by BJ Wane
Startled, her eyes flew to his face, and she cringed at the sharp look he gave her followed by the slow removal of the toothpick in his mouth. “Are you okay?”
“I… yes, fine. I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She cast a frantic look down the street but didn’t see the man who turned her inside out with a few words. “Thanks, but I’m parked right there, so I can get these.”
“I’ll get your door.” His tone, so much like Caden’s, didn’t leave room for argument.
Sydney set the bags on the back seat then schooled her features into a bland expression before facing his assessing gaze again. “Thank you, Sheriff. It’s nice to see you again.”
He nodded, his gaze remaining keen despite the small smile softening his hard face. “I hope you’ll join us at The Barn again tomorrow night. Have a good day, Sydney.”
Oh God. The longing to return to the club with Caden shook her. Gripping the steering wheel with damp palms, she struggled with her decision all the way back to the ranch, weighing the need to stay a little longer, to cajole a few more exciting memories from her rancher before she went back to being alone with keeping him in the dark about her problems. Never in a million years could she have guessed Mike would stoop this low, not even after he’d drugged her and tried forcing her signature. She should have known the happiness starting to blossom wouldn’t last.
Sydney drove home in a state of turmoil and indecision. If Uncle Mike was desperate enough to send someone after her, would he go so far as to instruct his henchman to act on his threats? He had sworn he hadn’t planned on physically harming her in any way the night he showed up at her apartment and tried to force her signature, but that was weeks ago, and she didn’t have a clue how much his dire situation might have escalated since she’d been gone. God, she really hated being in the dark about her family, and especially her mother’s youngest sibling.
By the time she returned to the Dunbar ranch, fixed dinner and then hid in her room instead of joining the others at the table, she still hadn’t decided whether she should stay or flee. The plate she’d brought with her sat untouched on the small, bedside table, the tightness in her stomach too painful to try to eat. So far, she’d stayed clear of Caden and his all-too-knowing eyes, and she missed even that small contact. She didn’t know if she cared that much for him or just craved more of his dominant, sexual control before leaving, but whichever one it was, it hurt to think about it.
The house grew silent, and she knew Connor had left for his own home and the hands for the bunkhouse. Caden spent most evenings holed up in his office, and she assumed that’s where he’d gone off to. Unable to sit still or watch television, she left her too quiet room, grabbed the six-pack from the refrigerator and slipped out into the inky night. Walking around outside after dark would break another one of his rules, but Sydney didn’t care. At this point, she didn’t have all that much to lose.
Chapter 5
“Thanks, Grayson.” Caden hung up the phone and pushed away from his desk, unaccustomed worry settling like a rock in his gut. His friend’s call bothered him as much as Sydney’s absence from the dinner table earlier and galvanized him into leaving his paperwork to confront her. He couldn’t believe how much hearing from the sheriff that something, or someone had upset her bothered him. For Grayson to take the time to express concern for her distraught appearance in town, she would have had to appear noticeably overwrought. Later, he would need to delve deeper into why the thought of Sydney in distress caused a tightness in his chest he’d never felt before over a woman.
When he found her room empty, a plate of untouched food sitting on the nightstand, and couldn’t locate her anywhere else in the house, anger mingled with worry as he went to scout around outside. Damn it, she knew the rule about wandering around outdoors after dark. It took him almost twenty minutes of fretful searching, but he finally found her in one of the barns, propped on a stack of hay bales, halfway through a six-pack of beer.
“What are you doing out here, alone in the dark?” he barked. Only one small, overhead light offered any illumination and the meager glow left most of her in shadows. But he could see well enough to notice the slight stiffening of her body, her sudden, indrawn breath another clear sign whatever happened in town was still affecting her.
“I was talking to the dogs, but they have this bad habit of not talking back. What’re you doing out here?”
