Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

F inn waited until Croft’s breathing was deep and even. She loosened his hold on her hand and, when that didn’t wake him, eased out of bed, biting back a moan. God, the man was hung, knew how to use what he had, and had hands of steel. She put on her bra and donned a T-shirt as well as her socks and jeans in the cabin. She continued to monitor him, and when she was convinced he was still asleep, she grabbed her boots and sweater, retrieving the flash drive in the toe and once again tucking it into her bra next to her heart for safekeeping.

She eased the door shut behind her, then pulled on her boots and her sweater as the canyon floor had yet to be warmed by the sun. Finn ran to the barn, grateful they had left the saddlebags with the saddle. She pulled Jasper out of his stall and got him ready to go. Climbing on, she winced and caught her breath as her bruised backside hit the saddle. She pointed Jasper toward the river, expecting him to be stubborn or at least want to hang back, but Jasper picked up an easy ground-covering trot. Once she could see the trail along the river was stable, flat, and wide, she smooched to him, and he increased his speed to a rocking-chair lope. Finn grinned. Jasper was proving to be an excellent mount. She reached back, patted his rump, and laughed as he wiggled his ears as if enjoying it. When she reached forward to rub his neck, he responded the same way.

After an hour, Finn slowed Jasper to a jog-trot and was again surprised by how comfortable he was to ride. She figured right about now Croft was waking up, and within minutes, he would know she’d left and would come looking for her. Her only hope was to be so far removed from Phantom Ranch, he’d have no choice but to call off the helicopter and take her with him. If push came to shove, she’d have to come clean about everything.

Finn wondered when pissing Croft off had gone from not liking confrontation and wanting to avoid another spanking to actually not wanting to hide things from him and build something. She shook her head to clear it. First things first—she needed to save Christian. Making amends with Croft would have to come later.

A s Croft woke, he was surprised not to feel Finn beside him. He’d had the most sensual dreams. In some, he relived the feel of her over his knee as he spanked her, in others, how she had felt on her knees in front of him as he’d plowed her pussy. But the best ones had been of all the things he dreamed of doing to and with her. The latter had caused him to become erect and wake.

Before he opened his eyes, he reached for her to pull her underneath him. His eyes shot open when he realized not only was she not next to him, the place in the bed where she had slept was cold, and the sun was far higher than he thought it should be. Since there was no cell phone coverage, Croft glanced at his watch. Shit!

He pulled on his jeans and boots, grabbed the rest of his clothes, and got dressed with the same speed and precision he had as a SEAL. Running to the payphone, he placed a call to the office.

“Wild Mustang Security. How can we help?”

Croft smiled. Sometimes he forgot what a soothing presence Avery could be. When Mac had decided it was time for them to find someone to run the operational side of the business, Croft had suggested Avery, the helicopter pilot who had assigned to his SEAL team and saved their butts more than once. She was calm, cool, and fearless.

“I won’t need you to pick up Ms. Reid.”

“No? Did you find out about her brother?”

“I wish. I thought she had agreed to leave. Her riding experience in Boston doesn’t translate all that well out here. I had to strap her onto Jasper and lead her down.”

“Oh, shit,” Avery said, laughing. “I can’t imagine that ended well.”

“Better than you might think, but now she’s taken off, and I’m not sure how much of a lead she has. I overslept a bit.”

Avery’s increased amusement at his situation wasn’t welcome but appropriate.

“I don’t think I’ll ask how that happened. Don’t be too hard on her… or yourself. Go find your girl, get her safe, find her brother, come on home, and live happily ever after.”

“I didn’t say she was my girl…”

“No.” Avery couldn’t seem to stop laughing. “You didn’t, but we both know she is, or at least, you’ve decided she is. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so pissed, and you wouldn’t have overslept.”

“Shut up, Avery.”

“Love you, too, Croft,” she said as she hung up on him.

Just you wait until the right man gets hold of you and takes you in hand, Avery.

Croft arranged for his things in the dormitory to be moved to Finn’s cabin and let them know they would be extending their stay for several days, then headed for the stables, quite certain of what he’d find. Entering the barn, he was greeted by Sam’s distinctive bray.

“I hear you, buddy. I wish you could tell me how long they’ve been gone and which direction they went.”

