Saving Sophia Read online

  It was a solid hour before she decided that looking at the world from the outside would be considered creepy under any circumstances, so she shook her head to break the game and wandered to Marcus to find some comfort. His quick smoky kiss landed a little barbeque sauce on her cheek, and he quickly licked it off.

  An evil laugh escaped Jack. “Family event, Marcus. Leave her alone.”

  Marcus grinned. “You’ve got until the fireworks, Sophia… then you’re mine.”

  The promise made her quiver, but did little to fill the empty spot that had settled in her heart. She didn’t want to burden Marcus with her sullen mood but didn’t want to stay among the happy strangers either. With a heavy sigh, she headed to the house to hide in her room until the fireworks and his promised attention.

  As she passed through the busy kitchen, Meg’s sharp instructions caught her reluctant focus. “Run out to the children’s games and take these extra balloons to Tami and Kyle. She just texted me that she ran out.”

  “She’s all kid happy these days,” laughed Bella. “She doesn’t even work here anymore and insisted on running the games this year. I bet she and Kyle don’t wait long before they get pregnant.”

  Refusal wasn’t in her personality so she dragged herself to Tami’s side where Kyle had a pair of happy toddlers hanging on his legs. He lifted them into the air with one giant arm and a huge, growling grin.

  Tami laughed. “Those are his niece and nephew. For some reason, kids just gravitate to him.” Another sign of a close family with a future did little to erase her somber mood, and she finished her chore quickly.

  In a last-ditch effort to protect what was left of her serenity, Sophia took her sadness away from the crowded house. She followed her gardens to the edge of the flower beds and wandered a narrow path until she could no longer hear the beat from the country western band. The peaceful meadow reconnected her to the tranquility behind nature’s predictable door, and the welcome solitude returned her contentment.

  Wildflowers and grasses formed a natural backdrop against the mountains, and she grew sleepy. The sun was warm, and she snuggled against the tree to rest her legs. The emotional day caught up with her, and she made a temporary pillow with her sweatshirt before she fell asleep.

  * * *

  Behind the scenes of the party, the family was in a subtle panic. Linc directed a search of the house and the yards, but nobody had seen Sophia in hours. Marcus’ voice mirrored his anxiety. “When was the last time anybody actually talked to her?”

  Several sightings were repeated, and Tami finally spoke. “We saw her a little after noon. She was kind of quiet, but Sophia’s always quiet. I wasn’t worried about her.”

  Jerry’s voice ended the investigation. “I saw her head past the gardens toward the creek about the same time. I was in the corral giving kids horseback rides all day. I wasn’t watching closely, but I never saw her come back.” Nobody could name a later connection.

  “Why didn’t you stop her, Jerry?” snapped Marcus.

  The ranch foreman returned the glare with a display of his own strength. “She’s a grown woman with a functioning mind of her own out for a walk. It never occurred to me that she would wander too far.”

  Linc subtly stepped between them. “Relax, Marcus. We’ll find her. It’s almost four now, which means it’s only been a few hours. She couldn’t have gone far.”

  “She grew up in town, Linc,” said Marcus while casting a worried glance beyond their meadows. “She has no idea how to find her way around out here.”

  Jack gently rested his hand on Marcus’ shoulder. “Let’s saddle some horses. The girls can keep an eye on the party and call us if she comes back. You and I will head up the creek bed, and Kyle and Linc can go out to the old meadow. She won’t be far. She’s probably just got turned around and had trouble finding her way back.”

  The plan was a good distraction for Marcus, but looking for Sophia without a clear direction would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. The weather remained cooperative, but the fear she’d come across some hidden danger caused Linc to react the only way he knew how. “I’m going to paddle your sub’s little ass when I find her, Marcus. We’ve warned her about not wandering away from the ranch alone.”

  Marcus nodded slowly, but his chin remained set in concrete.

  Linc and Kyle rode for almost an hour when they spotted her familiar bright pink sweatshirt lying carelessly against the base of the tree. The worn grasses made it clear she’d rested in the spot, and the wet mud made her next steps just as obvious.

