The Winner (Romantek) Read online

  She had to rest. It was too hot and her feet were too sore. Audrey sat in the road and tugged off her shoes. Her feet had swollen and there were broken blisters on both of her heels. Groaning, she massaged her feet with her aching hands. A few tears formed in her eyes. She was lost, alone, in pain, and so thirsty her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth.

  A minute later, she was crying. She sobbed for a few minutes, but stopped upon hearing something coming along the path. Horse hooves against the hard-packed soil! Maybe her horse was coming back to her. Quickly, she wiped her eyes and tried to put her shoes back on. They wouldn’t fit! Her feet had swelled so much that her shoes wouldn’t go on again. Audrey was cursing and struggling with them as the horse thunder drew nearer. Hopefully, her horse would stop when he saw her in the road. If not, she’d be trampled. And wouldn’t that put the perfect exclamation point on her day?

  It seemed wise to stand up and get out of the road, and she did so, painful as it was. A lone rider stopped his horse nearby and jumped down to the ground.

  “Audrey!”

  White Star! She barreled into him, never so glad to see another person in her life. “White Star!” He held her tightly for a moment.

  “What in tarnation are you doing out here? Was that your buggy I found up the road?”

  Miserable, she nodded. Why couldn’t he just hold her for a while longer?

  “Darn it, woman! What were you thinking?”

  “I, uh, I was looking for you. I saw the gunfight in town and I was worried about you. You left so quickly and didn’t say goodbye.”

  “I didn’t have time to say goodbye. The sheriff took a dim view of the fight and threw me out. I barely had time to get my kit.”

  “My shoes won’t fit,” she said, so relieved to have him near that the non-sequitur made sense in her own frame of reference. “And I’m thirsty.”

  “I can’t fix your shoes, but I do have some water. I can’t believe you came out here with no water. Honestly, Audrey, this is about the most damn fool situation I ever did see.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Although he didn’t answer, he did go to his horse and retrieve a canteen. “Small sips.”

  “Yes, sir.” She took a few small sips, rolling the liquid around in her mouth before swallowing. Tepid and a little stale though it was, she savored every mouthful. Audrey took her fill and finally handed the canteen back to him, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

  “I heard gunshots. Are you hurt?”

  “No. I was shooting at a snake.”

  “That’s what spooked the horse, I expect.”

  “Yes.” He looked her up and down, but something occurred to Audrey as she stood there in her torn stockings and hot calico dress. “Say, why are you out here? I thought you were at the Bar R.”

  He snorted, but answered her. “You’re on Bar R property. I was out tryin’ to collect a horse that escaped the paddock and heard your shots. I came running.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m sorry about taking you away from your chores. I’m really glad you are here, though. Really glad.”

  “You should be. A person could be lost in these fields for days.”

  “I had no idea it would be so dangerous,” she insisted.

  “Let me see your gun.”

  Audrey took it out of her reticule and handed it over to him.

  “Hey! Don’t point it at a person, Audrey. It could go off accidentally.”

  “Sorry.”

  He examined it closely. “Where did you get it?”

  “I… borrowed it?”

  “Does the owner know it was borrowed?” he questioned.

  “Er…no.”

  “So you can add thievery to your list of foolish acts today.”

  She cringed. “I’m sorry.”

  His expression was grim, his mouth a flat line. “You deserve a spanking.” White Star moved a few steps toward his horse and took a wound-up whip from his saddle pommel.

  Audrey backed up a step, her feet smarting, causing her to flinch a little. “No!”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He looked around for a moment.

  There was nothing but low grass and dirt around them. Hopefully, Audrey thought, the lack of accommodations would prevent the spanking. No such luck.

  “This here is called a quirt. I use it lightly on horses and firmly on naughty young women. Now bend over and grab your ankles.”

  Audrey took another step back. She knew she deserved this, too. She had piled stupid decision on stupid decision today. But she was tired and footsore. She wanted to take a bath and rest. “Do I have to?”

