Accepting His Ways (Quinlan O'Connor Book 2) (20 page)

Ugh, back to the dom voice.

“I just don’t think you understand how good I’ll look now in my dress.”

Quinn raised his eyebrow in a question. “Yes, your new dress with your newly spanked bottom. Enough. I thought you had learned your lesson, but I can see you haven’t. We’ll be having more lessons daily until you do. Cheyenne, I do understand you want to look good in your dress. What you don’t understand is that you’re already my wet dreams come to life.”

“Right, I know you believe that but when you see me in my dress, you will know that I did this for you too. I’ll be a knockout and you will be so glad I lost the weight. And I do trust you with everything.”

“Good, then drink this water and we won’t talk about losing weight or how you think I want you,” he said as he opened a water bottle.

“Ugh.”

“You need another spanking, don’t you? You need a hard, break down the walls, spanking.”

“NO! I mean, look, I’m drinking it.”

“All.”

“Okay, all.”

“We start tomorrow on your daily spanking until I get some of the brattiness to stay under wraps.”

“What? No. I promise to stop. Truly, I promise.”

“We will see how it goes this week.”

After a few moments of quiet, Cheyenne timidly asked, “Quinn, can’t you stay with me. Please stay with me. Not to do anything, unless you want to?” When he didn’t reply, she continued. “Just stay with me so I’m not alone tonight. I’m getting antsy being alone and it is, well, lonely.”

“Yes, baby, I’ll hold you tonight.”

Cheyenne answered with a contented sigh.

Quinn chuckled to himself. This girl was trying to top from the bottom with every breath. He was glad, so very glad he was the one she was trying to climb over.

Things to do and events to complete were beginning to quicken the pace as the time for the wedding approached. After finding out that Cheyenne had actually lost eighteen pounds in a month, Quinn had indeed initiated the daily spankings, which he then elongated to weekly when she didn’t lose any more weight.

Then last week brought it back to daily because Cheyenne was so stressed. Some spankings were just preludes to cuddling, others were preludes to an early night according to what she needed. Cheyenne had seemed to learn quickly to not try to tailor her conversation to how she wanted the evening to end because it made no difference to the outcome.

“Come on,
piscín
, let’s get this out of the way so you can relax.” He reached out for her to place her hand in his, as normal but tonight she ignored him and kept on tying ribbons.

“Cheyenne, don’t ignore me. I know how tired you are because you just bit my head off, so come on so we can enjoy the evening.”

“Not tonight, I’m too busy. You think this is all a game. It isn’t. I have so much to do.” She grunted her frustration and slammed what she’d been holding on the table, storming out of the room.

He was in hot pursuit and stood in the door to stop the slamming of that as well. Quinn, always true to his word, observed every mannerism of Cheyenne’s and many times, he read her better than she could read herself. Tonight he stood blocking her exit, waiting for her to react next. He could see she was exhausted and needed him to take over but her stubbornness wouldn’t allow it in her present state. He walked into the room, sat on the end of the bed, put his hand out again and said, “Come sit on Daddy’s lap, baby.”

She froze and then turning, yelled, “I hate that you know before me what I need. I love it for when it’s good stuff but when it means I can’t hide the littlest thing from you well enough to save my own hide, I hate it.”

“Come on, baby
,
you’re tired and being my,
cailín
dána.
Naughty girls get spanked and then they feel so much better.”

“Please,” she pleaded, not sure what she was asking him to do. He simply nodded.

“Come on, Daddy’s going to spank your naughty bottom and then he’s going to make the rest of you feel better.”

She whispered, “This is insane.”

He just nodded and took her hand in his. “Say yes,
piscín
, just say yes and I’ll take care of the rest.”

She visibly relaxed the moment Quinn had taken her hand. “Yes.” He kissed her cheek and drew her over his lap before dragging her panties and yoga pants off. She wouldn’t need them again tonight.

It was an early night. When she needed reassurance, he took it there and met her need. When the stress was overwhelming, like tonight, and she couldn’t climb its mountain, he was more intense, again giving her what she needed. Tonight it was spanking until she cried and then a cuddle, bath, another cuddle, and bed. He left after she fell asleep. When he called her the next morning, she was chirping, happy as a lark.

