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“Going somewhere?” Tyler asks as he watches Kate cut a line for the door out to the barn, head down and shoulders hunched.
She stills, looking around before shrugging and managing a weak smile. “Just need some fresh air.”
“Sure. I’ll come keep you company,” he says easily, pushing to his feet from the oversized armchair he’s taken to sitting in when they watch movies, his leg elevated when Cathy insists he should be off his feet. His suspicions are confirmed when Kate’s smile morphs into a frown, storm clouds forming in those dark eyes. He reminds himself not to get lost in them —well, not right now— and raises an eyebrow at her. “Is that a problem, Miss Kate?”
“Uh, no. No. It’s just… you should rest.”
“So should you.” His lips quirks upwards in amusement as his hands settle on his hips, watching emotions dance across her face. He’s known her for a matter of weeks but it feels as though it’s been forever. Tyler has always hidden behind humor and charm, never letting his softer side show. People have always underestimated him, assuming he’s a dumb redneck putting himself in danger, but Kate sees him for him. He thinks he can read her pretty well already too. Right now, alarm bells are going off as he watches her put on a guarded expression.
“I’m fine, I won’t be long.” She sets off for the door again, shivering a little as the breeze on the wrap around porch hits her. Tyler fights the urge to chuckle, heading outside with a blanket to toss over her shoulders. His laugh turns to a frown as he sees her on her way to the barn, realizing it means she’s planning to work. “Hold on a minute, Kate. Kate!”
He picks up his pace, looking at her firmly when she turns around with a long-suffering sigh. “Yes?”
Tyler hums. “We had an agreement, Sapulpa. You’re not working, you’re resting. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’m feeling good.”
“That’s good; we can talk about you stealing my truck and driving off into that storm alone if you’re feeling better. Didn’t think you’d need another spanking so soon, but I’m happy to provide.”
He watches her cheeks flood with colour, eyes wide as his words register. It amuses him to see her lose some of her confidence when he knocks her off balance, although he still isn’t sure what they have between them and isn’t sure he wants to delve that deeply. Despite her words at the airport about chasing it if he feels it, he doesn’t think she’s ready for that; she’s still figuring out herself as she lets her grief go, as she finds her passion for storm chasin’ again.
Eventually she finds her voice, ducking her gaze. “Uh, maybe I’m not feeling so good. I think I’ll watch a movie.”
Tyler grins, offering her a cheeky dip of his head. “Now that we can arrange, Ma’am,” he drawls. He catches her wrist as she walks past him, slowing her down enough to tilt her chin up with his thumb and forefinger. “But Kate? We’ll talk about what happened, when we’re both better. We could have lost you. I could have lost you.”
“I had to,” she insists, a determined gleam coming into her eye.
He almost sighs at the quiet words. He knows why she feels that way and he appreciates that she felt she needed to fix things and undo her mistakes five years ago, but he also can’t rightly let it go. “We’re supposed to be a team. If we can’t trust each other then what’s the point?” Tyler asks quietly, holding her gaze steadily and without his usual swagger.
Guilt pools in Kate’s eyes as she watches him. His sigh escapes as he takes in the change in her posture. “Alright, we’ll talk later. Come on, bet I can find some popcorn kicking around the kitchen.” He settles an arm around her shoulders, leading her back inside and settling her on the couch with the blanket while he goes to raid the cupboards.
- - - - -
Finally, a week later, her medical check-in comes around. She’s testy in the morning as she sips at her coffee, unimpressed when he cajoles her to eat. It takes him a while to convince her she’ll feel better for some food in her stomach but he eventually draws a grudging concession from her. The morning passes with passive aggressive comments aimed in his direction that he takes in stride, though he thinks the food takes the edge off her ire. At least if they’re aimed at him, she’s not taking her frustration out on anyone else. Besides, he knows a remedy for that. It seemed to work well last time.