Croft walked into Jasper’s stall and examined the fecal matter. It was cold. The mule had left it a couple of hours ago. He got Sam ready and led him out of the barn. Finding Jasper’s trail leading away from the barn, he swung up into the saddle and set out to find Finn, a bit surprised she had opted to ride. Apparently, he hadn’t put enough sting in her tail to dissuade her from that choice, but he planned to remedy that as soon as he got his hands on her.

All the horses and mules Willa kept for her gourmet adventure business, which the firm used as needed, had a distinctive horseshoe that made them easy to track. Croft trailed after Finn for several hours. He had underestimated both the strength of her resolve to find her brother and her riding ability. She was making good time.

Croft was grateful for Sam’s stamina and ability to make up time and distance. They were gaining on Finn, but the sun’s crippling heat began to impede his ability to maintain the rate of speed he’d been able to use in the cooler morning. He slowed Sam to a walk to ensure his mount’s safety. His only comfort was he believed Finn was smart enough to recognize the danger and do the same for Jasper.

F inn’s progress had slowed as the sun crept higher in the sky, and the burgeoning heat had increased. The slower pace gave her time to think. So many things had changed in the past twenty-four hours. She was still frightened to think of what had happened to her brother and believed she should be in time to save him. She glanced at her watch, and as she had initially given herself time to spare, she should still be able to make the deadline given by those holding him.

She tried to banish the mental image of Christian—savagely beaten but alive. They had taken the picture with a copy of that day’s newspaper, so she prayed he still lived. His captors wanted information Christian had amassed to hand over to the government. They had his computer, but he had left a flash drive with a copy of all the information in his row house in Boston. The deal was Christian for the flash drive. Finn wasn’t so stupid to believe they would just let them walk away but hoped the safeguards she had left in place would allow her to rescue her brother.

Then there was Croft. She couldn’t even begin to explain the wild attraction she felt for him or the way she had responded to his less than gentlemanly behavior. First, he hadn’t been the most congenial companion going into the canyon, which was why she hadn’t shared her real concerns about her brother’s disappearance. Second, he’d spanked her! And not in a fun, erotic way she’d read about in some of the novels she liked to indulge in but a true punishment. His goal had been to chastise her and try to ensure she would do what he told her. She grinned. While he might have accomplished the first, the second had been an utter failure.

Why did that bother her? For the life of her, Finn couldn’t figure out why. When did doing what Croft wanted to become important to her? She wanted to believe it had happened after he had fucked her with a ferocity and skill that had exhausted her from the number of times she climaxed, but she knew that wasn’t true. Her wanting to please him came at some point when she was facedown over his knee, getting her backside blistered. Finn wondered if he’d felt the same and at the same time. Did he care for her at all? Was she just some woman who had pissed him off royally and who he could vent his anger on before he hammered her pussy from behind? She hated to admit it, even to herself, next to her fear for Christian, what last night might have meant to Croft was quickly gaining significance in her thoughts and life.

Then there was her response to his stern correction—completely unexpected. As she’d read the novels that included spanking and rough sex, she’d reassured herself she only found them titillating in an abstract way. Finn never expected to experience arousal having anyone smack her ass—much less to the point it remained tender the next day—but she had been wrong. Even thinking about it—about Croft or what happened when he’d ordered her up on the bed on her knees—was enough to stiffen her nipples and the space between her legs to ache and grow wet at the thought of any or all of it happening again.

Jasper bobbed his head, shaking the reins, breaking her reverie. She stopped him, then loosened his rein. He inclined his head toward the river, and she nudged his sides to urge him to move in that direction, where he made his way down to the river’s edge and stretched his neck down to get a drink of water. Finn patted his spotted rump.

“Good idea,” she said, reaching back for a water in her saddlebags.

She took a long drink and was a bit surprised when the mule waded out almost belly deep into the Colorado River. Jasper reoriented himself to the direction they had been headed. As the cold water covered her feet, she felt how soothing it was. She took out the GPS device with satellite capability she had purchased for the trip. It indicated they were still on track and would reach their coordinates the following day. Finn’s plan was to ride on through the day, then find a place to make camp that night. She let Jasper walk in the cool water.

