by BJ Wane
“No, I’m sorry.” Pete hesitated, shifting his feet before asking, “Did you see anything harmful in the trash bin, something that could be poisonous if swallowed?”
Nan thought back but couldn’t remember anything except smelly trash. The large container was used by all the shop owners on that block and was always half full. “No, but I didn’t look. The last thing I dumped was a container of yogurt that was rancid. Oh, God, I hope that wasn’t it!”
He shook his head, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder in reassurance. “No, that wouldn’t have hurt him. He did show signs of poisoning, but it could have been any chemical not meant to be ingested, and he was malnourished to begin with. Strays don’t tend to live long, so don’t feel bad. You and I both tried, right?”
“Yes, but I’m still sorry. That must have been difficult for you.” She knew Pete suffered a drug addiction at one time and that Dan had hired him upon his parole from a military jail sentence. His face still bore the ravages of his addiction and whatever trauma he had witnessed or endured while overseas that led him into it. After her own ordeal, her empathy for him, and the other young men Dan had tried to help over the years had skyrocketed.
“It’s harder to watch them suffer. Dan is out in the west pasture unloading the cattle he purchased from the neighboring ranch. I can saddle Zenia for you, if you’d like to ride out to meet him.”
Excitement shot through Nan with an electric zing that teased her senses. Both the prospect of a ride on the beautiful Appaloosa and a chance to observe Dan in cowboy mode galvanized her. “I would. Thanks, Pete.”
Nan was glad she wore jeans as she mounted Zenia, Belle watching them with longing. Laughing, she reached down to tug on one ear. “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll be riding you before you know it.” With a wave to Pete after he pointed her in the right direction, she urged the mare to take off at a brisk gallop.
The afternoon sun warmed her head and back, the breeze cooling her face as the ground below whipped by in a blur of spring grasses and bright field flowers. Tall Ponderosa pines separated the grasslands from the Douglas-fir forests, and if she looked closely, she might glimpse an elk or caribou. But it wasn’t the vigorous ride and never-ending scenery that caused her heartbeat to thump wildly, but the anticipation of seeing Dan again, which told her how bad she had it for her sometimes Dom and long-time friend. Even though they’d spoken on the phone Monday and Tuesday, him calling to ask if anything untoward had occurred since Sunday, he’d been wrapped up in legal work in his home office until late in the evening the past two nights.
Nan pulled back on the reins as she spotted the long cattle trailer hooked behind a Dunbar Ranch truck in the distance. It was as easy to recognize Tank, Dan’s stallion, as it was to pick him out between the other two on horseback. He sat a head taller and the back of his collar-length light hair showing below his hat glinted in the sun. As she trotted toward a copse of trees so as not to disturb them, her body hummed with a sweet rush of arousal pooling between her legs. She’d gone over ten months without sex while in New Orleans, and after two weeks of turning herself over to Master Dan, she was miserable going three days without his cock filling and stretching her pussy with his rough possession. Her flesh ached for the familiar burn of his palm or leather strap and the exultant pleasure it could bring her.
Settling at the edge of the trees, she sat and watched them unload the trailer, all the men wearing chaps that drew the eyes to their tight butts and crotches. “Damn, they can make a girl wet just watching them, can’t they, Zenia?” Nan stroked the mare’s neck, pining for Dan’s touch again. The longer she sat there, the more she wanted him, and the more she realized how deep her feelings went. For the first time in her life, she was in love and wanted more from a man and a relationship than sex and friendship. But in all the years she’d known Dan, not once had he shown an interest in settling down to a committed relationship. In fact, before Connor and Tamara ironed out their problems, Dan and Connor were the two Masters everyone at The Barn thought would remain single.
Her heart twisted and with a sigh of regret, Nan turned Zenia around and rode back to the stable at a slower pace, trying to come to terms with the possibility she’d allowed herself to fall for the wrong man. No, she amended, the right man for her, just the wrong man to expect a return of deep feelings. She’d already agreed to go to the club Friday night with Dan, but after that, maybe she should consider ending their bargain, as much as it pained her to do so. She would not make another mistake by allowing this gaffe of falling in love to ruin their friendship.
