Fucking hell! Stryder didn’t have time to be playing childish games with the woman. Yes, she was scared. He knew that, and it ripped up his insides knowing Zoya might never truly feel safe again, but she was the one who had said she could do this. They were running out of time. Every day, every minute, every second, an innocent woman suffered at the hands of one of those monsters, and they needed Zoya’s help to bring them all to safety. As much as he wanted to be patient with Zoya, now was the time to work and focus. They didn’t have the luxury of taking their time and easing into it to spare her emotions. The mission must go on, eliminating all obstacles. Was his way of thinking heartless? Cold? Uncaring?

Yes. But he couldn’t allow himself to give a fuck.

Lives were at stake, and evil was winning every second they waited. So chasing down Zoya and dealing with her hysterics was not helping one bit. She needed to develop a tough skin, and running out of the operations room like a frightened little girl was not going to help anyone.

“Zoya! Get back here now!” He hoped his booming voice would be enough for her to take pause.

It wasn’t.

If he were being honest with himself, he would admit that this was a fucking blow to his ego as well. Zoya was his save. This meant that along with her care and safety, what she did and her behavior were his responsibility as well. Stryder knew his brothers were finding this all really amusing. He saw their smirks when he called for Zoya to stop and she didn’t. It wasn’t their duty, but his, to chase after her and deal with it.

He had never had one of his saves out and out defy him before. If he had called out any other of his saves’ names in the past, they would have stopped immediately—frozen by their fear of him. His warning voice would have been enough. Maddox had once accused him of being too tough, and Anson had called him an asshole on more than one occasion. His father had constantly lectured him about how it wasn’t good to have the save fear you. That Stryder needed to be more sensitive and soft. To try to understand how vulnerable they felt. Over and over, he got the talk from his family and the looks. He wasn’t good at all that mushy stuff, but he was trying his hardest with Zoya. Or at least, he had been. But look what happened when he played nice? The save just picks up and flees like a jackrabbit. If he had been a heartless prick, she would have at least feared his ass and not been bolting out of the house.

“Zoya!”

She ran at full speed, out the door and down a dirt path along the fence. Her limber body cut through the air, and her sprint seemed almost effortless on her part. Her tiny feet moved so fast that all you could see was a blur of motion. It was truly a magnificent sight, only intensified when a young horse trotted up to the fencing and ran alongside her. His breath caught at the sight of her stumbling, her arms flailing until she regained her balance. The colt tossed his head and gave a whinny as if in approval as the two ran in perfect stride with each other, connecting as one as the wind danced within the hair of their manes.

Cursing himself for being distracted by her beauty again, he called out. “You get back here now! Don’t make me chase you, or you will be sorry when I finally catch you!” Sprinting toward her definitely was not as easy for him as she made it look. It had been a while since he had had to do any type of running, especially at this speed.

Leaping down the stairs of the porch and lengthening his stride so he could catch up with his vixen already had his lungs working in overdrive. He actually wondered if he would be able to catch up to her rapid pace when suddenly Zoya stumbled again, this time falling to the ground and landing on her hands and knees. His heart skipped, worried she had injured herself, which made his sprint toward her only grow in intensity.

“Are you okay?” he asked, winded when he approached.

Zoya was already brushing off the dirt and small pebbles from the palms of her hands. Tears coursed down her face, though she didn’t seem to be acting as if she were in any pain.

He knelt down beside her and took hold of her upturned hands to examine them for himself. “Are you hurt?” He quickly scanned the rest of her body. He didn’t see any blood on her hands, and her knees were only dusty, with not even a hole in the denim of her jeans.

She shook her head but continued to cry. “No. I’m not hurt.” Yet the tears still streamed down her delicate face.

Releasing the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding, the fear left his body only to be replaced with anger. “What the hell are you doing?” He took hold of both of her upper arms and squeezed. Maybe a little too hard, but he didn’t care. She had scared the shit out of him when he saw her tumble and he wasn’t there to catch her. “Look at me!”

