Molly's Man (Haven, Texas 4)

“Molly,” he said in a warning voice. She shrugged then took off her shoes and turned, resting her feet on his lap. He placed the ice pack on her sore foot. She hissed at the feel of the chill against her hot skin.

“It will feel better soon. Are you sure you’re not supposed to be using the crutches?”

“Doc said I was fine to stop using them. It just gets a bit swollen when I’ve been walking on it too much.”

He sent her a look.

“Yes, yes, I know. Bad Molly.” She slapped her hand.

He raised his eyebrows. “If you think that’s the only place that will be getting a smack today, you’ve got another think coming.”

“Why, Sheriff, you do say the sweetest things, tell me more.” Strange thing was, even though she was teasing, her body had heated at his words. Her buttocks clenched at the idea of his hand slapping against her bare skin.

“If you like that then you’ll love me telling you that I’ve got plans to use a spreader bar, handcuffs, a butt plug, and crop on you.”

“I think I just came a little.” Her voice was a little breathless. Then she laughed. “God, if someone had told me a few months ago I’d be sitting here asking a man to tell me how he was going to tie me up and spank me . . . well . . . I’d have had asked them how I could make it happen sooner.”

He leaned back in the swing, starting it moving back and forth. “Why didn’t you explore your needs earlier?”

She shrugged. “Lack of opportunity? Motivation?” Nothing like learning you were going to die to give you a much-needed kick on the behind.

“Partner you could trust?” he guessed.

“Yeah. Guess that was a big one. My last relationship was a disaster.”

He made a noise in the back of his throat, urging her to continue.

“Richard was unimaginative in the bedroom, and that’s putting it politely. I once asked him to give me a few slaps on the ass. He was horrified. He told me he was not abusive to women and that perhaps I should stop reading those filthy romances since they were obviously giving me perverted ideas.”

“Asshole.”

“Well, in a way he was right. I did get a lot of my fantasies from those books. Little did I know then the reality could actually measure up.”

“Measure up? Hmm, seems I have work to do. It should be exceeding them.”

“Maybe they will be tonight.”

He took a sip of the tea, looking out over the neighborhood. He was never off-duty, it seemed. “Do you ever take off your sheriff hat and just relax?”

He pointed at his bare head.

She rolled her eyes. “You know I didn’t mean literally.”

Instead of answering right away, he seemed to think about it for a bit. “Nope, guess I’m pretty much always on. Probably the closest I come to relaxing is when I’m playing.”

“Then I’m glad smacking my butt helps you relax.”

“Oh, smacking your butt does more than help me relax. I think it might be my happy place.”

She laughed. “Might just become mine as well.”

“Well, I went easy on you last night, so you might want to wait a bit before making that call.”

That was easy? Shit.

“So was this ex of yours the one who gave you the silent treatment.”

She tensed at the question. Damn it, she’d kind of hoped he might have forgotten. Yeah, fat chance of that. She doubted Jake forgot a thing.