The Strictest Spread In Texas

Bryce Oakes has spent years protecting his land and the people on it with the same strict commands, his rolling stride a reminder of the old injury that taught him control above all. Thea Fielding's arrival as his neighbor brings contested acres and a yielding nature that answers his every order, even as her terror of abandonment makes his authority both a comfort and a risk he cannot ignore.

The forged deeds pull them together in the hayloft where the lamp burns low over scattered papers. He closes the distance and opens the first button of her blouse without asking, his voice commanding her to keep her hands at her sides as the possibility of discipline lingers in the air, binding them closer than any ranch contract ever could.