She led him on a merry chase, giving the stallion his head, letting the beast gallop toward the fireball that was the setting sun. Keeping a respectful distance, Caleb watched his wife as he let her take the lead, watched as she embraced the wind in her face, the desert air quickly chilling as the sun dropped further over the horizon.
Without warning, she pulled on the reins, the horse immediately heeding the command to halt. Turning in the saddle, she looked at the man that had brought her to this point in her life.
He sat silently, watching her.
"Caleb?" she said softly, her voice barely audible above the pounding of her heart.
"Mara?" he answered just as softly... the atmosphere charged as their moods swung from joyful laughter to a sudden serious moment neither had anticipated. The next move was hers.
"I need you," she admitted with a rueful smile.
"Then... come to me," he replied and when she paused to consider his words, he opened his arms in invitation.
His laughter filled the night when he stepped from the Jeep just as she slid from the saddle, flying into his arms. His embrace was too hard, too tight and she knew that she hadn't just been the stakes in a card game. He really loved her... wanted her... more important, he really needed her and her love.
"I *do* love you, Caleb Hollis," she murmured when she could take a breath. "And I know that you..."
"That I am going to spank you good and hard, Mrs. Hollis," he finished her sentence, his mouth covering hers before she could utter a single protest.
"Told you not to go into the stables alone," he murmured as his hands made short work of her jeans, yanking them to her knees, then grinning at the startled look on her face. "Told you not to get near the stallion," he said as sternly as he could. His eyes twinkled at the sight of her standing before him... the lower half of her nude body exposed to his hungry gaze... her jeans caught at the top of her dusty boots a visual eroticism he hadn't anticipated.
"Now see here, Caleb Hollis," Mara sputtered, her hands on her hips, indignation quickly rising at this change of events.
"What I see," he chuckled, "is a woman that needs a firm *hot* reminder that when I say something, I mean..."
"But he understands me now," she protested as he upended her under his arm. "He trusts me and... and... Are you going to do this *every* time you...
"Every time you need a reminder that I love you? Yes!" he emphasized with a firm swat to her exposed derriere. "And even though the beast trusts you now... believes in you now... and damn sure loves you now..." His hand was hard... heavy with love... and when her cheeks glowed, he stopped.
"Caleb," she murmured as he lifted her into his arms, "I... I had to... it was important to me... If I could tame the beast and he could learn to trust me, there was a chance you and I could... I love loving with you but I wanted more. I wanted deep and abiding love... through good and bad... and..."
"You have my deep and abiding love," he confirmed as he kissed the tears that lingered on her lashes. "And I have it as well," he added as he felt something squeeze his heart, making it near impossible to breathe.
And know this, once and for all, Mara Stevenson Hollis," he vowed as he lay her beneath him on the dusty desert floor, his body between her thighs. "I am your husband, your lover, your friend, the head of this household, and *I* am the alpha."
They soared into ecstasy, he with the heady feeling that their marriage would have its ups and downs and that their growing love would occasionally need a firm hand... Mara smiled with satisfaction. She had tamed both beasts and for a certainty, loved her alpha male.
A is for... Alpha Male
B is for... Beautiful Brat
C is for...