Owned for Christmas (7 page)

It had been amazing between them. But that was all before he’d broken her heart.

“Is my little brother really satisfying you?” he whispered into her ear, his breath burning against her cheek. “Does he satisfy
all
your needs?”

Her knees almost collapsed beneath her. “Let me go, Grant.” She couldn’t answer that question. She shook her hands, trying to pull them free, but his hold was solid.

“Not a chance, sweetheart.” He captured her lips with his.

He crushed her mouth under his. His hot breath filled her lungs. Instantly, he overwhelmed her senses, blocking out everything besides the feel of his mouth on hers. He pushed her into the barn wall then thrust his tongue into her mouth. She sucked on it greedily, arching, rubbing her breasts against his chest.

Her insides dissolved. The heat of his kiss spread fire deep inside her, touching every dark, lonely part of her. All the parts she wouldn’t let Daniel see. Her knees wobbled. Her legs shook beneath the force. Her panties dampened and she was almost sure she heard him take a deep breath, as if he could smell her arousal.

“You like this, don’t you?” Grant breathed the words against her lips, not giving her enough time or air to respond before he moved his mouth back to hers.

He pushed his thigh between her legs, rubbing against their juncture. The hard bulge of his cock pressed against her stomach, evidence of how much he was enjoying himself. Her mind fuzzed over at the power of his hold on her hands. God, she’d missed this. She’d missed his hold, his touch, his command.

“I bet Danny doesn’t do anything like this for you.” He sucked on her neck then kissed her jaw before finding her lips again. His rough, fierce kiss sent heat pulsating through her whole body.

Cold, jagged shards of ice slid down her spine at the mention of Daniel’s name. How could she do this? To Daniel? He deserved better. She loved him—she truly did—and she never wanted to hurt him. It would kill him if he ever found out about this.

“You have to stop.” She panted for her breath. It took all her energy, all her willpower to pull back from the kiss, but somehow she managed, twisting her head away from him. “I love your brother.”

“I know you, Kate. He can’t be giving you what you desire. Not like I can.” He feathered his lips down her neck, making her shiver. “He’s too gentle for you. Too weak.”

What does he know about being weak?
Weakness wasn’t just about physical strength. Strength wasn’t just being able to force her up against wall, hold her down and make her come. There was strength in being open, vulnerable. And in that area, Daniel was Hercules compared to Grant.

She jerked back, trying to escape his touch, but was unsuccessful. “What do you know about Daniel? He offers me more than you ever did.”

Grant drew his hand back from her face. Kate ignored the pang of regret that coiled in her stomach.

“I’ve known Danny his whole life. He doesn’t have it in him to dominate you. To spank you or whip you when you need it.”

Kate dropped her gaze to the hay-covered floor. That was true. But Daniel could do other things Grant had never been good at. He held her when she cried. He listened to her complain about her day. He cuddled with her on the couch while they watched movies. Grant had never been interested in doing any of those things with her. He hadn’t been interested in a relationship—just domination and sex.

“That may be true. However, he offers me things you never did. He offers me a life.” She stared up at him, her chest heavy. The space between them pregnant with regret and longing. “You left me, Grant. Don’t forget that.” Kate heard the catch in her voice and hated giving him any indication that he’d hurt her.

“My father died. I had to come back here and help my mom run the ranch. You see I had to. I didn’t have another choice.”

Kate shook her head, tears blurring her vision. “I understand why you had to come back here. But I don’t know why you had to leave me. Why couldn’t you have told me what happened?” She swallowed, trying to force back the waterworks, even though the effort was futile. “Instead of leaving a note at my door that I was free. I deserved more than that. I trusted you…” She lost the battle against her tears.

The sound of her crying echoed in his ears, stabbing him in the chest. Kate stared down at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze. She trembled. When she jerked her hands back, he let her go, even though every instinct in him said to hold onto her, keep her attached to him. If he let her go this time, he might never get another chance to touch her.

She immediately stepped away from him, wiping away the tracks of tears from her face with the sides of her hands. Her chest rose and fell with her ragged breathing and her shoulders still shook with sobs.

