by Lee Savino
Steele grinned. “I didn’t like coffee until I was grown, either,” he said. “And it taught me something important: some of the things you don’t like at first end up being the things you come to appreciate the most.”
Those narrow blue eyes lingered on me a beat too long, and I got the feeling he was referring to something completely different. All of a sudden, I got hot and shivery at the same time, and that bare place between my thighs started to tingle.
Was he saying he liked me?
No, that is ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. No way would he be interested in someone like me.
I crossed my legs, desperate for my clothes to be dry.
Steele added some creamer and sugar to my cup and handed it back to me. “Try it like this, babygirl. Over time, you might find out you don’t need as much creamer.”
I sipped cautiously. The creamer was hazelnut flavor. “Not bad,” I said.
He nodded, looking pleased, and warmth spread through my gut.
Steele went out to the open fields and caught two horses—the one I’d made a giant fool of myself on earlier, and a smaller one with a shiny chestnut hide and a big round belly.
“Can’t we walk instead?” I said, terrified at the thought of sitting in a saddle again.
He gave that dry laugh of his—which was more like a snort. “Not unless you want to be walking all night. There’s a lot of land here.” He slapped the horse’s saddle. “Only thing to do when you’ve fallen off a horse is get right back on again.”
“I tried that; you stopped me.” I pouted at him. His mouth hovered between a frown and a smile, but the frown won out.
“That’s right. You’re not to try to ride Silver again without my say so. But this old girl will be just fine.”
“B-but I can’t,” I stuttered, panic rising in my chest.
“Yes, you can. Now come on.” He reached for my hand, enveloping it in his strong grasp, and drew me toward him.
“I’m scared. Can’t I ride with you?”
His thumb rubbed the back of my hand, kinda like he was soothing me. “Not today, babygirl.”
My cheeks flushed at his closeness. He seemed to realize what he’d said because he frowned and his voice hardened. “Enough of this, Carrie. Get on up.”
I rolled my lips between my teeth. I was not faking my fear, and he seemed to realize that because he softened again.
“Poppy is real calm,” he said. “I usually keep her for kids having their first riding lessons.”
I kept protesting and his face hardened. “You agreed to obey me. I’m telling you now, you disobey, you pay the price.”
I wanted to dig in my heels, but could tell I’d pushed too far. “Fine.” I put my foot in the stirrup and then he was helping me to swing my leg over Poppy’s back.
“Okay?” He peered at me from under the brim of his hat, and I was startled by the concern in his eyes.
“Fine,” I said, managing a small smile. He handed me the reins, and gave me a series of instructions. He was a natural teacher, I could tell. He took pleasure in sharing his wisdom and helping people.
“We’re just going to walk,” he assured me. “It’s important to learn one gait at a time until you build confidence.”
“Yes, sir.” I mock saluted again and he frowned. Maybe he didn’t like me calling him sir.
Poppy moved off slowly, following the big gray horse. It didn’t feel so bad.
Keeping my attention on Steele helped me forget my nerves. I couldn’t help thinking how sexy he looked on his horse, all rugged and wild. Like he was born to be on horseback, endlessly galloping across the plains… then coming back at night and making love to some lucky woman in front of an open fire.
The saddle rubbing between my legs must have me thinking this way.
The property was massive, stretching away toward the horizon. Low mountains rose in the distance. Where I was from, the land was flat, nothing to see. Here, the view took my breath away.
“Pretty, ain’t it?” I said.
“Isn’t it,” Steele corrected, and I fought not to roll my eyes. “Yes, it is.”
Half dude ranch, half beef farm, Steele explained. There were eight luxury guest cabins, which were already closed up for the season.
“My brother Max manages that side of the business, while I take care of the horses and run the beef farm. We keep the two sides separate on purpose. Max and I are about as different as two brothers can be. Like chalk and cheese, my daddy always used to say. Max is the charming one—he loves entertaining. Has an eye for the ladies as well, especially the pretty female guests. He likes the city. I prefer the country. The fresh air and silence.” The grooves beside Steele’s mouth lessened as he looked across the land.
I cast an appreciative glance at him, thinking that was what I preferred, too.
“Watch out for Max,” Steele said suddenly. “He’s in the city at the moment, but he’ll be back any day. He can be real persuasive sometimes. But he’s not a one-woman guy, if you know what I mean?”
“Sure thing,” I muttered, startled by the warning.
So he didn’t just see me as a kid. He saw me as someone his brother might want to flirt with.
Did that mean he saw me that way, too?
We continued, passing through the middle of a cow field. Red and black Angus, he explained—premium beef cattle. I saw how the horses were unafraid of them, even when we passed two bulls that were busy butting heads. In the horse field, Steele pointed out some of the horses by name. He specialized in breaking horses that he’d either picked up at auction wild and unbroken, or ones that had been badly broken and had ended up damaged.
“There’s not a lot you can’t achieve through kindness and discipline,” he commented.
Steele cared about the horses. He wanted to give them a better shot in life. I smiled to myself. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“Sit up straight, Carrie,” he reminded me. “Good posture will help you ride better.”
