Taming Clay

by Raeann Blake

  He turned back to Charlie and motioned back behind them. “Lynn and Floyd haven’t come in yet. Why don’t you two go check and see if they need some help?”

  “No,” Clay said quickly then motioned to the herd. “I want her to take Soldier down there while it’s still daylight. She’s not ridin’ night herd until we see how he’s gonna react to that many cattle.”

  Hailey didn’t even hesitate to move Soldier down the rise to join the other hands that were patrolling the outer edges of the herd, making sure none of the ones just brought in wandered off again.

  “Go help Lynn and Floyd,” Laine said quietly. After Charlie rode away, he glanced at Clay then back to watch Hailey.

  Clay watched silently for a few minutes then slipped his right foot out of the stirrup lifting it and hooking it over the saddle horn as he settled back and lit a cigarette. She rode with a confidence that only a lot of hours in the saddle gave you. And he didn’t see the horse shy away even once when she moved him in and out among the edges of the herd. He moved quickly when one of the older cows tried to make a break for it. They overtook it and turned it back to the herd. What happened after that would be crucial. He’d seen many cutting horses that were superb in keeping a cow where you wanted him, but they weren’t worth a damn for herding. That instinct to isolate a cow was just too strong and it took a firm hand to manage one that wanted to do that. Instead, once they got the cow turned, he saw those muscles that had been bunched and ready to turn on a dime relax and he ambled easily behind the cow until it was back in with the others.

  He grunted slightly and glanced at Laine only to find a little grin on his face. “Shut the hell up,” he muttered as he tapped the cigarette ashes into his shirt pocket.

  “I didn’t say a damn word,” Laine protested, but the smile grew wider.

  Clay shifted his eyes back to Hailey again. She was farther away from them now but he could still tell there was a wide smile on her face. There were a lot of men born to do just this and a few women. She was one of them.

  He let his mind drift back to the night before and the hours they had spent together. Touching and tasting everywhere, learning each other’s bodies. Finding those spots that brought soft moans, and those that sent desire soaring to all new heights. He had two that were special. Neither one that he’d known about before. One was his chest. The need to feel her hands against his chest right from the first had surprised him and the feeling of need that surged through him once he had took over his every thought. Her hands or her lips pressed against him there banished everything else in the world and left just the two of them. The other was that spot right behind his ear, right at the edge of his hair. That spot that she had found when she asked him not to go. The one that, when her lips were pressed there, wouldn’t let him tell her no.

  She had several. A spot on the top of her shoulder, one right in front of her ear. But the one that had made her explode was the one right at the base of her neck where her neck and shoulder meet. He had felt it when his lips skimmed across it and went back to it. Stronger. But not nearly as strong as when he bit her softly there. He hadn’t even intended to bite her. It had been in reaction to her hand sliding down his chest and then encircling him. It had been instinctive, and had started them back on that path to the mouth of a volcanic eruption so quickly that he didn’t have the strength to stop and get the condom he’d promised himself that he would use. She’d gotten aggressive quickly, shoving him to his back and rising above him. She was gloved around him before he could even blink, and then that was all he could do. He couldn’t will his hands to stop cupping her breasts in their palms. He couldn’t stop them from moving to her hips to urge her not to stop. His own hips lifted to her, meeting her all on their own. And the lips that took hers hungrily wouldn’t slow down.

  “Jesus Christ,” he whispered as he shifted as much as he could in the saddle. He glanced at Laine’s questioning look then away as he stubbed the cigarette out on the heel of his boot then held it in between his fingers to make sure it was out before he dropped it in his shirt pocket.

  Before he could say anything he heard hoof beats behind him and turned to watch as Charlie, Floyd, and Lynn herded several head of cattle towards them. Once they had them over the rise Laine caught Lynn on her way by.

  “Problems?”

  Lynn nodded and said, “One. A big old bear that was sittin’ right in the mouth of one of those little canyons. He wasn’t hurtin’ anything. He just wasn’t inclined to move and we weren’t inclined to challenge him.”

  Laine’s eyebrows shot up a notch and he grinned. “I’d say I’d have to agree.”

  He saw her cut her eyes over to Clay and he looked that direction. He wasn’t sure Clay even heard what had been said. His eyes were fastened on where Hailey and Charlie were riding side by side now.

  “Yeah, well. Maybe you should have sent Hailey after him. I’m sure she could have handed him his balls with a smile,” she said lowly then kicked her horse into a canter without waiting for a reply.

  Laine’s jaw set into a firm line and he looked back at Clay just in time to see him straighten up slowly and swivel his head to watch her ride away.

  “Just what the fuck was that supposed to mean?”

  “Leave it alone, Clay. Let them work it out if they can. If they can’t, I’ll get into it. But you stay out from between them.”

