by Jane Jamison
She hated and loved their nicknames for her. No one had ever dared to call her babe or sugar. Hell, she’d never wanted any man to call her those names. Yet as much as she wanted to hear the terms of endearment from their lips again, the years of living with her father, of being groomed for business, of trying to show her father she was as strong as he was, couldn’t be pushed aside. Instead, she thrust out her chin and said, “Sorry, boys, I’m not marriage or ranch material.”
Turning on her heel, she strode toward the staircase. If she was lucky, she’d make it to her bedroom before the tears burning her eyes started to fall.
Chapter Six
Clint closed the barn door then turned to the group of men gathered in the dimly lit building. “Okay, listen up, guys. We’ve got to take a stand and hold firm. From what I gathered, Raven Ronnell has picked up three ranches. She only needs two more before she’s got enough land for that damn mall. Shit, she’ll have enough land to sell to other real estate developers, too. There’ll be strip malls and big box stores surrounding the mall. Probably commercial offices and condos, too. If that happens, Garner as we know it will be changed forever.”
The lunch they’d had with Raven seemed so long ago, and yet only four days had passed. Since then, they’d come to an unspoken agreement. No one would talk about why she was there. Instead, they’d shown her around the ranch, both on foot and on horseback. Although she hadn’t said anything, they’d seen how she’d reacted. With each passing day, she’d grown more relaxed and had asked to go riding. He’d even seen tears in her eyes when she’d hugged a newborn calf.
If a woman could hug a calf and come to tears, then she had it in her to love their ranch and their way of life. They had to hold on long enough for her to realize where she really belonged. One way or another they’d break down the wall she’d built to keep herself safe.
Still, if she didn’t let go soon, he’d go crazy. Dreams of her lying in his bed, her arms reaching out for him, haunted his days. Judging by the dark circles under Hale’s eyes, he had the same problem.
“Did you hear the price she gave the Chapmans?”
He scowled at Wy Wilson. Talking about how much money another rancher made from the sale of his place wasn’t going to help.
“It doesn’t matter. Whatever the price, it was enough to get Chuck and his family to sell their home. Come on, guys. We’ve got to stick together. If we don’t, she’ll pick up the rest of the land she needs, and it’ll be over without us putting up a fight.”
Wy took off his hat, nodding. “Clint’s right. What’s more important to you? Money or staying in your homes? How about continuing to live the life you love? How about being free and owning a piece of America?”
Maybe his brother had gotten a little dramatic but, then again, maybe not enough. All they could do was their best then hope they could persuade their neighbors not to give in to Raven’s offers.
“We have to stick together. Give me a show of hands. Who among you has she tried to talk into selling?”
His stomach flipped over when almost all of them raised their hands. She was a determined woman and didn’t waste any time. He dreaded asking the next question.
“And who’s thinking of taking her up on her offer?”
An uncomfortable murmur came and went before Max Tyler lifted his hand. “I thought about it.” A grumble of descent erupted around him. “Aw, shit, get real. The kind of money she’s offering doesn’t come along but once in a lifetime. Hell, Cherry’s on my back to take the offer and move back to Florida. She’d love to buy a little house next to her sister’s. I gotta say, after that last winter, a man thinks about calling it quits. I lost several cows in that ice storm.”
Max wasn’t the only who’d lost part of their herd. Between that and the previous summer drought, things had been hard.
“And then what, Max?” Clint tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, but it was hard to do. “Are you going to get a job in the same factory where your brother-in-law works? Can you give up your land and work inside a windowless room all day? Are you going to be happy punching a time clock?”
Max tucked his head. “I don’t want to, but…”
He didn’t need to finish his sentence. Clint, along with everyone else, knew what he’d say. “You know you’d end up hating it.”
Hale jumped in to back him up. “The money is a lot. We know that. But can you really put a price on your way of life? Can you turn your backs on everything your fathers and grandfathers built? And how about your kids? Do you want them growing up in the city? I sure as hell don’t want my kids playing on concrete.”
Rusty Mortenson cleared his throat. “The truth is most of us are wondering about you two.”
“About us?” Clint glanced at Hale and saw that he didn’t have a clue what Rusty meant, either.
Rusty checked the others, who silently gave him encouragement to go on, nodding and gesturing for him to continue. “We know you’re sweet on her. How do we know you won’t do whatever it takes to make her yours?”
He could understand their thinking. The men in their group of close friends were known to go to extreme means to claim the woman they wanted. Seth and Jarrod Hill had put their lives on the line to protect their lover, Chey, from a revenge-seeking father and son. Mitch and Wy Wilson had ended up caught in a shootout with drug-dealing gang members. Selling a ranch would be a lot to give up, but at least they wouldn’t be risking their lives.
“We’re not selling. If she can’t handle it, if she doesn’t want anything to do with us because we’re taking a stand against her, then…” He stalled. How far would they go? Would they choose their ranch over her? Along with his dreams of her lying underneath him, her raven hair spread over the pillow, had come nightmares of her getting into her car and driving away. “We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.”
What wouldn’t he do to keep her?
