Boots, Chaps, and Cowboy Hats (Taming Team Ten (Book One))

  Sable laughed to herself and shook her head. Her men were going to have to learn that they may be in control in the bedroom, but the rules changed outside of that doorway to their room. She would not be controlled in anyway.

  The ride to town was made relatively quickly today, as there were no tractors or trucks with trailers on the road. Sable wanted to laugh; this is how she gauged her drive these days. They pulled into the grocery store and Timothy dropped them off promising to be back to pick them up shortly. He was running to the feed store and would be quick since they called and ordered already.

  “Ready?” Louise said and held up the notepaper with the ingredients they needed.

  “I was born ready.” Sable laughed and clapped her hands, power grocery shopping, could be fun.

  Neither of the women noticed the car that was parked in the first parking place, the man was watching them intently but both were too wrapped up in what they had to do to care about someone sitting in a car.

  She was here finally—he had found her. After a week of driving by the signal on the farm road, Steven had decided to plant his ass in his car at the closest grocery, she had to come shopping sometime. Unless she was hiding out, then he would have to move to another plan. But this apparently was the right move.

  Steven wondered who the old lady was that was with his Sable, and who the old man was. She had no family, and no friends, well accept the burly bastards that helped her get away from him. It didn’t matter. He was primed and ready. Over the last few weeks, he had practiced. Three different women in three different towns. All of them pathetic and lonely, they were easy pickings for someone like him.

  He was the Master, all of them had said so before he taught them the final lesson. How to die like a pathetic bitch. But the fun had been leading up to that final play.

  First, he showered them with attention, got them to the point they depended on his approval to do anything. It had been so easy since they were losers. Then the lessons began, the first was obedience, only took one beating to get that one right unfortunately. Then there was the sexual component; they had to do things exactly as he told them, the crop and whips helped with that.

  Finally, there was the last lesson. They needed to accept him as their master, each of them did, and their reward was death, although not quickly, he had been patient enough to take it slow. Listening to their begging had made him so hard that jerking off to the sounds of their pitiful cries had been enough to send him over the edge.

  All of the practice was leading him up to his grand finale, Sable. She would be with him for as long as she kept his interest. He would tell her it was in her best interest to make him happy. That should keep her in line. After fucking all those men, she should be nice and prepared for what he wanted to do to her.

  Bitch was going to have to pay a little for making him travel across the fucking country and wasting all this time locating her. She would have to beg, oh so nice and sweetly. He could imagine her, naked on her hands and knees, pleading with him. He felt himself getting hard just thinking about it. But he was patient.

  Now, to find out exactly what the deal was with the women. He dyed his hair and knew Sable wasn't smart enough to place him. Steven got out of his car, walked into the store slowly, and watched from the magazine section. Sable was laughing with the older woman. How could the whore have forgotten him already, he had such high hopes for her.

  All this time wasted, just because those men came and took her. She had been ripe for the picking. He could feel her submission becoming more and more inevitable as the days went on. Steven isolated her from her friends, made sure she had no one to turn to but him. However, she still held onto the hope someone would stop him. No one could, he was the master of her world, and the sooner she remembered it—the better.

  This would never do, Sable had to be reminded of her place and fast. He wasn’t going to wait for her to come to him. He needed to find out the next time she was going to be in town.

  He walked down the aisles and listened as the older woman was talking to his woman.

  “Really? How special they want to outfit you,” the old bat said.

  “I know. I am so excited. I love horses. I can’t wait to ride one,” Sable said.

  Steven leaned a little closer as they walked in the other direction still talking.

  “Alex and Slone are bringing me into town tomorrow. They made an appointment with the clothing store,” Sable said.

  Steven grinned, turned, and walked away from them before Sable recognized him. He had some things to figure out. Stake out the clothing store and get a plan. She was going to be coming to him tomorrow. He would make it quick, the plan began to form in his head. It was going to be simple. The blockheads would never know what hit them.

  He also needed to make sure the house he rented in Cali was ready for them. Everything was in place with a few phone calls. Sable was going to be with him tomorrow, forever—well—as long as her forever was.

  It was mass chaos when they arrived back to the house. Sable shook her head and then walked into the house, even knowing how many cows and horses they had bought at the auction, still seeing them all in one place was a bit overwhelming.

  Desire and her men showed up a few hours earlier than they expected. Dillon and Slade announced Desire was not patient. Sable laughed and pulled her new friend into the kitchen to sit while she worked. The men went to help the others get organized with their cattle and horses.

  “How are you settling in?” Desire asked when Sable put a glass of lemonade down on the table in front of her.

  “I am doing great,” Sable answered honestly and then smiled a little and looked down.

  “Ahh, I saw that. Who are they? Alex and Slone I bet, Slade said he saw you at Boots the other night.” Desire teased.

  Sable looked up surprised and then nodded. “Yep, they are mine.”

