When he reached the couch, he set her down and kneeled in front of her. He began examining her, ignoring her when she tried to push his hands away or told him that she was fine. He had to make sure that she was okay.

He just had to or…

Christ, he didn’t even want to think about what could have happened if the tree had landed differently or if she hadn’t managed to get out of that van in time. He just wanted to make sure that she was okay and once he did that, he wanted to spank the living hell out of her for scaring the shit out of him!

Chapter 10

Thwack!

“Oh my God!” she screamed trying to get away from the madman before he could-

Thwack!

“Stop slapping my ass!” she yelled, desperately trying to get off his lap, but the large bastard had a surprisingly tight hold on her.

Thwack!

“No!” he snapped, going to slap her ass again, but by this time she’d given up on trying to get away from him and was now using her scraped hands to cover her bottom and protect it from the man that had finally lost his damn mind.

“Stop!” she yelled with an embarrassing squeak, because as much as she hated to admit it, being spanked by a hot fireman wasn’t exactly unpleasant.

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she tried to wiggle out of his hold, but the large bastard apparently wasn’t done punishing her.

“Stop-”

Thwack!

“-doing-”

Thwack!

“-stupid-”

Thwack!

“-shit-”

Thwack!

“-that’s-”

Thwack!

“-going-”

Thwack!

“-to get-”

Thwack!

“-you killed!” he yelled, finishing off his tirade with one more thwack that had her biting her lip and trying not to moan.

Was she supposed to be enjoying this?

Probably not, judging by the expression on his face as he stood up and gently tossed her on the couch. She’s seen him pissed before, but never like this. Biting her lip, she sat there trying to look pitiful even as she had to wonder if he was going to spank her again.

There was something definitely wrong with her, she decided, but she didn’t say anything, mostly because Duncan was still standing over her, breathing hard and glaring down at her while his hands clenched and unclenched into fists.

Yup, now was definitely one of those moments where keeping her mouth shut was in her best interest, she decided.

He opened his mouth, snapped it shut and then narrowed his eyes, somehow looking even more pissed, which was actually really impressive since he looked seconds away from throttling her with his bare hands. Finally, he took a step back and then another until he was heading for the front door, every muscle in his back and arms clenched as he went about his way, making her wonder just how close he’d come to killing her with his bare hands.

When he slammed the front door shut behind him, she decided that it was probably for the best that he’d left before she could have pushed him past the point of no return.

*-*-*-*

Wednesday, December 2nd.

It was official, he’d lost his goddamn mind.

That was the only explanation that would explain why he was standing outside Dixon’s bakery, trying to figure out the proper way to apologize to a woman that he’d spanked. He could send her flowers or maybe chocolate, he thought hopefully, but just as quickly dismissed it.

There was no way that he was going to get out of there without apologizing to the woman that he’d spanked. Then again, there was probably nothing that he could say or do that would make what he did right, but Christ, had she fucking terrified him.

He’d seen a lot on the job, more shit than he ever wanted to, fucked up accidents that could have been avoided if someone had used their goddamn minds and never once had he lost it like he had yesterday morning. It had taken him five hours and just as many shots of whiskey to calm down after the scare she’d given him yesterday. He’d never reacted like that to an accident or ever been that worried over a patient before.

His reaction still shocked him. Not only had he acted like a fucking moron, risking his life instead of calling for help, but he’d actually spanked her ass close to a dozen times. He’d never hit a woman before, because he wasn’t that type of guy. He’d been brought up never to raise his hand to a woman no matter how much she pissed him off.

If his father ever found out that he’d laid his hands on a woman, he would fucking kill him. What was worse, was that his father would fucking disown him if he ever found out just how much he’d enjoyed spanking her.

Christ, he was a sick bastard, he thought miserably as he stepped out of the way as another satisfied customer stepped out of Dixon’s Bakery with a smile and a large white bakery bag that momentarily distracted him from just how fucked up he truly was.

He should have never touched her, never laid his hands on her, and never gave into that first urge to spank her, because once he did, God help him, he hadn’t wanted to stop. He hadn’t hurt her, he’d made damn sure of that, but he’d spanked her hard enough to make her soft ass jiggle enticingly with just the right amount of-

Now was not the time to think about that, he told himself as he absently licked his lips and forced himself to focus on a large crack in the sidewalk, willing his damn cock to behave. He needed to make an appointment with his father when he came back from their family trip and get his goddamn head examined, because there was no way in hell that he should be reacting to the little menace never mind wondering how smooth her bare ass would feel against his hand.

This was so fucking wrong, he thought with disgust as he shook his head, grabbed hold of the front door and yanked it open, deciding to get this shit over with quickly so that he could go back home to his miserable suspension. He walked inside, ignored his friends waving to him, trying to get his attention and stepped in line.