“We’re here to stay.” Hale walked into the center of the room, capturing everyone’s attention. “Listen up and I’ll tell you the God’s honest truth.”
Shit. No.
And yet, he couldn’t tell his brother to stop. They had to keep a united front.
“We’ve thought about leaving, but it didn’t take long for us to realize we could never leave Garner.” Hale stood his ground as the others grumbled. “The thing is she hasn’t made us an offer. Maybe because she knows we won’t take it.”
“But would you if you figured it was the only way to keep her?”
“No, we wouldn’t, Max.” Clint came to his brother’s side. “Not even if it meant losing her.”
It was strange to talk about romance and love among a group of hardworking ranch men, but they had a right to know where they stood. The real problem was that he wasn’t sure if he really meant what he’d said. Giving up either the ranch or her would tear him apart. How could a man make a choice like that?
“You’re full of shit,” said Max.
Was he? Yet he had a job to do, and he’d damn well do it. If he could convince the others not to sell, then maybe he and Hale wouldn’t be put in a position to make the choice. Maybe if Raven didn’t get the rest of the land she needed, she’d give it up and see what she could gain by staying.
“As far as we’re concerned, the land and our futures are one and the same. Sure, we could sell out and buy another ranch somewhere else, but we’d be killing a part of ourselves if we did. Sooner or later, we’d regret it and resent her for making us choose.”
“If we’re meant to be with Raven, then she’ll see what she’s doing and stop. She’ll stay because she wants to,” added Hale.
Clint wondered if he was the only one who heard the lack of conviction in Hale’s tone. Even so, there weren’t many things better than having a brother who stuck by his side. “Okay, now that you know where we stand, let’s get on with the meeting. I propose we all make a solemn pledge to not sell.” His attention drifted to Max. To his credit, Max stared back at him without flinching. “Ra
ise your hands if you’re with us. If we stand with each other, we can save our ranches. We can save Garner.”
He couldn’t suppress an elated feeling as every hand went up. “Good. Here’s what I’m thinking. She’ll probably go for the Spearman’s and Reynolds’ places next since they’re next to the other ranches she’s already bought. I’d like to suggest we all chip in and buy them before she does.”
“Buy the ranches? Who has the money to do that?” asked Max. “Besides, she’ll just up her offer.”
“We have the money if we pool our resources. We’ll have to hope we can convince them that they’ll be doing a service to the town to sell to us even if means less money. Hopefully, that’ll be enough to sway them.”
“And do what with the land?” Wy shifted from one foot to the other. “Those places aren’t near enough to mine to do me any good.”
“You’re right. We’re in the same position, but they’re both good land. If nothing else, we can use them for the grass.” He had to make them see it was their only chance. “Pitch in and you’ll be getting another range to use. And more, you’ll be taking a stand against the mall by saving the land from getting torn up and covered with pavement.”
“Ask yourselves this, guys.” Hale paused, letting his words have more meaning. “Can you stand by and watch bulldozers tearing up your land and your homes? What about the wildlife? I know I sound like some animal rights activist, but you know as well as I do what living around nature does for a man’s soul. I want to keep as much open rangeland in Texas as possible. If we don’t, we’re all going to wake up one morning living next to factories and shopping malls. Can you sleep at night knowing you let it happen? Knowing you could’ve stopped it?”
“He’s right,” added Wy. “Who’s in it with them? With all of us? Let’s see those hands again.”
Clint let out a slow exhale as they once again lifted their hands into the air.
* * * *
“You’ve got balls, you know that?”
Shit. Hale.
“Let me call you back, Luther.” Raven ended the call then craned her head around to look up at a very angry Hale. It took a lot to get him riled up, but talking about work, especially when it concerned the mall, was enough to do it.
“I thought we had an understanding.”
She stood up from the rocking chair and slipped the phone into her back pocket. Since arriving at the ranch, she’d taken to wearing jeans and T-shirts instead of business attire. Not having to wear high heels was a pleasure in itself.
“Calm down. We never said anything about my working while I was here.” Granted, they’d never done it in so many words, but they’d fallen into an implied agreement with her keeping her business restricted to her bedroom. “Besides, I’m on the porch.” She gave him a saucy grin. “Not in the house.”
“You know as well as I do what we expect. It’s damn disrespectful. Our relationship and your business”—he pointed toward her hip with a scowl darkening his face—“especially calls about the damn mall remain separate. Make your calls in your bedroom.”
Relationship. The word seemed so foreign to her. So why did it have her tingling with the same yearning she experienced every time they came near her? What was their relationship anyway? They’d had sex. Wild, wonderfully free sex she’d enjoyed more than she would’ve thought possible. But did they consider sex a relationship?
You know they do. And you know it’s more than just physical, too.
As was her style, she confronted the question head-on. “Do we have a relationship? I mean other than a Dom/sub thing in the bedroom? Besides, we’ve only done it a few times.”
Amazing, wonderful times. She’d let them take a little more control each time they were together.
He blinked, obviously thrown. “Sure, we do. Or at least I thought we did. We’re working on it. You know how we feel.”
