by Rachel Burns
“When?” he asked, making it sound as if he didn’t believe her.
“When I arrived here.” She shrugged her shoulders and set down the menu. “I guess I’m not that hungry.”
“What’s your name?” he asked her, interrupting her next chance to try to leave.
“I’d rather not say,” she told him honestly.
He tilted his head down slightly, but his eyes remained locked with hers. “Tell me your name.” The sound of threat was in his voice.
Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. “I’m Morgan,” she whispered in response.
“And your last name?” he asked her.
She shook her head. She wouldn’t let him intimidate her into confessing that.
“Then tell me what you want to have.”
“It’s the middle of the night. I’ll leave, and you can lock up and go back to bed.”
“Where will you sleep?” he asked her without missing a beat.
“I’ll find some place.” She always did. She wasn’t picky about things like that. Sleeping outside wasn’t as bad as it sounded. The first night, she’d been scared, but she’d gotten used to it.
“You aren’t leaving. If you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’ll make you liver and onions.”
Morgan had to smile. “I actually like that.” They had that at school sometimes. Most of the girls had complained, but Morgan loved it.
When she met his eyes, she caught him smiling at her. “At this point, I suppose I have to admit that I don’t have any liver on hand, but this place makes the best hamburgers for miles and miles.”
“How are your fries?” she asked him to tease him.
“Forgive me for bragging, but they’re the best on the planet. In fact, I think I’d like some too.”
Morgan watched him turn on a few machines. He even started to make a salad. Morgan’s eyes grew wide with hunger, watching him.
“What do you want to drink? Perhaps a shake? I like shakes with my burgers. Are you a strawberry gal or a chocolate one?” he asked her so kindly.
Morgan was a little mesmerized, watching him. He knew exactly what he was doing and already the kitchen smelt so good. No wonder truckers stopped here.
“Could I have chocolate please, sir?”
He held still for a moment, and then he nodded at her, giving her a brilliant smile. When he smiled, a dimple formed on his left cheek.
Morgan smiled back at him. He was so nice to look at. It was a shame that he was too old for her.
“Are you married?” she dared to ask him. A large part of her wanted him to say yes, so she could add adulteress to the list of reasons that she hated herself. It was a pattern that she had grown to like. Her self-loathing gave her something to do and helped her push herself towards the goal that she wanted.
“No, I haven’t found the right gal yet,” he told her.
Morgan was surprised to hear that.
He got out ice cream and made their shakes, which he also had a machine for. Morgan caught herself sniffing the air and leaning closer to him. This night was turning out to be the best night she’d had in a long time. She didn’t think that she would ever have a nice moment again. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.
Within a few short minutes, the man had their meals finished. He carried the plates out to the restaurant and then came back for their shakes.
Morgan stayed where she was, watching him set out ketchup and mayonnaise. When he placed salt on the table, he looked at her and smiled. “Dinner is served.”
Morgan slowly stepped forward. The food smelt so good, and she was starving. She sat down in the booth and waited for him to join her.
“Enjoy your meal,” he told her.
Morgan picked up the ketchup bottle and squirted some on her burger and some on the plate beside the french fries. As soon as she set the bottle down, he picked it up. She watched in horror as he squeezed the ketchup directly onto his fries.
“What?” he asked her when he felt her eyes on him.
“I wouldn’t have done that,” she muttered.
“But it’s the best way,” he protested, giving her what she would call a sly southern smile that made him look even more handsome. The men who flirted with her at college didn’t look that charming when they smiled at her.
Morgan picked up a french fry and dunked it in the ketchup. Her eyes closed as she placed it in her mouth. “These are really the best fries on the planet,” she told him.
“I’m no liar.”
“I can’t believe that you ruined them by drowning them in ketchup,” she stated, teasing him a little.
“Different strokes for different folks.” He looked at her so intently that she looked down at her plate.
Morgan picked up her burger and took a bite. It was delicious too. She ignored him and enjoyed her food.
“So I’m guessing that you aren’t a stranger to what happened before,” he stated.
“I guess not,” she replied, thinking he meant the spanking he had given her. She placed her hands on her lap. Confessing that she was used to being beaten by her father and then again by her boyfriends wasn’t something that she was proud of.
“So you’ve had a master before?”
Morgan guessed that her father could be called that. He saw himself as a god. She shrugged her shoulders and slightly nodded at him.
“Are you on the run?” he asked her.
“Kind of. You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
He grunted. But then the look on his face changed. “Your master trained you well.”
Morgan shrugged her shoulders again. She didn’t really understand what he meant and she didn’t like the idea of him praising her father.
“What are your plans from here? Are you heading somewhere?”
She shook her head. “I doubt it would be smart to share my plans with a stranger. Especially not one who had wanted to have me arrested.”
He showed her that he agreed with her by giving her a slight nod. “We’ll put your clothes in the machine after we eat, and then you can shower and get some rest.”
