by Dace Everan
Ren raised a brow. She had been kidnapped and her husband had brought another woman in? That wasn’t right. Wait, maybe she’d been a nanny? He glanced at Cole. The pain that echoed in her eyes said otherwise. “When I first got the ranch I wasn’t home a lot, spent a lot of my time out with the herd. I might have made it to the house once a week. Things are easier now that I have the boys out there,” he told Etty.
Etty slumped. “If you had a mommy and kids, would you do that?”
Ren furrowed his brows. “Work away from my home?” he asked.
Etty shook her head. “Bring another lady in. She even slept in Mommy’s bed. I didn’t like that. That was Mommy’s bed. I missed snuggling with you, Mommy.”
Tears spilled down Cole’s cheeks.
Jake grunted. “See, Etty, told you to stop,” he grumbled.
Cole wiped the tears away. “No, Jake, it’s all right. Not the right place to talk about this, Etty, but you’re right. What Daddy did was wrong. I missed snuggling with you, too.”
Jake slumped back in his seat, a scowl on his face. “I won’t ever do that, Mom. When my wife gets taken away from me, I’m going to go look for her and bring her home,” he declared heatedly.
Cole smiled. “Yes, I know you will. But you will never have to worry about that hon. your wife will never go missing.” She hoped to God he never had to have to deal with anything like that.
Etty peeked up at her mommy. “Are Theo and Lane ever going to come visit us, Mom? I miss them, too. They were nice.”
Cole smiled. “I hope so. I miss them, too.”
Ren draped an arm around her. He wondered if she even realized she was leaning against him. She had probably been a snuggly little thing before her kidnapping. He bet she was giggly and her eyes had lit up with mischief. “We can invite them out, guys. I hear they get a few weeks off at the end of summer.” He grinned. “Now that the cabins are all fixed up, they have a place to stay.”
Cole’s head whipped up, catching the bottom of his chin, and his teeth rattled. Cole cringed, her hand caressing his jaw. “Sorry,” she squeaked.
Ren chuckled. “If I ever call you hardheaded…you cannot argue that with me, got it?”
Cole grinned. “Everyone has a hard head. Really, you would invite them out?” Ren’s heart overflowed with happiness. The thought of Cole being able to see them again and feel her safety made him happy. Knowing he could help provide happiness for her delighted him.
Ren rubbed his jaw, missing her soft hand on him. “Yes. They had mentioned coming out any way. They miss you guys, too.”
Etty giggled. “Lane’s cute. I’m gonna grow up and marry him,” she declared rather proudly.
Jake scoffed. “I don’t think Theo will let you, Etty. He loves Lane.”
Etty frowned shaking her head. “No, I told him I would marry him. That he had to wait and Theo has to let him marry me!” she stated.
Cole chuckled. “And what if someone else comes along? What if you decide you like that Darron kid instead?” Etty turned a bright red.
Ren chuckled. “Etty, you already got a little boyfriend? We’ll have to break it to Lane real gentle. He’ll forgive you though.”
Etty seemed to be relieved. “Darron says he’s gonna marry me, that I’m his,” she mumbled followed by a snort. “I ain’t his. I’m my mommy’s.”
Ren grinned. He wondered if all kids were like this. Shit, to have a couple like these ones. Something stirred in him. Something he’d never felt. A shiver reared down his spine and he held Cole closer. That last feeling he knew well. He was ready to mate.
Chapter Four
Cole slumped back on the sofa. The kids had helped her close all the windows and close up the cabins before homework. After homework, Ren had taken them all for a walk to the pond to check on the frogs and then over to the barn. Once back inside the house, he took Jake to his office and let him pick out his markers. Red, blue, and black. Jake asked Ren to be the first to sign it. Ren drew a paw print on it. Etty drew a flower, and Cole drew a smiley face.
Ren plopped down across from her. “You look tired.”
Cole nodded, body tensing, sensations she hadn’t felt in a long time returned to her at the sight of him. Her tummy was fluttering and her heart was accelerating. She shifted, finding it a tad bit uncomfortable to be here. Usually he went to his office in the evenings, and she had an hour to herself out here before she went to bed.
