Sandy Sullivan (21 page)

"They're
beautiful."

"Marcus?"

"I
assume so. The card just says 'All my love.' But why didn't he say something
last night?"

"I
don't know. Maybe he wanted to surprise you?"

"I
guess. I'll have to call him to thank him."

"You
could thank him properly by going back to his house."

"Yeah.
But he has to work today."

"You
can go back over there tonight then?"

"I
really need to start getting my stuff together to head to Billings. I'm leaving
in a few days."

"True."
Caroline cocked her head and smiled. "Have you told him you love
him?"

"Why
is everyone convinced I'm in love with Marcus?"

"Because
you are.
You smile when his name is mentioned,
you have the little twinkle in your eyes plus you get the dreamy look on your
face."

"Maybe
it's someone else."

"Yeah,
right.
Who else are you doing the horizontal mambo
with?"

"No
one."

"See.
Besides, I think you two look cute together."

Elizabeth
peeled off her damp dress and slipped on her bathrobe. A shower would feel
heavenly before she got redressed.

"What
the hell happened to your butt?"

"Marcus."

"Is
the man crazy? Your ass is splotchy like he spanked you."

"He
did."

"Seriously?
What the fuck for?"

"I
smarted off. I don't expect you to understand, Caroline."

"I
want the
deats
, but I'm not going to push now and I
can't believe you went to his house with no panties?"

"I
planned on getting some, didn't I?
Makes things easier."

"True.
I'll have to try it next time
I'm wanting
to get
laid." Caroline laughed as she headed down the hall, leaving Elizabeth to
finish getting dressed.

Hot
water sprayed out of the nozzle as she turned the handle. Steam rose inside the
bathroom, obliterating her reflection in the mirror, thank goodness. She really
didn't want to see how red her ass probably was after Marcus' spanking. She
knew she deserved the swats, but keeping her wayward tongue under control wasn’t
usually her first concern.

Dropping
the robe to the floor, she stepped into the stream of water with a sigh.
Damn, the heat felt good.

Images
from the night before zipped across her mind. After he'd held her for several
moments, he'd ordered her back across the spanking bench. A semi-large butt
plug passed the muscles of her anus as Marcus slipped it in. Even the thought
of the plug made her clench her muscles. Once he had the plastic in place he
proceeded to fuck her senseless with the plug in her ass and his cock in her
pussy. She'd never felt so full in her entire life. Holy hell, the sensation
wasn't like anything she experienced before.
Did it feel like that with two cocks? I might need to clarify the
feeling and ask Emma.
Would her little sister even tell her? Who knew, but
it might be worth it to ask. This fascination she had with having two men
needed to get out of her head. She didn't want two men, really she didn't. The
thought was there. Maybe Marcus would…
nah
. Well maybe
just once?

She
quickly finished her shower and redressed in comfortable work clothes. Coffee and
breakfast would be good. She hadn't eaten before she left Marcus'.

"Thanks
for putting the flowers in my room, Dad."

"You're
welcome, honey. Here's your coffee," her father said, sitting a cup down
in front of her. "Who are they from?"

"Marcus,
I guess.
Although I don't know when he would have ordered them
unless it was before I went over there to apologize."

"There
wasn't a card?"

"Yes,
but there wasn't a signature on it."

"Well,
I'm sure you'll thank Marcus properly when you see him again."

"Of
course, she will, Dad." Caroline laughed and Elizabeth smiled behind her
cup.

"Did
you go outside to find out what's in the pasture?"

"The
rain is slowing down so I figured the moment the downpour stops, I'll go out
there. It isn't very far of a walk anyway. It's right by the water
trough."

"Maybe
whatever is out there will give us a clue to who's messing with the water
supply."

Her
father shook his head. "Surely it won't be such an easy fix. Besides, we
still don't know if someone is or it's a natural cause."

"You
never know, Dad." She paused and took a sip of her coffee. "Do you
really think it's natural? Marcus said the nitrate level is well beyond what
would normally occur even with fecal contamination."

"True,
but I don't want to be pointing fingers until we know something more
concrete."

"All
right, but we need to put guards up or something."

"Elizabeth,
we can't guard this large of a ranch. The manpower involved would be
astronomical."

"But
if something happens to the rest of the herd, it would kill this place, Dad.
You can't afford that either."

"I
know, sweetheart. I wish I knew the answer to this whole thing," he
replied, scratching the five o'clock shadow of whiskers forming on his chin.

He
looked worried and haggard. The whole situation had taken its toll on him. Dark
circles under his eyes told her he wasn't sleeping well. The almost gaunt
appearance to his cheeks told her he wasn't eating like he should either.

A
quick look out the window assured her the rain had stopped, giving them a
chance to check by the water trough. She grabbed her boots from near the back
door to trudge out in the mud as her father picked up the coffee cups and put
them in the sink.

"Thanks
for getting those, Dad. I was going to do it when I got my boots on."

"I'm
used to it, Elizabeth. Your
mother, God rest
her soul,
always left her coffee cup on the table."

"I
guess I get it naturally then."

"Yep."
He put his cowboy hat on his head, motioning for her to precede him through the
back screen door out into the filtered sunlight. Now that the clouds were
breaking up, blue sky shone between the wispy puffs of white again.

"It's
going to be fun getting out there in this mud."