  Cussing under his breath, Linc called Marcus on his cell. “She left here a while ago, but it looks like she took off to the southwest instead of due west. She would have missed the path back to the ranch by a quarter of a mile. If she didn’t turn around, she is probably off toward the state game lands.”

  Kyle needed no instructions. Before Linc had finished his call, Kyle was on the phone. “Send Jerry, Dan, Meg, and all the sober hands you can find up here. Let Carly, Monique, and Camille know what’s going on and ask them to help keep an eye on the party, but don’t tell anybody else. We don’t need a bunch of city guests running around looking for her, or we’ll have dozens of lost people. You and Bella…” There was a pause in the conversation when Kyle lowered his voice. “No way. Both of you are lousy riders, and we don’t have time to wait for you.” Another pause and Kyle added, “So help me, Tami, if I find out the two of you left the ranch…”

  Linc had no time for this. “Give me the damn phone.” Kyle complied, and Linc growled, “Move to Facetime, Tami.” His message would be clearer if the girls could see his glare.

  “Okay, I’m here,” said Tami with her panicked look now matching her tone. “But tell Kyle we can do this. Let us come out and look f—”

  He cut her off without reservation. “Go to the library and take Bella with you.”

  “But Linc, really we can…”

  “I’m not asking a second time, Tami. Take Bella’s hand and go to the library.”

  Linc waited a few minutes until Tami sniffled, “We’re here.”

  “Turn the camera around and tell Bella to open my top left drawer. She knows what’s in there. Put it on the desk.”

  He clearly heard Bella curse in the background. Tami turned the camera on Bella as she opened the drawer of the big mahogany desk and lifted his wooden paddle to the top.

  “Now, you two sit on the couch and put that between you. If you aren’t there when we ride home with Sophia, I will personally blister both of you. Do you understand?”

  The girls mumbled a quiet, “yes, sir,” and their answer pacified him. He handed Kyle back his cell phone with a firm nod. Sometimes the role of frightening bastard had its place.

  The other riders were split in different directions toward the state lands while Linc and Kyle continued to follow what they hoped was her path away from the tree. Marcus and Jack checked in regularly, but their original search had taken them in the wrong direction, and it would take them miles to adjust.

  Linc had ordered them to head to the game lands from the east. “If she made the circle by the creek, she might recognize the road back to the ranch and follow it. You can cut her off that way.”

  They searched another two hours before Kyle said, “At least at darkness, the fireworks will start. She’ll know what direction to go in.”

  “By that late hour, I hope she hunkers down and stays put. There isn’t much moon, and it will be darker than shit out here tonight. We’ll call the sheriff in the morning, and they can get the helicopter.” Linc ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “Let’s take the back road entrance to the game lands. Jerry’s group will come up from the west with Marcus coming in from the east. It’s really the last direction for her, if she just turns around.”

  Neither man mentioned the obvious. The chances of finding her without a professional search and rescue team were limited. Untamed territory stretched for hundreds of miles, and they could easi
ly miss her, even while calling her name with desperate regularity.

  Another hour went by before they heard the distant response. “Linc. Kyle. I’m here. Wait for me. Please!” Her voice resonated a deep fear, but she held herself together long enough to be seen. The men turned their horses in her direction, and Linc jumped off his mare to take her dirty, tired body into his arms. She buried herself into his shoulder and clung to him with shivering desperation while Kyle called the rest of the search party to send them home.

  His relief was stronger than his desire to scold her, but he still managed to grab her shoulders to look in her eye. “I should blister you right now, Sophia. You knew better than to wander off. You could have been forced to spend the night out here.”

  Her shallow control completely evaporated, and the choking tears tugged at his heart. He sighed and attempted a weak joke as he pulled her closer. “Relax, baby. You’re safe now. Let’s just get you home. My paddles are all stored there anyway.”

  Linc’s horse was the bigger of the two, so he mounted quickly, and Kyle helped her up behind him. They rode in silence for almost an hour when Kyle asked, “Why did you wander off? You knew it wasn’t safe.”

