2. Zane

Chapter 2

Zane

THREE MONTHS AGO

It was a hot day. The sun was like a raging ball of fire in the sky and there wasn't a cloud to be seen for miles around. With the dirt track ground arid and rough under foot, Zane knew that he needed to get moving. After all, he hadn't gone through everything to hang around outside the one place he hated more than anywhere else in the world.

Zane looked up at the clear blue sky and let out a long, emotion-filled sigh. He was free. After serving eighteen months behind bars for a corporate crime that he kind of did and kind of didn't commit, Zane was able to feel free ground underneath his feet and inhale the freshest of fresh air.

‘Thank you,' Zane whispered, not knowing who he was talking to – but knowing full well that the last eighteen months had been the worst of his life.

‘Hey don't thank me,' Keith Clyde replied, laughing somewhat manically as he approached Zane from behind. ‘ We always says it's gonna be the last time. But it never is. Trust me on that. But, hell, let's enjoy our freedom while it lasts.'

‘Right,' Zane replied, not especially interested in striking up a conversation with Keith.

Keith Clyde was neither friend nor foe, much like the vast majority of fellow inmates that Zane met in prison. Zane and Keith had crossed paths fairly often over the last eighteen months. There was never any beef between them, but they had little in common and Zane had a strong sense that Keith would have robbed him blind at the first opportunity.

Keith had just completed a seven year sentence for multiple charges of grand theft auto and robbery. A career criminal, Keith showed little desire to change or fix his ways. As far as the likes of Keith Clyde was concerned, he would keep on playing the game and trying to get away with as much as he could for as long as he could. Prison was a part of his life and that was the end of it. But while Keith might have been certain of his own destiny to return to the slammer, Zane was of a whole other mindset.

Zane never wanted to darken the doors of prison again. At times, things had gotten tough for him inside. Constantly being surrounded by people, the endless noise, and the relentlessly tense atmosphere all left a terrible taste in Zane's mouth and he simply couldn't wait to put it all behind him for good.

Prison had been a truly unwelcome chapter in Zane's life, and now was the time to turn a new page and write a whole new book .

‘Good luck,' Zane said, nodding to Keith before beginning the long trek toward the next town. There was a bus service available, but Zane couldn't waste a single second of his freedom waiting.

‘There's a bus coming in half an hour!' Keith cackled. ‘You'll collapse in the heat walking, you crazy sonofabitch!'

But Zane didn't answer Keith.

It was time to get moving.

It was time to start rebuilding his life.

Zane was thirty-six years old and up until his first visit to prison had lived most of his adult life in luxury. After working his way from humble beginnings and winning a scholarship to a great college, Zane had continued studying hard and found himself working in finance after graduation. A career as an investment banker and hedge fund operator ensued, and Zane was well on track to becoming rich and powerful too.

After being headhunted by a prestigious investment fund, Zane thought that he was nearing the peak of his career. After all, why would such a successful firm personally seek him out if it wasn't for his skill and instinct in the financial market? But after making an initial splash with his new company, Zane found that the shadowy senior figures there were pushing him in a very murky direction.

And it turned out that Zane's senior bosses saw him as little more than collateral for their own ambitions. Information was handed to Zane, and he was instructed to forward it to clients. Private bonuses were paid in return, and there was talk of Zane closing in on becoming a senior partner himself .

But Zane was no fool. The whole time, he knew that what his bosses were asking of him was very close to being against legal regulations. However in reality, he had no idea of how he would be left to take the blame should it all go wrong. And boy, it did go wrong.

Still, that was in the past.

Zane might have lost all his money and any prospect of working in finance again, but the truth was that his time spent behind bars wasn't entirely wasted. From a physical point of view, Zane had used his time inside to exercise and work his body into the best condition it had ever been in. The prison food was basic and there were no cocktails or champagne to sip on. That meant that Zane was able to focus on his cell workouts, daily visits to the prison gym, and bartering with other prisoners to get extra chicken and potato on the daily kitchen order.

But it wasn't only his strength and fitness that Zane had used the time to improve while sitting behind bars. He worked on his mentality too.

Zane now knew that he wanted something different from life. He wanted something far more fulfilling than simply chasing money, cars, boys, and whatever else fell into his lap. What that was precisely, Zane had little idea. But he knew that this was the first day of the rest of his life and it was time to get his feet moving…

‘The guard said the nearest town was ten miles away,' Zane muttered, running his hand through his sandy blonde hair. ‘Damn. Well, it's been a while since I've actually been on a hike. So here goes nothing…'

PRESENT DAY

‘Beats punching numbers into a computer any day of the week,' Zane grunted, lifting the axe above his head and then crashing it down onto the wood block and splitting it into two pieces. ‘Let's go.'

Zane was shirtless, sweaty, and tired.

But Zane was happy .

It was another warm day where the lack of breeze in the air was far from ideal, but Zane wasn't overly bothered. The harder he worked, the more he sweated, and the better he felt.

Zane used to dread hearing the clatter of the prison guard's stick waking the inmates up each morning while he served his time, but back in the outside world there were no such worries. When the sun rose in the sky, Zane was ready and raring to go.

Whether he was chopping wood, carrying heavy loads, or even cutting grass, Zane was more than happy to be living his best outdoor life. He might not have been earning the big bucks like he used to before, but Zane was more than happy with his modest pay packet and free accommodation.

It wasn't the Ritz Carlton, but Zane's barn on the outer reaches of Eagle Ridge Ranch was a perfect little place for him to get his head down after a long day's working for his new boss, Kipp.

