Erotica- Forever His/ Spanking (8 page)

“Okkkay.” She sounded confused, but she couldn’t be any more than he was.

“I’m going back to the line shack for another day or so.” He closed the door and stood there staring at himself in the mirror. He barely recognized the man in the reflection. His face needed shaving, but he’d been in too big a hurry to find Teri to clean up properly before he’d driven into town. His hair needed cutting. But it was his eyes that bothered him most. They held the wild look they got when he was desperate to change. The beast in him was so near the surface. He needed to get out of here. Now. Before he hurt her.

“I’m worried about you, Seth.”

Her quiet voice pulled at him, warmed him, made his dick harden all over again. He wanted to toss her on the bed, get her on all fours once more, drive into.…

He ground his jaw and fought down his needs, cursed under his breath. He jerked on his clothes. Distance. If he didn’t put some distance between them, he wasn’t sure he could restrain the brute much longer. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so desperate to take a woman.

When he stepped closer to the door, he sensed her standing on the other side. He smelled her scent…along with the scent of their lovemaking. His wolf nearly lost it. Take her again. Make her yours. Want. Need. Must have. It was becoming harder with each passing second to fight against his desires. Mine. She belongs to me.

He shook off that thought. She didn’t belong to him. Couldn’t. He was little more than an animal. She was human, delicate, fragile. Wrong for a man—a barely tamed wolf at times—like him. Yet he yanked the door open, snarling, “You will not leave while I am gone. Do you understand me? You will not leave.”

She blinked up at him, startled. “No, but…” She straightened her small shoulders, raised her chin in challenge. “I won’t leave until you get back and we can talk. But I really should be moving on. I’ve stayed too long here already.”

His body tightened in annoyance. He didn’t have the strength to argue about this now. He had to get out of here. But her words were like a knife to the gut. “Do you want to leave?” Not that he would let her, not if he decided she really was his one true life mate, no matter how wrong it was. This was when he missed his pack. His friends who would understand what he was suffering and help him through this.

“Not necessarily, but…”

Relief swirled through him as her words trailed off and pulled him from his troubled musings. “We’ll talk in a day or so.”

He buttoned his work shirt and tucked it in his jeans, zipping up and then glancing toward the bed where his belt lie on the floor next to it. The belt he’d used on Teri’s bottom. For no good reason, yet she’d let him do it. Why? She could have refused him. It pleased him that she hadn’t. Again, he felt an overwhelming need to claim her as his woman, even though he knew she couldn’t be.

Unable to stop himself, he clamped his hands on her bare shoulders and held her in place as he leaned down to kiss her. He needed the touch of her lips against his more than he needed another breath. She didn’t resist him at all. He kissed her with such heat, such desperation that he feared letting the beast out. When he heard his low growl, he released her abruptly and strode briskly from the room.

* * *

Teri stood stunned as Seth tore away from her. She carefully touched her lips, swollen from the impact of his rough kiss. He’d been a man on the edge, a man facing something that was unnerving him. He’d looked almost wild when he’d stepped out of the bathroom. His eyes…something had been odd about them…something almost primal. He carried a secret that tugged at her curiosity. What was he hiding? Why was he so desperate to get away from her?

She walked to the window overlooking the ranch yard, pushing a couple of the slats open from the closed blinds. Seth’s long legs ate up the ground as he headed for the building housing his four-wheeler. She wanted to go after him, but knew he wouldn’t like that. And she had to respect his wishes. If she went against him now, she’d probably get a serious taste of his belt.

Her hands went back to cover her still tender bottom. Why had she allowed him to give her a thrashing? Why did she let him spank her? She wasn’t really the submissive type of woman. Except to him. Except with him it felt right. While he was gone she needed to do some thinking. She’d been right when she’d told him it was time for her to move on. Her feelings about this gruff rancher were becoming complicated and her life was complicated enough. But she didn’t want to leave him.

