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His jaw loosened, the gleam turned wicked, the belt came off, and I was thoroughly whipped, and fucked, before falling into a restless sleep.

Bad dreams and anxiousness woke me several times that night. I’d only just found deep sleep when I was woken again, this time with Reeve’s cock rubbing at my pussy from behind. It was a blissful quickie that allowed me to stay half-asleep through it and still earned me a nice orgasm.

“That’s got to last you a few days,” Reeve said when we were done. “I’m leaving this morning for some business upstate.”

“Yeah, that was for me,” I said, referring to our fast fuck. “Right.” My grin faded. “How long will you be gone?”

“Three days. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.” He leaned over and brushed the hair out of my face. He didn’t smile or kiss me or touch my cheek, just looked into my eyes for a few precious seconds. It was sweet in a way I couldn’t put into words. A much more tender goodbye than I’d expected from him.

When he stood back up, he beamed down at me. “And that was totally for you. Your Kaya Ranch wake-up call. It’s a quarter to six and I didn’t want you to miss breakfast.”

“Very kind of you. I’ll get right on that.” But I rolled over onto the pillow he’d used, burying my face in the traces of his scent. Then I fell back to sleep, partly because I was exhausted, but also because, without Reeve there, I didn’t feel much like being awake.

When I woke up again, it was nearly ten. The sun streamed through the crack in the curtains, drawing me with its beams the way a spotlight in the city drew people to premiere events. I peeked out and was met with acres of rolling green grass flanked with wooded hills. Beyond, snowcapped mountains stretched up to a cloud-spotted sky. The scene was beautiful and dramatic, calling me to throw on some clothes and get outside so I could explore every inch of the landscape.

Except, I had other exploring that took priority.

Reeve would be gone for three days and I knew I needed to use that time wisely. The house was at the top of my research list. I planned to get into every nook and cranny of its ten thousand square feet. I also hoped to get some of the staff talking. Amber couldn’t have been there as long as she had without making some sort of impact on someone. Hopefully I’d find that someone, and they’d be willing to talk.

I’d missed breakfast, but was able to dig up some cheese and apples from the fridge to tide me over until lunch. Then I went up to my room to shower and get decent. I unpacked my suitcase as well, then did a quick self-tour of the common areas in the house. I found a full-size gym in the basement as well as a theater room. The library was on the main floor along with the large dining hall that looked like it accommodated a hundred people. There was also a solarium, den, and sitting room. The rest of the space was divided among bedrooms, none of which seemed to be currently in use except for the one Tabor was staying in. Reeve’s office was the only room that was locked, as he’d said.

I was glad to realize through my exploration that though Tabor was here for me, he wasn’t here to watch my every move. He checked in on me a couple of times during the day and told me just to let him know if I wanted to leave the house. It was a huge relief to have space so I could do what I wanted.

It was also nice to know Reeve really had brought him for my protection and not to spy.

At noon, I went to the dining hall for lunch. It was served buffet style, an arrangement of cold sandwiches, soups, and salads. There was no triangle rung to announce the meal, but cowboys came rushing in on the hour exactly as if there were some sort of alarm that only they could hear. There were fifty or so all together. Parker and Charlie came in at the tail end and sat in the corner away from everyone else. I imagined as managers they got tired of their employees and wanted the break to be away from them.

I got my food and carefully surveyed the room, deciding to sit at a table with only a handful of ranchers. Here I made my move, talking up the lot of them, which mostly meant a lot of innocent flirting where I attempted to coax information about previous visits by Reeve and the women who’d accompanied him. All of the men I spoke with had been willing to talk, but none had worked there long enough to know anything that happened the previous summer. As Reeve had said, most were temporary employees who had just been hired recently for the busy season.

Dinner had the same lackluster results. I tried not to feel defeated when I went to bed that night, though it was hard not to be down. It was a lonely place to be without Reeve, and it had only been one day. I slept in his room, even though I had one of my own. In the large house, his room was the only space that felt comfortable.

I spent the next morning in the library, first examining the shelves and then poking around on the computer. It was possible, I’d decided, that Amber might have used it when she’d been there. If she did, she could have saved a document or maybe the browser history had something of interest.

But I found nothing useful.

At lunch, I got lucky.

This time, instead of sitting with the masses, I picked out the man sitting by himself wearing a security uniform. Tabor and the men I’d seen carrying around the house wore slacks and button-downs, but the guards at the front gate wore uniforms like this one. I was interested in the unanswered question about the high level of security, and certain I wouldn’t get anything from the slacks.

“Mind if I sit, uh” – I bent to make out the name on his front pocket – “Cade?”

He appeared surprised to have anyone talk to him, looking around the room as if he didn’t think I’d ask unless there was nowhere else to sit. “Um. Sure.” Maybe there was a guideline about not talking to the uniforms, but since Reeve hadn’t included it in his expectations, I wasn’t too worried about breaking it.

“Great, thanks!” I sat and nibbled at my half-sandwich and salad while we made small talk about the weather and whether or not I’d ever been to Wyoming before.

Slowly I shifted the conversation to his job. “How long have you worked here, anyway, Cade?”

“Just hit ten years last month.”

I almost flipped my tray from leaning forward too excitedly. “That’s great. You must really like working here to have stayed this long. I bet you have great stories – like about the people who visit. The women that Reeve brings here.”

He laughed. “Ah, I see what you’re after. Sorry, sweetie, I’m not allowed to talk about Mr. Sallis’s… guests.” Dammit, Cade wasn’t an idiot. “But it was a good effort on your part. And for the record” – he bent in and hushed his voice – “there have only been a couple he’s brought here. So consider yourself special.”

Special. I doubted that since Reeve had told me specifically that I wasn’t. Yet, hadn’t he shown me many times that maybe I actually was?

“Well, worth a try,” I said with an authentic though exaggerated sigh. Still, the conversation didn’t have to be a total loss. “Tell me then instead, is it normal to have this level of security at a ranch?”

He wagged his head back and forth as he contemplated his answer. “Ranch, yes. There are always people out to steal your livestock. Cattle are big business. Probably not usually this much security at a main house. But the Sallis family is… private.”