The Woman Next Door Read online

  “Nice try, Lizzy, but it isn’t going to work.” He finally found the hidden turn off and once they left the main road it was like being in a different country altogether! “This is jeep territory for sure,” he commented, and drove as far as he could drive, knowing that it would have to be winter before his car was spotted from the air, or by anyone but hikers. He gathered the bag he always kept packed and in his car, and took his weapons from the trunk and brought them along for the long hike ahead. His only worry was that Lizzy wouldn’t be up for the trek.

  “How far is it?” she asked, obviously concerned about the same thing.

  “A ways. If you need to stop for a rest, you can let me know. Just don’t try to go ahead of me, and don’t lag behind. From now on you are glued to my side, and if you don’t believe me, I have a pair of handcuffs that could prove differently.”

  “I wouldn’t like being handcuffed,” she told him. Elizabeth couldn’t abide restraints of any kind, and it really bothered her when she had to use them on a patient who was delirious, or apt to hurt themself if they weren’t kept in bed.

  “I don’t care; disobey me once more and I will cuff you to me, after I blister your sweet ass a second time!”

  “Craig, calm down, please. I am in control of myself now, and I’m not going to do anything stupid. I don’t want to endanger you.”

  “Endanger me?” he repeated. “What about yourself? I want you to survive this mess, too!”

  “I still think we should have stayed in the city and sifted through this whole situation. Then you could get a better handle on the problem and protect all of us.”

  “McMaken has his fingers everywhere, and if he doesn’t have someone where he wants them, he uses threats, like he did with Sylvia, to get his way. You are not safe in the city. You saw how quickly he found you. Do you honestly think anything you say could make a difference to that man?” he asked, wanting to make her think. “For now, your best defense is for you to think of anything you overheard him say.”

  “I’ve told you repeatedly that I didn’t hear anything!”

  “You did, or he wouldn’t be so determined to kill you, Nurse Elizabeth.”

  “I can’t help it, Craig. I didn’t hear one damn thing!” She was losing her temper again, and she moved forward, intent on leaving him behind so she could find some peace and quiet.

  “Are you forgetting what I said, Lizzy? Do you want a new pair of bracelets?”

  “Will you please just shut up?” Elizabeth wasn’t easily intimidated, but she did slow her walk a bit. “Keep up!” she ordered sharply.

  Craig decided he was going to enjoy spanking her sweet fanny. He walked faster to keep up with her, even though she wasn’t carrying anything, and hadn’t offered to, either.

  Elizabeth might have enjoyed the hike if the circumstances were different. It went against her basic principles to run and hide from anyone, especially the likes of a bully like McMaken! She’d rather get in his face and tell him to go straight to hell! But, he had a whole lot of bullies working for him, and she didn’t want them to hurt others to find her. She stopped without warning and Craig ran right into her.

  “Lizzy? Are you tired?”

  “No. I’m very upset and concerned, Craig. I just had a terrible thought. Who’s to say they won’t start going after people that I care about? I couldn’t live with that. I’m not more important than anyone I know; I need to go home and face this head on. I am not going to let that evil bastard loose on the people I know.”

  “I understand how you feel, sweetheart, but in the city you have a large target on your back. What I really need for you to do is calm down, relax, and take yourself back to that night.”

  “I want to take myself back to town,” she told him.

  “Get moving. All of this gear is heavy.”

  “You are a big bully!” Elizabeth accused.

  “And you are a little brat,” he replied. “A little brat in need of a good spanking.”

  “I wish you would stop threatening me, Craig. It’s upsetting.”

  “It won’t be a threat when we reach the cabin,” he promised. “I intend to keep my promise, and if you maintain this sassy attitude, you won’t sit for a week.”

  Elizabeth was perilously close to losing her temper all over the man, so she put her energy into hurrying in the direction he pointed, and it gave her pleasure to know he was struggling to keep up with the pace she set. She worked straight out for twelve hours on her shifts in the ER, and she ran on her days off. Craig might be in shape, but she could out-walk and out-run him any day of the week!

