by Linda Conrad
Horse? Cinco shook his head, needing to focus. The woman is a client. She's here under my protection. Hands off!
"Uh, yeah. Measles." Just give him a minute, he'd get there. "She's a dappled bay mare. See the spots?"
Meredith turned and scowled at him.
All right. So that was slightly stupid. Of course she could see the spots. Another minute of breathing, that's all he needed.
"Those spots are called dapples. When my sister Abby first wanted to learn to care for a real horse, my parents gave her this one as a yearling. She'd just gotten over her own bad case of measles and took one look at the filly and knew what to call her."
"How old was she?"
"The horse?"
"No. Your sister. At what age did she begin caring for real horses?" Cinco stopped a moment, remembering Abby's joy at getting her own horse. And remembering how contented and happy the whole family seemed at the time. It felt like another lifetime ago.
Then Meredith's question really sank in. The woman was apparently afraid of horses and petrified that she would embarrass herself by not being able to do something a child could do.
"Abby was six when Measles was born," he told her. "They sort of grew up together and each learned from the other." Cinco wanted to make this easier on her. "But lots of people don't learn to ride until they're older. It really doesn't matter how old you are as long as you've got the right horse."
He flung his arm around Measles's neck and gave the mare a hug. "Isn't that right, old girl?"
Measles snorted in response, shaking her mane gingerly at his caress. Meredith took a hesitant step backward.
Cinco wondered if this whole riding thing was as good an idea as he'd first thought. Should he try to find something else for Meredith to do? Maybe he should try to talk to her about what was wrong. He hesitated to question her about the cause of her fear of horses. She was, after all, a client, and not really as much of a friend as he'd like … yet.
Naw, he decided. He knew he'd been right all along. Riding was her best bet to keep busy during her time on the ranch. And if she really wanted to stop, she was certainly tough enough to tell him so.
"Look. Measles is too old a horse to do real ranch work anymore, but she loves to be ridden and petted. And because we love her, we try to give her what she wants. She misses Abby something fierce." Before he thought about what he was saying, he automatically added, "So do I."
Meredith's shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "Right," she said with a sigh. "So … what do I do first?"
"For one thing, you can stop acting as if you're going to an execution," he chuckled.
She really amazed him. Actually being willing to do something that obviously terrified her, Meredith must be trying to please him as much as he'd been trying to please her. Maybe they could develop the friendship that would help see them through her time on the ranch, after all.
Meredith pulled her shoulders up, biting back her jangled nerves. She was determined to find out what all these people found so compelling in horses—and also determined to do this for the man she was finding more and more compelling as every minute went by.
Before she could think too long, Meredith nodded once and stepped beside the horse. Cinco closed in beside her, and once again she could feel the heat radiating from his body.
Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea. Or maybe … if she thought about the nearness of the man, she might not think too much about the horse.
A moment later she discovered that everything seemed to be too close. The horse, the man, the heat.
Her steamy awareness grew in intensity. Meredith felt the sweat trickling down her neck and spine.
This would have to be over soon.
Thirty minutes later seemed more like a lifetime. Meredith couldn't understand why such simple things as a horse and a man could cause her so much internal strife.
Her stomach rolled when she had to touch the horse. Her nerves jolted when Cinco showed her a sample move and had to touch her body.
Cinco gave her a little lecture on the various parts of the riding equipment and on how he thought a horse should be treated. Meredith just prayed the horse had gotten her own lesson on how a person should be treated.
No amount of Meredith's lecturing herself seemed to have the slightest bit of impact on her resolve. Whenever Cinco had to stand so close that she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, all the lessons and lectures dissolved like sugar in a hot cup of coffee.
She took a deep breath and tried to will her body to do the things Cinco was asking of her.
"Let's try that again," he murmured, sounding as if he was beginning to tire of the whole mess. "Keep the reins loosely in your hands. Left foot in the stirrup, then swing your right leg up and over."
As she fought for the third time to accomplish this one simple feat, Meredith thought about how patient the horse had been through the whole thing. The only indication that Measles was paying any attention to this process at all seemed to be an occasional swish from her tail. That thought made Meredith wonder if the horse felt as frustrated as she did.
With one swift move, Meredith suddenly found herself actually sitting upright in the saddle. At least this time around she was facing the horse's head, she thought with chagrin. She normally never had any trouble learning new things. Why now?
"Good. Excellent," Cinco praised.
She was surprised at how much she'd craved hearing those kind words from him. The beaming smile he bestowed on her crept right through the loneliness and sank into her heart.
He stepped to her side, keeping one hand on the horse and placing one hand on Meredith's thigh. The good, warm feelings disappeared, replaced by those zinging, sizzling tingles aimed right at her body's core.
She tried to listen to his lecture, but all she could think about was having Cinco's strong hands on her body—wanting to know how they would feel directly on her bare skin. She knew they'd be hot … and calloused. Rough and fiery. But would they also be tender?
"Pay attention," he said with force.
"Whaaa…" She jerked around, trying to come out of her fog when he'd spoken so sharply, but she fell off balance instead.