They head for the hospital and Kate fiddles with the sound system, changing the songs every other minute and shifting restlessly. She messes with the glove compartment, fingers ghosting over the buttons she’s unfamiliar with. When Tyler tells her not to touch one of them she frowns, looking out the window. Tension lines her neck and shoulders, giving her a statue-like quality. Tyler rolls his eyes in fond exasperation. “Relax, Sapulpa, it’ll all be fine. They’ll ask some questions, do some checks, and then we can be on our way. We can get some good coffee and go on an adventure.”
“With you driving?” she mutters, glaring at the buildings rolling by as though they’re to blame for her discomfort. “I’ll pass…”
He doesn’t take it to heart. He knows the last few weeks have been a lot for her to process, with the week she’s spent cooped up indoors building within her until she feels like a can of soda shaken up and left standing, ready to explode. It’s his knowledge of what she’s been dealing with that has him letting his sarcastic joke slide without calling her out. Now isn’t the time for that.
Except, apparently, it is.
The remaining fifteen minutes pass as if they’re driving underwater, with Kate critiquing his driving technique, complaining about the temperature in the car, and interfering with the music. Tyler tries not to react, but eventually he looks at her steadily, a knowing glimmer sparkling there below the surface. “Kate.” He keeps his tone steady but speaks firmly, hoping to snap her out of it.
She raises her chin defiantly, expression filled with frustration, pain and something he can’t quite place. “Tyler.”
He almost chuckles but reins it in, settling for the smirk he lets curve his mouth. “Seems an awful lot like you’re testing me today. Whatever’s going on in that brilliant mind of yours, I promise it won’t be as bad as you’ve convinced yourself it’s going to be.” He pauses to listen to what his gut tells him before speaking again. “And then, once the doctor gives you the all clear, we’ll have a nice, long talk about throwing yourself head first into danger over and over.”
Kate blinks, finally meeting his eye, her own narrowing suspiciously as she tries to make sense of that. Before she can protest, he pulls up outside the hospital, turning into the parking lot and killing the engine when he finds a space. “We’ll talk later. Come on.” He opens the door and sets his feet on the ground, then crosses around the truck to open her door, holding out a hand to her. Kate would think it was some display of power with a lot of people but with him she believes it's simply an extension of his southern hospitality. She sighs, losing her defiant posture and accepting the warm hand in her own clammy palm. He smiles at her warmly and locks the door, leading her across the parking lot and into their appointments
- - - - -
The drive home is quiet, each of them lost in their thoughts. Kate can’t shake the feeling she’s missing something. She scrambles to untangle the puzzle, eyes narrowed in concentration. Tyler said they’d talk when they got back, which seems innocuous enough, if not for the fact they’ve had a talk before that left her sitting uncomfortably for the rest of the day. The thing is, that was to help with her guilt and she doesn’t feel any guilt about going into the storm. It hadn’t been a choice; it had been her model, her responsibility. She’d done what she needed to in order to save her friends, in order to protect her mom. Kate would do it again in a heartbeat.
She fights a sigh, eyes seeking Tyler out in her peripheral vision. He looks calm, posture relaxed as he sings softly along to some country song on the radio. There’s no way he could have been serious about her going back over his knee. It takes her a few attempts to reassure herself that she’s overthinking things, but by the time they get back to the farm she’s confident that her worries are misplaced.
Tyler quickly puts rest to her carefully constructed arguments. “We should talk.”
“Sure,” she says, keeping her response carefully controlled. She leads the way towards the house she grew up in, pausing for a moment to soak up the nostalgia of the panelling that she knows as well as the back of her hand. The paint could use a fresh coat and some of the shutters look worse for wear having withstood the test of time, coupled with the increasing storm patterns rocking the area lately. Kate makes a mental note to ask Tyler to look at it for them. Something tells her he’d be more than happy to put his rippling muscles to use, especially if it means charming her mother further. The woman already thinks he’s a dream. She knows her mom thinks he’s a good influence in her life, though neither of them know she’s overheard them talk about the effect he has on her.
She rolls her eyes and lets herself in, surprised to see a note on the kitchen counter by the sink in her mom’s scrawling handwriting. Gone to town to get some stuff done, back in an hour. Lunch is in the fridge. Love you baby.
