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With fear and despair clawing at her insides, she struggled to make her way to the checkout, stopping just once more to toss a six pack in the cart. So engrossed with her thoughts and the overwhelming decision she needed to make, she didn’t see the sheriff entering the grocery as she headed out.
Clutching the two heavy bags with her head down, Sydney ran into Grayson, recognizing his deep voice when he grabbed her arms to steady her. “Whoa there. Let me take one of those for you. Sydney, right?”
Startled, her eyes flew to his face, and she cringed at the sharp look he gave her followed by the slow removal of the toothpick in his mouth. “Are you okay?”
“I… yes, fine. I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She cast a frantic look down the street but didn’t see the man who turned her inside out with a few words. “Thanks, but I’m parked right there, so I can get these.”
“I’ll get your door.” His tone, so much like Caden’s, didn’t leave room for argument.
Sydney set the bags on the back seat then schooled her features into a bland expression before facing his assessing gaze again. “Thank you, Sheriff. It’s nice to see you again.”
He nodded, his gaze remaining keen despite the small smile softening his hard face. “I hope you’ll join us at The Barn again tomorrow night. Have a good day, Sydney.”
Oh God. The longing to return to the club with Caden shook her. Gripping the steering wheel with damp palms, she struggled with her decision all the way back to the ranch, weighing the need to stay a little longer, to cajole a few more exciting memories from her rancher before she went back to being alone with keeping him in the dark about her problems. Never in a million years could she have guessed Mike would stoop this low, not even after he’d drugged her and tried forcing her signature. She should have known the happiness starting to blossom wouldn’t last.
Sydney drove home in a state of turmoil and indecision. If Uncle Mike was desperate enough to send someone after her, would he go so far as to instruct his henchman to act on his threats? He had sworn he hadn’t planned on physically harming her in any way the night he showed up at her apartment and tried to force her signature, but that was weeks ago, and she didn’t have a clue how much his dire situation might have escalated since she’d been gone. God, she really hated being in the dark about her family, and especially her mother’s youngest sibling.
By the time she returned to the Dunbar ranch, fixed dinner and then hid in her room instead of joining the others at the table, she still hadn’t decided whether she should stay or flee. The plate she’d brought with her sat untouched on the small, bedside table, the tightness in her stomach too painful to try to eat. So far, she’d stayed clear of Caden and his all-too-knowing eyes, and she missed even that small contact. She didn’t know if she cared that much for him or just craved more of his dominant, sexual control before leaving, but whichever one it was, it hurt to think about it.
The house grew silent, and she knew Connor had left for his own home and the hands for the bunkhouse. Caden spent most evenings holed up in his office, and she assumed that’s where he’d gone off to. Unable to sit still or watch television, she left her too quiet room, grabbed the six-pack from the refrigerator and slipped out into the inky night. Walking around outside after dark would break another one of his rules, but Sydney didn’t care. At this point, she didn’t have all that much to lose.
Chapter 5
“Thanks, Grayson.” Caden hung up the phone and pushed away from his desk, unaccustomed worry settling like a rock in his gut. His friend’s call bothered him as much as Sydney’s absence from the dinner table earlier and galvanized him into leaving his paperwork to confront her. He couldn’t believe how much hearing from the sheriff that something, or someone had upset her bothered him. For Grayson to take the time to express concern for her distraught appearance in town, she would have had to appear noticeably overwrought. Later, he would need to delve deeper into why the thought of Sydney in distress caused a tightness in his chest he’d never felt before over a woman.
When he found her room empty, a plate of untouched food sitting on the nightstand, and couldn’t locate her anywhere else in the house, anger mingled with worry as he went to scout around outside. Damn it, she knew the rule about wandering around outdoors after dark. It took him almost twenty minutes of fretful searching, but he finally found her in one of the barns, propped on a stack of hay bales, halfway through a six-pack of beer.
“What are you doing out here, alone in the dark?” he barked. Only one small, overhead light offered any illumination and the meager glow left most of her in shadows. But he could see well enough to notice the slight stiffening of her body, her sudden, indrawn breath another clear sign whatever happened in town was still affecting her.
“I was talking to the dogs, but they have this bad habit of not talking back. What’re you doing out here?”
“Looking for you, wondering why you’ve broken yet another rule.” Striding forward, he snatched the beer from her hand before it reached her mouth. “You’ve had enough. Tell me what’s upset you. Did someone harass you in town?” The instant panic crossing her face drew a surge of protectiveness Caden didn’t know he possessed and an undeniable urge to strike back at whoever was responsible for that look. Reaching down, he clasped her upper arms and pulled her against him with a ‘need to know’ demand. “Tell me.”
“No… I mean, it’s nothing,” she stammered with an evasiveness unlike her.
Caden had seen her teasing grin, her frown of irritation and her green eyes glow with pleasure, but he’d never seen her afraid, or hear her lie, and neither sat well with him. Instead of shaking her, like he was tempted to do, a better plan came to mind. Grabbing her wrists, he backed her toward a low rafter, snatched a coil of rope off the wall and made short work of tying her wrists together.
Sydney tried to pull away from him as he lifted her hands above her head and looped the end of the rope around the beam. “What are you doing?” she squealed, yanking on her arms, her pale face reddening either from the slight exertion or the flare of excitement reflected in her eyes. Both were better than the fear.
“Making sure you don’t fall when I do this.” He slid his hands under her shirt, shoved her bra up and scraped his thumb nails over her already turgid nipples. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
She shook her head, her wild, red hair flying around her shoulders even as she arched her back and pushed her breasts into his hands. “I promise; it was nothing. Just a little… misunderstanding. Oh God.”
Small white teeth sank into her lower lip when he tugged on her nipples and then drew the tips out, elongating them with a tight pinch. “I can keep this up all night, darlin’.”
A flare of resentment tightened her face. “I’m not on the clock now, boss. You can’t order me to talk.”
“No, you’re right about that.” Releasing her nipples, he kept his eyes on hers as he slid his hands down to the waist of her jeans. “But I can punish you for disobeying another rule by coming out here alone after dark. Same safeword applies here, by the way.” Caden yanked her jeans down along with her panties, the narrow strip of pubic hair drawing his gaze straight to the enticing view of delicate, plump bare folds already damp with arousal. He wasn’t sure how far he would take this, he only knew he couldn’t stand to see her hurting or hear her evasive replies to his inquiries.
“Caden, please.” A hint of desperation laced her whispered plea and he fought against caving to both it and the way her hips shifted toward him in silent supplication.
“Are you going to tell me what I want to know?” He lifted his hands to release his belt. Her eyes widened as he pulled the soft leather through the loops, but if he wasn’t mistaken, and he rarely was, the sudden increase in her breathing had nothing to do with fear.
“I told you, it’s nothing. I’m over it already.” Since she averted her eyes with that statement, he doubted the truth of it.
With a quick twist, Caden spun her toward the wall and didn’t pause before snapping the belt across her quivering buttocks. “Like I said, I’ve got all night.”
Sydney’s head buzzed, and not just from the beers she’d downed on an empty stomach. Caden hadn’t struck her hard. Instead, the stroke of leather over her butt induced tiny, pinpricks of pain that disappeared fast, too fast, and left her aching for more. Right now, she’d take any diversion from the decision she needed to make, more than willing to accept anything he would giv
