Submitting to the Rancher (Cowboy Doms Book 1)

by BJ Wane

  “Let me go, Caden,” she demanded in a breathless whisper when he released her lips.

  “No.” He couldn’t, not without answers, not without knowing what brought on this sudden announcement and why she was so scared.

  Frustration ripped through what little composure she had maintained as she jerked against him and cried out, “Damn it, he’ll come after you next if I don’t leave!”

  “Who?” he returned, his concern more for her and the anguish written on her face than for himself.

  “I can’t say anything else. There are people I love dearly, my family who will be unbearably hurt if they find out why I had to leave home.” That stubborn look he knew so well returned. “I owe them and won’t do that to them. I thought I had more time to work this out, but yesterday,” she turned her head away again, “yesterday proved I don’t. Now, let me go.”

  Caden didn’t want to, but he wasn’t into forcing women. He stepped away from her, folded his arms and asked, “Do you know who’s responsible for poisoning my cattle?”

  Sydney’s incredible green eyes turned bleak. “Yes, and no. He threatened me in town last week, but I swear, he never hinted he would come after you or your ranch, only me. I’m sorry. I know you and the others can never forgive…”

  He cut her off with a scowl and two words. “Shut up.” Caden fought to get himself under control, just the mere mention of someone threatening her threw him into a tailspin of worry and anger. “No one here will blame you. I take it you don’t have a name?”

  “No, he’s a stranger, sent by… that’s all I can say.” She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye.

  He knew when he’d run up against a brick wall, but just because he couldn’t get anywhere with her, didn’t mean Grayson wouldn’t come up with something else. “You’re determined to leave?” he asked.

  She turned back around to gaze out the window and replied in a soft voice, “I have to, Caden.”

  “What if I said I want you to stay, and not because you’re an employee I don’t want the hassle of replacing?”

  Her voice wobbled, and she gripped the counter with white knuckles. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  Exasperated with her obstinacy, he snapped, “I don’t need you to protect me. My family’s been safeguarding this land for decades and I have the utmost confidence in the loyalty of my hands. You can’t trust me enough to tell me anything else?”

  Sydney rubbed her temples, still refusing to face him. “There’s nothing you can do,” she sighed. “To reveal what’s going on would irrevocably hurt those I care about very much.”

  Caden understood the love of family, which was why he could admire the hell out of her willingness to sacrifice herself for those she cared deeply for even as he resented that was the very trait forcing her to leave. Stomping toward the back door, he snatched his hat off a hook then pivoted back around to see her still gazing out the window, her shoulders slumped with an air of abject sadness that tore at him. “I can’t stop you from running tomorrow, but damn it, you’ll face me now, while you’re still here.”

  She spun about and there it was, that familiar spark of defiance backed by a flare of heat she didn’t bother to hide. Even though he preferred it when she pushed his buttons with her teasing candor, he’d take this look over the misery etched on her face a second ago.

  “I’m thirty-nine years old. I’ve enjoyed women I’ve been fond of, but I’ve never felt for anyone an iota of what you mean to me. For me, that’s worth fighting for and worth taking risks for. Just so you know.”

  Slamming out of the house, he pressed Grayson’s number on his cell as he strode toward the barn. As soon as he picked up, Caden snapped at his friend, “Anything else yet?”

  Chapter 7

  Sydney’s heart executed a slow roll at the hint of possessiveness in Caden’s gaze, the touch of caring that went beyond concern for an employee’s welfare for the first time. His gruff words were everything she’d wanted to hear without realizing it and only added to the burden of having to leave. He walked out without a backward glance and she turned back to the window to watch him cross the space between the house and barn with his phone at his ear.

  She wanted to confide in him, but how could she without him insisting she confront her family? The death of her grandfather from a stroke brought on by grief over her mother’s unexpected death occurred less than two weeks after the funeral of their only daughter. The double blow almost cost Sydney her beloved grandmother also, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t subject her to yet another heartache. Not if she could help it. Her only hope for her own current desolation was to find a way to return to the ranch, and her rancher, once she found her way out from under Uncle Mike’s threats.

  The afternoon was more difficult to get through than she’d imagined. She didn’t see Caden, and when Connor showed up followed by the sheriff, neither came up to the house to talk to her. Instead of going on her usual midday stroll, she started to pack and then took scraps out to the dogs one last time. It was almost six p.m. and dusk had fallen when she started back up to the house and saw an unfamiliar car pulling into the drive.

  Sydney’s heart jumped into her throat as her two oldest uncles, Robert and David, got out and glared at her from across the yard. With a crook of his finger, Uncle Robert beckoned her over. Unable to help herself, she ran to them, throwing her arms around Robert and promptly bursting into tears.

  “Well, hell, Syd, how can we lay into you if you’re going to turn on the waterworks?” He squeezed her tightly before handing her over to his brother.

  “You have a lot to answer for, girl.” The strain in David’s voice went with his damp, green eyes as he hauled her next to him.

