Mustang: A Rough Romance (Montana Bad Boys Book 3) Read online

  Mustang

  Piper Stone

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Afterword

  Books of the Montana Bad Boys Series

  Books of the Dangerous Business Series

  Books of the Club Darkness Series

  Books of the Alpha Beasts Series

  Books of the Mafia Masters Series

  More Stormy Night Books by Piper Stone

  Piper Stone Links

  Copyright © 2020 by Stormy Night Publications and Piper Stone

  All rights reserved. No part of this 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.

  Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

  www.StormyNightPublications.com

  Stone, Piper

  Mustang

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  Images by iStock/4x6 and iStock/picklefork88

  Prologue

  Brothers in arms.

  Soldiers.

  Cowboys and Marines.

  We’d been called so many things.

  Heroes. Monsters. Sinners and saints.

  Above all we were men honoring our country even while our pasts continued to haunt us.

  Some said we could never return, that we were damaged beyond redemption.

  Others would stop at nothing to prevent us from doing so.

  But we were determined to protect those we loved.

  Six men determined to right the wrongs from our past.

  Six men prepared to do what it took.

  No matter the cost.

  Then…

  Chapter 1

  Mustang

  Cattle. Steers. Beasts.

  What the hell was I doing here? As I glanced around the crowd, I realized I wasn’t entirely certain I was the man for this job. Huffing, I rolled my eyes before noticing one sexy as fuck copper-haired gal standing near the fence surrounding the animals. Shit. Even my cock twitched in appreciation. She was a delicious breath of fresh air in a sea of testosterone. Long legs in a tight pair of blue jeans. Hair the color of burnished sunshine and a body that could drive any man crazy.

  To say I was horny as hell was an understatement.

  I could only imagine the way her sweet lips tasted. My visions turned into filthy images of exactly what I’d like to do to her.

  Strip her bare.

  Feast on her pretty pink pussy.

  Fuck her like some wild stallion.

  “And Lot 57 is now on the auction block. Take a look at these prized Herefords.”

  The crowd cheered as a parade of cattle was brought into the ring. It had been awhile since I’d heard raucous applause during a cattle auction. Hell, it had been years since I’d spent time around livestock at all. The thought was bittersweet and not one I cared to add to the mix. The majority of my past I’d locked away making my return to Montana that much more difficult.

  My fantasy shattered, I shifted my attention to the center of the ring.

  I stood with my arms folded, studying the auctioneer. He was damn good at his job keeping the crowd enthusiastic while bringing the best price for a collection. There was nothing like the stench in the air to drive my thoughts back to the sexy cowgirl, even if she did seem out of place.

  And the odor had nothing to do with the cows.

  What the hell was I doing here?

  After hearing a few robust snarls, my attention was drawn back to the cowgirl. What the hell was she doing? Taking pictures, one after the other, even crowding close to the temporary fence surrounding the group of cattle. While capturing the event wasn’t necessarily unusual, I could tell her interference had riled several of the cowboys, two of them storming in the cowgirl’s direction. After a few choice words that were obviously in disagreement, one of the assholes even had the audacity to give her a hard shove, pummeling the gorgeous creature to the ground. The hit was hard, the hat she was wearing flying off.

  My cock was now shoved hard against my jeans, my libido on overdrive. Even from where I stood, my twenty-twenty vision allowed me to catch a glimpse of her furious face as she jumped into action, taking long strides, slamming her fists against the same guy who’d pushed her. Then the auctioneer entered into the fray. For a few seconds, I had the distinct feeling that fists were going to fly. I couldn’t help but smile. The girl had balls. I liked that in a woman. The feistier the better.

  For a few seconds, everything seemed to return to normal, the auctioneer speaking briefly before walking away. What did the girl do? Not back off. Instead, she egged them on.

  “Asshole cowboys,” she snarled.

  The girl had a mouth on her, one that was going to get her into heaps of trouble.

  When she was shoved again, her back slamming against the rail, not a single asshole attempted to help her. “Oh, fuck this,” I muttered, taking long strides in her direction, pitching three of the burly men aside, anger cutting through me like a knife. “I think you owe the lady an apology,” I barked, glaring every man in the eyes for a few seconds.

  “Mind your own damn business,” one of the assholes had the audacity to say.

  And two of them were stupid enough to laugh.

  Within two seconds, my hand was wrapped around the throats of two of the jerks, the pressure just enough they had difficulty breathing, their arms flailing as they attempted to get out of my hold.

  “Fuck,” at least two of them growled.

  “I make it my business to come to the aid of beautiful women in need, especially around a bunch of Neanderthals such as yourself. Now, you can apologize to the lady or I can continue digging my fingers into your necks and I assure you, I would enjoy doing that, adding more pressure every few seconds. The trouble with choice number two is that at some point, you will stop breathing.” I gave them a huge grin, savoring the fear in the cowboys’ eyes.