  “Yes, you do.”

  “But, White Star, I was only trying to make sure you were okay. Doesn’t that count for something?”

  “Yep. It counts for another reason to spank you. Do you think I’m some milksop who can’t take care of himself?”

  “N-no.”

  “No, is right.”

  “But I missed you. I didn’t know if you would be back to Pollyville.”

  White Star hesitated. “Audrey, I’m pleased to see you, that’s true enough. But there had to be a better way than this. I would have sent you a note or something.”

  “I didn’t think of that.”

  “You didn’t think much at all. Now bend over and grab your ankles.” He pointed downward.

  Audrey hesitated for a long moment, a moment that included his dark frown and implacable stare.

  White Star broke the silence. “You know what you did wrong, Audrey.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “You guess so? You went off all half-cocked. You didn’t think things through.”

  “I guess so.”

  “I need to make you a little surer?”

  “I don’t want to be spanked,” she protested.

  “You endangered yourself by coming out here without water. You endangered the horse, too. He ain’t got no say in your crazy schemes and doesn’t deserve mistreatment. And you stole a goddamned gun! You stole it!”

  Guilt washed over Audrey, causing her to look down at the ground. Stealing was wrong, and she knew it. But she also knew that she needed protection out here in the wilderness. Well, not really wilderness, these were cultivated fields. Still, there had been that snake and the gun had scared it off. The horse had been quite secondary in her mind, but White Star was right. That snake could have hurt him, as well as the run pall-mall down the road trailing an empty buggy.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Show me you’re sorry by grabbin’ your ankles, woman.”

  “Yes, sir.” Sighing, Audrey obeyed. The next thing she knew her skirts lifted over her back and White Star pulled down her drawers. Bare-bottomed, this was going to hurt!

  He reached over her and steadied her by the waist, and commenced spanking with his hand. It hurt, but it wasn’t the harsh pain that she had expected from a quirt. She wasn’t sure what that would feel like, but she knew it had to be worse. Nevertheless, that hard hand coming down on her bottom hurt like the dickens. The first few slaps made her squeeze her eyes shut as she tried not to cry out. But after ten or fifteen hard spanks, she began to sob, tears dripping onto the hard-packed soil. He was still using his hand, but the fire on her butt was growing as high as the flames of a huge bonfire. She began to plead for mercy.

  “Please stop! It hurts!”

  “Of course it hurts. But you got to learn, Audrey. You can’t behave like this again.”

  “I’ve learned! I’ve learned!”

  “No you ain’t.” There was a pause as he took the quirt from his restraining hand into his spanking hand.

  The first snap of the quirt made her cry out loudly and try to get away. She knew she had been in the wrong. Knew she deserved punishment, but her instincts told her to flee as fast as she could. White Star’s firm grip on her middle kept her from getting away, though.

  Her noises were lost in the sound of the whistling quirt followed by it snapping against her rear. Her feet hurt, her butt hurt
, and soon she had a raging headache to go with it. And still the spanking went on. Her bottom felt welted and scored from the terrible whip.

  “You’re going to think before you act in the future, Audrey.” Several more spanks hit the place where thighs met bottom. Audrey squealed and squirmed.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I can’t hear you.”

  “Yes, sir!” Now she was blubbering, sob on top of sob, her nose was running and she felt like she was drowning in tears.

  “You endangered your life and that of the horse. Lucky for you, he’s down the road a piece, sitting patiently waiting for you, Audrey. You stole someone else’s property. You had best put it back where you found it. I can’t believe you would actually steal something. Your foolishness was way out of control.”

  If she had just kept going down the road, she might not be in this mess. But she had stopped. So close to the buggy, and yet so far. “I only borrowed it. I was going to take it back the minute I got back to the boardinghouse. I’m sorry!”

