by Lila Fox
Chapter Three
She watched him walk away and almost panicked and called him back. The only time she felt secure since she’d gotten here was when she was with him. She couldn’t do what she usually did to her dad, or she’d push Noah away, too, and she couldn’t bear that.
“Could you close the door before you let in a bunch of mosquitoes?” one of the girls barked at Riley.
Riley jumped and slammed the door closed. “Sorry.”
The girl snorted and proceeded to pull off her clothes and put on a small nightgown without panties. Riley glanced around at the other girls to see if they were as scandalized as she was, but no one appeared to care.
She made her way to the corner where she’d put all her suitcases. One of her bags held her pink blanket and pillow that she slept with every night.
When a few girls laughed, she turned and saw they were looking her way.
“What’s with the baby stuff, Riley?”
She remembered meeting Brigit earlier and could tell right away she was going to have problems with her. Riley bet she was a bully at her school because of the way she liked to push the people around.
“I … I thought I’d be homesick, so I brought some things that will make me feel better.”
“What are you, five?” another girl asked.
“No, I’m twenty-two.”
“Fuck, she’s older than most of us,” another one said and laughed.
Brigit tilted her head and examined Riley. “Are you one of those retarded people I’ve heard about?”
Riley gripped her pillow to her chest. “I don’t think that’s the politically correct way to say that, Brigit.”
The other eight girls snickered.
“Shit, she’s also a goody-two-shoes,” Brigit guessed. “We’re not going to get away with anything with her around.”
“What do you mean?” Riley asked. She wanted to have fun like the rest of them.
“Do you really think we can go all summer without sex?” a girl asked.
“You’re going to have sex?” Riley stammered as her eyes widened. “With who?”
Brigit grinned and rolled her eyes. “With all of them. The boy counselors and even one of the groundskeepers. We’ll be having a fuckfest for the next six weeks.”
“You’ll sleep with more than one?” Riley asked in shock.
“Jesus, where the hell have you been?” a girl asked.
“Home,” Riley said simply.
“Hey,” another girl popped up and said. “Maybe we can teach her how to have fun.”
Brigit turned her gaze back on Riley with speculation.
Riley shook her head, seeming unsure. Yeah, she wanted to have fun, but not the kind they were talking about. She’d met girls like this before in high school. While she didn’t know yet if she could trust them, she already guessed she couldn’t. If they were planning to have sex with the boys in camp, she didn’t want to be around them.
“We could teach you how to be a teenager. Don’t you want to fit in with us?” Brigit asked her.
Riley bit her lip and glanced around the room at the other girls. She wanted to yell, no, but she also wanted to fit in. “I … I’m not sure.”
Brigit came to her and wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulders. “Just do what we say, and you’ll have the best summer ever.”
She looked at the other girls. “Okay. I guess I can try.”
Brigit nodded as she walked back to her bed. She slapped her hands together and rubbed back and forth with a big grin. “This is going to be so much fun,” she whispered to a small group of girls, making them all laugh. Riley stood in the corner and tried to hear what was being said. When one light after the other started turning off, she gave up. She grabbed her pajamas, toothpaste, and toothbrush and went into the large bathroom.
“Oh, by the way, if you tell Mr. Harrison about any of this, we’ll make your life a living hell,” Brigit warned as Riley passed.
Riley nodded, hurried into the bathroom, flattened her back against the wall, and pressed her hand to her chest. The other girls scared her. She didn’t want to do anything they said but was afraid they’d do something to her if she didn’t. This was the very reason she hadn’t wanted to be away from home. She didn’t feel safe here, and the thought of feeling that way for six weeks made her feel ill.
She took a breath and calmed down before she looked around. She had yet to see inside the bathroom and was impressed. When Noah had had the cabins built, he put their comfort in mind and made the buildings as comfortable as possible.
There were five sinks in a row, five stalls where the toilets were, and five small rooms that she could see had a bench, hooks, and a shower in.
She quickly changed and brushed her teeth before heading back to her bed.
Riley heard a few chuckles and comments about her pajamas as she walked back to her bed but ignored it. So what if she liked unicorns?
She arranged her bed the way she wanted, turned off the light that sat on the small nightstand by her bed, and slid in. Tucking her blanket around herself, she closed her eyes.
Only when she heard the deep breathing and snores did she give in to the tears that saturated her pillow. She just didn’t know how she was going to last six weeks.
To have to deal with these girls on a daily basis was going to drive her crazy. While she wanted to make her dad proud, she knew she wouldn’t be able to deal with their hatred, attacks, and insults for that long.
She would try her best until she was at her breaking point, and then she’d go to Noah and have him call her dad. Although the thought of being in Noah’s cabin and in his bed made a ball of heat start to grow in her belly. Her nipples hardened into little points.
