by Delta James
“Of course not,” she snapped quietly.
“Then why do you think I want you to be something other than who you are? Do you think I don’t know? Remember Kurt, the ranger at the Grand Canyon? He’s not the only one who thinks your photographs should be in exhibits. I get that what you do is dangerous. We’re going to need to figure out how you can do what you do — and are damn good at — in a way that won’t give me nightmares. And I do understand there’s a certain element of danger in what you do … just like there is in mine. My only issue is making sure you come back to me at the end of each assignment and that we build a life together.”
“And that I submit to you.”
He nodded. “Yes, but just to me. I think the problem you’re having is that the idea of submitting to me isn’t as reprehensible as you think it should be. What I need for you to believe is that we will work it out. We can make it work for both of us.”
Croft slowly withdrew from her and rolled to his back, snuggling her to his side. He held her hand in one of his and with the other caressed her back from the nape of her neck to her still-heated derriere. The third time he ran his hands down her body, he slid his finger through the crack of her ass to play with her dark rosebud.
Finn tucked her ass but couldn’t get far as she was up against his hard body.
“You will give that to me,” he whispered.
“No, I won’t.”
He chuckled. “Yes, you will. You didn’t plan on having me spank you, but we both know that hasn’t worked out the way you wanted it to. Trust me, you’ll find my fucking your ass a whole lot more pleasurable than spanking it.”
“What is it with guys and wanting to fuck a woman’s ass? I don’t know many women who actually like it. There are some, I’m sure, but most of the ones I know do it because the man in their life wants them to.”
Croft nodded. “And I think that’s part of why we want it. For me, it’s the ultimate act of submission — knowing that it wasn’t something you initially wanted but are doing anyway. At some point, I’ll pleasure you there just to prove I can and that you belong to me … all of you. But the ultimate gift of your submission or recognition that I have it would be for you to offer it to me either because you’re curious enough to want to try, or because you want to show me your contrition for something you’ve done.”
Finn waited until his breathing had become deep and regular. She believed him to be asleep. The light was fading, and night was taking over. She rolled away from him up onto her other side. Almost instantaneously, Croft moved from his back, pulling her to him until her back was spooned against his front. He wrapped his arm around her and settled back into a restful sleep.
Chapter 14
When she was sure he was asleep, Finn disengaged from Croft’s embrace. Silently, she left their bed, dressed, and slipped out of his home. She needed space; she needed time to think. She tried to convince herself that her reasons for wanting to remain were twofold: she felt obligated to him for saving both she and Christian, and his dominant lovemaking so overloaded her senses that she couldn’t think straight in his presence.
Finn breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that someone had ferried her rental car back from the Grand Canyon. At that moment, she was grateful she had rented an electric car. She got in, started it up, and drove away silently.
It was still early enough that no one else on the ranch appeared to be up and moving around, for which she was grateful. Once she was on the main highway, she called the airlines and made a reservation. She thought about simply flying home but reminded herself that Croft would be none too pleased with her hasty exit from his life and was liable to come looking for her.
And, there was something about what had happened that still nagged at her. Instead of booking a flight into Dulles International, she chose Gatwick Airport outside of London. One of Finn’s closest friends was Zara Hughes, an investigative journalist with whom she had worked successfully in the past.
Just as she was pulling into the airport to return her car, a call came in from Croft. Finn ignored it, returned her car, and headed for London. She texted Zara that she was on her way and could they meet and have dinner at the Savoy. Finn found her seat. Even though she was flying first class, sitting was uncomfortable. Every time she moved, her derriere seemed to remind her that the man she had left behind was able to pack quite a lot of sting into a spanking. She hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until the plane had taxied down the runway and became airborne. Finn brushed away the tears that threatened to fall and closed her eyes to sleep.
***
Croft had awakened when he reached for Finn and she wasn’t there. It hadn’t been a concern until he realized not only wasn’t she in their home, her rental car was missing. He tried calling her, but she didn’t answer.
“Damn it, Finn,” he muttered as he stared at his cell phone. He knew she had to still be wrestling with what she wanted and with the fact that she told herself she shouldn’t want or need it.
He got up, dressed, and headed back to the office to debrief and to ask Thom if he couldn’t track where she had gone. His plan was to do what he needed here and then go fetch her home and deal with her willfulness — he’d teach her not to run instead of talking to him. It crossed his mind that perhaps that was part of what she was running from … answering to his authority and being spanked when she got out of line. But he was certain that for them to both thrive in the relationship, it was essential. He merely needed get her on board with the idea.
He walked into the office and was greeted by a cheerful Noah.
“Good morning. I thought Finn would be with you. Still getting some sleep?”
“I’m sure she is,” growled Croft. “She seems to be able to sleep comfortably on a plane.”
“What do you mean?” Noah asked, concerned.
“I woke up to no Finn, no rental car, no note, no nothing.”
Noah laughed, earning him a scowl from Croft. “My guess is she won’t be sleeping comfortably on the way home.”
“Not funny, Noah.”
