Paige Tyler - Caught Red-Handed

Caught Red-Handed

Paige Tyler

Dru Summers can never wait until Christmas morning to open her presents. So when her husband Ryan puts a new one underneath the tree on Christmas Eve, she cant help but sneak downstairs to take a peek while hes sleeping. When Ryan catches her in the act, he decides the best way to deal with her behavior is to give her that spanking she so richly deserves. To her surprise, it turns out to be the best Christmas present of her life!

An Elloras Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Caught Red-Handed

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Caught Red-Handed Copyright 2010 Paige Tyler

Edited by Raelene Gorlinsky

Cover art by Syneca

Electronic book publication September 2010

The terms Romantica and Quickies are registered trademarks of Elloras Cave Publishing.

With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Elloras Cave Publishing, Inc. 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors imagination and used fictitiously.

Caught Red-Handed

Paige Tyler

Chapter One

It was Christmas eve, but instead of sleeping peacefully with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head, Dru Summers was lying in bed staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out what her husband Ryan had gotten her. Her significant other was sound asleep beside her, completely oblivious to her torturous plight. Unlike her, he didnt have an almost uncontrollable urge to tear the wrapping paper off each and every box under the artificial tree downstairs and see what was inside them. He was one of those people who carefully and meticulously unwrapped a present as if they intended to reuse the paper again next year. Argh , those people drove her nuts! How could the curiosity about what was inside not drive them insane?

Thanks to her supreme detective skills, also known as shaking and rattling, she had a pretty good idea what was in most of the boxes addressed to her. But then right before she and Ryan had gone to bed, he had put another present under the tree. Then hed smiled at her, probably because hed known having a present down there she hadnt been able to inspect would drive her crazy.

She pushed herself up on an elbow and peeked over her husbands sleeping form to look at the clock on the bedside table. Almost four-thirty. She and Ryan usually slept until around eight or so on Christmas morning. It would be hours until they opened presents. Sighing, she lay back down.

Dru nibbled on her lower lip, wondering if she could slip out of bed without Ryan noticing. He was a really light sleeper, so shed have to be extra quiet. She went back and forth in her head, trying to decide if she should go downstairs and open the present or not. She could unwrap the box, take a quick peek, then wrap it up again. She was really good at that. Shed be back in bed before Ryan even knew she was gone.

Keeping one eye on her husband, Dru slipped out of bed as quietly as she could and tiptoed across the darkened room, thankful there wasnt anything between her and the door she could fall over.

She grasped the doorknob and was about to turn it when she heard Ryan stir. Catching her breath, she spun around, expecting to see him sitting up in bed eyeing her sleepily, but he was still fast asleep. He must have just rolled over. Heart pounding, she opened the door and slipped out of the room.

Thanks to the glow of the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree in the great room below, navigating the upstairs hallway was simple, and she quickly made her way over to the stairs. She was halfway down the steps when one of them creaked. The sound seemed to echo around her and she froze in place, sure Ryan must have heard it. She held her breath, straining her ears for even the slightest sound that she might have woken him up, but all she heard was the click of the thermostat, then a soft purr as the central heat turned on. Letting out a sigh of relief, she turned around and continued down the stairs.

Once on the first floor, Dru hurried into the great room and dropped to her knees in front of the Christmas tree. There were quite a few presents with her name on them underneath it, but right now she was only interested in one of thema small box with a gold bow on top.

Pulse racing excitedly, she picked up the box and shook it. She didnt hear anything, so she turned it in several different directions and repeated the motion. She was usually so good at this she could tell the difference between a pair of dangly earrings and hoops. But this box was giving her no clues at all. It was possible Ryan had added extra tissue paper around the item, knowing she would shake the box.

There was only one thing to do. She carefully peeled back first one piece of tape, then another. Yes! Ryan had used the pricey gift wrap tape that didnt tear the paper when a person pulled it off. If she did this right, she could wrap it back up using the original tape and her husband would never even have a clue she had sneaked a peek.

Dru was just wiggling the box out of the paper when she heard Ryans soft, sexy voice behind her.

Someones being a very bad girl.

Dru froze. Damn! Busted.

Chapter Two

Hurriedly shoving the box back into the paper, she taped the ends closed as best she could and put it back under the tree. Brushing her long, dark hair back, she got to her feet and turned to give her handsome husband a smile.

Honey! she said brightly. Too brightly, perhaps. She crossed the room to give him a kiss. I didnt mean to wake you up. I was just putting another present under the tree.

He looked at the colorfully wrapped presents, then back at her, his dark eyes skeptical. I dont see any new presents under there.

Damn, why did he have to be so observant? She nibbled on her lower lip as she tried to come up with another lie. Trouble was, she really wasnt a very good liar, and whenever she tried to fib to her husband, Ryan always seemed to see right through it.

He folded his arms across his broad, bare chest and gazed down at her. You came down here to sneak a peek at your Christmas presents, didnt you?

She blushed. No, of course not! I

He lifted a brow.

Her color deepened. Okay, you caught me, she sighed. I did come down here to sneak a peek at them, but only because you cheated and put one under the tree so late last night. Besides, you interrupted me before I could figure out what it was. So no harm, no foul.

His mouth twitched. I see. Its only a crime if you complete what you set out to do then?

Of course.

I dont think so, he said. In fact, I think you need to be punished for your actions.

She almost laughed. Punished?

He nodded. Every Christmas, you sneak a peek at your presents, which makes surprising you impossible, so I think its time we did something about it.