As she rode up to the stable doors, Grayson and Avery pulled in. It took monumental effort to work up a smile of welcome, but Nan figured she’d better get in the practice of hiding her feelings for the next few weeks.
Dan nudged Tank around and watched Nan ride back toward the stables without coming over. Did she think he didn’t know she was there? He was more attuned to her now than he’d ever been. Maybe because he’d missed her so much when her short vacation turned into a ten-month absence, or because of the way he had vacillated between anger and concern when she’d cut off all communication. Discovering he had taken their compatibility as Dom/sub when at the club and their otherwise easy, comfortable friendship for granted hadn’t sat well with him. Neither had the nightmares plaguing his sleep since learning what had befallen her in New Orleans. Realizing how close he’d come to losing her, maybe never seeing her again, had left him shaken, and aware of just how deep his feelings ran.
Which was why he’d been so pissed when she’d insisted on returning to her apartment alone after spending two nights in his bed. No matter how much he’d wanted to argue, entice and demand she let him stay with her, he couldn’t fault her determination to get her life back. Wasn’t that what he set out to help her do with his bargain proposal? She was on a fast track toward that goal and that should make him happy, shouldn’t it?
“Are you going to sit there staring all day or get back and start the grill?” Caden drawled as he slammed the back doors of the cattle trailer closed.
“He’s mooning over his girl. I love it. Another one bites the dust.” Connor smirked, tipping his hat back and looking up at Dan with laughter in his blue eyes.
Dan dismounted, replying, “Nan isn’t interested in settling down like her friends.” But I might be. Wouldn’t that be a kicker, if, after all these years, he wanted to give a serious, committed relationship a try just to get refused by the only woman he could imagine himself being happy with for the long run?
“Are you sure?” Caden asked, cocking his head.
He thought of her insisting on going it alone to test the safety of the new locks he’d installed. “Yeah, pretty sure.” He nodded toward the young heifers the brothers had sold him at a discounted price. “I appreciate the livestock, and the price.”
“Once you start breeding, they’ll add to your herd in no time. You may find yourself in need of more hands this time next year,” Connor said.
“I don’t have the time or the acres for too many more. My goal is to keep a certain head count and still have a profitable number to take to auction. Go get your wives and meet back at my place. Like you said,” he tossed out as he mounted up again, “I need to get the grill going.”
“We’ll be there in fifteen.” Caden waved as he and Connor got into the truck.
After riding over to Bertie and having a few words with his foreman, Dan kicked Tank into a full run, eager to spend as much time with Nan while she was still agreeable to their bargain as he could.
Tamara’s look held skepticism as she asked Nan, “Are you sure that’s all there is to it?”
“What else would there be?” Nan hedged. “You know me, and Master Dan. We’re happy with the way things are.” She picked up her beer and took a swig of the cold brew, hoping to wash down the lie. Her eyes kept straying toward the front doors of The Barn as she waited with damp palms and a rapid pulse for Dan to arrive. Other than the cookout on Wednesday, sh
e hadn’t seen him all week. They talked every day, and today he had wanted her to drive to his place and then ride out here with him, but she declined. Until she knew if his feelings mirrored her own, she didn’t want to get too comfortable sleeping with him. Returning to her solitary bed after just two nights in his had been hard enough.
“Sure you are.” Sydney shook her red head. “You two are as stubborn as Caden, and I didn’t think anyone could match him when it came to fighting a relationship.”
Avery grinned. “From what Grayson said, you two fell the fastest for each other.”
As they bantered, Nan glanced again toward the doors, this time with an electric jolt sizzling through her veins as she watched Dan enter. The loud, pumping music faded to the background, along with the chatter and sounds of sexual activities reverberating around the cavernous barn as she ogled his sexy saunter straight for their table. His thigh muscles bulged under the snug denim with each long-legged stride and the black tee molded in a tight stretch over his wide shoulders and around his thick biceps. Without his hat, his wavy hair shone bright under the high rafter lighting, accentuating the darkness of his eyes and face, eyes that never looked away from her as he approached.
