To Trust Her Heart

by Carolyn Faulkner

  Ty had never really been the lecturing type. Maddie had guessed that he figured that by the time he had her over his lap, she probably already had a very good idea what she’d done wrong. Usually, he’d just tell her what she did or didn’t do, and that she wasn’t to do it again under any circumstances. He didn’t always say why, but in most cases the why wasn’t going to make any difference to her anyway. What mattered was avoiding the behavior that had gotten her into this situation in the first place.

  Instead, he was the spanking type. His spankings were hard and very uncomfortable and they weren’t over quickly by any means, usually. But apparently he considered that this was a special circumstance. When he finally let up roasting her poor bare bottom, she knew she’d been given a very abbreviated version of one of his corrections, but then, luckily for her, they weren’t really in a place that was conducive too long, drawn out punishments.

  He knew he didn’t need to say it, but he did it anyway. “You realize that that was just a warm up.” Ty wasn’t paying her any attention as she tried to rearrange her hose and panties, then gave up on the hose entirely and scrambled in a heap into the back seat to get into the clothes he’d brought along, with a lot more gratitude than she wanted to feel towards him at the moment, dragging them over her seared bottom with a loud hiss, then shrugging into the black t-shirt he’d brought.

  When she vaulted back into the passenger’s seat, she looked down at the shirt and saw the big green cat’s somewhat lopsided eyes and whiskers she’d embroidered on it years and years ago when she went through a phase of trying to learn various crafts, only to discover that she had no such talent whatsoever for any of them.

  Her eyebrows halfway up her forehead, she tried to pin him with her gaze, but since he was ignoring her entirely it was impossible to achieve her goal. So she settled for needling him verbally. “I had wondered where this had gone. You saved it? Or stole it, I should say?”

  Maddie could see the muscle jumping in his jaw and knew she’d struck gold.

  Ty didn’t answer immediately, and she thought that he wasn’t going to respond. As soon as they arrived at a small area airfield, he turned to her, growling, “Stay put.” She did as she was told . . . when she wanted to. And since her butt was still stinging, she decided to acquiesce, for the moment at least.

  He came around the big vehicle and helped her out, taking every opportunity he could to touch her, making her slide down the length of his big, muscular body in order to get her feet on the ground. He knew it was a cheap shot, but he loved the feel of her beneath his hands, whether she was getting spanked or letting him love her. Ty didn’t count on being able to bring her around to the latter for some time, so he’d have to live on his memories of last night and their marriage for a while longer, and take his vicarious jollies when and where he could get them. At least he’d gotten more than a taste last night, that would probably hold him over for at least five minutes.

  Her angry frown let him know that she knew exactly what he was doing, and didn’t appreciate it. She probably also really didn’t appreciate the fact that she’d bumped up against his rock hard erection on her way down. But Ty was completely unrepentant. He turned them both and set them off towards a small Piper Navajo as his hand just happened to pat her bottom, as if in reminder, not letting her prance ahead as she wanted to as soon as his big hand gently squeezed one still very warm cheek.

  “Cut that out!” she hissed. “You are already in big trouble, Mister, and you’ll be damned lucky if I don’t file federal kidnapping charges!”

  His chuckle did nothing to diffuse her anger.

  “I’m not kidding! I have half a mind to start screaming right now that I’m here with you against my will. ”

  Ty stepped away from her, his arms out wide. “Go ahead.”

  It was then that she realized that she could have screamed her head off and no one would have heard her make a peep because they were alone. There were several other planes on the tarmac, but none of them were occupied, and there didn’t seem to be a control tower or terminals of any sort.

  Maddie sighed loudly in defeat and trudged along behind him, glaring at his back. He wanted to hand her into the plane, too, but she wiggled away. “I’ll do it myself, thank you very much.”

  But Ty wasn’t going to let her get away with anything any more. He wanted to lift her into the cockpit, and he was damned well going to do it. Although she was standing there, looking like she’d gotten her knickers all in a twist, glaring at him with her arms folded over those wonderful breasts of hers, all he had to do was raise one eyebrow and cock his chin down just a tad. He didn’t have to say a word, she was probably still stinging from the small dose she’d gotten in the Hummer, and that was more than enough to bring her around to his way of thinking.

  Further, he could promise her that there was a lot more where that came from. He wasn’t going to pussyfoot around with her.

  The gloves were most definitely off.

  Although he would have loved to have had an excuse to heft her over his shoulder again, even for so short a distance, she gave in, although far from gracefully, and stood next to the passenger’s side cockpit door. She let him lift her into the seat, and secure the seatbelt. But she drew the line when he went to put the helmet on her head.

  “It’s the only way we can communicate in flight, honey.”

  Maddie’s hands remained on the sides of the confining appliance. “I don’t remember saying that I had any interest in talking to you anyway.”

  “Do I need to give you a spanking in the plane? Because you know I will.”

  Unhappy with herself and her lack of backbone in the face of his bullying, Maddie growled, but put the stupid thing on.

