The Bastard — Ann Jacobs

A modern-day Liberty Valance collides with The Big Valley when his mother reveals his father is none other but the patriarch of the huge Bar C Ranch and its billions in holdings. Mom's untimely revelation pleases no one, least of all Jack Duval's friends, the legitimate Caden heirs who heard the news immediately after their mother's funeral..

Hurt and wanting to get back at his reluctant father, Jack goes after neighboring rancher Liz Wolfe, whose mother it seems the elder Caden has targeted to become his next wife--and whose ranch he intends to annex.He soon learns Liz is the submissive lover of his dreams--and that what he feels for her is a whole lot more than sexual attraction.

Rustlers and murderers interrupt their affair, though, and Jack must reveal secrets about himself that may tear the two apart, before he and Liz can move on to the next step toward happily ever after.

A heavily revised, rewritten story based on Shotgun Relations, THE BASTARD is a kinder, gentler, more tasteful story of BDSM play and forever after love.,