“Yeah, it is. As John said, she’s a real spitfire, and they can take a lot of work to get them to learn to yield, but look at Willa and Mac — neither of them has ever been happier. And your Finn loves you. That’s as plain to see as the nose on your ugly face.”
Croft nodded and grinned. “That’s true enough. I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I just thought we’d gotten through all of that …”
“Through all of what?” asked John, joining them. “Is Finn coming later?”
“I’m sure once Croft catches up with her, she’ll come plenty of times,” laughed Noah.
“Again, not funny, Noah,” said Croft.
“What does he mean when you catch up with her?” asked John, trying to figure out what was going on.
Croft sighed. “I woke up this morning, and she was gone. No explanation, nothing. Just gone.”
John shook his head. “You need to put a stop to that. Mandy was bad about that when we first got together. She’d get upset about something and just leave. And Willa used to take off into the hills on horseback. At least Finn will be using conventional methods of transportation. Get Thom to start tracking her.”
“Get me to start tracking who?” said Thom as he entered the building.
“Finn. She’s decided to ghost me — took off with no explanation and now won’t answer my calls.”
Thom nodded. “Unless you guys need anything else from me, I’ll go start trying to find out where she’s gone.”
Baez and Christian came up from the living area. Christian’s question as to Finn’s whereabouts provoked laughter from the majority of those around him.
“It’s a long story, Christian,” explained Croft. “Let’s just say your little sister is being a wee bit difficult.”
Christian surprised them all by laughing. “Finn’s never been a wee bit anything … especially difficult. My guess is she’s bolted on you. I don’t t
hink I like her odds for that working.”
Croft turned back to Baez. “Anything else from Fariq?”
Baez’s face was grim. “Unfortunately, there is … and nothing we want to know about. I’m not sure it’s really safe for Christian or Finn to be out there on their own.”
“But now that you guys have the information, there’s no reason they need or want to hurt me,” said Christian.
“Not necessarily. First, they aren’t sure how much you know, and second, if we turn over what we have to the authorities, and I don’t recommend that at this point, I think you or Finn might be a target to use as an example to others in the future,” replied Baez.
“How’s Fariq?” asked Croft.
“Scared.”
Croft shook his head. “That’s not good. I’ve known Fariq a long time, and he doesn’t spook easily.”
“The worst part,” continued Baez, “is that I think he has reason to be. He’s asked to remain here and has offered to give us everything he knows about his operation and Gerold Springer. Adam helped him secure some of his funds, but not as much as he wanted … Springer’s group was able to move that fast. Adam was impressed.”
Thom shook his head. “That’s really bad … Adam doesn’t impress easily. It means they’re well organized and have some good hackers with them. If you boys don’t need me up here, I’m going to head down and confer with Adam. We may want to beef up the integrity of our firewall and other systems. If we figure out anything else, one of us will head back up here. No worries, Croft. By the time you’re ready to go fetch Finn home, I’ll figure out where she’s headed.”
“Thanks, Thom. I appreciate it.”
Thom left, and Noah, John, Baez, Christian, and Croft all took seats in the conference room. Baez brought them up to speed about Abdal’s organization, the internal factions within it, and that he had come to believe it was far more compromised by the Springers than he had originally thought.
“I think it was a real blow to him when he realized Timon Springer was not acting alone and that his brother, Gerold, was calling the shots. He gave Adam a complete breakdown of how he put his organization together. It’s pretty frightening to think what will happen if Springer and the extremist group he represents are able to completely take over. There’s a great deal of arms and money involved, and it could go a long way toward funding some extreme acts of terror. Abdal is also convinced Springer has ties to Boko Haram and some of the other groups in the Congo and Nigeria.”
“I’d like to wait to make any final decisions until Mac is back. He and Willa are scheduled to be home at the end of the week,” said John. “I think we keep Abdal and Christian here until we know what’s what and can formulate a plan to keep them safe for however long this takes. But, Croft, that means you tracking down Finn and getting her back under our protection is not just a personal imperative, but a Wild Mustang one as well. That means all company assets are at your disposal.”
“Thanks, John. Hopefully, Thom will know where she’s headed, and I can get her corralled in short order. I think I’ll grab my go bag and see what Thom knows.”
“Speak of the devil,” Noah said as Thom joined them again.
“She’s on a flight bound for London, Gatwick to be specific, and has reservations at the Savoy.”
Christian nodded. “That sounds like Finn. That’s her favorite place to stay in London.”
“Is she likely to stay there?” asked Croft.
Christian shook his head. “Not really. If Finn’s trying to get some space and isolate herself, London is not her go-to destination. However, if any of this has piqued her curiosity, she may be headed for Zara Hughes.”
“The investigative journalist?” asked Noah.
Again, Christian nodded. “One and the same. She and Finn have worked together in the past and produced some pretty impressive pieces.”
“In other words,” said Croft, “if Finn is headed for this Zara, she’s probably about to put herself and her friend in considerable danger.”
“That would be my guess,” said Christian.
