Her Cowboy’s Brand

Bonus Scene – Heat Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥 | Cut from the Main Book
Set between Chapters 14 and 15 of Untamed Secrets

Cole’s POV

Laney’s laugh echoes across the dark barn like a spark looking for flame.

She’s barefoot in the hayloft, hair down, skin glowing in the soft light from the single swinging bulb above us. I don’t remember climbing the ladder. Don’t remember pulling her into me. But I know this—she’s mine.

And tonight, I’m done pretending otherwise.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she whispers, breath catching as my hand slides to her lower back.

“But you are,” I growl, dipping my head to trace my mouth along her collarbone. “And I’m not lettin’ you run this time.”

Her fingers fist in my shirt, pulling me closer, dragging me over the line we’ve danced around for years. Our mouths meet with a hunger that doesn’t ask permission. It demands.

When I kiss her, it’s not slow. It’s not sweet. It’s wildfire—reckless and consuming.

“Cole,” she moans, my name a prayer and a dare all at once.

I press her back into the hay, every part of me straining not to take too much too fast. Her thighs cradle me, bare feet tangled in my belt loops. Her hands are everywhere—my chest, my jaw, the back of my neck—like she’s learning me all over again. Or maybe claiming me.

“I remember this,” she murmurs, breath warm against my ear. “Your hands… always knew what I needed before I did.”

I slide mine under her tank top, tracing the curve of her ribs. “Still do.”

She arches, and the sound she makes rips through me like lightning across an open plain. It’s not just the way she feels—it’s the years we lost. The forgiveness, the fire, the family we could’ve had sooner.

I kiss her slow this time. Once. Twice. Then again. Her lips tremble, but not from fear. From knowing.

“You gonna break my heart again, Laney Shaw?” I whisper, voice hoarse.

“No,” she breathes. “But you already branded mine.”

And I do. I make love to her like it’s a promise. A reclaiming. Her cowboy’s brand—written in sweat, in sighs, in skin-on-skin devotion beneath the rafters of the only place that’s ever felt like home.

When it’s over, we lie tangled in each other, the scent of hay and heat between us, the night quiet except for the slow, steady rhythm of our hearts beating in time.

She turns her face to mine. “I think I just fell harder.”

I grin against her forehead. “You always were a sucker for a cowboy.”