“Holy shit, girlfriend,” Tamara breathed. “If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.”
That ridiculous statement drew Nan’s attention for a second. “Sure you would. Would that be with or without your husband?”
“Speaking as one who enjoyed the pleasure of a ménage once…”
“Hey!” Avery interrupted Sydney with a mock scowl. “What did I tell you about bringing that up? Sheesh, can’t you forget you once had my Grayson’s hands all over you?”
Sydney rolled her eyes, her lips twitching at Avery’s mock outrage. “It was before you even came along. Hello, Master Dan.”
“Ladies.” Without wasting time, Dan grabbed Nan’s hand and hauled her to her feet. “If you’ll excuse us. I’m later than expected and would like to get a small matter taken care of before escorting my sub upstairs.”
“What small matter?” Nan set all her reservations about her feelings aside and followed him over to the bar, her pulse tripping with excitement and a touch of apprehension. She couldn’t read his expression or mood, but her body didn’t seem to care. As soon as he’d wrapped his large hand around hers, her girly parts fired up on all cylinders, ready and eager for anything he wanted.
As they reached the bar, he pressed her back against the smooth oak edge, the thin sheath she wore with only a thong underneath offering no protection against his hard, muscled frame. Bracing his hands on the bar top behind her, he gazed down at her with a frown dipping his dark brows. “I’m not the only one unhappy with the way you kept me and your friends in the dark about the abuse you suffered in New Orleans. It was wrong of you to not only shut out everyone you’ve known for years, but to hide what happened, as if you were ashamed.”
Nan winced at the censure in his tone and the hurt behind his words. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot to deal with, as you know, and…” She sucked in a breath as he reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it over her head, cutting off her sentence.
Filling his hands with her breasts, he asked coolly, “You were saying?”
“I forget.” Arousal ignited as she leaned into his busy hands, loving the tight squeezes. Goosebumps popped up across her skin as he shifted his hands and gripped her nipples in a tight pinch. Her pussy clenched with each twist of the tender buds, each pluck drawing a fresh gush of cream.
“I brought you to climax once just from doing this.” Dan pressed harder, his eyes never leaving her face.
Nan shivered and bit her lip as the pain sent sparks from her nipples straight to her pussy and wasn’t prepared for him to release the tortured buds without warning. Blood rushed back into the abused tips with sharp, stabbing needle pricks, the hurt inflaming every nerve ending in her breasts. She fisted her hands to keep from releasing her frustration and gave him a narrow-eyed glare. “You won’t do so again by doing that.”
“I didn’t intend to, at least not right now. You have a penalty to pay before we work on getting you over the last hurdle of your fears.”
Before she could question him, he tugged her thong down, shoved it aside with one booted foot and lifted her bare butt onto a towel someone behind her spread on the bar top. A heated flush pumped up her excitement as those standing at the bar eyed Master Dan swinging her legs up, bracing her feet a foot apart and spreading her bent knees.
“Sir?” Fine tremors of awareness rippled under her skin as her body danced a jig of heightened expectation from his dark gaze.
Palming her labia, Dan leaned forward and brushed her mouth with his. “Thank you, Master Caden.”
She swiveled her head and saw Sydney’s husband standing behind the bar, reaching across her to hand a bottle of beer and a glass of ice water to Master Dan. When Dan set the water down and lifted his hand, she knew what was coming, and relished the burn of his slap on her tender folds. “One.” He brought the beer to his mouth as he dribbled a few drops of ice water on her reddened, stinging skin.
“Oh, God.” Nan groaned, leaned back on her hands, arching her head to gaze at the high rafters above. Dan bent his head and licked his cold tongue over her flesh, lapping up the droplets, each stroke stirring the heat building inside her.
As he raised his head, she caught Dan’s nod right before Caden lifted his hand and delivered the next swat with his admonishment. “Two, and don’t disappoint me again, Nan.”
