by Rainey Daye
When they finally reached the exit that would take them to the stable, Alex asked Maggie to grab the step-by-step directions he had printed out on the computer the previous evening so that she could help him navigate the back roads they would have to follow to reach their destination.
Twenty minutes later he pulled into the large gravel parking lot and parked the car under a shady tree so that the shade it provided would help keep the car from becoming too unbearably hot while they were out riding. He pulled the picnic basket out of the back seat while Maggie grabbed the blanket and her camera, and Alex then unlocked the trunk of the car so she could stash her purse there.
Hand in hand, they made their way to the registration office where Alex handed over his credit card for pre-approval, and they both signed the legal disclaimer given to them when Alex told the registration clerk that they wanted the “No Guide” option. He was then asked to turn over his driver’s license as additional insurance that they wouldn’t develop the sudden urge to ride a horse off the property and steal it.
Once the paperwork was finished, the clerk called out to a teenager who was in the back room and handed the kid a printed receipt. They were then instructed to follow the boy to the stable, where he turned the receipt over to a stable manager, who attached it to a clipboard before two horses were saddled up for Alex and Maggie’s use. The stable manager then directed them to follow him out of the stable and into the yard where they were to take a mandatory refresher course first, since they weren’t regular customers and the stable manager had final say as to whether they were satisfactory-enough riders to take their horses out alone without a guide or not. Since it had been a couple years since either Alex or Maggie had been on a horse, they were grateful for this refresher.
The stable manager proceeded to lead the horses to one of the small paddocks in the yard and, after the two of them had mounted using the nearby blocks, he proceeded to put them through their paces for the next twenty minutes as he gave them a refresher. When he finally deemed them good to go, he led them over to the paddock gate where they had left their picnic supplies. He then proceeded to carefully tie the basket and blanket to Alex’s saddle and then handed Maggie her camera from where she had draped the strap over a fence post. The stable manager then went over to an oversized cooler and pulled out a handful of bottled waters that he divided evenly between their saddle bags, ignoring Alex when he tried to tell him that he had brought along drinks for their picnic.
Once the stable manager was done, he then proceeded to go over the trail rules with them. “Here are your radios,” he said, handing over a radio to each of them that had long cords on them that could go over their necks but also had clips so that they could be attached to the belt loops on their jeans if they preferred. “Keep them on at all times. You don’t have to worry that we can listen in on the other end, ’cause you have to press and hold the button on the side to make yourselves heard. Now,” he continued as they attached the radios to their waists, “on occasion bad weather might roll in, and if that happens we’ll contact everyone out on the trails to either tell you to get your butts back here pronto or take immediate cover in one of the shelters set up along the trails for that purpose, whichever option is the most feasible.” That explained why the television in the office had been tuned to the weather channel. “Also, you are to use that radio out on the trail to contact us if you need assistance. Here are your maps,” he continued, handing over trail maps to both of them. “You make damn sure you follow the trails and be aware of where you are at any given time so you can radio your location to us so we can get to you as quick as possible if we need to.”
Maggie tucked the trail map into her back pocket and asked why they couldn’t just put the radios in their saddle bags when hers banged uncomfortably against her hip as she twisted with her movement. “Cause if you fell off your horse you would want your radio to be within reach if you couldn’t get up off the ground, now wouldn’t you?” he asked in a voice that clearly said stupid female, causing Alex to bristle. “Besides,” the stable manager continued in a disgusted tone, “the radios all have GPS trackers in them, and some riders don’t tie their horses properly when they dismount, and the horses have been known to become bored and wander off, and if your radio were in your saddlebag, then it would go bye-bye with your horse. So make sure you tie it up properly every time you dismount, or you’ll find yourself stranded out there looking for your horse, which has probably already returned to the stable by that time.”
The stable manager then stepped back to finish delivering the rules to them. “Do not leave the marked paths for any reason. Each trail is clearly marked with a sign post. If there is no sign post, don’t take it, ’cause it’s probably a deer path or something. Don’t try to take a shortcut to leave one trail for another, even if you can see the trail you want to switch to. Follow your trail to the end at all times. And don’t get any funny ideas about making your own trail just for shits and giggles. Keep in mind, if you stray off the trail and have an accident or get lost, we won’t be able to find you or get a medical team to you quickly if we don’t know where you are. And if you injure one of our horses ’cause you didn’t follow the rule, we will sue your ass!”
He waited for them to acknowledge that they understood the reasoning behind these rules before he continued.
“Okay, I want you two to keep in mind that this is a family-friendly stable,” he continued with a pointed look at Alex. “That means there are going to be kids out there on the trails with the guides. We don’t want any lewd behavior out there that kids or families might find offensive. You see any of that going on, you radio in and report them. Just like everyone else out there will be reporting anyone they see behaving offensively.” The look he leveled on Alex clearly warned him to keep his dick in his pants.
