Accepting His Ways (Quinlan O'Connor Book 2) (4 page)

The first camping area was lightly populated, probably due to bear sighting posters strategically located on trees and he felt sure she would not have stayed to see if she was one of the unlucky campers who ran into one. The second site was close to full, and it took him about two hours to comb the area well enough to decide she hadn’t set up on a spot here either. The sun was low in the sky and by the third site, he knew he would have to pitch a tent for the night.

The sky was brighter than normal, and he immediately left the site uninvestigated to check out the horizon. His gut clenched in the fear that the brightness was not a good sign. The color was off. He ran to call the ranger shack and the fire department to let them know. As he was talking to the latter, he saw the blackening edges of the sky and his worst fears were confirmed. Fire. Giving his coordinates the best he could, he described the fire’s estimated area.

Damn, he had to find Cheyenne and her friends now. He was anticipating starting a fire of his own soon. The third site was more secluded and appeared to have the least amount of disturbance from man, but it also didn’t seem to house one, Cheyenne Sterling. She needs a spanking. She needs a plug, a spanking, and a keeper, ignoring that he was her assigned keeper, and it did not help. Worry escalated every moment he knew there was a fire a few miles away, and he didn’t have any idea where she was.

Now, as he was almost done checking out the third area, and his light all but gone, he could feel a sense of urgency. Frustration soon bled into worry and some fear. He was not one to panic, but he had never lost the love of his life before, and this was at least day two. When Quinn found her, he would make sure he didn’t lose her again because he was going to light up her sassy little ass to glowing. First, he had to find her. He was rethinking her need for friends.

Calling her cell phone wasn’t the answer, as its signal, for some reason wasn’t going through. He became more and more frustrated when he kept going directly to voice mail. Quinn slammed back in his truck and leaned over the steering wheel. Where could she have gone? And with whom? He knew he should have paid more attention to her vanilla friends, but he just didn’t know them, and it was too late to kick his own ass over it. Think man.

Then he remembered that the first time Cheyenne had gone to The Sting, she had come with some friends who had received an invitation from a member. He didn’t know who that member was, but he was sure they would have signed in together. He grabbed his cell once again and prayed he could recognize any of the names around hers that night.

Calling Josh, he apprised him of the situation and the roster names. He hung up so Josh could pull the information from that fateful visit. It had been a while so he needed to dig a little. While waiting, Quinn kept a close eye out on the area he had first seen the smoke, watching it grow.

As the light diminished and the sky became too dark for him to track the progress, he called for an update. The worry that infiltrated his mind made keeping his wits about him increasingly difficult. He wanted to put on the mantle of analytical thinking but was not even close to shutting out his fears for Cheyenne and her friends.

It took a while to get the information on the fire sighting. After being put on hold and transferred several times, Quinn was relieved to know it was almost under control, almost but not quite and that meant there was still potential for disaster. A campfire had gotten out of hand. He didn’t envy the chewing out and the fine that camper had incurred.

Quinn’s cell rang as he contemplated the question of what he would do if this last call didn’t help; disconnecting the call on accident the first time, he tried to answer it. Giving himself a pep talk, he stayed calm as he hit accept on the phone the second time.

“Hey, buddy, did you hang up on me?”

“Sorry, it was an accident. What did you find out?”

“I asked Susie, and she’s sorry, but she didn’t know anything about it. Now, Ashley Reynolds and Megan Martin were the names listed on either side of Cheyenne’s name that night.”

“Yes, and Ashley and her boyfriend Richard have just become full members recently. Can you give me the numbers?”

“I can do you one better. I called Richard, and he said that Ashley was with Cheyenne, but he thought they were at Cheyenne’s apartment, not out camping during high fire risk warnings. He tried her but was unable to get through. He said to share the numbers with you and if you can get through, great. As soon as one of you gets through, let the other one know.” Task complete, Josh chuckled. “Looks like there is going to be more than a risk of setting the woods on fire when those girls are found.

“How are you holding up, man?”

