Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

W illa woke alone in their bed. She’d have to remember not to do that to him. For one thing, she had a very strong suspicion doing so would result in her being put facedown over his knee again, and for another, she didn’t like being on the receiving end one bit. Easing into a sitting position, she grimaced at the pain that greeted her bottom, even on the soft mattress. She grabbed the oversized T-shirt and pulled it on. When she stood, she could feel the aftereffects of Mac’s repeated and intense use of her all night.

He walked in, carrying a tray with juice, coffee, bacon, and French toast… the one thing he really knew how to cook well.

“Hey, there. I don’t think you want to try to sit up right away, do you?” he asked solicitously.

“How much trouble would I be in if I threw a major tantrum over the state of my ass?”

“Enough for me to show you the error of your ways with more of the same.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. How about if I just say ouch?”

Mac leaned down and kissed her lingeringly.

“Why don’t you let me set you up here in bed for your breakfast with a nice comfy pillow, then I’ll run you a nice bath so you can soak.”

“A hot soak is going to soothe my butt?”

“No, but I think it may help with the other sore muscles.”

“So help me, if you laugh at me…”

“Never, but don’t hold your breath waiting for an apology for last night. You deserved that spanking, and if you try a stunt like that or the one you pulled at the hospital, I’ll make sure you don’t sit down any time in the near future. Understood?”

“Yes. And for the record, Marshal McDaniel, I don’t mind the other sore muscles.”

He leaned over and kissed her again. “Good to know.”

He set the tray on the end of the bed, helped Willa with a soft pillow to sit on, then put the tray in her lap. She took a bite of French toast and savored the taste.

“I’d almost forgotten how good your French toast is. What time is it?”

“About ten. I let you sleep after we talked to John.”

“We talked to John?”

“Yes, you were a bit drowsy, told him good morning, then demanded I kiss you.”

“Did I?” She giggled. “Well, that’ll make his and Mandy’s whole day. You know they always wanted us to get together again.”

“I do, and now that we are, which makes all four of us happy, right?”

She placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him to her.

“I’m happier than before we split up. I really do love you. I never stopped.”

“Me, either. Eat your breakfast and let me run that tub, then you can come get comfy on the couch if you like while I do some paperwork.”

Once she was done eating, he lifted and placed her gently in the tub, and she sighed contentedly. Mac left, and Willa could hear him cleaning up the breakfast dishes. When he came in to check on her, she was stepping out of the tub and looked up to see him watching her.

“See something you like, Marshal?”

He leaned against the door, grinning like a fool.

“I do indeed, and apparently, so do you.”

Mac was pointedly staring at her nipples, which were rapidly becoming hard berries. The lust dancing in his eyes told her he was interested in sucking them and putting her underneath him to writhe in pleasure.

“Don’t look at me that way. These,” she scolded, indicating her beaded peaks, “aren’t because of you. It’s chilly in here, and they’re reacting to the temperature.”

He laughed. “Then it must be awfully cold because if I opened my fly, you’d see my cock is having the same reaction.”

She giggled, launching herself at him, and he caught her easily, kissing her thoroughly.

“I don’t remember you giggling so much. I like it.”

“I’ve never been this happy. That’s so stupid. Some guy tries to kidnap me, another one shoots me, you beat my ass, fuck me until I can barely walk, and I’m giddy. That’s so wrong on so many levels.”

Mac held her close. “Nothing about us being together is wrong. The only wrong we ever did was splitting up.”

She felt her body involuntarily tense up. She could tell he felt it, too.

“Don’t, Cowgirl. We both fucked up, but it’s over and done with, and we’re back together… for good, right?”

“Righter than anything else I’ve ever done in my life. I love you, Mac.”

“I love you, too, Cowgirl. Why don’t you put some clothes on?”

“Gee, you used to like it when I stayed naked.”

“I still do if it’s only the two of us, but we’ll probably have company sometime today.”

“And this isn’t exactly standard operating procedure, is it?” she teased.

“For you and me, yes, this is the way it’s going to be. For a marshal and a protected witness? Hell, no.”

“Then I’ll be a good little material witness if anyone else is around.”

He kissed her forehead and turned her toward the bedroom. Turning around, she saw him grinning.

“What?” she asked.

“I had planned to give your bottom an affectionate swat but decided, given the color it’s still sporting, it probably wouldn’t have been received in the way I intended. Hopefully, I won’t have to get after you like that for a while, but if you get that out of line again, I’ll welt your ass so fast, it’ll make your head spin.”

It bothered Willa only a little, instead of his words pissing her off, they made her feel all warm and gooey inside.

“I don’t have anything here except these jeans, and they’re going to be really uncomfortable.”

