Rancher's Creed (Ciaran O'Connor Book 2) Read online

  Rancher’s Creed

  Ciaran O’Connor Book Two

  By

  Alyssa Bailey

  ©2016 by Blushing Books® and Alyssa Bailey

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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  Bailey, Alyssa

  Rancher’s Creed

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-68259-310-3

  Cover Art by ABCD Graphics & Design

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as Blushing Books' or the author's advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.

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  Table of Contents:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Ebook Offer

  Blushing Books Newsletter

  Blushing Books

  Chapter One

  Katie stood admiring her new home. Her life had changed so much in the last few months that she could hardly keep up with the newness. She was feeling overwhelmed. She had agreed with Ciarán to lessen her hours, but it was difficult to keep her promise. Not that she wasn't happy; it was just that everything seemed bigger than life. Her career, her fiancé, her wedding plans, her new house, her huge 'almost' family—everything seemed way out of control these days.

  "Katherine Jelese Franklin, get your hard hat on!" yelled Ciarán as he looked across the worksite to see Katie strolling into the unsecured building.

  Katie jumped because she thought no one was around to see her just peek in quickly sans the hard hat. What was the problem anyway? No one was working so it wasn't likely that anything would be dropping on her by accident. Ciarán was always so overprotective.

  Their new home was well underway, but since it was lunch time, the site was currently without supervision. Anyway, she preferred looking around when everyone was at Liam's or the bunkhouse eating. She sighed, hoping Ciarán would not make a big fuss today. She just wanted to marvel at the beautiful new home and remind herself that things would calm down and be manageable soon.

  "I'll be damned," he muttered as he took off at a rapid clip to snare her from the entrance.

  She could almost quote the love of her life, in her head. He had said it multiple times this last couple of weeks. He loved her, but she was wearing him out keeping her out of trouble. She replayed the scene again as he approached her to verbalize what she already had played in her head.

  "What is this," he yelled as he approached, "the third time this week I have had to haul your sweet but naughty butt out of harm's way? I'll be damned if you aren't hell-bent on giving me major heart failure before the wedding. Damn, I love you but you are wearing me out, girl."

  She began to giggle at his predictability when she heard it. Crack! The sound was so ominous and mesmerizing that Katie just stood there and listened as an eerily creaking reverberation filled the air quickly followed by an arbor groan. Silence again, stillness and silence.

  "Oomph!" was the next sound made by Katherine as she hit the ground, hard, several feet on the outside of the entryway. Silence again. Then a loud clap of timber as it succumbed to age and a final whoosh of the Black Jack tree that they had fought so vehemently over landed at their feet, a fallen soldier of time.

  Katie's and Ciarán's breathing were the only sound that cut through the silence of the aftermath of the giant hardwood tree's demise. Katie realized Ciarán was covering her with his body—his very heavy, dirty, sweaty body. Her mind responded in an uncontrollable panic, causing her to breathe even quicker. She was in bed and Stuart was laying on her body, suffocating her, not allowing her to draw in a full breath, pushing her face into the bedding. Bile was rising. She was going to vomit. Screaming; someone was screaming.

  "Katie, baby, stop, it's me. It's Ciarán, you're safe, honey, you're safe."

  Bewildered concern could be heard in his voice and his fears that she was not actually safe echoed in the stillness of the air.

  "Ciarán, Ciarán, it's you. Yes, it is you." Katie begged in a strangled voice, "Please get up, get up, hurry, and get up." Katie struggled to slow her breathing with only minimal success.

  Ciarán, realizing that he was still lying fully on his thrashing woman, rolled off. He then jumped up to get a full view of
the situation and her. Katie appeared unharmed, but Ciarán began to perform a cautious but rapid physical check of her body. She was agitated, throwing his arm off her body and reached to make purchase with the ground to help her become upright.

  Once upright, she began to chant in her head, "You are safe. You're with Ciarán."

  Ciarán, still not convinced she was okay, yelled, "No! Wait, Katherine, wait until I get things cleared away and I know you are safe."

