Protector: Doms of Mountain Bend Book 1

by BJ Wane

  Signaling the third paramedic to enter the house, Shawn jerked a thumb at Chester. “Check his shoulder before we transport him, will you, Michael?” he asked, recognizing the young man whose brother worked for them on the ranch.

  “Sure thing, Deputy Sheriff. It looks like you’ve taken a nasty fall, Mr. Campbell.”

  Leaving Kevin in charge, Shawn followed the gurney holding Louise out to the ambulance with Clayton, feeling better. “No luck?”

  “Some but not enough. That’s why I plan to get my car and make a pest of myself until she understands this time and agrees to file charges without dropping them.”

  “All we can do is keep trying.”

  Shawn returned to the office, unable to keep from picturing Lisa suffering at the hands of a bully and coward, like Louise. Unlike the battered woman he’d just left, Lisa had been willing to take drastic steps to protect herself. He could admire her for that while, at the same time, it still rankled she had held back from him until she found herself in jeopardy again. This time around, he would leave Louisa’s case in Clayton’s hands so he could expend all his energy protecting Lisa and stopping a stalker.

  ****

  Friday afternoon, Shawn pulled up in front of Dale’s Western Wear to pick Lisa up, his frown telling her he was still chafing from her insistence on shopping before they drove back to the ranch. She’d hitched a ride from Kim and Debra as they were leaving school, the two teachers she’d come to know the best since the night she’d taken in a movie and dinner with them. As much as she loved staying with him, and spending every night in his bed, his insistence on driving her in every morning instead of following her, and the waiting around at school for him to pick her up when she could get a ride with someone else was starting to grate.

  Between the tension of waiting for her stalker to strike again and Shawn’s rigid rules causing questions from her co-workers she didn’t want to answer, she was just as on edge with his help as she’d been when coping alone. With luck, whatever scene he put her through tonight at Spurs would help.

  Shawn pushed open the passenger door, eyeing her large bags with a raised brow. “Did you buy out the store?”

  “No, but two items are good-sized,” she answered, leaning over the seat to toss them in the back. “And, no, you can’t see them until we leave for the club tonight.”

  Pulling away from the curb, he dropped a bombshell on her. “We’re not going this weekend. It’s best to lie low until I get a lead on this guy. I’ve hit dead ends with the report I got from foster care and researching your mother’s background.”

  Lisa went rigid with anger and disappointment. “I would be as safe at the club as I am at your place, probably safer with so many people around. He’d have to be crazy to try anything there.”

  “Most stalkers are crazy,” he shot back. “And unpredictable. I’ve already mentioned it to Dakota and Clayton, and they have no problem running things without me. Ben and Simon will help.”

  “Oh, well, as long as they agree, then far be it from me to argue over what I want.”

  “Sarcasm doesn’t suit you,” he said, giving her a disapproving glare.

  “Neither does sitting around all night.”

  She fumed in silence the rest of the way, and he let her until he parked and turned to her with a Dom’s scowl. “I can always give you what you’re pining for here at home.”

  Suppressing the wave of heat his comment ignited, she flung open the door, reached behind the seat for her purchases, and lied. “I’m not in the mood anymore.”

  He didn’t respond as he followed her inside, didn’t say a word about it as they greeted the dogs. While they made spaghetti together he told her about the Campbells’ history of domestic violence and his hope this time would end differently for Chester. When he went out with the dogs after they did the dishes without mentioning her disgruntled remark, she suspected he was planning a retaliation.

  Like always, Lisa’s body betrayed her, reacting to all the possibilities running through her head with soft pulses between her legs and tingling nipples. “I said I’m not in the mood,” she mumbled under her breath, glancing out the window above the sink and watching him throw a ball for Mo and Curly, her chest tightening when his deep laugh filtered through the open window. He was as diligent in caring for the neglected dogs as he was with her safety, and she couldn’t fault him for that. She also couldn’t continue under such confined conditions because that wasn’t living and meant the bastard who was after her had already won.