“Do you want me to ask the gal who comes by here when we’re not using the house to pick you up a couple of things? After all, they know we spirited you out of the hospital with nothing but the clothes you had on. We keep sundries here but not a lot of clothes, so it wouldn’t seem out of the norm to ask her.”

“If she could grab me a couple pairs of leggings and some oversized sweaters or t-shirts, that would be great. I can give her my credit card.”

Mac shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Because anyone trying to find you would have a better idea where to look. She has an agency credit card.”

The enormity of what had happened yesterday finally hit her.

“He really tried to have me killed, didn’t he?”

Mac nodded slowly, walked over, and drew her into his embrace.

“He did, but John thinks they have a good lead on the shooter, then we’re going to really focus on Eastwick. It’ll be okay, Willa. No one’s going to hurt you while I’m around.”

“Except you,” she teased, shaking off the fear from her realization.

“Damn straight, but only if you misbehave.” A quiet whistle sounded. “Someone’s coming down the drive. You stay in here and lock the door.”

“Where are you going to be?”

“I’m going to see who it is and act accordingly. You don’t come out until I give you the all-clear. Shit, I got so caught up in reclaiming you, I didn’t set up any emergency procedures. That’s on the agenda right after I deal with whatever this is.” He moved through the bedroom door and pulled it closed behind him. “Lock it, Willa. Now.”

Willa listened with her ear to the door but couldn’t hear anything. She didn’t even realize she’d been holding her breath until there was a knock, and she let her breath out. Willa was unsure what to do until she recognized the rhythm of the knocking was the beat to one of their favorite songs. Even then, she hesitated until Mac shouted, “Open up. It’s me.”

She cracked it open and was relieved to see Mac standing with John Hampton.

“Is it safe to come out? That’s a mean desperado next to you.”

“She’s a mouthy brat. You going to do something about that?” John laughed.

“Nah, I kind of like her that way.” Mac leaned over and kissed her. “John realized you didn’t have anything with you, so he brought some of your clothes.”

“Mandy actually picked them out,” the other man put in, the corners of his lips twitching. “She was very careful to make sure they were nice and soft.”

“You laugh at me, John Hampton, and I’ll take his gun and shoot you with it.”

Mac grinned. “You’re on your own, buddy.” He sobered. “We need to go through some procedures in case something happens, and it isn’t a friendly.”

“What procedures? If some bad guy shows up, we shoot our way out of here,” she said.

“ We ,” he said, stressing the pronoun, “don’t shoot our way out of here. You get to safety, and I handle the situation. It shouldn’t be an issue, but we’ll have two signals. One is an all-clear that means it’s safe for you to come out. The other will mean you need to run, don’t look back, and keep going until you reach a designated person or place, in this instance, John.”

“And what will you be doing while I tuck tail and run?”

“On that note,” John said, grinning at his friend, “I’m going to head out. I don’t think I want to stick around for the fireworks. You two kids have fun and don’t do anything Mandy and I wouldn’t do.” He made a hasty retreat as Willa looked at Mac.

“Answer me,” she demanded.

“Watch your tone, Cowgirl. This isn’t any different from anything else. When I give you an order, you follow it. Period. No questions asked, just do what I say. If you don’t, you’ll earn yourself another discipline spanking. I meant what I said, Willa. The one I gave you last night is probably the easiest one you’ll ever get.”

“I won’t leave you.”

“You will if I tell you to.”

“I won’t.”

“You will… or wish you had when the danger has passed, and I’ve dealt with you.”

Once again, they were at an impasse.

“You can’t ask me to leave you to die.”

“I can and will. This is why it’s against every rule in the book for us to be together. I need to know if I give you the signal to run, you won’t stop until you reach John.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Yes.” He pulled her close. “If I know you’re safe, I have a much better chance of survival than if I’m worried about you.” Taking her by the hand, he walked her into the secure bedroom, where he lifted the tribal rug to reveal a trap door. “If I tell you to run or I don’t give you the all-clear within five minutes, you get in here, bolt that door, go down this hatch, and run like hell to the end. It’ll bring you out about a mile from here where we keep a vehicle. There are keys at the end of the tunnel on the right that open the door out and lead you to the vehicle. You take that vehicle, drive like a bat out of hell until you get to John. Promise me, Willa.”

She shook her head. “You can’t ask me to do that.”

“I’m not asking, Cowgirl, I’m telling you. If you don’t and we both survive, I’ll welt your backside so you can’t sit or fuck comfortably for a month. Promise me.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking,” she whispered.

“I do, and I know it’s contrary to your every instinct, but I need you to trust me.”

