Bound and Branded

Chapter 2

As I turned down the driveway to the Bound and Branded Ranch, the view was magnificient. Two rows of hundred year oak trees lined the gravel drive that led slightly uphill as far as the eye could see. As I topped the hill, the most ruggedly beautiful house I had ever seen stood. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers and greenery. The house was actually a log cabin with intricate stonework around the base of the house and the columns on the porch that gave it a country cottage feel. Off to the right, sat an old beautiful red barn and you could see Appaloosa and Arabian horses grazing in the pasture in the distance. I'm not sure how long I sat there, once I parked my truck just staring at the beauty and tranquility of the place, but suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I caught movement. Four of the most mouth watering men came strolling out of the front door of the house. 'It ought to be a sin to look that damn good, I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath and trying to calm my racing heart, I slowly got out of the truck. I suddenly felt like prey. I know my eyes were shifting from one man to another trying to figure out which was the biggest threat. My breathing was coming in short gasps and I was starting to feel light headed. I needed to get control of myself before I passed out from hyperventilating. I steadied my gaze on the shortest one as he seemed to be the friendliest of the three. He gave me a slight smile that showed he had dimples. He started to walk over towards me as the others stayed back on the porch. As he got within five feet of me he stopped and stretched out his hand toward me saying, " Hey, Im Abel Adams, the psychiatrist here at the Bound and Branded Ranch. Nice to meet you. I stared at his hand a few minutes before finally slowly reaching out my own hand towards his.

I'm Roan Silver and it's nice to meet you also. I quickly scanned the guys behind him and they were still on the porch watching the interaction between Abel and myself. I quickly looked back at Abel and he smiled again. He had a beautiful smile and seemed like a very gentle man. He had dark brown hair with that messy look, blue eyes with laugh lines around them. He was about 6 foot 200 lbs. He looked to be in his mid forties. He turned to introduce me to the others.

"This is Daire Evans. He has a business of building his own motorcycles. You may have something in common with him, as your friend Brinleigh explained to us that you like to restore old trucks. Is this one of them here", he ask as he walks around my truck. I nod and quickly move to the side so he can see the whole truck. I look up at Quentin to see his reaction and he is looking at the truck from the porch with admiration, but he hasn't come down yet. Not sure why, but glad I'm only having to deal with one in my space right now. I look over at one of the other guys and he is watching me. Kind of unnerving. I quickly look back at Abel and he ask me to tell him about my truck. It's a 1954 Chevrolet 3100 that belonged to my grandfather. He gave it to me about a month before he died. It has a restored original 235 thriftmaster engine and 4 speed transmission. Painted the original black.

"I don't mean to interrupt you but, I ain't got a clue about any of this stuff. Mind if Daire comes down and takes a look?", Abel asked. My eyes shift to Daire and I back up a step or two and nod. Daire, who is built like a tank is probably 6'4 240lbs of all muscle, has a crew cut like former military, Blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes slowly comes down the steps and over to my truck. He ask if he can raise the hood and see what all I have done and I quickly nod. His voice is very deep but it 's not with a Scottish accent. I quickly glance over to the other two guys on the porch, but soon find myself looking away away again. Abel comes over again and ask if i would like to meet the other two men. I nod and we walk towards the porch.

"This is Torque Steele and yes that is his real name. He is an accountant and helps out with the ranch's books." I look up towards Torque and he very brisquely says hey. I say hey back to him and he turns to the guy beside of him and says, "I have to leave. Got an appointment to get to."

Ok, man see you later", Abel says as he claps him on the back. He turns to the last guy and says, " This is Brand MacGregor, the owner of Bound and Branded Ranch." I turn toward the last guy as he comes down the steps and reach my hand out to shake his hand.

"Hey, I'm Roan Silver. It's nice to meet you."

"Tis a pleasure tae meet ye as well", he says. Oh good lord, I think to myself, He is ruggedly hot and that accent .Damn, is all I can say. He has to be at least 6'7 245lbs, black hair and those damn piercing green eyes. I have never felt small in my life but next to him I feel tiny. He chuckles and I slowly realize I've been staring but I just can't help myself. I look down at the ground blushing furiously.