Stallions

by Jade Carr

  She shifted her attention from Ahote back to the strangers, then stared, disbelieving. However, when the man who'd kept the greatest distance from Red pulled a pistol from the small of his back, it fit with everything that had been going on.

  "Go!" Ahote insisted. "Get the hell out of here."

  "We intend to," the man with the pistol said. "That's the most intelligent thing you've said since our relationship began. Too bad it took you so long to start thinking."

  Ahote positioned himself between her and the men. She'd seen his quick temper so knew he couldn't always control it. Joining him, she closed her fingers around his wrist in a silent warning to keep his hand off his knife.

  "You know," the challenger said, "I take it back about this woman having no business being here. You need a keeper."

  "Damn you—"

  "Stop it!" she warned Ahote. Then she squared off to face the man. "You're saying you have a right to Red, and my cousin isn't calling the cops, so why don't you get this over with? Go back to where you came from."

  "We intend to."

  Obviously the man believed he'd issued the perfect rejoinder because he headed for the truck's driver's side. He still had hold of his weapon, but it was down by his side. The other man started for the passenger's side.

  "You forgot something," she said.

  "What?"

  "Figure it out."

  It took long enough to be funny, but finally the men spotted the open trailer ramp. As they lifted it and latched it, a thought struck her. She moved a bit to the side, so she could memorize the license plate at the back of the pickup.

  As the duo again headed for their side of the truck, she heard a low, deep voice behind her. Going by how heat licked at her spine, she didn't need to look to know who was there. She did anyway. Nokoni stood in the stable shadows, and Hah-Tee was only a few feet away. It didn't matter which man—or should she say shifter—had spoken or what he'd said. What did was the somber tone.

  Giving no indication he was aware of the shifters, Ahote moved away. The truck engine growled to life. Soon after, the trailer shuddered and rolled forward. Red whinnied. Tears burned Terena's eyes. Much as she needed to tell herself that Red was in safe hands, she couldn't.

  "Where did Red come from?" she demanded of her cousin. "How did she get in your possession?"

  When Ahote didn't answer, her thoughts went back to Nokoni and Hah-Tee. Maybe she should draw her cousin's attention to them, but if she did, he might never answer her. Was the antagonism between Nokoni and Hah-Tee gone? Had the sight of Red being driven away united them? Did Hah-Tee know what had happened between her and Nokoni?

  "I found her," Ahote muttered.

  "The hell you did. A horse that runs like that wouldn't be wandering around unnoticed."

  "Depends on where she is."

  "Darn it, Ahote, I deserve the truth."

  "Maybe."

  "Don't give me that."

  "Don't push."

  Ahote had said all he wanted to, or maybe all he could. Maybe he expected her to fill in the blanks, as if she could. Should she—

  Oh, shit! Why had it taken her so long to figure out the obvious?

  "Red was on the reservation, wasn't she? Which meant only a few people knew about her. Who did she belong to? If you stole her—"

  "She was wild."

  The few reservation horses were considered necessary for the Hopi's earth-centered way of life. No Hopi would let such an incredible creature stray. "I don't believe you."

  "Don't say that! Ter, please don't say that."

  Nokoni and Hah-Tee were far enough away that perhaps they couldn't hear every word, but considering everything they were capable of, she couldn't be sure.

  "I don't want to think you're a thief," she told Ahote, "but you're not giving me much choice."

  Grabbing her shoulders, he held her at arm's length. "Red was a mustang, part of the herd living on the res."

  The majority of America's wild mustangs were in Nevada on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. There weren't any in Northern Arizona.

  Were there?

  Before today, it had never crossed her mind that horse shape-shifters might exist.

  "What herd? I recently did an article about a program involving mustangs that called for a lot of research, so don't try to make me buy some lie you've dreamed up to get me off your back."

  "They're there, Terena. If you'd been home lately, you'd know."

