by BJ Wane
Flicking him a smile and finger wave, she skipped into the house, leaving him scratching his head over how to handle the girl.
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. She’d loved the solo ride, and Caden’s attention, but he’d come to dinner in a quiet mood, his praise of the lasagna the only thing he said to her. 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 again. 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 visit 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?”
“What?” Whipping his head around, Caden spotted Sydney’s bright red hair where she stood perched up on yet another rail, this one around the horse corral. Saddled and tethered in front of her, stood one of their bad-tempered saddle horses that refused to let anyone sit on him. “Fuck if she wouldn’t. She’s been pestering me to give her a riding lesson, but I haven’t had time. Come on.”
Spurring their horses, they both knew they’d never arrive in time to stop her and fear for her safety lodged in Caden’s throat, nearly strangling him.
Sydney ran her hand down the silky nose of the black horse, receiving a soft nudge in return. “Well, you’re friendly, aren’t you?” The afternoon hadn’t improved, ending another day on the job that hadn’t gone smoothly. She blamed Caden for that. For some, inexplicable reason, she’d set her sights on her boss and couldn’t seem to look elsewhere or keep her mind off him. She wouldn’t have gotten so turned around on her walk yesterday if she hadn’t been fantasizing about Caden tying her to that padded cross she’d seen in the loft of their club and doing whatever he wanted to her vulnerable body, or picturing herself over his lap, her bare butt on display in front of all those strangers as he smacked her cheeks. The small neck bite he’d given her the other night stung just enough to breathe life into her imagination, and coupled with those swats the other day, filled the last few nights with erotic dreams that woke her shaking for a whole different reason than the previous nightmare.
Her latest mishaps did nothing to endear her in his eyes even if he had gotten around to giving her a riding lesson, as his sulky attitude afterwards proved. She was trying not to be put out by that, but her boredom and loneliness kept getting her down. “The heck with it. I’ve always been good at entertaining myself,” she told the horse, the easiness she’d found riding Star last evening lending her courage to try a walk around the corral on her own. Best outcome – he’d be impressed with her improved seat. Worst case scenario – Caden got mad enough to pay the wages she’d earned and fire her. Ignoring the pang that possibility stirred in her gut, she checked to be sure the saddle was cinched, something he’d shown her. “You’re already saddled, so you must be okay to ride. Now,” she cautioned the horse as she swung a leg over the rail, “be nice. I’m a newbie.” Ignoring the misgivings the horse’s size caused her, she stepped on the bench inside the corral, grabbed the pommel and lifted one leg over the saddle, the height and sudden shift of the horse’s hooves catching her off guard. “Whoa, mister.” Sydney soothed him with a hand down his quivering neck and when he settled, reached in front to untie the reins from the fence rail, missing the comforting feel of Caden’s big body behind her just as she had when riding yesterday. “Well, this is as easy as riding Star,” she boasted, trying to convince herself as the horse turned on its own. He’d only taken two steps before startling her with a lift of his head and a loud neigh followed by a body-tossing buck of his hindquarters. Loud, male shouts reached past the roaring in her ears as she went flying then landed with a body-jarring thud.
Stunned from the fast toss, she blinked her eyes against looking up into the glaring sun, struggling to catch her breath while testing to make sure she could move her legs. Relief swept through her before trepidation took its place as Caden’s big frame appeared in front of her, blocking the warmth from the sun.
Stooping, he ran his hands over her body, checking for broken bones. Sydney would’ve enjoyed his impersonal touch more if it weren’t for the rigid set to his jaw and his nerve-racking silence. Satisfied, he pushed to his feet and reached out a hand to help her stand. “Do you hurt anywhere?” he asked in the quietest, calmest voice she’d ever heard him use with her, one that didn’t bode well for her immediate future.
“Just my pride.” Hoping to defuse any repercussions, she quipped with a teasing grin, “I gotta tell you, Boss, that toss was kind of fun, flying like that, but the landing leaves a lot to be desired.”
Those blue eyes stayed on her as he brushed her off with gentle swipes, lingering on her backside long enough to have Sydney’s toes curling inside her sneakers. “Can you take care of Ranger, Connor, while I have a word with Sydney up at the house?”
“Of course. You should’ve waited for someone to help you pick a mount, Sydney,” he admonished, and she cringed at the censure she’d never heard in Connor’s tone.
“I…”
“Quiet.”