  She burrowed deeper against his shoulder, whispering, “I’m sorry… what’re you doing here? How’d you know…”

  “I called them.”

  She stiffened and then whirled at the sound of Caden’s rough voice. “But… how…”

  “You know,” David drawled, slinging his arm around her shoulders. “I don’t think I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing Sydney stutter in front of a man. Good job.” Holding out his free hand, he introduced himself. “I’m David Greenbriar, and this is my brother, Sydney’s other uncle, Robert.”

  “Nice to meet you both. Let’s take this inside.”

  Sydney jerked away from her uncle. “What have you done?” she hissed as Caden drew her away from David and hugged her close before ushering everyone inside, with Connor and Grayson joining them. Her breathing grew short as she fretted over what the sudden appearance of her relatives might mean.

  “It pays to have friends with easy access to government records. It didn’t take Grayson long after running your license plate this morning to unearth where you’re from and more about your family. About an hour after our talk, he called back with your uncles’ names and numbers. The only thing he wasn’t able to learn is why you took off two months ago.” Caden nodded toward her uncles. “I called them this morning. I have to say, they made damn good time.”

  “We grabbed the first available flight,” David said.

  She had trouble wrapping her mind around Caden’s subterfuge and determination until a sudden thought added to her concerns. “Did… did you talk to anyone else?” She prayed he hadn’t contacted her grandmother and upset her.

  Robert faced her as soon as they entered the den, hands on his hips, eyes snapping with impatience as he answered, “You’re the one who has caused her grief. And we’re,” he nodded to his brother, “guessing this has something to do with Mike and the substantial debt he owes. He’s been scarce ever since you took off.”

  “You know?” Sydney sank onto the sofa in shock. “But, he told me no one in the family knew, or could find out as it would break Grandma’s heart.”

  David crouched in front of her and clasped her hands. “Lucille Greenbriar is tougher than you think, sweetheart, and a gambling debt incurred by Mike won’t surprise her. He’s always been bad wi
th money, and lazy to boot. But none of that is why you left. He threatened you for help, didn’t he?”

  She shook her head, not wanting to be the one to reveal how immoral and corrupt in his desperation Mike had become. “I don’t want to hurt you, or anyone else. It’s bad enough Caden’s ranch has suffered because of him, and me.”

  “Don’t make me turn you over my knee in front of your relatives,” Caden warned, his stern look saying he wouldn’t hesitate if she didn’t stop with the self-blame. “While it’s damn admirable for you to want to spare your family’s feelings, darlin’, in this case it’s no longer wise,” Caden growled in his usual impatient, caring way. “The truth has to come out sometime. And I say now.”

  “Taking on that burden alone was never a smart thing to do,” David admonished. “Magnanimous and selfless, but wrong, nonetheless.”

  Sydney wanted to hide from everyone’s nods, but now wasn’t the time to turn coward. Caving to the pressure bearing down on her, she relayed Mike’s desperate actions at her apartment and the thug he hired to threaten her into returning. “For months, he’d been pestering me to trust him with the shares Mom left me, saying he could invest them and turn a nice profit for both of us. I may not know much about such things, but enough to know he was conning me. When he became really desperate, he let slip he owed a lot of people, some who didn’t like to be kept waiting for payment.” She shuddered at the memory, but when she looked up into Caden’s cobalt gaze and saw the anger on her behalf, that warm, fuzzy sensation in her chest she first experienced when he’d found her spying through the window of his club, returned.

  For the first time since Mike’s hired bully had approached her, Sydney felt a spurt of optimism and giddy glee. Flipping her rancher one of her cheeky grins, she quipped, “I’m an idiot, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, but a very caring one,” David answered with a smile as he rose. Caden just lifted one eyebrow, as if to say, ‘you damn well are’.

  “We knew it was bad, but not how bad,” Robert sighed, running a hand through his thinning hair. “But there’s no excuse for his behavior. Under the circumstances, I think it’s best if you stay here while we dish out some tough love to our baby brother.”

  “What about Nana?” Unbidden, tears welled as she thought of all her grandmother had endured already.

  “You’re a good girl, Sydney. We’ll give her the details on his debt, but just say he wanted your shares and leave it at that. That’ll be enough for her to come down on Mike like a ton of bricks. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to come home soon, I promise,” David assured her.

  “In the meantime, give me a description of the man who accosted you in town,” Grayson said as he took a seat next to her and pulled out a small notebook. “Was that the only time you saw him, last week?”

  This isn’t going to go over well, she mused before telling the truth and bracing for Caden’s wrath. “No. He showed up at the mess hall yesterday, while everyone was out. That’s when he admitted he’d poisoned the water and suggested it could be someone on the ranch who got hurt next time.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch,” Connor muttered.

  Caden remained silent, but his glacial look spoke volumes. Her uncles’ faces were creased with concern, and guilt slithered under her skin again, making her regret her choices.