  The cowgirl jumped to her feet, shoving up her jacket sleeves as if preparing for a fight as she cursed under her breath.

  “Or,” I continued, “I might simply choose to twist my wrists. At that point, you’ll hear very sharp cracking sounds, the flash of pain blinding. At least for a split second or two. My suggestion is that you make it easy on yourselves and simply say you’re sorry.” When a fourth asshole acted as if he was going to try to stop my actions, I snapped my head in his direction, widening my grin as my eyes twinkled. “And I’ll just continue from there. One. By. One.”

  “Jesus Christ, buddy. We were just having a little fun,” one of them half whispered as he lifted his arms and retreated.

  “Boys, you need to break it up and I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” While the security guard acted as if prepared to make good on his claim, I couldn’t help but notice the smug look on his face, a nod of appreciation tossed in my direction. Evidently, the cowboys were troublemakers.

  Fortunately, the two in my hold managed to nod.

  I released my hold, moving to stand beside the girl.

  She cocked her pretty little head, offering a saucy smile of her own as she tapped her cowboy boot on the ground.

&n
bsp; “Sorry, ma’am.”

  “Apologize.”

  “Won’t happen again.”

  While the apologies weren’t heartfelt, I doubted they’d try that shit again for a while. The guard waited until they decided to break it up. As soon as they moved away, I yanked her by the arm, dragging her toward the back of the auditorium.

  “What the hell are you doing?” she insisted, fury crossing her face. “Let go of me!”

  “I’m trying to keep you out of trouble.” I realized my answer didn’t suit her well at all. “Cowboys don’t take too kindly to having their pictures taken.”

  “Free country.”

  Visions of hogtying her down, taking an extended period of time to explore every inch of her body were far too stimulating. This wasn’t the place or the time.

  She jerked out of my hold, acting as if she just might make the mistake of slapping me.

  “Sweetheart, I’d be careful if I were you. I am a dangerous man.”

  Laughing, she placed her hands on her hips, trying to stand as tall as possible. There was such swagger in everything she did. Seeing the most incredible light green eyes staring back at me was as unexpected as my body’s continued reaction. My cock remained at full attention, the rush of heat becoming a firestorm. “I don’t need your kind of help, dangerous man. I suggest you mind your own business.”

  I inched in front of her, forcing her to walk backwards and against the wall, planting my hands on either side of her head. Damn it I didn’t have the desire to kiss her, my cock aching to the point it was pinched against the zipper of my jeans. What the hell was I thinking? “And I suggest you learn some manners.”

  Using just a single finger, she pressed it against my chest, chuckling as her eyes fell to my crotch. “A rough guy, huh? Be careful, cowboy. You might have just met your match.”

  When she stroked her hand across my cock before sliding out from beneath my arms, every inch of my body erupted into white-hot flames. The second she turned and winked, blowing me a kiss, the primal beast deep inside of me almost took over.

  After controlling my raging libido, all I could do was laugh before walking back toward Tanner, the ranch’s foreman, my heart thudding. I never had this kind of a reaction to a sassy little filly.

  “Who is that girl?” I muttered as I moved closer. “A reporter?”

  “No, just a chick who’s been asking some questions, pissing people off. You know, I thought you might be ready to take her for a ride,” Tanner said, grinning. “Would have been kind of fun to watch.”

  “Very funny. More like dragging her across my knee.” When she turned again, giving me a bright smile and a wave, I knew our paths would cross again.

  As a matter of fact, the cowgirl was the one who’d met her match. After all, I was a dangerous man, one used to getting exactly what I wanted, whether or not the other party agreed. And I wanted her.

  Soon, her voluptuous body would be writhing under mine, my cock thrusting in and out savagely. Her mouth. Her pussy. Her asshole. As often as I craved.

  She would surrender.

  She would obey.

  Then she would belong to me.

  Chapter 2

  Mustang

  “What the hell happened to the happy-go-lucky guy we all used to know?”

  Hawk’s question hadn’t bothered me until now. The carnal need building deep within me was unexpected, creating the kind of hunger I’d never felt before. While I’d originally thought the answer as well as the strong emotion remained in the darkest pits of Afghanistan, along with my joy of life, something had just snapped within me.

  Maybe my desire was an attempt to mask the continued rage that threatened to eat me alive. Whatever the case, right now I remained electrified. There was no doubt the sexy woman was going to get herself in trouble. What was she was searching for?

  “Mustang. You should go and take another look at the herd.”

