by Desiree Holt
Table of Contents
Spurred to Submission
Copyright
Dedication
PRAISE FOR AUTHOR
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Also Available
Chapter One
Thank You
Spurred to Submission
by
Desiree Holt
Book Six of the Rawhide Series
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Spurred to Submission
COPYRIGHT © 2014 by Desiree Holt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Contact Information: [email protected]
Cover Art by Diana Carlile
The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
PO Box 708
Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708
Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com
Publishing History
First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2014
Digital ISBN 978-1-62830-426-8
Published in the United States of America
Dedication
To Master Mike and Slave Patti
for sharing their personal story with me.
You will always hold a part of my heart.
To The Lair, Master Nathan and Master Shack
for their patience in answering endless
questions and leading me through
the intricate philosophy of BDSM.
To my wonderful editor, Diana Carlile, who
is the very best guide on our journey together.
To everyone at The Wild Rose Press
for believing in me all these years.
To my beta reader, Margie Hager,
for her infinite patience and wisdom.
And to all my readers who love Rawhide.
I hope we are together for a long time.
PRAISE FOR AUTHOR
Desiree Holt
AND HER BOOKS
Winner of the Love Romances Readers choice Awards, Holt Medallion, TRS Best BDSM Book of the Year, EPIC eBook Award.
“As usual I find Desiree Holt’s book sinful and captivating.”
~laidyaide1
“My favorite author.”
~Mary D
“Are you a fan of hot, Alpha cowboys who rule in the bedroom and know how to use a whip? If you answered yes, then you won't want to miss Desiree Holt’s latest book in the Cowboy Kink series, CRACK THE WHIP.”
~Long and Short Reviews
Be sure to check out other books
in the Rawhide series:
CRACK THE WHIP
SLAPPING LEATHER
BITE THE BULLET
BUCKSKIN, BOOTS AND BONDAGE
HARD TO HANDLE
Chapter One
Why did I even think he’d listen to me? Why am I such an idiot?
From the moment she walked into the main ranch house, carrying a plate of brownies as a peace offering, Zoe Hampton was pretty sure she was on a fool’s errand. Only the intervention of Max Cameron’s attorney, John Morrison, had convinced Wade Cameron to even have a gathering at the ranch after the double funeral two days ago.
Zoe swallowed and dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands. Dealing with the barn fire that killed Jonas Hampton and Max Cameron was hard enough without all of Wade’s bitter hostility.
He faced her in the kitchen of the big ranch house, the glare in his eyes enough to burn every hair on her head. She wished he’d sit down. At six four, he towered over her, and she was getting a crick in her neck looking up at him.
But Wade wasn’t about to give an inch.
“We have to talk about the ranch,” she insisted.
“Why?” He bit off the word. “I told John Morrison I’m out of here as soon as the will is settled.”
And everything our fathers worked for will be down the drain.
What a foolish dream it was to think he’d come back here and they could run Bug Spur together. Maybe show him she was finally grown up and someone who could tempt him.
Ha! Grow up, Zoe. He wants nothing to do with Big Spur or you.
She hadn’t seen him in a very long time, not in person. But she haunted the Internet for news of him, printing out the picture on his law firm’s site, searching for other shots of him. Her personal secret Wade Cameron collection. She could hide it away, chalk it up to a foolish young girl’s romantic dreams, except the moment he showed up the other day, she realized the pictures were nothing compared to the reality. He was a pure sexual animal, and every erogenous zone in her body stood up and begged her to let him touch her.
Not to mention the flip her heart did. Was it possible to be in love with someone all this time? She had truly hoped he’d be so despicable she’d be completely turned off, but fate wasn’t that kind.
She wet her lips and tried to marshal her scattered thoughts into a cogent argument. “Our fathers left a legacy here. Big Spur is your heritage.”
“A legacy of hate.” He turned away and refilled his coffee mug from the pot on the stove. “Save your breath, Zoe. There’s nothing here for me.”
Eight years younger than Wade, she’d tagged after him from the moment she could walk. From the time he was a gangly boy through his years as the high school hero, she trailed after him, and he left her in the dust. Then, as now, she might as well have been a piece of furniture or one of the cattle. How could she have hoped he’d changed? All he was interested in were activities that took him away from Big Spur and letting Max know how much he hated him.
When Wade left for college, he swore never to set foot on the Big Spur again. The one summer he was forced to spend on the ranch between college and law school was one of the most intense periods Zoe could remember. He certainly never responded to any of her efforts to get his attention. Then there was the unexpected one-week visit after his law school graduation. Somehow, Max had convinced him to come home before he took off for New York and a job with a big firm. The raging arguments were punctuated by equally destructive silences. And then he was gone.
