“I’ve learned my lesson. Please, no more,” she sobbed. “Owww,” she wailed again.
The spanking hurt far worse than she ever thought a spanking could hurt. After another round of sharp swats, he paused and rubbed a little, and Lily dared to hope he was finished.
“A stubborn, disobedient girl should be spanked on her bare bottom. Have you ever had your drawers lowered for a spanking?”
“No,” she cried, her heartbeat quickening. “Please,” she whimpered. “Please don’t spank me without my drawers on. I-I’ll just die.”
“All right, you can keep your drawers this time. I don’t want to humiliate you, Lily. But I want to teach you a lesson. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes. I’ve learned my lesson. I promise.”
“I believe you almost have,” he said before continuing. He spanked her long and hard, and soon Lily was blubbering out apologies and begging him to stop. She swore she’d never set foot in his saloon again. She begged him to forgive her for asking. Nothing she said stopped the incessant hard hand from punishing her over and over. He was done talking and listening, and he carried out the rest of the discipline in silence, letting his hand do all the communicating.
“P-please, Jesse. Please stop,” she said for what seemed like the thousandth time through her sobs.
His hand finally settled and rested on her scorched bottom. She panted and waited for him to speak. She prayed he was finished chastising her.
“So, Miss Lily, have I gotten through to you about trying to work in a saloon?”
“Yes.”
“You’re young and respectable. You’re going to find yourself a respectable suitor and enjoy only his attentions, not entertain multiple men daily. Agreed?”
She would have agreed to most anything at that point. “Yes, sir.”
Jesse slowly helped her to her feet. “Go stand over there, nose to the wall.” He pointed to the corner opposite the door.
Lily didn’t argue as she made the motions to obey, fearing that doing anything else would only earn her more time over his knee. With her head cradled against the walls of the corner, she rubbed her bottom and cried like she’d never cried before. She’d wanted to impress Jesse and show him that she was a woman, and she’d done the exact opposite. He thought of her as nothing more than a naughty child who needed a spanking, and that’s certainly what she felt like standing in the corner. The tears wouldn’t stop falling, and she sniffled, wishing she had a handkerchief to blow her leaking nose.
Jesse spoke a few minutes later. “Come here, Lily.”
Her eyes downcast, she walked to where he stood leaning against his desk with his arms folded in front of his chest. She couldn’t bear to look at him. He handed her the handkerchief she desperately needed, and she blew her nose.
“It was just a spanking, not the end of the world. Settle down now,” he said, his voice firm.
She obeyed somehow. Soon her sobs morphed into occasional hiccups. She finally dared to look at him through her wet lashes. She discovered that his eyes were fixed on her. She thought she saw concern there, and she was relieved to see no anger or ridicule.
He sighed. “I know I was hard on you, Lily, but hopefully you’ll realize after you leave that it was for your own good. This isn’t the place for a young lady with her whole life ahead of her.”
She felt her lower lip trembling again. She nodded and looked down.
Jesse wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her to him for a hug. With his other hand he cupped the side of her head and held it against his chest, and his chin rested on the top of her head. He smelled so good, like soap and something spicy. She relaxed and basked in his comfort and the feeling of his hands, now gentle, wrapped around her body.
Feeling another hug from the first man who’d ever paid her any attention, she felt vulnerable and more in love with him than ever. Despite how much the spanking embarrassed her, she again felt noticed by him and like he cared about her. Now that he comforted her, she grasped his shirt with her fists and held onto him as though tearing herself away would rip out her heart.
He ran a hand over her head. “You’re going to be just fine, darlin’. Stay away from here.” His breath wisped the hair along her forehead, and she felt a shiver of delight down to her toes. “I wager you’ll find yourself a good man and be married in a year. Then you’ll be able to move off the farm, assuming you don’t marry a farmer, that is.”
“Will you give me a job in a year if I’m not married?” she asked, her voice muffled by his shirt.
“No, but I’ll want to hear what’s keeping you from finding a nice fellow.”
She looked up at him. “Should I come back here to tell you?”
“No,” he said, frowning down at her. “I just said you’re not to come back to the saloon again, and I mean it. You can tell me over supper at the diner. How about that?”