Rough Justice

Chapter One-2

Jess Dalton’s kingdom had remained a staple fixture in the landscape of the California foothills for nearly twenty-five years. However when his wife died, just as Lacy turned eighteen, something changed in the man. A bit of his spirit was taken away with Corinne Dalton’s passing. It became Lacy’s task to make certain that her heritage was protected from her father’s sometimes capricious manner. He still tried ruling with his iron fist, but Lacy had her ways around him. Since his heart attack two years before, she was more wary of him all the time.

“Have you met Travis yet?” Jess asked his daughter, just as they were finishing their meal.

“Travis? Oh, yes, Travis Wills. Yes, I did meet him. Ran into him in the stables last night.”

“Good. You talk much about the ranch?”

“Actually no. But I’d like to talk to you about him,” she said.

“Oh?”

“Are you sure that this is the man you want? He hardly seems the type to fit in here.”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know, just a feeling.”

Jess Dalton studied his daughter’s expression carefully. “I may not do a lot of things well anymore. But I’m sure about this man. Knew his father, but then I’ve already told you that. You need to get to know him.”

“Is there some problem?” Another voice interjected.

Lacy jerked around, hearing the unexpected voice of Travis Wills. Her eyes shot darts at him.

“Seems you really have a way of invading people’s intimate moments,” she remarked.

“Sorry,” Travis said. He was just outside the door on the porch. Rather than wait for an invitation, he pulled the screen open and joined the father and daughter.

“You’ll have to excuse Lacy. My daughter is afraid of any move I make with the ranch. Especially since my heart attack. She thinks it effected my mind.”

“I do not!” Lacy protested.

Jess smiled at her with a fatherly condescension that made her blood begin to boil. Still, she attempted to remain calm, having no desire to let Travis see the prickly side of the family relationship.

“Time was, I could just take this one over my knee and paddle her behind for her impudence,” Jess said. “But at twenty-five, she should be too old for such things.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Travis said, calmly. He winked at Lacy, which made her angrier still.

“Daddy, please.”

Jess Dalton knew how to get the better of his high spirited daughter. “You will be working for Lacy and me, Mr. Wills, but don’t let her boss you around too much. She needs to learn to temper her opinions sometimes. And right now, you’ll temper your opinion of Travis here, until you actually get to know him.”

“I’m sorry if you two feel I’ve jumped the gun on this, but I do have the best interests of the ranch to think of,” Lacy defended herself. “I hope I’m not offending you, Mr. Wills, but there were several candidates for the job that had better resumes than yours.”

“You were looking at resumes?” Travis said.

“This is the 1990’s, not the Wild West,” Lacy said.

“I appreciate that,” Travis replied. “But I think you’ll find my references sound, my business sense acute, and my knowledge of this kind of operation perfectly adequate for your needs.”

“You say you have an acute business sense?” Lacy queried.

“Miss Dalton, in addition to my ranch experience, I have an MBA from Berkeley.”

To that remark she sat back astounded. “I don’t recall reading that.”

“No, you wouldn’t because I usually don’t think it’s necessary to mention.”

“Well, why in heaven’s name would be you wanting this job?”

“It’s not the money, you can be sure of that,” he said with a smirk.

She wasn’t amused. “Then why?”

“It’s my father’s occupation. I grew up on a ranch north of here, and the life is in my blood.”

“And your father’s ranch?”

“He sold it, when he thought I didn’t want it.”

“You could buy your own?” she suggested.

“My father’s illness used up any inheritance I might have had,” Travis explained. “And frankly, it wasn’t until a few years after his death that I realized how much I wanted to return to ranching.”

“But why here?” she continued as if she fully expected to talk the man out of his job.

Travis turned deliberately to Lacy with a worrisome expression. “I feel a bit like this is an inquisition, Miss Dalton,” he said. “Perhaps we got off to a bad start last night. I would hope however that you would give this a try before you pass judgment.”

Lacy only looked slightly chagrined. She might have continued with her questions, but her father’s glance was definitely steely. He’d had enough of her reservations. The tension between the trio had mounted to a fine degree, so that she quickly excused herself from the table and went into the office and closed the door.

Just a few minutes later, her father joined her there, his look still as stern as it had been in the kitchen. “I don’t know what bee you have in your bonnet today, little miss,” he said, wagging his finger at her as if he was scolding a child. “But you will work with Travis Wills. He’s a good man. You’ll be pleasant and cooperative. He’ll be an asset to Skylark ranch, I know that. And I won’t have you making trouble.”

“Daddy, I wasn’t trying to make trouble ....” she started, but Jess Dalton wasn’t listening.

“Maybe I should take to paddling your behind again. Might do your attitude some good.”

“Daddy,” she droned.

“I’ll expect you in the stable in an hour to get more acquainted with our foreman,” he informed her. He’d had enough. Saying no more, he left his daughter to stew in her juices, while he went outside.

Lacy Dalton did her best to accommodate Travis Wills, even though she’d taken an instant dislike to the man. She couldn’t explain it even to herself, but she had to admit that he had qualifications as good as anyone for running the ranch. In this her father seemed to have made a reasonable decision. Knowing that, over the next few days Lacy put a smile on her face, and spoke to her new foreman politely, making sure that her father would be pacified that she’d adjusted to the new situation. However, when she was out of her father’s earshot, she was not so gracious.

“Mr. Wills, I thought that you were going to work the stallion first thing in the morning?” she snipped lightly as she passed through the stable watching Travis rearranging tack.

“I’ve changed the schedule,” he answered her, as he continued his work.