Morgan nodded at him. “Thank you. As soon as they’re clean, I’ll move on.”
“Where are you going to?” he asked her.
“I’m traveling,” she replied, finally answering him.
“I see. You want to see the world,” he stated.
“Yes, I do. I have plans,” she said more to herself.
“There’s lots you can see around here. Why don’t you stay a few days?”
Morgan shook her head. “It’s better if I keep moving.”
“Why would you have to move on? Wouldn’t it be better to stay in one place? Less people would see you that way.” He pointed out.
Morgan thought about that for a moment, concluding that he was right, but it wasn’t part of her plan. “I would appreciate a chance to wash my clothes before I have to leave.”
“Are you on the way to someone? Someone who will help you get more clothes?” he asked her, trying to squeeze more information out of her.
“That really isn’t any of your business,” she told him.
“I think if I let you leave with only the clothes on your back and no identification, it would be my business.”
“I’m responsible for me,” she replied.
“I agree, but I just caught you stealing. That can’t be how you want to live.”
Of course, it wasn’t. Morgan would rather be back at school, studying to become someone important and living a carefree life, but Robert had ruined that for her. She wasn’t safe with him on the loose, and she would see him on campus. Her father cared more about what the press thought than about her safety. Robert would know that when she didn’t press charges. He’d know that he could say anything to her and do anything to her. That was the main reason that she had run away. She couldn’t bear seeing him again. He’d grin at her and know that there was no one who had her back. It would be like living with h
er father again. The constant fear that he might hurt her at any time. The fear of being on the road was less.
“This is how it is now,” she told him, trying to keep her face straight and not show him the pain that was gripping at her heart.
“It doesn’t have to be that way. You can stay with me for a while, but I would feel better about that if I knew your story.” He was trying to reason with her, but he didn’t understand. No one could.
“I’m no one. There’s nothing interesting about me,” she insisted.
“Are you over the age of eighteen?” He looked a little pale asking that.
For a moment, Morgan considered teasing him. If he thought that she was a minor, he’d do whatever he could to hide the fact that he had slept with her.
“You’re an adult, right?” he asked again.
“I am. You didn’t commit a crime when you slept with me,” she confessed. But it had been a weird thing to do with someone who you caught stealing from you. But she knew better than to point that out.
“Listen, this was really kind of you, but I think it would be better if I moved on.” She needed to move on and get away from him before he changed his mind and decided that it would be better to call the cops on her.
“It’s too dark to see anything outside. You could walk off a cliff and break your neck.”
Morgan shrugged her shoulders. It didn’t matter to her if she died. That was sort of the plan anyway. “Do you even have any cliffs around here?” she teased him, sort of.
“The point is, you aren’t going anywhere tonight. I can offer you a comfortable night while you travel.”
“What would I have to do for it?” she asked him. Her tummy was sinking lower and lower.
“Nothing, but give me some answers,” he replied.
“If you aren’t going to ask about the weather, I can’t give you any answers. I wouldn’t trust what I had to say about the weather here either.” She tried to lighten the mood with a simple joke.
“You realize that a bit of information would be nice. I don’t want to wake up with a knife in my chest.” He was getting a little frustrated.
“Noted, no knives.” Morgan couldn’t help but smile a little. She was teasing him, and she never teased anyone.
“What other options do I have?” he asked, teasing her back.
Morgan couldn’t help but smile again. “I don’t really know. It would be my first murder.”
“Do you have any ideas?” he teased her back, finally relaxing.
“Not really, but it should be something special because it’s my first time killing someone,” she teased him.
“Right, you’ll want to do something that you can look back on and smile about.” He agreed with her.
“Exactly. And now that you said no knives, I can only think of ideas with knives.”
For a moment, he looked worried. That made her laugh. When she laughed, he relaxed. Morgan was surprised that she was almost having a good time.
Morgan shyly helped him clean up. Then they went back upstairs, where he asked for her clothes so he could wash them.
He sort of turned away a little as she undressed, but when she handed him her things, he looked at her body and smiled at her.
“Just the way I like. Forgive me for staring, but you’re the prettiest gal I have ever seen naked.”
He turned away from her and left her alone to shower.
Chapter 14
When Sawyer checked on his little outlaw, he found her wrapped up in a towel and smelling like his soap. He liked that she smelt like he did.
“I hope you don’t mind sharing a bed with me. I wasn’t expecting guests.” He gave her his best smile.
“I could wait for my clothes and leave as soon as they’re dry,” she offered.
“Why are you turning down a chance to sleep in a real bed? This must be a big chance for someone like you.”
“Someone like me,” she repeated, sounding a little far away. There was a certain coldness to her that just wouldn’t stop trying to push him away.
“If you told me a little about yourself, I’d feel a whole lot better about this.” His mind was warning him that this was too risky, but his heart wanted her to stay. His body agreed with his heart.