  “Nice, welcome to the dark side, we have cookies.” Desire clapped and Sable laughed with her. It was good to have someone to talk to. She wished that she would not be the only young woman at the ranch, being with Louise was too much like being with a mother, she just couldn’t talk to her about sex, or what she was feeling. The turmoil, she looked at Desire and hoped that finally she would have someone to talk to.

  “Glad to join this club,” Sable laughed and they talked about life on a ranch. She listened as Desire gave her some tips about the different times of year. Calving season and then breeding. Sable listened to it all and made mental notes to talk to Louise who probably already had this under control, but Sable felt it was her duty to check.

  Desire and Sable talked about a lot of things as the day turned to night and soon everything was prepared for dinner. Desire stood and walked to her smiling.

  “This looks great, you are going to make an awesome rancher's wife,” Desire said.

  “Wife? Me? Nah, not for a long while,” Sable admitted and then turned around.

  Desire didn’t listen to her and pulled Sables arm to turn her back around.

  “Listen I get it, it happened the same way with me, but I can tell you, fight two men who know their hearts is futile. They will badger, yell, and even use sexual persuasion against you.” She laughed and winked. “The last is the finest one. What I am trying to say is the hard part of a ménage is accepting the fact that you want two men. Your heart would never have allowed you to be in that situation unless you loved them. Listen to it.”

  Sable looked at the woman and nodded slowly, thinking about what she said. “They already asked me in a way, you know, during sex, and I said yes, but wasn’t thinking.”

  “Oh, you were thinking, just with your heart. Now, I expect to help my newest friend arrange this shindig. I also expect that it will be soon. I look wonderful in red, let's remember that,” Desire said and then whispered as the men began to tromp in loudly, talking about who got the first shower. “Just make them work for it a little, I will give you a call though and we can plan ahead, it will make them thin
k you are an awesome organizer. We have to stick together, with two against one at home, but they won't know what hit them if we stick together.” Desire laughed, turned, and began to order the men around.

  The night was fun, all of the men bitching about where they were sore and how both Desire and Sable could help them. Of course, both of the women had no sympathy, telling them to suck it up. Which led to a whole conversation about females who were non-sympathetic for the big, strong, burly men.

  Sable and Desire took them down a peg or two and it was fun. After they ate, and set a huge bonfire in the fire pit they discovered behind the barn, they sat around in chairs with a beer in their hand and a smile on their face for a job well done.

  Sable had been walking by to her chair when they did the same thing Desire's men had, they pulled her into both of the men’s lap, her ass on Alex’s lap and her feet on Slone's. She smiled and laughed when she felt the men’s erections. Did they have a constant hard-on? she wondered and made sure she wiggled and brushed her feet against her men to tease them.

  “Sweetheart, you are playing with fire,” Alex whispered in her ear when the guys were talking about the vet coming the next day to check out the animals. Slade was giving them pointers on what to ask.

  “I know, isn’t it fun,” she whispered back.

  “Not so much,” Slone said to her and grabbed her wayward feet.

  “We want to know what it is going to take to get you to agree to our proposal,” Alex said and looked at Slone who was nodding.

  “Let me think,” Sable said with a humorous tone, she had already decided. It didn’t matter to her how quick this was, or how others would think. She knew in her heart, she would love these men for the rest of her life. What they had was special, only a once in a lifetime chance for happiness, and she was not going to let it go. She was going to say yes, and yell it from the rooftops.

  “Come on, darlin', we would have done the moonlight and roses thing, but we already did the romantic dinner. I mean where the hell do you go from there?” Slone said with a cute pout on his face.

  She laughed, “So I am allotted one romantic dinner, what, every three years or something? I mean, we can certainly wait until the next romantic dinner comes around.”

  Alex groaned and rested his forehead on her shoulder and shook his head. “Why me?” Alex whispered to himself.

  “Dude, are you fucking kidding me. You asked my baby sister to marry you in the middle of—you know.” Frank yelled into his ear. “She deserves more than that man.”

  I know,” Alex said miserably.

  “Honey, who you talking to?” Sable whispered.

  “Frank, he is pissed how we asked you to marry us,” Alex said.

  “Oh, well, Frank, shut the hell up.” Sable whispered, “Do you hear me?”

  “Tell her yeah, I will leave it be. But, dude, fix this, the time is close, you need to be close to her. Don’t let her go anywhere alone,” Frank said.

  “Why? Who is here?” Alex whispered.

  “Alex, what the hell is going on?” Thane leaned over and whispered, “I just got a chill man.”

  Alex lifted his head and looked around to his teammates, they were all still talking to Slade and the others but kept one eye on him. They all felt it. Shit, there was something going on, something they missed.

  “We need to keep a close eye on Sable, something is up, Frank just warned me,” Alex said in a low voice so the guys who were sitting by him heard and passed it along to the others who straightened and nodded.

  “Wait, what is going on?” Sable said and sat up straighter as well.

  “Don’t know yet, but promise me you will not go anywhere without us,” Slone said and made her promise him.