“Not good. I’m beat, actually. I came home early and thought I would surprise Cheyenne. We could have a lazy day in each other’s company. Now I’ve spent all afternoon and evening looking for her. Instead of relaxing, I’m keyed up.” Going on to explain that he had resolved he would find her but wishing he could be as nonchalant as her mother was about it all. “I haven’t even stopped to eat. Discovering she could be in danger from the fire that thankfully hasn’t turned into a full-blown scorcher, yet anyway, took my appetite.” He paused to take a breath, “and I’m scared to death that something is wrong. Some kind of deputy I am.”

They spoke a few more minutes as Josh sat and listened to his friend who rarely gave away any of his secrets, professional or personal, spewed his anger and irritation wrapped in real worry for Cheyenne. Quinn thanked Josh and promised to call when he heard anything. He tried the cell once more to no avail and so set up camp, ate the food he had brought in case of an overnight stay, made sure the fire was contained and fell into a restless sleep.

At first light, Quinn tried Ashley’s cell and thought he heard a phone ring in the quiet distance when he dialed. Walking in the direction of the abbreviated ring, he crossed a ridge and looked around. Nothing there but just before he called again, he heard, rather than saw, Cheyenne and her distinctive tinkling laugh. He perked up and followed the sound. It led him further than the established sites but not so far into the woods as to be unlikely someone would camp there. Breathing a sigh of relief that he had found her, and she was safe, he continued to walk back into the trees.

Cheyenne had finished gathering some wood for a fire but thought better of it and pulled out her camp stove. She complained because she hadn’t been able to figure out how to work it for almost half an hour and then miraculously it worked. She laughed in delight before quickly pouring pancakes. The stove cooked quickly and in five minutes, she already had four done.

Quinn had taught her a lot, but she hadn’t called to ask him how to work the stove for an obvious reason, he would have told her not to go. She knew about forest fires. With the woods as dry and hot as it was, Quinn wouldn’t have let her go camping. However, she was hyper vigilant so no fire was started by them and she had a bucket of water from the nearby stream, just in case. Camping was about the only thing that her old friends would do that didn’t involve drinking and doing risky things.

Except for Ashley and Richard, because they enjoyed playing at The Sting and had recently become full members. Ashley was held to some of the same expectations as Cheyenne. She was glad her friends had invited her to go camping with them because she was lonely without Quinn. Since he had all but ended her twice weekend nights out with the girls, Cheyenne looked for other ways to spend time with them. Not that curtailing her bar hopping was a bad idea and after the butt scorcher she received for getting in the car with someone who had been intoxicated, she didn’t want to risk it anyway.

It was still the worst spanking she had received from Quinn, and she intended for that to remain true. She wasn’t sure if that was because it was her first and only real punishment from him or if it was really the worst. She wasn’t going to analyze it now, but she intended on never repeating that little error in judgment.

Now when she bar-hopped with the girls, Quinn drop her at the first stop. She allowed him to pick her up or took a cab home to eliminate the risk of a repeat performance. Otherwise, he went with her, bringing along some of his fellow officers and their ladies. Sometimes it was with their friends from The Sting, but that group usually liked to go private due to the way they played and the conversations they had. Cheyenne had to agree it was more fun on those nights.

Excited for the adventure two nights ago, she went off to the Big Horn National Park for three days of camping without letting Quinn know. He was gone and would still be gone until several days after she returned. Cheyenne didn’t tell him when she went for the weekend to the rodeo either, but then, it was spending the night in a hotel and coming home the next day. It would not have been such a big deal, but she didn’t tell her mother either, and all she told Jacquie was that she was going to have a few days off in the woods. She regretted that choice, but it was done now.

Just as Cheyenne had flipped her eighth pancake and wondered if they would need any more, she watched a man, her man, walk out of the woods with a curiously anxious expression on his face. Her stomach muscles clenched when she saw him. He looked so powerful striding into camp as though he ruled it. When he spied her surprised smile, his face relaxed. A slow, lazy grin spread over it like the syrup on their hot pancakes.

Cheyenne ran, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hold. She clung to him, glad to see him after almost a month without his heartbeat under her cheek or his hand brushing her hair out of the way. When she had enough of her first taste of his lips and the scent of his maleness invaded her senses, she allowed him to let her go.