Caden’s cold, demanding voice accompanied his tightening grip on her hand. Wariness mixed with excitement as he led her across the yard. “I don’t have time to keep bailing you out of trouble. You were told, repeatedly, not to attempt to ride without me.”
Miffed, she glared at his back as they entered the house. “I never told you to take time away from work to come to my aid. There’s always someone in the barn
…”
He spun around so fast, Sydney stumbled back a step and would’ve fallen if he hadn’t yanked her forward to land against his rock-solid body. “Do not speak to me of my ranch hands. It’s bad enough you spoil the dogs, now I have to contend with those kids following you around, drooling, which they were not here to do when you just pulled that foolhardy stunt.”
A pleased smile split her face. “Do they really? Aww, that’s sweet.”
Caden gritted his teeth. “No, it’s not, and neither are the consequences I warned you about for breaking the rules.”
Before she realized his intentions, he hauled her into the den, had her jeans unsnapped and shoved down with a few quick movements, and yanked her over his lap as he sat on the sofa. Both startled and thrilled, Sydney reared her head up, shoved her hair out of her eyes and asked him in a tone a lot calmer than her racing heartbeat, “Do you know what you’re doing?” She prayed he said yes because the exposure of her bare butt under his heated gaze was enough to fill her pussy with moisture, to bead her nipples into tight pinpoints and to send her blood flowing through her veins in a hot, molten rush. And that was before he rested one wide, callused palm on the rounded curve of her bottom.
“I disciplined my first sub fifteen years ago when I was only a few years older than the employees you have eating out of your hands. What do you think?”
Throwing caution to the wind, in for a penny, in for a pound and all that, she tossed back, “Okay, then do your worst.”
The cheeky grin Sydney flipped Caden shouldn’t have surprised him, or her easy compliance when she turned her head back down and waited for his retribution. Had she kicked and screamed for him to let her go, he would’ve done so, but when had the girl reacted as he thought she should? Knowing it was a mistake and may very well end up crossing a line he couldn’t cross back over, he swatted her right buttock, the red imprint he left behind showing with vivid brightness against her lily-white skin. The terror that sent him speeding down to the corral wouldn’t abate, his mind still reeling from the injuries she could’ve sustained with that foolhardy stunt. He spanked her other cheek, enjoying the bounce of the soft globe and her shifting hips way too much. “Had enough?” he asked, rubbing his hand over the warm, smooth flesh.
“Would you stop if we were at The Barn and I was your sub?” she returned with a slight catch in her voice.
“Hell, no.” He refused to lie even if doing so would be in his best interest.
“Then pretend I am and don’t stop… please.”
He sighed, her whispered plea sealing both their fates. “Remember, I warned you to be careful about what you ask for.” Caden proceeded to give her what she thought she wanted ever since he’d caught her spying and caved to what he’d been itching to do.
With a volley of sharp smacks, he peppered Sydney’s ass until the pink tinge turned a deep red, her warm skin grew hot and her quiet mewls erupted into louder cries. She shifted with a moan when he stopped to rub the abused mounds. After soothing the sting, he gave her time to adjust to the soreness by palming the plump curve of one crimson cheek. She had a perfect shaped ass with soft, malleable buttocks that had clenched with each spank then softened as she adjusted to the pain. Then she shifted again, lifting into his hand, and he barely heard another whispered entreaty of ‘please’ that drew his eyes to her glistening seam. “You continue to surprise me, darlin’.”
Sydney whipped her face around, shaking her hair out of her drenched eyes. “Does that mean…”
Caden squeezed her buttock and drew a yelp from her by delivering a final, blistering swat. “You’re new to this and don’t realize how sore you’ll be. Sit up.” Her face mirrored the color of her ass, but it was the blatant need reflected in her dilated eyes that tempted him to change the tone of this lesson and reward her, and that would not do. His actions were meant as a deterrent, not a pleasurable interlude. “Next time you disobey a rule, you’ll get a taste of my belt.” Ignoring the desire to sink his fingers between those enticing, plump, damp folds, he stood her up and pulled up her panties and jeans. Standing, he lowered his Stetson and headed to the door, saying without looking back, “I have work to do.”
Connor stood waiting for him by the corral when he stepped outside, a knowing grin playing around his mouth as he handed Caden the reins to his steed. “Not a word, got it?” Caden snapped in warning.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, brother.”
