Imogen stands at the damaged fence, her fingers tight on the barbed wire, when Connor approaches with the unyielding presence of a man who takes what he wants. Her sharp words have always kept neighbors like him at a distance, protecting the ranch she won through sheer will and the solitude she needs to survive after years of fighting alone.

His body blocks the midday glare, and the silence between them crackles with the threat of his hands claiming her. He offers the protection her orphaned past has made her crave and dread in equal measure, a dominance that could break her independence for good. The friction of her defiance only draws him closer, turning every clash into the promise of rough surrender under his command.

The question remains how much she will let him take before nothing of her old self remains.