That was the last time she’d seen him. Until now. The hard, unforgiving man was still incredibly sexy. And the stirrings of her youth had morphed into a full-blown hormonal explosion. As he turned around and they stood glaring at each other, electricity snapped and sizzled in the air between them, buzzing along her skin.
Every hormone in her body went on full alert, screaming for whatever he could give her. Just being near him made her breasts ache and her pussy throb. With a deliberate effort, she clamped down on her reaction.
From the shocked look on his face, he was aware of the unexpected chemistry, too, but had no intention of acknowledging it. No, apparently he only wanted to cling to his rage.
“Do you hear what I’m saying, Zoe?” he demanded. “I want nothing to do with anything left by the man who hated me.”
“He never hated you,” she cried. “You’re wrong. He was just…”
“Just what?”
She searched for the right words, but they wouldn’t come.
“A fucking lot you know,” he muttered and turned away from her again, leaning his hands on the counter.
Okay, so she’d never seen any sign of affection between Max Hampton and the son he’d been l
eft to raise when his wife died giving birth to their stillborn daughter. That didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Sometimes she thought the man protected himself from further pain by closing himself off from any emotion whatsoever. It made her appreciate all the more her own father, also widowed when his wife died giving birth to Zoe. But Jonas had lovingly assumed the role of two parents.
“Decisions have to be made about the ranch,” she pointed out, trying to be reasonable. “Can we at least talk about that?”
He spun around, his gaze burning into her. “Are you implying I should give up my law practice and move back to this crappy little town to run a place I’ve hated all my life?”
His anger was a living thing, so forceful Zoe took a step back. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I mean…”
Yes. Yes, come back here so I can show you I’m a grown woman, and maybe we can run this place together.
“Right,” he spat. “You know nothing. You planning to give up your job to run the Spur, Zoe? Is that what you want from me?”
I want you to look at me as a woman. I want you to appreciate the heritage you discard so quickly.
“Big Spur has an excellent foreman in place,” she pointed out. “A good crew and a top notch reputation.” She bit her bottom lip. “Maybe we can figure out a way to do this together.”
A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Together. That’s a really dumb idea. I don’t know why you’re so hung up on the ranch anyway. It isn’t yours.”
Pain stabbed her heart. No, it wasn’t. But Jonas had made her love it as if it were. Just as, after all these years, she was still in love with the bitter man in front of her.
How can you love a man you haven’t seen for years?
Because I’m an idiot.
“You could learn to love this place if you gave yourself half a chance.” She hated the pleading tone in her voice.
He turned back to her, rage stamped on his face. “Just because you chose to learn everything about Big Spur doesn’t mean I did or even want to. Get that out of your stupid head, will you?”
Stupid? Zoe felt the blood drain from her head. He thought she was stupid?
She swallowed, hard. “Suit yourself, I’ll make my own arrangements for the funeral, but we’re discussing this ranch before you hightail it back to your fancy law firm and your fancier women.”
With as much dignity as she could muster, she slammed open the back door and headed for her own place, the foreman’s home she’d shared with her father all her life. She probably wouldn’t be so upset if the sight of Wade Hampton hadn’t sent all her hormones into overdrive and made her realize her youthful crush and teenage longing had morphed into a full-blown case of adult desire.
Yeah, fat chance of that going anywhere now.
She wanted to scream and cry at the same time.
****
This was a big mistake.
Wade balled his hands into fists as he stared through the glass in the back door at the figure storming across the yard. Coming back to Big Spur was a mistake. He realized it the minute he laid eyes on the woman. He knew he was being an ass, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself. It wasn’t just the ranch. Zoe Hampton seemed to push all his buttons. When had the skinny little kid turned into a woman that made his cock send him urgent messages? And why couldn’t he control his unwanted urges where she was concerned?
All these years he’d schooled himself to keep a tight rein on his feelings. He was known as a shark-like litigator because he never allowed emotion to enter his performance. The women he spent time with over the years knew the score. No commitment, no words of love, nothing beyond entertainment and good sex. Sometimes great sex.
Being an uncommitted Dom served his purpose well. No personal attachment and he could satisfy his sexual desires without entanglements. He was a well-respected Master, prized by the subs who served him because he respected them. And he never, ever, let anger play a part in his activities. But love or anything like it?
Fuck, no.
God damn you, Max Cameron.
He wanted to shout the words, let them echo over the open rangeland.
He still hated Big Spur and everything associated with it. He had already told John Morrison to wrap up the business of the will and put the damn fucking place up for sale. Maybe then he could bury the demon that was the man who had sired him once and for all, deeper than the six feet in the cemetery where the coffin now rested.
He never understood why is father despised him so much. There had never been a kind word, a pat of encouragement, praise for success. Wade always had the feeling Max wished he’d never been born.
Try growing up with that, Zoe. See how much you’d love Big Spur if Jonas Hampton treated you like the spawn of the devil.