“You did well today, Cole,” he praised.
Cole nodded. “Except I wanted to beat the living crap out of a ten-year-old for pushing my kid,” she grumbled. Her not-so-proud moments, wanting to spank a child for being an unruly little shit! She had always preached to her children that there was always another option other than violence.
Ren smiled. “Nice, I wanted to tie him up, humiliate him, and then spank his ass, then yell at his parents, maybe take a round out of his dad?” Cole laughed and her eyes lit and it warmed Ren’s heart.
“Yeah, you take the dad, I’ll take the mother,” she offered.
“Diabolical, your husband cheated on you when you were taken?”
Cole held her breath. The question was so abrupt she didn’t know how to answer. Her face flamed. She looked past him before letting her gaze meet his. She had tried to deny it to herself, tried to convince herself he had just hired her to help with the kids. She couldn’t let her whole life fall apart. She had been in such bad shape. She knew better now.
“Obviously, he had been seeing her before you were taken.”
Cole clenched her teeth. “I wasn’t sure,” she stammered. She could never bring herself to think of Bill cheating on her. He had treated her so lovingly. But in the end, everything lined up. The late night shifts, the weekend shifts. The dinners with his work that he forgot to get her in on. The sad excuses he had for everything.
Ren nodded, his long legs stretching out in front of him. Big, socked feet caught her sight. She was glad to see he stopped wearing his boots in the house. That had been so embarrassing. Two weeks into moving into his home, he had come in with his boots on like every other day, and she followed him with the broom. He had snapped at her, and she had snapped back that she had swept and mopped, and he had just brought cow shit in and spread it all over her clean floors. He kindly reminded her they were his floors and stomped away. He never wore his boots in again after that.
“That must’ve been hard. Being returned to your family and having to deal with that?”
Cole shrugged. “I was numb to it all. It was like walking in a haze for a few months there. I remember taking the kids to school, terrified on the way home. Small town though. When they found out what had happened, they all stepped up and helped out. I started a walking group, so I had someone to walk to and from the school with. After the kids were in bed, it was nothing. I don’t remember the evenings, the nights. I know I didn’t sleep much.” She released a breath. “Then he just stopped showing up at home all together…His new girlfriend showed up one day with a moving truck.” She grimaced.
That had been the hardest thing ever, having to deal with that woman and not kill her, then having to explain to her children when they got home, why all of Daddy’s things were gone. Tears welled in her eyes.
Ren settled in next to her, his strong arms pulling her onto his lap. “What did you do?”
Cole shuddered. “All that I could. One of the mothers in the walking group owned a restaurant in town, told her I couldn’t handle working with people. She put me in the back for cooking and washing dishes. Of course I found out at the end of the month Billy wasn’t a total loser. He paid the rent, the bills, and had stopped in and left five hundred dollars in my secret spot.” She clasped her hands. “I suppose it was good after that. As soon as I knew the kids had their home, food, and the only thing they had to deal with was Daddy being gone and Mom’s mental breakdowns, it didn’t seem so heavy.”
Ren gave her a squeeze. “You couldn’t have broken down that many times. Your kids a
re awesome.”
Cole nodded. “I had a counselor come in on Wednesday evenings so we could talk about everything. They needed answers to why I went missing and I needed someone to explain it in better terms than how I would. Telling a six- and eight-year-old that bad men grabbed your mommy and took her to a man to use her as a…” She stopped. She wasn’t a fuck toy. She closed her eyes and inhaled a few breaths. “The counselor explained it better to them,” she finished.
Ren’s heart clenched at the inner battle she was struggling with. He rubbed the length of her arm. “Do you feel you need someone to talk to now?” If she needed it, he would provide it. She seemed to be doing fine, but if she needed more he would do anything to help her.
Cole shook her head. “No, I still have her number, my support when I get those days of not feeling worth living.”
Ren hugged her close. Those were some heavy issues. “If you ever need to talk, I’m here, too.”