  Shawn wouldn’t see it that way, and she refused to give in, no matter how much she longed to, or how edgy with suspicion and need she grew because he refused to mention her retaliation. Keeping her guessing was a sneaky Dom’s ploy she’d never experienced before. To take her mind off him, she changed into the pair of loose shorts and tank top she often wore to bed when at home, planning to leave them on instead of joining him in bed later naked, then went to find something on television to occupy the time.

  “What are you watching?” he asked, coming into the den an hour later.

  Lisa looked up at him from where she sat curled in the corner of the sofa, her heart flipping as she took in his wind-blown hair, deep breathing, and taut stretch of the tee shirt he’d changed into when they got home. Did he have to pack such a wallop every time she saw him?

  She forced her pout into a teasing grin as she replied, “While You Were Sleeping,” knowing how much he disliked chic flicks.

  He snorted with derision. “I’ll leave you to finish it, then, and get some work done in my office.”

  Left alone to stew in a situation of her own making, the movie, one of her favorites, failed to distract her from wanting the very thing her burst of temper denied her. When Shawn still hadn’t emerged from his office after the movie ended, she sat through another Sandra Bullock feature, ready to cede the battle by the time she turned off the television two hours later.

  She gave the dogs a bedtime treat then padded down the hall, jumping when Shawn opened his office door as if listening for her. “Ready to turn in?”

  “Yes.” She waved a hand inside the office. “But feel free to continue working. Good night.”

  The wicked gleam she’d come to learn could mean anything entered his eyes as he clasped her hand and tugged her down the hall toward his room. “Now, what kind of Dom would I be to let you go to bed without addressing the challenge you tossed out earlier?”

  Despite the humor lacing his voice and the quick surge of arousal simmering through her veins, her palms turned sweaty from apprehension. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I said was I wasn’t in the mood tonight.”

  “Ah, but that was a lie, wasn’t it? Never mind, you don’t have to answer since I know it was.” He gestured toward the attached bathroom in the master bedroom. “Go ahead, but come out naked.”

  “What if I’m still not in the mood?”

  “One” – he flicked a turgid nipple outlined by the thin tank – “you’d be lying again. Two, you have a safe word – use it if you’re serious.”

  No can do, not after that light touch almost – set her off. I really didn’t think this through, she admitted as she pivoted and strode into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She took her time, hoping to grow a backbone against her traitorous body, but when his deep voice, vibrating with impatience, reached her through the door and liquid heat filled her pussy, she gave up.

  “Lisa.”

  Opening the door, she padded across the plush oatmeal-colored carpet, her entire body going cold then hot when she spied the dual bullet vibrators in his hand.

  “Have you used these before, then?” he asked, drawing her forward when she stumbled to a stop.

  “No, but I know what they are. I’ve never been much for toys.”

  “Because you prefer jumping straight into the core of a scene instead of taking your time getting there, cutting off any chance to build a connection. Your previous Masters shouldn’t have allow
ed that. Lie down, knees bent and spread.”

  Lisa settled into position on the bed, ignoring Shawn’s astute deduction, caving to the need for his touch again. The cool air wafting in from the slightly open window chilled her heated flesh as she spread her bent knees, but his potent, hot gaze on her gaping labia was all it took to heat her up again. Fisting her hands, she shifted under his silent stare until he raised his eyes to her face and stilled her restless movements with nothing more than a molten stare.

  “Better, now don’t move,” he ordered, lubing the anal vibrator with its nubby nodules as opposed to the smooth rubber of the attached vaginal probe.

  “Easy for you to say,” she gasped as he worked the bullet into her butt with slow twists and pushes.

  He answered her remark with a sharp smack on her thigh that burned then throbbed, much the same as her anus by the time the toy lay embedded inside her untried orifice.

  “Lisa.”

  She sighed, loving that dark tone, and how he didn’t need to use endearments, just her name, for her heart to execute that little flip that indicated she was in peril of losing it to him altogether.

