Changing Her Mind Read online

  Changing Her Mind

  By

  Stevie MacFarlane

  ©2012 by Blushing Books® and Stevie MacFarlane

  Copyright © 2012 by Blushing Books® and Stevie MacFarlane

  All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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  Changing Her Mind

  MacFarlane, Stevie

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-60968-732-8

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images Provided by

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  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

  Chapter One

  Rebecca wheeled around the corner of Chestnut Street much too fast for the road conditions, but she wanted to be in the house before Mason caught up with her. She intended to be safely behind locked doors and she had absolutely no intention of letting him in. It wasn’t that she was physically afraid of him, for all his size. No, she was so damn mad that she feared she would do him bodily harm. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw no headlights glaring in the dark rain swept night behind her and giving a sigh of relief, pulled into her driveway. The rain, really pouring down now, gave her a few precious minutes. Steady, dependable Mason would never exceed the speed limit, especially in this weather.

  Snatching up her purse and books she made a mad dash for the door, her sneakers squishing with each step. Swearing softly she fumbled for the key while icy rain dripped down the back of her neck. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the sleek black car pull up to the curb as her key finally slid into the lock. As she stumbled through the front door she heard a car door slam. Dumping her things down on the hall table she watched Mason’s long strides toward her with a strange fascination. His hair was plastered to his head, the rain making it look even blacker. Her eyes registered the tall frame and she stood transfixed for a moment, trying to decide if she actually had the nerve to slam the door in his face. It was the blaze in his brilliantly blue eyes that jarred her into action and deciding she did indeed have the nerve she swung the door shut only to have a large flat palm stop it in mid slam. Refusing to lower herself to a wrestling match, which she had no hope of winning; she clenched her fists and turned her back on him, almost stomping down the hall and into the kitchen. Silently fuming, she shrugged out of her dripping jacket, flung it over the nearest chair and turned to face the large man she knew had followed her. Finding her nose mere inches from an extremely masculine, sweater clad chest did not in the least intimidate her, although the smell of his musky aftershave did trigger a moment of purely feminine response. Shaking her damp blonde curls out of her face she planted her hands on her hips and backed up enough to be able to look him square in his spellbinding eyes. Craning her neck back to be able to do so might have given a weaker woman pause but Rebecca was five foot two of spitting mad fury and no power on earth could have stopped her at that moment. Or so she thought, for in that instant two very large, powerful hands came down on her shoulders and gave her a quick shake.

  “Just what in the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded roughly.

  Wet curls snapped around her head, flashing green eyes widened in shock. Mason had never touched her in anger and she was momentarily stunned at the hard strength in those hands. Misunderstanding her silence he continued.

  “You were driving like a mad woman on those slippery roads. Sometimes I don’t think you have any sense at all.”

  “That is exactly what the matter with me is,” she responded, twisting out of his grasp. “When are you going to realize that I’m a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions, taking care of myself? And another thing,” she continued, now poking a finger into his chest. “The reason I took off so fast tonight was because I, fool that I am, did not want to embarrass you, like you embarrassed me by announcing my grade to the entire class. I didn’t think you’d have appreciated me telling you just what you could do with the test.”

  “You earned a ‘D’ and you got one,” he shot back. “I announced everyone’s grade if you remember correctly. You knew I was teaching that Economics class as a special favor to Dean Roberts before you registered for it. Surely you didn’t think you’d pass the course just because your surrogate big brother happened to be the prof?”

  Surrogate big brother, ha, she thought. If my feelings were any less sisterly, it’d be illegal.

  “You’re not my brother, or my guardian, and at the moment you not very high up on my ‘buddy list’ either,” she told him, suddenly feeling deflated and tired. Walking wearily over to the sink she filled the kettle and switched the stove on, trying to get her emotions under control.

  Mason raked a hand through his hair in frustration as his eyes slid over her petite form. Her back was to him and he couldn’t stop himself from staring at the rounded swell of her hips. Thinking of her as a grown woman was about half his problem. Protecting her and worrying about her were second nature to him. He’d been taking care of her in one way or another since her dad died when she was seventeen. Jake Moran had been damn good to him, given him a break when no one else would. Taking care of his daughter after his death had seemed like the right thing to do even if she had given him a run for his money. Well she wasn’t a little girl any longer and although it was hard to accept, somewhere along the line, while his mind was still thinking of her in juvenile terms, his body was definitely headed in another direction.