Zoe.
Jesus. Where had the nearly uncontrollable bolt of lust come from a few minutes ago? Okay, he was shocked to see the person he remembered as a skinny little kid was now a mature, ripe woman who unwittingly made his mouth water. But that was a place he’d never go. Forget the ranch. He’d learned to satisfy his sexual needs without having to worry about emotions. And Zoe, he knew for damn sure, would dig up all those emotions.
What would she say if he opened the door to his sexual preferences? Gave her an initiation into BDSM?
She’d run like a scared rabbit.
He often gave silent thanks to the friend who handed him into the care and feeding of a very experienced Dom, the man who taught him the erotic pleasures of the lifestyle. At first, it was almost like a drug. He had to restrain himself from visiting the club every night. Then he realized control was the key to success as a Dom. Lack of control would ruin him even before he got started.
So he pulled himself together and became a master student of every form of pain and pleasure. In the private dungeons of New York, he’d discovered a lifestyle that fit him like a glove. He learned that BDSM was a lot more than restraint and pain. That, in the hands of a properly trained Dom, it brought exquisite pleasure to both partners. The subs willing to participate in his practice sessions whispered about him and built his reputation as a Master to be sought after.
Rod Martin, the man who trained him, made sure he understood from the beginning anger had no place in a proper D/s situation. He’d warned Wade that Doms who did that were dangerous to themselves and others and barred from acceptable groups and dungeons. He taught him that the D/s relationship was the only one where trust was a key element. Only with a sub, in the dynamics of the power exchange, could he truly trust another human being.
So he’d learned a discipline that served him well for fifteen years. A discipline where he never let anger or hostility intrude.
But what if you showed Zoe your secret side? How would she look with hands bound, on her knees, sucking my cock, her ass red from paddling?
Stop!
Stop was right. No way would he ever take an innocent like Zoe Hampton into his world of BDSM or any other part of his life. Forget the fact that just the sight of her had his cock giving him urgent orders. Zoe was a forever kind of woman, and Wade didn’t do forever. With anyone. He could trust for a moment but not in the long run. Max Cameron had effectively soured him on relationships of any kind. Wade had accumulated wealth, a respected reputation, his choice of women both in and out of the lifestyle. What else could he ask for?
Nothing!
He repeated the word in his head, suffocating the restlessness that plagued him lately. Okay, so he was nearing forty. So what? A lot of people he knew never coupled up. He planned to be a permanent part of that group. Returning to Big Spur and seeing Zoe after all these years was causing the leash he wrapped so securely on his hurt and anger to slip. And there lay a pit of danger.
Hell!
Why did life have to be so fucking difficult?
I’ll fight it, whatever this is that’s bothering me. This attraction and the crap attached to it. I can do that. I’ll fight it, put the ranch up for sale, and get the hell out of here, before I
do any damage to myself or to her.
Zoe would probably end up thinking he was a bastard when all was said and done, but what the hell. He didn’t give one fucking damn. Right?
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
****
As ranch manager Jonas Hampton had been given a house on the property where Zoe had grown up. She leaned on the porch railing and stared across the rolling acreage of Big Spur Ranch, the conversation—argument—with Wade fresh in her mind. Not even the peaceful sight of horses gamboling in the corral, waiting to be stabled for the night, or the distant lowing of the cattle as they settled for the evening could ease the tension that had her strung tight.
Thinking she and Wade were two adults who could discuss the ranch with some sense of reasonableness had certainly been delusional. And her attempt to remain calm despite his obvious resentment hadn’t helped at all when every pulse point in her body was waking up and vibrating with anticipation.
Obviously, there was no reaching him. The animosity was palpable. Apparently, Wade had no interest in discussing anything with her. For one brief moment in the kitchen, when sexual awareness blazed between them, she saw intense heat in his eyes. The same heat that flashed through her body just being in the same room with him.
Then it was gone and he told her to get the hell away from him.
Sighing, she inhaled a deep breath, drawing in the scent of sagebrush and oak, hay and rich earth. And something else that tickled her nose. Something unpleasant.
Even two weeks after the disaster, she was sure she could still smell traces of smoke from the fire that destroyed the largest barn. And took her father’s life. Her throat tightened and her eyes burned as tears threatened to escape again, and she wondered if she’d ever stop crying. If the pain of the loss would ever ease.
Maybe she just wanted to keep the Spur alive so she could keep her father alive with her.
Forget Wade. Focus on Dad. On the memories.
But that was hard, when she imagined never being on this ranch again.
“Take a good long look at it, Zoe.” The harsh voice made every muscle in her body knot up. She hadn’t heard Wade come up behind her. Usually, she felt his presence before she saw him, but tonight her thoughts had been scattered.