Cole smiled. “Thank you.”
Ren grinned. “Or if you want to pummel on something, think I have someone for that, too…You girls like to strike out.”
Cole nodded. “I was taking kickboxing…my friend’s husband.” Tears slid down her face. She missed her friends. “He…when he found out what happened and after Billy left, he came and stayed for a month. They took all their holidays and came out and stayed and he took me to self-defense classes and Lana stayed home with the kids.”
Ren beamed. He needed to meet these people. It was those kinds of people she needed in her life. Her kids needed in their lives.
“He was so pushy.” She shook her head. “Even got me private classes. He had a friend who owned a place and explained everything to him. I think that place helped me out the most. My last night there they ganged up on me. They used all the words that would freeze me and made me fight them.”
Ren smiled, nodding. “Did you do well?”
Cole nodded. “Jasper wished he’d worn some sort of protection. Lana was not happy with me the next day.”
Ren chuckled. Old-school ball kicker, was she? Good for her. “Please don’t ever kick me there,” he stated.
Cole giggled. “I didn’t kick him,” she offered, releasing a heavy breath as if releasing all the negativity from the last few years.
Ren frowned. Didn’t kick him? What the fuck had she done? “What did you do?” he asked, eyes on hers.
Cole shrugged. “I was on the floor curled up in a ball. I panicked when he came close, and the next thing I know, he’s on the floor curled up in a ball. Had no idea what I did, but I did not kick him, maybe punched him. The next morning, he said I owed his balls a kissy better. Of course Lana would be upset if I were to personally do that to her man so she would do it for me.”
Ren chuckled. “He forgave you?”
She nodded. “He made me promise if I ever died, he got the kids because he was pretty sure I ruined any chances of him having any.”
“Ouch.”
Cole giggled. “He laughed and teased me a lot and it made me feel better. Told me that if any man approached me, to do that and I would be guaranteed no man would ever touch me again.”
“So that’s your secret move?”
Cole shook her head. “The thought of no man ever touching me again is scary.” And it did honest to God scare her. She wanted this right here, a man hugging her, holding her. Just as Ren was holding her.
Ren raised a brow.
“I know I should be all, ‘men are never going to touch me because I’m dirty and gross,’ but I’m not. I’m a woman. I have needs, too. I liked sex before.” She bit her lower lip. Should she even be sharing this with him? He had just said if she needed someone to talk to, he was there. “It just seems to be taking longer this time around to come out of the slump. I suppose when the kids go to college, I should be good again.”
Ren grunted. “Well, shit, that’s a long time…I don’t think I could wait that long,” he decided.
Cole looked up at him with startled eyes. “What?” Did he just imply what she thought he did?
Ren grinned down at her. “Woman, I’m a Wolf. I can smell your arousal. You have dirty dreams. Did you know that?”
Cole stared at him. She hadn’t been aroused in years. “Bullshit!” she called. There was no fricken’ way her body wanted a man!
Ren laughed. “You do. Last night you were actually moaning out.”
Cole blushed. No way. Her brained retraced, trying to remember a dream, anything. She didn’t remember dreaming anymore.
Ren grinned, relaxing. “No point in denying it. Even the other day when you were in the laundry room, I could smell it.”
Cole didn’t think she could turn any redder, or get any hotter. The bugger was calling her arousal on her. She had been a slight bit turned on in the laundry room. That was hardly fair. She had been in the middle of folding clothes when he walked in butt naked, tossed his clothes in the hamper, tipped his hat at her and gave her one of his dashing smiles, and walked out. “You don’t play fair! How would you like it if you were in your office and I came in there butt naked except a cowboy hat, gave you a melt-your-heart smile and walked out?” she argued.
Ren’s grin grew. It was what he had hoped to accomplish. Remind her she was a woman, that she had needs, and he was more than willing to accommodate. “I couldn’t guarantee you would be walking out right away…Shit, I probably wouldn’t let you walk out.” He decided he would be carrying her after an exhausting session of fucking her silly.