Zoya tried to pull free from his grip. “Let go of me. I don’t want to be here anymore!” The sadness that was on her face changed to an expression of fury and rage.

His grip tightened. “Well, darlin’, you don’t get that luxury to just pick up and leave because you want to. We have a mission—”

“It’s your mission! Not mine,” she interrupted. “I never asked for this. I didn’t ask to come to this ranch.”

“No, but you did agree to help. And I expect to hold you to your word.”

“I didn’t realize—”

“That it would be hard? Well, it will be, and we are just getting started. You may hear things that make you want to puke. You may see things that you can never unsee again.” Stryder kept hold of the tops of her arms and stood her up, staring directly into her glistening eyes. “And no, you didn’t ask for any of it. It’s fucked up, and I feel sorry for you, but you are the safe one right now. You get to be free and not fucked against your will and abused by some stranger in some unknown country. You are the lucky one, so stop your goddamn pity party and worry about the women who actually have something to cry about right now.”

He knew he was being harsh. But they were at war with Poplov, and there was no time for despair and weakness on the battleground.

Zoya’s mouth opened wide in shock but her tears did seem to cease. “Fuck you! I’m not having a pity party!”

Stryder smirked. “Looks like it to me. What would you call it?” He let go of her and smugly crossed his arms against his chest.

“I am upset! I have that right.”

“No, you don’t. If you were one of those sex slaves, then you would have the right to be upset. How I see it right now, you look mighty damn selfish.”

“I was drawing Natalia and…” She looked up into his eyes with pure venom. “You have no idea how I feel. The guilt I have because I am here and she is not. I feel awful!”

“You should! You should feel awful because right now, Natalia needs you. She needs you in that room, focusing on the job at hand, but you have decided to go for a run instead, crying like a little girl. And Natalia needs me, but instead of being able to help my brothers inside, I’m having to deal with this childish temper tantrum.”

With that, Stryder grabbed Zoya’s arm, spinning her around and marching her to the white fence separating them from the colt that grazed on the green grass, oblivious to the drama around. Before Zoya could even utter a response, he reached around her front and unbuttoned her jeans, unzipping them effortlessly. Zoya slapped at his hands and squealed, but it was too late. Her pants were lowered, revealing pink lace panties against creamy-white flesh.

“What are you doing? Stop!” she screamed, trying to pull up her jeans to no avail. Stryder actually smiled at the fact that this woman thought she could compete with his strength.

He took hold of her hands and placed them behind her back, not allowing her to conceal her lacy behind. “I’m going to give you two options,” he growled into her ear. “You can take this spanking like a good girl, and it will be far less painful, or you can resist the entire time, but then you won’t be sitting comfortably for a week.”

“Spanking? You can’t be serious!”

“Oh, I am. I warned you about how I spank a bare behind.”

“You are insane! Let me go so I can pull up my pants. People will see!”

“Then let them see. Let them all see how I deal with a brat. You act like a naughty girl, then you get spanked like one. I warned you last night, did I not?”

“Stryder no! I thought we were… I thought you were—”

“Kidding? Playing around?”

“I thought you were—I don’t know—just spouting alpha talk.”

Stryder chuckled. “Well, I guess you are about to learn how an alpha really talks.” He pressed her forward to where she was just inches from the fence. “Bend over and hold onto the rail. If you hold your position and don’t make me work for it, I will go easier on you.”

Zoya looked over her shoulder, her eyes revealing that she wasn’t angry anymore but rather curious, and as if she were really pondering her choices. “And if I don’t?”

“Then I will hold your position for you, but use my belt while I do.”

Her eyes darted around. “You can’t be serious. You want to spank me, out in the open? What if someone sees me? I’m in just my panties.”

Stryder patted the pink lace beautifully molded to her ass and said, “Yes, I plan to spank you. And don’t worry about anyone seeing your panties. I spank on bare behinds.”