  “Lizzy, you’re getting too far away from me!” Craig called out. His palm was itching, and yet, he didn’t want to bare her out here in the open. In fact, he didn’t want them to be seen at all. The fewer people who knew where they were, the better the chance was that he could keep Elizabeth safe. It upset him to know that if Hubert Huffy hadn’t called him over his wife and Lizzy fighting with each other, the pretty redhead would probably be dead by now, with no one the wiser. Craig knew that Lizzy overheard, or saw, something that McMaken didn’t want known, but what? Or was it simply that he didn’t want his rivals to know he sought medical attention? “Elizabeth?”

  “Yes, Grandpa? Am I still going too fast for you?” she snapped at him. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see his lips compress in a straight line and she could see that she’d angered him. She immediately felt remorseful. Why couldn’t she keep her damnable temper under control? The man was putting his very life in danger, trying to save hers! “Craig, I’m sorry. I hate myself when I get all mean and snippy. You could have sent me here with Wally, but instead, you are risking your life for mine, and I’m treating you with contempt. I’m so sorry.” He didn’t say anything, and she knew she’d pushed too far this time. Hopefully, the cabin was another ten miles of serious hiking away so that his temper had time to cool!

  Craig hoped the cabin wasn’t much farther. He needed to take this little witch in hand before she destroyed the love that they shared. Her sharp tongue and barbs were taking a toll on him, although he prided himself on controlling his own temper; but she provoked him like no other woman he’d ever dated.

  The cabin appeared suddenly through the trees, and Craig understood what Wally told him about it being hidden. It wasn’t visible. A man would have to have precise directions like Wally gave him, or accidentally stumble across it while hiking or hunting.

  “We could have walked right past it!” Elizabeth commented.

  “I’m glad Wally’s directions were so precise. Let’s get inside while there’s enough daylight for me to see to turn on the gas and water, and to check out the generator.”

  “Sure. Are you hungry?” she asked. “I could put something on to cook.”

  “Only if it needs to simmer for a long while. You and I have some unfinished business, Miss Matthews, and there is no sense in postponing the reckoning.”

  “Craig, I am truly sorry,” she insisted, her pretty green eyes full of tears.

  “I believe you mean the words,” he told her, “but without some sort of consequences, you just keep flying off the handle. It has to stop, Lizzy. You have earned at least three sound spankings by my reckoning.”

  “Three!” her voice squeaked.

  “I’m trying to be generous. It’s probably closer to five by now. Make yourself at home and scout out the food situation while I see to the gas and water.” He put down his belongings and went outside, unaware that Elizabeth was crying.

  When she got upset, or stressed, her head started pounding and she got dizzy. It brought on the nausea, too. She found a sofa and curled up into a tight ball, wishing the headaches would go away. She’d never realized until this happened that she couldn’t abide pain, but she truly couldn’t. Even worse than the physical pain, was knowing that she’d hurt Craig’s feelings. He thought of her as an undisciplined child in need of punishment to curb her bad habits! How could they possibly have a relationship when
he felt that way about her? She was crying and feeling sorry for herself when Craig suddenly returned.

  “Headache back?” he asked sympathetically.

  “Yes. It comes back when I’m distressed, and I am upset with myself. I don’t want to ruin what we have, Craig. I truly care about you, even if I haven’t shown you that. I’ve always had a quick temper, but lately it is out of control. I hate to admit this, but I know you’re right about my needing consequences, and needing something to give me a reason to avoid acting like such a witch.”

  “Does your head hurt too much to handle a spanking?” he asked bluntly. “I expect you to be honest, Lizzy. A spanking is supposed to hurt the part of your anatomy that can handle that type of pain, but it’s not supposed to make your head hurt unbearably.

  “I think my headache will go away when I stop feeling so awful about myself,” she told him. “I want to get it over with.”

  He nodded. “Stand up, Lizzy.” She obeyed him, her green eyes full of trepidation. He told himself that she needed this spanking, and that feeling sorry for her right now was not an option. She needed firmness, not coddling. “Take off your jeans and panties, and the shoes,” he ordered.