Lacy stopped short. “Excuse me. There are some things at this ranch that are written in stone,” she advised him with a cool tone in her voice. Not unpleasant, simply cool.

“Are there now?” Travis said. He turned and looked at her, not giving away his thoughts, though he seemed hardly willing to back down from the challenge.

“You would doubt that?” she asked.

“I’m doing my job, Miss. As I see fit.”

“I’m sure you are, but the changes you want should be run by me first.”

“I’ve already discussed them with your father,” he said.

“If you don’t mind, it’s important to consult me on such decisions.”

“I hadn’t realized that,” he replied. His mood was watchful, and on the verge of testy, but he was clearly keeping the upper hand.

Lacy’s eyes flashed, her cool reserve turning hot.

“Frankly, Miss Dalton, I think you’re looking for trouble,” Travis charged.

“I beg your pardon.”

“You’ve been irritable, spiteful and downright rude to me from the first day.”

“I am running a ranch, not a social club,” Lacy snapped.

“Ah, what a fire in your eyes.” He smirked.

“I didn’t like you from the beginning. I like you even less now. I went along with my father’s decision because he’s an old man and needs to feel useful. But you can be assured that your days at this ranch are numbered.”

“Is that so?” Travis laughed, as Lacy’s eyes grew hotter still. Her nostrils flared as though she were a stallion ready for a good fight. “You don’t like me, Miss Lacy Dalton, because I had a peek at your vulnerable side over your fiancé’s lap. As for firing me, you don’t have the power to do that. Don’t try to pull the upper hand with me, because it won’t work.”

“Oh, you’re wrong about that,” she answered his vow, with a determined shake of her head. Her fists were clenched as if she were about to strike out at him.

“Better watch yourself,” Travis said smugly. “I learned one thing about you from Chase McMillian. If I have to keep you in line with my belt on your bottom, I will.”

“You will not!”

“You want to try me?” he replied. “I can think of nothing I’d like better right now than to see your naked red cheeks bobbing up and down on my lap.”

The remark was more than she could stand. Her temper blazing, a hand flew back without a second thought, and came forward to connect with Travis’s face. The smack of it seemed to send a sharp crack through the hot air in the stable.

Travis’s eyes, to that point playful, if not a bit stern, suddenly went cold— a deep, blue hawk-like cool that frightened Lacy as much as it startled her.

“Perhaps I should have given you my rules from the beginning, Lacy Dalton.” His voice was as icy as his stare. “You’ll pay for that one.” His arm reached out to grasp her wrist, and a struggle followed.

There was no question of wrenching away from Travis Wills. He was as strong as his broad shoulders suggested, and his grasp was deadly.

“Take your hands off of me!” Lacy roared.

“Not on your life!” he roared back.

With one arm he worked at the thick leather belt around his waist, with his other, he dragged the wiggling Lacy from the center of the stable to the ranch office, where he sat down on a bench and pulled her over his thighs.

“Ouch! God no. Stop it now!” she blared.

His fingers were deftly unfastening her jeans, as if he’d performed this ritual a dozen times.

“Don’t you dare, you fuckin’ bastard,” she roared.

“Ah, a foul mouth too!” he observed, as if her wild ejaculations were giving him all the more reason to punish her.

With her pants down, there was just her thin panties keeping him from a full view of her naked rear cheeks. That, he took care of quickly, as he yanked down the cotton bikinis to find her jiggling bottom, a natural white like the first snow of winter. He hadn’t had the pleasure of viewing her bottom when he watched Chase paddle her. What fun this would be raising a crimson blush on what looked like untainted orbs.

“You friggin’ ass!” she roared again, as her arms flailed and her legs scissored wildly.

All her gyrations didn’t bother Travis. He was much too strong for her. And such steely strength! It matched Chase’s in intensity, and was perhaps more impressive since Chase was a much larger man than Travis. Inside her foreman’s compact form, he was formidable in his power to make her submit. Before even beginning his task his right leg pinned her flailing legs and his left hand captured both wrists and held them against her back.

“You’d best let me do this without so much struggle, brat,” he warned her. “Because I won’t stop until your temper does.”

With the doubled belt in his fist he drew the leather belt back and then down on her wriggling bottom. The sound of the first smack jolted her as much as the pain of it. The angered foreman didn’t stop with the first strike. This would be no easy spanking. Smack after smack of the belt peppered her skin, leaving an instant burn and a biting sting.

“Ouch! Stop!” she cried.

Travis answered her plea with a rash of quick smacks. Meant to be fast and cutting, he continued on without a moment’s pause until her bottom was glowing bright pink.

“Gawd, no no, pleeeeeese!” she begged. There were tears in her eyes, and desperation in her heart. The pain was fierce, but followed only by more strokes that increased the hurt.

“I’m sorry, please!” she finally wailed, thinking he would find her apology reason to quit.

“Apology unaccepted,” Travis barked.

“Please, stop stop,” she tried again.

“Only when you calm down,” he roared.

“I can’t!” she cried. How could he expect her to be subdued, with the cruel leather coming down over and over again on her hot cheeks? And now his words just made her anger rise again. “Stop it!” she barked at him.

“Maybe never,” he vowed. And he smacked the belt another several times just to emphasize his point.

“I hate you Travis Wills!” she wailed.

“You’ll hate me even more then,” he said. The belt smacked her hard, the leather connecting with her bouncing flesh as its imprint turned her bottom a strawberry red. The impact of it left savage stripes. The beastly implement made a ruthless journey until there was not one place anywhere on her exposed behind that wasn’t raw, hot and scarlet.