Looking up at him as she stepped back, she could tell something was wrong. For one thing, how did he find her? Dread filled her tummy with churning acid, the fear of hand to rear contact becoming real as her bottom clenched and her pink parts tingled. The thoughts floated away for a few moments while he pulled her to him again and held her tight, kissing her so thoroughly she was sure the soles of her feet were swooning. He pulled back and sighed. He looked down into her eyes, his thumbs caressing her cheeks.

“I missed you. I was worried.” The sincerity in that statement sat heavy in the air until he continued. “Where is your cell phone, Cheyenne?” His voice was deceptively calm.

Cheyenne felt the fanny fidget start up. “Um, it’s in the car glove box. I turned it off to save the battery in case I needed it. Maybe that wasn’t as smart of an idea as I thought it was,” she ended quietly. “I didn’t think I would need it, and I haven’t.”

She watched as Quinn took a slow, deliberate breath and let it out equally slowly. He usually did that to stop advancing from irritated to angry.

“Who did you tell where you were?” Yep, he was annoyed. He did that interrogation tactic when he was cross. Cheyenne began clenching her ass cheeks rhythmically, and she felt her womanly bits release their juices as they danced the familiar and well-practiced jig.

“No one?” Cheyenne could feel the perspiration gather. She tried to take a step back to create some space between them. She was stopped from further retreat by Quinn’s hand, sliding down to grasp her upper arm.

He seemed to have decided something as he gave his head a quick nod. “Right.” He looked over to her companions and said, “We’re going for a walk.”

“Oh, great, I’ll save batter for hot pancakes after you come back,” offered Ashley.

“Thanks. Oh, and Ashley? Richard would like you to call him. I sent him a text that I found you, but he would still like to hear from you.” Her friend’s smile froze on her face momentarily before it slid away, but she acknowledged his request. “And Ashley,” he said casually, “I wouldn’t make him wait.”

Oblivious to the undercurrents, Megan, one of the other campers said, “Go on you two. Quinn has been gone a while. It’s nice that he came up to see you. Go on.” Cheyenne knew, and now Ashley knew, it was more than a walk.

“Let’s go,
beag amháin.
” The rumbling and yet calm voice he was using, and the authority with which he used it told her that bottom play was not what was going to happen to her sitting end. And
beag amháin
was not
piscín
, indicating the seriousness of this walk. However, so help her, she loved his voice, his tone, and it did insane things to her body. Her gusset was sure to be slippery wet now.

All her friends thought his authoritative voice was as sexy as his well-honed body, but Cheyenne knew that today it was rooted in barely restrained irritation. He had things to say or do that he was going to give her some privacy for if she wanted it.

“Um, can we stay here? I was cooking and can make you some breakfast first. It isn’t right that I don’t finish what I started.” Cheyenne tried to step out of his hold again.

Evidently, Quinn knew the tactic. She had often tried to deviate from his end goal, and he whispered in her ear.

Cheyenne screeched then whispered in pressured speech, “What? Here?” His answer was another whisper in her ear and he straightened, waiting for her response.

“Quinn, honey, right now?” she asked in a more hushed voice after giving him a pleading look.

She felt his hand on the waistband of her shorts, and she screeched again quickly turning to her companions and saying they were going for a walk. Megan watched with interest while Ashley tried to call Richard. Cheyenne had often heard from Megan and her friend they would love to know what a slap and tickle would be like with her Quinn. Cheyenne knew it would be just the slap part on this trip. Unfortunately, the tickle would come much later.

They walked a ways back amongst the trees, and Quinn stopped next to a good-sized willow. He pulled out his knife and held it out to her. She stood and stared at it, uncomprehending its meaning.

“Five,” Quinn said.

“What? “Cheyenne asked confused.

“Cut five willow branches.”

The shock was replaced by dread and then anger as his full meaning sunk in. “Oh, please,” she demanded. “I’m not a child that I have to give everyone my locations and wait for permission to go where I want to go. And you were not even here to tell.”

“Cheyenne there were at least five people you could have told and even left me a message, but you chose not to do that. You’ll think of it next time. I’m not going to give you the lecture that something could have happened to you, a forest fire, an emergency at home, or other things.” He shook his head. “You know all that. Our agreement to always let the other know if something out of the ordinary is happening easily applies here.” He shook the knife in his hand, “I want you to know that this isn’t about you being lonely, or needing me to dominate you by bratting. It’s about common, already discussed, courtesy. It’s about safety.”