  "I'm all right, Kie, let me up. Honest, I'm not hurt." She was the only one who could call him Kie and she loved it, but the joy of that hard-won battle was lost on her today.

  The panic began to raise her voice again. Lifting her up with great care, he transferred her to a stack of 2x6s gingerly setting her on the solid wood.

  "Hush, baby. Shh. Let me look at you. Quit fighting me. You are safe. I have you. Hush, mo chroí." Ciarán continued until she seemed to calm down and when he saw that she was safe asked, "What happened there?"

  Katie's manner changed abruptly, as though there had not been a near catastrophe. She responded, "When, right then? Kie, the tree fell, the one I wanted to save. You were right, but I loved that tree. I hate it when you are right."

  Shaking his head, Ciarán replied, "That is not what I meant. I am talking about the panic. Katherine," Ciarán's tone changed, "you acted as though you did not know who I was. Honey, what were you thinking? Who did you think I was? Where did you think you were?"

  "Oh, I'm just disoriented, I suppose. It was a big scare and a shock."

  Katie jumped down from the lumber stack, grabbed a hard hat off the end of the piled wood and began walking at a steady, if not brisk, clip towards the entrance, praying her legs would support her. As she continued toward the house with the purpose of entering the front door, she began to put on the hard hat with trembling hands.

  She had dealt with this scenario many times in the last few years and was proud to say she had very few episodes anymore. After long therapy sessions and practice, the residual effects were usually minimal and she could snap out of the flashback quickly now. Her skill at minimizing the PTSD had much improved over the last year. It did not always work, but she knew there would never be a perfect solution. The longer she was with Ciarán, the better she controlled them and could sometimes even divert an attack. Ciarán did not know about her problem nor was she inclined to tell him. If she worked diligently, she would be able to control all attacks and he would never have to know. She worked to slip that mask back on.

  Cautiously, she stepped over the outlying parts of the tree near the entrance of the house. As she cinched the hard hat over her long, dark hair, Ciarán caught up to her at the door. With confident possession, he barred her entrance with his sexy, work-toned body. His face showed confusion, followed by incredulity, and finally he settled on anger, pulling himself up in his familiar protective mode, hazel eyes flashing. It was one of those melt your panties looks that she loved. However, she knew the tidal wave of retribution was coming. She waited for the onslaught. Except for his genuine anger, she loved his stormy stance. She took a cleansing breath and looked into his eyes, knowing he wanted to help her. Katherine struggled to find a way to tell him everything because she wasn't sure how long she could hide it from him. Instead, she answered him as though she did not still have a pounding heart from the flashback.

  "I'm sorry, honey. I just wanted a quick look."

  "Katherine, did you not just see what happened here? You are stepping over the edges of a huge tree that could have killed you and it damn well nearly gave me a heart attack. What were you panicking over, the tree?"

  "Of course not. I mean I told you, it was nothing. It was reaction I guess, Kie, nothing else."

  He did not believe her but decided to change his focus for now since she was acting fine. He was rather incredulous that she now wanted to go inside the structure. He would need to figure things out later.

  "Sweetheart, I am not compromising on your safety. I have a good mind not to allow you in right now. I need to check the structure. We will look later."

  "You have got to be kidding! All right."

  She acquiesced too easily but even as he processed the thought, he heard her say, "I am going in."

  Katie quickly circumvented his body that he had conveniently moved to one side of the door. Ciarán smiled and then sighed. Though he loved her like this, he really was worried about the structure. Until he checked it, she wouldn't be going inside. He snagged her around the waist and pulled her close.

  "I know a young lady who wants a spanking."

  Katie put on a well-rehearsed pout while placing her hand on his arm. "Please? I just want to see, please?"

  "What about the spanking?"

  "Can you put it on my account?" Her puppy dog eyes did him in.

  "Don't get used to this, understand?" he warned with a hard edge to his words.

  "Yes, sir," she said with a grin that said she had gotten over him, again.

  "You have been getting away with too much here lately, girl. I do owe you a good spanking so don't complain when you get it."