She wanted to tell him he wasn’t wrong at all, that instead, she wanted him to be oh-so very right. But she couldn’t. Not yet. Years of protecting her heart wouldn’t let her.
“Look, I enjoy what we do in the bedroom.” Each time they’d treated her with respect even while slowly starting to dominate her and call all the shots. She’d given in a little more with each sexual romp, liking the feeling of putting them in power. “But like you said, business and pleasure are two different things. I woke up and came outside to make the call. How was I supposed to know you’d get up this early? Hell, the sun’s just coming up.”
“Ranchers are always up early. You would’ve known it if you’d hauled your sweet ass out of bed before ten before today.”
He cupped her by the neck, tugging her forward. “I think it’s time to let you see how it’s really going to be with us.”
She melted inside but kept a cold exterior. Other than the rapid rise and fall of her chest, he wouldn’t be able to see her reaction.
“Are you talking about sex?”
“That and more.”
“But I’m only staying a few more days. By then, I’ll have all the land I need—”
“Damn it, Raven. Stop talking.”
His lips crushed against hers, taking away her breath along with the ability to argue. He tugged her upper lip out then nibbled even longer on her lower lip. By the time he released her, she was ready to tear her shirt off and place his hand on her breast.
“We don’t want to hear anything about your work, much less the plans for the super mall. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.” She’d used the term before, but with each time it became easier to say.
Her body ached for their embraces. More than the physical part of it, she yearned for a release in the tension that had built up inside her. Tension over work, of course, was always a part of her. But the tension over wondering what they would do when they would touch her again had overwhelmed her even more.
She needed them again. Not only to feel their bodies next to hers but to be able to let go. To give someone else the reins of control. Memory of their times together plagued her whenever she was apart from them, making her fear she’d never again experience the bliss that came with giving the men more and more dominance over her. But could she ever give them total control?
“What’s going on?”
She smiled at Clint striding up the steps but didn’t speak. After doing more research online regarding submissives, she’d learned it was better to let the men prompt her for a reply.
“She was talking on her phone about business,” answered Hale.
“No shit? Outside her room?”
“She sure was. Right here on the porch.”
If any other man had looked at her with fierce expression like Clint’s, she might’ve given him hell. But like Hale, he was different. His look was filled with animosity and an animalistic passion that reverberated through her.
“I guess we’re going to have to give her another lesson on how to behave.”
Oh, yes, please.
The sun’s yellow light fell on them, casting their hard bodies in a gold sheen and turning them into statues come to life. Hale stepped to his brother’s side.
“Strip, sub,” ordered Hale.
They hadn’t called her sub before. Surprisingly, she loved the sound of it. “Yes, sir.” She was thankful they didn’t have ranch hands. No one would see them.
“Don’t talk again unless we ask you a question.” Clint’s eyes narrowed into a challenge. “Understood?”
She nodded. Barefoot, she started on her jeans. Her gaze never left theirs as she undid the button then slowly lowered the zipper. Their hungry expressions grew more intense.
“Keep going, sugar.” Clint took off his hat and tossed it on one of the rocking chairs.
If they wanted a show, she’d give it to them. Slowly, she took her shirt by both hands and, with one easy tug, brought it out of her jeans. She pulled the hem upward until it rubbed the bottom of her braless breasts.
“Don’t stop now.”
She rec
ognized the growl in Hale’s tone. And judging from the bulge in his jeans he was more than ready to ride her.
Turning her shirt loose brought scowls from them, but she didn’t push her luck too long. After waiting the count of three, she took hold of it again and brought up her arms. Up and off it came with a toss of her head. Her hair floated along her bare shoulders.
But they weren’t looking at her shoulders or her hair. They were too caught up in the slight bounce of her breasts.
“I swear. Those have got to be the best tits in the world.”
“Fake or not.” Clint lifted an eyebrow.
“Every bit of me is real, sir.”
“Good to know.” Hale thrust out his chin. “Go on.”
She crossed her arms again, pushing her breasts together, then did a turn around. Glancing over her shoulder, she eased her jeans over her hips and down her thighs. She craned her head around, wanting to see their reactions when they found out she wasn’t wearing any undies.
Oh, yeah. They like what they see, all right.
She’d never been shy when it came to showing off her body. And yet, outside of liking the admiration, she’d never really cared what the man thought of her shape. Like the old saying went, she’d never had any complaints.
But it was different with the Yager men. She not only wanted them to like what they saw but to crave it. To feel the need to plunge their cocks deep inside her.
“Fucking A, but that’s a sight I’ll never forget,” murmured a very studious Clint. “Your ass is beautiful.”
“Our baby has a good booty on her, that’s for sure,” added Hale.
She bent lower, taking her time to pull one leg then the other out of her jeans. Straightening up, she took a step forward. Her gaze fell on Clint’s pickup, parked close by. The sun was still climbing, brightening the day and casting its yellow glow over the land.
She dared to speak, keeping her back to them. “Sirs?” Calling someone other than her father sir seemed strange and different. Better. Sir was a word she’d always said with barely contained contempt, but not when she said it to them. For the Yager men, it was indeed a term of respect.