Zane might only have known Kipp for approaching a month, but he could already tell that this was a man of true integrity. Kipp didn't take any crap, and Zane could sense that he wasn't the kind of guy to get on the wrong side of. But what Zane also saw was that Kipp was open hearted, loyal to his friends, and an all-round great guy.

So while life might have been a far cry from the times of old, Zane was feeling more settled and relaxed than he had probably since he graduated college near enough one decade ago.

‘Let's get this sweat going again,' Zane said, pausing for a brief moment to pick up his metal water bottle and glugging down some much needed refreshment.

However just as Zane was about to get back to the important work of breaking down the firewood for Kipp, he heard a rustling noise coming from the bushes opposite him.

Any out of the blue noises or movements were likely to set Zane on high alert and this was no exception. Suddenly, Zane was back in prison mode…

‘Who's there?' Zane enquired, his voice calm, controlled, but not without a hint of menace too. ‘Show yourself.'

Just as Zane was readying himself for a possible confrontation, the secret intruder made themselves visible…

‘Oh. It's you again,' Zane said, his demeanor now curious and even a little friendly. ‘Is this the day you're going to come and say hello for real?'

Zane crouched down into a squat position and held his open palms out in front of him. Zane wasn't dealing with an intruder, he was dealing with a shy but evidently curious puppy …

‘Here, boy,' Zane said, putting on his best puppy-dog voice. ‘Here boy.'

For a moment it looked like the pup was about to do what he'd done on his last few visits and simply turn away and scurry back into hiding. But then the puppy's ears cocked upward, and he took the first tentative steps toward Zane.

‘Hey, that's it,' Zane smiled. ‘Come and say hi. It's all good.'

Soon enough, the puppy was up close and personal next to Zane and very much enjoying having his floppy ears stroked and tickled. Zane couldn't help but smile as the young dog then rolled onto his back and lay there, very much expecting a tummy rub too.

‘Damn, this is moving quickly,' Zane chuckled, happily rubbing the pup's smooth tummy. ‘But I do have one question… where the hell is your mom or pop? And I'm talking dog or human here…'

Zane suspected that the dog had gotten lost or was perhaps even born in the wild from a stray. Either way, the dog's origins weren't going to stop Zane from opening up his lunch early and giving the little guy some of his sandwich.

‘You've got an appetite like me,' Zane said as he watched the pup heartily wolf down his portion of the sandwich. ‘Fine. You can have more. But don't you dare tell any of the other wild dogs out there that I'm some kind of meal ticket, okay?'

Zane couldn't help but remember how Kipp had helped him get back on track too. Despite the fact that they were total strangers, Kipp had approached Zane in The Tap House one evening and after a friendly chat offered him a job and a place to stay.

Not many men would have been so trusting and generous as Kipp was that night, but Zane was beginning to see that Kipp was no typical guy either. As Kipp explained what Eagle Ridge Ranch was all about, including the whole Daddy and Little concept, Zane had listened intently with an open mind. It wasn't a subject that Zane had much knowledge of prior to meeting Kipp, but he was increasingly seeing the appeal of it.

In fact, Zane was even beginning to have some damned erotic dreams about the kinds of things he and a willing Little could get up to. Whether it was spanking, role play, or even the most basic Daddy Dom driven sex, Zane's mind was opening up to a whole new world… and he liked it a lot.

‘What do you think, could I actually be a Daddy?' Zane asked the dog, genuinely unsure of the answer himself. ‘Actually, scratch that. Tell me later. I need to get my ass back to work. There's plenty of wood that needs chopping, and I'm the man to do it.'

With that, Zane left the pup to sunbathe while he picked up his axe, took a big swing, and cut another block of wood clean in half.

Zane was sitting in his favorite corner booth in The Tap House and took great pleasure in his first sip of beer that evening.

‘Hell yeah,' Zane said, smiling as he tasted the hoppy, cold drink hit his eager tastebuds. ‘Beats champagne any day of the week.'

While Zane had never been a big drinker, he did enjoy a nice cold beer after a long day of work. And given that Zane had been working the sweltering heat all day, a cold refreshing beer was absolutely perfect.

And to make it even better, Zane was deep into a new novel that was so far more than meeting expectations. An action thriller set in Alaska, the book was well written and had the kind of compelling protagonist that held Zane's interest from the very first page.

Zane took a brief look around the bar before returning to his book and saw various couples and groups of friends having fun with one another. Zane felt happy for them, but he was glad for his own private island of solitude in the corner booth too.

The scars of living in an overpopulated prison were still a little too raw for Zane. What he craved was quiet, a space of his own, and peace to get on with his own thing. Zane bore no grudge to the other patrons in the bar, far from it. But he knew that as far as he was concerned, he was perfectly happy in his own company.

A fresh beer? Check.

A fantastic book? Check.

An order of spicy fries? Perfection .

Of course, Zane could easily have stayed in his barn after work. However the fact was that the barn didn't come with electricity, or spicy fries either. And anyway, the background noise and hubbub was actually quite a pleasant kind of white noise to help Zane sink even deeper into his novel – which he would naturally continue reading later by candlelight when he was back at the barn.

‘Okay, time to dive back in,' Zane said, leafing through the novel's pages to find his spot.

However just as Zane was about to get back to his chapter, his eyes were drawn toward a gaggle of excitable boys as they entered the bar.

They seem familiar.

Maybe… maybe… are they from the ranch?

And who the hell is he?

Suddenly, all thoughts of his novel were long gone. All of the boys were pretty in their own ways, but one of them was standing out like a bright beacon. It might have been a combination of his raven-black hair and incredible smile that was doing it – but Zane's mind was feeling far too scrambled to think straight.

The young man was sexy, cute, and strikingly beautiful.

And even more than that, he looked like all kinds of trouble too…