“Looking for you, wondering why you’ve broken yet another rule.” Striding forward, he snatched the beer from her hand before it reached her mouth. “You’ve had enough. Tell me what’s upset you. Did someone harass you in town?” The instant panic crossing her face drew a surge of protectiveness Caden didn’t know he possessed and an undeniable urge to strike back at whoever was responsible for that look. Reaching down, he clasped her upper arms and pulled her against him with a ‘need to know’ demand. “Tell me.”
“No… I mean, it’s nothing,” she stammered with an evasiveness unlike her.
Caden had seen her teasing grin, her frown of irritation and her green eyes glow with pleasure, but he’d never seen her afraid, or hear her lie, and neither sat well with him. Instead of shaking her, like he was tempted to do, a better plan came to mind. Grabbing her wrists, he backed her toward a low rafter, snatched a coil of rope off the wall and made short work of tying her wrists together.
Sydney tried to pull away from him as he lifted her hands above her head and looped the end of the rope around the beam. “What are you doing?” she squealed, yanking on her arms, her pale face reddening either from the slight exertion or the flare of excitement reflected in her eyes. Both were better than the fear.
“Making sure you don’t fall when I do this.” He slid his hands under her shirt, shoved her bra up and scraped his thumb nails over her already turgid nipples. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
She shook her head, her wild, red hair flying around her shoulders even as she arched her back and pushed her breasts into his hands. “I promise; it was nothing. Just a little… misunderstanding. Oh God.”
Small white teeth sank into her lower lip when he tugged on her nipples and then drew the tips out, elongating them with a tight pinch. “I can keep this up all night, darlin’.”
A flare of resentment tightened her face. “I’m not on the clock now, boss. You can’t order me to talk.”
“No, you’re right about that.” Releasing her nipples, he kept his eyes on hers as he slid his hands down to the waist of her jeans. “But I can punish you for disobeying another rule by coming out here alone after dark. Same safeword applies here, by the way.” Caden yanked her jeans down along with her panties, the narrow strip of pubic hair drawing his gaze straight to the enticing view of delicate, plump bare folds already damp with arousal. He wasn’t sure how far he would take this, he only knew he couldn’t stand to see her hurting or hear her evasive replies to his inquiries.
“Caden, please.” A hint of desperation laced her whispered plea and he fought against caving to both it and the way her hips shifted toward him in silent supplication.
“Are you going to tell me what I want to know?” He lifted his hands to release his belt. Her eyes widened as he pulled the soft leather through the loops, but if he wasn’t mistaken, and he rarely was, the sudden increase in her breathing had nothing to do with fear.
“I told you, it’s nothing. I’m over it already.” Since she averted her eyes with that statement, he doubted the truth of it.
With a quick twist, Caden spun her toward the wall and didn’t pause before snapping the belt across her quivering buttocks. “Like I said, I’ve got all night.”
Sydney’s head buzzed, and not just from the beers she’d downed on an empty stomach. Caden hadn’t struck her hard. Instead, the stroke of leather over her butt induced tiny, pinpricks of pain that disappeared fast, too fast, and left her aching for more. Right now, she’d take any diversion from the decision she needed to make, more than willing to accept anything he would giv
e her at this point.
“Nothing, huh?”
She heard the swoosh first, felt the burning sting second. This time he’d struck a little harder, and the heated pain zipped straight down between her legs, increasing the moisture already seeping from her pussy. Shaking her head, she gave him a non-verbal answer and held her breath as he delivered a blow a little lower.
“Fuck, but you’re stubborn,” he groused.
Any other time, before she’d gone into town, she would’ve relished the frustration in his voice. But all she yearned for now was to forget the threat of a stranger and the lonely weeks ahead of her if she left and to bask in the heated throbbing spreading across her butt and filling her sheath. “Fuck me, Caden,” she begged, keeping her eyes pinned to the wall so she couldn’t see his rejection.
