Passion on the Ranch: Books 1-4 (4-Book Bundle) (Erotic Romance - Western Romance)
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Passion on the Ranch: Books 1-4 (4-Book Bundle)
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2013 by Melissa F. Hart. All rights reserved worldwide.
No part of this book may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written consent of the author/publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
http://www.melissafhart.com/
Books in the series
Taming Suzanna - Volume 1
Capturing Suzanna - Volume 2
Freeing Suzanna - Volume 3
Suzanna Bound by Love - Volume 4
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Synopsis
Book One: Taming Suzanna
Suzanna Wheeler enjoys the attention she receives from the men who work on her father’s ranch. So, when her Daddy tasks his best foreman, the handsome and rugged Colton Stevens, with the chore of keeping an eye on her, she isn’t the least bit happy about it. Willful and defiant, she is determined to keep doing whatever she wants, even when that leads to trouble and danger. Passion and love erupt in this exciting tale of a rancher’s daughter who wants to experience life’s taboos. Is Colton the one to tame her wild heart?
Book Two: Capturing Suzanna
Suzanna Wheeler knows that the love she has for Colton Stevens, her father’s best ranch foreman, is as taboo as the sensual games they enjoy together. She knows that if her Daddy were to catch the two of them together, it would be the end of their romance; however, that isn’t the most dangerous problem she faces. Someone far more sinister is out to capture Suzanna, and if he succeeds, it will mean the end of her father’s ranch, and possibly even of her life.
Book Three: Freeing Suzanna
Suzanna Wheeler has finally found the love of her life in Colton Stevens, the handsome ranch foreman who taught her to free her passions with taboo games. It is a cruel fate that both of them are now going to die at the hands of a vengeful villain, unless Suzanna’s plan to free them works. Danger and excitement blend with romance and lust as Suzanna races against time to save herself and the man she loves.
Book Four: Suzanna Bound by Love
Suzanna has survived a lot, but now she has finally married the love of her life, Colton Stevens, and is ready for her happily ever after. They share a boundless love that is enhanced by the sensual games they enjoy together in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the troubles they thought they had left behind are not fully over yet. Someone from her past seeks to use the things she loves most to harm her, by destroying them all…one by one. Will Suzanna get the happiness she desperately desires?
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Table of Contents
Taming Suzanna
1 - Chapter One
1 - Chapter Two
1 - Chapter Three
1 - Chapter Four
1 - Chapter Five
1 - Chapter Six
Capturing Suzanna
2 - Chapter One
2 - Chapter Two
2 - Chapter Three
2 - Chapter Four
2 - Chapter Five
2 - Chapter Six
2 - Chapter Seven
Freeing Suzanna
3 - Chapter One
3 - Chapter Two
3 - Chapter Three
3 - Chapter Four
3 - Chapter Five
3 - Chapter Six
Suzanna Bound by Love
4 - Chapter One
4 - Chapter Two
4 - Chapter Three
4 - Chapter Four
4 - Chapter Five
4 - Chapter Six
4 - Chapter Seven
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Taming Suzanna
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Chapter One
Suzanna Wheeler quietly tiptoed down the stairs in her socks, holding her favorite pair of boots in her hands. She knew their hard soles would make too much noise on the wooden staircase of her family’s ranch house, and she desperately didn’t want to wake her father.
Daddy was a good man who meant well, but he thought a girl’s place was in the home and not out riding horses. At the age of twenty-one, Suzanna had grown well beyond being a girl into a fully-fledged woman, and if the looks she received from Daddy’s ranch hands were any indication, she was quite an attractive one.
Suzanna wasn’t the kind of girl to be coy. She knew full well the effect she had on men when she walked into the field wearing a thin white t-shirt stretched tightly over her ample breasts. She also knew how they liked to watch her ass move when she wore her jeans just a little too tight. With a naughty, crooked grin, she had to admit that she liked the attention. It made her feel alive and sexy to feel their eyes upon her that way.
Of course, their eyes were the only thing anyone ever laid upon her. It was no secret that Daddy didn’t want anyone deflowering his little princess. To make sure no one tried, he saddled his most trusted foreman with the task of keeping an eye on her.
“You don’t pay me to be a babysitter!” she had overheard Colton Stevens shouting at her father, as only he had the guts to do.
“I sure as hell do!” Daddy’s voice sounded as forceful as she’d ever heard it. She had leaned against the barn door, curious to hear who would win this battle of wills. Daddy said to Colton, “You babysit my horses, my cattle, and all the ranch hands who work under you. Well, now I’m telling you to babysit my most valued possession of all, Suzy!”
“Damn it Sir, I don’t want to disrespect you, but your daughter is a full-grown woman with a mind of her own. I’m not going to be able to stop her from doing whatever she puts her mind to around here.”