  She knew his tone that was hard as the nails they used to connect the wood in their new home was subterfuge. They played, but she knew he was partly serious, and while a game now, she had no doubt his demeanor would flip in an instant if she were in danger. Their house was being built by the talented O'Connor brothers and crew. Ciarán's brother Liam and wife Jocelyn would soon be adopting a sibling group, so their older boys were helping as well.

  Ciarán shook his head at the changes that had gone on in the last year. Getting his head around everything was hard. He dropped an indulgent kiss on her lips and let Katherine walk into the house they would live in their whole lives. He made her wait as he quickly checked the structure. As he walked the side of the building that the tree had fallen on, he ticked off the major changes in their lives. Liam rediscovered and married his fiancé of almost a decade ago. Then they got pregnant and Jocelyn almost got shot. He met and then proposed to Katie and it looked like Quinlan had a permanent girlfriend. Liam's foster children had come, gone back home, and then suffered a tragedy that returned them for good. The house he and Katie were having built, the growth of the ranch and more filled their days. This was a wild time. And, he loved it.

  However, something was wrong with Katie. She was having some type of anxiety. As he rounded the structure and returned to Katherine, he felt a little tightening in his gut. He looked again at the woman he loved so much it hurt. Katie used "Kie" when emotions were high which Ciarán had long ago figured out and he allowed her to use it as an endearment because it was a tell for him. Katie had told him it made her feel like he belonged to her, it gave her ownership somehow and it comforted her.

  In a peaked emotional state, his hazel eyes flashed and darkened and his face set hard. His muscular, over six-foot body, seemed to expand and lengthen. He presented an ominous figure, but those who knew and loved him understood it was often a barrier to his inner feelings. To his fiancé, it was as much bravado as irritation.

  "Ciarán, there is no part of the tree leaning on the house itself. Come on, I don't often get time during the daylight to see it, so can I just take a peek? I am sorry I forgot the hat and then the tree fell, but you protected me. Will you please hurry up? The house is empty for heaven's sake. No one is working right now so it is the best time to see it. I don't think it would matter." Katherine started to leave the entryway for the interior.

  Katherine, often known by Katie, was a nurse for Elk Ridge's sole physician, taking that position after his regular nurse went to part-time status. She also worked several shifts a week at the hospital until her first Ciarán spanking and a marriage proposal cut down on those. She stood just under Ciarán's jawline and was used to getting her way by turning her big browns into pools of melted chocolate.

  He had a hard time saying 'no' to them. Katie, slender but not thin, held a beauty that captivated her fiancé. He often gazed on her ample
and lusciously curvy hips, long slender legs, perfect fit-in-his-hands breasts, and spankable bottom. Ciarán was forever aching after those curves. Nevertheless, they had agreed not to cross the sexual boundary to consummation until their wedding day. With the wedding two weeks away, it became almost unbearable for either of them. Well, twelve days left now, to be exact, but who was counting?

  "I am not going to let you put yourself at risk. There would be no reason for the house without you to enjoy it with me. Don't come back here without me to secure the area again or do I need to tan that gorgeous backside of yours now to remind you next time?"

  Before Katie could protest, he reached down, gave her bottom one good attention-getting swat and kissed her deep down to her soul, toe curling included.

  He changed the subject. "I missed you this week. I worked longer because you worked longer, but I wish you had more regular hours these days."

  "It will settle down soon, but kids and adults alike are getting through flu season right now. And we have a rash of pregnant women around here."

  Katie smiled and looked past him at Jocelyn, Ciarán's sister-in-law, large and pregnant coming towards them at a steady pace. This huge and forever growing clan was adding family members at a rapid clip. Siobhan, Ciaran's mother, insisted that no inlaws existed around the O'Connor house, only family. Katie had not had any family to speak of but her doting father for many years. She did not know how she was going to fare with this instant clan.

  "Katie, I thought I saw you drive up. Are you going to look at your house? It is beautiful. Hey, what happened here?" Jocelyn stood pointing at the tree on the ground stationed between her and the doorway.

  Ciarán spoke grimly, "Just as Katie was going to go into the house without her hard hat, the tree fell. Not the way I wanted it removed, but it is down now."