by Avery Gale, Jess Buffett, Willow Brooke, Lynn Ray Lewis, Gracie Meadows
She waited with Matt for the police and ambulance to come. It would take at least an hour for them to get there. She led Rage into a different pen so the police wouldn't have to deal with the ornery bull while conducting their investigation.
The sheriff concluded that Steven Jones’s death was accidental while committing a felony. Semen from Random Rage fetched thousands of dollars on the market, and even then, only specific breeders were allowed to purchase it for their own breeding programs. The sheriff speculated that Steven had most likely been the burglar who had ransacked the ranch files, figuring he was trying to gain some proof the semen he was stealing was actually from the prize-winning bull. Until they searched the man’s home and possessions though, no one would know for certain just how far this theft had gone.
Once the broken body was removed, and Rage was happily munching the sweet grass in his favorite pasture, they walked back into the barns and found the deadbeat cowhands had actually been working hard to make the place as pristine as a barn could be. They went back to the house for lunch. Matt was happy to see that Jackie was there and probably had lunch ready for him; considering it was closer to two in the afternoon than noon, she might have set it back for dinner instead. They were in luck, she saw them come in and offered a wide smile to Eddie, who returned it and gave the older woman a hug.
After they washed up in the bathroom near the kitchen, Matt sat at the kitchen counter while Eddie and Jackie cut squares of leftover lasagna and heated up some rolls for them. Tall glasses of southern style sweet tea completed the meal, and they discussed the morning’s happenings with the housekeeper. A squeaky yipping noise was heard from the pantry and Jackie jumped up calling, “Momma’s coming, sweetheart.”
Matt and Eddie exchanged surprised glances. Momma? Jackie came back with the tiniest animal Eddie had ever seen close up in real life. “This is my new baby, Jinx. Can you believe it? I have been seeing Lorne Kesterke, you know, the nice man who owns the hardware store in town? Well, he brought Jinx to me last night. It was so romantic. He brought this little pink box with a big red ribbon on top. There were little hearts all over the thing. He handed it to me and told me it was an early Valentine’s Day present. I about jumped outta my skin when it started to move. When I took the top off the box, oh my.” Jackie was looking misty eyed as she looked fondly on as the tiny creature wiggled and tried to eat her thumb. “How could I not love my little Jinx? I guess I better tell you the rest of it. Lorne asked me to marry him, and I said yes. So we will be getting married in June. We are going to go to Las Vegas to have Elvis marry us.”
As he watched Eddie smile and listen to his normally down-to-earth housekeeper gush over her new pretend excuse for a dog and the prospect of her coming wedding, Matt grew more uncomfortable. Romance? What the hell does a man need with romance? A nice dinner, maybe some belly rubbing music, a glass of good wine by the fireplace. That was romance to a man like him. Grand gestures were for men who needed back-up. He decided to leave the hens to their party and go check on the progress the men had made. All of this love talk was making him itch.
The men were just finishing with bathing the last two cows when he came back to see how their progress was going. The four men scrubbing the heavily pregnant cow were talking amongst themselves. “All I been hearing from Willa is about what she wants to do for Valentine’s Day.” Louis piped up with, “Yeah, well try being single and wanting to stay that way around that day. I ain’t asking anyone out that weekend; I don’t want anyone getting the idea that I’m on the market for a ball and chain. Look at what happened to Chet last year, up and got hisself married. Told me that he found his knee asking Hilda to marry him. He did it right there in front of the whole church full of God ‘n everybody. I swear ain’t no way I could do somethin’ like that. I get me a girl, she is just gonna have to put up with a cuddle in front of a bonfire, and some ice cold beer.”
He started to round the doorway when the subject of the ranchhands’ speculation turned to him. “Hell, the boss was set to beat the stuffin’ out of us today, and I can’t say’s I blame the man. Old Jones kept telling me that he was dealing with the barns just fine, he didn’t want no help. The lazy bastard. That little Parker girl is who lit a fire under the bossman finally. When she left, I never did see him walk into the barns until this morning. I wonder if he’s gonna take his head outta his ass long enough to know how much he cares about her. Louis wasn’t here when the boss nailed them two yahoos to the wall in the bunkhouse for disrespecting the girl. I was. And them two youngins would still be riding the fence line if that girl was still here all the time.”