Chapter 4
Sydney stood rooted by the sofa, her body humming with unfulfilled arousal as she watched Caden saunter out. Squeezing her thighs together, she tried to still the heated pulses between her legs that mimicked the lingering, warm throbbing encompassing her backside. Nothing could have prepared her for the surprising pleasure/pain of her first, bare-butt spanking, or the longing for him to continue his erotic abuse. There’d been a certain intimacy to lying over his lap with only her bottom exposed. The rough abrasion of his hard, denim covered thighs against her soft abdomen added to the exciting strength of his control; the roughness of his leathery palm connecting with stinging force against her cheeks demonstrated who had the upper hand and who was the boss, and she liked it.
Shaking her head at her own foolish mistake that had inadvertently given her what she’d been pining for – Caden’s hands on her – she wondered where they would go from here. Somehow, she doubted this meant he would have a change of heart and allow her into his club, but hope springs eternal, and all that. She’d just have to keep working on him until he caved, or fired her, whichever came first. Heading to the kitchen to start dinner, she shied away from delving into the reason behind the way her heart contracted from that last thought.
The next morning, Sydney rolled over in bed, the slight pressure on her tender backside tickling her with a frisson of pleasure. Shaking her head at the unaccustomed responses still making themselves known, she padded into the bathroom, cooled her heated cheeks with a splash of cold water and winced as she pulled her jeans up over her butt. “It’s going to be a long day,” she muttered, brushing out her hair before strolling into the kitchen to whip up breakfast.
She had just poured the eggs into a frying pan when Caden beat any of the others inside. “Almost ready,” she tossed over her shoulder, wishing her pulse rate wouldn’t kick up every time he looked at her with that intense, probing stare. “What?” Wariness colored her voice.
“I wanted to check on you before anyone else came in.” Striding across the tiled floor to stand in front of her at the stove, he lifted her chin with two fingers. “Are you okay this morning?”
“Are you inquiring about my fall from the horse or your punishment for that infraction?” she asked dryly.
“Both, and be honest.”
The nearness of his tall, imposing body unnerved her, in a wholly good way. She turned back to the eggs, stirring them as she assured him, “I’m fine, Boss. Thank you for asking.”
“Good,” he replied.
She felt his pause and then heard him sigh before he moved away as the door opened, and several others tromped inside. With a mental headshake, Sydney finished putting breakfast on the table, wishing she could figure out what made her rancher tick.
That evening, she stood at the kitchen sink again, rinsing dishes and fighting back frustration and a sweep of overwhelming despair. Caden had spent the entire day either keeping his distance or treating her with aloof politeness, the same as any boss would behave toward an employee, damn it. Every step she’d taken today, every time she’d sat down, the lingering soreness from his spanking had made itself known and her sheath still wept in response. Her agitated, needy state didn’t faze him however, since, after the hands left the house following dinner, he wouldn’t even discuss allowing her to visit the club tonight. Instead, she watched him walk out with Connor without a word after getting called to the barn on an emergency birth.
“Stubborn, frigging moron,” she muttered, snapping off the faucet.
“More like a fucking ass,�
� Connor injected from behind her, surprising her with his return. “You know, Sydney, I’m equal partners in the club.”
Whirling, she gaped at him before a slow smile stretched her cheeks. “You are?”
He nodded, returning her grin. “I am, and I say you’re welcome to attend as a guest tonight. I’ll let the other Doms know you’re there to observe first, and that you’re a newbie. You can take it as far as you’d like. But I suggest we leave before big brother gets wind of it. It won’t take him long to tend to that birthing.”
Tossing the towel on the counter, she threw her arms around Connor and hugged him tight. “I can be ready in a few minutes. Don’t leave without me.”
“Since I don’t want to spend a good portion of the night looking for you, I’ll give you five minutes. After that, offer’s off the table.”
She heard him chuckle as she dashed into her room. Changing into a skirt and low-cut, long-sleeved tee, she met him at his idling truck with time to spare. “Made it!” she exclaimed, tossing her hair back and slamming the door with a quick glance toward the barn.
“So you did. Caden’s still tied up out there, but let’s hope he doesn’t take a strip off both our hides when he shows up at the club.”
The Barn, as they’d named the club, proved to be even more pulse-pounding exciting inside than it had been watching from the window. They entered a large foyer, small cubbyholes lining one wall and two closed bathroom doors on the other side. Connor nodded toward her feet. “Stow your shoes in an empty nook before we go inside. You can slide on the dress code your first time, but not the barefoot or heels rule.” Sydney was too excited to ask questions, wasting no time doing as he instructed as he opened one side of the large double doors into the main club area.