Bianca didn’t fit in with her peers. She never had. They looked down their upturned noses at her. It didn’t help that interactions with them made her nervous and she always managed to say the wrong thing. Truth be told, she thought the lot of them were insipid, shallow individuals all trying to clobber each other for the right to lord their status over one another.
Running away for some much needed time to ponder her situation, to a place her mother would never suspect she would visit, was beyond necessary. Unfortunately, the United States capital was still too close to her mother’s reach. Bianca had learned that the hard way when she’d studied art in Rome for two years. After her flight landed at Dulles in the morning, she would have breakfast in Washington before boarding a second flight to the middle of the country, and then driving for two hours into the wilds of the American west.
The plane taxied down the runway and made its initial ascent. When they were finally airborne, Bianca slid the sleep mask down over her eyes, praying that the half of a Xanax pill she had taken before boarding would settle her anxiety down, and maybe even knock her out for the duration of the flight.
As the aircraft reached cruising altitude, her internal panic waned and faded. She could no longer feel the Reaper’s scythe being held against her windpipe. Calmness descended over her, and she drifted off to sleep.
On his way home that evening, Maverick tapped his fingers on the steering wheel of his black truck. The participants of the last two trail rides should be back at the stables soon. He trusted Taylor and Wyatt to handle the horses currently out upon their return, and ensure they were groomed and fed. The rest of the stock had already been fed, and were bedded down for the night.
Jeremiah was on overnight duty, and staying in the stables. With the multitude of horses in the Silver Springs Ranch stock, they liked to have a wrangler present at night in case of emergency. They had a bunk room for the wrangler to get some shut eye. But the safety measure had worked time and time again. It was why they continued putting a man on duty on a weekly rotation.
Mav veered off the main ranch drive. He had a cabin about a mile away from the main hub with stables, the hotel, and guest cabins. It was secluded, surrounded by pines, and one of the closest places to Cabin X—which was off limits to guests. As Doms, he and his buddies took willing submissives there when they wanted to scene. They tended to reserve the cabin when needed, and then had a group night once a month, for those who preferred exhibitionism and voyeurism.
It was Saturday evening, and a bunch of the guys who were off the clock were heading to the Bucking Bronco in town. It was the local watering hole, where they tended to pick up locals and tourists alike. It was where Cabin X sub favorite Maribella worked as a waitress.
But Mav wasn’t up for crowds tonight. Nor had he been in the mood for them much lately—mainly because he was saving every penny he could to build his house. He figured he would head home, grill up a steak, pop open a beer, and watch baseball on the flatscreen. While not an exciting thrill ride like tying a woman to his bed and fucking her blind, it worked for him.
A few months back, he had bought thirty-six acres of Rocky Mountain wilderness from Colt Anderson before his buddy had headed off with the little scientist, Avery, to travel the world. The property Mav had purchased ran adjacent to Silver Springs Ranch, was just the prettiest spot, and it all belonged to him—every blade of grass, every rock and tree, even the small brook that cut through the acreage, was his.
At his current salary, Mav figured it would take him another eighteen months of saving to have the necessary funds to build his house and barn. But he would do it, just as he had worked and saved the last half a dozen years to own his own property so that one day he would live in his own house instead of a place that was afforded him as part of his salary.
It meant that, when it came to partners of the nubile female variety, his current dance card had been fairly empty. Luckily for him, there were enough single tourists who blew through the ranch on vacation that he knew he could find enough to keep him sated over the upcoming peak summer months.
As he drove past a group of guest cabins, a smile lit his face at spotting a possible new quarry to entice into his bed.
Bingo!
He ogled the blonde beauty without her knowledge. Her deep golden tresses were drawn back in a sedate ponytail that hung down her slim back. His gaze drifted south as he slowed his truck. A punch of lust spread through him. Without a doubt, the woman had one of the most spectacular asses he’d beheld in a week of Sundays. Her tan slacks molded to her shapely butt and slender legs. She was bent over, fishing suitcases out of a rental car trunk, and it looked like she was having a rather difficult time lifting them.
As an employee of Silver Springs Ranch, it was his responsibility to stop and assist a guest in dire need. And if her front was as attractive as the back end, Mav figured he might have found a new conquest he could charm into letting him tie her to his bed so they could spend the night screwing one another’s brains out.
Mav parked his truck along the curb. His window was rolled down due to the nice, balmy weather of the May day, which meant he heard her dulcet, cultured voice perfectly when she exclaimed, “Sodding hell, and bugger it.”
He hid his grin as he stepped out of his truck and said, “Can I give you a hand with those, ma’am?”
The blonde’s head snapped up and she shot him a glance over her slim shoulder.
At her sharp look, Mav felt like his stallion, Black Jack, had just delivered a solid kick to his midsection and left him gasping for air.
Impossibly large, slate-blue eyes that were framed by thick dark lashes stared back at him. The woman had come hither, goddess eyes, even with the frown scrunching her brow. Graceful cheekbones in a heart-shaped face, with peaches and cream skin. Full, bow shaped lips that for the life of him, he wanted to see parted in ecstasy, were currently curved-down in displeasure.
This woman wasn’t simply attractive, she bordered on an ethereal goddess with her golden beauty. She made him think of fairy maidens and princesses locked in towers, in need of rescuing.
She shifted her beguiling body his way and scrutinized him, planting delicate hands on her shapely hips.
Holy fuck!
His tongue almost lolled out of his mouth. She was slim and curvy in all the right places. But that all dimmed as his gaze stalled during his perusal of her chest. All the blood drained from his head to his groin as he gaped. She had without a doubt one of the finest sets of tits he had ever beheld. The full, rounded globes strained the confines of the sedate ivory blouse covering them, and ignited a pulse-pounding desire in his blood.
The notion of burying his face in the valley between them—or better yet, his dick—blossomed in his mind, and lust slammed his system.
It had been a long time—years, even—since he had met a woman and felt need claw at him. Striding toward her, hell bent on getting to know her in more ways than one, he said, “Here, those look a mite heavy.”
She rolled eyes filled with disdain. “Thanks for that, Captain Obvious. I realize that they are heavy, hence the reason why I have yet to remove them from the blasted trunk.”
At her haughty reply, he straightened, taking in her measure. Jesus, she might have the body of a fucking goddess but she also had the attitude of an uptight, spoiled brat. “Well, princess, considering it looks like you’re attempting to move in with bags that are clearly too heavy for you to manage, why don’t you let me get these for ya? And save your breath arguing with me.”