“Yes, Mister Steele,” I answered.
“Drop the Mister,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir, Steele, sir,” I said.
“Carrie.” His tone carried a warning. I’d taken it too far. I didn’t know what it was about him, but I was feeling cheeky.
“Is that why they call you Steele?” I asked as we rode on. “Because you’re hard as steel?”
He ignored me, facing forward, his face stern.
I leaned forward. “Get it? ‘Cause you’re a hard ass?”
That did make him turn his head. “Watch your language,” he said. “And mind your manners, or I’ll turn you over my knee.”
My eyes widened in shock. He gave me a glance that was pure heat. Was that amusement tucked in the corners of his mouth? Was he trying to flirt with me? If so, why did he threaten to spank me?
And why did the threat excite me?
Little butterflies fluttered in my gut as I settled back on the horse.
At the end of the ride, Steele took me to the stables where six horses were housed indoors. There were reasons why each one couldn’t be in the field—either as part of the training process, or because they were recovering from injury. He showed me how to approach them, how to hold my hand out and let them sniff me first. I loved the warm breath from their nostrils, their huge dark eyes.
“This is Rex. Don’t try to touch him. He’s real wild, and mean as well.” Steele indicated a big black stallion, who kept his back turned to us. His tail was filthy and matted, and his hide was covered in scars, like he’d come off the wrong side of a fight with a tiger.
“And this is our newest one.” Steele indicated the horse in the last stall. “Her name is Megan. She’s just about broken now. She was nervous and flighty when I got her, but she’s calmed down a lot.” She was also a gray color but darker than Silver, with lighter gray spots on her rump, and a white mane and tail. When I stroked her velvety nose, she took a step forward and, to my delight, she nuzzled my neck. Right away, I decided s
he was my favorite.
“She likes you,” Steele said thoughtfully.
When we’d finished with the horses, Steele showed me the cow he kept for milking.
“We milk her by hand—the old-fashioned way,” he explained. “Just for our personal use, and any left over goes to our neighbors.” The cow was mooing, her pink udders massively distended.
“Want to have a go?” Steele asked me. Then he frowned. He must have caught the look of disgust on my face. “Okay, not today. Guess it’s a bit much for a city girl like you.”
“I’m not a city girl—” I began to say, then cut myself off. I wasn’t supposed to say anything about my background.
But if Steele noticed, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he pulled out a small stool from the rear of the stable, put it down beside the big black-and-white cow, and began to pull on two of her long teats.
Soon, spurts of pure white milk began to fill a metal pail. It was kind of gross, but fascinating.
“Best milk you’ll ever taste,” he commented.
“Sure looks different from the stuff you get in a carton,” I remarked.
He looked up at me and let his mouth soften into a grin, little creases appearing in the corners of his eyes.
“Welcome to the ranch,” he said.
My heart filled with a sudden longing and I wished this could be my life, instead of a couple of days of living here until he kicked me out and I was on my own again.
Night fell fast out there. I felt like I’d blinked and the sky become pure black velvet, twinkling with stars. It was about the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. But with the darkness came my yawns. I was exhausted; I hadn’t slept in a bed for days.
Back in the ranch house, Steele took a shower and changed into a pair of faded Levis and a navy T-shirt. There wasn’t a spare inch of fat on him. He was all hard muscle, massive and honed from outdoor work. He looked softer now, the blue of the shirt enhancing the indigo of his eyes.
He heated up some stew on the stove, brushing away my offers of help. I went to set the table, and he clamped a hand on the back of my neck, guiding me to the table to sit down.
“Looks like you’re just about to pass out, girlie,” he said, and the look he gave me was kind.
I sat quietly until he served me, wondering at the tingling feeling where his fingers touched the back of my neck.
I ate fast, and since he didn’t comment on my table manners, I figured he was going easy on me.
When I was done, he told me, “Go get your teeth brushed, then I’ll show you to your sleeping quarters.” His thick eyebrows drew together. “You have a toothbrush, right?”
“Of course,” I scoffed.
Kind of weird to be questioned on my personal hygiene by a stranger, I thought as I brushed my teeth in front of the bathroom mirror. Especially since no one had ever cared if I brushed my teeth before. One more new thing in a whole day of new things.
Steele showed me to a barn behind the house. There was a basic bathroom in the corner, and up a ladder was a sleeping area with a mattress. He’d brought some blankets and fresh sheets, and watched critically while I put them on the mattress.
“You should be comfortable here,” he said. “Now, I expect you up before dawn tomorrow—six a.m. Things start early around the ranch. Meet me at the door of the barn, and I’ll assign your first task of the day. Understood?”
I nodded. “Understood,” I repeated sleepily. I got under the blankets, and he bent over me and pulled them up to my chin. Something passed across his face as he straightened up again—something gentle. “You’ll do just fine, here, girlie.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
For a moment he looked like he’d say more, then he cleared his throat. “Sleep well, Carrie,” he said as he descended the ladder.
I am safe, was my last thought that night. For the first time in weeks—in forever, actually. As strange as it seemed, I trusted this stern, handsome stranger, who woke me up in all kinds of ways.