He turned back the way he came, and took a walk. When he got to the pasture where his personal horses grazed, he let loose a whistle. Barney came to his call. Barney was his favorite horse, but he was not able to carry his master’s weight any longer. The horse should have been put down a couple of years ago, but Matt had decided to let him live as long as he could stand without pain. Forgetting a friendship as longstanding as theirs wasn’t something he was willing to do until he had to. Pretty Boy came up to get his pat on the neck, and Matt led him out of the gate. He grabbed a handful of mane and jumped onto the horse’s back. He had some thinking to do, and this was the best therapy he had found.
Chapter Six
Jackie left with her tiny bundle of love, and Eddie wandered around the big old house. She sat on the porch swing and waited for Matt to come back. When he wasn’t back by sunset, she started to worry. Forming patties for cheeseburgers kept her busy for a short while. The cooked burgers had just gone into the microwave for later when she felt his eyes on her. He didn’t smile, or say anything. He turned away, heading for the stairs. Maybe the day’s events had finally sunk in. Not only did he find out that he was needed hands-on in all aspects of his ranch, but a man died today. That must have given him a bad turn. It bothered her now that she had calmed down. The sight of Steven’s broken, unrecognizable face and body lying in the dirt would make it hard for her to sleep tonight.
The burgers were heated and snug inside their buns with tomato, onion, lettuce, and pickle, just like he liked them. Jackie had shared several things about Matt that he would probably object to her telling anyone about, but Eddie soaked up the information like a sponge, and kept her talking until she had to leave for her hot date with Lorne. She set up the coffee table with dinner and popped the tops off two cold beers, before switching on the pay-per-view movie she had picked for tonight’s entertainment. He came into the room and sat down next to her, picking up his burger. He finally smiled for the first time since he walked through the door. They ate and watched the action-packed movie, offering the lead characters advice and booing at the villains. Just as they did last night, they rinsed the dishes and did the nightly lock-up. There was no pretense of her spending the night in the room she was given. They undressed each other slowly, kissing and caressing flesh as it was exposed. He sat on the side of the bed, and she let out a short scream as he pulled her over his lap and began slapping the cheeks of her ass with intent.
“You played a dangerous game with me last night. You thought I wouldn’t notice that you were as untouched as a woman can be. You thought you could use me like that to get rid of your innocence, you had me hot and ready to embarrass myself like some teenager and desperate to have you. Now you have no choice. You gave yourself to me, and I am keeping you.” He rubbed her bright red cheeks where his handprints lingered. She was crying, but hadn’t tried to push off his lap during the harsh spanking. He pulled her up onto his lap, sitting her facing him. His thumbs wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I could have hurt you last night. I did hurt you. I saw the blood on the sheets and on my body. You never said a word, why?”
She shook her head and placed her arms around his neck, before she began kissing him. Her little tongue slid along the slit of his lips. She was making whimpering noises, and nibbling at his lips until he opened his mouth for her to enter and explore his tongue and every crevice to his mouth. Her hands p
ushed his shoulders until he was lying flat on the bed. She began kissing his face, working her way down his chest, over his flat nipples. She took each one into her mouth and gave them a few strong sucks and lightly bit the nipples. Her meandering mouth licked and nibbled down to his waist as she worked her legs off the bed and onto the floor between his thighs. Her mouth found the head of his cock and took it inside to play with her tongue over, under, and down his length. He watched as his prick disappeared into her wide mouth. The way her lips stretched and thinned as she took him deeper inside her hot, moist mouth almost had him shooting his load then. He was as deep as he could go without gagging her, yet she kept trying to swallow more of his thickness. He tugged her arms to bring her up and over him, and she seemed reluctant to let him loose. Finally she gave his cock one more swallow and worked her jaws like she was trying to chew the flesh inside, and she let him go.
