He glanced at her, wanted to tell her to be careful, that this wasn’t a game, that there were bad men out there who would do bad things. She was naïve.
“What are you going to do?” he asked. He had a plan formulating already but he thought he would ask. Knowing her personality like he did, telling her directly what she needed to do normally did not go over well. She was stubborn. Well, he could work with that.
“I don’t know, stall?”
They pulled up at the restaurant and he parked. The agent who had followed them parked across the lot.
“Check out of your hotel room tomorrow, turn in your car, and stay at my house while we work through this. You can use my truck. I have the cruiser as well. I’d feel better about that than you stalling.” And that way I can keep an eye on you. He didn’t say that last part out loud though.
“What? Stay with you?”
“It makes perfect sense.”
Her expression was pure puzzlement. He climbed out of the vehicle and went to her side as she opened her door. He then took her completely by surprise once she stepped out and closed the door when he pressed her up against the truck and kissed her full on the mouth.
“Stop!” she managed, trying to push free but unable to as he had her pinned between the truck and himself. She felt soft and small and completely vulnerable. “What are you doing?” she asked, but her words were swallowed in his mouth and when he pulled back and she reached to slap him, he caught her wrist and held it at her side. Her pupils had dilated and her face was flushed, her lips parted and swollen. Completely kissable.
“Play along,” he said. “He’s watching us.”
“What?”
“We have to convince them you’re coming home with me for a good old-fashioned roll in the hay,” he said, his tongue sliding into her mouth. He was making thorough work of their charade because in a way, for him at least, this wasn’t a charade. He had feelings for her, as strange as that sounded after knowing her for so short a time, but it was undeniable. Their physical attraction was electric, but it was more than that. For him at least.
Her body softened and she yielded to him. Their kiss became pure sensuality, the taste of her making him heady. His cock hardened and he pressed his hips against her, his one hand touching the hard curve of her hip then moving to the soft swell of her bottom.
A sound came from his chest and slowly, he pulled back, feeling flushed himself.
“Jackson,” she managed, her mouth still slightly open, her eyes wide on his. He released his hold on her and put a few inches between them. Her eyes shone. She reached up to touch her mouth, her upper lip which had reddened a little from the stubble on his face.
“Let’s go inside,” he said.
She stood there, not reacting.
“Come on,” he said, tugging on her hand which he still held.
It took her a minute but she pulled back, resisting a little. She cleared her throat.
“If you try that again, I’m going to kick your ass back to Afghanistan.”
At that he laughed outright and led the way into the restaurant.
Chapter Eight
Well, that was settled. Jess locked the door of her hotel room. His kiss in the parking lot was still fresh on her mind and she swore she could feel the weight of his body pressing her against the truck. The man could kiss. Among other things. She had to admit, she liked the sheriff. He was a good man, had been from the start. She just hadn’t expected any of the things that had happened between them.
That said, she checked her watch. It was half past ten. An hour and a half to go to meet whomever she was meeting. She had felt guilty over not telling Jackson during dinner but had decided this was more important. Even more important now that Hanson had appeared out of nowhere telling her basically to pack her bags and go.
She had one problem though: the agent who had her under surveillance was still outside in the parking lot. She glanced out from the split between the curtains. She couldn’t take her car. It was going to be a long walk.
Jess changed her clothes, slipping on well-worn jeans and a black t-shirt along with a pair of comfortable sneakers. She emptied her bag but for her gun, her badge, and her mobile, opened a window at the side of the room, counting her lucky stars the room she had been given was at the end of the long row of rooms, and climbed out. The night was clear and warm. She took the long way around to avoid being discovered by the agent and made her way through the quiet streets and to the end of town where she began her long walk to the site of the dam collapse.
* * *
Jackson went by the office to check in on Bill before heading home. The new deputy was young and lacked experience. That along with having a generous amount of passion for his job. That was a good thing, except when he overreacted or misread situations. Once he confirmed that all was well, he headed home. It was about half past eleven when he pulled onto his driveway just behind where he had parked his cruiser. He switched off the engine and turned to collect his wallet and cell phone. That was when he noticed the pile of papers he had forgotten to give Jess.
“Shoot.” Well, they could probably wait until tomorrow.
He reached for the pile, planning on setting them in the cruiser so he wouldn’t forget to give them to her tomorrow. An envelope fell to the floor and he reached to collect it. It was unsealed and the flap opened when he picked it up. Something told him to read the note and he reached a hand inside and pulled it out:
I have information about the collapse but I can’t talk in public. Meet me at the site tomorrow at midnight. Come alone or I’m gone.
He punched the steering wheel hard and alarm bells went off. He turned it over, looking for a date but finding none, wondering when she had received it. He hoped to God she wasn’t stupid enough to go out there on her own. He started the truck and drove fast back to her hotel, all the while his mind working, getting angrier and angrier as the palm of his hand throbbed. He was going to spank the bejeezus out of her.
