Primal Surrender (Surrender Trilogy)

by Lori King

  “Yes, as a foreman on a horse ranch. One of the best goddamn ranches in the world, and I work for some great people. I won’t be here forever, and neither will you, but I will put one hundred percent in while I am. I’d rather be known for my strengths than my weaknesses. You need to make a decision, Ryk. Are you going to waste away in that recliner moping about the glories that should have been yours? Or are you going to grow a pair of balls and create a new set of plans for yourself?”

  With that, Mack spun on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen. In three large steps he was in his bedroom where he was able to slam the door behind him soothing some of the rage and pain he felt for his brother. He understood what Ryker was going through. Falling from the top to the bottom hurt more than a person could bear sometimes. But it didn’t mean a man couldn’t climb back up if he wanted to. It was a matter of pride, and right now, he wasn’t sure Ryker had any.

  Chapter Two

  Six months later…

  The Garden Hut’s particular scent burned Mack’s nostrils every time he entered the small store. It came from selling everything from garden gnomes and pesticides, to manure, and it was unique to the establishment. Today the building seemed to be unusually empty. Mack couldn’t see anyone in the store, other than the young man who was sitting behind the cash register with a skate boarding magazine in his hands and ear buds in his ears. The teenager looked up and gave him a nod, but didn’t seem inclined to move from his seat, so Mack just nodded back as he walked by.

  He had just found what he came in for when he heard a raspy voice mumbling in the next aisle. The person sounded vexed and Mack couldn’t resist a peek to see what the trouble was. Standing in front of a display of plant pesticides was a beautiful curvy woman with a mane of blonde curls and lush red lips that were pursed in frustration. She was wearing a blazer and slim skirt that ended a few inches above her knees, and she had a heavy looking purse slung over one shoulder. Her hands were planted on her ample hips while she tapped one high-heeled shoe with the rhythm of her thoughts. Those shoes were death defyingly high, and capped off the sexiest pair of legs he had ever seen. It was a miracle the zipper on his jeans held. When she noticed him standing there, she turned and her lips curved up a in a small smile. Mack felt like he swallowed his tongue.

  “Hi.” Her voice was rough and husky, not particularly feminine, but seductively intriguing anyway. It suited her. So did her tawny hazel eyes. More of a cappuccino color than green, but the flecks of green dotting them were unmistakable. With that mane of golden hair and her blonde fringe of eyelashes she reminded him of a female lion.

  “Hi. Were you having trouble finding something?” He cursed himself for fumbling in front of the beautiful bombshell, and her eyes sparkled with amusement.

  “Do you work here?”

  Mack shook his head, and gestured to the bag of zip ties he was holding. “No, I’m a customer. I just heard you talking to yourself and—”

  His words were cut off when she took a step closer and peered at the package he held. She smelled of cocoa butter and vanilla. It was a heady combination for a man who normally spent his time surrounded by horses and leather.

  “One hundred and twenty pound rated zip ties. You must be tying up something big,” she said, cocking her head to one side and running her gaze from the top of his curly blonde hair to the toes of his scuffed up motorcycle boots.

  Mack felt the pink warmth crawling up his cheeks, and it was clear by her widening smile she saw it. He averted his gaze to the package in his hand cursing his pale skin, and forced his shoulders back. Somehow she had made him forget himself, and that wasn’t acceptable at all. “It’s for securing temporary horse corrals. I work on a horse ranch.”

  She nodded, and adjusted her bag. “Ah, I see. Well, Mr.—”

  Her voice drifted off, and Mack found himself lost in the shifting colors of her eyes again. It wasn’t until she cleared her throat that he realized she was waiting for him to fill in the blank.

  “Thompson. Mack Thompson.”

  “Mr. Thompson, I am trying to figure out which of these bottles will get rid of the teeny tiny little green bugs I found on my rose bushes last night. Would you happen to know?”

  Mack stared at her while imagining her in a garden surrounded by blooming roses, with absolutely nothing covering her delicious curves from his view. She would be Eve and he would be happy to play her Adam.