He answered her plea by delivering three, quick slices across her quivering buttocks, leaving behind a more painful burn and deeper throbbing. She both heard and saw the belt drop at her feet before his hands came to her hips. Her breath caught as he slid one hand between her legs and cupped her soaking flesh while he squeezed one, warm pulsating cheek with the other. An unprepared for, deep, three-fingered thrust into her pussy brought her up on her toes with a gasp, the invasion accompanied by the startling probe at the entrance to her back hole.
Taken off guard, she stuttered without looking around, “What… I’m not sure about…”
“Are you saying red?” A small prod with his wide, calloused thumb breached her sphincter and sent a riot of new sensations spreading up that untried orifice.
“No, it’s different, is all,” she panted, struggling to acclimate to the new sensations and surprising pleasure while wondering if there was nothing he could introduce her to that she would shy away from trying.
“Good,” he returned smugly, satisfaction coloring his tone. “I like knowing I’m going where no man has been before. Deep breath, darlin’.”
Caden brushed her clit while thumbing her ass with short, jabbing prods, the dual assault driving Sydney to the precipice within seconds. Just as the small tremors heralding an orgasm began, he frustrated her by pulling back. Leaning against her, his mouth at her ear, he uttered the four words she’d been pining for since meeting him. “I’ll fuck you, Sydney, not because you asked, but because I can’t hold back any longer. But make no mistake. This isn’t over.”
Everything he said after ‘I’ll fuck you’ barely registered through the roaring in her head and the surge of hot blood straight to her groin, swelling her vagina. She heard him sheathing himself then held her breath as he grabbed her hips again and kept her still for his possession. One deep thrust, and every delicious inch of his thick girth slid in a smooth glide through her slick channel and lay embedded deep inside her, leaving her to relish the burning pleasure of being jammed full. Feeling as if she’d been waiting forever for this, Sydney moaned in protest of his withdrawal and then embraced the next forceful plunge with a soft cry. His tight grip prevented her from moving, which increased the heat building from his pumping rhythm. Every rub against swollen tissues, every brush against her clit inflamed the sensitive nerve endings until she threatened to combust.
Arching her head back, she closed her eyes and begged, “More, please, don’t stop.”
Caden had reduced submissive women to pleading before, but none of their pleas affected him as strongly as Sydney’s soft, achingly desperate voice. The urge to take, to stake a claim by pounding into her until she splintered apart and then revealed what had upset her, wouldn’t let up. He’d never wanted to go after someone with such anger as he did the unknown person who’d left her troubled. How the hell had she gotten under his skin so fast, and so deep?
Digging his thumbs into her red-striped buttocks, he spread the plump globes to gaze upon the puckered opening into her ass before sliding his thumb back inside the tight orifice. Wet as a dewy morning and giving off as much heat as an Arizona desert, her pussy gripped his shaft with small clutches sure to drive him over the edge way too soon. His lust turned into a greedy bitch, clawing at his balls with a voracious need, hardening his cock into a tortured demand. He pounded into her with jackhammer thrusts, Sydney’s small grunts followed by soft mewls egging him on. Her cry of release echoed in the cavernous barn as she spasmed around his girth so hard he had trouble pulling away from the tight clutches. Then his brain fogged as his climax spewed forth, nearly driving him to his knees with the powerful ejaculations and mind-numbing sensations.
It took Caden several blind moments to return to earth and loosen his tight grip on her hips. “You good?” he breathed in harsh inquiry as he pulled with slow reluctance from her snug, still spasming clasp.
“More than,” she admitted with her usual candor, followed by a small laugh and full body shudder.
Disposing of the condom in the corner trash, he zipped his jeans then bent to pull hers back up. “I’m glad to hear that. I was rough.”
“Yeah,” she sighed, turning her head and flipping him one of those cheeky grins he enjoyed, the shadows in her eyes replaced with a sated glow. “And I liked it. Now, aren’t you sorry you made me wait?”
Shaking his head, Caden released her hands and slung his arm around her shoulders as he led her out of the barn. “You’re incorrigible. I think I need to work on that. You’ll accompany me to The Barn tomorrow night as my sub.”
