery burn again and her nipples grew achingly taut.
“Answer me, Piper,” he demanded lowly as he let her feel his hand move between their bodies, let her hear him release his buckle and let her feel him pull the thick leather from his waist.
“You said you were going to spank me with your belt. Oh God, Brody,” she whimpered breathlessly, “I don’t think I can take it.”
“You won’t know until you try, but regardless, you’re going to get at least one stroke. If it’s too much, say so and I’ll switch to my hand. Brace yourself on your elbows and pull your hips back. Now.”
The quiet emphasis in that order demanded her surrender, her actions demanded she take her punishment and her pussy was demanding she give him what he wanted in the hope that he would reciprocate generously. Birds were tweeting from the woods, in the distance the sound of the lake splashing onto shore echoed faintly and there was enough of a breeze to rustle tree leaves, but all she was aware of was the erotic exposure of her ass when he pulled her skirt up, draped it over her back and pulled her panties down to her knees. She widened her legs automatically to keep them from dropping to her feet. She liked the picture she imagined they made stretched between her legs, liked the way her ass and thighs were showcased between her panties and her raised skirt, emphasizing and limiting the area to be spanked.
Brody doubled the belt, stood to her side and knew by the way she was cooperating that she was going to respond as heatedly to the pain of leather as she did to the pain of his palm. Confident she’d let him know if she wanted him to stop, he gave her one quick warning before snapping the leather across the middle of both buttocks. “Brace yourself, darlin’.”
The stroke came so fast after his warning Piper didn’t have time to do as he said, and she couldn’t prevent a startled cry from pealing out. This time she heard the swoosh of leather right before it struck, braced herself for the impact and the slash of pain then whimpered as that red hot sting fed the arousal pulsing in her pussy, set her inner flesh on fire.