  “Can’t I at least keep my panties?” she begged him.

  “No, this spanking is going to take place on your bare butt, Elizabeth. Besides, you’re a nurse; you see bare butts all the time.”

  “That’s different,” she insisted. “This is my butt!”

  “Yes, this time, it is your butt, and I want it completely bare.”

  Elizabeth looked for a softening in his dark brown eyes, but there was none. Craig was being firm, and she had no choice but to obey him. Oh, she could put up a fuss, but she was in the wrong, and it was better to admit it and accept the consequences rather than put him in the position of forcing her. In a battle of strength, she was sure to lose, and he would lose his respect for her as a person. She needed to be honest now, and not do one thing to cause him to spank her harder! She kicked off her shoes, and then removed her jeans and panties, all in one.

  Craig patted his right thigh, and she looked at him in horror. “I don’t think I can, Craig. Please, help me,” she begged of him. “I promise I won’t resist, but I need your help.”

  Her green eyes were beseeching him, and Craig was torn between helping her and insisting she obey him.

  “It’s really my first time other than those little spankings you gave me. My parents were dead set against corporal punishment; even though I can remember at the time thinking that if they truly loved me, they would spank me for whatever I did wrong. It would have given me closure and forgiveness. They preferred long, drawn out groundings, or restrictions that did nothing but upset me and make me angry.”

  “Did you ever tell them this?” he asked.

  “Yes, but my mom is the type of person who believes she is right, no matter what anyone tells her.” She looked at him again. “Please help me, Craig. I’m very scared.”

  He held out his hand and she took it. He gently guided her and helped her bend over his thigh. Her upper body was on the sofa, but her legs dangled free. “No kicking, Lizzy.”

  That was all the warning she got before his hand landed on the delicate flesh of her backside. It didn’t feel good, either. In fact, it really hurt! Elizabeth automatically tried to reach back to cover her burning flesh; but in the next second, Craig grabbed her hands and pinned them in his larger one, and was still able to hold her in position for the rest of the spanking.

  “It hurts too much!”

  “It is supposed to hurt,” he informed her.

  “But, I didn’t know it would hurt so much! Ow! I have a low pain tolerance,” she insisted. He ignored her and gave her a barrage of spanks that had her bawling like a baby by the time he stopped.

  “Tell me why this spanking is necessary, Miss Matthews.” He couldn’t help wondering if she was putting it all on, hoping it would mitigate the punishment.

  “Because… I am terrible… when I get angry and lose my temper! I’m sorry!” She could barely talk because she was crying so hard. “It hurts!”

  “We aren’t even close to being finished,” he told her, and was shocked when she frantically tried to escape. “Settle down!”

  “No more, Craig! Please! I beg you! I can’t tolerate pain! I’m sorry! I really am!”

  She started sobbing in earnest and he finally realized that she was serious. This wasn’t the reaction of someone trying to escape a spanking, but of someone terrified of pain. He carefully lifted her and sat her on his lap and held her while she wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed uncontrollably on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” He was finally able to make out what she was saying over and over.

  “Calm down, Lizzy. We’re finished now.” He rocked her back and forth, speaking soothing words of reassurance, and finally Elizabeth quieted.

  “I am beyond embarrassed,” she tearfully admitted. “I’m a terrible, awful witch!”

  “Stop calling the woman I love names!” he scolded.

  “Aren’t you fed up with me?” she asked, and her earnest tone told him she was serious. “I earned a spanking, and wimped out on it.”

  “You can’t help it if you have a low tolerance to pain.”

  “But, what if…”

  “Oh, I can handle it, Miss Matthews. Instead of long spankings, you’ll get spanked more often with short spankings that you can tolerate. It will still hurt, and it will still accomplish the purpose.”

  “Or, maybe I just won’t earn any spankings,” she said solemnly.

  Craig snorted in disbelief. “Five minutes from now you’ll be giving me sass about something,” he predicted.

  “I promise I’ll try not to. My bottom really hurts.”