She knew what was happening to herself. Desire was something she’d read about but never experienced, but she hadn’t realized it would be painful. Still, she couldn’t get the thought out of her mind of Noah’s hands on her body, touching all her private parts and making her feel good.
He was older than she was, but she didn’t think it was that much, and she didn’t care.
Her eyes finally closed, and her last thought was of his mouth on hers, kissing her as she’d seen in the movies.
Chapter Four
The next day at breakfast, Noah caught sight of Riley as she came through the door of the Mess Hall. He could tell right away she hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. She must have been crying because her eyelids were red and slightly swollen, and her face was pale.
He watched her look around and then head to get in line with the others. Standing there with his arms crossed, he scowled when he noticed the frightened looks Riley was trying to hide, and the glares the other girls were giving her.
“Riley! Can you come here? I have a question about one of the horses,” Noah shouted to get her attention.
He saw her relax and head his way.
She stood in front of him and smiled. “What do you need, Mr. Harrison?”
“Have a seat.” He waited until she sat across from him at one of the long picnic tables in the corner of the building. “How’s everything going, sweetheart?”
She glanced up at him and then quickly back down. “Good,” she said brightly.
Frustration made a muscle in his jaw tense. He leaned in close to get her full attention. “First off, you call me Noah. Secondly, if I catch you lying to me in any way, I will have your bottom bared and you over my lap for a spanking that will make it hard for you to sit for the rest of the day.”
Riley's mouth dropped open. Then she looked quickly around before facing him again and leaning toward him. “Did you just say you’d spank me?” she whispered.
“Yes.” Noah waited for her reaction.
A deep blush crept up her face. Then her eyes darkened with arousal and she fidgeted in her seat. He breathed a sigh of relief at the fact she was as attracted to him as he was to her.
It was obvious she didn’t understand everything that was happening to her body at that
moment. Perhaps why the thought of a spanking turned her on. The fact she was so innocent sent a river of need throughout him, making his cock harder than it ever had been.
“But…”
“There are no buts, baby girl.”
Her face softened, and she smiled. “I like it when you call me that.”
He nodded. “Good, because that’s what I’m always going to call you.”
Her gaze locked on his.
They were both startled when a tray was set down next to Noah, and then an older woman sat down close to him.
Noah scowled. “Connie, please move over.”
“Oh, poo, you have plenty of room.”
“Didn’t we discuss this last night?”
“I didn’t think you were serious.”
“You thought wrong. Now move over.”
****
Riley’s gaze went from the woman and then to Noah as a feeling she thought might be jealousy tightened her stomach. She didn’t understand why she felt possessive of Noah. Maybe the fact he was the only one she felt safe with? Or the attraction she had for him?
She couldn’t take another second. Standing suddenly, she grabbed her tray. “I … I have to check on something.”
She didn’t hear Noah’s call as she dumped her food and raced to the stables. The only place in the camp she truly felt calm besides when she was with Noah.
Later that day, she was putting one of the livelier horses through the paces to see how it would do with the children. She didn’t want to take a chance with it hurting one of them or them being afraid of them. Not only did it help to keep her mind off her problems, Riley always felt special when she rode because she knew she did it well.
She’d wanted to do dressage when she was younger, but her father had forbidden it, saying it was too dangerous. Since they had lost her mother, she was the only person her father had left.
She raced around and around the corral before she jumped the animal over the few obstacles that she and the guy that worked in the stables had set up in the middle. Together, they’d made them from boards and barrels and hay bales.
Chapter Five
“Jesus,” Noah exclaimed as he watched Riley.
The barn manager, Stanley, grinned over his shoulder at Noah. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
Noah folded his arms on top of the fence. He felt himself flinch a few times when she took a high jump, or when the horse became stubborn, and he thought it would try to throw her. Even though his stomach was twisted, he smiled when she laughed about the fit the horse was trying to make with her on its back. She froze when she caught sight of him.
He crooked his finger at her.
She sighed and walked the horse to the fence.
“Hello, Mr. … Noah.”
“Stanley, will you take the horse? I need a word with Riley.”
“Sure, boss.” The man grabbed the bridle and held the horse steady while Riley jumped from its back.
Noah cringed. She looked small when she was on top of the beast, but standing next to him, it seemed like with one wrong step, the horse would squash her.
Riley unsnapped and pulled off the riding helmet she wore and handed that to Stanley.
“Come with me,” Noah said as he opened the gate and held out his hand, which she took immediately. He pulled her along until they came to the office. After he drew her in, he turned and locked the door. Then he sat on the edge of his desk, spread his legs, and pulled her closer.
He grasped her hips when she tried to step back. “Do you want to tell me why you ran at breakfast?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged as she looked up at him. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t get a lot of sleep? I also feel shaky or nervous around you, and I’m not sure why, because I also feel safe. I know I got mad when that woman sat close to you.”