After the heat of the day, Jasper moved toward the bank and shallower water. As the sun began to set, and she considered finding a place to camp as he walked out of the river on his own. She patted the big mule again. He was proving to be an excellent companion on her quest. And at least he didn’t want to spank her.

Finn checked the GPS again and realized they had made excellent time. She found a sheltered spot that had been favored by others before her. It wasn’t a cave per se, but a hollow under an overhanging ledge. She was glad to see no one had graffitied the rock. The only indication others had sought shelter in the same place was someone had taken the time to build a natural-rock-lined firepit. Finn got off Jasper, unsaddled him, and got his feedbag ready. Despite what Croft might have thought, she was enough of a horseman to see Jasper was taken care of before seeing to her own comfort.

Once Jasper was settled, Finn made a fire and set up a primitive camp—including ensuring they weren’t sharing their overhang with any other critters. She hadn’t brought anything to cook but planned to make a meal out of protein bars and beef jerky. Finn leaned back against the wall of the cave and closed her eyes. She wavered between deep sleep and dozing, but the sound of Jasper braying startled her to full wakefulness. Finn picked up the rifle that had been in her saddle scabbard and stood.

“I’m armed and not in the mood for company. Whoever you are, you’d best move along.”

Croft delivered a hard swat to her backside with one hand as he easily took the gun away from her with the other. Somehow, he had circled behind her.

“I’m not in the best of moods, either. If I were you, I’d be thinking of a way to explain the level of bullshit you’ve exhibited since we met. And don’t even think about trotting out a set of fake tears again. Fool me once and all of that. Besides,” Croft said, anger and lust mingling in his voice, “you’re in enough trouble as it is.”

“Jesus, you scared me.” She turned to face him, batting him with her hand. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me?” he answered incredulously. “I’m not the one who snuck out this morning and took off for parts unknown with no explanation whatsoever. But I got news for you, Finn. Before I get through with you tonight, I’m going to know all of it. Sit your ass down while I get Sam seen to.” He moved away from her, leading Sam over to Jasper. Once he had Sam settled, he came back to the fire and hunkered down. “You weren’t going to eat anything?”

“I’ve eaten,” she said, inching away from him.

“What? There’s nothing to cook with, and I don’t see any dirty dishes. And get your ass back over here. You were fine where you started. Sit there until I tell you differently.”

“Who do you think you are?”

“I think,”—Croft barked out a laugh—“no, scratch that, I know. I’m the guy who spanked your pretty bottom last night, but not as hard as I should have. By the way, I’ll get that corrected later. I’m also the guy who made you scream and call his name multiple times as I laid claim to you. Do you know how to cook over a campfire?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Not what I asked.”

Leaning over and pulling her to him, his mouth came down on hers in a harsh, angry kiss, which nevertheless indicated his concern for her as well as his lust. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and brought the embers of her own desire back to a bright flame. Finn found herself softening and clinging to him before he released her mouth.

“Yes or no?” he asked.

“What’s the question?”

“All of them.”

Finn couldn’t hold his gaze. She knew the unasked question of her acquiescence to his dominance was just as important as the one about her cooking abilities.

“Yes,” she said softly.

He kissed her again—hard and fast.

“In that case, you’ll find a couple of potatoes, onions, and bell peppers in my saddlebags along with some foil.” He pulled his knife from the scabbard and grinned as she looked at it. “I washed it last night. I don’t much care for things seasoned with snake brains. Cut the vegetables into thin slices and give them a light coating of olive oil with salt and pepper. The oil and seasonings are in there. It’s all labeled. Divide them into two servings and put them on pieces of foil. I’ll be back with the rest of our dinner pretty quick.”

Croft untied his bedroll from behind his saddle and brought it over to her, unrolling it as he did so and extracting a hard-cased tube. Opening it revealed a collapsible fishing pole as well as a small case with several lures. He put the pole together and readied it for fishing, then tossed her the bedroll.

“If you have time, will you make us up a bed for tonight?” he asked.

“One or two?”

He smiled down at her. “One, unless you fancy redoing it after I’ve spanked you and before I fuck you.”

Finn shivered with desire, although she tried to deny what she was feeling.

“What makes you so sure any of that is going to happen?” she asked, trying to keep her tone neutral.

