Sarah's Surrender (Ranchers of Chatum County 2)

He pulled onto the unpaved county road, and drove slowly until he reached the paved highway, where he accelerated.

It wasn’t until they had been driving for a good ten or fifteen minutes that Sarah’s brain began functioning again.

And when it did, it wasn’t good.

She was nothing but a muddled mass of nerves but she knew one thing. She was in deep shit. That abbreviated embrace at the dancehall hadn’t prepared her for the punch that John Garrett’s kiss could hold when he wanted it to.

She was going to lose this sexual fight that raged between them. She was suddenly sure of that. So now there were only two questions left. Did he know she was going to lose? And how long could she hold out?

She was lost in her own thoughts and as silence filled the air, she realized that he was lost in his, as well. She turned her head minutely to watch him. His eyes were on the road and his jaw was clenched, his profile sharp. He looked as tense as she felt. What was he thinking about?

When they were about fifty miles out of town, in the middle of nowhere, he pulled into a secluded picnic area. Sarah looked around as apprehension filled her. It wasn’t a rest area where other travelers stopped frequently to use the facilities or to buy something from a vending machine. This was only a small pull-through, large enough for one or two vehicles, and it contained only a picnic table and a trash receptacle.

And it was empty. Theirs was the only vehicle around, and although it wasn’t dark yet, the sun was sinking rapidly in the sky and the threat of darkness was all around her. A slight sense of panic infiltrated her being.

He pulled in, put the car into park, and let it idle. Putting both arms over the steering wheel, he turned his head to look directly at her. She turned warily and put her back against the door to face him. His skin pulled taut over his cheekbones and his nostrils flared at her defensive move.

He watched her in silence for a moment more and then said in a deep, resonating voice, “I know you liked the kiss.”

She didn’t attempt to deny it; it would be useless. “It can’t happen again.” Even as she said the words, she knew she was only saying them in an attempt to delay the inevitable.

He ignored her as if she hadn’t spoken. “We have two issues here. We’ve got the personal, sexual issue between us, and we’ve got the business with the retirement home to figure out. Here’s the way I think we should handle it. The two issues stay separate.”

Sarah fought back. “We don’t have a personal, sexual issue between us. I’m engaged to someone else.”

He gave her a withering stare. “Don’t even attempt that shit with me, Sarah. I’m telling you I think we should keep the two things separate. I think I can do that. I’m asking you if you can?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Fine.” Her voice remained even.

He glanced down at her left hand. “Have you seen him again?”

She watched him warily. “No.”

“How’d you get the ring?” He didn’t even attempt to control it; he knew he sounded territorial.

“U.P.S.”

With her answer, he felt himself relax a small degree as he continued to watch her across the darkened interior of the car. “You know I’d never physically hurt you?”

Sarah’s heart skipped a beat and then took up at a cadence that was far too frantic. What the hell did he mean by that? Why the hell would he ask her that? If that question was supposed to set her at ease, he had failed miserably. His words had the opposite affect. Her face blanched of all color as she continued to watch him from her side of the vehicle.

Like a lightning strike, he reached out and snagged her left wrist in his hand and pulled it away from her body and held her arm up in the air between them in a grasp that was meant to subdue her and bring her under his will. “Take the ring off, Sarah.”

Tendrils of shock and anger slid down her spine. “No.” She would break her damn engagement when and how she wanted. Not when he told her to.

His grip tightened on her arm and his face came closer to hers. “Take the goddamn ring off now.”

“No.”

“I find it pretty damn insulting that you’d kiss me like you did and wear another man’s fucking ring!” He blasted the last few words at her.

“I didn’t kiss you. You kissed me!”

“You kissed me back.”

“No, I didn’t.”

He reached out and grabbed her other wrist and pushed her arms up and away from her body. His face came within a few millimeters from hers. “You don’t think? You need more proof?” His voice was low yet lethally intense.

Sarah started panting. Good God, she couldn’t help it. He was dominating her physically, his body threatening hers sexually. His scent was all around her, intoxicating her into doing something stupid. She’d never in all her life met anyone like him. She knew in that instant that she never would again.

He transferred both of her wrists into one strong hand, unclipped her seatbelt and pulled her until she was in the middle of the vehicle, hanging over the console. Their breathing was ragged as they came

face to face. Slowly, methodically, he reached down and claimed her breast. He squeezed it firmly and ran his thumb over her nipple until it pebbled against her will and she gasped for air.

His mouth landed on hers and as she tried to catch her breath, his tongue invaded her mouth and dueled with hers.

His mouth moved to her ear, still holding her captive. “He can’t make you feel what I can. If he could, you’d be in Dallas with him.” He tugged her earlobe between his teeth and Sarah felt coiled heat travel from her ear to her breasts and land between her thighs.

Her breath mingled with his and they panted together and then his mouth came back to hers. Sarah couldn’t deny his kiss any longer and opened her lips to him as they shared a connection more intimate that anything she’d ever known before.

He released her breast and Sarah whimpered from the loss of the caress. He pulled her left hand between them and as he lifted his mouth away from hers, he began to take the ring from her finger.

Her hands trembled and she tried to make a fist. But she couldn’t do it, her energy was gone, her hands shaking so much she couldn’t control them.

“Give me the ring, babe,” he cajoled. “You don’t belong to him.” He looked down between them, and pried her fingers apart. The ring was not as tight as it should be, and it slid off her finger with ease.

He held it between his fingers in front of her face as if in question. Sarah licked her dry lips and watched him warily, her body shaking.

“Engagement is over. Understand?” The answer he demanded made Sarah feel as if she was about to fall over a precipice. She needed that engagement if only as a buffer to stand between them. But she knew that wasn’t fair to Randall. But she needed something to keep John at bay a bit longer. But evidently, she wasn’t going to be able to have that.

“I’ll have to tell him.”

At her words, John felt like an iron weight had been lifted from his chest. With sure movements, he opened the glove compartment and shoved the ring inside. He made sure he kept his face expressionless, and turned back to face her. “Yeah, you’ll have to tell him. You’ll do it tomorrow, and then you won’t speak to him again, understand me?”