I barely had time to switch off the lamp on the nightstand before I crashed out.
Chapter 3
Steele
My internal body clock woke me up at five-thirty a.m. the next morning, as it had every day for the past twenty-five years. I had no need for an alarm clock, even in the darkest days of winter.
It was pitch dark outside—still an hour from first light—and the mornings were getting chilly.
I pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, put on a pot of coffee, then went to check on the stabled horses, thinking all the time of the girl sleeping up in the barn. I hoped she’d been sleeping well, that whatever had made her run all the way up here wasn’t invading her dreams.
She’d be warm enough up there for now. But when the season turned, it’d get too cold—
No. She was only staying for a couple of days. The last thing I needed this winter was to have a wild child to take care of, along with the horses and cows—not to mention my errant brother. He wanted out of the business. The ranch was our inheritance from my father, but Max wanted me to buy him out. He’d never wanted to be a cowboy. As soon as he turned eighteen, he started sneaking off to the city at every opportunity. I’d spent a couple of years in Vancouver, too, trying it on for size. But my heart would always be here, in the wide open plains, surrounded by my horses.
The trouble was, the business wasn’t currently earning enough for me to purchase Max’s half, and our relationship was getting more acrimonious by the day. Good job he was away at the moment—he’d take one look at Carrie, and decide he was going to eat her for breakfast. I was pretty sure she had no idea how sexy she was. She was streetwise and troubled, yes, but underneath that was an innocence. And there was no way in hell I was going to let my brother corrupt it.
The sooner Carrie was out of here, the better. I’d let her stay a couple of days, just long enough to figure out what had scared her so badly. I was worried about her—worried that she was mixed up in something bad. My instinct was to drag it out of her, but she was skittish enough to run if I pushed her too hard. I needed to tease it out of her, then I’d set her on the right track and send her off on her way.
The sooner she was gone, the better. I didn’t need the feelings she stirred up.
The horses nickered in greeting, blowing clouds of condensation through their nostrils. I patted each one, checking up on them as they pushed their noses into my hand with their horsey curiosity. I usually fed them now, but I’d leave that as a treat for Carrie after she’d finished her tasks. She’d like that.
I checked my watch. It was five-fifty a.m. and no light was showing from the upper floor of the barn. I grabbed a rake and cleaned up the dead leaves around the trees in the yard. Another job I’d been planning to leave for Carrie, but I could never sit around idle when there was work to be done.
Five fifty-nine a.m.—and still no sign of the wayward girl. I went into the kitchen, and poured another cup of coffee.
Ten minutes I’d give her, I told myself, my fingers flexing.
I didn’t usually go so easy on my new recruits. Most of them got a rude awakening on day one. Especially the ones who thought they could laze about for twenty-two hours a day, pull off a couple hours’ work whenever they rolled out of bed, and expected me to feed them and give them a roof over their heads. But she’d been exhausted yesterday, poor thing. She’d barely had the energy to finish her dinner.
If she were mine, there’d be no need for an alarm clock. I’d wake her up with my mouth between her legs. Tease her to the brink of climax and back off, again and again, until she was begging me. Then I’d pull her into the shower and put her on her knees so she could suck me off before bending her over and pounding her to climax.
For the first few months with a submissive, I had the stamina of a twenty something. But with Carrie, I’d bet it would be years before the edge wore off.
I checked the clock. Six-fifteen a.m.—still no sign of Carrie. And thanks to my fool thoughts, now I
was hard as iron with no chance for relief.
Annoyance bubbled in my veins. Carrie wasn’t my sub, she was my ranch hand. I needed to stop giving her special treatment, even if it went against every protective instinct I had.
I strode over to the barn, and flicked on the light switch on the ground floor.
“Wake up,” I called. I listened for the usual groans and murmured apologies.
Nothing.
“Wake up, Carrie,” I shouted, much sterner this time.
Still nothing.
My palms began to itch. I went over to the foot of the ladder. “Don’t make me come up for you, young lady!” I growled.
What insolence! I shook my head. She was about to learn she wasn’t going to get away with this type of behavior. I climbed the ladder, the structure trembling under my weight.
Then I stopped dead. There was no sign of her. The blanket was spread lumpily across the bed. She’d left already.
Disappointment sat heavy in my gut. It turned out I hadn’t wanted her to leave after all.
Then I caught a small movement beneath the covers.
Somehow, she was under there. And she hadn’t even woken up. I grabbed the corner of the coverlet and yanked it off.
She was curled up on her side, fully dressed in her jeans and T-shirt, her straw-colored hair all mussed. She looked adorable. The sight was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
I had to step back to get a hold of myself.
Her eyes flickered open. “What time is it?” she mumbled in a voice thick with sleep.
“Time you got up, girlie.” My cock was about to punch through my jeans.
Her eyes widened. “B-but—” she stammered, groping for her phone, which I saw was on the wooden crate that served as a nightstand. She looked at the screen and sighed.
“Thought I set the alarm,” she mumbled.
“Doesn’t look like it.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I had to be firm. If she was going to stay on the farm, she had to pull her weight.