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Chapter 1
Chapter One
“Oh, come on,” I growled as the nail I had been holding slipped through my fingers. I bent down to grab it, this time making sure to hold it in place as I hammered it into the broken fence. It felt like I was constantly having to fix this old thing. With how well the ranch was doing, I would’ve had no problem simply replacing it. However, there were so many memories in this weathered wood, I wasn’t ready to install a new one yet.
“There we go. What do you think, Romeo? Good as new, am I right?” I asked, turning to look at my companion. He was an American Quarter Horse with a beautiful blond coat. At a thousand pounds, he was slightly large for his breed, but he was a gentle giant. I’d had him since he was a foal. He could be stubborn at times, but I wouldn’t exchange him for any other horse.
He snorted and trotted in place.
“I know, fixing fences isn’t your favorite activity. You’d rather be grazing or running around in the fields with Juliet.”
He huffed, and I chuckled. “I wish I was as lucky as you, man. I’d kill for a woman as fine as the one you have.” I sighed. There’s no way I’m going to ever find someone who wants what I want. What grown female would want to regress to a younger age than they are and call me Daddy?
I always enjoyed taking care of others, and I particularly wanted that in my partner. Someone I could cherish, discipline when needed, and love for the rest of my life. It was an old-fashioned way of thinking and, in this day and age, not many women liked it.
I had tried to get away from my desires when I was in college—dating a few women who were fairly independent and dominant. Each relationship started all right, at first. But the excitement and enjoyment quickly dissipated and meaningless sex never meant much to me.
I wasn’t sure what drew me to an age-play relationship. There was just something about helping and guiding another—especially when they were acting out difficult times in their lives—that made me feel so grounded and happy. Again, the question of what woman in this day and age would want that popped into my head.
“I should give up. It’s hopeless.” I had always loved living in a small town, but when it came to finding someone who wanted what I wanted, it made it impossible. I didn’t want word getting around about what I desired. I had no issue with it, however, I wasn’t sure how others would feel. I didn’t want to become a pariah simply because others didn’t understand a kinky relationship.
Romeo neighed and nudged his head against my shoulder as if he were telling me not to. Whoever said animals didn’t have personalities was an idiot. “Thanks, boy.” I ran my fingers through his mane. There wasn’t a single tangle, thanks to his nightly brushings.
Bending down, I picked up the tools I had been using and put them in my bag. My job was finished, and I wanted to get back to the house and check on how the others were doing with their work.
I had one group vaccinating the new calves, another herding the older cattle from the south to the east pasture, and a final group working on completing the list of requirements we needed to meet in order to be able to sell our organic raspberries. It was a headache, all the hoops we had to jump through to get our certification. But it’d be worth it.
My ranch was a busy one. My parents had died over five years ago when I was the ripe age of twenty-three. I wasn’t ready at the time to be the boss of over two dozen people, but with the help of my right-hand man, Luke, I was able to make the Benson Ranch successful. In fact, it was the most profitable it had been at any point in the five generations it’d been in my family. It was a point of pride for me and made me miss my parents. If only they were here to see what this place had become. They’d be so proud.
Romeo snorted loudly, bringing my attention back to the present. “All right, cool your jets. We’ll be on our way home in a minute.”
When I stepped closer to him, he surprised me and squealed.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, concerned. This was very uncharacteristic of him. Something had to be wrong.
Glancing around, I noticed a woman stumbling slowly down the gravel road several yards away on the opposite side of the fence. Pulling my Stetson farther down so the sun didn’t glare in my eyes, I got a better look at the figure approaching.
Her hair was flying all over the place, and her cheeks were red and appeared windburned. As she got closer, I saw she had cut the top of her forehead, and a trail of blood ran down the side of her head. The clothes she was wearing looked to be a couple of sizes too big for her and were covered in dust.
“Miss?” I called, hopping over the fence and running to check on her. Her head was slowly bobbing up and down. She stopped walking and swayed back and forth. She was going to fall.
Thankfully, I reached her just as her legs buckled and she fell into my arms. “I gotcha. I gotcha,” I said, as I brushed the strands of light-brown hair out of her face to get a better look. She had light freckles scattered across her face and dark circles under her eyes. She couldn’t have been more than twenty-four years old. What the heck was she doing out here alone and in such a condition?
Her breathing was shallow. I wasn’t sure if it was from heat exhaustion or if she had been injured. She was going to have to be looked at by a medical professional.
“Don’t worry, little lady. I’ll get you to a doctor right away.”
“No hospital. Hiding,” she murmured, shaking her head slightly and then letting it fall against my shoulder.
Shit. What was I supposed to do? Respect her wishes or go against them? If anything happened to her, it’d be my neck.
“Please,” she whimpered. Her voice sounded so weak. She looked so small pressed up against me. A need to protect her came over me.
Looked like my decision had been made. A million questions were racing through my head as I carried her back over to where I’d jumped the fence. One of the first being was when had she last had a proper meal? She couldn’t have weighed more than one hundred pounds—if that.
It was a bit difficult getting her over the fence, but I managed. Romeo, being the smart horse he was, bent so I was able to get the woman and I seated in the saddle.
“Let’s go home, boy,” I said, gripping the reins tightly in one hand while the other was wrapped around the stranger, making sure to keep her safe.