  Giving himself a mental shake, he turned to the bottles on the shelf, “It sounds like aphids, so you’re going to want something that kills the bugs, but if you aren’t treating your garden regularly to prevent them they will just come back. You have to be on your game with pests, or they will control everything before you know it.”

  He reached for a bottle and turned to hand it to her, surprised to find her looking at him with amused curiosity on her face. “Oh, I don’t let too many things gain the upper hand in my life. I’ll have those bugs surrendering in no time.”

  A ripple of lust heated him from his belly to his balls at the mere mention of surrendering. What would it be like to surrender to this luscious Aphrodite? He could picture her in thigh high boots, riding his cock and screaming for him to give her more. When the lust cleared from his eyes, he shifted awkwardly and wondered if he had somehow given his own secrets away, but the woman didn’t let on if that was the case.

  “Well that should do it unless you have a really large garden and then you’ll want to get a sprayer and the concentrated kind.”

  She shook her head, and held the bottle against her breasts. And amazing breasts they were. They would overflow his hands, and he would guess there were large nipples on their tips that would taste delicious.

  “So tell me, Mr. Thompson, how does a rancher know about rose bushes?”

  Mack grimaced as he followed her down the aisle and back toward the cash register. “My mama has a rose garden. I’ve spent my share of time on my knees in one, pulling weeds.”

  She flashed him a wide smile before handing the teenager some cash and collecting her bag. “Lucky for me. Thank you for your expertise. I’d better get home and start battling the bugs immediately.”

  With that she was out the door with a friendly wave and a wink. Mack was left standing at the counter feeling like the earth had just been ripped out from under his feet. The woman was gorgeous, outgoing, and flirty—and he hadn’t even managed to get her name. He must be some kind of stupid.

  “That will be seventeen fifty.”

  The teen’s voice pierced through Mack’s brain and he grunted at him while passing him the money. “You wouldn’t happen to know that woman’s name would you, kid?”

  The boy’s lip and eyebrow rose simultaneously signaling his confusion, and Mack took mercy on him. “Yeah, never mind. I’ll find out myself.”

  Snatching up the zip ties, he pushed his way out the door, relieved to see a waterfall of blonde curls climbing into a cherry red Mercedes Benz. Taking a chance he stepped off the sidewalk and directly into the path of her car so she couldn’t back out of the stall without running him down. One of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose until it was lost under the curl of her bangs, and she pursed her lips as she rolled down the window.

  “Do you mind?” Annoyance laced her tone, but her body language was still relaxed, so he gave her his most charming smile.

  “I didn’t get your name.”

  Her hazel eyes widened minutely, and a tiny smile played at the corners of her mouth. “Why do you need it?”

  Lowering his body so he was crouched next to the luxurious vehicle, he considered that perhaps this woman was out of his league. Her clothes were high end, her car was top of the line, and if he wasn’t mistaken the highlights in her blonde hair were professionally done. So it stood to reason she was privileged enough to take insult from his low class flirtations. Instead of deterring him, the challenge turned him on, and he braced his forearms on her window.

  “I like to know a woman’s name before I ask her
out.”

  Her laughter was husky like her voice and it stroked through him like a caress on his soul, pressing a button inside of him that was unlikely ever to reset. “Are all ranchers so forward?”

  Mack shrugged, “I figure if you turn me down it will be your loss. I’m a hell of a two stepper, Miss…”

  His words drifted off into heavy silence. The blonde beauty held his gaze for several tense breaths before she snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m Claudia, Claudia Schmidt.” She stared at him looking somewhat apprehensive, and he cocked his head as he wondered where he had heard the name before. “Schmidt as in Schmidt Properties.”

  It all clicked and he barely managed to keep from groaning out loud. “Ah, the developer that’s buying up half of Stone River to build suburbs for Austin’s elite. Right?”

  He knew the moment the words left his lips it was the wrong thing to say. Her eyes grew hard and her jaw muscle twitched as she clenched her teeth. The interest he had seen was clearly shelved for the day, as she withdrew further into her car and placed her finger over the button for the window. “Yes, that Schmidt. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Thompson I need to get going.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.” Mack left his hand on the window frame so she wouldn’t shut it and essentially shut him out.