  Chapter Four:

  Insisting on the helmets had been a complete loss, Ty realized halfway through the flight. When Maddie decided to give him the cold shoulder, he knew from experience that he would die of hypothermia before she’d even tell him about something that would save them both. It was the utmost case of not wanting to be in any sort of moving vehicle with a wife who was pissed at you, although technically, she wasn’t his wife any longer.

  She was sitting over there like a bump on a log, a well-spanked bump, but a bump nonetheless. Her arms were folded over her chest, and she was fuming. He could tell by the way her breasts rose and fell. Maddie would usually meet him head on about things she felt passionate about, but she wasn’t above a good sulk.

  He supposed he should count himself lucky. Overall, he was happy with the way things had gone. It could have been much worse. He didn’t know how far behind him LaValle’s men were, but he hadn’t had to shoot anyone, not even the security guard that banged at their door. Granted, he shouldn’t have indulged in that very public dance, which was awfully close to a sex act in and of itself. He should have just done what instinct told him to do which was to simply sweep in, grab her, and whisk her away.

  But it had been more than worth it to be able to hold her and make love to her several times and ways last night. One of his goals, beyond stealing her away somewhere where she’d be safe, was to get her accustomed to his touch again. Very accustomed. He and Maddie had always had a very active sex life, well, when he was home to have a sex life with her, anyway, and he intended to indulge as much as possible. He’d been alert, and his men had already scoped this place out before he’d even gotten here. Several of them were planted in strategic places about the hotel and casino, but they were under strict instructions not to interfere unless he gave them the signal. The place was clean. It was a case of being safe rather than sorry with the only person he’d ever really cared about in this world. If he’d truly had any inkling that LaValle knew about Maddie’s whereabouts he would have marched in and whisked her away, regardless of any protests, and they would have made this flight last night instead of coming together breathlessly on that king-sized bed.

  Just thinking about sex with Maddie, especially after last night, was enough to make his
pants begin to fit much less comfortably than they had. They had been incredibly explosive in the bedroom from the start. It was almost overwhelming, especially for her, and the way it touched her touched him. Despite the fact that they both lamented how much time he’d spent away from her during their marriage, it was like getting to know each other all over again when he came home. He’d spent many a first night back home in their big, comfortable bed touching her feverishly, taking her fast and hard at first, not that she objected at all. Somehow, she was always warm and wet and welcoming for him, even though he always appeared unexpectedly.

  It was just something between them. She was always ready for him. He knew it just by looking at her, by the way her eyes would drop and she’d color so beautifully, as if they were just dating and her response was a surprise. Several times he’d come through that door and he knew that they’d never make it to the bedroom. He’d taken her in their foyer more than once, always putting her on top so that he would take the brunt of the cold marble floor, once almost forgetting to shut the door behind him so that the whole world could watch him part that innocent looking, fluffy pink robe of hers and bring her down onto his rigid manhood, loving the way her eyes always flared as she struggled to accept him up into her body. She’d never gotten used to his size. It was always a struggle, a pleasant, pleasurable struggle, but a struggle nonetheless.

  But even with her astride him, he still controlled their lovemaking, and she seemed to like it that way. He kept his hands on her hips, gently at first then more firmly, guiding her ride, not letting her use him to her own ends, but keeping her firmly in check until he decided that she could explode around him. For a no nonsense twenty-first century woman, Maddie did have a naturally submissive side that he adored.

  Sometimes he’d make her wait a very long time for her end. Sometimes he didn’t want to give up that much control for that long and he’d carry her into the sofa and drape her over the back of it, which worked perfectly for him because it raised her bottom up to just the right height. Then he could choose his method of entry. Maddie, as much as she blushed about it if he questioned her, was just as responsive anally as she was in every other way he’d introduced her to.

  Ty clamped down ruthlessly on his lusty wanderings, finding that he couldn’t fly and think about having sex with her at the same time. Usually he prided himself on his ability to multi-task, yet remain extremely detail oriented and maintain an incredible level of intensity for each thing he was dealing with. This particular ability had helped him enormously in countless firefights.

  But, Maddie, was his Achilles heel. She was his weak spot. He needed and wanted her more than he’d ever wanted to need or want anything in his life, and he wouldn’t hesitate to lay himself on the line for her, if it came down to that.

  He didn’t intend for things to go that way, however. He wasn’t a spring chicken any longer, and he was eyeing retirement more avidly than he ever had. Now he felt he could step down to a consultant position without too much of a problem, and keep the exorbitant salary they were paying him. He might miss some of the action and the travel and offing the bad guys, but he’d realized over the past few years that what he wanted was what he’d had with the grumpy, pouting woman who was sitting at his side as he landed the small plane.

  “Where the hell are we?” she asked, wondering why they had landed at yet another smallish airport.

  He gave her a raised eyebrow, but just answered laconically, as he removed his helmet and started to unbuckle himself. “Manchester, NH.”

  That was the last thing he said to her before the gunshots started, and he covered her body with his own as he unlatched her belts, yelling, “Get down!”

  Maddie hunkered down on the floor of the cockpit as best she could, amazed to see him disappearing silently out the door of the plane. Big parts of her wanted to crawl out after him, or at the very least, scream at him not to leave her. But she shut her mouth, trying to console herself with the knowledge that Ty Scanlon was the best of the best, and that he was doing whatever he needed to do to save their lives.