Cole looked at him. He offered her one of those dashing smiles. “Yes, you’re a woman, I’m a man, and you’re attractive. More than attractive. I heard Gordon call his wife a goddess once. Couldn’t figure out why. The only thing I saw that woman do was hand him the lunch basket and kiss him on the cheek and go home. Then he invited me over for dinner and that woman.” He harrumphed. “She’s like you. A mom, a wife, and every other thing you could think of. You women are an amazing breed. The things you can do, and so many of them.”
Cole snorted. “It’s called multitasking. We’re taught young. You ever notice how Etty does her reading and brushes her hair, or when she’s helping with supper she’s always working on math skills and spelling as we’re cooking?”
Ren grinned, nodding. “Yeah, Jake, too. He can’t seem to do it as smoothly.”
Cole nudged him. “It’s a man thing. You guys can’t multitask,” she declared.
Ren grinned. “I’m multitasking right now,” he pointed out.
Cole raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really now?” she sang in a coy voice.
He grinned, finger dragging down her neck.
When the hell had his hand scooped around her and touched her? His other hand was high on her thigh, thumb swiping in slow strokes across the top of her thigh. She shivered.
“I’m being a friend and listening.” He dipped, lips caressing hers. Her pupils dilated. “Being a man trying to seduce you.” Another swipe of his lips across hers, shivers tumbled through her. “My hands are working your erogenous areas.”
She shivered as his hand dipped lower on her neck across her collar, shoulder, back up tracing her ear. His other hand slid closer to her jean-covered pussy. Her thighs tightened together, capturing his hand. “Of course when you do that, it halts most of my actions,” he replied giving her leg a squeeze.
Cole licked her lips. “I should go to bed,” she stammered, pushing his hands away, scrambling away from him. “Good night. Ren, thank you for taking us out,” she babbled hastily before darting down the hall to her bedroom.
Chapter Five
Cole ignored him the rest of the weekend, her children dragging her around the ranch showing her their new hideouts they had found. Evenings were a bit awkward after the kids went to bed. She refused to hide herself in her room, and baking had come to the forefront for evenings to keep busy and away from Ren.
Ren grinned at her on Sunday night as she whipped up the egg whites. “What’s on the menu for tonight?” he asked
, leaning against the counter-height island across from her. Had to give her credit, she did have one hell of a stubborn streak, managing to avoid him all week long. It had only fueled his hunger for her.
She furrowed her brows. “Granny’s chewy oatmeal cookies,” she specified, whipping away at the egg whites.
He cocked his head watching her breasts sway with every whip, and then suddenly she stopped. His eyes darted up and he smiled at the scowl on her face. She opened her mouth to talk then shut it. She shoved the bowl at him.
“You have muscles. Can you whip that for me, please?” she ordered scornfully, turning around opening cupboards in his kitchen.
He grimaced, picking up the whisk, looking at the white fluff. “How long?” he asked taking a stir.
Cole glanced back shaking her head. “Beat it, Ren. Stirring you’ll be there till next week,” she grumbled crossing back to him. “And do it till it’s stiff.”
Ren grinned, pushing it away. “We’re good. It’s stiff.”
Cole glared at him. “There are a dozen egg whites in that bowl. I don’t care if your dick is stiff, you need to whisk those until they are or you’ve just thrown away a dozen eggs and the chance to try some really yummy cookies!” she chastised. Oh, goodness, his teasing had only gotten worse as the week progressed. Her panties were guaranteed wet when she did run to her room and her libido was near full throttle every evening.
Ren grinned. He could already smell her arousal, just hearing his dick was hard for her made her pussy wet for him. He licked his lips. He couldn’t wait to taste the sweetness he could smell emanating from her. He stepped away from the counter and crossed to the pantry. He returned with a KitchenAid mixer.
Cole’s eyes widened. “You have a fricken’ mixer!” she uttered.
Ren smiled, wiping out the bowl, rinsing the beater, and thoroughly drying it. He attached the appropriate beater, and poured in the half-beaten egg whites and turned it on. “Kay, those are getting stiffened. Now what?” he asked.