  Clay’s head turned back to him and he snapped, “And just what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means…” He stopped and his head jerked around when he heard a yell from below them and turned just in time to see Charlie and Hailey both race across an open area to chase down several cows that had bolted. He saw Clay’s foot drop back down to the stirrup but they sat where they were.

  “Damn that horse can run,” Clay whispered as Soldier outpaced Charlie’s horse and caught up to the cattle then passed them, turning them back towards Charlie where he shifted his horse out to the opposite side enough to turn them again back towards the herd.

  “Huh. They make a pretty good team,” Laine said then pursed his lips when Clay shot him an angry glare then spat on the ground before he jerked Ringo’s reins and started back for the camp.

  “Hmmm,” Laine said quietly as he watched him ride away. He finally turned back to the herd and whistled sharply then pointed at Hailey and Charlie, motioning for them to come to him.

  “Good work, guys. Both of you take the second shift. Most everybody’s back in. The first shift will stay out here for three hours. Second shift will ride three. Third shift will ride ‘til sunup. Go on up and eat, get some sleep. We’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

  Neither one said anything but he couldn’t miss the bright smile that slid across Hailey’s face as they both rode away. He turned to look back over the herd one last time as the day turned to night. He wouldn’t tell her that he’d put her on the second shift because the first shift would be the most dangerous. They had a full moon coming, but it wouldn’t rise until about the time for her shift to start. She didn’t know the land and he didn’t want her out there with that herd in the pitch black that it would be soon. Besides, Lynn was riding the first shift.

  It was full dark before they got back to camp. They took time to unsaddle and brush down their horses before they headed to the mess area.

  “How’d he do?” Shack asked as he handed her a cup of coffee first.

  She grinned at him and took a swallow then nodded her head. “He did great. Perfect.”

  “You should see that horse run, Shack. Goddamn he’s fast,” Charlie added as he grabbed a plate and spooned the night’s meal of a beef and beans mixture and cornbread.

  “He looks like he’d be able to run. Long legs. What shift are you ridin’?”

  “Second,” Hailey said as she spooned food onto her plate then took one piece of cornbread.

  Shack nodded and said, “Eat up and grab some sleep. You’ll have time for a quick cup of coffee after they wake you up.” />
  “Thanks,” Hailey said as she held her plate in one hand and held the cup up to indicate that she was thanking him for the coffee then turned away.

  She didn’t let her steps falter when she found Clay already seated close to the fire and Lynn right beside him. Instead of moving to the spot beside him, she followed Charlie and settled across the fire from them.

  “Hailey, what do you think?” one of the men asked.

  She let her eyes go wide with a smile to match. “I never dreamed you had that many cattle. I haven’t had time to go into the livestock side of the software yet. I didn’t know. Have you ever seen anything so pretty?”

  “How many did you run where you were?”

  “Under a thousand. Enough but nothing compared to looking over the backs of that many all together. That’s a sight I never thought I’d see, that’s for sure.”

  Clay glanced around the group. They were barely giving her time to take a bite and swallow before another hand would ask her another question. Which of course she was only too happy to answer.

  “If you like doing this, how’d you wind up getting stuck on the business side? No offense, boss.”

  “Well, the business side really got pushed off on me back home. At first anyway. But after a while, I figured out I really liked it. When I first started doing it though, I thought of it as punishment. I’d been riding with our hands since I was old enough to walk. Then all of a sudden I was stuck in this tiny office all day. But eventually I got a handle on it and managed to make time to do both. Now, I enjoy working on that side almost as much as I like being out here. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do that here, too,” she said and cut one glance to Clay. He wasn’t looking at her, but something in his posture said he was listening.

  Charlie took advantage of the momentary lapse in conversation to nudge Hailey’s arm with a little grin then looked across the fire to Clay.

  “Boss, did you see that horse run?”

  “I saw him,” Clay said lowly. He’d already finished his meal and was nursing a cup of coffee and a cigarette now.

  “Pretty fast. I believe he might give Ringo a run for his money.”

  Clay waited for just a few seconds then lifted a level gaze to him. “Boy, you ain’t goadin’ me into a horse race. Eat your meal. What shift are you ridin’?”

  “We’re ridin’ second.”

  Clay nodded and looked back down at the ground. “Then you need to quit talkin’ and eat so you can catch a little sleep.”

  Charlie chuckled slightly and then laughed right out loud when Clay lifted a steady gaze back to him. “Oh, I’m gonna have to go see Shack. Maybe I can get him to make a bet with me this time.”

  “We ain’t racin’,” he growled as he shifted a steady gaze to Hailey’s eyes then looked back down to the ground again.