“So you aren’t mad I didn’t check with you or get your permission, or even that I went. You’re upset because I didn’t tell anyone that I was going or where I went.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I’m twenty-six years old, and I refuse to feel bad about not telling you. You were gone. Not supposed to be home until several days after I arrived back.”

“Answer me this; did we agree on always being available in some way for the other to reach us when needed?”

“Sure but…” Quinn held his hand up to still her tongue.

“Did you make it so I could find you if I needed to?”

“Well, no…” His hand again stopped her words.

“I was worried when I couldn’t find you and no one was sure where you had gone. You were unsafe and you know I discipline for that.”

“Well, not today. I’m not taking a spanking for not getting permission to go.”

She pushed him, and when he didn’t even sway, she reached up and slapped his face. Her hand flew to her own face in shock, and she stepped back before turning to go crashing through the woods, her shorts offering her legs no protection from the berry bushes and other low vegetation. She was crying and bleeding by the time Quinn had her in his arms. Cheyenne was crying from the pain, both physical and emotional.

Quinn snatched her up from the ground she had finally dropped to and said, “That’s not what I said.” He held her close and kissed her as though she were his life’s blood. “You scared me when I couldn’t find you. I saw smoke as I was looking for you and I have just spent a month putting those fires out. You could have easily been trapped.” His voice shook, “or worse.”

She hiccupped and nodded in silent understanding. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m so scared when you go to fight those fires or when there is some trouble you have to get in the middle of.”

“I know, baby, I know.” He held her close again and rubbed her back. Walking back to where they had been originally, he located a stump and, taking a seat with her on his lap, he looked at her legs with the scratches. He sighed and shook his head. “This won’t do. I was going to have you cut your own switches but after seeing your legs now, I couldn’t do that to you even though I wouldn’t break your skin like that.” He traced some of the deeper scratches carefully.

“Thank you.” Her body relaxed against him. He sat and comforted her for a few moments before he kissed her briskly on top of the head. Standing up, he placed her feet on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

“Spanking you, only instead of a birching, it will be with my belt, but you have to know, other than the implement, all things remain the same. I love you, and I’m not going to do more than get my point across but I’ll do that. Put your hands on the stump and put your cute derrière out.”

It was so adorable, her pout and stomp in protest. Quinn worked hard not to smile and kiss her senseless. He stiffened his resolve, and his voice sounded gruff. “Do it. I need to get to work.”

“Well, we could always postpone this—oomph! Hey, I don’t need help.”

“Today,
piscín
, today.”

There it was, the word that took this from pure punishment to spank and play. If at any time it did not come into action, she would worry for that would indicate real crime and real penalty. This is where the comfort zone was for both of them, where they lived most days. The serious game they did well. True, unvarnished discipline was reserved for intentional disobedience that had obvious potential for harm, which this was not. Cheyenne bent over and laid the palms of her hands flat on the chain-sawed stump and took a deep breath.

Placing his hand on her back for stabilization, Quinn spoke soothingly. “Five. They are going to hurt but not in the same way as the birching would have. I bet your legs are already stinging from the berry vines.”

The first, as always, took her breath away. He waited, as always, while telling her to breathe. The second belt swing landed overlapping the first and brought her to her toes for a few seconds before she rolled back down to place her feet flat on the ground again.

“Ugh. Please, honey, it hurts.” The next one was like the first two and on number four she bounced, drawing a hissing breath before returning to her position, cringing for the last, always hardest swat. She was so anticipating it to burn she stood on her tiptoes just as the belt was in motion catching her upper thigh and Quinn’s favorite attention getting spot, the sweet sit spot.

“Ow, Ow, Ow.” She bounced and then popped up immediately reaching for her seared behind.

“Oh, no, my dear, no soothing, I want it to sit there. That last one hit in a more sensitive spot than was my intention but you moved and caught it right where you will notice it. It was as though it was meant to be.” He grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. “I feel so much better now. How about you?”