In truth, she didn’t know what she wanted anymore. Her life had become tedious. All the constant changing of careers, of remaking herself into a new identity, of moving on to yet another place. Never having a home, never belonging. Her eyes misted and she fought back a new wave of depression. Maybe it really was time to end her existence. She’d toyed with the idea many times this last year. But now that she’d found Seth…or they’d found each other. Whatever. The idea held a lot less appeal.

Stop these morbid thoughts! Buck up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You created this situation. You were the one to walk away all those years ago. You’re the one who hasn’t been able to go back and make things right. By now it was probably too late. Surely her mother had passed on by now, although she’d hoped that somehow, some way someone would have let her know.

Enough! Enough! Enough! She needed to go do something, focus on anything else. Even cleaning the stupid house. No! She wasn’t that desperate. Besides, Seth had punished her—yes, he’d also made hot love with her—but basically she didn’t feel that she had to get back to her normal duties yet. And he was leaving, would be gone for a day or so he’d said. Her household duties could wait until tomorrow.

She turned from the window and couldn’t stand seeing the rumpled bed where so much had happened in the last couple of hours. She’d change his sheets later. Right now she just wanted to go to her room and think about… No. She wasn’t in the mood for thinking about anything at the moment. Maybe she should go watch a movie in the great room, except she preferred watching them with Seth. Maybe she should go through the photos she’d taken recently. No. Boring. She could read a book, one of Seth’s books that she’d seen in the bookcase by the fireplace. This might be a way to learn more about the man she felt so drawn to, the man who starred in her dreams at night. The man who she had allowed to claim her body in many ways.

* * *

“You going away again? So soon?” Walker strode into the building and stopped next to Seth. “That gal getting to you? Maybe you should send her on her way.”

“She’s going to be around a while, so get used to it.” Seth looked at his foreman, the man he trusted with running the ranch and planned to make a partner before long. But not if Walker couldn’t come to terms with Teri being here. “I don’t want you giving her grief when I’m away. Is that clear?”

Walker’s jaw tightened and he nodded. “She means something to you, doesn’t she?” he asked in resignation.

“What if she does?”

For a second, the slightly older man remained silent, his expression hard to read. “Then I guess I need to accept her. If she makes you happy…well, that’s good enough for me.”

Seth straddled the four-wheeler, thought about what Walker had said. “I honestly don’t know how I feel about her. She argues with me over nearly every damn order I give her. She does things her own way, at her own pace. She--”

For the first time in as long as Seth had known Walker, the man smiled. “Yep, you like her all right. She challenges you.”

“She stands up to me, yes.” Not that he always let her have her way. But he’d begun to look forward to antagonizing her on things that didn’t really matter. He wasn’t sure he’d like being alone in the house again if she left.

Walker’s smile faded and he frowned. “Not in a bad way, like that bitch Sarah did.”

Seth’s hands gripped the handlebar so tightly they hurt. Sarah was a sore subject, always would be. He’d jumped into lust with her and then a marriage because of it. He sure as hell didn’t want to make that kind of mistake again. He needed to go away, get his head straight, get control of his body once more. “I’ll only be gone a couple of days at the most. Watch after her for me. Make sure she doesn’t leave the ranch.”

Walker nodded and Seth drove out of the building. He slowed to look toward the house, toward his bedroom. Was she still in there? Still naked and… Frustrated, he sped across the ranch yard and headed for the far field of his property.

* * *

Moonlight streamed in through the partially open window of Teri’s bedroom. She’d lolled about in bed ever since Seth had left the ranch, reading two of his westerns. He had a real flare for writing and easily held a reader’s attention. She’d never read that genre before, but she’d read all of his books, what he’d already written and what he would write in the future. But now she was tired. It had been a long, frustrating day. She did feel as if she understood him better and yet there was so much more about him that she wanted to know.

Sadness swept over her. Loneliness, too. She’d spent so many years basically alone, but this was the first time that she really missed someone. She was afraid that two days would seem like an eternity. Maybe he’d come back sooner.

She reached to turn off the bedside lamp and then froze. A shiver wiggled up her spine and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Someone was watching her. Someone was in the room with her. Her heart raced. She almost disappeared but stopped when she sensed that she recognized the visitor.

“They know where you are.”