He pulled her up far enough to slide her slick pussy down onto his excited prick and she slowly absorbed him inside. There was no hesitation on her part. He kept her from slamming her body down over him. Once their bodies were sealed together, he pulled her nipples down to his chest and rubbed them with his own. His fingers were pinching the small buds and the tips were kissing his tiny hard nubs. They both moaned, and she cried out as her body began rippling over his cock. He began pumping his hips, lifting her to her knees as she sank her nails into his arms and held on, whimpering and twitching until his seed was planted deep inside of her and the aftershocks of her orgasm had passed.
They scooted up into the bed, falling asleep in each other’s arms, until she woke him, crying and thrashing her head back and forth. She kept saying, “No, Steven! Get out!” He knew what her nightmare was about, he had thought about the man and his brutal demise during his afternoon ride. Steve was not the first man that he had seen die under the hooves of an enraged animal. When he was nine or ten, one of the new cowboys got drunk, came back to the ranch, and decided that he wanted to ride the meanest bull on the property. It was the last stupid thing that man ever did.
He snuggled Eddie, her back to his front, wrapping his arms around her with his lips kissing just under her ear. He pushed one of his knees between her thighs and bounced it up over his and spread his leg up so both of them were exposed. His cock was happy to be kissing his new favorite place, and Matt slowly pushed his hips to hers, allowing himself to penetrate her tight nerve riddled canal. He knew she was awake when she tried to push back, to capture more of him into her depths. The angle wasn’t right so he rolled her onto her knees with her chest still lying on the mattress and her head on the pillow, and got to his own knees behind her. He sent his cock deep inside on the first thrust, then backed out and thrust forward again and again, until he felt her tight flesh grasp his cock and try to milk him dry. He slammed into her harder, as she squealed her pleasure in his dominance. “Oh, yes, I need more, I need you harder, deeper. More, I need… Ahh, yessss,” the last words sounded more like a hiss than articulate words, but he wasn't doing any better.
“You’re so fucking tight, I thought your mouth was great, but this way is deeper,” he said, then swiveled his hips, and she groaned, “Yeah, that’s what you like, you like it hard and deep, just like I do.” He rode her like that for long minutes before he was ready to come again. She was close, he knew, but he wouldn’t be able to wait for her, and there was no way he would let her be left behind. His hand slid down to her clit and played with the fleshy nubbin, and his fingers from the other hand found the crevice of her ass. He ran a fingernail lightly from her asshole to the bottom of her spine and felt her begin to shake. The scream she let loose made his cock twitch as it began to hose down her vaginal walls with hot semen. This time when they finally caught their breath, he led her to his bathroom and into the large modern shower with several jets of water spraying all over their bodies. They washed each other’s important parts, and played like two children, splashing and redirecting the small spigots to send water onto the other in interesting places. By the time they got back in bed, they were tired and ready to sleep.
The next morning she went to the barns with him, and helped him take care of the horses. The hired hands were given the calving barns to clean and take care of the animals. She noticed that one of her favorite mares was about to give birth, and from the looks of it, it could be any day or even any hour now, depending on what the recorded date she was covered was. “Hey, Matt? Do you know when Jersey Girl was covered? She looks like she is ready to pop.”
They looked through the record and when they could find nothing entered into the record book, she shook her head at him. “Good luck here. I need to get back to town. I blew off going to the Laundromat on Friday so I could spend the entire weekend here, but I need clean clothes for this week so I can at least look like I know what I’m doing.”
Once she left, Matt felt like he had been abandoned by his best friend. What the hell? He didn’t have time to worry about that now, from the sounds coming from Jersey Girl’s stall, Eddie was right. He was going to be helping the mare bring her foal into the world.
Over the next week, they talked every day on the phone. He was so busy during the day that he would call her while he lay in bed at night just before going to sleep, to hear her voice, and talk about his day. Sometimes she would tell him about her cousin, Vonda, and her husband. The two sounded like a pair of real fun people. He invited her to come to the ranch for the weekend again, promising to find time to go for that ride he had promised last time, and she mentioned that she had her ride that weekend and had no complaints. He grinned to himself, and made some inane quip back, assuring her that there was more to her mount than being a one trick pony.