Cinco watched with horror as Meredith tried to compensate for her slip by swiveling hard to the other side of the saddle. Unfortunately, right at that moment Measles felt the loss of pressure on her back, shook her head and took a step to the side.
"Whoa, Measles, girl." He reached to grab the horse's bridle, trying to keep her steady.
But it was too late. Meredith's foot slipped out of the stirrup as she slid irrevocably from the saddle and onto the ground with a thud. Damnation. This was the last thing he'd wanted to have happen.
"Meredith!" He rushed to her side and bent on one knee beside her.
His hands roamed over her arms and legs as he hurriedly tried to find out how badly she was injured and keep his voice steady at the same time. "Are you hurt? Anything broken?"
She batted at his hands. "I'm fine. Stop poking at me."
Sitting up, she dusted her hands off and looked up at
Measles. The horse was calmly looking down at the two of them on the ground below her.
"If that horse is laughing at me, I swear I'll—"
Cinco couldn't help the snort of laughter that erupted from his chest when he realized she was okay, that just her pride had been battered. But he quickly swallowed it when Meredith shot him a look that could have stopped a charging bull dead in its tracks.
"Okay, take it easy," he mumbled through a chuckle while he got to his feet. "Let's get you cleaned up." He dragged her up beside him and began to dust off her shirt and jeans with his hands.
At first she squirmed, trying to move out of his reach. "Hey, stop that. I can take care of it myself."
But as his palms rubbed along her shirtsleeves and then ran up and down the heavy material of her pant legs, he felt Meredith go completely still.
"What's the matter, sugar?"
/> He'd asked the question before he looked at her face. When he did, Cinco found he couldn't see the expression in her eyes. Her long lashes lay against her high cheekbones as she kept her gaze on the ground. Was she hurting? Mad?
"Meredith?" He took her by the shoulders, trying to make her really look at him.
Slowly she raised her lids, and what he saw totally undid him. The look in her eyes was drugged, erotic.
He went perfectly still, as well. All this touching and heat-inducing rubbing had obviously gotten to her. He closed his eyes a second, trying to think of something to say. But when he did, he found that some pretty erotic sensations had taken over his body, too. He felt his blood begin to stir and, within a second, hit a rolling boil. Funny, but the minute he'd seen her eyes he'd become more turned on than he could ever remember being in his life.
He glanced down to the open collar of her shirt. The pulse at the base of her neck was thumping, and the skin there had taken on a rosy glow. He moved his gaze away in a futile effort to stem the wanting. His lips quivered, already feeling the silky softness he knew was waiting for him.
Instead of looking around at something else to get his mind and body back on track, he found his gaze moving down her body and landing on the peaks of her breasts, clearly visible inside her denim shirt. His fingers twitched in response to the sight of her hard nipples slowly moving up and down against the material as she breathed.
The scents and textures he'd already noticed in her made him more than curious about the ones he might have missed. He needed to muss her hair, ruffle her composure. The thought of what she might become when fully aroused was causing his brain to crash.
What was possessing him? He had to touch her. Had to taste her.
Now. Right now.
He reached over to run a finger down the creamy skin of her cheek. The spark that lit in her eyes at his touch spurred him on. He leaned in, gently placing his lips against hers while letting his fingers skim over her collarbone.
Her little intake of breath was barely discernible, but it did something to his libido. He deepened the kiss, nudging her to open for him.
He brushed his tongue across her lips, and she responded by opening her lips to him. He pulled her body tightly to him, needing to be closer and wanting to feel every inch of her body next to every inch of his. She tasted of sweat and salt. Her scent filled his nostrils, surrounding him with a subtle aroma unlike any he'd smelled before—not sweet but peppery and definitely compelling. He found himself wallowing and indulging in the steamy intoxication.
The sudden change in the kiss threw him even further into a haze of desire. The only images that managed to get through were of his need, desire … and desperation.
His right hand slowly moved around her rib cage while he continued to hold her tightly with the other. And from somewhere in the far recesses of his mind, he knew he shouldn't be doing any of this out here in the open corral. But he couldn't seem to help himself … he had to…
She moaned as his hand gently cupped her breast. Then he kissed a path down her neck to the throbbing silk at the base. Tenderly stroking her through the shirt, he covered her with the warmth of his palm. Feeling her tremble, he wanted more. He wanted to taste her sensitive peaks. In fact, he thought he might just die if he couldn't have all of her to taste and stroke and pleasure.
Through the deep-purple mist of his passion he imagined a noise coming from behind him, but he shook off the thought. Whatever it was couldn't be as important as finding out what a little gentle nip through her shirt would do to the look in her eyes—or to the sounds she was making in her throat.
"Hey, bubba!" A sudden rough shove from behind surprised him and nearly threw him off balance.
Who? He pushed away from Meredith and shook his head, trying to focus on what was happening around him.
"What do you think you're doing with my horse, brother?" Somehow the female voice managed to holler through his fog. "And just what else is here, anyway?"
Abby Jo?
Danged if it wasn't.
Hot damn! His baby sister was home.
