Sydney smiled to herself as she cleaned up the kitchen in the mess hall. She’d served homemade rolls with today’s beef stew and set out an array of desserts it had taken her all morning to bake. The guys couldn’t praise her enough, a few even offered marriage proposals in jest. Going by her boss’ scowl, she guessed Caden didn’t appreciate their humor, but Connor’s sly wink and grin said he did.

She relished the friendly banter and camaraderie today after spending Sunday mostly by herself after Caden informed her he didn’t have time to teach her to ride before taking off for Billings. Other than to approve her grocery list and grumble about feeding his meatloaf to the dogs, he had made himself scarce after returning in the late afternoon. She’d killed some time strolling around the barns and learning her way around the buildings, petting the horses in their stalls and throwing sticks for the dogs. Compared to the hustle and bustle on Saturday, the ranch had been quiet and lonely yesterday and made her enjoy the activity and noise of a working ranch even more this morning.

When the hall finally grew quiet, she stretched, more than ready for some fresh air. With luck, maybe a long walk like the one she’d taken yesterday would help her sleep well again tonight. She refused to credit Caden’s presence in the house for the previous good night’s rest. Grabbing her jacket off its hook, she slipped out into the pleasant afternoon sun and brisk breeze. She followed a path of worn down grass through the closest field, catching sight of a few ranch hands working the cattle from afar. Annoyance slithered under her skin when she realized her eyes kept seeking one cowboy in particular, and she cursed her inability to stop pining for more attention from her boss. I’m just lonely, and horny, she repeated over and over as she increased her stride and concentrated on keeping her head down.

An hour later, that strategy proved to be a piss poor one. “Damn, damn and double damn,” Sydney cursed while trying to disentangle her snagged jeans from the barbed wire fence she had attempted to climb over. The sound of a horse thundering toward her drew her attention just as she felt a painful, sharp scrape ripping through the sock covering her ankle. Shielding her eyes, Sydney groaned when she recognized Caden galloping up to her, his horse puffing from exertion.

“I should’ve known you were where you’re not supposed to be,” Caden sighed as he dismounted and tipped his Stetson back with a thumb. “Don’t tell me, you got turned around, right?”

“Can I help it if your land stretches on and on with nothing to break it up?” The cut stung, and she could feel blood dampening her jeans, which didn’t improve her mood.

“Hold still.” Gripping her pant leg with both hands, he ripped the bottom three inches of denim off, freeing her before he caught sight of the cut. “Son of a bitch.” Whipping out a bandana from his back pocket, he tied it around the cut and lifted her off the fence, his arms gentle, his weathered face taut with frustration. “When was your last tetanus shot?”

Sydney racked her brain and cringed. “Uh, over ten years ago.” Thinking of going to a clinic and the forms she’d have to fill out, she shook her head. “I’m fine, it’s just a scrape.”

“Out here, we don’t take chances. Let’s go.” He swung up on his huge horse and before she knew what he was about, reached down and hauled her up in front of him as if she weighed no more than twenty pounds.

Then his muscle-hard arms wrapped around her and Sydney forgot about the problems going for a doctor’s visit would cause her. Leaning against his wide chest, she turned her face up to his with an impish grin. “Is this my riding lesson?” she asked as he prodded the horse into a trot that bounced her on his lap in a very enticing way.

“Hell no,” he returned with a frown.

She couldn’t help it. It felt too good to be held again, to set aside her worries and problems and enjoy a pleasant afternoon and the nearness of one hunky rancher to stifle the urge to needle him again. Gripping his thick forearm, she wiggled her butt against his crotch and felt the press of his growing erection as she told him with a laugh, “That’s okay. I like riding with you.”

Caden tightened his arm around her waist and snapped, “Sit still.”

Unperturbed, she shook her hair back, turned and put her mouth on his throat, his earthy scent making her ache as she taunted, “Or what?”

Shifting the reins to his hand at her waist, he gripped her hair and pulled her head back, the steed never breaking stride as he bent and nipped her lower lip. “Have I mentioned my belt?” Her instant stillness drew his chuckle. “That’s what I thought. Behave, Sydney.”

The man either had no idea what he did to her or didn’t care. Sydney ran her finger over her throbbing lip, struggling to keep from rubbing her crotch against the leather saddle to alleviate the warm ache that small sting brought about. She shuddered when she thought of how his belt would feel snapping on her bare butt, and then recalled the blonde’s contented face after Caden spanked her. Was it any wonder her boss had her tied up in knots she craved to untangle?