He wasn’t one for public humiliation. He knew the ranch hands were occupied with daily chores at the stables, and everyone else was inside the operations room, or inside the house. But he wasn’t going to reassure Zoya on that. A little shame and embarrassment would only add to the punishment and make her think twice before testing him.

“Stryder! You wouldn’t!”

“I would. You had no concern about how you looked with your hysterics tearing out of the operations center, or how you looked running down the road like a mad woman. So why should you care what people think of you now?” He pointed to the fence. “Over, now. If I have to ask again, my belt will be doing the talking from that point forward.”

“Moudak!” she spat, but did as he asked. She bent over, and the firmness of her perfectly shaped ass tightened even more as she pushed out her rounded globes to receive his punishment.

He chuckled. “I was wondering how long it was gonna take you to start that again. You can call me names and hate me all you want. But I am a man of my word.” He reached for her panties and pulled them down to find their new home on her upper thighs. She gasped, but still remained in place. “Do you remember what you made me promise you?”

He landed the palm of his hand onto the smooth skin of her butt. The loud crack mastered the quiet air around them. She gasped loudly but didn’t say or do anything else. As a perfect imprint of his hand bloomed on her left buttock, he was happy to see that she did remain in position, even after she felt the sting of the first swat. A matching handprint appeared on her right cheek as he spanked the other side of her bottom a little harder this time, giving her a few seconds to come to terms with the sting. His cock hardened and pressed against the denim of his pants, but he pushed the sexual thoughts out of his mind. This wasn’t about sex. This was about correction and proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was a man of his word. He had never actually spanked a woman before as a punishment or real discipline. Every time before was for naughty behavior, or mischievous play, and had always been erotic. This time was different. He was following through with what she had asked him to do.

He spanked a few times in rapid swats, watching her flesh begin to turn a soft shade of pink. “Answer me, Zoya. What did you ask me to promise?” He applied a hard spank and then another to accentuate his question.

She stubbornly remained silent.

Swat

Swat

Swat

“Ouch! To… to promise me you wouldn’t let me falter and run,” she squeaked out as she wiggled her bottom to try to avoid the continued spanking. “Ow!”

“And what did you just do?” He spanked even harder, concentrating on her sit-spots, knowing they stung like the dickens.

“Ow!” she cried. “This hurts! I get your point! Ow!”

“Yes, that is the intended effect.”

She started to stand up and was rewarded with a hand to her lower back, guiding her back into position.

“Stryder! You have spanked me enough. I have learned your stupid lesson!”

“Clearly not.” He walloped on her protruding behind some more, feeling the heat from her flesh radiate against his palm. “Now answer my question. What did you just do?”

“I ran,” she answered, crying out with each connection of hand to butt. “Stryder, I don’t like this. My ass feels like it’s on fire. I’ve had enough!”

When she began to bend her knees, lowering her backside, he simply slid his arm around her waist, easily lifting her back into the proper position, his hand never once missing a beat as he continued to prove to her that she could always depend on him to keep his word. “Good, you’re not supposed to like it. This is a punishment spanking, and I will decide when you have had enough.” He continued, making sure she would feel some discomfort for at least long enough to finish her work for the day. By the time he was done here, he was pretty certain she would think twice before bolting out of the operation room again. “Trust me, I can make you love the touch of my hand spanking your creamy-white ass. I can make you beg for more. But today is not about that. I want you to remember what happens when you put yourself first, in front of women who really need you right now.”

Swat

Swat

Swat

“I know you are scared. I know your memories probably make you want to kill someone, but at the same time hide from all the darkness. I get that. We all get that. But, Zoya, right now isn’t about you.”

Swat

Swat

Swat

“Right now is about all those poor, helpless women who need us to all focus on saving them. I’m not going to allow you to let your demons get in the way of the good we are all supposed to do. We all have demons, Zoya. Every single one of us. You are no different.”

A sob escaped from her lips. “I know,” she cried out. “I shouldn’t have run. They do need me.” She began to cry softly. “I just don’t think I’m strong enough. You shouldn’t have bid on me. I’m sure other women would be better at helping you. I told you I was a coward!”

