Chapter 16

Chapter

Sixteen

M ac woke in the makeshift bed he shared with Willa, which he was glad to be doing once again, not having her alone in a bed, where he could roll over and mount her was excruciating. He thought to whisper something to make her laugh and realized she wasn’t there. Casting a glance to where the horses were high-lined, he found Gator missing.

The rest of the camp was fast asleep. Willa had always been stealthy. He quietly rose and saddled Roscoe, then spotted John approaching.

“Where the hell did she run off to?” the man asked.

“I haven’t a clue. I need you to do me a favor and keep everyone close to camp for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t need them straggling about.”

“And two?” John asked, a faint smile making an appearance.

“And two, I’d like a little privacy to deal with my naughty Cowgirl. I swear to God, John, I’m tempted to send her home with you, but we need her. I’m going to head over to where you guys were last night.”

“For the record? Mandy was never this misbehaved.”

Mac smiled but said nothing. He swung up on Roscoe and loped off in the direction Willa had gone the night before and found her staring at something in the dirt. Gator was ground-tied while Willa poked at the soil, standing, squatting, feeling the earth, and wandering in an ever-widening circle.

Gator, seeing his friend, nickered a greeting Roscoe returned. Willa looked up and smiled. Mac thought there was very little he couldn’t forgive her for that smile. Then he reminded himself she’d left camp without telling a soul and hadn’t put the Kevlar vest back on after he’d let her take it off to sleep.

“Look, Mac. Come see this. Just drop Roscoe’s rein and tell him to stand.”

Mac did as instructed—impressed the horses seemed to mind far better than their owner. Willa was focused intently on the ground when she backed right into Mac. Her shapely rear end was framed by the black chaps as it made contact with his hard cock. Willa turned to grin at him, but the smile quickly faded when she saw the dark storm clouds moving across his face and taking up residence in his eyes. She stood on tiptoe and kissed his unrelenting mouth.

“Good morning!” she said a little too brightly.

“Not for some of us. Cowgirl, you and I need to come to an understanding about you leaving our bed. From here on out, if you are out of my line of sight when I open my eyes, I’m going to blister your ass. You ride off into a dangerous situation without telling anyone where you’re going? I’m going to blister your ass.”

“Mac, Eastwick is long gone.”

“Says who?”

“The tracks. I don’t think Eastwick is on horseback anymore.”

“I don’t care. You and I aren’t finished talking about how much trouble you’re in.”

“But Mac?—”

“But, Mac, nothing. You promised to behave. This sure as hell doesn’t qualify. You don’t have on your vest, and that crosses the line into you disobeying me. Now, show me what you see.”

She quickly pointed out tire tracks someone had tried to brush away.

“And the hoofprints? They aren’t as deep. They aren’t carrying as heavy a load, but my guess is when we find the edge of where they tried to obliterate the tire tracks, we’ll be able to see one set was lighter coming in than going out.”

“Let’s get on the horses and see if we can find where they gave up.”

“We need to ride in an ever-expanding circle. Mac, how pissed are you?”

“I’m pissed on so many levels, I can’t even begin to explain them all. I’ll start the explanation before I call for a chopper and have John take you to the safe house.”

“No.”

“Yes. If you think you’re going to be sitting comfortably for the next few days, think again. And as you’ve proven unable to behave yourself to stay safe when I close my eyes unless I’ve fucked you into exhaustion, I’ll send you to the safe house and have John head up a full detail.”

“Mac—”

“Willa, let’s find where they stop trying to hide the tracks. Then I’m going to find some nice place I can sit down, strip those chaps and leggings off, put you over my knee, and paddle your cute little butt. If you behave, you can ride Gator to camp. If not, you can return to camp facedown over my saddle in front of me. Get a move on, Willa.”

They rode the circle as she laid it out while Mac used his sat phone to call for a chopper. He gave them the coordinates between them and the camp, then called John to apprise him of the new plan and gave him the coordinates as well. Finally, they located the end of the deception. The tire tracks were lighter coming in than going out.

“I was right,” she told him. “You can see that, can’t you?”

“You were right about the tracks, but oh so wrong about disobeying me.”

Mac spied a rock formation, reached over to take Gator’s reins, then rode to the rocks. He stepped off, checked to be sure there were no snakes or bugs, and helped Willa down. He dropped the reins of both horses and told them to stand. Willa tried to hang back, but Mac fisted her hair at the nape of her neck and strode forward. He sat on the rock, keeping hold of her hair, and used the other hand to quickly strip her leggings and chaps down past her knees before pulling her over his lap. Mac watched as the cool, desert air wafting over her naked derriere raised goosebumps.

“You’re going to regret this, Willa. I’m going to make sure of it.”

