His damn brother had the gall to laugh at that threat. “Be careful. She may end up liking your discipline enough to egg her on instead of deterring her.”
“There is that, isn’t there?” What the hell was it about the woman he couldn’t get a handle on? In all his thirty-nine years, he’d never experienced such a constant pull for one woman, and wouldn’t you know it? It would have to be for an off-limits employee with a penchant for suspicious evasiveness.
A few minutes later, Connor slowed and pointed east across a field. “There she is. What is she doing?”
Spotting her, Caden’s blood ran cold as he swore, “Un-fucking believable!” Spurring Ranger into a gallop, he prayed he reached the idiot girl before one of their orneriest bulls followed through with his hoof-pawing threat and charged her. Why the hell did she just stand there with her hand out? “Head him off,” he shouted to Connor.
“Uh, oh.” Sydney took her eyes off the enormous cow that didn’t look happy with her and cast a quick glance toward the sound of approaching riders. She winced when she recognized the Dunbar brothers coming to her rescue. Caden was not going to be happy with her. Again.
Was it her fault she’d been daydreaming about her boss and ended up completely turned around? No, her mistake was in thinking she could just retrace her steps and find herself close to the house. Oops. The ‘bigger than life’ cow had charged out of nowhere, snorting his displeasure and shaking his massive head at her as if to say, how dare you tread on my turf! He couldn’t even be bribed into a friendlier attitude with a sugar cube she’d been saving for Daisy, the little mare she’d grown fond of.
Thank goodness her cowboys knew what they were doing. Caden came trotting up behind her while Connor rode between her and the cranky cow, his horse herding the heifer away from them as Caden leaned over and scooped her up with one hard arm around her waist. Her relief at their timely rescue changed to startled, breath-stopping unease when she found herself lying face-down in front of him and the grassy ground shifting in dizzying circles below her.
Before she could get her bearings, he swatted her wiggling backside hard enough to feel the discomfort and burn through her jeans. “What… oh!” The next smack cut off her complaint, the dull ache and warmth spreading to her quivering pussy rendering her mute with astonishment.
“I’m spanking some sense into you,” Caden growled, delivering one more slap before shifting her upright and leaving her sitting sideways as he nudged his horse back into a trot.
Sydney was too stunned from her body’s response to what should have been a humiliating set-down to wonder much what Connor meant when he pulled alongside them and, after one look at her face, called over with humor lacing his voice, “I think you lost that gamble, brother.”
The rumble of Caden’s low-voiced swearing vibrated against her shivering frame, and she enjoyed his frustration as much as she was shocked by the low-level arousal those few swats generated. She couldn’t even find it in her to be embarrassed from Connor witnessing his brother’s actions. With a wave, Connor took off ahead of them and Sydney braved a look up at her boss’ handsome, rugged face, exasperation swirling in his cobalt eyes.
“I can explain,” she offered.
“Really. How?” he mocked.
“I intended to stay within sight of the barns, but… got distracted and then turned around.” She wasn’t about to tell him she’d been fantasizing about being spanked and then fucked by him. He may fire her over such an infraction. As much as she missed her family, she was stuck here until she came up with a plan to return home and keep Uncle Mike and his desperate actions from hurting her grandmother and uncles.
“And, why didn’t you call this time?”
She looked away from those probing eyes that saw too much. Her lack of funds didn’t allow for her to add minutes to the pre-paid cell phone she’d been using since fleeing Missouri. She couldn’t reveal that without raising his suspicions about her even more than her refusal to tell him why she didn’t have insurance to charge for the medical bill the other day.
“I don’t carry it with me around the ranch.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think I needed to.”
“And now you know otherwise. You’re disrupting my work with your irresponsibility,” he chastised her as they neared the barns.
“If you would teach me to ride, like you promised, I would have something to do in the afternoons,” she argued in defense despite finding it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying while being held snug against him, his cock pressed against her thigh, her butt still tingling from those swats. Even the girls were on board, her nipples puckering into tight nubs.
“Maybe I’d have time if I wasn’t constantly riding to your rescue.” Caden dismounted at the barn and lifted her down. With his hat pulled low over his forehead, she could barely see his eyes, but his tight jaw told her she shouldn’t risk pushing him further today.
“I should see to dinner. Thanks for the ride, boss.” Her buttocks clenched when she felt his eyes on her as she strode across the lawn to the house, making her wonder what her response would be if he were to slap her bare butt. Just the thought drew a shiver down her spine and a heated throb between her legs. She bemoaned the desperate state stress and loneliness forced on her and despaired ever getting out of.
Sydney spent that evening making thick sandwiches the ranch hands could pack in their saddlebags the next day after Caden informed her most of them would be out on the range all day. After waving them off this morning, she’d grown unsettled with the stillness. She didn’t even have the dogs to keep her company. By the time the noon hour rolled around, and she still found herself at odds with her melancholy and itching to get away, she hopped in her car and drove all the way into Billings, using gas she could ill afford to use before payday and spent the last of her cash on lunch, a sexy romance novel and ten minutes on her cell phone.
She returned to the ranch broke, full and eager to hear her grandmother’s voice. But after using up her entire airtime and listening to Nana’s tearful questions about when she’d be home, she didn’t feel any better. Pulling her jacket on, she stepped outside intending to visi
t Daisy when she heard a high-pitched neighing coming from the far side of the barn. Rounding the corner, she saw an aggressive stallion and shy mare in the rear corral, the pair dancing around each other with tails held high. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one of the older ranch hands inside the stables, tossing down bales of hay from the loft, and felt better knowing someone else was near. The horses continued to prance around each other, nipping at each other with their large teeth, their sexual organs swollen and needy. When the stallion mounted the mare from behind, Sydney gasped and flushed from the sheer dominance of the larger animal.
Leaning her arms on the rail, she couldn’t look away from the carnality of the mating ritual between the two equines. The large male sank his teeth into the little mare’s neck while bucking against her hindquarters. She responded to his aggression by tossing her head and shifting on restless legs as he took her with pounding intensity. Sydney couldn’t help but picture Caden fucking her in much the same way, taking her with ruthless possession, his pistoning cock bringing her to climax over and over. She shuddered at the image in her head, her body breaking out in a sweat despite the cool afternoon temperature, her nipples and sheath tightening with pent-up lust.
“I really need to get laid,” she muttered, turning away from the now prancing horses, both animals looking quite pleased with themselves.
“There’s no telling what the damn woman will get into today with almost everyone out in the pastures,” Caden grumbled to Connor as they rode through the east pasture looking for strays. They were slowly making their way through the grazing fields, herding cattle closer to the homestead before the winter months bogged them down with snow.
Connor chuckled, tipped his hat back and looked over at him. “I think you like her. I know damn well you want her.”
“What’s your point?” No sense in denying the obvious.
“Just saying. Oh, shit.” Connor’s gaze had shifted over Caden’s shoulder, and he knew his brother had a clear, long-distance view of the barns and corrals. “She wouldn’t, would she?”