“No, Zoya!”

Swat

Swat

Swat

“That is the pity party I am talking about. Stop! You’re not a damn coward but it is time you find your strength for the good of all those others. Take all that anger that you have every right to feel and let it fuel the fighter… the warrior I know is inside you!”

She swallowed back her sob. “You’re right.” Glancing over her shoulder, her big blue eyes made contact with his. “I’m sorry. I do need to fight. For them… and for me.”

He lightened up on the spanking, knowing he had finally made his point and she understood not only the lesson but the need for it. Each spank upon her bottom was delivered with far less bite, but steady, to finish it completely.

“No more running unless I’m jogging right beside you.” He spanked a few times more. “Agreed?”

“Agreed! Yes! Anything! Just stop, please!”

Stryder gave her two hard swats before grabbing her panties and pulling them up over her punished behind. He then reached for her jeans and pulled them up as she stood up and assisted him. Her face was just about as red as her ass. He knew she was mortified, and other than the whipping on stage that had been all for show, Stryder was pretty certain she had never received a spanking as an adult before. Definitely not on a ranch out in the open for all to see.

He gently pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. “I keep my promises.”

She nuzzled her face into his chest and mumbled, “I didn’t realize you would be doing so by really spanking me. That was not my idea of fun at all. I thought I might like to be…”

Stryder chuckled. “Spanked? Is that what you were going to say? Well, I can assure you that there are times you could very much enjoy it.”

“Ha, I doubt it.” Her cute muffled voice against his chest made his cock twitch. “I don’t want to experience something like that ever again!” He could hear the little pout in her voice as she gripped his shirt in her fists and burrowed her face even deeper into the ley of his neck.

Fuck.

He wanted her.

He wanted to fuck her… bad.

Stryder tried to push the delicious and tantalizing thought out of his mind. He tried not to picture himself with his face buried between her legs, lapping up the juices he knew the spanking had caused. While he had been spanking her, he could smell her musky arousal. He could see the lips of her pussy glisten. Although his resolve was dissolving fast as her tiny frame clung to his for the aftercare and support she needed after a good blistering, he remained focused.

Stryder was crossing a line into dangerous territory. She wasn’t just some girl. She was important to the success of this mission.

She was important to him.

Taking a deep breath, and willing his cock to not demand to be set free, he kissed her head and rubbed her back in small circles. “We need to get back inside and get to work.”

She pulled her head back to stare at him in disbelief. “No way! I can’t go in and face your family after you just sp… spa… I can’t even say the word without blushing!”

“They aren’t going to know I spanked you unless you tell them.” Stryder knew that he was lying. They would all know. It was obvious on her face. “And even if they do, it’s not like they haven’t spanked a girl before themselves. The last thing they would do is judge you.”

“They have? How do you know this?” Her eyes were so wide, but her lips… they were so close.

“We are old-fashioned ranchers, with old-fashioned beliefs, darlin’.” He winked, trying to lighten the mood, and trying his damnedest not to kiss her right then and there. If he did, he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself and stop.

Zoya took a step back and crossed her arms in a pout. “Well, I don’t want any more old-fashioned beliefs upon my backside.” Even though she pushed out her bottom lip, her eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Well then, don’t give me a reason to spank you.” He playfully popped her on the bottom and she squealed.

“Ow! I’m tender!”

“Good,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe I can get some decent artwork out of you now.” He reached for her hand. “Come on. Let’s get inside and back to work. There are a lot of people counting on us.”

As they walked back to the house hand in hand, Zoya looked at him with a bemused expression on her face. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, especially after what you just did to me.”

Stryder looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“Thank you? For spanking you?” he asked teasingly. Stryder smiled when she rolled her eyes and smirked.

“No. But thank you for telling me what I needed to hear. Thank you for giving me tough love, and…” she squeezed his hand and stared ahead as they continued to walk. “Thank you for keeping your promise.”