  Funny, Sydney thought fifteen minutes later as Caden showed her uncles the guest rooms they could use tonight before catching their flight in the morning. Somehow, in the past few weeks, her desire to return home had shifted into second priority, while remaining here on the ranch, with her rancher, slid into the first slot. She made it through dinner and the evening of catching up before she turned to Caden with a beaming smile as he shut them into the privacy of his room.

  Keeping her eyes on his, she slowly unzipped her jeans and shimmied out of them. “It looks like you’re stuck with me a little longer, boss.”

  Arms crossed, he replied in a cool tone, “Looks like.”

  Her top went sailing onto a chair next, followed by her bra and panties. “Gee, what will you do with me?” She cupped her breasts, a shiver rippling down her spine at the raw lust stamped on his sun-bronzed face.

  He reached out, hauled her up against him and took her mouth in a deep, tongue-stroking kiss before swatting her ass, hard.

  “Ow! What was that for?”

  “For not trusting me or your family sooner.” With a small push, he sent her toppling onto the bed. “Continue.” He placed her hands back on her breasts then rid himself of his clothes.

  Sydney’s arousal skyrocketed by the time he draped the full length of his rock-hard body on top of her, clasped her hands and held them above her head. The relief of having shared her burden and her uncle’s promise to take Mike in hand brought a whole new level of excitement to submitting to Caden.

  “This can be your home, if you want it to be, Sydney,” he said, shoving her legs apart. “I want you.” He worked his cock inside her, one slow inch at a time. “I need you.” Pulling back, her breath caught as he took his time filling her again. “This,” he bumped her cervix, “is now home for me, you are home.”

  The tears returned as she wrapped her legs around his hips and dug her heels into his flexing butt. Who said she couldn’t call two places home? Only this one, here, with her rancher, was the one she longed to plant roots.

  “Well, since you put it like that, and given my poor sense of direction, I probably couldn’t find my way back to Missouri, at least not without you. I would love to stay.” Tomorrow, she’d tell him she loved him. Tonight, she’d just show him.

  Epilogue

  Two months later

  Sydney stood at the kitchen sink, staring out the window at the light snow falling in large, soft flakes. The afternoon had darkened early due to the cloud cover, and she worried Caden wouldn’t get back tonight like he promised. He and Connor had been gone for five days at an annual ranching seminar in Wyoming, and she missed him dreadfully.

  The last several weeks had passed in a blur of changes. The sheriff had found the man sent by her uncle, using her description, and with Uncle Mike’s sworn statement, had been able to make charges stick against him. For his part, her uncle had shown true shock at the man’s threats and actions, swearing he never asked him to harm anyone and never intended for him to take his persuasion to get her to come home so far. With no choice left to him, Mike agreed to rehab and counseling in exchange for the family paying off his debt, but only after they made it clear it would be his last chance. Robert and David also threatened him with expulsion from the family if he stepped out of line again.

  She’d returned home for two weeks, Caden accompanying her for the first week. He’d won her grandmother over in spades and nothing could have made Sydney happier than having her beloved relative’s blessing to move to Montana for good, especially since they all promised to visit often. Now, if only her rancher would get his butt back here. The nights had been cold and lonely with him gone.

  The sound of his large truck tires crunching over the frozen ground reached her ears before the bright headlights crossed in front of the window. With her heart beating in a wild tattoo of excitement, she braced her hands on the counter ledge and leaned forward to watch his tall frame striding up to the front door.

  Turning as he entered the kitchen, she beamed at him. “You’re home.”

  Caden’s eyes gleamed as he tossed his Stetson onto a kitchen chair and shrugged out of his coat. “Not yet, darlin.” Striding toward the minx who had turned his life upside down, he gave her a cold kiss before spinning her around and placing her hands back on the edge of the counter. After making short work of yanking her jeans down, releasing his cock and sinking into her wet, slick depths, he breathed in her ear, “Now, I’m home.”

  The End

  BJ Wane

  I live in the Midwest with my husband and our two dogs, a Poodle/Pyrenees mix and an Irish Water Spaniel. I love dogs, spending time with my daughter, babysitting her two dogs, readin
g and working puzzles. We have traveled extensively throughout the states, Canada and just once overseas, but I much prefer being a homebody. I worked for a while writing articles for a local magazine but soon found my interest in writing for myself peaking. My first book was strictly spanking erotica, but I slowly evolved to writing erotic romance with an emphasis on spanking. I love hearing from readers and can be reached here: bjwane@cox.net.

  Recent accolades include: 5 star, Top Pick review from The Romance Reviews for Blindsided, 5 star review from Long & Short Reviews for Hannah & The Dom Next Door, which was also voted Erotic Romance of the Month on LASR, and my most recent title, Her Master At Last, took two spots on top 100 lists in BDSM erotica and Romantic erotica in less than a week!

  Visit her Facebook page

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  Visit her blog here

  bjwane.blogspot.com

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