Croft jammed the handle of the fishing rod into the sand, crossed the distance between them, and pulled her up into his arms. His midnight-blue eyes flashed fire before his mouth captured hers once more. Finn could do nothing but yield to the power of his kiss. His tongue stabbed at hers, asserting its authority to be there, and her resistance was futile. She kissed him back with the same level of intensity, moaning. When he finished ravaging her mouth, he lifted his head.

“Knock it off, Finn. Whatever you’re plotting and whatever you think you’re going to do, just quit. I’m telling you from here on out, you’re going to do what I tell you, and the first thing is you’re going to tell me the whole story. Got that?”

She found herself nodding. He kissed her again but more coaxing and reassuring than to establish the authority they both knew he now had over her. Croft took her face in his hands and kissed her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, and her mouth again.

“It’ll be all right, babe. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out… together. Got it?”

She nodded.

“Good girl. Now, get our supper ready for the fish. This time of year, it shouldn’t take long.”

Finn watched him walk away and couldn’t suppress a grin. Croft certainly filled out a pair of Levi’s in the nicest manner. Shaking her head, she prepared the vegetables as he’d instructed. He was back within short order. He’d taken the time to clean the fish and dispose of the inedible parts while down at the river, then made short work of adding the fish on top of the vegetables and closing up the foil to make a tight packet before tossing them onto the open flame.

“It’ll take those about thirty minutes to cook. You want to try telling me what the hell this is all about?”

“I can’t,” she said, unable to meet his eyes.

“Yes, you can, and you will. The only choice you have is, do you want to do it now, or once I’ve spanked you even harder than I had planned. Believe me, babe, you’re going to tell me, and you’re going to get spanked.”

“You can’t spank me,” she cried. “Not and expect me to ride, and I have to ride. We don’t have time to stay here or for you to take me back to Phantom Ranch.”

“Not your choice, not your decision. The only thing you’re going to do, Finlay Reid, is answer me. I’ll make the determination when and how hard you get spanked… from this day forward.” Croft cocked his head as he looked at her. “Are we on some kind of timetable I don’t know about?”

She shook her head. Croft got up from his place across the campfire to sit down on the flat rock she had her back against. Drawing her to her feet, Finn started to resist him, fearing he was about to make good on his threat to spank her again.

“Easy, babe. I just want you to sit with me.” He pulled her into his arms, so she was sitting in his lap. “Talk to me, Finn. What’s really going on?”

“I can’t,” she whispered and felt his body stiffen. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just can’t, they sa…” She stopped herself before completing the sentence.

“Who is they, Finn? And what is it they told you?”

She shook her head.

“Does somebody have Christian? Why didn’t you go to the authorities?” He shook his head, as well. “Because they told you if you did, they’d hurt him.”

“They’ve already hurt him,” Finn said, dissolving into quiet tears.

“Do you know that he’s alive?” Croft asked gently.

She nodded. “They showed me a picture with him holding a newspaper from a few days ago. I have to go alone, or they’ll kill him. I didn’t need a tracker, but I needed a guide… Don’t you see? If I don’t do what they tell me, they’ll kill him.”

“They’re probably going to do that anyway if they haven’t already. You, too, for that matter. Why did they contact you?”

“Because Christian has information they want. I don’t know the specifics, but I do know they don’t want it to get to the authorities.”

“Do you have the information?”

“Yes.” Finn dug into her bra and retrieved the flash drive. “They managed to get Christian and his laptop but not this.”

“How did he get you involved? Is this the only copy?”

“Yes, and Christian didn’t get me involved,” she said, resenting the implication her brother had done something wrong.

“He did, babe. He had to have told them there was a copy, and they reached out to you to get it. If they know your reputation, they also probably figured you already knew. I might be able to use that to our advantage.”

“No, Croft. I have to go alone.”

“That ain’t happening. When and where are you supposed to meet them?”

“I can’t.”

“You can, and you will. Don’t make me spank it out of you, Finn.”

“Tomorrow at high noon, which I thought was a bit melodramatic, and I have GPS coordinates.”

“I take it, then, you have a GPS locator?”

She nodded.

“And high noon in the desert isn’t a bad idea. Far less likely, someone will interrupt you since most folks stay out of that kind of heat.”