Alex laughed easily as he replied, “This is our first date, so I think it’s a bit too early in our relationship to engage in such behavior in public,” then noticed Maggie blushing, suddenly wondering if she had been planning on misbehaving with him out on the trails, and growing aroused at that thought.
“All right then,” the stable manager said a bit doubtfully as he finally opened the paddock gate and led them to the entrance of the trail they had decided to start with as per his recommendation at the beginning. “You two are good to go. As soon as you set out, your time starts. When you return your horses to the stable, make sure that whichever stable hand is in there grabs your clipboard and marks the time of your return. Then you’ll take your receipt back to the office and settle up the bill.” He checked his watch and wrote down the time of their departure on the receipt clipped to the board before he turned his back on them and went back into the stable.
Maggie and he had a good time out on the trails that morning. Their conversations were interspersed with curses against a sudden recalcitrant horse or a “gid-yup” when their mount abruptly stopped to munch on a flavorful bush along the trail. She oohed and ahhed over the scenery and frequently stopped to snap pictures on the digital camera that her parents had given her as a “going away to college” present so that she could download pictures and e-mail them to them back home. Since he knew that Maggie wouldn’t share those pictures with her folks, he didn’t mind posing for her or even striking the silly or “dashing” poses as Maggie laughingly called them with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and a grin on her face. Her easy laughter was infectious, and he found himself grinning and laughing along with her. He even snapped a few pictures of her, admiring the beautiful sight she made as she sat on her horse with the sun beaming down upon her, burnishing her wavy hair and revealing a few golden strands amongst the red.
He rode beside her on the trails as much as possible but couldn’t resist riding behind her over bumpy ground so that he could admire the way her ass bounced in the saddle. And he found himself grateful for the water the stable manager had given them as the sun rose higher in the sky and he realized just how thirsty riding could make yo
u. After he had remounted after going behind a tree to piss, Maggie good-naturedly grumbled about how much easier it was for guys to relieve themselves outdoors and how totally gross she felt if she wasn’t able to wipe. Alex looked at her, startled, having never given that female dilemma a thought. So when Maggie was finally forced to give in to her own call of nature, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter after she dismounted and whipped a handful of tissues out of her pocket, holding them up to him with a grin and announcing that they were biodegradable so she wouldn’t even be littering, before she disappeared around her own tree.
They passed numerous people on the trails and exchanged pleasantries with them, and he felt his chest thrust out with subconscious pride every time Maggie would agree with the passing people about how much fun she was having and how glad she was that her “boyfriend” had brought her here today.
Their grumbling stomachs finally led them to ride to one of the picnic sites clearly marked on the map. When they entered the small meadow, they found a handful of people already there, including a family of four with their guide. They guided their own horses to a small grove of trees at the far end of the meadow before dismounting. Alex grabbed the basket and blanket from his saddle while Maggie tied their reins to low-hanging branches, leaving enough leeway so that the horses could happily graze.
Maggie helped him spread the blanket before joining him on it, and they commenced to remove their food and eat in companionable silence until their initial hunger pangs were appeased. They then engaged in easy conversation before Maggie began snapping pictures of their surroundings, including their fellow picnickers. She laughingly snapped several of him before she climbed to her feet and moved over to a nearby log, where she placed her camera and carefully lined up a shot. She then rushed back to him and plopped down into his lap before grasping his face in hers and kissing him.
Alex heard the click of the camera shutter as he tightened his arms around her before deepening their kiss, indulging himself with her luscious mouth as he had wanted to do all day. A little girl’s loud comment of “Look, Mommy, they’re kissing!” caused him to break away from Maggie as his cheeks heated and Maggie giggled.
“Sorry about that,” he apologized to their fellow picnickers as Maggie scrambled off his lap, only to be told not to worry about it and wasn’t it nice “to see young love” as one older woman put it. Alex couldn’t help but look at Maggie when he heard that comment and was gratified to see her cheeks flush in response to his whispered, “Yeah, isn’t it?” as she looked down and ducked her head aside with a shy smile before she climbed to her feet and retrieved her camera.
She sat back down across from him and started scrolling through the pictures she had taken while recovering her composure. Alex moved closer and asked if he could see. When he saw the picture of them kissing, he asked her if she could print out a copy for him so he could put it in his wallet. The two then sat in companionable silence while they looked at the display together and finished snacking on their lunch while their fellow picnickers finished up their own lunches and packed up before remounting their horses. As they each left the meadow, they happily called “see you on the trails” to those who were still eating.
It wasn’t long before he and Maggie were alone in the meadow. Once Alex assured himself that they weren’t in visual range of anyone else, he pulled Maggie back onto his lap and proceeded to kiss her senseless. Maggie groaned and went pliant in his arms while she returned his kisses just as hungrily, not noticing as he undid the top three buttons on her shirt and pushed it open. He then trailed his lips down her neck and along the valley between her breasts as he squeezed her hip tightly before he reached up and cupped her breast. Maggie’s head fell back against his shoulder with a groan as she cradled his head to her.