“Well, you’d better try. I know she’s got the spirit of a wild Mustang sometimes, but until I find the man who can tame her, I’m counting on you to make sure she stays safe and pure. I don’t care if you have to hogtie her to the back of your horse! I want to know that my little girl will be wearing white on the day I walk her down the aisle, and if she can’t, you’ll be answering to me for it!”
Suzanna heard her father’s voice crack with emotion at the end of his speech and felt a flutter of guilt that her beloved Daddy held such strong feelings for her wedding day. Obviously, the rare display of emotion touched Colton too, for his voice softened when he said, “Yes, Sir. You can count on me to keep an eye on Suzanna for you.”
“Better make it both eyes,” Daddy joked to lighten the moment. “I know what a troublemaker my little angel can be.”
“Amen to that,” Colton said, and Suzanna felt her cheeks flush with rage that the two men were making jokes at her expense. How dare Daddy order his best foreman to act as her babysitter and how could Colton accept the role with such a cavalier attitude. She wasn’t some doll they could keep locked in the house until the day her father found a suitable man to marry her! She was a flesh and blood woman with desires and dreams. She would do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and no one could stop her, starting right now!
In the months that followed, Suzanna had made it her mission to foil Daddy and Colton’s attempts at watching her as often as she could. She’d gotten quite good at sneaking out of the house and away from prying eyes, although Colton had proven to be a worthy adversary. Somehow, he managed to always be one step ahead of her with that smug grin on his handsome face. He absolutely infuriated her.
“Good morning, Miss Wheeler. Off for a pre-dawn stroll today?” Suzanna clutched her boots and stifled a yelp at the sound of the deep male voice. She turned from the stairs to see Colton himself sitting at her family’s kitchen table, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
Outsmarted again! Suzanna tried to look casual and unperturbed as she sat in a chair next to him and began pulling on her boots. She said to him, “I thought I’d get an early start this morning. I heard you say you wanted to check the fence line for gaps and broken posts on the west side of the cattle pasture today.”
Colton grinned charmingly as he poured her a cup of coffee and said, “I did say that, but not to you. I was going to send Randy and Mike out to do that. I believe I told you that your father wanted you to stay in the ranch house today to meet with the suppliers.”
Suzanna took the cup of coffee he handed her and pouted at it. Angrily, she said, “Daddy doesn’t need me to meet with the suppliers. He hasn’t changed his order with them in years! He just wants to keep me locked in the house like Rapunzel in her tower. Come on, Colton, you’ve been following me. You know I’m capable of so much more than what Daddy gives me credit for! Let me do something! Let me be of real help working on the ranch!”
“Well you can ride better than half the men working under me, that’s for damn sure,” Colton said with honest appreciation. “You’re good with the animals and you’re good with your hands, too. I just can’t do it though, Suzanna. Your father would fire me and throw me out on my ass if I let you work in the field. You stay put, and that’s that!”
“Colton, this is a load of bull!” Suzanna yelled at him, and slammed her coffee cup onto the table. “You can’t make me stay here!”
Colton rose from the table with slow movements, deliberately showing her that he was in control and not the least bit riled by her hissy fit. He finished his coffee, rinsed his cup in the sink, put his hat on his head, and strolled casually to the door. Then he looked at her and said in voice as smooth as honey, “Miss Wheeler, if you set one foot in that field today, I will find you and give you a spanking you won’t soon forget, young lady.”
Then he closed the door firmly behind him. Suzanna paced angrily out of the kitchen table and into the dining room, fuming with rage. Determination set it and she came to a halt in front of the large mirror in the dining room. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but it only enhanced the beauty of her face, with her delicate features, healthy tan skin, and sparkling blue eyes. Her long blonde hair was pulled neatly into a single braid that hung down her back clear to her waist. Her breasts were heaving slightly and she could see the outline of her nipples protruding from her white cotton blouse. It made her realize how aroused she had become fighting with Colton.
“I’ll go where I please! Let him spank me if he wants to!” Suzanna said brazenly to her reflection in the mirror and immediately felt a tingling in her loins. The idea of feeling his hands upon her in such an intimate way excited her in a way she didn’t fully understand. Suzanna grabbed her hat off the coat rack, placed it firmly on her head, and strode purposefully out the front door of the ranch house. She was going to check that west fence for gaps whether he liked it or not! As Suzanna mounted her horse and headed out, she found herself hoping that Colton would indeed find her and give her that spanking he had promised.
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Chapter Two
Colton Stevens tried to get Suzanna out of his thoughts as he supervised the ranch hands. He knew his boss’s only daughter was strictly off-limits, but why did she have to be so damn sexy to look at! It took every ounce of will power he had not to take her into his arms and kiss her every time he saw her.
