by Dani Wyatt
Before I can stop it, the words are tumbling out.
“I told Travis. I guess he thought I could handle it. He’s tough on me, but I need that.”
“Being a good teacher is not about being tough. It’s about making you safe and confident and always doing what is best for you. And your horse. Always. He put you in danger and that is fucking inexcusable.” Reed’s eyes turn dark. I think for a moment that he’s not someone I would wish to make angry.
A low rumble comes from him that has me tensing into the bed. I draw my knees up and hold my breath. But I’m not afraid of him. On the contrary. I feel like I can say whatever I like and he’d respond with the same calm, collected demeanor he’s wearing now.
“He’s an accomplished trainer, though.” I honestly don’t know why I’m defending Travis, and my words just cause Reed to stifle a dark chuckle.
“I know him well. And I also heard how he spoke to you before your ride. Saw how he looked at you.” He sets his teeth into his bottom lip for a long moment, his eyes narrow. “I don’t want you training with him.” Reed looks up and down the bed, then back to my face. “You shouldn’t train with him. I’ll train you. I don’t trust anyone else.”
The way he’s talking should scare me. I mean, we barely know each other, and it sure sounds like he’s making decisions for me. As though he has some authority over me. Some kind of dominion.
But coming from him, it just sits right. The great Reed Sawyer is looking out for me and all my girl parts seem to like what they hear.
Still, I think I should object. It only seems the appropriate rational response, even though rational is not what I’m feeling.
“Maybe I don’t want to train with you. Maybe I don’t want to ride anymore.” It’s what I think I should say, but deep inside I know that the way Travis treated me bothered him. It always bothered me, but for some reason I just felt like I was lucky to be allowed onto his team. It’s the same way I feel with my father, and it sucks.
My parents were so proud when Travis agreed to take me on and get me into the professional circuit. I had enough amateur points, but I just lack that killer instinct they keep harping about.
I don’t have a financial sponsor yet, so all my funding comes from good ol’ Mom and Dad... I’m a grown woman. Well, twenty is technically an adult. But even with the trust fund stipend I’m allotted each month, it wouldn’t come close to paying for all the expenses of my career.
“Look at me, Constance.” Reed brings the cane he’s been leaning on in front of him, his hands stacked on top of the silver horse’s head that tops his cane. “Do you want to ride again?”
My belly flips and flutters, but I can’t help but raise my eyes as I shift uncomfortably under the sheet. I lower my knees again because I’m not sure what else to do with them. I can’t believe I’m laying here in my hospital gown, no bra or panties, my hair pulled in some twisted knot on the opposite side of my head from where they stapled me up.
When I finally nod he nods with me.
“You’re training with me.” It’s a statement of fact; I hear that in his voice. “I won’t have it any other way. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to explain it, but you are my responsibility, and I take that position seriously. I’ll take care of Travis. I’ll inform him so you don’t have to. From now on, your best interests come first. Do you understand?”
Deep down I had this nagging feeling Travis took me on to get to my parents, and from the way Reed is talking, I know it’s true. I am a top amateur rider, but even I was doubtful I was ready for the International Level. But Travis pushed it, told my parents he would work miracles with me and within a few months, he made a big production at a dinner at the hunt club that he was entering me in the next competition.
He’d even put his arm around me, squeezed me like he had done that all the time.
I also know that when he sold us Ruby, it netted him a good hundred grand in finder’s fee. That’s above and beyond the thirty-thousand plus a month it costs for his training and board and everything else.
That night at the hunt club it felt odd and staged, but I went along with it when I saw the pride in my father’s face. The way he nodded at me with something I’d been longing for. Admiration.
The warmth bathing me from Reed’s eyes right now is something I am not sure what to do with. Reed takes one hand from his cane, tops mine with his, his fingers pressing into my palm and pulling my still clenched fingers from their place next to my hip.
The touch of his skin on mine sends fireworks blasting around in every nerve ending. My ears crackle with static. The spot where our flesh connects is lit with a tension and heat I can’t explain. Like two chemicals reacting with something dangerous and magnificent.
His touch feels like coming home.
Safe. Nurturing. Possessive.
Intoxicating.
Before I know it, I’m squeezing his hand and pulling him closer. I need him near me. If I had my way I’d jump to my knees and throw my arms around those broad shoulders and bury my face into what I imagine are the hard muscles of his shoulder. Something makes me desperate to cling to him, this brooding monster of a man with something in his eyes that tells me he’s here for me.
Like he’s been waiting.
And what girl doesn’t want that? Someone that’s waited just for her.
C H A P T E R S I X
Reed
I’m supposed to be here to help her, but I can’t help what happens next. She squeezed my fingers. A gentle tug was all it took.
My mouth nearly crushes hers as I take our first kiss.
Her lips taste innocent as they open, my tongue lighting up with the first flavor of her. Something rumbles out of me like a pained groan, because it hurts. This kind of intensity hurts in a spectacular way.
Her tongue answers me with its movement, her own sweet, tiny sounds that make my dick shatter the ceiling of the space available in my pants. He’s curling in half as he grows, and I hope she doesn’t notice.
