by BJ Wane
Her lips were still tingling and Kelsey was still reeling from the open display of affection when he released her and Devin lifted her by the waist until they were eye-to-eye, mouth-to-mouth.
“You’ll always be welcome, baby.” Devin caught Jordan’s speculative look and Theresa’s smile before he kissed Kelsey goodbye, vowing to make Greg pay for how much he would miss the little imp.
Trembling, Kelsey dashed toward the plane, ignoring the desperate pleading looks on Jordan and Theresa’s faces. “Later. We’ll talk after I get home. Please,” she whispered before dashing up the lowered steps with tears running down her face. More, she wanted more time with them, but prolonging the inevitable would only ensure the ache now pressing down on her chest would only be worse.
We have more, baby, but you should be more careful of what you ask for.
Devin’s words came back to bite her on the butt Kelsey’s first few days back home, and not in the fun way either. She spent the weekend with guilt weighing her down, the hurt both McAllisters expressed on the flight back still gnawing at her. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the first two nights spent back in her own apartment, in her own bed, lacked the relief and comfort of home she’d been counting on. The vivid erotic dreams she’d been hoping to dispel by pushing for real-life experiences with her two hosts still invaded her sleep, only now the faceless, nameless man tormenting her in them had been replaced with not one, but two hard-to-resist cowboys.
Kelsey awoke Monday morning out of sorts and irritable, looking forward to returning to work and all the distractions that come with a busy office. She hadn’t counted on the crowded subway getting on her nerves, the jostle of rude people being so irritating, or remembered the odor emanating from the crammed together bodies as so distasteful.
Instead of inhaling a breath of fresh air as she left the train and stepped into downtown Philly, her nose twitched with the smell of fumes from heavy traffic, her displeasure increasing with every step she took toward her building. Instead of wading through the hustle and bustle of people either too much in a hurry or too disinterested to say hello or even pass by with a polite nod with her usual indifference, she found herself looking for a stranger’s smile and friendly greeting. Horns blared by impatient drivers and cars backfired in tune with muttered curses as people shoved their way to work.
Kelsey reached her accounting firm on the sixth floor of a high-rise with her nerves stretched to the breaking point and her conflicting emotions in a turmoil. Her return home wasn’t supposed to be this way. She’d expected to miss the guys, not the people visiting or working on their ranch. The friendly, welcome back greetings from co-workers as she wound her way to her cubicle went a long way in easing her tense irritability. After taking a minute to make lunch plans with two of her closest friends, she reached her desk thinking she was more than ready to settle into the small, confined space and get back into working in the office.
Once again, she thought wrong. In less than an hour she was comparing the constant, monotonous clatter of keyboards and low humming of electronics to the faint trill of fluttering birds, a soft horse’s whinny and the distant laughter and clomping hooves of horseback riders. Her eyes kept straying from the computer screen out the large, tinted windows, and she didn’t understand why her stomach cramped every time she encountered nothing but a gray haziness and row of rooftops instead of pine tree covered hillsides topped with a cloudless, bright blue sky.
Kelsey spent way too much time over the next few days trying to shake off her discontent and the constant intrusion of her cowboys’ rugged faces and their probing, focused eyes whenever they looked at her. By the time she returned to her apartment late Friday night after having spent the evening at a club catching up with friends, a new phrase kept running through her head – This is not the way it was supposed to be. Nothing about her return this past week had gone as she’d imagined it would. And it had never entered her head she might miss Montana, the Wild Horse Dude Ranch and the people there almost as much as she’d known she would ache for Masters Devin and Greg.
As she fell into bed praying for a decent night’s sleep without dreams guaranteed to awaken her in a needy, aching state, she had to accept being wrong about wanting to come home, and wondered if maybe she had erred just as badly about judging Jordan and Theresa.
Morning brought her no concrete answers to the less than desired outcome of her first week back but a determination to set things right with the McAllisters. After pouring a cup of coffee, she grabbed her purse off the kitchen counter and rummaged inside for her phone. Instead of her cell, she pulled out the phone Greg had programmed their numbers into and handed her the first day at the ranch. She’d never had cause to use it during those too short weeks, but sudden longing to hear their voices poured through her in waves, the ache stirring up those memories she’d wanted so much.
Come back any time. You’ll always be welcome. Kelsey knew better than to believe they were serious and hadn’t given a thought to taking Greg and Devin up on their parting offer. Until now. She tightened her hand around the phone and then tossed it back in her purse. One thing at a time. Fishing out her cell, she pressed Theresa’s number and said the first thing on the tip of her tongue when she answered.
“Can I come over?”
Theresa’s choked voice broke Kelsey’s heart. “Yes, of course. If you’re agreeable, there’s someplace we’d like to take you.”
Closing her eyes to stop the tears, Kelsey said the words she knew they wanted to hear. “Sure. I trust you.”
She did trust them, she thought as she exited her apartment building and saw them standing by their car, waiting for her with hopeful expressions. But there was one thing she needed to clarify. “Did you mean it?” she asked before getting in. “At the airport, when you said I was more than a case to you.”