  “Now you’re sorry, because I’m tanning your ass.” He placed more swats on her upturned behind, stopping finally as Audrey thought she might collapse from the agony. In fact, she did drop to the ground as soon as he said, “It’s over.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she sputtered, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

  “You ought to be, Miss.” Putting his quirt aside, he got down on the ground with her, gathering her up in his arms. “Time to shut off the water works, honey.” White Star undid the bow under her chin and took her bonnet off. He found her temple with his lips. Audrey’s swollen eyelids were next, and finally, he tasted her mouth. Audrey gulped in breaths between kisses, letting out a little gasp when his hand trailed down from her shoulder to cup her breast.

  His touch was firm and her nipples hardened instinctively. After all the pain of the day, she was grateful for any respite from it. White Star’s pinch on her nipples—gently coaxing them harder—was exquisite. As he held the back of her head with one hand, the exploring one began to unbutton her dress. They continued to kiss, even as a cooling breeze wafted over her bared chest. A moment later, White Star trailed kisses down her throat and to the peak of one breast. He suckled and squeezed the soft white orbs as he made love to her breasts.

  Audrey was thrilled and excited. She hoped it would never end. Unfortunately, it did.

  “We can’t do it in the dirt, honey,” he said softly, his low raspy voice like sweet molasses.

  “Why not?”

  He pulled away and looked her in the eyes, a smile turning up the corners of his lips. “It ain’t right. You ought to have a soft featherbed beneath you.”

  Audrey reached out and touched his face. A featherbed would have been nicer on her aching behind, but at that moment, Audrey didn’t care. The pain was a perfect contrast to the pleasure. “I don’t want a featherbed,” she insisted. “I want you.”

  His groan was poignant, but apparently his resistance broke. He grabbed her in his arms and gently levered her backwards until she was lying on the ground. The fresh grasses around them had a pungent herbal smell, and the sun glared from overhead. But soon White Star’s body shaded her as he rose over her.

  “This ain’t dignified,” he reminded her.

  “Dignity be damned,” she whispered.

  More kisses rained down on her chest and breasts, and Audrey felt wetness at her core. She knew her body was preparing for his and it excited her further. Tugging on his shirt hastily, she popped a button off as she bared his chest for her eager hands. He was so handsome, each muscle defined. She touched every part of his chest, fingering his nipples and forcing a growl from him.

  White Star pushed her skirts up in front of her. Her pantalets were still around her knees, but he made quick work of pulling them off. Soon, she was bare from the waist down, lying on the back of her skirt. Audrey reached for the belt and buttons on his trousers and struggled with them for a moment, relieved when she finally got them open and his cock sprang out. She grabbed it with both hands. White Star growled again, moving to kneel between her legs. As he held himself suspended over her on one arm, he touched the wetness between her legs. The smile on his face suggested he liked what he found. He touched her there for some time, pinching her labia gently and brushing her clit delicately. Audrey clutched his shoulders, feeling the muscles there bunching as his position called upon them to hold him up.

  One finger slipped inside her and Audrey squirmed. Another finger entered. It was glorious, this search for hidden treasures. Audrey felt the pressure in her lower belly increasing as he slowly worked his fingers inside her.

  “Please, White Star,” she begged as he removed his fingers to rub silky moisture over her clit. “Ah!”

  “You’re made for this, honey. You are made for my loving.”

  The gravel in his voice was her undoing and she arched against him, blinded by the sun against her closed eyelids and something equally hot and blistering from inside her body. Her breath was uneven and her body shook with the force of her orgasm. She had never felt anything like it before. Fleetingly, she thought that the Romantek computer was behind some of the pleasure, but it didn’t matter. It was wonderful. Now she needed to feel that strong cock inside her. That would make her RAVE the experience of a lifetime.

  Audrey reached down and cupped his balls then slid over his prick, up and down. It didn’t take much encouragement for him to go down on his elbows, hovering over her. “Guide me,” he said, as he kissed her mouth again. Audrey knew what he meant, and bent her knees, centering his cock on her eager pussy. Slowly, he eased into her, each inch of him bringing on another wave of sweet, gentle pleasure. Finally, he was seated firmly inside her, and he began moving in and out in a rhythm she matched with the arch of her hips.