"Yeah,
it's the joys of living on a ranch with cattle and horses. There is always a
mud pit around somewhere."

"True,"
she said, opening the gate to the pasture as her father followed behind.

The
closer she got to the red material in the mud, the more worried she became.
First a red shirt, blue jean, and then boots made her gasp as they got to what
lie on the ground near the trough.

"Shit,
Dad. It's a man."

Mitchell
bent down next to the body to touch his neck. "He's dead."

"What
the hell happened here?"

"I'm
not sure, but we need to call the sheriff."

"I
have my cell in my pocket," she replied, pulling it out to dial.

Within
several minutes, the house buzzed with a few
sheriff's
deputies as they took notes and the paramedics moved the body onto a stretcher.

"Appears
like one of the animals kicked him in the head," Sheriff
Monteau
said, scribbling in his notebook.

"An
accident?" her father asked.

"Looks
like it. The animal probably spooked during the storm."

"What
the hell was he doing out near the trough in a storm? Its nuts," Elizabeth
said, adding her two cents into the equation.

"I
wouldn't know. We'll contact the state investigators’ office to make sure they
don't want to go through a full investigation before we close this, but I'm
ruling the death accidental."

"Thanks,
Sheriff."

"You're
welcome, Mitchell. I'll call you if I need anything else."

Once
the police cars left, Elizabeth and her father stood near where the body had
lain. "I'm still suspicious, Dad. Why would he be out here in the middle
of a storm? This whole scenario doesn't make sense."

"I
haven't the foggiest idea. Maybe one of the gates got left open and he closed it?"

"There
aren't any gates close to the trough." She glanced around the area and
noticed something next to the base of the metal watering hole. "What's
this?" A small plastic vial sat propped up against the tank on the
opposite side of where they found the body. The sheriff and his deputy's must
have missed it buried in the grass around the trough.

"I
don't know. Why would there be something like this out here?"

"You
should have the contents analyzed, Dad," she said, handing him the vial.
"It could be important. You don't have any of the hands treating the water
with anything, do you?"

"No.
The cattle get the extra nutrients they need in their feed, not the water
supply."

"I
don't like this."

"Me
either, honey. I'll get this back to the house and have the lab who did the
water testing, get right on it."

"Great.
I'm going to poke around here a little to see if I find anything else out of
the ordinary.
Maybe in the barn?"

Her
father glanced at the large structure in the distance and shrugged.
"Maybe.
You never know."

As
he trudged off toward the house, Elizabeth checked out the area. Layers upon
layers of hoof prints in the mud obliterated much of the vicinity, making it
difficult to see anything. Horses and cattle milled about in the distance. A
brown mare wandered close, searching for a scratching. She reached her hand to
the animal's ears to itch behind the left one. "Are you gonna help me
look, sweetheart, because you're in the way right now." The horse shook
her head. Elizabeth giggled and pushed the mare away. "Go on with you
then."

Sloshing
through the mud wasn't her idea of a good time. Unfortunately, it came with the
territory of being on a ranch. She couldn't remember how many times her mother
yelled at her for tracking mud into the house.
Oh Mom, I wish you were here. It sucks not having you to talk to.

A
soft breeze blew hair across her cheek and she smiled even though tears
gathered in her eyes. Losing a mother at any age hurt like the devil. When hers
died tragically in a car accident a few years ago, the pain went heart deep.

She
sniffed back the tears and looked down. Something shiny silver winked in the
morning sunlight. She bent down to push the mud back.
A cell phone?
What the hell is a cell phone doing out here in the mud? Maybe it
belonged to the guy we found.
She brushed the dirt away. "Huh. What a
weird thing to find out here. Of course, you don't find dead bodies in the mud
very often either." The screen flashed missed call so she flipped open the
top and gasped as the number registered in her brain. "Why in the hell
would he be calling one of the guys on Dad's ranch?"

* * * *

Marcus
stepped outside his office to take a breath of fresh air. The storm from
earlier had finally moved off. He hoped it would stay away for a bit. Thunder and
lightning were great for cuddle time with someone, but they played hell on his
sinuses. The pressure from the high humidity always clogged him up. He sniffed
to try to clear his nostrils, which didn't help. But the rotting food stench coming
from the diner down the block that shared the same alleyway he did seemed to do
the trick.
Great.
Just what I need to smell
when my nose opens up a little.

To
erase the disgusting odor, he let his mind drift back to Elizabeth and how
their night progressed after she arrived to apologize. With her kneeling at his
feet so beautifully, her hair glinting red in the lights of the room, the smell
of her perfume drifting to his nose, he remembered the excitement radiating off
her skin when he draped her back over the spanking bench. She wanted to be
fucked hard. Being taken turned her on. The scent of her arousal stimulated his
own sense of fulfillment at having a sub available to him—one who wanted to be
there unlike Marie, his ex-wife.

Two
women in his life had broken him down, Marie and Julia. Marie wanted him to
give up his dominate traits to become the vanilla lover she wanted. He'd tried
for a while, but it became apparent early on he wouldn't be able to maintain
that way of life. Domination was part of him—something he couldn't turn off
like a faucet. The breakup of their marriage some ten years earlier still hurt.
Loving a woman who wouldn't even contemplate some excitement in their bedroom
life became a burden he couldn't shake.