* * *
Five
« ^ »
Meredith struggled to find her center of gravity, as she watched Cinco grab the young woman and sear a kiss across her mouth. In a lightning move, he lifted the girl and spun her dizzily around. With her legs dangling in midair, she squealed and giggled.
"Abby, darlin'," he laughed. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming home today?"
While the girl tried to catch her breath, Meredith forced air into her own lungs. What in heaven's name just happened here?
Before today nothing had ever caused her to totally override her better judgment. Yet, right out here in the daylight, in front of the horse and whoever else might've wandered by, she'd let Cinco kiss her … put his hands on her.
Obviously, she'd lost her mind. Meredith decided it must've been her fear of the horse that had driven her totally insane. And this girl, who she guessed was Cinco's sister, had been a witness to her weakness.
Embarrassed and looking for a place to hide, she tried to slink back into the shadows, but Cinco swung the girl to the ground and reached for Meredith. He kept his squirming sister in a one-armed embrace while he dragged Meredith toward them.
Flinging his free arm over Meredith's shoulders, he pulled her close and smiled. "You two need to get acquainted. You have a lot in common." He allowed his sister a little breathing room while he made the introductions and explained to Abby who Meredith was and why she was staying on the ranch.
Abby politely acknowledged her brother's guest. But Meredith noticed that she was keeping a close eye on the woman she'd caught petting both her horse and her brother.
Meredith just wanted to drop out of sight.
"So…" Abby began. "Are you planning on riding Measles today?"
"Your poor mare has been pining away from loneliness, Abby girl," Cinco teased. "I figured she'd rather be saddled up than just standing in her stall moping."
Abby smacked him on the shoulder with her open hand. "I know better. She has been working, bubba. I check on her welfare every week when I call Jake."
Cinco chuckled and patted her on the head the way he might do to a kid.
Meredith finally took a good look at Cinco's little sister. Little certainly seemed to be the operative word, too. Fairly short, maybe five-three or five-four, Abby's lean and wiry body was packed into tight-fitting faded jeans and a flannel shirt. The straw cowboy hat she wore was pulled down tightly to her ears, but a few straggly strands of warm-brown hair curled loosely around her shoulders. Worn boots with stacked heels adorned her tiny feet.
All in all, Meredith's first impression was of a small but substantial woman who knew how to stand her own ground. If Meredith had ever had a girlfriend, Cinco's sister would've been just the type she would've picked.
Well, good, she thought. Abby could take Cinco's mind off finding entertainment for Meredith.
She'd already come to the conclusion that she needed a lot less of his entertaining, his horse-riding lessons and, most important, a whole lot less of the man himself.
Meredith had liked the kisses they'd shared. Liked them too much. She didn't need to become involved with a man who wanted to control the people and things around him the way this one did. She'd had enough of that kind of involvement to last a lifetime.
On top of that, Cinco was rooted to this ranch. And Meredith couldn't wait to get away—back to civilization. Away from things she didn't understand. And return to her flying and her new life.
"…besides, I'm going to need Measles and several other of the gentle mares when I start teaching my new classes for Pastor Johnson," Abby was saying.
Cinco and Abby were ignoring her and apparently hadn't finished discussing the horse.
Cinco cocked an eyebrow at his sister. "What classes?"
"I told you last week," Abby muttered. "I swear, you don't pay any attention to a word I say, Cinco. I wi
sh…"
"Of course I do, missy," he told her. "I know you've quit the university to come home and be one of the hired hands on the ranch. Although, why you'd rather do that than get your master's degree is beyond me."
Abby hauled off and punched him in the arm again. "Don't call me missy. You know I hate that." She stepped up and stood toe-to-toe with her much bigger brother, but that meant her chest just barely cleared his belt buckle. "I've told you hundreds of times, if you'd been listening. I want to eventually be the ranch foreman … take over for Jake when he retires at the end of next year."
Abby jabbed her finger at his chest. "To do that I have to get the men to respect me. I have to be one of them, show them I can handle the job. You must know that."
Ah, yes. She and Abby certainly did have quite a lot in common, Meredith mused.
But Cinco merely grabbed his sister's finger, held it fast and grinned. "Abby, darlin'. Being a wrangler or a fence rider isn't women's work. Those are tough, nasty jobs. You're too smart for that." He still had possession of her finger, though she'd tried to pull it free. "I've always hoped you would take over for me here. Let me run my security business full-time. You have a degree in ranch management. Isn't that what you want?"
Meredith thought the expression on Abby's face must be what pure exasperation looked like, as the girl jerked her finger out of her brother's grasp. And Meredith couldn't blame her. Not only was her brother a control freak, he also seemed to be a chauvinist.
"Women's work?" Abby finally blurted, then grabbed Cinco by the buttons on his shirtfront.
Abby opened her mouth a couple more times as though she wanted to say something else, but her mouth just gaped as if she was speechless. Meredith could think of several things she'd like to say, but she didn't want to step in where she didn't belong. This was a family thing—something Meredith had absolutely no experience with.
Cinco was still grinning down on his sister, waiting for her to settle down. Finally he broke the silence by changing the subject.
"Tell me about these classes you're going to teach. I was, uh, about to show Meredith how to climb on a horse when you came up."