Chapter Ten
Three days later, Katie strode into the barn to find Jed. He’d called earlier and asked her to come over. She gnawed at her lower lip as she sauntered toward the office in back. She stopped to pet several of the horses.
The last couple of days had been trying. The calls from her ex and her father hadn’t let up. The other day, she had told her father—again—she wasn’t going back to the City and to stop calling. She’d considered changing her cell number, but her father would probably find it.
At least things between her, Ry, and Jed had improved.
She’d worried they’d be angry at her explanation of why she left, but both reassured her that while they were upset at the time, now they understood.
They hadn’t played since her revelations about why she left, but they had cuddled and spent time together.
They were slowly building their relationship and their trust in each other.
She sighed and raised her hand to knock on the partially open door. Jed swore and then muttered a few words, causing a grin spread over her face.
“Are you having issues in here?” she asked, pushing the door open and stepping into the office.
“Thank God, you’re here.” Jed stood up and moved out from behind the desk. “Come figure this out for me.” He gestured to the computer, his face tight with tension.
“What are you having problems with?” She shook her head. Jed wasn’t one to get frustrated easily. She maneuvered around him and behind the desk.
“Hell if I know. I’ve been working on this for the past two days, and I’m still stuck.”
Katie sat down and stared at his computer screen. She scrolled up and down and sighed. What a disaster. “What exactly are you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to pay the vet, and find out when I last paid for hay and how much. Figure out who owes me money, who I owe money to, and what’s left over.”
Katie nodded, grabbed a pencil and paper, jotted down some notes, and looked back at the screen. This would take some time. She glanced up at Jed. “Go play with your horses and come back in two hours.”
“Ordering me around, are you?”
Katie grinned at him then made a shooing motion with her hand. Jed laughed and strode out of the office, closing the door behind him.
Katie focused on the computer screen. Maybe she could make some sense out of the mess Jed had made. An accountant he wasn’t.
Several hours later, Katie stood and stretched.
Luckily, she had a flash drive in her purse.
She copied his files over. She’d done most of it on paper already, but there was still more to do.
She sauntered over to the office door and opened it.
Jed stood at the end of the barn, quietly talking to one of the horses.
His soft voice melted Katie’s heart. He was so good with the animals.
Quietly, she walked toward them. She stopped outside the stall as Jed hung up the horse’s halter.
The horse’s ears perked up, and he turned his head and faced her.
“I’m almost done,” Jed said. “Why don’t you come in and say hi to Coulter.” He held out his hand to her.
She placed her hand in his and let him draw her closer to the stall. The fresh scent of hay tickled her nose.
“This is Coulter,” Jed said as she slid closer to them.
“He’s beautiful.”
“Did you figure out my mistakes?” Jed asked.
“Not completely.” She stroked Coulter’s brown nose. He was a beautiful horse, brown with big white patches all over his body. “I wrote down what you needed to know and copied your files over onto a flash drive. I’ll upload them into my computer and fix everything, if that is okay.”
“More than okay. Thank you.” Jed shifted behind her, his chest against her back, his arms coming around her body as she stroked the horse. “I want to hire you to do the books.”
She tilted her head back to look at him. “You don’t need to do that.”
“Yes, I do.” He dropped a kiss on her nose. “I hate accounting and anything to do with it.”
“How did you survive this long without an accountant?”
“I didn’t. John Knowles used to do them, but he retired two months ago. I figured I could keep it up, but as you can see, it didn’t work out.”
“Did someone replace John?” John Knowles retired? Oh, yes, now she remembered looking at his old office space. Maybe it was a good thing she was running an ad in the local paper. She might be able to pick up more business.
“Not that I’m aware of. He did suggest someone over in Monroe, but it does make it difficult for people here.” His arms tightened around her waist. “Good thing you’re an accountant.”
“Yes.” Maybe she could quit drawing money from her savings account. Not that she needed huge amounts of money.
Jed tugged her closer, and she wiggled against his groin.
“Getting frisky, are we?” His lips nuzzled her neck.
“Well someone is happy to see me.” She pressed her ass against his hardening cock.
“Behave.” Jed stilled her hips with his hands.
“Why? Haven’t you guys tortured me enough?” Her voice was soft and somewhat breathless.