  She buried her head into Linc’s back, and he could feel the small shudders that betrayed more tears. Linc spoke more sharply than he’d intended. “It’s a logical question, and one that Marcus is going to ask. You’d better practice your answer before we get back to the ranch.”

  Her silence lasted until they reached the paddock, and she slid off his horse before he followed. Able to look sternly in her eye, Linc repeated the question. “What were you doing out there?”

  Her voice was just above a whisper, and she broke his gaze to stare at his boots. “It was just too much family. I hate these kinds of events. Family and children and parents. I just don’t belong at them. I have no ties to that life, and I just needed to get away. I didn’t mean to get lost. I was sure I knew the way back, but after I woke up, it all just looked the same.”

  He never took his glare off her shivering body. “Would you take care of my mare, Kyle? The rest of the search party should be home soon, but I’m in the mood to give a good ass whipping right now.”

  Kyle sighed as Linc firmly took Sophia’s wrist to lead her back to the house.

  She desperately tried to negotiate a peace agreement. “I’m sorry, Linc. I… it won’t happen again.” The picnic crowds remained oblivious to her plight and few even looked in her direction with a reflective smile and a familiar wave.

  Inside the house, he took her directly to the library where Tami and Bella sat on the sofa with the paddle between them. Their heavy breathing indicated they’d moved fairly quickly in a last-minute effort to obey his orders, but he didn’t call them on their misstep. His goal had been to keep them close to home and close to home they’d stayed.

  The girls jumped to embrace their friend with true affection. Sophia stiffened at the first touch, but the day’s events had clearly been too much for her emotional treasure chest, and she returned the group hug with more tears.

  After a moment, he snapped, “You two, out. Sophia and I need to have a conversation.”

  Bella’s gaze went to the paddle that still sat on the couch, and she mumbled, “You aren’t planning on talking to her.”

  Sophia shuddered openly and whimpered, “Please don’t spank me. I won’t do it again.”

  “Out,” he repeated to the extras. “Now. Unless you plan on taking a few licks yourself.”

  Tami was gone before he’d finished his sentence, and Bella gave Sophia one last hug. “You’ll be fine. Sophia… Just…” She had no other advice and left the room with her head hung low.

  Sophia whimpered a second time as he closed the door firmly behind them. Darkness had settled on the room, and the effect did little to calm her nerves. “Please, Linc,” she begged. “Please. I won’t do it again.”

  He picked up his wooden paddle with a sigh and circled behind her panicked body. “You got yourself into a world of trouble today because you still don’t think you belong around here. Well, I can only think of one way to change that. Drop your pants.”

  Terror-stricken fear froze her in place, but he shrugged as he smacked the paddle against his palm, a loud snap. “I’ve never repeated myself, and you really don’t want me to start now. Either lose your pants, or call your safe word and wait for Marcus in your room. It’s your choice.”

  Her dilemma didn’t last long. She removed her muddy pants as slowly as she could and folded them with meticulous detail. Her wide eyes remained focused on his paddle during her entire task, and her muscles trembled in obvious anxiety.

  “Over my desk, Sophia.” Again she hesitated, and she was downright adorable when she chewed her lower lip. He sighed without speaking, and she finally complied without his need for a second command. Marcus was training her well.

  It took him a moment to slip her panties to her knees and expose her firm bottom. “I don’t know what it will take to convince you that you belong around here. It’s actually a little insulting to the rest of us. Your decision today was selfish and dangerous, and you need to understand… one way or the other.”

  He saw no reason to warm her up, and brought the paddle down with a smack she didn’t expect. Her gasp was immediate. Her feet remained firmly on the floor, but her bottom squirmed to a ninety-degree angle in an attempt to place herself further from his correction. It wasn’t nearly far enough.

  The chastisement continued while he delivered his lecture. “First of all, as long as you’re on this ranch, you’re one of us…”

  The paddle was applied with increasing regularity as he layered his expertise one stroke on top of the other. She continued to hold still, but the begging soon began. “Please, I’m sorry, Linc… It hurts… I’m sorry… Please stop.”