  “From the snug fit, I’m guessing you haven’t indulged in much anal play or sex,” he commented casually, sliding the other bullet into her pussy with slick ease, his eyes never leaving her face.

  Staving off the urge to squirm as her breath caught from the instant grip of pleasure circling the toy, she managed to get out the expected reply. “No, that’s never been my thing.”

  “Mmmm, we’ll have to see about that.”

  Picking up the remote, he flicked it on, and tiny pulsations erupted inside both channels. The teasing, stimulating repetition along sensitive tissues she never imagined she possessed were impossible to ignore, let alone not respond to with sweeping arousal. Shawn pulled the covers farther down and waved a hand for her to slide under. With the inferno already erupting in her pussy and butt with as much heat as an Arizona desert, she welcomed the cool caress of the sheets he flipped over her.

  Shawn stripped, turned the light off, and joined her in his bed, pulling her against him with a gruff, startling command followed by switching off the vibrators. “Go to sleep.”

  Payback’s a bitch. Whoever coined that phrase had it right. Fuming, her body still pulsating, Lisa knew it would do her no good to gripe about his punishment. Sucking up the discomfort, she huffed and closed her eyes, letting his steady heartbeat under her head lull her to sleep. A second before she dropped off, the vibrators started up again, humming inside her with intense waves of pulsating pleasure that went on and on, until her climax hovered, just out of reach then was removed altogether with the abrupt cessation of arousing massages.

  “Shawn,” she groaned his name in complaint, pressing her mound against his granite-hard, hair-roughed thigh, seeking relief.

  “Go to sleep and behave.”

  “Is that all you have to say?”

  “Yes.”

  Lisa awoke out of sorts, with her pussy and anus still tingling even though Shawn had removed the vibrators after another two rounds of orgasm-denial torture in the middle of the night, leaving her teetering on the razor-sharp edge of climax. She stumbled into the bathroom, glad for once he was such an early riser and already out of the room. The temptation to kick him might prove impossible to deny given her mood.

  After taking a long shower, she went in search of coffee and Shawn but only found the coffee and a note from him waiting for her in the kitchen. “Smart man,” she uttered, reading he would return to pick her up for lunch with Dakota and Clayton. After downing two cups of coffee and a piece of toast, she played with the dogs before sitting down in the kitchen to work on midterm grades, happy to note how well all her students were doing.

  Shortly before Shawn said he’d return, she shut down her laptop and went to change into the short denim-flared skirt, cowgirl boots, and hat she’d bought yesterday. The forecast promised temperatures over sixty today, and she hoped they would sit outside to take advantage of the warm spell.

  Speaking of warm spells, she mused, eyeing Shawn entering the house carrying a small bag, a light of appreciation in his gaze as he took in her bare legs. “Hi. I’m ready.”

  “Nice, and a good choice.” Holding up the bag, he came toward her with that wicked gleam that always curled her toes and put her on alert. Taking her hand, he tugged her into the den and over to the sofa. “Bend over so I can insert your new butt plug before we leave.”

  Without giving her time to think that through, he guided her down, and she braced on her hands, a flush stealing over her face as he lifted the skirt and lowered her panties. She sucked in a breath as he pressed the bulbous, smooth end of the greased plug past her tight resistance, preparing for the discomforting tightness and stretch that had accompanied the new-to-her ripples of pleasure that sexually neglected part of her anatomy was capable of producing.

  “You expect me to sit through lunch with this thing?” she asked as he helped her upright and the full impact of the bigger device left her quaking.

  “You’ll be fine for a short time. You can use Dakota’s restroom to remove it after we eat. He just texted and said burgers will be ready soon, and I worked up an appetite checking our irrigation system this morning, so let’s go.” He pulled up her panties and ushered her out the door.

  Lisa grabbed the hat that matched her boots off the entry table then barely managed to get through the ten minute drive over a dirt road without either clobbering him or reaching under her skirt to get herself off. She was quite proud of her restraint by the time they reached Dakota’s place and the main hub of the ranch’s buildings and activity. Shawn came around, lifted her down from the high cab and set her down, the light impact of her feet touching the ground enough to shift the plug.