Mac raised his hand, and at the first blow, he heard her inhale sharply and could just see her bite her lower lip. The second strike made her yelp, which only served to inflame him. He increased the tempo and the strength of the swats. She struggled, but his superior strength and the anger that fueled it were more than enough to thwart her efforts.

Mac rained blow after blow over her rear end, ensuring when he was done, her backside would be red, swollen, and painful. She thrashed, but it did nothing to improve her position or dissipate his anger as he spanked her hard and thoroughly. When every inch of her luxurious bottom was covered in handprints, he moved down to catch her sit spots, then to the tops of her thighs.

“Mac, please!” she cried out. “I’m sorry. I learned my lesson. I won’t do it again.”

“Oh, I’ll make damn sure of that. Keep in mind, Cowgirl, I warned you what I’d do to you if you misbehaved…” He swatted her twice more, then allowed her to gain her feet.

“Get dressed. The chopper should be here any time.”

As he finished speaking, he heard the distinctive sound of helicopter blades as it crested the butte, landing nearby. John arrived at their destination before they did.

“Mac. Don’t do this,” she begged.

“We can follow the tire tracks without you, and this way, I won’t have to worry about you.” He turned to John. “Take her to the safe house in Chandler. Put together a full detail—two men on, two men off, and someone to monitor the security cameras. If Eastwick has become more mobile, I want to make sure she’s protected.”

“I’ll keep her safe, Mac.”

Mac drew her roughly into his embrace and kissed her thoroughly.

“Now, get on that chopper and go to the safe house. If you behave, we’ll call it done. If not, I swear I’ll make you wish you had.” He helped her in and buckled her seat belt. “John, can you sit with her? She doesn’t like helicopters, so tell the pilot to take it easy.”

“I’ll take care of her, Mac. You catch Eastwick, then come take care of your cowgirl.”

Mac backed off, holding the reins of all three horses, and watched the chopper lift off. Willa raised her hand to wave to him, and he did the same. As it flew out of sight, Gus rode up.

“Your boys are breaking camp. Where are we headed?”

“Tire tracks. Willa says Eastwick has ditched the horses, which makes some sense. I sent Willa and John to the safe house. She’s going to learn to mind, Gus.”

“If anyone can manage that, Marshal, it’s you.” The old man clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get to camp and have something to eat before we head out.”

T he chopper put more distance between Willa and Mac. Her emotions were all over the place. On the one hand, her ass hurt, and she was angry with Mac for spanking her. On the other, she wasn’t all that sure, from his point of view, it wasn’t deserved. And if she’d had a third hand, she’d use it to enumerate being concerned he was out chasing down a fugitive who had already murdered two people.

John reached over and squeezed her hand. “He’ll be all right. He warned you what he’d do if you didn’t mind him.”

“That’s not it. I’m not happy about it at the moment, but I’m mostly worried about him. Eastwick is a killer.”

“He’s good at his job, Willa. Fact is, he’s the best at what he does. The SOG’s success rate has skyrocketed with Mac at the helm. There’s been a rumor floating around the agency, they may be moving their base of operations from Louisiana. My guess is that was going to be Mac’s first move toward getting you back.”

She returned his smile. “He intimated to me this thing with Eastwick had accelerated plans he’d been making.”

“You are happy about this, right? I mean you and Mac?”

She nodded. “Not sure I’m happy about the current dynamic in our relationship…”

“Behave yourself, and it won’t be much of an issue,” he teased.

“Can’t you protect me at home?”

“Nope. You’re a material witness. That means a safe house. Come on, the house in Chandler isn’t bad, and I’ll make sure the teams are made up of folks you’ll like.”

“And I’m stuck because Mac says so.”

“I’m afraid so. He’s not taking any chances with your safety, and I don’t blame him one bit. We’ll take the chopper to Mesa, where the detail will meet us with two SUVs to take us to Chandler.”

She sighed and settled in for the ride. When they landed, Willa was impressed with the low-key efficiency of the marshals assigned to her detail. At the house in Chandler, one SUV was parked inside the barn, hidden from sight, the other left out where it could be seen.

“I take it I’m regulated to the safe room in the safe house,” she said morosely to no one in particular. “I’m going to take a shower and a nap.” She entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her, collapsing against it. Missing Mac, she looked at the bed where they had found each other again, sending up a silent prayer for his safe return.

Willa stripped off her clothes and started the shower. Catching sight of her bright-red ass with Mac’s handprints covering it, several along the tops of her thighs as well, she decided they were going to have to talk about this. Who was she kidding? Mac had no intention of or interest in discussing it. As he’d said, he was taking the lead, and she would answer to him. Much as she hated to admit it, it worked well for John and Mandy, and she had found herself accepting Mac’s dominance. For the most part, it felt natural and right and seemed to increase their libidos to epic levels.