He pulled up in front of her door, glad to see her car was still there. He eyed the sleeping agent in his car. He climbed out of his truck and knocked but there was no answer. He knocked a little harder then walked around to the window which he found unlocked. He pushed it open.
“God damn it, woman!” he said, running back to his car. She had not only gone to meet whoever this was, she had done it on foot! When he got his hands on her…
But that line of thinking was quickly halted when thoughts of what could happen to her flooded his mind. He hit the gas and sped out of town and toward the site.
* * *
The partial moon lit her way down the last part of the hill. Jess’s leg hurt and she had to limp the final part of the trek. She checked her watch; it was five minutes to midnight. She hoped she was here before whomever it was she was meeting.
Pausing in the cover of some trees, she scanned the site. There weren’t any vehicles but that didn’t mean anything. She pulled her gun out of her bag and walked through the woods for as long as she could until she was close to the bright yellow police tape that cordoned off the damaged part of the dam. She went to it, ducking underneath it, trying to remain as quiet as possible even though rocks crunched under her feet. She gasped when some animal made a sound in the distance followed by footsteps coming up the path. She held her gun ready and ducked behind a pile of rubble when she spotted two men standing in the distance, smoking. One of them carried something while the other spoke into a telephone. She couldn’t quite hear what he was saying though, so she took a step to look around the wall she was hiding behind, but when she did, she set into motion a small landslide, sending loose rock down the hill. She hoped the noise of the river masked the sound, but the men clearly heard it because faster than she would have thought possible, the phone was gone and both men held guns ready, one of them shining a flashlight in the direction the noise had come from—in her direction.
These men were not here to inform her. Their purpose was something
else entirely.
Jess’s heart was in her throat as the knowledge of how vulnerable she was at the moment dawned on her. She considered her options and readied her gun.
The men began to approach and just as they did, the animal howled again from another direction. She gasped when someone grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth with a big hand and drawing her backward against a rock-hard chest.
Relief washed through her; it was Jackson. She recognized the fading scent of his aftershave, the solid feel of his chest.
“Shh,” he said in her ear, taking a step backward, carrying her with him. He kept his hand over her mouth though and wouldn’t release her as he stepped onto soft grass, making their way into the forest.
“Must have been an animal,” one of the men said. “She ain’t here yet.”
“I’m checking it out,” the other said, both of them coming closer. “Boss doesn’t want this fucked up.”
The flashlight shone on the spot where she had just been hiding. Jackson only released her when he had her well within the trees. They watched the men quietly when the light of the flashlight passed near their hiding place.
“Nothing here,” she heard one say.
“Fucking sticks!” the other said. “How the hell do people live in these ass-backwards towns?”
“Stay here,” Jackson whispered, pushing her to sit on the grass. “Do you understand me? Stay right here. Do. Not. Move.”
She stared up at him, opened her mouth but changed her mind and nodded instead. He walked back toward the men who still had guns drawn. The sound of an approaching car caught her attention and soon the headlights of the police cruiser came into view. The men were clearly not expecting this because when the headlights shone on them, they froze for a moment.
“Run!” one man yelled.
Jess rose to her feet, gripping her gun as Carl climbed out of the car, his gun drawn, shielding himself behind the door of his cruiser. Everything happened so quickly then. The men ran, both of them heading toward the woods in the opposite direction of where Jess had come from. A shot went off and she gasped, looking around for Jackson but not seeing him. She heard running and cursing, but it happened too fast. The next sound they heard was that of an engine from where the men had run into the woods. They had some sort of ATV; there was no way the cruiser could follow.
“Crap!” Jackson yelled aloud, slowing his run into the woods.
Carl ran to meet him, Jess approaching from behind. When Jackson saw her standing there, his glare in her direction had her trembling. Without a word to her, he turned to Carl.
“Call Bill in,” Jackson said. “This isn’t over.”
Carl glanced at Jess, who was following not too far behind. She noticed that Carl’s gaze traveled to her pistol.
“I’ll head back to the station and call Bill. You go take care of Ms. Manning. She looks a little shook up.”
Both men turned to her, Jackson’s expression telling her just how pissed off he was.
“Thanks, Carl. I’ll come to the station in a bit once I make sure Ms. Manning is safe.”
Ms. Manning swallowed, eyeing his belt. Carl drove off and Jackson went to her, taking the gun she still held and sliding it into her purse.
“What in God’s name were you thinking?” he began.
She opened her mouth to speak.
“You know what? I don’t even want to hear it,” he said, taking her by the arm to walk her down the road. “Not yet.”
“Jackson…”
“I said not yet.” They walked a little ways to where he had parked his truck. He opened the passenger side door and lifted her into it, not even waiting for her to climb up.
“I’m sorry,” she began when he got inside. “I just…”
He looked at her and shook his head. “I don’t know why I expect you to listen to me now. Christ, you do realize those men were not here to give you any fucking information, right?” he asked, forcing himself to take a deep breath when he heard the anger in his tone.