He finally raised his head with a groan of his own and reluctantly pulled the edges together. “Someone might see us from a trail,” he pointed out as Maggie began to protest his drawing away from her.
Maggie sat up on his lap and looked frantically around with a half-crazed look on her face before she suddenly scrambled out of his lap and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet and dragging him toward the horses, ignoring him while Alex protested that they still had to pack up their picnic.
Once they reached the trees where their horses were grazing, she abruptly turned around and pushed him back against a tree trunk before she attacked him with hungry kisses while her hands roamed all over his body. Alex growled as he cupped her ass in his hands and raised her off her feet, pushing away from the tree and turning around with her before slamming her back into the trunk, and tore open the rest of her shirt so that he could attack her breasts. He reached inside the cups of her bra and pulled out the ample mounds so that he could suckle them into his mouth while she pulled his T-shirt out of his jeans and raked her nails along his back.
Alex shuddered and stepped out of her embrace. He swallowed hard as he looked at her pressed up against the tree, her hair tousled, her tucked-in shirt hanging open while her breasts spilled out of her bra. Wiping his hand over his mouth and readjusting his raging hard-on in his jeans, he said to her in a voice made coarse with lust, “We can’t, Maggie.”
“Screw my rule, Alex,” she pleaded, reaching out toward him.
Alex thought hard. He wanted her and was almost whimpering at the thought of not having her here and now. So what if they got caught? So what if she had said to forget her no-sex-on-the-first-date rule? He reminded himself that it was just her passion talking, and if he gave her time to cool down and think about it, she would thank him for respecting her wishes, even when she didn’t want him to. But what decided him was when he deliberately allowed himself to think about Jesse, even though he wasn’t supposed to when on a date with her. But his thoughts weren’t guilt ridden. Rather, they were cold and calculating. He asked himself if he wanted to turn her over to Jess while she was sexually frustrated by his refusing her, or would he rather her to be already sated by that time. He concluded that he was just bastard enough that he wanted to deny Jess an easy lay.
Reaching out, he slowly started buttoning back up her shirt while Maggie whimpered in defeat. “I saw a motel on our way here,” he said softly, raising his eyes to hers.
Maggie looked at him in shocked disbelief before she nodded eagerly and tucked her breasts back into her bra as she rushed back to their picnic site to gather up their supplies.
* * * *
Alex got them packed up and back on the fastest trail leading to the stables in record time. He turned over the horses and claimed their receipt before he rushed her back to the office so they could settle up their bill. He threw their picnic supplies in the backseat and then gathered her into his arms for another hungry kiss and grope before they finally got in the car, and he placed the key in the ignition with slightly shaking hands and headed out of the lot. Once on the road, he pushed the car past the speed limit as he headed for the motel he had seen on their way to the stable.
Maggie leaned back in her seat as she turned to face him, blatantly ogling him and the fierce look on his face caused by sexual hunger. She ran her hand over his leg and squeezed his heavy erection through his jeans for the first time as she ran her eyes over his body, trying to decide what part of him she would taste first once she was alone in a motel with him. She then gave herself over to her fantasies of the many different ways and positions she wanted him to take her in. And then she cursed foully.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, turning his head to her with a concerned look on his face.
“I just realized that we can’t do this,” Maggie whimpered.
“Your first-date rule. Yeah. I know,” Alex said with a defeated tone in his voice.
“No, not that. After everything that has happened so far, I don’t give a rat’s ass about that ridiculous rule,” she admitted.
“Then what’s the problem?” he asked, raising his brow.
“The problem is that I just realized we don’t have any
condoms on us, and there’s not a convenient pharmacy anywhere along these country roads.”
“Oh. Not a problem. I have a condom on me,” he stated matter-of-factly, suddenly igniting her temper.
“You what?” she all but screeched. “You knew my first-date rule and even said you were fine with it, and you still brought a condom with you? How could you?”
Alex looked at her in confusion. “Why are you pissed? So I have a condom with me? You all but raped me back at the picnic area. You’re the one who originally climbed into my lap back there and then drug me into the trees to have sex. You wouldn’t have complained then if I’d whipped out the condom in my wallet.”
“Well, that was then, when I wasn’t thinking straight,” Maggie responded hotly. “And I would have been even more pissed afterwards when I realized that you had come on this date with every intention of getting laid and had brought a condom with you!”
Alex’s own temper ignited at her words. “Typical female rant! They curse and complain if you’re not prepared, and they curse and complain if you are,” he muttered angrily. “I’m a guy, for God’s sake! I always have a condom in my wallet. Hell, there’s even a box of them in the glove compartment that I completely forgot about until just now. I was a scout, for Christ’s sake. I’m always prepared for anything, not just sex!” he practically shouted at her.
Maggie only half listened to his own rant while her anger boiled until the words about his being prepared registered in her mind, and she remembered. She remembered his complaints that high-school girls had reacted the same way she had over the fact that he had brought condoms along on his dates, not because he was planning anything, but because he wanted to be prepared just in case. It was just the Boy Scout way.