Life was just hectic and Quinn understood. Cheyenne’s mother, who often sat and watched the world go by perfectly content to be a spectator instead of a participant, didn’t change her lifelong habit. It left Cheyenne to make most of the wedding choices after long days at work. She refused help and even gave her assistant, Jacquie, more off time than she could afford in her packed days. Jacquie rarely asked and so Cheyenne wanted to accommodate her.

Parker had told Quinn about a police officer position in the town next to Liam and Ciaran’s ranch. Quinlan’s application was accepted and after a quick run up for an interview, he was hired on as a police officer in the five-man Elk Ridge Police Department starting the first of the year, so he was going to need to go up to training for a few weeks.

“I have to tell you, baby, that I’m so relieved to have been offered that job because, to be honest, ranching full time in whatever capacity isn’t how I want to spend my days. Part time, special needs times, no problem, I actually like it, but for every day, no thank you.”

Cheyenne knew he was trying to set things up to move before he left for training so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed to do it all without him, having learned from his brother’s mistakes. Quinn had also been busy working on finding the right floor plan for their house and then putting in the adjustments needed but that was accomplished now.

Quinn and Cheyenne had gotten a nice rental setup for January when they were moving to Montana. The house had been recommended by a friend of the O’Connor family. Cheyenne had heard it might go on the market soon. If that was the case, they decided to buy it because it was in a prime location and would rent easily. After a quick run up to finish paperwork for the various things going on, Cheyenne got the call that it was going to go on the market.

The owners didn’t have to pay realtor fees so they knocked off half of what they would have paid for a realtor and both parties were happy. Cheyenne used some of her inheritance money without telling Quinn about it to offer it as a wedding present. While agreeing that it was a good investment, Quinn had expected to finance it on the short term. Cheyenne decided to go ahead and purchase it. She was a good investor and it was a good price for the house and five acres. She was excited about her wedding gift and hoped he wouldn’t be upset she did it without him but it was done now.

While preparing for their special day, Cheyenne had asked Sean if he would take the place of her father. Cheyenne sat down earlier in the planning and spoke to Sean and Quinlan about her mother’s reticent to stand and give her daughter in marriage. Cheyenne was quick to explain it wasn’t that her mother was hesitant to give her away into marriage. It was the act itself that she shied away. Quinlan had asked if maybe her mother had some mental health issue that stopped her from the doing things in front of others, which was greeted with a sad shake of her head.

“It’s not that my mother isn’t capable of doing it, it’s just that my mother simply doesn’t want to give the effort or maybe she just can’t. I guess I thought things might be different for my wedding. It just isn’t important enough to her.” In response, both Sean and Quinn sternly proclaimed that not possible. Cheyenne dejectedly shrugged her shoulders and allowed the men to comfort her for a moment.

She pushed up out of the comfort. Cheyenne stood and walked away from the men who wanted to fix everything and stared out of the family room window.

“I’m tired of trying. I’ve spent most of my growing up trying to be important enough for her to try. I now understand she simply can’t do it. Depression is a horrible illness.” She paused. “I know it sounds terrible, but sometimes I find that I wish that Dad had lived and my mom had passed away because if I had to lose one of them, why did it have to be the one who could care about me.” She shook her head and then stood up straight.

When Quinn and Sean made motions to reach out to Cheyenne again in comfort, she pushed them away. Quinn pulled her to his lap before he reached up, and with the pads of his thumbs, wiped away some of the tears that, unbeknownst to Cheyenne, had begun to fall. She pushed his hands away and sat up, signaling her completion of this conversation.

“This is the last time I’m talking about this. Dad loved spending time with you, Da. He spoke fondly of you often and enjoyed the time you rode together just talking. I know that Dad would approve you as his replacement.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and Sean tenderly wiped them away, drawing her into his still hard chest. “I just want to make sure, Da, that you’re okay with doing this. Because what I’m asking you to do is to the Stewart side as well as the O’Connor side and I know that’s not typical. Nor do I know just how it can be done.”

“I know it’s hard,
a lómhara
. I’ll be proud to stand in for my friend to both give and receive my new daughter. That, my dear, isn’t a problem. I’ll figure it out. The giving and taking of a daughter is a distinguishing act in your wedding that will stand out. Things like the family exchange. You each have your defining moment and this is it for you. I feel it an honor to stand in your father’s stead to give you away and it’s certainly an honor to stand for my family to receive you so think nothing of it.”

