There were times Autumn Bradley wondered why she loved her mate as fiercely as she did. This was one of those times.

Okay, so she and Nicole had enjoyed a couple or five brews down at the pub. So what? Jax and Asher did it all the time. They might not be as inebriated as she and Nicole were, but still, there was no harm in it. Kyra had grabbed both of them by the arm, dragging them out. Ash had been on his way to fetch Jax, so she had shoved Nicole into his arms to stop him.

Asher being a typical alpha male shifter had tossed his mate over his shoulder and stalked back to the house Jax owned here in town. She had offered to go with them, but Kyra had insisted on marching her down to the sheriff’s office. It was at times like this that Autumn wished Jax wasn’t sheriff.

“Boss?” Kyra called as she pulled a resisting Autumn through the door. “I found something that belongs to you.”

“That is such bullshit, Kyra. I do not belong to anyone,” said Autumn, who had lost any sense of being tipsy as she realized that Kyra was going to deliver her to Jax, just as surely as she had delivered Nicole to Ash.

“You don’t think we belong to each other?” Jax said as he appeared in the doorway.

It would be so much easier to be angry with him if he wasn’t so gorgeous, she wasn’t so aroused by just the sight of him, and she wasn’t so in love with him.

“That might have come out wrong,” Autumn offered as a quasi-apology.

“Thanks, Kyra. You can take off.”

“It’s my night to be on call. Hopefully, this is the extent of my excitement for the night. See you in the morning.”

Kyra headed out the door, leaving Autumn alone with her big bear of a mate who seemed none too happy with her.

“I thought you and Nicole were just going to get a burger and a brew and call it a day,” he said, waiting for her explanation.

“We were. We did. But some of the otter-shifters were there playing pool and giving the waitress a bad time so we decided to challenge them to a friendly little game.”

“Okay, so why did someone call Kyra?”

“Maybe because some words were said, the otters got a little lippy, and there might have been pool cues broken, maybe a rib or two? You know, just fun times in Mystic River.”

Jax groaned. It was never good when he made that sound. He got up, pulled the blinds down over the windows and locked the front door. Sitting down in his office chair, he crooked his finger at her. Autumn shook her head. He crooked his finger again, this time growling low at her.

There was no getting around this. Her mate meant to discipline her, and he meant to do it now. She walked over to him and stood between his spread legs. At least he was aroused, which probably meant they’d have sex after he turned her ass red.

“You know the drill, Autumn. Jeans down past your thighs and over my knee.”

“But…”

“Yes, I’m about to spank your pretty butt. Now.” The last was a growl.

Autumn pushed her jeans down and placed herself over his muscled thigh, feeling his other one close behind her legs and trap her in place. One of his large hands settled between her shoulder blades so that she couldn’t rise up. His cock pulsed beneath her.

He rubbed her exposed flesh in gentle circles, relaxing her and allowing her to settle herself. Not much chance of that, although peace would come before he was through. A slight uptake of air whistled before his hand cracked down on her ass—the sound coming before the heat and pain. She gasped as she grabbed onto his legs, steadying herself and ensuring the connection between them would flow.

Over and over, he slapped her ass; the heat, sting, and arousal all building. She absolutely hated that regardless of why she found herself face down over his knee, she always came up wild and wet for him. Her mate was angry with her, and she understood why—she was mate to the sheriff. Like Caesar’s wife, she was held to a higher standard.

Really, though… the otters had started it.

She began to let the tears fall and tried to breathe through the pain, the heat and the arousal. The spanking hurt, but behind the pain there was peace and acceptance. This kind of thing might not do it for some women, but it did for her, and she had learned to accept that.

Finally, his hand stilled before he began to soothe and caress her aching flesh. He helped her up, sitting her gently down on the hard wood of his desk. He pulled off her mukluks and then her jeans, leaving her bare below the waist.

“I ought to make you wait until we get up to the cave, but I’m not in the mood to wait,” he growled.

He pushed her onto her back, lifting her legs up so that her knees were hooked over his shoulders. She was spread wide, with no way to hide the engorged petals of her sex or the glistening opening of her core. Jax sniffed the air and smiled as he unbuttoned his jeans, freeing his cock before pushing forward into her without foreplay.

His eyes were locked with hers as he tunneled into her wet heat, making her writhe and grasp at his forearms. This was the sex and possession she had come to expect from her mate. He was a passionate and dominant alpha male, and she was his mate, whom he cared for regardless of what she wanted. It was at times like this that she forgot how her life had been before Jax and wondered how she had existed without him.

Jax pounded into her, his cock plunging hard and deep with each stroke, ensuring she knew just which one of them was in charge and which one wasn’t. He fucked her hard and long—grunting, groaning, and growling. She could feel her orgasm rising as his thrusts became more frenzied and primal.

“Come for me,” he commanded, and her body obeyed as she arched up and he drove into her a final time, locking them together as he poured his seed into her. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to her mouth.

When at last he withdrew, he handed her jeans and her mukluks to her, backing off so he could button up his fly that was trying hard to keep his cock from swelling again and not having much luck.

“Let’s go home,” he said, extending his hand to her and then hauling her up and over his shoulder.

There wouldn’t be many people out on the street, but any who saw her would know that she had been chastised by her mate. By morning, everyone in town would know. It didn’t matter if it was shifters or humans—small towns were small towns.

And she wouldn’t have it any other way.