“Gee, Caden,” Sydney drawled. “You have such a sweet way of asking a girl out.”
“Who the fuck’s asking? I learned just minutes after meeting you that doesn’t work.”
The weekend, that’s all I want. Sydney kept telling herself that all day on Friday while trying not to read too much into Caden’s announcement that she would go to The Barn tonight as his sub, or the thrill it had given her. He’d come to mean a lot to her in such a short time, and God, every time she thought of leaving her stomach cramped and her eyes filled with tears. Telling herself this wasn’t home, that she had a life in Missouri that she loved didn’t work, regardless of how much she missed her family and job. Last night, while lying in bed enjoying the pleasurable aftershocks of submitting to Caden, she’d fretted over what she should do about this recent threat to her happiness. Maybe she should head back home on Sunday, drive at a snail’s pace to allow her more time to think of an excuse for taking off like she had that would sound plausible to her grandmother and uncles. As long as she stayed away from Uncle Mike, refused to be alone with him, she should be able to avoid a repeat of the way he’d come to her apartment on the pretext of making amends and then drugged her to force her hand. Hiring that thug proved how desperate he’d become for cash though, and if her shares continued to be his best option, avoiding him would only work for so long.
Her last option might be to come clean with her other two uncles, relying on their genuine love for her and stable home lives to come to her aid while sparing her grandmother the heartache of learning about her youngest child’s duplicity. “Between a rock and a hard place,” she muttered as she went through her limited wardrobe searching for something to wear tonight. Caden mentioned he liked the skirt she’d worn last week and considering how fast he had talked her out of it, she decided it didn’t much matter what she wore. Of course, his succinct command, ‘No panties or bra,’ was another hint she would be stripped naked soon after entering his club. Donning a light-weight, fall sweater that buttoned down the front, she ran trembling hands down her sides as she replayed last night.
What was it about the way Caden simply took her over, just like last week in the club’s loft, that was such a freaking turn-on? Granted, there had been something missing from her previous sexual encounters, but that hadn’t kept her from enjoying the time she’d spent getting sweaty between the sheets with her partners. But nothing compared to the off-the-charts responses her sexy boss could evoke. No climax had ever come close to rivaling the heights he’d driven her to with his painful swats, penetrating blue eyes and deep-voiced commands. She savored every second under his
dominant control, longed for more and despaired over where that would leave her once she left the ranch, and her Dom rancher.
“Sydney, let’s go,” Caden called out, his impatient voice spurring her on. She didn’t know what had occurred to change his mind about her and wasn’t about to ask. If only he hadn’t insisted on keeping his distance those first days, she’d have that many more memories to keep her warm at night after she left. If only the circumstances that brought her here weren’t the same ones driving her away. If only this were her home. If only…
“Connor let you slide on a few things last week since you were a guest. Tonight, you’ll need to observe all the rules,” Caden stated while holding open the door to The Barn for her.
Sydney shivered, but not because of the cool, night air. His look alone was enough to keep her warm, but the sounds of BDSM play seeping through the entry door into the club as she stepped inside the large foyer also helped dispel any cold she might feel from walking around without panties. The air wafting up under her skirt teased the sensitive skin of her bare labia and heightened her awareness of her near-naked state, keeping her on that tantalizing edge of sexual anticipation.
When she’d accompanied Connor last week, she’d been too excited, as well as anxious over Caden’s reaction to discovering her here, to take much notice of the foyer. Now, Caden filled in the blanks by pointing to a row of large cubbies then nodding at her feet. “You can store your shoes in one of those.” Opening a door opposite the cubby slots, he showed her a huge, walk-in closet. “This is where we hang the coats come winter. Remember to address me as Sir, or you could face consequences you’re not ready for,” he warned in a mild tone.
Slipping off her shoes, she smiled up at him with a raised brow. “Is that supposed to scare me, boss?”