  “How is your head?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t hurt as much as my butt does.” She was being honest.

  “Good. Your butt is supposed to hurt.” He gently put her on her feet. “Get your jeans on and we’ll explore this place. We need to know where everything is just in case we have unwanted company. We need to be able to move in the dark without the fear that we’ll run into something.”

  “That makes sense, but it would be my luck to blindly run into the arms of the bad guy!”

  “That I can believe, little one, but that is why I am here to protect you. I’m not expecting trouble, but if it comes, I expect you to obey me instantly.”

  “I will,” she promised. She was anxious to prove to him that she was sorry for her bursts of temper.

  “Your very life could depend upon it, sweetheart. I don’t want to frighten you, but if something happens, we won’t have time to have this little talk. I can’t impress on you how serious I am, but I need your help to keep you safe.”

  “I’ll do my part, Craig.”

  “Okay, Lizzy. The first thing we do is look for a good hiding place for you.”

  “That’s easy.”

  “It is?”

  “Sure. Come on. Let’s find someplace small that someone larger wouldn’t think of as a possibility.” Elizabeth suddenly giggled. “Do you realize that you spanked me before we even looked around this cabin?”

  “I told you that spanking you was the first thing I was going to do, and I meant it.” Craig couldn’t see why she found that so amusing, but she did. She giggled again. “What is so darn funny?” he demanded.

  “I’m just happy to know that you do have a temper. It’s comforting to me; perhaps I won’t scare you off?” She looked at him to see his expression.

  “You won’t scare me off, but I just may spank your cute little fanny off!”

  “Deal,” she stated. “You really are special to me, and once this situation is cleared up, I won’t be as testy as I have been,” she assured him. “I can go for months without getting upset with anyone, and then I can lose it over something and it sets off a chain reaction. I don’t want you to let me take my temper out on you, or others, not even that nosy woman ne
xt door to me!”

  “I think Mrs. Huffy is a good woman at heart, Lizzy. She just needs her backside paddled a few times, too.”

  “I would pay to see that.”

  When he turned and frowned, she quickly changed her mind. “On second thought, I believe I would feel very sympathetic with Mrs. Huffy, and I might even defend her!”

  “Don’t rub it on so thick, Miss Matthews,” he said, and then chuckled. “You make me smile, Lizzy, and I really needed laughter in my life.” Then he shook his finger at her. “We need to take stock now.”

  “Okay.” She looked at the sofa and said, “Hiding behind the sofa is the first place anyone with a functioning brain would look… too predictable. I don’t think anywhere else in this room is a hiding place, do you?”

  “No. I think you’re correct. The first place I would look in this room is behind the sofa. The kitchen is out, too. There is no place besides the fridge, and that is too dangerous.”

  “I’ve heard on the news about murderers and burglars helping themselves to food from the fridge. Not a good hiding place. This is a nice kitchen, though. No dishwasher, but granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Wally has some real money invested here.”

  “It is nice.” Craig walked ahead and then called out, “Lizzy, come and see this back porch!”

  “Oh my goodness. He has all sorts of fishing equipment.” Her eyes scanned the cases and admired all of the lures. “I’m sure Wally makes these as a hobby, Craig.”

  “And you would be correct. He’s given me a couple of them that he’s made, and I really love them. Look at the fishing rods, and the different reels. Nice!”

  “Wally and my grandfather would like each other a lot.”

  “You speak of your grandparents with love and respect, but you don’t have a lot to say about your mom and dad.”

  “I’m more like my grandmother than my mom. Mom is arrogant and she cares about how things look on the surface. She had to have new carpet one year right before Christmas because she was afraid that someone would notice a stain on the carpet. Dad argued with her, but she bought carpet the next day, insisting it be installed immediately so she could have new carpet for her party. That was the year that she put empty boxes underneath the tree because she couldn’t afford gifts for us kids or Dad or Grandma and Grandpa. No one even noticed the new carpet, either. That’s Mom. My being a nurse isn’t prestigious enough for her. She wants me to be a doctor.”