  Hating the animosity between them, she broke eye contact. "Why didn't you tell me."

  "Why? So you could write another article? Alert BLM, so they'd shove their weight around?"

  "That's not—"

  "I know it isn't." He squeezed her shoulders. "Damn, I hate this."

  "So do I." All except for learning of the shifters' existence and having sex.

  "Let it go," Ahote muttered as he released her. "It's none of your business."

  Isn't it?

  Chapter 8

  Despite Hah-Tee's presence, Nokoni didn't acknowledge the other shifter until Terena and Ahote separated. Their conversation didn't concern him, only Terena's reactions did. When he'd first come here, it had been with the sole purpose of learning the mare's fate. However, meeting Terena had changed a great deal.

  "We'll never see the mare again," Hah-Tee said. "If they hurt her—"

  "They won't. You saw how fast she ran compared to the white men's horses."

  "Are white men's mounts always that slow? Compared to the rest of the herd, our mare isn't that swift."

  Nokoni spun to face Hah-Tee. "She's mine, not yours."

  Only a few months ago, the other shifter would have backed away. Now he stood his ground. "Soon, much will change."

  Not soon. Nokoni was far from ready to give up his role as leader, not that this was the time or place for them to revisit their long-running argument. When they walked as stallions, neither questioned their confrontational relationship, but standing as men complicated things.

  "We could have followed them," Hah-Tee said.

  "And then what? The mare is no longer what she once was. She barely remembers being free." He sighed. "I wish it was different."

  "So do I."

  "There's nothing more we can do here," he reluctantly told Hah-Tee. "It's time for us to return to our land."

  "At least you acknowledge my right to be on the same land as you. Never mind." Hah-Tee rubbed his forehead. "I don't want to argue with you today. The herd's privacy and safety is at risk."

  "They need my leadership."

  He thought Hah-Tee might take issue with what he'd just said, but as Hah-Tee continued to study him, he suspected the younger man had something else on his mind. Terena had separated herself from her cousin. Much as he longed to study the way she moved, he didn't dare lose himself in her gracefulness.

  "You don't want to leave her," Hah-Tee said. "You'd rather stay here, with her."

  "What I want doesn't matter."

  "I've never seen you like this."

  "Like what?"

  "Caring about a woman. Nokoni, your experience with human females surpasses mine." He studied the ground. "Sometimes I shift when you do, so I can study the way you handle yourself around humans. I've seen you fuck."

  "I know."

  Hah-Tee showed no sign of being embarrassed. "Women need more than mares do, I'm learning that. You take your time with them, touch them in places and ways that makes them smile and offer themselves to you. They want you to stay, but when you're gotten what you want from them, you walk away. Until today."

  The other shifter was right. Things were different with Terena.

  "What is it about her?"

  Instead of trying to come up with an answer, he continued to look where she'd been. Despite what he'd believed, having sex with her hadn't been enough. What more might he need from her? Was she capable of giving it to him? Would she even understand?

  Did he?

  Ocean waves lapped at her feet, and san
d slipped between her toes. Giggling, Terena walked until the waves reached her knees. The current dragged at her, challenging her balance. Feeling reckless, she planted one foot after another in front of her. When the wonderfully warm water stroked her thighs, she tried to judge whether the current was coming in or out. Maybe out. The way her legs were being pulled back and forth warned that she might fall, but she was a strong swimmer. She'd show the ocean who was boss. There wasn't any sea she couldn't master, by damn, same as she'd force any and all men to their knees.

  Yeah, right.

  A few more careful steps and salt water slipped over her pussy. Looking down, she discovered she was naked.

  Laughing, she guided her hands over her belly and between her legs. Touch coupled with the tropical sea challenged her self-control so much she had to concentrate on slowing her breathing. She hadn't quite accomplished the task when she cupped her hands, gathered up some water, and tossed it over her breasts and hard, dark nipples. Seawater dribbled off them to rejoin the ocean. No longer laughing, she repeated the act until her entire front was wet.