  “Second, you’ll never wander away without telling somebody where you’re going.”

  The round circles of her formerly white bottom turned a deeper and deeper shade of crimson as he continued his lecture. Her kicking eventually separated her panties from her ankles to be discarded in a forgotten pile. The contrasting red with the plain white t-shirt was enticing, but discipline came first and he ignored the soft folds between her curvy thighs.

  When the tiny noises turned from whimpering to full remorse, her muscles slowly relaxed and her arms stopped supporting her against his desk. With her head buried into his invoices, he slowed his pace before he stopped altogether. Her tears continued, and he was confident they were not all related to her redness.

  While she remained bent over his desk, he gently caressed her hot bottom to connect her tears to his presence and spoke with a gentle tone. “Turn around, Sophia.”

  Her obedience was quick but her eyes stayed on the carpet as she used the back of her hand to wipe her tears. He lifted her chin and motioned with his finger. “Come here, little girl.”

  She threw herself into his arms, and he sighed as he moved her to his lap in the big leather chair. He rubbed her back with careful movements, but waited for her to speak. It took a long few minutes before she sniffled, “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take everybody away from the party. I know you all had a lot of work to do without wasting time looking for me.”

  He considered giving her another swat but silenced her with his frown instead. “What’s it going to take to convince you that you’re one of us? When you’re in danger, we all worry. This has nothing to do with the party and everything to do with getting you to accept who you are and what you mean to us.”

  She sniffled for another long ten minutes before Marcus came into the room, and she jumped to her feet. His stone-cold look brought back her tears, and she whimpered, “I’m sorry, Marcus. It was stupid… I shouldn’t have wandered away.”

  Marcus hesitated, but his gentle side quickly returned with the relief that she was safe. He held out his giant arms without speaking, and she ran to be lifted off the floor with his hug.

  Linc
knew Marcus as well as he knew his little brother. When his eyes closed to bring Sophia even closer through his sense of scent and touch, he sighed. They were clearly destined for more than a simple D/s relationship, and he waited for them to find peace with their connection. Finally her tears slowed, and Marcus put her down.

  “She’s already been spanked,” Linc added with a nod toward his paddle. “And you would have been proud. But your little sub needs to learn when she does something stupid, the whole family will be disappointed in her. She wandered too far from the picnic today because she didn’t think that she belonged around here.”

  Marcus’ scowl matched Linc’s with a telling consistency, and he turned her around to inspect the damage. “I don’t know, Linc. I think you might have taken it easy on her.”

  Sophia moved her hand in a valiant attempt to protect her swollen bottom. “He did a great job. Really, Marcus, it hurt. I learned my lesson.”

  Before she could say another word, Jack joined them with Bella close to his heels. Linc smirked as Bella physically used Jack as a shield against his potential displeasure while Sophia tried to yank the t-shirt shirt past her waist.

  Jack spoke sternly. “What were you thinking, Sophia? Since when do you wander off like that?”

  Sophia’s sniffles returned to full-blown tears as she rubbed her backside. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset anybody. I… just wasn’t thinking.”

  When her second round of tears were at their height, a loud explosion sounded though the open windows, and the cheerful picnic crowds cried out at the first fireworks. Marcus sighed and took Sophia back into his arms. “Come here, baby. What the hell am I going to do with you?”

  Jack grinned as he took Bella in a bear hug of her own. “Two years in a row and somebody has gotten blistered. Fourth of July spankings are starting to be a thing around here. We might have to start putting them on the post-party entertainment list.”

  * * *

  The resort guests were long settled in their cabins and the locals had headed home. Her remorse had lessened after the spanking, but she was far from content. The dark anxiety that had consumed her during the lost hours persisted, and her need to be held lasted a long time. Snuggled in Marcus’ bed, she locked herself into his embrace while he rubbed her back and bottom with a gentle touch. Their skin to skin contact provided an additional connection, and she experienced his warmth from every available angle.