by BJ Wane
Dangling face down kept her from trying to look back up at him, but she shook her head in denial. “No. You walked away after…” Tamara paused to suck in a gasp as he delivered a volley of quick, hard swats that covered her entire backside before pausing to slip on the red grooming mitt. “Con,” she groaned, shaking from the light stroke of PVC bristles scraping over her throbbing flesh.
“That’s Master Con, little one,” he reminded her, the smile in his voice warming her in a different way. She did love his teasing side. “Your pretty red ass is too tempting. I think you’ve had enough.” He scraped the bristles once more over her buttocks before turning the mitt around and soothing the ache with the softer massage side, gliding over her tortured flesh and spreading tingles down her legs. “See? Not so bad, is it?” Not sparing an inch of her entire, upturned butt, the small nodules left behind small tremors in their wake that increased her ache for his rough possession.
“Not now,” she admitted, the pain subsiding as fast as he’d initiated it, leaving her buttocks to pulse softly.
“I love your honesty.” Connor pulled off the mitt and tossed it onto the hay before dragging one finger up her wet seam. “And how you respond to me, no matter what I do to your delectable body.” With a laugh of pure pleasure that gave Tamara a warm fuzzy feeling, he lifted her, yanked her jeans down further and helped her work her right leg free of the denim without removing her sneaker.
“Now,” she demanded, throwing her arms around his broad shoulders, desperate to feel him thrusting inside her again. “Leave on your hat.”
He chuckled and followed her down onto the hay bale, one hand going to his zipper. “Yes, ma’am. Anything to please.”
It took just seconds before his heated flesh sprung free against her bare leg, her breathing turning to heavy pants as he sheathed himself then spread her thighs by settling his hips between them. Tamara lifted her leg around his lower back as he thrust into her welcoming body, her copious juices making it easy for him to bury himself to the hilt. “Oh God,” she groaned as he reared back and plunged forward again without pause.
“You said now. I’m just giving you want you want,” Connor rasped above her mouth before molding his lips over hers again, swallowing her next low moan.
Her hips bucked against his marauding shaft, her body shaking as flames of rippling heat spread straight up her pussy. She wondered if she would ever get enough of him, and then thought of nothing else except the pleasure spiraling her headlong to that plane where nothing mattered except the sweeping ecstasy only he had ever brought her to.
Connor released her mouth as his cock jerked with his orgasm, his breathless curse mingling with her cry. Putting his mouth to her ear as he ground into her, his quiet laugh reverberated in her head. “Be quiet unless you want to draw a crowd,” he panted.
Tamara bit her lip, basking in the way his cock stretched and filled her, in the spasms continuing to engulf her from head to toe, in his pleasure and amusement. Nothing had ever been this good, nothing could be. There was no one but Con, could never be anyone else. As he eased back, she kept her eyes closed, hoping to hear him say this was going where she wanted it to, afraid to read nothing more on his face than the sated pleasure and fondness he’d been showing her all week.
Connor pulled from Tam’s snug heat, groaning as her slick muscles continued to clench along his withdrawal. Jesus. Would he ever get enough of her? He shook his head at the thought that had never entered his mind with any other woman, listening to make sure no one had taken it upon themselves to either follow them or had the same idea as he when he’d planned this little diversion. Other than the calves moving around their stalls and the occasional low bawling, all was quiet except for their labored breathing.
Shifting to her side, he ran a hand over her quivering stomach, smiling down at her flushed face and closed eyes as her chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing. His chest tightened, as it always did when he gazed at her after they’d made love, but fear of losing her still clogged his throat, stalling the words he knew he should say. Instead, he pinched her chin and quipped lightly, “Are you going to make it, little one?”
Her lids lifted slowly, and he found himself drowning in the glazed depths of her pewter eyes. “Maybe. I’m not sure yet.” She wiggled, grimacing as her buttocks scraped over the scratchy hay. “Oh, that wasn’t smart.”