It makes her smile as she traces the words for a moment before pouring them both a glass of water. When Tyler gets inside she pushes the second glass of water she’s holding in his direction. They drink in companionable silence for a minute before he clears his throat. She looks at him, one eyebrow arching elegantly. What she sees when their eyes meet surprises her.
Tyler has that serious look from the barn in his eyes again. It makes her pause and swallow down a sarcastic comment. Instead she focuses on her water again. The fridge hums to her left, providing the melody to the rhythm of the minute hand of the clock ticking away on the wall facing her. Kate can be stubborn and she refuses to open this conversation; if Tyler wants to try and convince her to feel guilty then so be it, but she won’t give him the satisfaction of helping him with it, no matter how unnerving it is to stand in silence with him standing tall a couple of feet away. She fights the urge to sigh and lets her gaze roam towards the pastel blue vase her mom has a bouquet of flowers resting in,the blooms adding an explosion of colour to the already cheerful kitchen.
Just as it becomes unbearable, he speaks. “Kate, I get why you did what you did in El Reno. Hell, you saved all of us. I’m proud of you for riding the fear instead of letting it ride you and I was damn impressed with what you did.” He lets those words sink in before he sighs. “But I hate the way you went about it. You nearly died.”
“If I hadn’t done it, hundreds of people would have died, Tyler. I signed up to this to help people, we both did. You know the risks.”
Tyler considers that silently, shifting his weight a little as he nods. “Yeah, I know the risks. I also know that we have a team so we can help each other. What if you’d gotten hurt before you could launch the silver iodide, or something had gone wrong with the sodium polyacrylate release? I know you thought you had something to prove, but taking off was dangerous. We all knew the risks, Kate, you better than anyone. What were you thinking going rogue like that?”
Kate stares at him, almost in disbelief. What kind of a question is that? Frustration prickles under her skin that she presses down, looking at him with a measure of calm confidence she doesn’t feel. She swallows back her emotion and steels herself, hoping the dam doesn’t burst. “I was thinking that people were going to die. I was thinking that you could die. You, Javi, Lily and Boone. I couldn’t just sit there and watch more friends die, Tyler. I had to prove to myself I could fix it.”
He starts to chide her, colour rising in his cheeks as his chest swells with his own sea of emotion, but then he sucks in a breath and forces his shoulders back down. “And I watched you go out the door and thought I wouldn’t even get the chance to say bye.”
The admission hangs heavily between them and she swallows, taking a step back that brings her into contact with the counter. “Tyler, I knew I could—”
“Don’t.” He shakes his head, cutting her off. “Don’t lie to me, City Girl. We are both too smart to believe that.” He sighs, pushing a hand through his hair so that it sticks up messily, adding to her sense that he’s more shaken than she’d realised by what happened.
She sighs, relenting a little. “Look, I’m not sorry that I did it but I am sorry I scared you. I wasn’t thinking about that, I was thinking about stopping the tornado before more people died.”
“Thank you.” Tyler smiles at her in acknowledgement, knowing how much it takes for her to say the words, and lk,his eyes picking up a little of the twinkle that takes her breath away. She relaxes, thinking they’re done, when he speaks again in a measured voice. He looks almost curious as he watches. “Hey, do you remember what I said to you about me spiralling? Where I need someone to break the pattern.”
Suspicion pools in her stomach but she nods. “I remember. What about it?”
“Spiraling isn’t always in the mind, Sapulpa. It can be physical too. Sometimes it looks like being lost in your mind, unable to break free and sometimes it looks like doing something reckless or, well, dumb. Sometimes it looks like your temper getting the best of you or not looking out for your own needs.” He waits for her to process that, lips twitching a little without his permission when she blushes and looks away.
“I’m not spiraling, asshole.”
Unexpectedly, he doesn’t laugh. If anything, it makes her feel more off kilter, the guilt starting to worm its way inside her gut. “Tyler, I didn’t mean it like that. It was a joke.”
“I know, City Girl.” He offers her a small smile that’s full of compassion and patience. “But I’m not jokin’ right now. I think you need another trip over my knee for being reckless.”