She leaned slightly away, her eyes filling with tears.
He gripped the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white. “We’ll take care of this at home,” he said. “You’ve got the whipping of your life coming, woman.”
She opened her mouth but closed it again, her eyes moving to his belt. They rode in silence to his house.
* * *
If he had been just five minutes later, it would have been too late. If he had not seen the note when he had, he would have been too late. She had known throughout dinner about this. Hell, she had known all day—the note was in the stack of papers she had brought into the office with her! She had planned on going alone all along and hadn’t said a word to him. He glanced at her sitting there, quietly staring out the front window, her body tense. His heart softened but she had to learn. Tonight’s act was the final straw. And it might have been her final night. No, tonight, he had to harden his heart to do what he needed to do.
They pulled onto his driveway and he climbed out. The house was set on a cul-de-sac partially out of town and his only other neighbor was an old man who had been living in New Hope for all of his ninety years.
He went around to her side, noticing how she waited for him. He opened her door and she climbed out, turning to him immediately.
“Jackson, I’m sorry. I just really want you to know how sorry I am.”
“That’s good to know, Jess, because you do realize you could have been killed tonight, right?”
She nodded, tears filling her eyes.
“Good,” he said, taking her by the arm and walking her toward his cruiser which was parked just in front of the truck. “That’ll make this that much more meaningful. Take your jeans and underwear down and bend over the hood of the car.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I know. I understand my mistake, Jackson. I really do.”
The sound of his belt being unbuckled caught her attention and her gaze shifted to watch his hands work it free of his pants. Jackson kept his eyes on her as he drew it out, the sound of the thick leather sliding through the loops the only one in the otherwise quiet night. He doubled it over in his hand, keeping the buckle in his palm, and held it at his side. She swallowed and looked up at him.
“Oh, I think I do, Jess. Bare your ass and bend over the hood of the car, arms wide. Tonight you’re just going to take it. I’m not going to hold you down and I’m not going to warm you up…”
“Warm me up?” she asked, her attitude defiant again. “So you’ve been taking it easy on me?”
He took a step toward her, “If I have to cuff you, you’ll get double what I’m planning.”
“Double?”
“How many do you want? Sixty or a hundred and twenty?” he asked.
“A hundred and twenty?” Her shoulders slumped a little and she looked again at the belt. “Jackson, I…”
“So a hundred and twenty then?” he said, taking her by the arm.
“No, no, no! Wait. Ok, just a minute. Just give me a minute.” Her hands went to unbutton her jeans. “What if you just used your hand?” she suggested, her tone pleading as she unzipped her pants and gripped the waistband of the jeans. “Please, Jackson.”
“If I were you, I’d just want to get this done,” he said, nodding toward the car once more.
“What if someone hears?” she asked, taking her jeans to her knees.
Jackson found it interesting how she processed, how she resolved herself to punishment. Too bad she couldn’t resolve herself to just listening to reason. She had been completely reckless tonight.
“Guess you should have thought of that before you decided to try and get yourself killed.”
She flinched at his words and turned to face the car. She bent over slowly, extending her arms to the side like he’d said.
“I said panties down. I want your ass bare.”
Without a sound, she reached back to take them down to just beneath her hips. He reached for the
m and roughly pushed them to her knees. After a moment, she set her arms out to grip the sides of the car.
* * *
The metal hood of the car felt cool against her bare belly, her arms, and the side of her face. Jackson pushed her shirt up farther, exposing even more of her. He pressed on her low back, the action causing her hips to lift higher.
“Like that,” he said. “Ass up, like you did the last time. Legs wider.” He nudged her ankles apart with the tip of his shoe as he said it until her legs were as wide as her jeans would allow.
“Stay just like that and think about why you’re here bent over my car with your ass bared.”
“Jackson…”
“I said think, not speak,” he snapped.
She swallowed and kept her hips lifted, staring at the side of his house, her bottom exposed and awaiting punishment. The night was completely silent but for the occasional cricket and somehow, some way, she found herself drifting, found a sort of calm while waiting. It was strange, considering what was to come.
But when he stepped to the side ready to begin, that peace left her. She gripped the sides of the car and turned to the windshield. Her face reflected back against the dark glass, as did his form, and she squeezed her eyes shut when his arm moved, the sight registering first, then the sound of leather disturbing air, then that of contact with her tender, waiting flesh. It took a small moment but the next sound was her own exhale.
“Count,” he said.
He brought the second one down.
“Out loud,” he said.
The third stroke landed.
“I’d hate to lose track and have to start at one.”
“Four!” she called out at the next stroke.
The sting of leather was far worse than that of his hand. Those spankings had hurt but this, this was something else entirely. “Five.” She was struggling to hold her position and he was laying them down hard and fast. It wasn’t long before she found herself begging him to stop, to slow down at least. She was never going to make sixty.
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