  Then she started walking again.

  "Where are you going?"

  Frowning, she looked left and then right. Strange. She didn't realize she'd gotten into waist-deep water. As the current's strength increased, she acknowledged her first taste of fear.

  "I asked a question. Where are you going?"

  "Swimming," she told the unseen male voice.

  "In the ocean at night?"

  Night. Oh, yes, that was why the moon was up there. "It seemed like the thing to do." She closed her hands around her breasts. "There's no one else here."

  "I am."

  "Point taken. Who are you?"

  "Hah-Tee. And Nokoni."

  She knew those names. More to the point, she knew the men who went with the names. What she didn't understand was why she couldn't see them. After all, the moon lit the beach in both directions and all the way to where maybe ocean liners chugged past.

  "Do you want to go swimming?" she asked. "Is that why you're here?"

  "No."

  "Then what do you want?"

  He chuckled. "You know."

  "Tell me."

  "Maybe. That's far enough," the bodiless man said. "It's time for you to turn around and start back."

  "The hell it is." She ran a hand between her legs while increasing her hold on one breast. "Catch me. Make me."

  Something brushed against the outside of her right thigh. Alarmed, she looked for a shark fin. Instead, long black hair emerged from the foaming current.

  "What are you doing hiding down there?" she asked.

  "It doesn't matter."

  Maybe it didn't. Not only that, she didn't care that the only thing she could see was the now floating hair. She stroked the sleek strands with the hand that had been on her pussy. Masculine fingers slid between her legs then withdrew.

  "Wait," she said. "Don't stop. Come back."

  "Are you're ready to see me?"

  "Oh, yes. Yes."

  Slow and steady, the man emerged from the ocean. When he'd completed his task, he stood between her and where the ocean liners might be. Heat to rival the tropics spread out from him to envelope her.

  "You're easy to turn on," he said. "You have no defenses against my presence."

  "Are you making fun of me?" She had all she could do to keep her head up. At the same time, her fingers inched closer to her core.

  "I'm stating the obvious. What are you doing out here?"

  The stranger who really wasn't one looked as if he'd been built from forest timbers. What she could see of him reminded her of the straight grains in hardwood. No winter storm could uproot him. He'd survive the longest drought.

  "I don't know," she said. "Isn't this water glorious?" She ran her fingers over her mons where everything was hot. "I love floating."

  "You aren't floating. You won't unless I want you to."

  Ah, a masterful man to go with the hardwood body. "What do you want from me?"

  "This."

  The single word must have been a challenge, maybe a warning, yet he only stood there as if waiting for her to touch him. There was a relationship between them, some past connection. Maybe they were lovers. If so, why did his body seem so new to her?

  Wait. Hadn't she been positive this was Nokoni? Or Hah-Tee? Or a combination of the two?

  She might have asked except suddenly he closed his hands around her waist and lifted her up and out of the water. By the time she'd made sense of his purpose, he'd hoisted her over his shoulder. Her legs dangled over his chest, prompting her to press them against his wet, naked body. Head dangling, she lightly massaged the backs of his thighs. Blood pooled in her forehead, making her dizzy, but it didn't matter because this man, this stranger, would take care of things.

  Not just things. He'd wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her in place—not that she was going anywhere—which left his other free. Unlike she, who was content to zero in on one part of his anatomy, he was interested in her ass, thighs, calves and, oh God, between her legs.

  His first stroke took him from the small of her back, between her ass cheeks, then along the insides her thighs before zeroing in on what really counted. By then, primed by his journey, she had all she could to remain still. She didn't want freedom, hardly that. But how could she remain still when every pulse point in her system screamed?

  Strength seeped out of her like a retreating tide. No longer able to command her hands, she let them drift down. Occasionally, her dangling arms brushed him here and there, every contact like touching a live electrical wire.