“It isn’t about trusting you…”

“It is. It has nothing to do with your competency. It has to do with trusting what I have trained for my whole adult life. It isn’t I don’t think you can’t handle a situation, I just need to know you’re safe, so I can focus on getting the job done. It’s about you trusting me to know what’s needed, and that I’m damn good at my job. I need to do some paperwork. Why don’t you get dressed and come sit with me? I’ll show you what we’ve been doing to catch these guys, and we’ll go over the signals for an emergency.”

He couldn’t really expect her to leave him. She was willing to bet, she was as good a shot as most of his men. She was strong, fit, and could handle herself in a fight. They’d been apart for five years, and during that time, she’d studied martial arts and had fought her way out of some scary scenarios. He could expect whatever made him happy, but it wasn’t happening. If there was a fight, she’d be in it right beside him.

They spent the rest of the day, Willa reading on a Kindle she found in the nightstand and Mac working on paperwork. He’d showed her the search grids and let her read communications she was quite certain weren’t normally shared with material witnesses.

Willa made lunch, and they snuggled on the couch while they ate.

“I have a favor,” Mac said.

“Am I going to like it?”

“Hmm… I think you’ll be okay with it.”

“Shoot.”

He laughed. “Probably not the best phrase to use with a guy who makes his living carrying a gun.”

In spite of herself, she giggled. “What, then?”

“The big buckskin I rode? Roscoe?”

“What about him?”

“Any chance you could take him out of your rotation and let him be my personal horse? He was a great ride… almost as much fun as his owner.”

She laughed. “You’re a sick bastard, you know that? I ought to get all melodramatic and make out like that’s a real hardship, but the fact is I rarely, if ever, use him with clients. He has way too big an engine for most people. I just like him a lot, and it’s great to have a backup for Gator in case he’s not available. So, yeah, Marshal McDaniel, you can consider Roscoe yours.”

“Thanks.” He leaned over and kissed her deeply.

Willa was certain he was about to say more when the phone rang. It was John Hampton, so Mac put it on speaker.

“John? I have you on speaker.”

“Good.”

“Did you find the shooter? I saw you guys were moving in.”

“We found him, but he was dead when we arrived. We figured Eastwick got to him first.”

“Eastwick took out a professional?”

“Not a very good professional, but regardless of who took him out, he’s of no use to us. There was nothing left behind. Hopefully, we have his DNA in our database and can find a name, but I’m not sure that’s going to do us much good.”

“Tell me you called with something even resembling good news.”

“We think we have a good lead on Eastwick. Some guy in the middle of nowhere had a couple of horses stolen and two others left in their place. We think he may have swapped them out.”

“Not exactly SOP, but I have a feeling where this conversation is going to go. Willa may as well be in on it from the beginning.”

“I’m afraid you do,” John sighed. “Hey, Willa.”

“Hey, John. Were the horses left a couple of big warmbloods, one a blood bay with a stripe down his face and two hind socks? The other would have been a fancy sorrel with a blond mane and tail with a dark stripe running down the middle of his tail.”

“That’s them.”

“Don’t let anyone touch them until we can get there, or at least have Gus to go clean out their feet.”

“Why?”

“Because we may be able to tell where they’ve been. Might not tell us where he’s going, but if we know where they’ve been and where he swapped them out…”

“We might be able to figure out where they’re headed.”

“Mac?” John said.

“Damn it, John.”

“You know I’m right.”

“ I do, but I don’t like it. By the time we get there, it’ll be too late to start.” He turned to Willa. “All right, Cowgirl, the US Marshal Service needs your assistance. Would you be willing to track this fugitive?”

Willa was grinning ear to ear. “You bet. I have a score to settle with that bastard.”

John laughed. “Bloodthirsty little thing you have there, Mac.”

“Don’t I know it. You ought to see the claw marks down my back.”

Willa blushed.

“John, if you want to make good use of time, let’s stage out of wherever the horses were taken. Ask Gus to go clean out the horse’s hooves and put whatever you get in labeled baggies. Have him bring Gator, Roscoe, and whatever other horses you need. One packhorse for rough camping. We’ll have to eat dried stuff or live off the land. We can leave here early and be ready to ride as soon as I have enough light to see.”

“Mac?”

“She has a good plan. We’ll see you in the morning.” Mac disconnected the phone. “Listen up, Cowgirl, you may be in charge of tracking, but I’m in charge of fugitive retrieval and you. Don’t even think about stepping out of line or not following my orders. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Mac,” she said with a broad smile. “I can do this. He doesn’t know the country, and he’s headed for Mexico. He isn’t much of a do-it-yourself kind of guy, so we should be able to catch up with him pretty quick.”

“That’s all well and good, but for the record, I don’t like it, and if there was anyone even half as good as you, you’d be out of it. John will have a Kevlar vest for you, and I expect you to have it on at all times. Clear?”

“Crystal.”