He had better things to do on a Monday afternoon, Caden reminded himself as he tried to ignore the way Sydney’s soft ass cushioned his hardening shaft. When she’d left for one of her walks and hadn’t returned within a few hours, he and Connor had taken out in different directions to look for her. As he would for any of his employees, he’d feared for her safety and when he’d come across her tangled in the barbed wire fence she’d foolishly tried to cross over, the relief at finding her safe switched to annoyance from the worry and trouble she’d caused him.

“You have a cell phone, don’t you? Why didn’t you call the ranch when you got into trouble?” He looked down into her flushed face and grew suspicious when she averted her eyes. The girl carried secrets he normally wouldn’t be interested in prying into. His life had been anything but normal the past few days.

“I left it in my room. Besides, what good would it have done? I couldn’t tell anyone where I was because I didn’t know.”

Her excuse was both logical and feasible but he wasn’t buying it. “From now on, take your phone with you, or, better yet, limit your walks to around the buildings instead of taking off through the fields.” Caden told himself he was not disappointed when he halted Ranger at the corral next to the horse barn and lost the feel of Sydney’s soft body swaying with his as he dismounted. “Come on.” Lifting her down, he stepped back as soon as her feet touched the ground and couldn’t miss the regret crossing her face. For his sake, he wished she would be more like other women and at least try to hide her interest.

“I honestly don’t think I need to get the scrape looked at,” she protested as he clasped her elbow and led her over to his truck.

“Yes, you do.” Opening the passenger door, he waved his hand inside. “Get in. Willow Springs has a twenty-four-hour clinic.”

“Look, the truth is I’m low on funds until payday. I can’t afford a doctor’s bill.” He could tell she didn’t like being forced to make that admission. Tough.

“You’re covered under our insurance since you were hurt on our property while in our employ. Why don’t you have insurance?”

She ignored his question and hopped up onto the seat with a relieved smile. “In that case, let’s go.”

The next afternoon, Caden returned from the fields in time to stroll around the side of the big barn and catch a view of Sydney’s upturned ass as she stood leaning over the rail enclosing the pigpen. Way over. With a squeal, she toppled into the sty, landing in a mud puddle from the previous night’s rain. With a glare toward two hands laughing on the sidelines, he strode toward her, snapping at them, “You didn’t think to stop her?”

“Ah, c’mon, boss,” Tyler drawled as he and Carl came forward to help. “You gotta admit she’s cute.”

“And entertaining,” Carl put in.

Ignoring them, he reached over the rail for Sydney’s hand. “I dare you to find humor in your current position.” Mud caked her hair and splattered her face, yet she grabbed his hand with a beaming smile.

“I have no one to blame but myself. The big one distracted me when he bullied Princess.”

Tyler chuckled. “You named her?”

Sydney shrugged, climbed over the railing and hopped down. “Sure, why not. Thanks for the hand, boss.” She flipped Caden one of her cheeky grins, leaving him itching to spank her mud-caked butt as she sauntered up to the house.

Turning to his other employees, he growled, “Get back to work.”

Sydney was driving him fucking nuts, Caden groused when he found himself searching for her again the next day. If he didn’t fear the hands would stage a walkout, he’d fire her and wash his hands of her. Unfortunately, she’d had the gall to endear each and every one of his hired help to her with homemade breads, fantastic meals and an array of baked sweets that had the guys practically eating out of her hand. So, that option was out, no matter how much she continued to burrow under his skin.

She’d treated the lost, fence-snagging incident on Monday as a fun adventure, drawing smiles from the guys and adding to Caden’s frustration over a growing attraction he couldn’t get a handle on. Yesterday, when she’d grinned up at him with that irrepressible smile stretching her mud-splattered face, he’d struggled with an urge to either kiss her or toss her over his knee. Thank goodness she had walked away before he could do either.

Now, he and Connor were once again out looking for her after no one could find her by late afternoon. “I swear, if she’s wandered into a field again, she’ll have trouble sitting tomorrow.”

His damn brother had the gall to laugh at that threat. “Be careful. She may end up liking your discipline enough to egg her on instead of deterring her.”

“There is that, isn’t there?” What the hell was it about the woman he couldn’t get a handle on? In all his thirty-nine years, he’d never experienced such a constant pull for one woman, and wouldn’t you know it? It would have to be for an off-limits employee with a penchant for suspicious evasiveness.

A few minutes later, Connor slowed and pointed east across a field. “There she is. What is she doing?”

Spotting her, Caden’s blood ran cold as he swore, “Un-fucking believable!” Spurring Ranger into a gallop, he prayed he reached the idiot girl before one of their orneriest bulls followed through with his hoof-pawing threat and charged her. Why the hell did she just stand there with her hand out? “Head him off,” he shouted to Connor.