  As he took her hand and they walked around the side of the house, she sought to distract herself from the riot of sensations every step stirred up by pointing to a smaller structure surrounded with fencing. “What do you keep in there?”

  “That’s a chicken coop. The ones not inside nesting are roaming now. They all get penned at night.”

  She took in the two-story, barn-shaped coop with windows and perches. “Lucky chickens. I never knew they made them so big and nice.”

  “Just a matter of keeping them safe and happy to either lay eggs or become dinner.”

  She winced. “Oh, not so lucky then.”

  Shawn chuckled and squeezed her hand. “You’ve got to toughen up if you’re going to hang around a ranch, city girl.”

  More like she would have to harden her heart in order to return home with it in one piece. Warmth spread from her butt to her pussy and up to her face as she glanced from Shawn’s rugged profile to Dakota and Clayton, who were already seated at the outdoor table, wondering how she would keep her feelings hidden during lunch.

  Chapter Nine

  Shawn leaned back in his chair and sipped his iced tea, smiling to himself as Lisa shifted on her seat and tried to hide a grimace from Dakota and Clayton. He imagined the plug was starting to get uncomfortable, and checked the time. A few more minutes and he’d remind her to use the restroom before they went riding. Even with dealing with the distracting toy, she managed to fend off Clayton’s teasing barbs and wasn’t intimidated by Dakota’s quiet, somewhat aloof attitude.

  He understood why she was chafing at his restrictions, why she’d gotten ticked last night when he announced they weren’t going out to the club. Having her life upended again by a stranger hell-bent on terrorizing her for some unknown reason was upsetting; he got that. But unlike her annoyance, she failed to hide the fear her stalker’s return caused, and those unguarded looks shored up his resolve to ensure nothing happened to her.

  Her little retaliation of announcing she wasn’t in the mood had both amused him and pissed him off, and his initial reaction was to give her a harder, longer punishment spanking. Remembering the plans he harbored for that ass, not to mention the desire to take her
out for another ride, he’d nixed that idea. The orgasm denial he’d put her through was working just as well, from the frustrated consternation flashing in her eyes. At least it took her mind off her fear for a while.

  As Dakota steered the conversation toward Lisa’s troubles, Shawn took the last bite of his burger, wishing he could have kept her smiling and relaxed a little longer.

  “Shawn says you can’t come up with anyone who has reason to want you dead,” Dakota stated with his usual bluntness.

  “Jesus, Dakota, can’t you at least try subtlety once in a while?” Clayton admonished when Lisa paled.

  “Why?”

  Clayton rolled his eyes at the blunt, obtuse reply and looked to Shawn to take over. Before he could say anything, Lisa shook her head, color seeping back into her cheeks.

  “No, and I’ve tried, racked my brain now for weeks, and can’t come up with a single person, or even an incident that warrants checking into. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Shawn assured her. “He wants you to think it is, wants you upset and not thinking straight to make it easier for him to not only act but get away with his crime.”

  “How about your mother, Lisa? Can you recall anything she said about your father? I know she left his name off your birth certificate, but did she ever mention him at all, even in passing?” Clayton asked.

  “Not that I remember, but I was only nine when she died. I can vaguely recollect her saying once we didn’t need his money to get by, that she could take care of me without his help, or maybe it was Mrs. Wilcox she said that to, the elderly woman in the apartment next to ours who stayed with me at night while Mom worked. If she said that, I don’t know if it was in reference to him not paying child support or to having money, but either way, that wouldn’t make any difference. If he didn’t care enough about either of us back then, he wouldn’t now.”

  Lisa’s calm voice matched her expressionless face as she nibbled on chips, her blasé attitude indicating she didn’t care about the man one way or another. Shawn understood that well; he’d never given much thought to his absentee mother and couldn’t miss what he’d never had.