  Didn't matter, couldn't possibly as long as he held her. Now that he was out of the water, where was he taking her? Images of his feet sinking into sand snapped through her only to evaporate.

  His fingers. Oh, yes, that's what she should be paying attention to, wanted to concentrate on. He was playing with her, occasionally finger-kissing her sex but keeping the kisses too light for her to feed deeply from them.

  "Damn you," she muttered when he rolled his knuckle over the back of her knee.

  "What? You're ticklish?"

  Lifting her head, she fought her way through another assault. "Who are you?"

  "Who do you need me to be?"

  Not want, need. "I don't know," she admitted and let her head hang again.

  "I don't want to be doing this," he said.

  "Doing what?"

  "Being with you. My mission—when I look at you, I forget it."

  Confused by the somber tone, she tried to lift her head, but what did it matter? She couldn't see his face. Salty water continued to leave sticky tracks on her. Hauling her hands up, she licked her salty fingers. She started to drag her fingers over his ass cheeks.

  "It won't work," he said.

  "What won't work?"

  "Trying to distract me."

  "Distract you from what?"

  He grunted. "My mission."

  "How about you spell it out to me. That way, we can work on it together."

  "I don't want to."

  "Then what—"

  "I want to have sex. So do you."

  Moving with a speed that made her stomach roll, he leaned forward and deposited her on the ground. A warm, just-washed-smelling terrycloth brushed her back and buttocks. She'd have to thank whoever was responsible for making sure she wouldn't have to lie on the sand. He dropped beside her with his knees brushing her hips and his form between her and the moon. Whether she saw his erection or was imagining it didn't matter. Not giving herself time to lose courage, she rolled toward him and lightly cupped the organ in both hands.

  "Nice." Her own arousal compelled her to dig her heels into the oversized beach towel and press her thighs together. "You have a remarkable ability to recover from the cold ocean."

  "It wasn't cold. Don't you remember?"

  Barely. Her stomach had already settled. Either that, or her impatient pussy left her unable to think of anything except it.
Cocks were simply cocks, right? There were subtle differences between them, but they were all the same basic model. Even so, she couldn't imagine growing tired of running her fingertips over these raised veins and satin flesh. Soon, please soon, his cock would be where it belonged inside her. Impatient, she rested her thumb against his tip. He jerked upright and captured her wrists.

  "I approve," she whispered.

  "Of what?"

  "What makes you a man."

  "I appreciate the compliment."

  Chuckling, she rotated her wrists as much as possible. "How about you demonstrate your level of trust by letting go of me."

  He stroked the insides of her wrists. "Why would I want to do that?"

  Darn him. How did he expect her to answer such a complex question? "What's the matter? Don't you have any faith in me?"

  "Do you have faith in yourself?"

  "I'm trying."

  Nodding, he released her wrists and placed his hands over his thighs. "I appreciate your honesty. All right, where were you?"

  Where indeed? Holding a hand against her mouth, she coated her fingers with her saliva. Then she deposited the moisture on his balls and explored his cock from base to tip. This was more than playing with him, more even than working on her anticipation. These seconds spoke of a measure of faith on both their parts.

  "Yours might not be the model by which all other cocks will be judged." She kept her tone light in contrast to the expectation gnawing on her. "But I have no complaints. Of course, my opinion might change once it's inside me."

  "What makes you think it hasn't been?"

  Confused, she stroked his length. He wanted to relax, but she wasn't about to let him. Otherwise, he might realize he was in control. He hadn't touched more than her wrists. What was so fascinating about his thighs that he was keeping his hands on them?

  "I asked you a question," he said.

  "Did you?"

  "You haven't forgotten what it is. I know you haven't."

  Fine. She'd concentrate. Soon. Right after she'd seen how far she could push him. Smiling, she closed her hand as best she could around his balls while drawing his cock toward her. His breath snagged.

  "Ah, Terena, you're not going get away with this."