Connor chuckled and gave Tamara a quick kiss before standing. “We better get back.” He disposed of the condom in a corner trash bin and turned to see her pulling her jeans back up over that delectable, red ass. With a sigh, he reined in the urge to fill his hands with those tempting globes and test the lingering warmth. “Tam…” Connor started toward her and then froze as the faint clang of a bell drifted through the barn walls. “Shit. Come on, let’s…” His phone buzzed and he yanked it out of his pocket, seeing Caden’s number. Dread had him gripping Tam’s elbow and steering her outside as he barked into the phone, “What’s up?”
“That’s the fire alarm from Barton’s. Where are you?” Caden snapped with urgency.
“We went for a walk, we’re on our way back.” Connor’s gaze sliced down at Tam and he could tell she heard his brother’s bad news. He listened to Caden a minute more before hanging up.
“It’s my place?” Her voice quivered but she didn’t slow her steps as they dashed back toward the house.
Connor nodded with regret. “One of your hands called Jason. A fire in one of the barns. He and Amy are already on their way back and others are following. Let’s hurry.”
He prayed her employees had it under control before it spread or did too much damage. The warning bells a lot of the ranchers had worked well in sending out a fast plea for help in situations like this, where every second counted if both livestock and buildings were going to be saved. The Barton ranch abutted theirs, close enough everyone heard the bell and acted without hesitation in hightailing it over there. Everything is going to be fine, he kept telling himself as he ushered her into his truck and took off for her place, leaving behind only a few of the older neighbors to clean up what they could of the remnants of the barbeque.
Chapter 12
Tamara had gone cold from head to toe the moment she heard Caden’s voice over the phone, the word ‘fire’ causing fear to block all rational thought. As soon as Connor pulled in front of her house and she saw the flames licking up the side of the stable, her heart lodged in her throat and terror for her beloved stallion and the other horses put a stranglehold on her emotions. She flew out of the truck the moment he stopped, never hearing his shout for her to wait. As she dashed across the wide lawn, she never saw her friends and neighbors working together to pump water from the well onto the fire, didn’t hear the wail of sirens as the volunteer fire truck roared up the drive and didn’t think about her own safety as she ran into the stable and was met with a stifling wall of heat.
Gasping, she shielded her eyes against the stinging smoke and almost crumpled to the ground in relief when she saw the empty stalls. Coughing, she spotted Mark right before he took her arm and ushered her toward the back.
“We’ve got it under control, but the structure isn’t safe,” he said, handing her his kerchief to hold over her nose and mouth as they stumbled back outside.
Blinking her eyes against the watery blur, Tamara made out the wavery forms of her horses grazing in the pasture, at least a mile away. Galahad’s silver-white coat stood out among the brown and black shades of the other horses. “Thank God.” She coughed, her hands shaking in relief. “Where’s Jason? What… what happened?”
Before Mark could answer, Connor’s furious voice blasted her from behind. “Goddamn it, Tam! What were you thinking?” Wrapping his hands around her upper arms, he hauled her against him and up on her toes until they were nose to nose. “You just took ten years off my life,” he growled in a voice that shook with more than anger.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. I had to make sure they were okay. Galahad, he’s�
��” Tamara choked up, her eyes filling with tears as she imagined losing the precious gift from her father in such a horrendous way, a gift that had meant so much at a critical time in her life.
Connor sighed and hugged her, the rapid beat of his heart under her ear a soothing balm for her own out of control, staccato rhythm. The shouts from people banding together to help them out finally reached her ears, as did the sizzle of doused flames. The scent of charred wood stung her nose, but the stable remained standing and she prayed the damage was limited to the one side.
“Mark,” Con said from above her head, “what do you know?”
“It’s definitely arson. I spotted an ex-employee taking off as soon as I smelled smoke but couldn’t give chase until I got the horses out. I sent Jason out looking for him as soon as he arrived since he brought plenty of help.”