“Don’t worry about her, baby girl. I’m trying to get her out of here. Now tell me, is it just around me you feel shaky or nervous?” he asked.
She thought about it for a moment. “Sometimes, but in a different way. When I’m with you, I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.” She shrugged again. “I know that sounds funny.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Noah’s heart softened. He had thought she’d run from him, and it made him extremely upset. “Don’t ever run from me again.”
“I didn’t,” she exclaimed.
“I called your name, and you still left.”
She placed her hands on his waist and leaned her head against his chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. I can’t do anything right. Just ask my dad.”
He tilted her head back and cupped her face with his hands. “That’s not true. It’s the people around you who mess up because they don’t understand you.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
He didn’t know how to talk about it, and he didn’t want to scare her. We’ve only just met. He needed to give her time to grow as a person and meet new people.
“How about we concentrate on the campers for now? They are going to need all of us, and I think you will connect with most of them because you’re so sweet.”
“I’ll try my best.”
“Good. Let’s get out there. The kids are going to be showing up here soon.”
She nodded and turned.
He stopped her with a hand on her arm. “It’s going to be fine. Give it a chance, and just remember, you’re not alone. You’ve got me.”
She smiled at him. “You have no idea how much that helps.”
“Good.”
****
The rest of the day was spent meeting the children who showed up by the busload and getting them situated in their cabins. Several of them related with Riley right away. They followed her around and asked a hundred questions, and she answered every one she knew.
The children ranged from ages ten to fourteen, and they were all from poverty-ridden, sometimes dangerous areas in the city. They’d never been to the country before, especially a camp in their lives. A lot of them grew up with single parents who fought to put food on the table every day.
When they got to pet a horse for the first time, the look on their faces was something Riley would never forget. She was connecting to the kids more than she ever thought she would. She’d never in her life had people look up to her. It made her feel like a real person—an adult. Someone people could respect and look up to. She felt smart and needed for the first time in her life.
Later that night, when she got back to her cabin, she was able to ignore the other girls for the most part.
Just before she fell asleep that night, she smiled. Although she didn’t like a lot of the adults, she enjoyed the children and was excited for the first time. She really believed she could make the summer into something special.
Chapter Six
The first week flew by. Riley kept busy with the horses and the children who wanted to learn how to ride. She enjoyed the fact the majority had never seen a real horse in their lives. Every day, she felt stronger that she was making a difference in their lives.
She looked forward to the next day. Something she never thought would happen.
The only thing getting her down was the fact she hardly got to see Noah. She caught only glimpses of him as he walked by. It saddened her that he’d never stopped to talk to her, but she also understood because he was always with someone and busy. It felt like that time in the office when they’d shared that special moment hadn’t happened.
Another thing were the girls in her cabin. They were awful to her and liked to put her down. A few times, she’d gone back to the building to find they’d hidden her blanket and pillow or something else she needed.
It was frustrating to have to live with their malice and disrespect. She had tried on more than one occasion to connect with them, but it never happened, and Riley knew it never would. Although they all came from privileged lives, they were from two different worlds, and neither would be able to fit into the others.
/> Before she’d go to Noah, she needed to give it more time, but she was afraid that if she did, he’d have to send her home. Leaving the kids she was helping was something she’d hate to do. She finally felt like she was a part of something and doing something useful.
“Hey, Riley,” Tucker, one of the younger campers, call out.
“What’s up?”
“Can you show us how you jump the horse again?”
Riley looked around at the excited faces that were lined up on the fence. “Sure.”
Cory, one of the stable hands, handed her a helmet and the reins to one of the better jumpers they had. He booted her up into the saddle and then stood back.
Riley rode around the ring a few times before she started jumping. The kids who gathered around on the other side of the fence cheered.
A few of them even wanted to try, so she and Cory set up low jumps to let the kids get a feel of what it was like. Riley tried to spend as much time as she could in the stables because it was calm there, and the stable manager, Stanley, and the stable hands, were kind to her.
There was one girl, in particular, she had bonded with right away. Her name was Siena, and she was the sweetest little thing. Sienna reminded Riley a lot like herself at the age of twelve.
The two had a lot in common. The girl lived with only her mother because her father had passed on. Losing a parent was something Riley knew about. Sienna was really smart, but girls in the Mexican culture in that area were taught from birth what their place would be. A wife and mother. So reading and learning were frowned upon in her neighborhood. Sienna had ended up hiding that part of herself from others to fit in, much like Riley did with her way of looking at the world.
The only difference was Siena came from the inner city and Riley from wealth. Riley had to learn early on to pretend she was something she wasn’t, and it made for a sad childhood. When she’d graduated from high school, she’d been relieved to be able to stay home, but that quickly got boring. She lived every day for the time her father got home, so she had someone to talk to with. It irritated her dad more than naught, but she couldn’t help it. He was the only stability she had, and she held on tight to it.