Tyrone! She turned to face him, pleased to see her old friend, even with this awkward arrival. She pulled the sheet she’d tossed aside earlier back over her naked body. She’d been alone and saw no need to get dressed, now she wished she’d at least put on a night T-shirt. But that was silly. He would be unconcerned with her nakedness, since he was not interested in women.

“They?” Her stomach had knotted with almost certain knowledge of who he meant.

The stocky gremlin, all of three feet tall, stood by the dresser, fingering the locket necklace she’d worn for centuries. It was her one tie to her past. “Still carrying it around with you, I see.”

“Yes,” she admitted, knowing she always would. She didn’t want to talk about it. “They?” she pressed.

He was never one to be rushed. He glanced around the room, focused on her and quietly studied her. She shifted uncomfortably, knowing he always saw more in a person than they wanted revealed. Finally he gave a saucy grin. “Bet the wolf liked your hot little body.”

She stiffened, heat spread up her face. He knew she’d made love with Seth earlier. Darn him and his invasion into her private thoughts. She didn’t want to play this game. “Stop annoying me and answer my question.”

Sniffing, his grin grew bigger, his pointy yellow teeth showing. “I was only guessing, but now I know for sure. You smell of sex. Someone has been naughty, letting a beast have his way with her.”

“Tyrone,” she warned through gritted teeth. “Do you really want to see my nasty side?”

He snorted. “You? A nasty side?” Now he chuckled.

She scowled and curled her hands over the sheet, disgusted with his taunting. Okay, she didn’t have a nasty side, but she could get angry. “Why are you here pestering me?”

He looked offended. “I’m not here to pester you. I’m here to warn you.” All amusement disappeared from his far less than handsome face. “Queenie Weenie has been searching for you. Her faery detectives have finally located you. Well…at least they know you’re here in the States.”

Her mother would really hate being referred to as ‘Queenie Weenie.’ Her mother! Everything in her tightened. “Why after all of these years has she decided to look for me?”

He shrugged and picked up some earrings from the top of the dresser. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve heard rumors that she’s ready to pass on her position to one of her daughters.” He faced her again. “Maybe you’re not quite the outcast you thought you were. Maybe you’re in the running for Queen Mama of her Faery band.”

Teri struggled to breathe normally, fought to keep from showing him the depth of her fear. They were hunting for her? How could this be happening? After all this time. After all the horrible things they’d said to one another.

“I can’t go back,” she whispered, trembling, slumping against the headboard. “I can’t.”

“Because of what happened?” Tyrone looked directly at her. “Or because of Wolf Boy?”

Wolf Boy? Now she remembered his other wolf reference. “What are you talking about?” she asked in irritation, momentarily sidetracked from thinking about her mother. She sat up straighter, holding the sheet over her breasts.

He studied her for a minute and shook his head. “You honestly don’t know, do you? So blinded by his ruggedly handsome looks that you can’t see beneath his surface. And, yes, I’ve seen him. Can I say yum!”

She narrowed her eyes, aware that Tyrone preferred men as sexual partners. Seth would definitely appeal to him. “Not for you. Understand.” She knew that if Tyrone really wanted someone, he could control the person’s mind and gain whatever he desired. “Stay. Away. From. Him.”

“Possessive much?” He chuckled and held out his hands, palms up. “Gotcha. Stud man is taken.”

Teri heaved a sigh, realizing she had all but admitted that she had strong feelings for Seth. “There is nothing between us.” She still carried the scent of their lovemaking, just as Tyrone had noted. Her cheeks heated. “Okay, we had sex. But that’s all there is.”

“Pretty wild sex, right?” He sounded hopeful, like he wanted her to give him details.

“I am not talking about it.” But, yes, it had been intense…so intense Seth had passed out. She was still surprised about that, curious, too.

“Honey, I’m happy that you might have found someone to love after all this time. Maybe even someone worthy of your love, finally. I can see it in your eyes; hear it in your defense of him.”

He stepped closer  to the bed and she noticed the worry in his gaze. “But a match between the two of you…More complicated than you could ever imagine.”