  Charlie nudged Hailey’s arm again and nodded slightly that he knew that they would eventually, then quickly dropped his head to hide the grin when Clay looked back up.

  When Laine rode into camp Lynn glanced at him then quickly away and up to Clay. “Clay, can I talk you about something? Privately?”

  Clay turned his head and narrowed his eyes at her. He was still trying to figure out what was going on between her and Hailey and he thought he might be wise to take Laine’s advice.

  “Laine’s your boss. Talk to him,” he said evenly then sat up straighter when she cut her eyes to Laine then looked down at the ground.

  “N-no. I can’t talk to him about this. Do you mind?” she whispered.

  He set his jaw and waited until she looked up at him. He was used to women’s games. He wasn’t used to it from one of his hands. She was trying to make it sound like she was afraid to talk to Laine or that it was about Laine. And he knew better.

  “Fine. Over there,” he said then rose and walked in the direction he pointed. He walked far enough away from the fire to not be overheard, but not far enough to be out of sight. He wanted to make sure Laine knew where he was and he had plenty of witnesses.

  “What’s on your mind?” he growled when he stopped walking.

  “Ummm…I just wondered if you realized how what she’s been doing in town makes the ranch look. How it makes you look,” Lynn said quietly.

  “I might be able to answer that question if you spell who and what you’re talkin’ about?”

  “Hailey. Don’t you think you need someone who’s able to handle themselves in a more professional manner? I mean, I know you don’t like the guys getting in fights in town because it gives the ranch a bad image. I just wondered if you realized that her mouthing off and trying to bully people around the way she did in that store and the way she acted in that bar reflected just as badly on you as anybody getting in some little fight.”

  She took one step towards him and Clay took one back.

  “You listen to me, and you’d better listen good because you’re only gonna get one chance to get this right. In the first place, I don’t pay you to mind my business. And in the second place, I don’t give a rat’s ass about what the guys do in town or anywhere else reflecting on me or this ranch. The only reason I don’t like them getting into fights in that bar is because I don’t want them gettin’ hurt. If they’re hurt, they can’t work. And if they act up in that bar, nobody on this ranch is gonna be able to get back in there and it’s the only place close that they can go blow off steam.”

  He didn’t realize that he was advancing on her now and that she was backing up. But everybody else did when his cold voice carried across the night well enough that they could hear every word he said.

  “And the other thing that is none of your goddamned business is how anybody on this ranch conducts him or herself on or off the job. Except for yourself. What they do, what they say, where they go, and who they go with are all things that you shouldn’t have time to worry about. If you do, then you obviously don’t have enough work to do and I can goddamned sure find you some more. The best thing for you to do right now…”

  “Clay,” Laine barked and stepped in between them.

  Clay clenched his jaw several times then turned away and walked into the darkness. Laine turned back to face Lynn with a hard gaze.

  “What the hell are you even doing here? You’re supposed to be ridin’ the first shift,” he snapped.

  “Floyd traded with me. I’m riding second.”

  “When I tell you to ride a shift, you’ll damn well ride that shift. Go get your horse and you send Floyd on in here. You are not riding the second shift. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” she snapped back and turned to the horses without going back to the campfire.

  Laine took one steadying breath then looked in the direction Clay had disappeared but turned back to the campfire instead. He walked back to the mess area and got his plate then settled beside Hailey.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered. Her head was down and she wasn’t moving.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t do anything,” he said then glanced around the fire until he finally found Jean Ann.

  “Hailey, do you dance?” he asked a little louder.

  “Yeah. Why? Are you asking me to dance?” she managed.

  “Well…just kind of thinking. I think what we need is a good old hoedown. Now Jean Ann over there, she can dance rings around all of us. Isn’t that right, Jean Ann?”

  Jean Ann nodded and said, “Yep. Sorriest bunch of dancin’ cowboys I ever saw. But they’re learnin’. They far outnumber the women here. We could use all the help we can get in teachin’ all the right…moves,” she added with a little grin at Hailey that brought hoots from those around the fire.

  And with just that the laughter and conversation started to flow again.

  Chapter Twelve

  They soon finished eating and all moved to lie down. Some of them would be up again in just a little more than a couple of hours. Some longer, but they knew this was their chance to get some sleep. Clay had come back to the fire and hadn’t spoken ag
ain. When they started spreading out to lay out their bed rolls, his steps faltered just slightly when he found Laine and Charlie both pretty close to Hailey. He knew he shouldn’t do it, but his feet wouldn’t seem to go any other direction. He walked straight to her and looked down at her for just a few seconds before he unrolled his bag right beside her and lay down silently. He was lying on his back but turned his head to look at her and found her watching him. He pointed up to the stars without saying anything and saw just a slight smile in the pale reflection of the campfire and she turned to look up at the stars above them.