The Surrender Series

Chapter 1-2

No. It wouldn’t. Because he looks at Hayden in a way he’s never looked at meAnd now he was getting married. To Hayden.

Tears dripped down her face. She wasn’t even sure if it was the wind or from her broken heart. Tugging on the reins, she slowed Volt down. He dropped back into a canter and then to a walk.

“Easy boy,” she crooned and patted his muscular neck. “You always want to push too hard for too long.” It was something she sometimes felt inside herself. A wild need to push herself beyond her own limits until she broke free.

Volt tossed his head, his black mane flaring in a ripple over his skin as though to protest her words but kept their leisurely pace as they moved along the line of Aspen trees, his hooves churning the blanket of vivid yellow leaves. They were a few months away from heavy snow, but there was no mistaking the distant aroma of winter. Something about that scent calmed her. Snow buried. Snow covered. It hid away things that needed to be erased or at least temporarily forgotten.

Could she forget her broken heart if it lay beneath an early snowfall? Perhaps, but it didn’t erase the fact that she would have to go to the engagement party. See them smiling, together, posing for pictures, holding each other close. Things she’d never get to do with Fenn.

The winding gold trail that Volt climbed soon led to a small hill where large gray rocks littered the slope. She tugged back on his reins, and he halted. Callie slid off his back and led him to a copse of trees. After looping his reins around a sturdy low branch of a nearby tree, she walked over to the outcropping of rocks and climbed up a particularly thick, waist-high rock half covered in pale wintergreen moss. She let one leg dangle down the front of the rock while she tucked her other leg up and rested her chin on her knee.

Clouds swept across the skies, their shadows playing a game of chase upon the rolling hills and tree-strewn valleys below. Her father had shown her this spot after her mother had died. The two of them had been lost without her. Nature had become the mother she’d lost. Her father had taught her that a person could find peace here, under the brilliant skies and in the changing winds.

A few stray tears escaped her eyes, but she didn’t wipe them away. There was no one here to witness her breaking apart in a thousand pieces, just the wind, skies, and mountains, and they’d hold her secret heartache for as long as she needed them to.

She knew she was a fool to think that Fenn could ever return her feelings, but she hadn’t been able to stop herself from hoping. But now it was certain; there would be no Cinderella moment for her, no grand transformation. Just life on the ranch and perhaps a job in the town, if she didn’t need to work with her father.

What I need to do is find a way to move on. Learn to live without him.

What I need to do is find a way to move on. Learn to live without himA flood of memories engulfed her, the way Fenn used to hug her and ruffle a hand through her hair, the way he’d carried her up to bed when she’d been ten years old after she’d fallen asleep on the couch. How his natural scent would cling to his coats and she’d used to wear them when he wasn’t around, just to feel close to him.

Such a fool…to love so much and lose so much.

She couldn’t let this happen again. No more falling in love. No more exposing her soul in hopes someone would see her for who she was. There could be no half measures here—she couldn’t stand this kind of pain again.

I’m done with men, done with love, done with all of that romantic nonsense. It’s not worth the pain. Callie was never going to let her heart dupe her into falling for a man ever again.

I’m done with men, done with love, done with all of that romantic nonsense. It’s not worth the pain.Her composure back in place, Callie rubbed her palms on her jeans and then slid off the boulder. She walked back to Volt, who was waiting patiently for her. She unwound the reins from the branch.

“Time to go back.” She didn’t want to, but she was a big girl and had to face this, even if it killed her piece by piece.

* * *

Wes Thorne stood on the porch of one of the brand-new, nearly completed luxury cabins that was being constructed on the backside of the Broken Spur ranch lands facing the mountains. The wood of the porch railing was slightly rough but would be smoothed out with a sander soon. The oak was solid and firm and a rich color of brown that was pleasing to the eye. These cabins would be incredibly lucrative for Jim and Callie.

The scheme had been his sister Hayden’s idea when she realized Jim was in danger of losing the ranch because they’d defaulted on their high mortgage payments. Hayden had suggested to Wes that they build cabins on the property and use them as a destination for high-stress workaholics who needed a vacation from 24/7 e-mail and super-powered cell service. It was brilliant of course, but he wasn’t surprised. Hayden was a better businesswoman than he was a businessman when it came down to it. He loved art more than business, but he thankfully had a great amount of success in his own business as an art expert.

While his sister was preoccupied with her wedding plans, he’d agreed to come out and check the progress of the cabins. He’d known telling Callie about Fenn and Hayden’s engagement wasn’t going to end well. From the moment he’d met the wild, free-spirited Callie, he’d known she was in love with Fenn. Her heart was pinned on her sleeve for the world to see, and he’d hated having to be the person to deliver the news that would cut her sweet, innocent little heart to shreds.