“Sweetheart.” Theresa stepped forward and hugged her, Kelsey’s heart stuttering upon hearing her whispered, teary words. “Don’t you know you are a daughter to us in every way that matters?”
Kelsey shook her head, choked on a sob and then looked over at Jordan’s ravaged face. “I’m sorry. You’ve been nothing but good to me. I shouldn’t have…”
“Enough,” Jordon interjected gruffly, pulling her in for a brief hug before ushering her into the car. “We made a mistake in keeping you in the dark and you in not trusting us. We’ll do what people should do who love each other, forgive and forget.”
Since she had no experience with someone loving her, Kelsey took him at his word and let go of the last of her hurt as they drove out of the city. At first, she thought they were going back to their house, but when they turned in a different direction, she leaned forward from the back seat and asked, “Where are we going?”
“To the cemetery. We thought you’d like to see where your father buried your mother and, if you’re agreeable, we can have your father moved next to her.”
“Did you tell the authorities in Sweden I don’t want anything in that lockbox?” There was no way she could take money she knew came from her father’s illegal activities and that had ultimately led to his death.
“Yes,” Jordan answered, turning into a beautifully landscaped cemetery. “You can pick a charity and we’ll handle the rest. With Lindgren spending the rest of his life in jail, it’s now yours to do with as you please.” Putting the car in gear, he pointed to the headstone right outside. “That’s your mother’s grave. The plot next to it is available, if you want to use some of that money to have your father moved next to her.”
Kelsey started to get out and then shook her head. There were no memories for her here. All her good childhood memories were with the two people sitting in front of her. And all of her recent memories and the people she needed to be happy now were in Montana. “Sure, go ahead and make the arrangements, but you don’t need me here to do that, do you?”
Theresa swiveled in her seat, her eyes sparkling with interest as she asked, “No, so what do you want to do now?”
>
Come back whenever you want, little bit. You’ll always be welcome, baby.
She smiled. “I want to return to Montana.”
Neither looked surprised, only pleased with her decision. Jordan turned back around and started the car. “Then that’s what you should do.”
It took her a week of fighting back nerves and making the arrangements to work from home before she was ready to fly into Billings and pick up the rental the McAllisters had arranged for her. She packed two large bags, thinking positive, her new online purchases arriving just in time to go into one suitcase. Six weeks to the day she’d first met Greg and Devin she drove through the gates of the Wild Horse Dude Ranch, her heart pounding so hard, she feared it would burst through her chest.
No one was around as she parked in front of the house and ran her clammy hands down her jeans before carrying her bags inside. She knew right away they weren’t in the house, so she hauled her suitcases to the back bedroom, unpacked her new white cowgirl hat, denim skirt and boots, put them on and went in search of her cowboys. Kelsey refused to worry over her reception, to wonder what she would do, how she would handle it if they didn’t want her back. Failure was not an option, at least, she prayed it wasn’t.
She didn’t find them in the stable, but Cleo’s welcome was worth waiting a little longer. “There’s my girl,” she crooned, wrapping her arms around the soft neck. The mare nudged her, looking for a treat. With a laugh, Kelsey found the barrel filled with apples and carrots and picked a large red apple for her.
The stable door creaked open a few minutes later and her heart went pitter-patter at the sound of heavy booted steps approaching down the aisle. She knew before they spoke they were behind her, Greg’s curious voice impacting her with the same warm, jolting rush as the first time she heard it.
“What are you doing here, little bit?” The minute Greg spotted her white/blonde hair, his hands itched to touch her. When she turned to face them with the same wary, insecure look in her bright blue eyes and teasing grin, he knew he wouldn’t let her leave again without a fight.
God, she loved his nickname for her as much as she loved hearing Devin call her baby. She turned and drank in the sight of their towering heights and Stetson shaded, dark faces. “You said I could return any time I wanted, right?” A welcome grin creased Greg’s lean, weathered cheeks as both men took in her outfit, Devin taking an aggressive step forward.
“Yes, but why have you come back now?” he demanded, the sight of her impish grin and petite body showcased in that sexy-as-sin cowgirl outfit thawing the cold grip surrounding Devin’s chest since she left. Their girl would not be leaving again any time soon.
Kelsey took a deep breath, shoring up her nerve. It’s now or never. She wouldn’t make the same mistake she made with the McAllisters. If they didn’t return her feelings, she would deal with it. At least then she would know and could move on.
“Well, here’s the thing.” She took her hat off and tossed it onto the stack of hay. “After I got back to Philly things started bugging me.”
Greg’s grin stretched into a smile and Devin’s mouth finally lost its tight pinch. “Like what?” Greg sent his hat sailing to land next to hers.
Pulling her top off, she basked in their heated looks as they eyed her pink bra. The girls and slutty bitch did their happy dance, and she felt like doing a two-step right along with them. “Like the noise, the smog and so many friggin’ people.” She wrinkled her nose in feigned disgust. “I mean, really, who can get any work done with all that going on?”
Devin sent his hat flying and growled, “That’s not why you’re here.”
Her hands went to the side zipper of her skirt as she cocked her head. “I forgot how astute you guys are. Okay, the main reason is… I have a problem I need to work out, and I need to do it here, with your help.”
