Page 29 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“You know horses?”

“I was raised on a ranch. Some of my happiest and most peaceful times were spent in the saddle.”

“You’re a handy man to have around, Marshal McDaniel.”

Willa quickly did a check of her rig before returning to the cab and pulling onto the highway with Mac falling in behind her.

Dinner had led to meeting for lunch the next day, followed by dinner that evening. Mandy and John had been thrilled at the way the relationship had gained ground fairly quickly.

“So, you seeing Mac tonight?” Mandy asked one day at the office while they were going over the upcoming schedule of tours.

“Yes.” Willa laughed. “Mac is coming over for dinner, then staying the night…”

“Do tell,” she said with a grin. Mandy had a wicked sense of humor and was an unabashed fan of the pairing.

“We’re going to go for a sunrise ride, and I told him it was silly for us to have dinner, then him to come back out to the ranch before the crack of dawn.”

“Have you decided precisely where Mac will be sleeping?”

“That seems to be open for discussion.”

“Why?” asked Mandy. “It’s obvious the two of you are wildly attracted to each other. Mac can barely keep his hands off you. I thought when Baez tried to buy you a drink the other night, Mac was going to deck him. John said he made sure the rest of the marshals knew you were off-limits.”

“See?” Willa shook her head. “That’s part of the problem. He’s lucky I didn’t deck him! We’ve never talked about being exclusive. Hell, Mandy, we haven’t even fucked.”

“Don’t you want to? He’s gorgeous and oh, so sexy.”

“Careful, Mrs. Hampton. If Marshal Hampton hears you lusting after another man, you’ll be sitting gingerly for a few days.”

“I know you don’t approve,” said Mandy.

“It isn’t for me to approve or disapprove. I don’t understand it, but I know John makes you happy in a way I didn’t think was possible. All I have to do is look at the two of you, and I can see how much you love each other. I just don’t think I could be happy in that kind of relationship, and I fear Mac is cut from the same cloth.”

“I know how it sounds, and if you’d asked me before I met John, I’d have told you the same thing, but this is the easiest,best, most profoundly satisfying relationship I’ve ever had. Our roles are well-defined, and if I screw up, I know he isn’t going anywhere. He might bust my butt, but he never calls me names or tries to make me feel guilty. He just corrects the behavior, then forgives me. And the sex is mind-blowing.”

“I knew there had to be something in it for you.” Willa laughed. “I mean, I get what the dominant partner gets out of it—control, all the sex he wants, etc.—but I never understood what a woman would get out of it.”

“Freedom, peace, pretty much all the sex she wants—maybe not in the way she wants, but trust me, I get laid by John more in a week than most married ladies get in a month.”

“TMI! TMI!”

“Seriously, Willa, I think you need to talk to Mac… maybe find a middle ground.”

“So, you think I’m right… about what he wants in a relationship.”

“I know it. I overheard him and John talking. Mac is serious as a heart attack about you, but he isn’t going to settle for anything less than your submission to his authority.”

“Did you miss the part where I’m not submissive?” asked Willa.

“Nope. He doesn’t want a submissive woman. He can find plenty of those. He wants one woman, you, to submit to one man, him.”

“The day he tries to spank me, I’ll punch him in the nose,” Willa said with finality.

Mandy laughed. “If and when Marshal McDaniel decides he’s had enough and puts you facedown over his knee, before he lets you up, he’ll make sure you understand who’s in charge and that it isn’t you.”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

“I won’t, but trust me when I tell you from experience, they don’t let up until they have you right where they want you—surrendered and incredibly aroused. Just so you know, they use that against you.”

---