Owltastic Promotions: For Ben by Kate Richards

Roy Simms
is about to make full partner in a big NYC law firm. HIis wife, Teri, assures
him that once they reach their career goals, they can relax and enjoy
life…maybe even consider starting a family. He’s not sure how much longer their
marriage can survive if they don’t make time for one another. One evening of
passion and spanking makes him ache for the connection they’ve almost lost.

Teri Simms
doesn’t understand why Roy needs so much prodding to reach for the stars. With
his education and talent, he should be senior partner long since. But he’ll get
there. Her own vice presidency occurred only
five years into her tenure with the financial firm, and if it takes
seventeen hours a day and most of her weekends, so be it. Roy will just have to
continue to be understanding.

A phone call from a
stranger will change everything. This two-job-no-kids couple is a family, due
to the tragic death of Teri’s sister and
brother in law. They must fly immediately to Corbin’s Bend, Colorado and take
charge of little Ben, almost four years old. The change of scene brings to the
forefront everything good and bad about their marriage. It’s time to face some
difficult truths.

And he grabbed her hair and pulled. “No biting, sweetie. But there is a punishment for that.”

As she cursed again, he brought the spoon high and down across her thighs with a whap. Lifted it and did it again and again. Five times. Ten. Fifteen. “I am not stopping until you calm down.”

Please calm down before I do any damage to you.

A row of welts rose along the tops of her legs, red and white rows illustrating his passage.

Please, Teri, please stop.

His hand rested on her hot bottom, fingerprints and spoon marks decorating her from the top of her butt to almost the backs of her knees. He no longer felt the slightest bit of arousal, nausea replaced it. He wanted to get through this. It had been a mistake, but how could he go back on is word? If not, how could he get through to her. It wasn’t just the two of them anymore. They were a family.

Her shrieks faded away and her sobs took over. Deep and heart-wrenching, but not angry. So sad.

Swallowing hard, he used his best lawyer voice. “If you are ready to discuss these matters calmly, I will let you sit up.”

“Okay.” She fell silent and Roy lifted her until she sat on his lap. He eyed her red eyes and blotchy cheeks, waiting for her to demand a divorce for his brutal behavior, but instead she threw her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his chest.

“You okay?”

“Well, my husband just beat my ass with a wooden spoon.”

“Technically, I swatted your legs with the spoon. Your ass, I spanked with my hand.”

She sniffled against his shirt. “Whatever. I won’t be able to sit down in comfort for a week. It’s lucky we’re here in Podunk Bend. I’d never be able to explain this back home.”

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Kitchen Safety by Teri Simms

Rumor has it that many of the women in Corbin’s Bend are excellent cooks. It’s true, and so are many of the men. I know it to be true because they are also amazing hosts and have had Roy and little Ben and I over for some amazing meals. Sam Elder and his wife, for example, invited us to their lovely home and served her grandmother’s spaghetti and meatballs shortly after our arrival. And tiramisu…

My husband’s part-time legal partner married an Italian-cooking goddess! It’s true, the old guy couldn’t quite give up working in retirement, so if you want Sam to handle any contracts for you, he’ll be in town from May to September, when the summer days fade and he and his wife head to warmer parts. Otherwise, he assures you Roy can handle things.

There followed one meal after another of delicious food, church potlucks, and a street festival celebrating the many cultures of the locals until the hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches I served began to make me feel like less than a successful wife and mother. Sure, the guys were supportive, but I know they were sneaking out for burgers or enchiladas.

Determined to keep them from dying of starvation or eating too many fries, I set out a week ago Sunday to prepare a traditional family dinner. We even went to church first. Hey, it happens. Even a heathen can kneel and be grateful for a good life from time to time.

I turned the oven on and got a beautiful pot roast from the refrigerator. With detailed instructions from a kind neighbor in hand, I cut vegetables, pared potatoes and laid it all out in a big pan. Tip one: check your oven. I never actually planned to use it and had a box of financial statements stored in there. Maybe do not store paper in the oven should be the tip. Either way it’s hard to miss smoke pouring out around the oven door.

Anyway, with a smoking box of paper in the sink, I checked for any more potential fire hazards and swept out the door with my family dressed in their finest for a morning of hymns and prayers. Could you ask for a better image of a family?

Tip 2: Do not leave food cooking in your oven and leave the house. If Kirsten had not tripped by on her way to the store and smelled something cooking, stopped to ask what I was making and noticed nobody was home, we might have had a bigger fire. Lucky she had a key! Maybe the tip should be, don’t cook your pot roast at 450?

We returned home to find the pot roast on the counter, fully cooked and looking delicious with a note from Kirsten sharing the tip…it was definitely, cook while at home.

I have also learned:

Do not microwave aluminum foil.

Do not leave anything on the stovetop while working on a big financial merger.

And,most important of all…a few peanut butter sandwiches never hurt anyone.

I am not giving up, but rumor has it cooking lessons are in my future. Along with a big tube of Lady Juneau’s Organic After-Balm. Roy is trying to help me remember kitchen safety. Luckily, most of his lessons start in a spanky way and end in a passionate one.

Greeting from Corbin’s Bend!

Kate Richards divides her time between Los Angeles and the High Sierras. She would gladly spend all her days in the mountains, but she’d miss the beach…and her very supportive husband’s commute would be three hundred miles.

Wherever she is, she loves to explore all different kinds of relationships in her stories. She doesn’t believe one-size-fits-all, and whether her characters live BDSM, ménage, GLBT or any other kind of lifestyle, it’s the love, the joy I one
another, that counts.