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“No. I thought you weren’t angry anymore.”
“I’m not angry. As a general rule, once I spank you for whatever you did to deserve it and fuck you hard, whatever was wrong is put right. We’re back to neutral. But if you lie to me again or disobey me, you’ll earn yourself another trip over my knee. You hear me, Finn?”
“Yes, Croft,” she said disdainfully.
“Knock it off, Finn, and lose the attitude. If you can’t fix it, I’m betting another spanking can. I’m tired, and I have a lot of riding to do.” He reached for her and drew her close. “Now, hush and go to sleep.”
Finn laid her head on his shoulder and felt his arm slip under her and pat her ass affectionately. His other hand closed around her hand as he shut his eyes. It amazed her the same hands thathad subjected her to the pain and embarrassment of a spanking could be so tender now that he felt he’d put her in her place. While she appreciated he wanted to protect her, he was just going to have to understand she had to protect Christian, and she was the only one who could do that. If Croft was unwilling to allow her to accompany him—she’d have to go alone.
Chapter
Four
Finn 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 hewiggled 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.
As 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.”