  It went on for several minutes, Audrey’s orgasm riding the cusp, the pain spread across her rear, a poignant reminder of how she had gotten into this position. Finally, with a cry and a squeeze, she came. The world spun like the dust devils in the Pollyville main street. Throbbing waves of pleasure tightened her hold on White Star. Moments later, he bucked against her twice, very hard, and let out a deep, raspy groan of pleasure.

  Breathless, they lay together in the road as a cloud passed over the sun.

  “You done wore me out, honey.” There was a smile on his lips when Audrey turned.

  “Me, too.”

  “Mrs. Brown is going to get our her flail when she sees you come home covered with dirt and smelling like sex.”

  Yes, Mrs. Brown would have to be reckoned with. As would Marcus. “I don’t care right now.”

  He got to his feet, tucked his softening penis back into his pants and held out a hand for her to help her off the ground. “I’ll take you back. That horse and buggy ain’t far.”

  “I am lost,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t know how to get back.”

  “And I can’t go into town. I’ll lead you back to the edge of town and then point you in the right direction.”

  Sighing, Audrey squirmed back into her unmentionables, did up her loose corset, and the fastened the buttons on the front of her dress. White Star picked up her bonnet and handed her shoes to her. It was agony putting them back on over her blisters, but the swelling had subsided, and she did it.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  “If we have to…”

  “Yes, Miss, you must.”

  “I wish I had my comm unit, so I could take a picture of you.” As soon as the words were out, Audrey realized what she’d done and put a hand over the big hole that was her mouth. She half expected that the RAVE would end there, but no lightning bolt shot down from that lone cloud.

  White Star was looking at her strangely. No surprise there.

  “What’s that you say?”

  “I…uh…I wish I had the talent to paint a picture of you?”

  His eyes narrowed, wariness spelled in big tense letters all over his posture. “Picture, eh?”

  Audrey nodded.
“You know, something to go in a locket.”

  “Ah.” He took her by the arm and led her back to the buggy, his horse trailing behind them. It really had been only a couple hundred meters away. Old Hickory was at the outer edges of the field, munching on the green grass.

  White Star said nothing. His lips were compressed. He helped her back up into the buggy and handed her the reins. “Picture,” he mumbled as he looked up at her. He gave her another hard look and then mounted his own horse and began leading the way.

  “Are you mad at me?” she called to him.

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Then why are you being so quiet?”

  “I ain’t got anything to say.”

  “You’re making me feel bad about what we did.”

  “Sorry.”

  That’s all he could say? “Are you regretting it?”

  There was a long pause. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Audrey’s heart sank, although maybe he meant he regretted doing it in the dirt. “I can wash my dress, you know,” she said hopefully. “You don’t need to be worried about that.”

  He snorted.

  Frustrated, Audrey snapped, “Fine! Now I regret it, too!”

  “Just as well.”

  “Oh! Go away! You are a…” What was a nineteenth-century insult? “You are a bastard! A low down skunk!”

  He turned slightly and gave her a stony glare. “Maybe.”

  Audrey pulled on the reins and stopped the horse. “I can find my own way.”

  “No, Ma’am, you can’t. We have seen that already. Don’t be more foolish than you have already been, or I’ll have to tan your hide again. And coming on top of the last one, I can promise you’ll hate it.”

  “The only foolish thing I’ve done was make love with you!” Audrey was beside herself. She had thought she was forming a lovely romantic bond with this make-believe man. Something she could hold in her heart as a pleasant memory for years to come. But for some reason, the Romantek computer had decided that she had made a mistake in her choice. Why else would the game have turned so painful? She had half a mind to find her way out of the RAVE. It was supposed to be fun and adventurous, not miserable and frightening. Perhaps this was her computerized punishment for using modern parlance during play.