  “Oh, you didn’t mean to imply I’m some kind of rich bitch who’s here to push poor people out into the cold so my kind of people can build mini-mansions on the land their families have owned for decades? Really? So how exactly did you mean it, Mr. Thompson?”

  She was gorgeous when she was mad. Her hazel eyes darkened into a cappuccino color flecked with green fire, and her creamy white skin flushed pink as her blood pressure rose. He could imagine her in a different place altogether all rosy pink with passion and his cock suddenly throbbed in his jeans. Tearing his gaze away from her pursed lips, he tried to look contrite as her words sunk into his brain. “Look, I see now that work is a sensitive subject for you—”

  “Goodbye, Mr. Thompson.” She pressed down on the button and the window began to close, carrying his hand with it.

  “Just wait a damn minute!” Frustration made his voice sharper than he intended, but she paused in her motion and glared at him impatiently. “First of all, my name is Mack, not Mr. Thompson; second, I don’t care if you’re a member of the royal family here to start the second revolution, I still want to take you out. And third, your thin skin isn’t going to help you make friends in this part of Texas, Ms. Schmidt. Cowboys aren’t known for their tact, and as you just witnessed, I personally have a bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth.”

  He was pleased when she removed her hand from the window switch. The window was still halfway up, but it wasn’t shutting any further, and he took it as a good sign.

  “Now that we’ve cleared the air, I’ll get back to the point. I want to take you dancing tonight at Robin’s. I can’t promise you wine and roses here in Stone River, but I can promise a cold beer, good food, great music, and I swear I won’t step on your toes. What do you say?”

  Her lip twitched like she was fighting to hold back a smile, “I say you’re out of your mind. You just insulted me and now you want me to go out on a date with you.”

  Mack shrugged and grinned, “Maybe a little, but I figure you owe me.”

  “I owe you?” She sounded haughty, but the husky tone of her laughter took any steam out of her annoyance for him. “Pray tell, how do you figure I owe you?”

  “Well I did save you a lot of trouble by giving you gardening advice. Do you know how quick aphids will kill off a rose garden? The way I see it you owe me a beer to say thanks; however, I prefer to just take you out tonight and call us even.”

  *****

  Claudia stared at the big man outside her car window in astonished fascination. Somehow, she had gone from intrigued, to irritated, and back to intrigued in less than two minutes. How was that possible?

  She had to give him credit for his creativity and his persistence. Not many people could argue her into a corner, and some of the best had tried. Instead of the requisite cowboy hat, his blonde hair curled out from under a red bandana. It was a stark frame for his wide face and crystal clear blue eyes. They were so light in color they almost looked gray in the bright sunshine, and she imagined staring into the shifting colors of his irises for hours without growing bored. When his smile stretched wider, highlighting the pair of deep dimples in his cheeks, she sighed heavily.

  “Fine. One beer tonight at Robin’s, I’ll meet you there.”

  His smile dimmed a fraction, “Meet me there? I would prefer to pick you up, but if it will make you more comfortable—”

  “Take it or leave it Mr. Thomp—Mack.” His name on her lips felt right, and her heart flip-flopped when his nostrils flared and a smug look of satisfaction crossed his face.

  “I’ll take it, Claudia. Eight o’clock, don’t be late.” Mack tapped his hand against her car door, and stood placing a huge denim covered bulge right in her line of sight. She swallowed hard as her mind ran screaming off into wild fantasies of what the big man had tucked behind his zipper and how he might use it on her. Before she could formulate a response, he had turned around giving her an unobstructed view of his equally tantalizing backside, swaggering across the parking lot to a huge blue truck.

  Throwing her car into gear, she backed out of the parking stall a little too fast and had to resist flooring it and peeling out of the lot. On her way past, Mack gave her a wink and a wave that both delighted and irritated her.