  It kinda put a damper on the night, Desire and her men noticed and asked what they could do to help. Slone explained that Sable had a stalker they thought was long gone, and apparently they were wrong, they never asked where they got the information, they just agreed to help keep an eye out. Slade informed Desire she would not be alone either, and they made plans to meet in town the following day.

  As their new friends and neighbors got ready to leave, Desire grabbed her and hugged her close. Sable felt the warmth of the woman’s new and growing affection for her and absorbed it. All of this was something worth fighting for. Her new home—her new love—and her new friends and family. Stalking Steven was not going to ruin this for her. Damn it, she would fight him for everything he was worth in order to make it happen.

  When everyone left, Sable and her men made their way to their room. Alex was restless and told her he was going to make sure the place was secure. She watched him and the other men from Team Ten gather their firearms and set out to walk the farm. She turned back to Slone with a questioning look.

  “Something you are going to have to get used to. If there is a sign of danger, their old habits kick in. All of them. I have seen them do this a lot over the last few months. They are compelled to check every nook and cranny of this place. They certainly know where they all are, since they checked them all out time and time again,” Slone explained.

  “The good, the bad, and the ugly, I know what I am signing up for,” Sable whispered and stood by the window watching her family suffer for her. She knew it was their training, she knew it was their jobs. Sable only hoped that soon she was going to be able to help them all with their issues. She didn’t know how, and where, but she was going to make sure she was there for them.

  It was a very long night for the group, all of them were unsettled and on the lookout. Sable sat on her couch and fell asleep on Slone's shoulder. When she woke stiff and sore, her gaze looked for Alex.

  “Where is he?” Sable asked, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

  “Downstairs with the others,” Slone said rubbing her back. She felt his comfort and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

  “Something is going to happen soon,” she whispered.

  Slone nodded and said, “I will protect you as will all the guys. Now, we have a date in town with our friends and neighbors, let's get a move on, and see what we need to do in order to be free.”

  Sable nodded and kissed him. She walked into the shower and turned it on hot. She needed to ease some of the tension. She could feel it. It was creepy. Somehow she could feel the situation coming to a head today, she was going to have to stay on her guard.

  She got ready and walked downstairs with her wet hair swinging in a ponytail on her back. She wore a pair of jeans, a tank top, and tennis shoes. The men were in the kitchen drinking coffee and eating the meal Louise prepared in silence. When she walked in the tension was thick. She felt responsible and wonder what she could do to alleviate the tension. Doing the only thing she could think of, Sable plastered a smile on her face and stepped into the room.

  “Good morning, everyone. Thanks for looking after me last night,” she said cheerfully, then went and gathered the coffee and plate Louise set out for her. “Thanks, Lou, it looks delicious as always.” She took her food, walked to the table, and sat in the chair she usually occupied. Alex was to her left and Slone's chair to her right, he was still showering, and so it was empty.

  “What is on the plans for the day?” she asked and began to eat her eggs.

  “We are going into town,” Alex said with a monotone voice.

  “Oh good, we are still going then?” she said.

  “Of course we are, Slone and I are more than capable of taking care of you,” Alex snapped at her and stood, pushing his chair back. Sable was quiet as she watched Alex stalk from the room, mumbling about showering and getting ready to leave.

  “Hey,” Slone said as Alex brushed by him. “We are ready when you are.”

  “Shit,” Sable whispered. She fucked that up.

  “Honey, let it go, he will come around. Right now he is just wound tight, we all are. He won’t let us come with you all when you go into town,” Thane said. “He thinks we have no faith in him because of what happened. We tried to tal
k to him, but he is a stubborn ass. Just let him work through it. He always does.”

  Sable nodded sadly and pushed her plate away, the food tasted like sawdust. She only needed coffee so she wouldn’t have a headache. It tasted bland and she choked it down while Slone got his food and played with it while he sipped his coffee.

  No one else talked as they began to gather their things and get ready to go to work. The vet was going to be there soon, and their appointment in town was in about a half an hour. Sable sat in silence thinking about Alex and the pain he was in, damn that asshole. There was no way they were supposed to take this for much longer, she hoped he would show his ugly face today and be done with it.

  “Ready?” Alex said brusquely.

  Sable nodded and stood, as did Slone. She looked at Thane who was walking out the door and smiled. He nodded and held up his cell phone indicating she should call if something was wrong. Sable nodded, thank goodness she had programmed all of their cell numbers during the road trip here, she was worried in case something happened since they were driving separate vehicles.

  He had broken in the store last night and found his hiding place. Either the bitch was coming with him today, or she was going to die. He had enough of this shit. She needed to start behaving like a lady in public, and after listening to the gossip at the diner last night, he knew everything she was up to.

  Another reason they were going to leave quickly. News traveled fast in this town, he would not be able to hide out for long. And her two men were going to try to follow and he would be damned if they would find them. With a map, he plotted the back roads out of Wyoming, it would take longer, but it would not be on the main road.

  The drug he had at the ready would keep her asleep for hours, in his trunk so no one could see her. He had it all planned out, the only thing he needed was the owner of the store to get here and get busy. Steven was running out of patience for this shit.