“But why here in the canyon? Christian’s never been here that I know of.”

“I doubt he’s here now.”

“No, he has to be. They said we could make the exchange.”

Croft prevented her from getting to her feet and pulled her more tightly against his chest.

“They want you alone in the Grand Canyon. People have disappeared here for hundreds of years. With you gone, they will have whatever Christian had and can dispose of him if they haven’t already. Whoever it is never had any plans to exchange your brother or allow you to walk away. Hopefully, Christian is still alive. They’d want to be able to produce him until they have this.” He indicated the flash drive. “Then you and your brother are expendable and dead.”

“Do you think Christian is dead?”

“I think at this point, the odds are in our favor, but only until they have the flash drive.”

Finn was grateful Croft now included himself in her rescue of Christian.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“ We aren’t going to do anything. You are going to give me the GPS coordinates and your locator, and I’ll deal with whoever they sent to kill you.”

“You don’t have time to take me back, and I won’t go.”

“I didn’t expect that you would. You will, however, stay put. This is as good a place as any. I’ll take Jasper with me…”

“You aren’t going to strand me without a mount.”

“How the hell were you planning to get Christian out?” he asked.

“I thought I’d put him up on Jasper and lead them back.”

“In the middle of the day at the height of heat here in the canyon. You know, maybe they weren’t planning to kill you. Maybe they just thought they’d let your own foolishness do you in for them.”

“Nobody asked your opinion or invited you along,” said Finn defensively.

“Lose the attitude, Finn. You’ve already got yourself in enough trouble. I’m not taking you along and letting them use you for target practice. You’re going to give me the coordinates and the locator, then sit your ass down here and wait for me.” Croft stopped speaking for a moment and seemed to be thinking.

“You’re going to wait until a certain time, which I’ll figure out once I have the coordinates and can figure out how long it should take me. If I’m not back by that time, you get on Jasper, head back to Phantom Ranch, and call the authorities.”

“I thought you were taking Jasper.”

“You made a good point. I don’t want you stranded if something goes wrong. If Christian’s there, I can put him on Sam and lead him back. You’re going to be my backup.”

“Bullshit. You just want me out of the way. I’m going with you.”

“No, baby, you’re not. I have no idea what I’m going to find. It’s better if I can deal with the situation as it emerges and not have to worry about you. You could get yourself hurt, or they could use you against me to get what they want and kill us both. If things go sideways, you can get back to the ranch or…”

“That’s a day’s ride…”

“Or you might run into a park ranger, and he’ll have a satellite phone.”

“Why don’t you have one?” she accused softly.

“Because this wasn’t supposed to be a rescue operation, simply seek and find. Like I said, we figured he’d gone off with some girl and didn’t tell his little sister, or something had happened, and we’d be retrieving his corpse. Neither of which indicated a need, in my opinion, to take a sat phone. In either scenario, communicating with the authorities could wait until we were topside.”

“Is there a faster way to someplace I could call for help?”

“Yes, but you won’t like it. You cross the river and head back upriver. You’ll find a steep trail, about like the one we came down. Jasper knows it well. It’ll get you to a ranger station at the trailhead in probably four hours.”

“That’s still too long if something goes wrong. You’re better off to have me along with you. I can shoot.”

He smiled and kissed her, hugging her close.

“No, I’m better knowing you’re safe as would be Christian. Our dinner is cooked, and I’m done arguing with you. I suggest you make up your mind you’re going to do as you’re told.”

“What if Christian isn’t there? Or if he is there, and he’s dead?” she whispered, finally speaking aloud her worse fears.

“Then we’ll find out who did this and bring them and their whole operation crashing down around their ears. Baby, if you’re a bad guy, you want to avoid tangling with the Wild Mustang Security Firm. We haven’t been in business long, but Mac can already cherry-pick the cases he wants. We’re considered the best at what we do, and one of the things we do is K most were in the US Marshals after that. Hell, even Avery, our pilot, was attached to my SEAL team in the same capacity. Come on. Let’s have supper, then you and I have a few things to settle.”

“Croft?”

“I don’t believe for a minute you didn’t know you were going to get spanked hard and loved even harder when I caught up with you. It’s been a long day, and we’re looking at the same for tomorrow.”