At twenty-eight years old, Colton knew he was nearly a decade older than the lovely filly, but he’d seen the fire in her blue eyes and he knew that she felt the same sparks for him that he felt for her. It was part of the reason he was so hard on her sometimes. Maybe, if he could make her hate him, he could help to ensure that nothing happened between them. There had been more than one occasion over the past months when she leaned really close to him that he’d thought they might kiss. Luckily, they’d been interrupted by her father.
That was the other reason he was so hard on her. Colton had never had much of a relationship with his own father, but Jeremiah Wheeler had taken him in, given him a job bucking hay, and taught him everything he knew about working on the ranch. He’d discovered he had a real knack for it and Mr. Wheeler had always treated him right. He had promoted him quickly up the ranks, and paid him a good wage. Colton didn’t agree with the strict rein Mr. Wheeler wanted to keep on his daughter Suzanna, but he respected and loved the man too much not to follow his wishes. Even if it meant denying himself the one girl he knew he was falling in love with.
Thinking of Suzanna again, Colton figured he’d left her to stew in her own anger long enough and headed back to the ranch house to invite her out to help with the west fence. He wished he could say he was surprised to find she had fled the coop, but once his anger died down enough, he realized he should have known better than to leave her alone for so long. He only had himself to blame that she had run off.
Mounting his horse, he followed the tracks that he knew belonged to her copper-colored mare, Lucky Penny. They led him right to the fence line of the west fence, which didn’t surprise him, but what did surprise him was that they didn’t end there. Midpoint along the fence, a huge gap could be found where one of the posts had been knocked down. Hoof prints in the soft dirt clearly indicated that one of the Wheeler’s cattle had escaped through the gap. Worse than that, another set of hoof prints clearly indicated that Lucky Penny had gone through that same gap. No doubt Suzanna herself was on that horse, heroically thinking she could find the cow on her own.
“Crap!” Colton swore a string of curse words aloud as he urged his own horse through the gap and out into the Montana wilderness. Suzanna’s tracks were easy to follow and he had no doubt that he’d find her, but there were dangers out here that she didn’t know about. A gang of rustlers was reported to be hiding in the area, which could be very dangerous. If that weren’t bad enough, several ranch hands claimed to have seen a mountain lion prowling the plains just two nights ago. Colton hadn’t wanted to worry Mr. Wheeler or Suzanna, so he had told the men to keep the information to themselves, but now that Suzanna had wandered out of the safety of the fence, he wondered at the wisdom of his decision.
“Too late to change it now. What’s done is done.” Colton rationalized to himself aloud, making his horse’s ears perk up at the sound of his voice. Patting the animal’s neck reassuringly, Colton said “Don’t worry, boy. We’ll find her before anything bad happens to her. We’ve got to!”
Suddenly, a shrill scream echoed through the air, which Colton recognized instantly as being Suzanna’s. He spurred his horse into a gallop, following the sound.
He heard the sound of oncoming hooves and suddenly Lucky Penny appeared from over a hill, running toward them at full speed, but without a rider on her back.
“Where’s Suzanna?” Colton asked the horse as it ran past him. The terrified animal obviously had no answer for him. Shaking his head, Colton spurred his own horse onward even faster. Suddenly, the sound of a gun being fired pierced the air and he guided his horse over the hill just in time t
o see her.
There was Suzanna with a rifle butted against her shoulder and her hands on the trigger. Smoke rose from the freshly-fired barrel and the mountain lion lay dead in the grass, just three feet from where she stood. It looked like it had been in mid-pounce when it died.
Colton leapt from his horse and took Suzanna into his arms, holding her tightly to him. Suzanna melted into his chest, letting him hold her until her trembling eased and the pounding of her heart slowed.
“My God, that thing nearly killed you! Suzanna, are you all right?” Colton asked with true concern. He caressed her check with his hands, guiding her face to look up at him.
“I’m okay.” Suzanna said, her voice still sounding tremulous. “Lucky Penny started acting like she smelled a predator so I grabbed my rifle. Then, out of nowhere, she threw me and ran off. I screamed as I hit the earth, but I managed to keep hold of my gun. I knew something really bad must be out there for her to bolt like that and sure enough, that mountain lion started stalking me. I knew I’d only have one shot at it, so I’d better make it count!”
“You sure did! You nailed it right between the eyes. I’m proud of you!” Colton said, looking deep into eyes with all the love and admiration he felt in his heart. Unable to stop himself, he bent forward and kissed her on the lips. They were soft and sweet, just like he knew they’d be. She parted her lips for him, allowing his tongue access into her mouth, and they drank each other in, hungrily. Hot, wet, and insistently, they kissed with all the love and passion they’d felt for each other all these months but had to keep hidden. There was no point in hiding it anymore. Life was too short, as they had both realized in that moment.