When she parked her truck next to the house Friday evening, she noticed a note on the door. “Door is open and I am out in the barn. Make yourself comfortable.”
She didn’t bother to do more than set her case inside the door before heading to the barn. At first she didn’t see him, so she stepped inside and walked deeper into the barn. A beautiful Palomino foal stood next to its momma, with a big red ribbon around its neck. She approached the beautiful pair, noting the mare had something attached to her halter. It was a note with just two words. “Marry me.” She looked around and still didn't see Matt as she went to her knees to pet the miniature version of its mother, and found a diamond ring hanging on the ribbon around the colt’s neck. She bowed her head. This is what she had wanted since she was sixteen years old. The tears ran down her face as she untied the ribbon and slid the ring from it to hold in her hand. She wanted him to place it on her finger. As old fashioned as it seemed, she wanted to be important enough to him to want to perform this one duty. The horses were wonderful, but she had to have it from him. She led the mare and her little one to a double stall, and noticed that it was already prepared for the duo. She walked back to the house and went inside to see the dining room table had been set with a beautiful set of china, a bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket, and covered chafing dishes were on the sideboard.
Her suitcase was gone, but a trail of rose petals led up the stairs and into the master suite, straight to the tub. She grinned and wasted no time stripping off her clothing and splashing into the deep hot water. She used the thick sponge and lay back for a few extra minutes enjoying the warmth and scent of the water. The excitement was too much for her to dawdle as long as she wanted. Who knew what all the man had planned? There was a beautiful negligee set lying on the bed when she stepped out of the bathroom in just a towel. It fit her perfectly and was her favorite deep purple. She reached for her jeans to get her ring, but the ring wasn't in the pocket where she put it. A moment of panic set in but was dismissed because she remembered touching it when she stripped before the bath. She opened her case and took out an envelope, and laid it on his pillow.
She walked down the stairs, trying not to run and make a fool of herself. She saw him lighting the candles on the table, and her heart melted. He was dressed in silky men’s pa
jama pants and an open robe, and the black color suited him well. He walked over to her and leaned in for a kiss. “Hi, you look beautiful.” He led her to the table, and they sat down to a delicious dinner of tender beef medallions and tiny new potatoes with pearl onions and fresh garden string beans. He began talking about his day, and she hoped that she nodded and made the appropriate responses to his narrative. When he opened another bottle of wine and filled their glasses, he came to her side and then down on one knee.
“Since you aren’t wearing the ring, I guess my bribe with the horses didn’t work. So I will ask you in person. Will you marry me?” She searched his eyes and saw the sincerity there. She also saw the vulnerability. The silly man couldn’t possibly believe she would say no, could he? “Of course, I will. I wanted you to put the ring on my finger, but when I took my clothes off upstairs I left the ring in my jeans, and I think it must have dropped on the floor, so I will go find it, and you can give it to me.” She started to get up, but he was laughing and shaking his head. “Hang on there. I’ll go get the ring, and you can relax.” He quickly kissed her, then ran up the stairs.
It took him a while to come back downstairs. She saw that he had her card with him. As Valentine’s Day cards went, it was not very elaborate, but it conveyed all that she felt she needed to say. Plus, she had written a personal note inside, “You asked me why, why I waited for you. I have loved you since I was sixteen years old. Each smile, each kind gesture and word, gave me more reason to love you. Why? My question is, why not?”
He was back on his knees, this time the ring was placed on her finger as she grinned and nodded. Later that night, when the first round of lovemaking was brought to a mutually satisfying end, he surprised her again. “I have two tickets for Vegas, and I have been assured by Jackie and Lorne that Elvis makes a wonderful preacher to get married by on Valentine’s Day.” He kissed the hand he held, and asked, “Will you be my Valentine for the next fifty years?” Her tear-filled eyes were answer enough, especially when she threw her arms around him and placed smacking kisses on his lips. “Yes!”