King Dom Comes by Breanna Hayse Page A

admit, you are very
inventive."
    Shannon
blushed shamefully from her place on the floor between the seats. "There
was no chamber pot, and certainly no reason to stop. I made use of my situation
as best as I was able."
    "You
look like you're stuck." Dom leaned against the carriage, his arms
crossed, and smiled. "May I assist you in returning to the bench?"
    "I
don't require a useless dolt to help me."
    "I
thought we had already had one talk about your manners, Mistress McCleary. Do
we need another one?" Dom asked firmly. "Answer me."
    Shannon
turned her head from him. "No. Please help me to stand."
    Dom
entered the vehicle, easily lifted her by the armpits and sat her upon the
bench. He sat across from her and, again, folded his arms. "Well?"
    "Thank
you," Shannon mumbled, avoiding eye contact.
    "You
are welcome. Would you care to step out and take a walk? We are in a most
beautiful forest, and I have need to stretch my legs."
    "Would
you be walking with me?"
    "I
would."
    "Then,
no. Thank you," Shannon forced out.
    "You
will quickly learn three things about me, Shannon McCleary. One, I will not
accept no for an answer. Two, I do not make a habit of repeating myself. And
three," he leaned forward to look at her, "my hand can deliver much
more pain to your backside than that which you've already felt. With those
things in mind, what say you?"
    "Do
you intend to beat me every time I refuse you?" Shannon snarled.
    "No,
but I do intend to spank you every
time I suspect a poor attitude. We have a long journey before us. You might
even decide to become my friend."
    "Like
hell I will."
    "Madam,"
Dom cleared his throat, "I am not a man of God by any means, nor am I a
saint. What I am is a person of integrity with a very short level of patience.
Out with you."
      Shannon glared at him hatefully,
muttering Gaelic curses under her breath as she stomped by. He smacked her
bottom and wagged his index finger at her when she turned around to rebuke him.
"Language, young lady."
    "You
don't speak Gaelic!"
    "No?"
Dom leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Go mbeadh tú a bheith ionadh
leis na rudaí a fhios agam, mo Ghile Mear."
    "I
would be surprised with the things you know?" Shannon repeated in English,
stunned. "And do not call me your darling."
    "Must
you always have the final word?"
    "Must
you always be a brain-boiled cur?"
    "Will
someone cut me a switch please?" Dom called out. Shannon's eyes widened as
ten switches were offered to him within a breath's time. "It appears to me
that there are ten escorts who are in agreement with me regarding your
disposition. Would you care to choose one to bring along with us? Just in case
I have need to keep you in line."
    Horror
and disbelief registered as Shannon looked at him, and then shifted her view to
the stern faces of the ten men. "When my betrothed hears of this
treatment, he…"
    "I
assure you, he would not only applaud, but would have been the first one to cut
a stout stick," Dom said, waving a thick switch of his own in the air.
"Chose one."
    Shannon
snarled, snatched the closest stick to her hand, and stomped into the woods.
The laughter that followed her brought another wave of anger. She turned and
screeched into the forest.
    "Get
out of the way!" she heard Dom shout, as the trees dropped hundreds of
pinecones from their branches, pelting the group of men. The horses reared,
neighing loudly as they broke their tethers and raced away. "Damn! Go get
those horses. Where is that woman? I swear I am going to thrash every inch of
flesh off her rump!"
    Shannon
paled at the sound of his anger. Lifting her skirts to her knees, she began to
run into the thick woods. She dodged around tree branches, leapt over stones
and logs, and splashed through tiny streams. She could hear the sound of Dom's
boots crushing the underbrush, growing closer and closer despite how quickly
and how far she ran. Tears raced down her face, blinding her. Still she ran,
her breath catching in her lungs, zigzagging