As she emerged dressed in a T-shirt and drying her hair, there was a soft knock on the door. She answered it to find two of the agents who said they wanted to check to make sure she was all right and to see if she needed anything. She assured him everything was fine, she didn’t need a thing, and she was going to take a nap.

Willa stretched out, hugged the pillow that still held Mac’s scent, and fell asleep.

M ac and his team spent the day following the tire tracks until they ended on a main road. They could tell the vehicle had turned south. Eastwick was definitely on the run and headed for Mexico. John had called to say they were at the safe house, and Willa was uncharacteristically quiet and cooperative.

He shook his head. She was going to learn to mind him one way or another. He really hoped she behaved until this was over. He’d meant what he said. If she did, he’d call them square. If not, he intended to show her the error of her ways.

His cock stirred at the thought of Willa’s soft and supple ass under his hand when he spanked her and how aroused she became when he asserted his natural dominance. They weren’t through the worst of it, but he felt they’d make it through together and end up incredibly happy with a great marriage. He made a mental note to have her ring sent from his safe deposit box in Louisiana.

“Where to now, Boss?” Baez asked.

“Mesa, I guess. I don’t think there’s anything more to be done. Make sure the authorities all up and down the Rio Grande have his picture and know he’s a federal fugitive.”

They rode to Tortilla Flats, where they helped Gus load the horses and stow the gear.

“Gus, I’m going to send one of the guys with you to get the horses unloaded and you situated.”

“Don’t worry about me, Mac. I’ve been doing this since before you were born.”

Mac smiled. “I know that, but I also need to be able to tell Willa I made sure you and her horses were taken care of. Someone might come sniffing around looking for her, and I’d just as soon know we have things covered on the home front, too.”

“I know you don’t need me to tell you your business, but you might want to either catch Eastwick pronto or have someone else take the lead while you go take care of Willa. You know her, Mac… she won’t be contained by anyone for long, except maybe you.”

“I know you’re right.” Mac sighed. “Trust me, Gus. I’m doing the best I can.”

The old cowboy smiled. “I know you are, but Willa’s not big on listening to anyone except Willa.”

“I’m working on that, too.”

Gus and Baez loaded the horses and headed toward Willa’s ranch. It was funny how he was already starting to think of the ranch as home again.

Turning toward where the vehicles were parked, he saw Taylor headed his way.

“What’s up, Taylor?”

“They think we may have a possible hit on Eastwick. The Border Patrol thinks he may have tried to cross over but jackrabbited when he realized they were doing more than a cursory search of vehicles.”

“Do we know where?”

“Yep, got it programmed into the GPS, and one of the border guys is trying to follow him in an unmarked car.”

“Let’s roll.”

S imon Eastwick was growing angrier and more frustrated by the hour. First, his damn wife’s body had been found. Then, when he tried to kidnap Willa Reynolds to use as a guide in the wilderness, the damn US Marshals almost got him. Simon had been paying far too much attention to Willa’s tits. He’d planned to make use of her while they were traveling together, then sell her to the highest bidder once they were south of the border.

Unfortunately, he’d slipped up and confessed he killed his wife. That shouldn’t have been a problem. He’d contacted some rather unsavory businessmen he knew and was able to locate a guy who said he could dispose of her for a reasonable fee. The bastard had missed his shot, and the marshals had taken Willa into protective custody. Simon had been fairly certain if caught, the local hitman would have sold him out in a New York minute. He’d been able to eliminate that problem by offering to up the guy’s fee and bring him the cash. If the marshals had found him, they’d managed to somehow keep it out of the headlines, but it didn’t matter because he was sure all they would have found was a corpse and no physical evidence to connect him with the murder.

Simon had left his wife’s two useless, pampered ponies at a dude ranch and taken two more-experienced horses to get him out of the country. Even that had proved far more difficult than he had imagined. Once again, he’d reached out to former business associates who, for a substantial fee, were willing to pick him up in the desert and take him to Mexico, leaving the stolen horses to be ridden away, so if anyone was tracking him, they would follow the horses instead of Simon.

He thought things had finally turned around as they approached a small, sleepy border crossing used mostly by locals. When the driver of the Towncar he was in mentioned it was taking longer than normal, Simon realized the border patrol agents seemed to be doing a fairly thorough search of all vehicles. They’d pulled the car out of line and headed toward Scottsdale.

It was becoming apparent to Simon the biggest threat to his new life was Willa Reynolds. His lawyer thought they had a pretty good chance of beating the case against him for his wife’s death. If he eliminated Willa, he could simply explain to the court that having been accused of his wife’s murder, he had panicked in his grief-stricken state. Simon smiled. He was pretty sure he could sell that. After all, he could sell anything.

The only thing in his way was Willa.

He would have to take care of her himself.