His gut clenched.
I really am a bastard
. He’d never meant to cause her this kind of pain. But he always did. He always hurt her somehow. That’s all he was good for—inflicting pain.

He should just walk away from her forever. Let her have her happy life with his brother. At least then, he’d stop being such a fucking asshole to his brother too by chasing after his girl. Then he’d finish hurting one of the people he loved. He wished he was that strong. But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let her go.

“Kate, please.”

He reached out for her again, but she shook her head. She didn’t say a word, just stumbled out of his reach. His stomach sank. She was running from him, and he couldn’t blame her. He hated it all the same.

She turned away from him and his chest ached as if he’d been punted by old Bertha square in the heart. Kate fled the stable, fled from him, kicking up hay as she ran. No doubt she was returning to his brother, to his soft comfort and loving protection. Hiding even further from the person she truly was.

More than his next breath, he wanted to chase her. He wanted to run after her, pin her down and force her to take him back. From what had happened in this stall, he was fairly sure he could do it. But she’d hate herself for it and for hurting Daniel. The last thing he wanted was to bring her any more pain.

He’d thought he’d been doing the right and noble thing by releasing her from their connection. He’d moved hours away with no prospect of ever coming back. It wasn’t as if he could spend a few weeks or even months at the ranch and fix it up enough to make it manageable for his mother. He was moving there—well, here—for good. The ranch required all his time and attention. There was no point in Kate waiting for him. It had seemed easier to end their relationship. Even if it was the last thing he had wanted to do.

What he’d never anticipated was how much he’d miss her. How much he still wanted her even a year later. He hadn’t realized then that no one would ever replace her.

He fisted his hands at his sides, wishing he could punch himself in the face. He definitely deserved it after everything he’d done to her. He’d been such a fucking idiot.

Of course, she was right. He should have talked to her in person and let her know why he was leaving. She’d deserved that. And he’d tried. He’d gotten to her front door but, standing on her doorstep, he’d chickened out. He couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t look into her eyes and let her know he was leaving.

He was just as big of a wuss as his brother. Maybe bigger. At least Daniel could hold onto his woman instead of hiding at home with a broken heart.

Sending her a quick note, releasing her from their entanglement, had seemed the only option. He thought she’d get over his departure faster if she hated him. Plenty of Masters would love a submissive like her—beautiful, obedient without being a doormat. He’d assumed all this time that she’d found another Dom, someone else who could give her what she needed.

Instead, she’d discovered his brother. Fate had a fucking cruel sense of humor.

Chapter Five

“Just a little farther to the right.”

Kate’s voice drifted over to them from across the room. Beside Daniel, his brother groaned. Holding the sticky, spiky tree trunk in his hands, he shifted it according to Kate’s direction.

“When will this damn woman be satisfied?” Grant grumbled under his breath.

Daniel laughed. He glanced over at his girl. She squinted, focusing on the tree. She looked the picture of a perfect cowgirl in a soft pink, flowered dress, chunky cable-knit cardigan and boots. It was hard to remember she’d been born and raised in the city.

The dress stretched across her amazing tits, the hem high enough to give a glimpse of just enough silky skin to have his cock twitching in his pants. The sight of her standing there in his childhood home, looking so fucking gorgeous made him want to drag her back to his bedroom and fuck her all over again. His chest swelled with pride. This weekend had already turned out better than he’d anticipated. She fitted in perfectly with his family. She fell right into place with all of them, without missing a step. He hoped she liked the idea of making it permanent.

“Move the damn tree this way, dummy,” Grant shouted, his tone stern and his jaw clenched.

Daniel’s arms shook slightly as Grant took on the majority of the seven-foot fir’s weight. Daniel turned his gaze back to the tree before him, trying and failing to ignore the small, dark-haired woman surveying them from the other end of the room—at least some of his anatomy was. How he’d gotten so lucky as to have her in his life, Daniel would never know. He held onto the trunk a little tighter, pushing the tree toward his brother, trying to do as Kate had bidden.