“So you think that I was good enough to fuck, but I’m not good enough for you to sleep beside me,” she stated as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
“I won’t tolerate that kind of talk in my house,” he snapped at her.
She looked away from him, hardly impressed. She said nothing for a long time, while he stared at her.
“Why are the police looking for you?” he asked her, still trying to get to the bottom of who would be lying next to him tonight. He doubted that he would get any sleep.
“I doubt that they are.” Again an answer that was as cold as ice.
“But they shouldn’t know where you are. Are you hiding from someone?”
“I doubt that anyone is truly looking for me.”
“But you had a master who trained you to take your punishments before you came here,” Sawyer stated the obvious.
“He had help. Others reinforced the lesson. I got it now.” He saw a spark of fear in her eyes, but it was only there for a moment. Then she had herself in control again.
Sawyer got the impression that she was on the run from her master. Had their relationship gone sour?
“Was your last master rich and powerful?” he asked her.
She nodded at him. “Did he kick you out, or are you on the run from him?”
“Listen, I can tell that you’re worried about your own personal safety, and you should be. No one should let a stranger into their home without knowing who they are. I thank you for the shower. I can wear my clothes wet. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll leave and never come this way again.”
“What if I don’t want you to leave? What if I want you to stay with me and be my sub?”
She looked confused.
“I have a dominant side of me that needs to control everyone around me, even the woman in my bed. But you already know about that.” He stared at her, watching her face so he could read her reactions.
“Men have a tendency to need to control women. Yes, that’s something that I know about.” Morgan agreed with him.
“In return, you could stay with me. I could get you other things to wear. With time, you’d grow comfortable enough to tell me about yourself.”
“Who are you?” she asked him, surprising him.
“I’m Sawyer Dalton. I own the truck stop and the gas station. I’m also the mayor of this two-horse town, which means that I have to be careful about the company that I keep. If you really are a criminal, I need to know.”
“I’m no one of importance. You can trust me on that.”
Sawyer tilted his head a little to the side and tried to guess who she might be. For some reason, he was certain that she was from a poor family, and that she hadn’t had many choices in life. She fell in love with a man who became her master. He either kicked her out, or she left him. Either way, she couldn’t go back to her drug addict mother because her mom’s boyfriend would make advances at her. Should he ask her if he was right? He could feel that he was right.
It might hurt her feelings that he saw through her so easily.
But he could be wrong. But one part he was certain of was that she came from a poor family. He knew that she wasn’t a rich lady in spite of the Yale sweatshirt she’d been wearing when she arrived here.
“Let’s go to bed.” he announced, knowing that he wouldn’t get her to talk to him tonight, but he was burning to know her story.
Morgan nodded at him. “Which side do you usually sleep on?” she asked him like a true submissive, wanting to please her master. That made him smile again.
“I usually use the whole thing. I’m not used to sharing,” he confessed.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable if I slept on the hallway rug?” She was dead ser
ious.
“Where did you sleep last night?” he asked her.
“In some guy’s bunk in his truck.”
“Is that the guy who brought you here?” He’d asked about him while they ate and told her what he’d said about her.
She nodded at him. “Aren’t you happy to know that I don’t fuck with everyone.”
Sawyer saw red. He grabbed onto her as he sat down on the bed. He tugged the towel away from her body and gave her several hard smacks, peppering her pink ass, making her redder.
“Language. Watch it. I will never tolerate that kind of behavior.” He spanked on as she remained as still as she could, taking what he was dishing out. His efforts from before, and now this fresh spanking was taking a toll on her. He saw her reach out and grab onto the leg of his nightstand.
Knowing that she was just about to cry, he stopped. “Has my message gotten across to you?” he asked her.
“Yes, sir,” she replied so easily. He could tell by the way she talked that she was from the New England area. They usually didn’t use words like ‘sir’ up there. Around here, it was starting to die out too, but he liked that she knew how to talk to him. Her master had taught her well.
He tilted her upper body up and helped her sit down on the bed beside him. She didn’t flinch, but she sat up very straight. He wanted to stare at her naked body and enjoy it, but it was very late, and he had a parking lot full of sleeping truck drivers who would want a warm breakfast before they drove off for the day.
“Get in bed,” he commanded.
“Yes, sir.” She nodded at him and did exactly as she was told, making him want to groan with need for her again.
He stood to give her room to obey him. She got into bed and lifted the blankets so she was covered up. Sawyer noted that she elegantly moved those wonderful long legs of hers.
He pushed down his jeans and got into bed beside her. He turned out the light and wrapped his arm around her. “Sleep,” he told her.
~
Morgan couldn’t sleep. The moonlight streaming in the windows was bright this evening and she could clearly see everything in his room. She was certain that he wasn’t sleeping either. He smelt so good, and she longed to have another orgasm. Her clit was throbbing as she thought about his body. He was the hottest guy she had ever seen.