Both men grew tense, their eyes sharpened and they took a protective step forward. “We’ll help any way we can, you know that,” Greg said.
“It could take a long,” she lowered the zipper, “long,” she shimmied out of the skirt and stood there wearing nothing but pink underwear and cowboy boots, “long time. So my question to you is, how long can I stay?”
Greg reached out and unhooked the front clasp of her bra. “If I had my way, I’d tie you to my bed and keep you here. Long enough for you?”
Devin shook his head. “That doesn’t work for me. I insist we share the burden of keeping her around.”
A giddy sense of relief spread through Kelsey’s pulsing body and she plowed ahead without reservation. “Maybe we can pick the biggest bed and share it.”
“Baby,” Devin stripped her panties down and hoisted her bare butt onto a blanket Greg had tossed on top of the hay bale, “that would be our fondest wish.”
Greg spread her legs as Devin settled behind her and reached around to cup her breasts. As he slid his hands under her buttocks and lifted her pelvis for his descending mouth, Greg whispered above her saturated, puffy flesh, “But fair warning, Kelsey. This time around, we don’t intend to let you go.”
As she closed her eyes and gave herself over to their hard hands and hot mouths, that one word she always associated with her cowboys popped back up. More, more, more…
I can live with that, Kelsey thought.
The End
Submitting to the Cattleman
Cowboy Doms, Book Six
Published by Blushing Books
An Imprint of
ABCD Graphics and Design, Inc.
A Virginia Corporation
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA 22901
©2019
All rights reserved.
No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The trademark Blushing Books is pending in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
BJ Wane
Submitting to the Cattleman
EBook ISBN: 978-1-64563-146-0
Print ISBN: 978-1-64563-168-2
v2
Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design
This book contains fantasy themes appropriate for mature readers only. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual sexual activity.
Chapter 1
The end of August
“Are you sure I can’t walk you out to your car?”
Leslie Collins smiled at her fellow teacher as the rest of their group said their goodbyes. Shaking her head, she wished she could return the interest in Alan Colwich’s hazel eyes, but where had wishing ever gotten her? “Thanks, Alan, but I’ve already ordered another drink. You go on and I’ll see you Monday.” She prayed he wouldn’t insist on staying until she was ready to leave the club. As much as she dreaded returning to her apartment to spend another night, and weekend alone, it would be worse if he asked her out again or she had to sit here for another hour making small talk while trying not to notice his ‘puppy dog’ looks.
Alan hesitated and Leslie held her breath until he nodded and stood. “If you’re sure then I’ll head out. See you Monday.” After dropping a tip on the table, he waved and she breathed a sigh of relief watching him wind his way through the tables in the dim interior.
A heavy weight of despair pressed against her chest. Doing the right thing almost four years ago had cost her everything and left her future in limbo. She’d been coping with her distraught circumstances fairly well until recently. Her mind drifted to another club, one where she’d discovered a satisfying distraction that helped her get through the long, lonely days and even longer, lonelier nights, or so she’d thought. Tomorrow would mark the third Saturday she wouldn’t make the thirty-minute drive from Billings to the private BDSM club, The Barn, and she missed what she’d found there.
“Thank you.” Leslie smiled at the young waitress
who delivered her gin and tonic, remembering her stint serving drinks as she’d worked her way through college.
Too bad her higher education hadn’t offered a class on how to cope after testifying in a murder case where the defendant’s father vowed retribution. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time sucked. She’d tried to keep from forming close friendships with her co-workers and the club members at The Barn, knowing a relationship of any kind could have no future and might even put someone else at risk if her identity in the witness protection program were discovered.
Keeping herself isolated had been the hardest part about accepting her fate when the threats against her had escalated to a drive by shooting at her house. She’d been enjoying a friendly visit from the older widower next door when he’d opened her front door just as several bullets pelted the front porch. He’d recovered from a shoulder wound, but the incident scared her enough to convince her to accept the offer of relocation.
Leslie sipped her drink as she gazed around the quiet bar, the low hum of conversation and faint music strains reaching her secluded corner table. With the exception of the lone, dark haired man with broad shoulders seated at the bar, everyone had someone to spend the Friday night with, maybe even the weekend or longer. God, she missed the nights at The Barn, the relief from the stress and despondency of her solitary life she could attain by indulging in a long scene with an attentive Dom. The limited relationships with both the Masters and the other submissive members had been enough to sustain her since joining the private club three years ago, but that was before witnessing the blissful happiness of several members committing to the one person who could fulfill all their needs.
No, Leslie thought, taking another long drink, it was easier to stay away than return and spend an evening pretending she was happy for those who were free to enjoy everything life, and the right person had to offer. The Doms she’d scened with were good to her, but not one ever looked at her the way the newly committed Masters gazed at their wives. The hardest relationship to accept had been Nan’s recent commitment to Master Dan, the two long-time members and friends having made that choice a week or two before she’d stopped attending. To make matters even worse, she couldn’t risk a casual night of sex with a friend like Alan without getting his hopes up that it would lead to something more, and she refused to use him that way.