  Taking two cups down from the cupboard Rebecca spooned instant coffee into them, wishing she hadn’t left her cigarettes on the dash of her car. She didn’t smoke often but she could sure use one now, even if it did make Mason crazy. All the things she had meant to say to him suddenly seemed cruel and unfair. It wasn’t his fault that he saw her as a child he was responsible for, especially when he could reduce her to an argumentative, uncontrollable teenager with just a few words. Somewhere along the way their relationship had changed and she didn’t know how to go back, or if she even wanted to. She was twenty-two and the chasm that separated them, a measly ten years, seemed miles wide. Working days and going to school nights left her tired and irritable and with a shrug of her slim shoulders she decided to let things rest for now. Pouring the hot water into the cups she turned and handed one to Mason. As tired as she was it didn’t occur to her that he took milk in his coffee and she froze when he walked across to the refrigerator and opened the door.

  Mason stood there staring into it like there was some strange creature inside and slowly turned back to her swearing softly and glaring as she chewed her bottom lip.

  Damn and double damn she thought as she watched him set his coffee down and proceed to investigate the cupboards and pantry. When he got to the bread box he slammed it shut in disgust and advanced on her with a determined step, stopping mere inches from her now defiant form.

  “Well you certainly seem to be capable of taking care of yourself. You’ll ne
ver have to worry about getting an infection as apparently everything here is growing some type of penicillin. Normally, intelligent women replace things when they become green and fuzzy, but hey, you may be on to something here.” Anger was again evident in his voice. “Obviously you’ve been living on black coffee and take out. No wonder you look so frail and frazzled lately.”

  “I love you too big guy,” she responded sarcastically. “You always know just the right thing to say to make a girl feel special.”

  “Keep it up and you’re going to feel really special,” he growled. “You won’t be able to sit down, but apparently you don’t eat meals anyway and it is almost bedtime so…”

  Pinned effectively against the counter, Rebecca kept silent, her hands wrapped around the hot coffee cup. Although this wasn’t the first time Mason had threatened her with a spanking, and she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the last, she wasn’t worried. In all the years of his grumbling and growling he had never laid a hand on her and if truth be told she had probably deserved it about a thousand times. She felt a quick flutter in her tummy and wondered for a split second if her luck had finally run out but shook it off just as quickly. Mason topped her by over a foot in height and one hundred plus pounds. He would never hurt her. On the other hand her innate honesty forced her to admit he was right. There wasn’t a decent thing to eat in the house. She had been going to pop through a drive-through on her way home but things hadn’t worked out that way. Wishing she had a good argument didn’t help. The fact was she just hadn’t taken the time to grocery shop in quite a while. Another fact seemed to be that when he was this physically close to her, she lost the ability to think straight. Instead of coming up with some witty comment all she could think about was the width of his shoulders and the way his jeans fit those long legs just right. She grasped the cup tighter to keep her hands from creeping up around his neck.

  Mason ground his teeth waiting for some type of explanation and deftly removed the cup from her hands, dumping the contents in the sink.

  Bad move Mace she thought and slid both hands behind her, leaning on them. Unfortunately this caused her breasts to thrust forward and when they met that hard chest there were two identical gasps. Her arms came immediately up with the intention of pushing him away and ended up securely around his neck.

  His hands also had the intention of setting her away from him and instead ended up wrapped around her bottom, pulling her even closer.

  Rebecca’s feet left the floor so quickly her head spun. Mace’s body enveloped her completely. She wasn’t sure where she stopped and he began. The blood exploded in her veins as he brought her lips level with his and claimed them. She thought she had been waiting all her life for this moment and then she couldn’t think at all, only feel. Her heart was pounding in time with his and the liquid fire that pulsed through her left her so weak she could only be glad of his strength. When he released her lips her head fell to his shoulder, her neck like the broken stem of a flower could no longer support it.

  Mason knew he should ease her down to the floor but instead watched mesmerized as her passion clouded eyes fluttered open. With a groan he trailed his lips along her silken neck, sucking lightly where her pulse beat the fastest.

  Rebecca responded instantly, heat coursed through her body and her legs wrapped around his hips seeking closer contact.

  “Don’t Baby,” he moaned raggedly into her throat but she was far beyond being able to stop herself. Passions grip so powerful she scarcely heard him, she pressed tighter to the source of his heat, rocking slightly against him.

  Backing her up to the counter, Mason released his grip on her bottom and sat her down. Struggling for control he pulled her arms from around his neck and gathered her firmly against his chest controlling her efforts to fight him. Whether to get away or closer neither knew as he held her securely. Rocking gently from side to side, Mason whispered soft words into her hair.

  “Shh Baby, don’t.”

  Taking deep breaths, Rebecca finally relaxed enough to stop struggling and Mason loosened his hold to look down into her eyes. They were blazing green fire and when she opened her mouth to speak, he laid a finger to her lips.

  “I won’t apologize,” he told her, his voice still raspy with passion, “either for starting or stopping.”

  Rebecca stared at him. Much as she wanted to, she couldn’t utter a single word. If she tried to talk she’d start crying, her body aching in places she hadn’t even been aware existed. She wanted to alternately kill him for making her aware of desire this consuming, and demand that he fulfill it.