Tamara pulled away from Connor as the three of them started walking around to the front, having a good idea who Mark saw. “It was Neil Anders, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. In fact, there they are now.” Mark nodded and Tamara turned to see Sheriff Monroe and Jason leading her handcuffed, disgraced ex-employee their way.
Before she could say anything, Grayson leveled his steely-eyed gaze on her and asked in his quiet, authoritative tone, “You want to tell me why you haven’t reported the vandalism going on around here, sugar?”
She felt Connor stiffen next to her and dreaded his response to the sheriff’s disclosure. This was not going to sit well with him.
“What vandalism?”
The very softness of Connor’s tone sent a shiver of unease down Tamara’s spine even before she looked up and saw him glaring in accusation at her. Jason also frowned as he added his two cents.
“You didn’t tell him about the raccoon, downed fencing, tainted feed or loose cattle?” Her foreman cuffed a sullen Neil on the back of his head. “The trouble he’s been causing.”
Tamara tried not to think about the way Connor shifted away from her or his sudden silence as she asked, “Neil, why?”
“Don’t blame me,” he snapped. “It was your boyfriend’s idea. If I hadn’t needed the money he offered after you canned me, none of this would have happened.”
“Sounds like a confession to me. Come on, asshole. Let’s get you booked and you can give me this other guy’s name,” Grayson said.
“It was Jeremy Hines, wasn’t it? And he’s not my boyfriend, hasn’t been for months.” Tamara couldn’t believe Jeremy would go to such extremes, but from the closed look on Connor’s face, she had more important concerns to deal with right now.
Every muscle in Connor’s body went taut with anger, disbelief and concern as he faced one of his worst nightmares. The fear that had gripped him when Tam had jumped out of his truck and run into the burning stable before he could stop her still threatened to choke him. To stand here and hear she had kept such vital information from him this past week regarding incidents that could have, at any time, impacted her safety reminded him of all the reasons he never should have succumbed to the temptation and her insistence they expand their relationship. All the while he’d been fucking her, those two men had been waging a personal vendetta against her that could have cost her so much more than damage to her property.
Connor looked down at Tam and his heart constricted at the soot on her cheek and the resignation in her eyes. She knew, even before he said the words, their short jaunt into an intimate relationship was over.
“Connor… Con, please listen,” she pleaded, reaching out for him.
He stepped back before she could touch him, his anger with her slipping out along with his anxiety as he stated, “No, Tam. You should have told me what was going on. My God, if anything had happened to you… if they’d hurt you in any way…” He couldn’t finish. His throat tightened at just the thought of harm coming to her, harm he failed to prevent or rescue her from because his fucking little head had taken over. “It was a mistake to give in to you regarding our relationship. We can’t continue as we have been this week. You’ll see I’m right.”
Connor turned from her stricken face and took long, ground stomping strides towards Grayson’s cruiser, vibrating with the need to relieve his tension and fury with physical exertion.
“Hold up, Grayson,” he called out before the sheriff could usher Tam’s tormenter into his vehicle.
“Problem?” Grayson asked, keeping a grip on his sullen prisoner’s upper arm as he faced Connor.
“Nothing this won’t help.” He didn’t hold back as he plowed a fist into Anders’ midsection, the punk doubling over on a gasp as Grayson kept him from crumpling to the ground with his tight hold.
“Feel better?” Grayson drawled as Neil straightened by slow degrees, his face flushed with anger and pain.
“No.” Connor got in Neil’s face and snarled, “I’m going to let the sheriff handle you and your accomplice, but if either of you show your face around here again once you get your asses out of jail, you’ll get more than that one punch. Got it?”
Neil struggled with his breath as he wheezed, “That… that’s assault. I… I’m charg… charging…”
“I didn’t see anything,” Grayson interjected. “Did you, Connor?”