“Go get your girl, Croft. Bring her home. Noah, you go with him. If Finn does hook up with her friend, you stay on the friend.”
“Got it. I’ve got stuff here and can have a go bag put together in the time it takes Avery to be ready to roll,” said Noah.
John called Avery to apprise her of the situation, and the team began to get set up for what could be a far more intense and dangerous assignment than they had originally imagined.
As Croft returned to the office, Avery had taxied the plane close to the office and was waiting for them. He parked and joined Noah as they boarded for the long flight to London. All Croft could hope was that they had time to catch up to Finn and her friend before they did something foolish.
Once they were airborne, he turned to Noah. “You sound like you know this friend of Finn’s.”
“Not personally, but by reputation. And frankly, I’m a fan. She’s a lot like your Finn — tenacious and fearless. Christian’s right, they’ve teamed up together to bring down a couple of nasty regimes and exposed more than one dictator and terrorist organization.”
Croft smiled. “Pretty?”
“Stunning. Beautiful features, a smokin’ hot body, and legs that go on forever.”
Croft laughed. “Hmm, sounds to me like watching over this woman isn’t going to be your idea of a difficult assignment.”
Noah smiled. “No, I’m a fan from afar. She’s way too feisty for me. I want an easy girl, someone who makes Mandy look like a spitfire.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” teased Croft.
“Not on a plane headed to London because she’s being a pain in the ass.”
“True enough,” laughed Croft.
“You think Finn’s okay with the two of you?”
“I do. I think she’s just having a harder time reconciling what she wants and needs with what she’s told herself over the years. But I’ll tell you this much, you weren’t wrong when you said she wouldn’t be sitting comfortably after I get my hands on her, and I damn well may handcuff her to me or the bed when I need to sleep. This waking up to find her gone bullshit is coming to an end.”
Noah chuckled. “I can’t imagine waking up, wanting my woman, and finding her gone. That can’t be a good thing.”
Croft shook his head. “It isn’t. I plan to get things resolved with her. I was trying to give her some time and space to reconcile it for herself. That was an enormous failure, so I’ll get it settled for her.”
“Like I said, you and Mac can have the complicated ones. I just want a woman who wants to follow my lead, understands the consequences of misbehaving, and chooses to be a good girl more often than not.”
“What can I tell you, Noah, the heart wants what the heart wants. And I think I wanted Finn from the beginning. Funny thing is, you’d think I would have had this great epiphany after we’d made love. But it wasn’t,” he laughed, “it was about midway through the first time I had her over my knee. I think from that point on, it was all over but the shouting … for both of us.”
“Until she decided to convince herself differently …”
“Yeah, right up until then.”
“Look at it this way; it took five years for Mac to get Willa back … and he knew where she was.”
“You have a point,” said Croft before falling into silence.
On that note, the two men settled down to get what sleep they could for the rest of the flight. Sleep came easily to Noah, but Croft had too much on his mind. He worried that Finn might still be in danger and even more so that she would be able to convince herself that the two of them were simply not meant to be.
“Gentlemen,” called Avery from the cockpit, “Please buckle up. We’ll be landing at Gatwick in a few minutes. Thom put us up in a suite at the Amba Hotel, which is close to the Savoy.”
They were lucky in that customs moved them through the line very quickly and, within ninety minutes
of arrival, they were set up in their room. Thom had confirmed that Finn was indeed at the Savoy, but the hotel either didn’t know her departure date or was not inclined to reveal it.
Croft thought, her departure will be right after I take her upstairs and deal with her. His plan to deal with her was to give her a spanking she wouldn’t forget anytime soon and then fuck her so hard and so many times she’d have trouble walking.
***
Finn had settled into the Savoy. It had to be her favorite hotel in all the world — Old World charm and elegance with a staff second to none. She was looking forward to having dinner this evening with Zara. Their friendship went way back, and Finn figured not only was Zara good as a sounding board about Croft, but might well be interested in what Finn thought could be a huge story. They had teamed up several times in the past and enjoyed great success.
Upon arrival, Finn had asked the concierge if he might be able to find her a shop that would have something appropriate on hand for her to wear to the Savoy Grill. The dress code had been relaxed, but Finn felt that something fancier than jeans or leggings with a T-shirt or sweater was called for. Within the hour, a salesperson from a small boutique appeared with several outfits that were casual, appropriate for dinner, and that Finn felt she could integrate into her wardrobe at home. She also asked if they could supply her with a carry-on bag for her return flight home. For dinner, she opted for a more bohemian-type skirt with a peasant blouse, under-bust corset, and her cleaned up riding boots.
She met Zara as she entered the lobby, and the two went into the restaurant together and were given one of the smaller booths that was more private than others.
“Jesus, Finn, you look like shit.”
“Thanks a lot, Zara, good to see you, too,” laughed Finn.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Your outfit is fabulous, your hair and makeup perfection, but I’m sitting close enough to see the dark circles under your eyes, and it looks like you’ve been crying.”
“Sometimes, Zara, I think you should have been a photo journalist … you have the eye for it.”