“That was a one off deal. I was feeling guilty.”
“Like I said, a person can spiral a bunch of ways,” he reiterates, setting his glass down on the counter. “I care about you and I don’t want to see you hurt, just like I think you care about me and wouldn’t want me hurt.”
That has her staring. “Are you saying…” she trails off, shaking her head at the sheer absurdity of it. A laugh bubbles up, threatening to escape. She’s never had a friend quite like Tyler before, it’s a fact.
He raises his eyebrows, losing the fight not to smile. “What, that this is a two way deal? Yeah, I am. If I mess up, you can bust me for it. I’m a wild soul, City Girl. Always have been, always will be. I need to be reigned in sometimes, nothing wrong with that if you ask me. It just works for some of us.” He shrugs.
Kate’s quiet as she considers what he’s saying. She turns towards the sink, filling her glass as a way of delaying the inevitable. Tyler lets her, content with waiting for her to make a decision.
“It’d really be a two-way deal?” She asks eventually, turning back to meet his eye. He looks into the mahogany tones of her own eyes and nods, pouring as much sincerity as he can into it.
“I promise. We can talk about it after and figure out how it would work for us.”
It’s delivered earnestly enough that Kate nods, blowing out a nervous breath. “The same as before?”
“Yeah, my hand, warming your butt thoroughly, over my knee.”
“Tyler.”
He grins at how indignant she looks thinking to himself that it’s adorable. “Uh… Probably a little more thoroughly than last time,” he tells her honestly.
She bites her lip for a moment before forcing herself to stand a little straighter, setting the glass in the sink and nodding. “Okay. We’ll be okay again after this?”
He smiles, reaching out to tug her into a hug. “We’re already alright, Sapulpa. But yes, we’ll be all squared up and we can move on, find the next storm.” He pulls back to wink at her. “Come on, no point dragging it out. We’ll both feel better when it’s over.”
Kate sighs but manages to nod, stepping back out of reach and squaring her shoulders to give herself fortitude. “The barn again?”
Tyler watches her, knowing what she’s doing, but doesn’t comment. Instead he tilts his head to the side. “You mom’s out, right? I didn’t see her car in the drive.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she went into town.”
“Perfect. We’ll borrow the couch,” he decides.
“Tyler, wait…” she frowns.
“It’s the couch or your bedroom, unless you want to go over my knee right here at the table.”
Her face heats up and she offers him a weak glare. “Tyler!”
He smiles at her, patient and understanding. “I think you’ve made enough choices for now. Come on.” He reaches out a hand, catching hers and guiding her next door towards the living room. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health but he’s banged himself up pretty badly before, he doesn’t want to risk injuring her. It also doesn’t feel right using her bedroom under the circumstances.
Despite her embarrassment Kate follows quietly, dragging her feet a little but otherwise more pliant than he’s been anticipating throughout the course of the day. He takes a seat on the old overstuffed couch, one hand shifting the cushions around a little while the other keeps a hold of her. He hasn’t missed her looking a little flighty and he thinks it’s probably not worth risking her bolting. When he’s ready, legs planted, he gives her wrist a little tug to bring her closer to him. His hand shifts to rest on her hip. “Alright, City Girl. Tell me why I’m about to spank you.”
She narrows her eyes at him in annoyance, huffing out a soft breath. “If you don’t already know, perhaps you shouldn’t be,” she mutters.
Usually the sass would make Tyler grin, he loves that she’s such a spitfire, but right now isn’t the time to encourage it so he looks at her steadily. He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, I know. I want to make sure you know.”
A hundred replies find their way onto her tongue but some measure of common sense stops her from using any of them. Tyler’s body language warns her that she might pay for it once she’s across his knee, which suddenly seems pretty large and intimidating as she looks at his jeans-clad thighs. Kate shifts on the balls of her feet, feeling vulnerable and nervous and wishing she could just walk away. She’s walked away from too many problems in her life though, she knows it doesn’t make things better.