“Honey, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Oh really?” She placed her hands on his chest and pushed. Not that it did much good. Damn, her panties were getting damp.
“Tell me, Kitty Kat.” He marched backward, keeping her back plastered to his front. “Have you pleasured yourself?”
“No. Two men have forbidden me to orgasm alone.”
He grinned. Closing the door, he maneuvered her into an empty stall. Jed guided her to one side. “Don’t move.” He had her facing the wall and patted her on the ass as he moved away.
* * * *
Jed watched her out of the corner of his eye as he stacked the hay up to the right level.
Then he made a quick trip to the tack room, grabbing the materials he needed.
He returned and placed a soft blanket over the hay to prevent her from getting scratched.
Then he spread a towel on another hay bale, piling all the toys and restraints he would need for them to have fun.
The stall had rings in the walls to tie horses and hang buckets. And for tying up a sexy Kitty Kat. His heart raced at the thought.
Jed slipped his arms around her waist. She hadn’t moved an inch. “Good, Kitty Kat,” he whispered, turning her around in his arms and capturing her lips.
Lord, she tasted sweet. How long had it been since he tasted her? Not long. He’d kissed her just last night, but it seemed longer. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and she moaned.
“So delicious,” he whispered against her lips before lifting his head and taking a step back. “Strip.”
She blinked up at him and stared. “W…what?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Remember our rules.” He stared at her, and her eyes widened.
“Yes, Sir.” Slowly, she pulled her T-shirt from her jeans, arms rising as she lifted it over her head to reveal a plain white bra. She toed off her shoes, unfastened her jeans, and slid them off her long legs. Plain white panties came to view.
He and Ry needed to do some shopping for Katie. He wanted her in silk and lace all the time. She folded her clothes and put them on the empty hay bale closest to her.
“All of it, sweetheart.”
“Sir, what if someone comes in?” She shivered, and there was a slight tremor in her voice.
“No worries, Kitty Kat.” He’d sent everyone home an hour ago. He wanted the place empty just in case. “No one will barge in on us. Now, finish up. You won’t like it if I strip you down.”
She swallowed, then bent down and removed her socks. Next came her bra and finally her panties.
His cock flexed against his jeans. Damn, she still took his breath away.
Her nipples were already stiff, and her curvy body made his hands itch to trace every inch of her skin.
Holding his hand up, he crooked his finger for her to come to him.
She approached him with apprehension, and it was all he could do to hide a big grin.
“Give me your wrists.” She complied, and he pulled the leather cuffs out of his back pocket. He buckled them around her wrists, making sure they were loose enough not to constrict blood flow, and led her over to the blanket-covered hay bales.
“Sit down.”
She looked over her shoulder then back at him before sitting on the edge of the bales. He wanted to laugh, but he was the Dom here. His hands framed her waist, and she let out a squeal as he lifted her and sat her farther back on the bales.
“Lay back.” Putting pressure on her shoulders, he lowered her until she was lying flat on the bales.
Oh yes, this was perfect. He reached over and picked up the double snap hook, hooked one end into the restraint and then stretched her arm out to the side.
He snapped the other end to the metal link attached to the rope and tied it off on the ring on the wall.
Then he did the same thing with her other arm.
“What is it about you guys and restraints?”
Jed laughed down at her. “Snarky little sub, aren’t you?”
Her face flushed. “Sorry, Sir.”
“Better.” He picked up the restraints for her legs, attached them, then pulled her legs to the side of the bale and locked them into place. Her eyes were wide when he finished.
“What shall I do first?”
She squirmed on the blanket, and Jed grinned. He stripped off his shirt and picked up the deer hide flogger. He ran it over her breasts, skimming the tails along her stomach, down to her upper thighs. Katie let out a small sigh.
He lifted the flogger and brought it down softly on her right breast, followed by a light strike to her left breast. She hissed.
“Okay?” He wasn’t the expert like Ry was, but he knew how to make it feel good.
“Yes, Sir. It tingles.”
“Good. This is a deer skin flogger, made to tease and arouse your tender areas.” He twirled the tails over her nipples, watching them harden. Then he moved down to her upper thighs and gave them a few good swats until she was squirming.