“No, Sir, I won’t,” she gasped with a full-body shudder as Master Dan again soothed her fiery skin with a splash of cold water and his tongue. Even though her entire crotch tingled with heat and throbbed with a sore ache, when Master Connor stepped up and landed his punishing blow, the sting was still less than what she craved, what she needed.
She shook, waiting for Dan to finish tracing his tongue over her hot skin, the scrape of his whiskered jaw against the chafed, delicate flesh drawing a mortifying mewl from her tight throat. Swallowing her frustration, she accused him in a strained voice, “You told them to hold back.”
“No, that’s their doing,” he denied, lifting his head and swigging another drink as Master Grayson arrived and gave her a granite-eyed look.
“I won’t be so nice.” The sheriff’s blistering smack sent Nan’s hips arching upward with a wrenched cry. “Dan said the bastard is awaiting trial. Good for you, sugar.” He winked and walked away, joining Avery who waited by the stairs as Dan shocked her by plucking an ice cube from the water and applying it to her red-hot skin.
“Crap!” Nan’s eyes widened as her skin numbed and then warmed under his soft tongue. A sharp nip on one pulsing fold brought her thighs together to press against his face. His deep chuckle vibrated up her quivering pussy before hard hands spread her knees again. Startled, she turned and noticed Masters Greg and Devin waiting to punish her next. “Uh, oh.”
“Yes, I believe you know who is most upset with you. Youput them in a bad position, hon,” Dan said without raising his head from her crotch, his tongue dipping to trace up her damp seam.
She didn’t know which felt better, that teasing glide or the soft strokes over her puffy folds that followed. Too bad he moved away before she could decide, she thought as first Master Greg and then Master Devin delivered blistering swats between her splayed legs, their disapproving looks stirring her guilt. “I’m sorry, Sirs,” she whispered, surprised by how much she wanted their forgiveness. She wasn’t used to disappointing Doms and didn’t care for how it made her feel.
Devin skimmed his fingers over her inflamed flesh with a wink that helped ease her conscience. “You’re forgiven. We don’t hold grudges.”
“Unless, of course, you make a habit of withholding important facts from us,” Greg added with a flick of her left nipple.
The two men sauntered away before she could reply, and then Master Dan’s lips were ghosting across her reddened skin, his lips teasing th
e sensitive, swollen nerves as his tongue darted out to lap up the last splash of icy water. Once again, voices and music faded to the background as he used his fingers to spread her labia and delved between with his tongue. Arching against his marauding mouth, she let her head fall back further, basking in the sheer decadence of the position, the carnal act and the thrill of exhibitionism. Her sheath convulsed as he tugged on her clit with his teeth and plunged two fingers deep enough to bump her womb. Her arms weakened, sending her down onto her elbows with a soft cry as two words chanted over and over inside her head – I’m back! That happy cry ended on a frustrated curse when he pulled back before the tremors heralding her climax could erupt into pleasure.
Lifting her head, she exclaimed, “Damn it, why? I accepted my punishment and apologized.”
Dan lifted her down and held her quivering, frustrated body close enough she almost forgave him. “Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” she answered with irritation and a simmering need she feared only he could assuage.
“Then come with me and let’s finish this.”
Dan was as ready to burst at the seams as Nan, but not before they both got through this next scene. She’d been the girl he remembered just now, the naked submissive eager to please and embrace her pain-driven needs. As he tugged her toward the dangling chain and nodded to Greg and Devin who waited in the corner, he prayed he was as successful in helping her overcome the fear of darkness as he was her fear of pain.
Needy anticipation spread across her face as he lifted her hands to the attached cuffs and bound her arms above her head. Goosebumps popped up along her skin as he trailed his hands down the sensitive underside of her arms. “We agree you can trust me, right?”
She nodded, arching toward him as he cupped her full breasts and strummed her nipples with his thumbs. “Yes, Sir. I always have. You know that.” Frustration underscored those last three words.