Kate’s not sure how long she stands there, scuffing her foot and warring with herself internally while Tyler watches with that same unwavering, patient look on his face, his hand grounding her in the moment and giving her the courage to eventually answer. “I took your truck and went into the storm alone. I–I should have told you my plan.”
He nods, giving her an encouraging smile. “Good job. I know that storm needed stopping and I’m proud of you for fighting your fear to do what needed doing. But you were reckless about it. And while we’re at it, you shouldn’t have stayed out there with me, not with that water tank losing its integrity.”
The words are quiet, steady, but they stoke a fire within Kate who lifts her head to offer him a glare. “No. You don’t get to tell me I should have let you die. I couldn’t leave you to die, Tyler!” Her breath catches, dragging painfully at her chest at the implications of leaving him behind.
Tyler squeezes her hip lightly, the pressure breaking the cycle of panic and bringing her focus back to him. “Those people needed one of us to be able to stop the tornado, Kate. We were the only two people who knew what we needed to do to get that process to work. We’re damned lucky Javi showed up when he did.”
“I couldn’t leave you.” She lifts her chin, eyes sparking with determination and her obvious passion for those she loves as she gets ready to fight her case.
He sighs, recognising this really is important to her, and considers his words carefully. “I get it, and I’m grateful. You saved my life. I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t have done the same thing if things were flipped around. The problem here is that you put your own life at risk to save me, and then you left me to go into the storm on your own anyway. You didn’t give me the chance to be there for you or to support you. Kate, we spend our lives looking for patterns in these storms. And let’s be clear here, this behaviour? It’s a pattern. You go running into danger headlong without a thought for your own life or safety, and it scares me. You do that enough times, you’ll run out of luck. Nobody here wants to lose you. Hell, I don’t want to lose you. Let’s see if we can’t get you thinking about these things better.”
She looks away, focusing on her nails and trying to push down the guilt the scolding is bringing to the surface. “Tyler…” She’s not sure if she’s trying to make a plea or a warning but he isn’t phased.
Tyler watches her for a minute, eyes narrowed thoughtfully, before he speaks. “These are coming down this time, City Girl.”
Kate sputters, shaking her head weakly. “Tyler. Wait… I-I mean… Can’t–”
“Kate, breathe.” He interrupts her, the calm words washing over her. She doesn’t consciously think about it as she sucks in a breath. She sucks in another, then another, until he nods in approval.
“This is important, Kate. You’re gonna to be over my knee longer and I’m gonna smack you more. I don’t plan on wearing my hand out on your jeans, and I want to make sure I’m not spanking you too hard. But I’ll make you a deal, the panties can stay up this time.”
“This time?” she stammers, managing to look indignant. She’s not planning on this ever happening again and is about to say as much when Tyler chuckles low in his throat.
“Yeah it is, Sapulpa. You and me, we’re two halves of a whole, pushing the limits and flying close to the sun. I have a feeling we’re both gonna be here plenty, especially if we’re working together.” He winks at her before turning serious again, injecting some steel into his voice despite how calm and patient he is. Now, can you do it or do you need a hand?”
Kate wonders if it’s possible to die from embarrassment. The burn in her cheeks seems to just keep building as she reaches for her jeans, fumbling with the button over and over until his hands settle over hers, squeezing lightly. “Alright now, I’ll help.”
Before she has much time to react, he’s unfastening her pants with deft hands, tugging them down her hips to her knees. Kate squirms instinctively, unable to drag her eyes away from his. She can’t help noticing the flecks of grey in his green eyes or the way he holds her gaze, eyes warm and reassuring even as he follows through in a way that makes her stomach hurt a little. She feels his hand settle on her lower back, pushing lightly to encourage her to bend over his lap. It feels a little different with her stomach supported by the couch and she shifts, trying to adjust. “Figured it’d do your ribs good to be supported this time. Won’t be like that every time,” he warns her as he shifts her a little until he’s satisfied.
She swallows, reaching for one of the cushions to wrap her arms around and hide her face in. Tyler doesn’t leave her waiting long. His palm comes down on the crest of one cheek, then the other, making her grimace and shift her hips as the sting of it registers. More swats land, sturdy and sure, and she soon is too focused on the overall effect and reflect too much about each individual smack.