  I shot Tanner a nasty look before returning my attention back in her direction. A gnawing in my gut continued as I watched as she headed to the other side of the auditorium, noticing as a man followed her, keeping just enough distance that she likely wouldn’t pay attention. She certainly had ruffled some feathers. I sauntered back in his direction. “There’s something strange about that gal being here.”

  “Yeah, well, today ain’t the time for that. Keep your eyes on the ball, Mustang. We’ve got a little while to wait before you can place your bid. You know the price Hawk is willing to go,” Tanner said before following my gaze. “We need to get the lot in question. That’ll really help increase the herd at the ranch. Hawk thinks we can get them for a good price. Check them out one more time to make certain they’re good quality but do so nonchalantly.”

  Hawk had been insistent on both of us coming to the auction, mentioning he’d been tipped off by a phone call. While Hawk and I had been planning on increasing the number of steer for some time, his decision seemed to come out of the blue.

  I gazed at the ranch foreman and exhaled. Tanner had been assigned to provide assistance during this particular buy. In other words, Hawk had wanted to make certain I knew what the fuck I was doing. Hell, I couldn’t blame my buddy. He’d waited for a couple of months before pushing me into taking over the purchase and acclimation of additional livestock. Times were still tough, money spent wisely, but slowly Big Meadow was becoming a respected name in ranching.

  “Come to work with me,” Jake ‘Hawk’ Travers had asked barely a day after arriving home from Afghanistan. Hell, I’d known him since I was still wet behind the ears, another homegrown from Missoula. “I need someone I can trust,” he’d added. “You’re my best friend and the only one I want to share the business with.”

  I’d accepted without question. There was no reason to return overseas, the contract job I’d once revered stripped away, as it had been from all of us. Only two of our motley group of five buddies remained overseas, both Reaper and Vader finishing out their respective contracts. We were all attempting to deal with our grief in different ways.

  For me, it was all about guilt.

  “A mission that should’ve never happened,” the group of us had been told.

  “You’re the reason several good soldiers were lost,” the major general had said more than once.

  One by one, we’d been ceremoniously dismissed from our commissions. Five friends. Five Marines. Five bad boy cowboys.

  Once there had been six, all of us willing to die for the other.

  Then there’d been tragedy.

  Anger remained from the way the assholes in charge had handled the situation, my soul still aching at the loss of a man who’d been a friend, a fellow soldier, and someone I’d looked up to. I remained bitter, furious that a group of proud and honorable men had been labeled traitors by several higher ranking Marines. Fuck them. They had no idea what had occurred on that dark and wretched night or the suffering we’d all endured.

  I’d never forget the first day I’d arrived back in Montana, the look on Hawk’s face when he realized the task I’d been required to handle. I’d never seen the man cry, but on that day, his eyes had been glistening.

  The act of bringing home a fallen hero, accepting such an honor had taken a significant toll on all of us, but there was no remorse in the decisions I’d made. Since the day of Snake’s funeral, Hawk and I hadn’t been able to talk about the difficult mission.

  Or the choices we’d all been forced to make.

  Sighing, I rubbed my tired eyes, wanting to get this event the fuck over with. A flash of memories sliced into my mind, the same ones that continued to give me nightmares.

  “Where the fuck are you going?” I hissed at Hawk, noticing the bastard rebel soldiers getting closer. The sound of gunfire was all around us. I knew what my buddy was thinking. He was going to save Snake’s life regardless of the danger. “We need to get the hell out of here.”

  “I’m not leaving without Snake,” Hawk growled.

  “Then we’ll all fuckin
g die!” I snapped.

  The memory wasn’t one I ever wanted to think about again. Somehow, I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  Duty.

  Honor.

  Respect.

  All three words had been drilled into me for years, leaving me a changed man. Or at least that’s what I’d heard more than once since arriving back home.

  Maybe immersing myself in the auction was the best thing for me. However, there was something about the feisty girl that had yanked me into another plane altogether.

  I craned my neck, continuing to study her. The asshole following her seemed to have disappeared.

  “Stop worrying, Tanner. The price is ingrained in my mind and I know what I’m doing.” While I was thankful Hawk had asked me to join the business, I still had to prove that I could handle the job. It was another thought that made me cringe. As much as Hawk had attempted to avoid handling his father’s ranch, even pretending he didn’t give a damn, I’d known better.

  He was a cowboy through and through. Now he was making one hell of a surrogate father to his deceased brother’s little girl as well as helping the ranch turn a profit.

  Hell, I wasn’t certain staying in once place was even in my blood. The military was the only place I’d ever felt comfortable, or decent as a human being. Some of the folks in town still saw me as the bad boy, a kid with a nasty reputation as well as a bad temper. Time would tell if they would be able to get over the moniker. At least I could help Hawk get the ranch on a profitable road before any decisions were made.