“Not a fucking thing.” With a grateful nod to his friend, he pivoted and saw Amy and Tam distributing water bottles to the volunteers as the fire truck rumbled its way back to the highway. Smoke still drifted up from the charred side of the structure, but all the flames appeared to be out. He jumped in to help Caden and Dan put away hoses, a heaviness weighing his shoulders down that had nothing to do with his old injury or the work involved in setting as much of the Barton property back to rights as they could for now.
One week later
Tamara ran the brush over Galahad’s smooth flank, the big steed’s muscles rippling under her stroking hand. With the warm afternoon sun beating down on her back, a fresh breeze bringing the scent of spring and her beloved pet giving her his unconditional loyalty and support, she could almost set aside the tension of the past few days. Almost was as close as she’d come though. She’d always found grooming her favorite horse to be soothing therapy for when she was upset, but this fun chore failed to settle her mind even if it did ease the tightness in her shoulders. She wasn’t surprised. Nothing she’d tried this past week had worked to dispel her despondency over Connor’s change in their relationship or her exasperation with his stubbornness. He hadn’t called or come by, but she’d seen him every day, riding along the fences separating their property, keeping a vigilant watch on her and a constant lookout for trouble.
According to Sheriff Monroe, as part of a plea bargain, Neil confessed to aiding the rustlers by passing on information and even assisting by calling in sick when he was scheduled to watch, making it easy for them to grab those last few Barton cattle and would testify against them. When he was let go, he lost both his job and the payments from the cattle thieves, making him desperate to take the money Jeremy offered. He was still looking at jail time for arson and destruction of property and Jeremy would likely plea bargain out. Her ex had returned to Boise after she’d refused to take his calls. As far as she knew, he’d gotten the message when she’d given a statement against him to Grayson, outlining his harassment of her since their split. She didn’t know what the full extent of the legal consequences would be for either Jeremy or Neil’s actions, and at this point, didn’t care so long as they paid in some way for what they did.
Shifting around Galahad’s rear quarters, she smoothed the brush over his other side, the soft butt of his head to her shoulder drawing her smile. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You want your treat and a ride. Almost done, big guy.”
Tamara heard Amy’s footsteps before she peered over Galahad’s back and saw her stepmother approaching the corral. Amy had been hovering with maternal concern for the last six days, staying at the house every night instead of Jason’s place. She’d planned to shoo her out tonight, but from the glint of determination in her
eyes, Amy might have already decided it was time she quit babying Tamara.
“I just got a call from the contractor and they’ll be out here first thing Monday morning. He said they should have the stable repairs done within a few days,” Amy said as she stepped up to Galahad’s head and stroked his velvety nose.
“Good. I’ll feel better when we can stable the horses at night again. Want to go for a ride with me?” Tamara set the brush down on a bench and reached for the saddle blanket draped over the rail.
“No, but thanks. Jason and I are going into town for an early dinner.” Cocking her head, Amy surprised her by suggesting, “You should go to the club tonight instead of sitting at home, pining for Connor. It might push him into coming around sooner.”
Funny, Tamara mused. Nan, Sydney and Avery had said the same thing when she’d joined them at the teashop a few days ago. Unlike all of her well-meaning friends and family, she knew Connor’s stubbornness outweighed hers when it came to their relationship.
Shaking her head, she replied with a sigh, “I doubt it, Amy. I’m sure after my big mistake of keeping quiet about the trouble around here that led to the fire, he’s dug in his heels. Besides, the thought of going out, being with someone else… I just don’t want to.”
“Fine, but if it were me, I’d quit letting that man dictate my life. You already let him drive you away for five years. How much more time are you going to give him?”
Amy pivoted and walked away without another word, but it only took Tamara a few moments to consider her words and conclude she was right. If Con wanted to go back to ‘just friends’ then fine. She wouldn’t waste any more time or energy on the man. She ignored the tight squeeze around her heart as she saddled Galahad and swung up. It would do no good to continue to fret over what she couldn’t change or wish he would change. With a heeled nudge to her steed’s sides, they took off across the sweeping meadow as she tried to work up as much enthusiasm for going to the club tonight as she had for the ride.