She’d taken it worse than he’d expected. He’d gone up to check on her, and when she’d answered her door her eyes were red and her cheeks were still stained with shiny tears. There was a wildness to her anguish that was breathtakingly gorgeous and something in him had rumbled, like a deep quake beneath the earth. Her pain had unsettled him, and few things ever unsettled him. So he’d decided to stay a few days to make sure she was going to be all right. Of course, if anyone asked, he was only staying to check on the cabins. That was his story and he was sticking to it. He shook his head. He couldn’t leave her when she…Wes stopped himself. She didn’t need him. Hell, he doubted she even liked him. She was always running off, hiding, avoiding eye contact as though she was nervous around him.

everNone of that changed the fact that he wanted her. For the last several weeks he’d been caught up in fantasies of having her in his bed, wrists and legs bound, body completely bare and ready for him to explore every inch of her with his mouth and hands as he introduced her to his darker world of pleasure. The things he wanted to do…craved to do to her were driving him slowly mad.

wantedcravedHe’d never lusted after a woman like he did Callie and he couldn’t figure out why that was. She was young, innocent, not his usual type. So why then did his hands twitch with the urge to touch her whenever she was close, and the hint of her scent after she’d freshly showered and walked past his room seemed to carve itself into his bones? While he’d been away from her, he’d attempted to convince himself it was a silly obsession. When he bolted up in the middle of the night in his empty bed and he was hard and frustrated because she wasn’t there beside him he’d told himself it was nothing but an itch he needed to scratch to get out of his system. But now that he was here with her, so close that he could see all those unhidden emotions on her face, especially the pain he’d caused by coming here...leaving was impossible. And the itch…it wasn’t temporary.

He was going to have her. It was only a matter of time. He’d vowed the moment he set eyes on her that she was going to be his. He needed to tame her, to bring her into his world. It would take a long, slow seduction, but Callie would be his. She had to be. Her innocence mixed with her natural sensuality was about to kill him. If he could just get her to forget about Fenn and show her all the wicked pleasures life could bring, then he’d have her, body and soul.

As he stepped off the porch, dusting his hands over his jeans, he saw Callie leave the ranch house and walk toward the barn. Her steps were firm, her face held high, and she had a look of determination on her features. Whatever heartbreak she was suffering, she’d masked it and taken a firm hold of herself.

That’s my girl. The thought slipped out before he could take it back. She wasn’t his. But she would be. Soon. With a low chuckle, he continued to linger near the cabins and waved to some contractors who had just arrived, but he kept a watchful eye on the barn. They would talk, soon, and he’d set in motion his plans to have her.

That’s my girl.* * *

Callie couldn’t help but watch Wes as he worked with the contractors. She fed the chickens in the coops, worked with a new foal that had been born a few weeks ago, and checked on the cattle feeding and water troughs over several hours and all of those tasks kept her in plain sight of Wes.

He wasn’t in that suit he usually wore, the one that made him look expensive and mysterious. No, he was in jeans, a t-shirt, and boots and…Her mouth ran dry as she realized that rather than make him look more normal, more approachable, the casual attire gave him a dangerous edge that seemed to say, I’m not afraid of getting down and dirty and taking you with me, sweetheart. The thought made her blush. That was ridiculous. He was just another handsome man in jeans, one she was currently avoiding. That was the whole point of swearing off men, which she definitely had. No sexy, rugged, dangerous men for her. She’d locked her heart in a steel box and sealed it shut forever. There wasn’t going to be any man getting through to it so he could smash it. Not ever again.

I’m not afraid of getting down and dirty and taking you with me, sweetheart.Despite her promise though, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Wes. It had to be harmless just to watch him, right? Lust and love were two totally different things after all…Weren’t they?

She watched him crouch by the porch of one of the cabins, a pair of contractors with him, gesturing at something. Even from where she stood, she could see the flex of the muscles on his forearm and the glint of his expensive watch on his wrist. She licked her dry lips and glanced away, only to find herself turning back his way. The light breeze carried just enough of their conversation that she realized they were discussing the wood trimming against the stone base of the cabins. Of course, Wes seemed to know all about the subject. Was there a subject Wes Thorne wasn’t an expert on? His seemingly limitless knowledge was wildly intimidating under the best circumstances, but after he’d seen her meltdown yesterday, well, Callie wasn’t challenging him to Trivial Pursuit anytime soon.