  “Our relationship has been changing for some time now and neither of us knows where it’s going. I won’t do something we may both be sorry for later.”

  The tone of his voice left her no room to argue as it was obvious he meant what he said.

  “I’m picking you up at seven tomorrow night and taking you to get something to eat. Be ready,” he stated walking across the kitchen and almost as an after-thought he turned back.

  Seeing her sitting there on the counter exactly as he’d left her almost changed his mind. She looked like a dejected little girl sitting there in her faded jeans and soft rose sweater, legs dangling more than a foot from the floor. Walking back to her he lifted her down and bending over softly kissed her cheek. Squaring his shoulders he then proceeded to the door.

  “By the way, the ‘D’ stands,” he stated blandly, “Next time try studying.”

  He was gone before she stuck out her tongue.

  Last night’s rain had given way to a mellow autumn day. Rebecca was tired but in the way that comes from having spent a taxing but satisfying day. Her job at Silver Shore, a small adult day care facility and community center in upstate New York, was another thing she owed to Mason. While it galled her that she’d gotten the position because of his business contacts, she knew that wasn’t why she’d kept it. The genuine care she had for her seniors shone through in every aspect of her work, from helping them with exercises that kept them as active as possible, to listening to their stories of days gone by. Beyond being a way to support herself, they were her special friends and each had a place in her heart. She smiled now as she drove home thinking of the late fall bouquet Mary Havens had brought today and secretly left on her desk. Yes, it had been a good day and her rumbling stomach reminded her it was going to be an even better night.

  Confused at the way her spirits lifted thinking about going out with Mason she managed to convince herself it was because she hadn’t had a good meal in quite a while, always seeming to be in a rush and grabbing a sandwich from one fast food place or another. Maybe he would take her to Mama Rosa’s, a Mexican restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Rebecca had waited tables there in the summer during high school and had acquired a taste for the spicy, filling food. Memory brought a smile to her lips as she recalled the time she had made Mama’s Chili quite a bit hotter for one particular customer. Actually about as hot as her temper that day…

  It has been the summer she’d turned eighteen and she and Mason had argued heavily about a boy she was dating. While she was still smarting from his criticism and high handed manner he’d had the nerve to bring that bimbo, Kathy Mosley, into her restaurant. Furious and filled with righteous indignation she’d added a generous amount of cayenne pepper to his portion before serving their meal. Watching from behind a large potted plant it was all she could do not to burst out laughing when he took a spoonful. Sweat had broken out on his brow and upper lip as he reached for his glass of water, knocking it over in his haste. Reaching frantically for Kathy’s he then knocked it over into her lap while Kathy squealed like he had lost his mind. It was all too much for Rebecca and she doubled over in gales of mirth, wiping the tears from her eyes. That was when she saw him stand and throw down his napkin. The near hysterical laughter and the fact that Mason frequently ordered chili and always found it good sealed her fate. Guilt was written all over her and as he stalked toward her Rebecca backed away, still u
nable to control her laughter.

  “Now Mason,” she began, holding out her hand in phony supplication. “When you brought her in here I was sure you were interested in something a little a… shall we say hotter tonight.”

  The look on his face promised retribution as he advanced on her with s steady stride. His strong jaw was ticking as if he was having extreme difficulty keeping it shut and expecting him to roar any minute she fled into the sanctity of the kitchen, where no man dared to go at Mama’s. When he swept in after her she began experiencing her first real twinge of remorse. Not because of what she’d done, no he deserved that, but because she might just end up unemployed over this. Dancing around behind Rosa’s bulk Rebecca searched for an avenue of escape and ran to the storage area. When Mason didn’t immediately follow she assumed he’d given up the chase or gotten thrown out of the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief. Leaning against a large table she smiled again while she tried to slow the rapid beating of her heart. Her surprise was apparent in the widening of her green eyes when he appeared in the doorway, Mama Rosa right behind him brandishing a large wooden spoon.

  “I’m ashamed of you,” she scolded Rebecca, “Trying to poison one of my best customers.”

  Ironically it was Mason who turned to her and tried to soothe her ruffled feathers.

  “It’s all right Mama, I know your food is the best in town. I just have a few things to settle with this little witch here and I’ll come back out and enjoy a real bowl of your chili.” Turning back to Rebecca, fire in his eyes, he kept his hands to himself with difficulty. “There’s a certain part of her anatomy I’d like to make as hot as that chili,” he growled down at her, now close enough to tower over her.

  “Here Senor Kord,” Mama offered obligingly, “You may use my spoon.”

  Rebecca gasped, looked at Mama accusingly and then back at Mason with wary eyes, not quite sure he wasn’t serious.

  “Thank you Rosa,” he smiled for the first time, “I may decide to take you up on that if I don’t hear a damn good explanation in the next five seconds.”