Stormborn - Poplar Ridge Ranch, #2

One cowboy in a desperate search for a home. Another in desperate need of healing... Kaien Preston has traveled thousands of miles searching for a ranch where he will be left in peace. He's still scarred by the last place he worked, where he was violently attacked by another ranch hand simply because he was gay. He never stays long in one place, and now his journey takes him to Poplar Ridge, a ranch rumored to be a haven for those who are different.
He is immediately drawn to the ranch foreman, a grizzled, stoic cowboy named Taylor McLean. Things are not easy. Taylor is a man haunted by his past, and Kaien is unwilling to trust again, no matter how much he might be attracted to the cowboy. Yet, as the first tentative steps of trust lead to something more, Kaien is faced with a choice. Risk everything at a chance for love, or set out on the road again in his search for a place to belong.
For years now, Taylor has been vital to the smooth operation of the ranch and good friends with the owners, Nathan and Malcolm. But he's bleeding from old wounds that haven't healed-loss and betrayals in his past. When a broken soul named Kaien arrives looking for work, Taylor finds himself drawn to the quiet strength within the smaller man, whose gentle nature calls to him. He knows Kaien deserves someone better, but as hard as he fights his attraction, he can't escape it.
They share so much, including a love of animals, but earning Kaien's trust is difficult, especially when Taylor isn't certain he's worthy of it. But time may be running out for them both. A cattle drive into the mountains sets in motion a disaster that will either bind them together...or leave everything they shared in pieces.