Sean reached over, kissed Cheyenne on the top of the head as he stood and gave her a hug, before passing her over to Siobhan who had walked into the room. Siobhan did what she always did best, comfort. She reached for her while she cooed and loved on Cheyenne until she was ready to work on reception favors as Sean walked out of the room as though that was the end of the conversation with no other discussion necessary. Quinn leaned down and kissed her lips with loving possession.

Sean was right. It was never discussed again, but because of this conversation, Cheyenne felt Sean take on a more protective role with her. It might have been the fact that she was soon to be his newest daughter or maybe just to be kind. Whatever it was, to step in for her father gave her a feeling of belonging and comfort. Given her temperament, she wasn’t sure she was as happy about that additional layer of watch care as she should be. Only time would tell but right now she had a wedding to get through.

Cheyenne worked hard to incorporate the Irish traditions into her wedding that took on a completely new meaning and a life of its own. She was not going to let anyone know that she was adding these Celtic traditions but her expertise was limited and she wanted to share some of the discoveries with someone else. Mom O’Connor had been the perfect person to do that with because she had the most understanding of why it was important to Cheyenne. It was to give honor, to carve a place out for herself. To show her intense love of all that was Quinlan O’Connor.

It hadn’t all been easy. The ring, for instance, was naturally a Claddagh ring but was usually passed down from mother to daughter but Siobhan bought one to be used for the ceremony. Cheyenne had a simple thin, inlaid and sculptured band Quinlan insisted he purchase and bestow to accompany the solid platinum Claddagh. The conversation that ensued over that was not one she wanted to repeat.

“I don’t get to buy your ring, so I’m buying this one,” declared her affronted fiancé.

How could she argue? He let her pick it out and she got a matching one for him. Siobhan spent a long time deciding before her son weighed in on the longer lasting platinum versus 18K gold or 24K gold, which was a good choice as it would be very strong in comparison to the gold.

“She’s going to be wearing it a long time, Mom.”

Next, Cheyenne incorporated a verse she found that gave instruction on when to marry and she had it in the programs for all to read and smile. Her favorite line, of course, was November, which read, “
If you wed in bleak November, only joy will come, remember.
”

Then, spending weeks to find the right lace, her soon to be sisters in law came together to find the perfect veil, an Irish lace dream.

“I found it. I found it,” yelled Alesha over the phone when Cheyenne answered right after finding the wedding dress in September.

“Found what? Do you know what time it is? Only ranchers are up at this hour,” Cheyenne yawned into the phone.

“The lace, I found the perfect lace. And for your information, ranchers and mothers are up at this hour.”

“Another reason to not get pregnant for a good while,” groaned Cheyenne.

It was an Irish lace mantilla but edged and embellished with hand stitching on the lace. Caoimhe worked hard to create the hand stitching on the lace and then the veil with the help of supportive sisters who watched her children when she needed it to give her uninterrupted time to create. Every time Cheyenne looked at it, she cried. She loved the lace so much she had ordered each of her sisters-in-law to be and her two mothers an Irish linen and lace handkerchief made of the same lace.

The groomsmen were more difficult and then she found cufflinks with the perfect-knotted design taken out of the Book of Kells. She excitedly showed it to Quinn who quickly ordered one for each groomsman and his father.

“Quinn, are you sure you want to do that? The cost seems prohibitive. I’m sure there is something that you might get for less money. Just get one for Da. I’ll find something else for the groomsman that’s similar.”

Quinn laughed. “We won’t do much for Christmas.”

“Christmas? Oh Lord, I’d forgotten all about Christmas with this large family!” Quinn just laughed as he reached over and soundly kissed her.

“You’ll get used to it. I promise. This year I have it all figured out so you won’t have to worry. The wedding on DVD and all of the photos are going to be put onto a memory card and placed in one of those digital photo frames. Believe me, it will be the best Christmas present we could give them.”

Quinn reached over and kissed Cheyenne as a mischievous look appeared on his face.

“That’s unless we want to give them a new O’Connor coming their way. Now we don’t have enough time to make that happen before Christmas, but we certainly could give it a try if you like.”

Cheyenne quickly shook her head. She had already given her earliest timeline to add to the O’Connor family and that was another year away before she would even begin to consider it. Quinn had easily agreed, so both knew that this was simply a joke, a tease. Laughing again, he leaned down and kissed her a second time, thanked her for the great gift idea and went out to do whatever Quinlan did when she was working on the wedding. Cheyenne sighed and prayed it would always be this way