I muttered into the pillow. “Wanted to get your attention I guess..”
He went quiet, then said, “Fucking hell of a way to do it little girl.”
I almost laughed. “You say that, but you didn’t see the way the ranch hands were looking at me. Like I was some dumb city girl.”
He gripped my thigh, squeezing just hard enough to sting. “You don’t care about them. You care about whatIthink.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway. “Yeah. I do.”
He let go, but not before running his hand over the bruise one last time. “Well, what I think is that you’re fucking crazy. And stubborn. And you never do what I tell you.”
I craned my neck to glare at him. “Then stop telling me what to do.”
He grinned, wolfish and wide. “Not happening.”
He left for a second, came back with an ice pack wrapped in a towel, and pressed it to my ass with zero warning. I yelped, more at the shock than the cold.
“See? You need me to keep you in line,” he said, smirking.
I tried to flip onto my back, but he held me there, one hand on my hip. The weight of him was grounding—equal parts restraint and comfort. He held the ice in place with one hand, using the other to gently stroke my hair. I hated how much I loved it.
We sat there in silence, the only sound the whirr of the ceiling fan and the thunder in my chest. After a while, he set the ice pack aside and lay down next to me, propping himself up on one elbow.
“What am I gonna do with you?” he asked, voice low.
I couldn’t think of a single smart thing to say. For once, my mouth failed me.
He leaned in, lips brushing my ear. “Answer me, Maverick.”
I swallowed, heart in my throat. “Anything you want,” I whispered.
“Well, sweetheart. You’re not gonna like my first idea.”
Chapter 10
Gunner
“Well, sweetheart. You’re not gonna like my first idea.”
Her eyes met mine, blue-green flashing a challenge through the lingering water of her tears. She didn’t move, didn’t flinch, even with my hand still planted on the round of her bruised hip. I gave it a squeeze, enough to make her jump, and then used the leverage to roll her all the way onto her belly. Her arms scrambled under her, fingers knotting into the bedspread. She looked so small against the wide expanse of my mattress, her hair a mess around her face, the backs of her thighs smeared with dirt and indignity.
I sat beside her, my own anger simmering in my chest. If she’d landed wrong, she could have broken her neck. If that horse had kicked… My wolf howled inside my chest. But none of it mattered now. I was the one with her in my bed, so I was the one responsible for fixing her. For reminding her she didn’t have to wreck herself to be seen.
“Lie still, Maverick.” My voice was gentler this time, but she obeyed, all defiance melted into compliance. She tucked her hands under her chin, elbows sharp on the sheets. The bruise on her hip had already deepened to an angry plum; she’d landed so hard.
I let my hand follow the line of the bruise, slow, careful. She shivered. I traced down to her thigh, over the curve of muscle, then up, dragging myrough palm across her ribs and back. I wanted to be gentle, but she needed to know what happened when she lost her mind in my orbit.
She twisted to glare at me. “If you’re going to yell, just do it. I’m a big girl.”
I snorted. “No, you’re not. Not yet.” I paused, thumb pressing a circle into her side, feeling the heat rise under her skin. “But you want to be; and youshouldbe. And that’s what gets you in trouble, Maverick.”
I got up just long enough to grab the leather strap I kept on a hook behind the door. Her eyes tracked me, widening as she recognized it—a thick, broad old saddle strap, smooth and heavy in the hand.
“No.” Her voice was small. “You don’t mean to use that.”
I laid the strap on the nightstand, just within her field of vision. Then I went back to the bed, sat so my hip touched hers, and put my hand on her back. “I haven’t decided yet. But you’re going to take your punishment, Brie. You know you deserve it. You need it. Every goddamn thing you did today screamed for it. I’m going to show you that someone cares enough about you to punish you when you do something that puts your life in danger.”
She didn’t answer. But the way her breath went ragged told me I’d called the shots.