  What was she thinking agreeing to meet him tonight? She was only in Stone River because her father forced her to take the lead on his new subdivision project, Granite Estates. The project was being stonewalled at every turn under the leadership of another project manager. It seemed the town didn’t want to be bought up and turned into an extension of Austin, but it wasn’t like that mattered to Gaven Schmidt. He was a shark in the real estate business, and he always got his way. This is why he insisted Claudia pack her belongings and move to Stone River for the length of the project.

  She might be a resident for the moment, but it didn’t mean she was here to play with the local cowboys. In her mind’s eye she could already see the disapproving look on her father’s face when he heard she had even dallied with a ranch hand. He would lecture her on her breeding and class, and remind her of the money he had invested in her boarding school and etiquette lessons.

  Claudia Schmidt wasn’t just an average woman. No, she was a piece in her father’s game of chess, a prop in his theatrical event, and a tool in his war chest, but never just a woman. Swallowing back tears of frustrated loneliness, she refused to allow herself to get depressed over things that weren’t going to change. She was the only child of a wealthy and privileged only child, and that meant there was no understanding or freedom. No matter how much she would prefer to be a stay-at-home wife to a blue collar husband, and a stay-at-home mom for a pack of wild and hyperactive children.

  Within moments she was parking her pretty red Benz in the tiny driveway of a two story house she had purchased to live in while she was here. It was her ideal home and the moment she had seen the listing she had called and placed an offer. It had two great perks: one, it was two miles outside the proposed borders of Granite Estates and two, it was all hers.

  Two weeks after moving in, the place was just now starting to look like the home she wanted it to be. She had placed potted azaleas on the tiny front porch, and a wind chime jingled in the breeze where it hung from the eaves. The interior was still painted builders grade white as the previous family had left it, but she had selected furniture rich in color so the space was warm and inviting.

  With four bedrooms and two bathrooms upstairs, she knew it was bigger than she needed, and it needed work. The kitchen cabinets were from the seventies, and the bathroom sink had a drip she had yet to fix. On the screened in back porch there were holes in the screens that needed repaired, and crea
ky hardwood floors ran through the whole house. It wasn’t anything like the homes Schmidt Properties built. It had character and charm, and she had recently begun to consider keeping it after she finished the Granite Estates project. The hour commute would be a bitch, but it would be worth it to keep distance between herself and her father’s world.

  Dropping her oversized handbag on the purple sofa as she walked past, she left her shoes behind, but didn’t bother to change clothes before she headed out the back door. Mack had warned her aphids would kill off the magnificent heirloom rose bush that was the showpiece of her tiny backyard if she didn’t treat it quickly, and she wasn’t taking any chances. Schmidt Properties and Granite Estates would have to wait fifteen more minutes.

  Chapter Three

  “I still don’t see why you had to tag along,” Mack grumbled at Ryker as they walked through the gravel parking lot of Stone River’s only late night entertainment. Robin’s was everything a country western bar should be, dark wood, smoky air, loud music, and good beer. It had become Ryker’s favorite place over the ten months he had been a resident of Stone River. He wasn’t looking too closely at whether that was because it wasn’t the cramped cabin he shared with Mack, or because of the alcohol.

  Clapping his older brother on the shoulder, he laughed, “Because, my dear brother, I have to see this goddess among men. The way you’ve gone on and on about her and your date, you would think she was Aphrodite in the flesh.”

  “Just wait until you see her, Ryk. You’ll be eating your arrogance. Not to mention kicking your own ass for not running to the Garden Hut for me today like I asked you to,” Mack said with a shrug. It was a standard Mack Thompson reaction. Nothing ruffled the man. Which was exactly why Ryker wanted to meet the woman who had him by the nuts and all twisted up.

  “So if you’re already planning the wedding ceremony, tell me again why she wouldn’t let you pick her up for this date?”

  “She was probably playing it smart. I’m a stranger in a strange town and she’s pretty small compared to me. I kinda like knowing she has enough brains to keep herself safe.” Mack stopped as Ryker opened the door of Robin’s. “I’m going to wait out here.”