“Uh, oh.” Sydney took her eyes off the enormous cow that didn’t look happy with her and cast a quick glance toward the sound of approaching riders. She winced when she recognized the Dunbar brothers coming to her rescue. Caden was not going to be happy with her. Again.

Was it her fault she’d been daydreaming about her boss and ended up completely turned around? No, her mistake was in thinking she could just retrace her steps and find herself close to the house. Oops. The ‘bigger than life’ cow had charged out of nowhere, snorting his displeasure and shaking his massive head at her as if to say, how dare you tread on my turf! He couldn’t even be bribed into a friendlier attitude with a sugar cube she’d been saving for Daisy, the little mare she’d grown fond of.

Thank goodness her cowboys knew what they were doing. Caden came trotting up behind her while Connor rode between her and the cranky cow, his horse herding the heifer away from them as Caden leaned over and scooped her up with one hard arm around her waist. Her relief at their timely rescue changed to startled, breath-stopping unease when she found herself lying face-down in front of him and the grassy ground shifting in dizzying circles below her.

Before she could get her bearings, he swatted her wiggling backside hard enough to feel the discomfort and burn through her jeans. “What… oh!” The next smack cut off her complaint, the dull ache and warmth spreading to her quivering pussy rendering her mute with astonishment.

“I’m spanking some sense into you,” Caden growled, delivering one more slap before shifting her upright and leaving her sitting sideways as he nudged his horse back into a trot.

Sydney was too stunned from her body’s response to what should have been a humiliating set-down to wonder much what Connor meant when he pulled alongside them and, after one look at her face, called over with humor lacing his voice, “I think you lost that gamble, brother.”

The rumble of Caden’s low-voiced swearing vibrated against her shivering frame, and she enjoyed his frustration as much as she was shocked by the low-level arousal those few swats generated. She couldn’t even find it in her to be embarrassed from Connor witnessing his brother’s actions. With a wave, Connor took off ahead of them and Sydney braved a look up at her boss’ handsome, rugged face, exasperation swirling in his cobalt eyes.

“I can explain,” she offered.

“Really. How?” he mocked.

“I intended to stay within sight of the barns, but… got distracted and then turned around.” She wasn’t about to tell him she’d been fantasizing about being spanked and then fucked by him. He may fire her over such an infraction. As much as she missed her family, she was stuck here until she came up with a plan to return home and keep Uncle Mike and his desperate actions from hurting her grandmother and uncles.

“And, why didn’t you call this time?”

She looked away from those probing eyes that saw too much. Her lack of funds didn’t allow for her to add minutes to the pre-paid cell phone she’d been using since fleeing Missouri. She couldn’t reveal that without raising his suspicions about her even more than her refusal to tell him why she didn’t have insurance to charge for the medical bill the other day.

“I don’t carry it with me around the ranch.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think I needed to.”

“And now you know otherwise. You’re disrupting my work with your irresponsibility,” he chastised her as they neared the barns.

“If you would teach me to ride, like you promised, I would have something to do in the afternoons,” she argued in defense despite finding it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying while being held snug against him, his cock pressed against her thigh, her butt still tingling from those swats. Even the girls were on board, her nipples puckering into tight nubs.

“Maybe I’d have time if I wasn’t constantly riding to your rescue.” Caden dismounted at the barn and lifted her down. With his hat pulled low over his forehead, she could barely see his eyes, but his tight jaw told her she shouldn’t risk pushing him further today.

“I should see to dinner. Thanks for the ride, boss.” Her buttocks clenched when she felt his eyes on her as she strode across the lawn to the house, making her wonder what her response would be if he were to slap her bare butt. Just the thought drew a shiver down her spine and a heated throb between her legs. She bemoaned the desperate state stress and loneliness forced on her and despaired ever getting out of.

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. 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. 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 walks 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 as his continued refusal to teach her to ride proved, and she was so put out by that, not to mention bored and lonely, she developed the sudden urge to take the matter into her own hands. “The heck with waiting for him,” she told the horse, throwing caution to the wind. Worst-case scenario-he paid her the wages she’d earned and then fired her. Ignoring the pang that possibility stirred in her gut, she checked to be sure the saddle was cinched, something she’d seen the hands doing. “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.” Stepping on the bench inside the corral, she grabbed the pommel and lifted one leg over the saddle, the 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, missing the comforting feel of Caden’s big body behind her. “Well, this isn’t so hard,” she boasted, trying to convince herself as the horse turned on its own. He’d only taken two steps before startling her by lifting his head with 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.

Blinking her eyes against looking up into the glaring sun, Sydney struggled to catch her breath while testing to make sure she could move her legs. Relief swept through her before trepidation took its place when 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 all the injuries she could’ve sustained with that foolhardy stunt. He spanked her other cheek and enjoyed 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.”