Mastered by Malone (Haven, Texas 6)

“I was helping your brother.”

“They’re big boys. You are not here to help them. You can feed them, befriend them, try to tame them—and good luck with that?

??but you do not put yourself in danger for them. They get into trouble they can’t get out of, they come to me. Believe me, I’m much better equipped to handle that shit than you are.”

Of that, she had no doubt.

“You weren’t here.”

“No. I was busy. I had a nice little sub naked and tied to a St. Andrews cross. I was about to take a flogger to her ass when I was called away because you’d disappeared. You ruined my scene, Calamity Jane.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said sarcastically. Who cared about his ruined scene? Only, the image he’d built in her head was a bit too hard for her to shake. Because instead of some faceless, nameless sub she’d inserted herself into that picture. It was her that was tied naked to that St. Andrews cross, about to be flogged.

Holy shit. What was she thinking? That would hurt, right?

“It wasn’t my fault your scene was ruined, Jaret—”

“Was not dead, maimed, or lying in a hospital bed. Which are about the only reasons I’d leave a scene for one of my brothers. You are the reason I had to leave. And you are now going to pay the piper.”

He wasn’t a damn piper he was Satan in cowboy boots.

“You’re going to make me leave?” She’d have to call Mike, get him to come and get her. “Okay, I’ll go pack.”

She felt numb. She didn’t know what she was going to do. She couldn’t imagine not being here. It had only been a few weeks, but it was now home. She moved past him, walking towards the door.

“I’m not kicking you out, Mia. Why would I get a GPS tracker for you if I was going to make you go?”

She twirled, the room spinning around her sickeningly. Maybe she should have had some breakfast.

“Okay . . . okay . . . that’s good. I promise I won’t do anything like that again. No leaving the ranch. I don’t even want to leave. Didn’t want to go in the first place, but Jaret was in a mess and I care about him . . . and okay, won’t happen again. I promise.”

“That’s good to know.”

She turned to walk away again. All right, maybe he wasn’t the complete asshole she’d thought he was. She was getting a second chance.

“I didn’t give you permission to leave, Calamity Jane.”

What? For real? She swung around, holding onto her temper by a thread.

“I don’t need your permission to leave a room.”

He moved to his desk and leaned back against it. Why the hell did he have to look so freaking gorgeous? It was killing her.

“But you do, because I didn’t say you weren’t going to get punished. Your promises don’t mean much since you promised to obey the rules in the first place. So now I’m going to have to do something to make sure that you remember the consequences of disobeying me.”

She didn’t like the sound of that.

“Oh, yeah, what you going to do? Lock me in my room?” She tried to sound tough. But the shaking in her voice betrayed her.

His smile reached his eyes this time.

“Oh, no, it’s gone far beyond that. I’m going to spank you.”

11

He watched as understanding dawned over her face and braced himself for impact. He expected temper. Denial. Maybe even an apology. He didn’t much believe in apologies. It was all too easy to say sorry. If you fucked up and wanted to make something right, actions spoke louder than words.

But her reaction was none of those, and therefore completely unexpected.