  She waited for long moments, hearing the almost popcorn popping of gunfire and the occasional whiz of a bullet as it flew by her little hidey hole. Maddie had never been this frightened in all of her life, but she realized something slightly annoying, she wasn’t frightened for herself as much as she was for him. That old fear, that well worn path in her mind that she’d paced back and forth all those months he was gone, was still there. She’d thought it had grown over with weeds, but no. It had been tended secretly, and was quickly brought to the life now that she could hear the absolute, stark reality of what was going on just a few feet from her.

  Maddie had never been a particularly religious person, but just as she had begun to rustily pray using long forgotten words, she saw the handle on her door depress and suddenly a big meaty hand she recognized reached in to grab her, wrestling her ruthlessly out onto the tarmac and maintaining a stranglehold on her wrist that she knew was going to leave bruises.

  He didn’t look at her as he growled fiercely, his eyes scanning the vast open expanse of the runway methodically. “Stay close to me. Do exactly as I say. Our lives depend on it.” He gripped a big, nasty looking gun to his body with his free hand.

  She was nodding and then realized he couldn’t see that response. “Yes, of course.”

  Seconds later, she found herself literally dragged across the rough tar, up to the stairs to a much bigger plane. They practically had to crawl up them to get into it, and she could feel how his body covered hers every step of the way, so that if they got hit, he would be the one to take the bullet. She listened as carefully as she could, though, and didn’t hear any of the disturbing popping sounds she had before.

  The depth of his protective instincts, seeing them in real action for the first time, floored her. She had never had any intention of letting him die for her but then it had never come to this. He had always been excruciatingly careful never to bring his work home with him, and now she had a clearer understanding of why.

  In some ways she’d been able to push the realization of his cloak and dagger existence to the back of her mind, in the past, but this experience was definitely bringing all of her latent concerns about his safety and her own to the forefront.

  When they got to the top of the moveable stairs, she glanced up enough to see that the door to the plane was already being held open by a tall man who was wearing camouflage from head to toe, complete with mirrored glasses. He stood there menacingly, with a machine gun held confidently at the ready. Ty shoved her into the plane first, ahead of him, turning to brandish his own weapon out the door, until it closed securely behind him.

  “It’s okay, Sir. We got ‘em all,” the stranger stated, but he still kept his gun slung across him, as if he expected whoever “they” were to come storming up the stairs.

  Ty nodded tersely, but he wasn’t paying any attention to the other man. Instead, he’d turned to Maddie and went over her with a fine tooth comb, patting her all over as if he was frisking her, although she knew he was looking for injuries. When he stood back up, he held her biceps almost as hard as he’d held her wrist, saying, “Are you all right?”

  Maddie shook her head until it nearly fell off, all of the nerves of the past few descending on her at once. She found herself trying desperately not to think about what “got ‘em all” meant, exactly. It wasn’t just her head that was shaking, she was trembling all over, uncontrollably. Ty held her tight against him, taking her mouth with his all of a sudden, as if he couldn’t deny himself any longer. This wasn’t the time or the place, but she’d never been able to deny her response to him, which was always bone deep, even now, when she was scared to death and still pretty mad at his high-handed treatment.

  She knew that likely wasn’t ever going to get any better, not until his last breath left his body. Ty Scanlon didn’t change for anyone even the woman he purported to love. She’d found that out the hard way when she’d
filed divorce papers while he was away doing Lord knew what and she never saw him again. The signed papers arrived by messenger at her lawyer’s office, signed and sealed. No note, no call, no nothing. He’d just disappeared out of her life.

  Yet here he was. Somehow, she’d known, deep inside her, that it couldn’t be over that easily between them. And she was right.

  As he moved confidently about the nicely appointed plane, he kept her plastered tightly to his hip, checking the windows and barging into the cockpit. There were four men on the plane besides him, and every one of them deferred to him as the boss of the operation, whatever that operation was. It was an interesting side to see of him. She’d seen a lot more of Ty than most people ever got to see, but never this, like most normal women did, a work situation. There was never any picking up or dropping him off at the office, or office parties, or any of the usual situations like that between them when they were married. None. Beyond what little Rafe imparted to Carolyn, who then imparted it to her, she knew nothing of Ty at work.

  As he made his way around the plane, he introduced her to people incorrectly as his wife, which she corrected each and every time, not that it made a dent in that thick hide of his. He introduced her incorrectly till the last person, the huge, mountain of a man that had held the door of the plane for them. He reminded her of Ty himself, somehow. His name was Kaz, who rather than shaking her outstretched hand, turned it over and brought it to his lips in a gentlemanly manner that betrayed his looks, while Ty scowled fiercely.

  “Charmed, I’m sure,” he rumbled with an entirely unapologetic smile.

  “Down, boy,” Ty commanded wryly, with not a small edge of jealousy, but he only got a big, white-toothed grin for his attempt at curbing the man. “Let’s get this hunk of junk in the air.” It didn’t help that she continued to stare back at the behemoth, until Ty forcibly sat her down on the plush white leather couch, saying, “Are you sure you’re okay?”