“That’s it,” she declared after a minute of staring at the tree in its new position. “It’s perfect.”

“Finally,” Grant cursed beneath his breath. He twisted the screws in the tree base to keep the balsam fixed in place.

Daniel glanced over at his brother. What bug had climbed up his ass? No one loved setting up a Christmas tree. It certainly wasn’t his favorite task of the weekend. But Grant seemed to be in a worse mood than usual. All Daniel could hope for was that he didn’t say anything to Kate. Daniel would kick Grant’s ass if he ruined this weekend with some asshole remark, especially when Daniel had such an important plan.

With the tree fixed to the stand, Daniel backed out from underneath the balsam’s long arms. The smell of pine perfumed the air, accompanied by the scent of the sugar cookies his mother had just placed in the oven. Was there anywhere better on earth than here? If he was being honest with himself, there wasn’t. Not even Dallas.

He couldn’t remember being this content in a long time. A huge part of it was due to the woman standing across the room, her mouth pursed in a cute little pout. She scanned the tree, inspecting his brother’s method of attaching the multicolored twinkle lights to the branches. She was everything Daniel had ever wanted—warm, loving, open. He’d known she was the one from their first exchanged word in the bank lobby while she’d waited for her father. Now he just had to prove it to her.

Daniel stepped back to stand next to Kate, staring at the tree as she did. The balsam fir did look perfect in the living room, just the right size—big and lush but not bushy. Kate had made a perfect choice. She always did.

“What do you think?” She nibbled on her pink bottom lip. Her big blue eyes always had a way of rocking him back on his heels, especially when she stared up at him with such an honest need to please.

He slipped his arms around her and tugged her into his chest. He loved the feel of her in his arms. Her sweet smell tickled his nose, along with the aromas of home. It all felt right, seamlessly mixed together. Her soft body snuggled up against his.

“It’s beautiful,” Daniel whispered, resting his chin comfortably on her shoulder.

Kate nodded, glancing back to the tree, although her expression wasn’t entirely happy. He wondered what could be upsetting her. From where he stood, everything was flawless right down to the woman in his arms.

“You know, next year we could do this all on our own. In our own place.”

Kate dropped her gaze to the floor. She froze in his arms. Daniel fought back a sigh. He sensed her retreating from him, putting space between them.
Even after a goddamn year, she still has to put a freaking wall between us.
Will I ever prove to her I can be trusted?
It wasn’t looking good.

“I can’t.”

She spoke into his chest, the words so soft he almost didn’t hear her.

“Not yet.”

“Why not? I love you and you love me. What else matters?” He tightened his arms around her, needing the feel of her. To know for sure that she was still there, that she wasn’t already on the run.

She fumbled her hands in his sweater, twisting her delicate fingers in the knit. “It’s not that simple.”

But it should be.
Nothing else mattered to him but her. Clearly, she didn’t agree.

Kate turned, staring up at him, swamped with sadness and fear. That certainly wasn’t the emotion he was going for. A deep pain stabbed in his chest. The distance between them echoed, big and wide, keeping them miles apart. “Daniel, we talked about this before.”

“Yes we have, but you’ve never given me a good answer.” Daniel kept his voice low, attempting to prevent the conversation from traveling too far. He didn’t want to draw attention from his mother or brother to the fact that Kate was turning him down—again. Or that he was such a dope that he’d keep asking this woman to love him, when she gave him no sign that anything had ever changed.

“I’m not ready.” Her eyes became misty and Daniel wanted to kick himself in the ass. He hated being so damn pushy, but he couldn’t help it. He wanted Kate, forever. He didn’t have any choice but to keep pushing her.

He’d never known another woman like Kate. Her heart was so big, so vulnerable. He wanted to kill the man who had hurt her, who’d taken her trust and destroyed it. Even a year later, Daniel still fought to reclaim it, though he didn’t seem any closer most days than he had the first day they’d met.

He was sick of fighting invisible demons. He was sick of attacking some guy he couldn’t see, some guy who didn’t deserve her love in the first place. Why couldn’t she see he was here for her? That he wasn’t leaving?