Tyler is quiet, focused on his task and determined to drive his point home. He knows their jobs are dangerous, but he hopes this will give her reason to be less reckless going forward. He’s not sure he would survive losing her if it goes wrong next time.
The spanking hurts more this time, his palm setting her skin alight quickly. It shocks her a little how much protection the denim of her jeans provided. Tyler seems unbothered as she starts to squirm, though when she tries to shift away he presses his hand down on her back, effectively stopping her in her tracks. She can’t help the sound of discomfort that escapes, face flushing when she hears it before her mouth clamps shut stubbornly.
Although he’s staying quiet throughout the experience, Tyler watches her reactions closely, not surprised that she’s stubborn as a mule. She was last time they did this too, and he’s no stranger to her arguing with him in the field. He admires her grit, respects the fire in her gut. When he saw her running out the door of the movie theater he was equal parts impressed and horrified. It’s no surprise to him that she’d dig her heels in, metaphorically speaking. His answer is to deliver more of the relentless smacks, focusing his attention on the dusky pink of her undercurve.
The swats do their job and Kate finds her body reacting without her permission, her legs kicking out as sniffs. Tears gather in her eyes and she huffs out a breath, her lower lip wobbling. “Damn you…” She hisses, frustrated. “Do you have to keep hitting there?”
“I guess not, I could spread my attention…” He acknowledges drily, dropping his focus to her upper thighs and starting to spank with that same steady pace.
She yelps, twisting in shock. “Tyler!”
“Hey, you wanted me to move elsewhere,” he reminds her easily, amusement lacing his tone. “Careful what you wish for, City Girl.”
The mix of the sturdy swats colouring her thighs and the steadiness he provides break down her defences and she sniffles, pressing one hand against her eyes to try and halt the tears threatening to make their escape.
Tyler speaks over the sound of the smacks landing with unerring accuracy. “It’s okay to let go, Kate. I’ve been there, I know it hurts. I can do this longer than you can.”
She shakes her head, refusing to give in. Guilt still claws at her as his words about patterns, pushing her to remain stubbornly quiet. Above her, Tyler sighs, and then somehow, somehow the swats get harder and she finds herself whimpering. They’re slower, measured, and the anticipation of waiting for each swat finally tips her over the edge. She doesn’t sob like she did the first time he did this, but her crying is sincere and a little ragged once she lets go.
Tyler feels some of the tension leave him when she quits being stubborn. He moves back to the curve of her bottom, finishing up with a few swats to even out the colour before stopping, resting his hand on the glowing skin for a moment and letting her cry and catch her breath. When she shifts he takes the hint and helps her up to her feet, holding her steady for a moment until she catches her balance. Kate reaches for her jeans, fixing them quickly and trying to swallow her teary whimper.
He stands, smiling indulgently and reaching out to pull her into a hug. She tenses for a moment as his arms wrap around her thin frame, but then she hides her face in his shirt for a while. Tyler gives her a little squeeze and hugs her in silence. “Alright now, Sapulpa, we’re good. No hard feelings.”
“Speak for yourself, asshole…” she mumbles without heat.
He laughs, the sound of it vibrating in his chest. “Noted. Going to quit rolling the dice with your life though?”
She sighs. “I guess. Gambling never was my poison.”
Tyler grins, squeezing her before breaking apart. “I think that might be more my thing, honestly,” he admits, winking at her. “So I’m sure you’ll get your revenge soon.”
“Do you promise?”
“Yeah, City Girl. I promise. I can’t always be the wrangler, sometimes it’s my turn to be wrangled.” He winks at her, shaking out his hand as he sets off for the kitchen. “Now, you hungry?”
Kate rolls her eyes as she follows him, wiping at her face with the back of her hand and resigning herself to be fussed over. She’ll never admit it to him, and is unwilling to see the satisfaction it would bring him, but it’s kind of nice to be taken care of after the past few years going it alone in New York.