If I had my way, I’d hear that tiny moan every second of every day for the rest of my life. It’s more than beautiful; it calls to me.
It’s lips and soft moans and the soft click of teeth meeting teeth before I break away, my hand grasping possessively around the side of her face. My thumb rasping back and forth in an attempt to feel as much of her soft skin as it can. My fingertips digging harder than they should into the back of her neck, bringing my forehead to rest on hers.
“I’m sorry.” My face is flushed, I’m shaking. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
My head is throbbing, along with my balls. They are tight against my body and something inside me is born. Something that wants her in a way that frightens me. An obsession explodes and I’m not sure I can tame it enough to keep from hurting her. I want my cum dripping from her; I want to feel her flesh to flesh from the inside. I need her vulnerable, available, spread for me to enjoy and make filthy with me. Never before has a woman ignited this kind of lust, these kinds of thoughts, and frankly I’m scared shitless.
“I’m not sorry,” she murmurs as I desperately try to regain control of the animal she’s created in me.
The air in the room seems to disappear. My lungs ache but inside my head, I think, who needs oxygen? I have only one need and she is the only way to satiate that need.
The idea that this innocent beauty and I are sharing similar thoughts is enough to make me nearly cum in my pants. Drops of liquid are already soaking through the fabric below my waist, and I think I would need another ten layers to hide her effect on me.
The sight of her cheeks rising pink, the way her nipples greet my gaze from under the faded hospital gown, make me want to tear the offending fabric into shreds and have her never be clothed around me again. Who is this dominant beast? I’m the ever reserved, commanding, cool leader. Always in control.
Not now. If I had my way, I’d slam the furniture against the door of this room and take her right here. A single word thrums in my head. It won’t stop
as much as I try to push it away.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
I fight the urge to crawl on top of her and make her filthy in ways I never imagined before her. But with the taste of her lips, thoughts of my cum inside her are fighting with the civilized parts of me to maintain some control.
I imagine slicing my tongue between her dripping cunt lips for the first time. It’s one of many things I’ve never done before. My words growling into her body, saying every filthy word I can think of as I breathe her in and swallow her flavor.
I imagine the subtle differences in the texture of her skin on my tongue, the ripples and folds, the hard nub where I want to draw her between my lips and consume the very essence of her. I want to make love to her with my mouth for hours.
“That shouldn’t happen.” I take a deep breath and stand, my hand grazing down her shoulder and arm before I break contact and turn toward the window. I’m hoping like hell she hasn’t seen the hard-on I’m sporting.
More than anything, I want her to trust me, and she can’t trust me if I’m like this. Primal and wanting. I remember the curves of her body yesterday, the sway of her ass as she walked. I shake my head to clear the heavenly vision just as the door opens and her mother sashays back into the room, holding a steaming cup of hospital coffee and wearing a reserved smile.
I step back, attempt to slow my breath and clear my head.
We take a few minutes to discuss my training and how it will work, but the whole time Constance shoot me sidelong glances. I do my best to keep the discussion professional.
Her mother is apprehensive until I throw a few names out there of the champions I’ve trained. Suddenly, her eyes twinkle with hopeful stars and I use her need to live vicariously through her daughter’s success to my advantage. I’d do almost anything to have her under my care but I’ll start by getting her as my student.
“We’ve always been happy to pay for the very best for Constance.” Her mother takes a step forward. “Whatever your fees, just send us a bill.” Her mother is more than on board and even if she weren't I would make this happen. But, this way it’s easier on Constance and that’s what matters to me.
“No.” I take another step toward the door. “That’s not necessary. This is what I do. Your daughter will be safe with me.”
“I’m not sure about the living situation.” Her mother looks at Constance, then at me with a quizzical purse of her lips.
“Re-building confidence and trust between horse and rider after a traumatic event is more than just a few training sessions a week, Mrs. Montgomery. If I’m going to get Constance and Ruby back in sync and working as a unit, she needs to spend a lot of time with her horse.”
And me.
“But, your father said no more Ruby—“
“Mother, I’m an adult. If this is what Reed thinks will work, then I want to try.” A rueful smile comes over her cherub face and I say a silent prayer that she wants to stay at the farm for more reasons than just my training program.
Whatever this is between us, I’m sure she feels it too. This goes against every rule I’ve had. Don’t get involved with students. Don’t get involved with anyone really. And don’t trust.
But her eyes tell me all of that is old news, and there is a new agenda at work.
Her mother tightens her lips until they are a thin line of bright red. “Well, you are the best. A legend. If you think that is what will get Constance back in competition shape, then I suppose I approve. I just hope your father—”
I cut her off. “I’ll take care of having Ruby trailered to my facility. All her board and care will be handled under my direct supervision.”
Rudeness is not in my nature, especially with women, but in this case I need this conversation to be wrapped up and decisions made. My eyes come to rest on Constance. A reserved smile pulls at the corner of her lips and that smile is what I want to see every day for the rest of my life. It feels like I’m captured forever in the moment when our eyes stay attached, my own smile cresting my lips and I realize how long it’s been since I used those muscles in my face.
I’m so gone over this girl, I’m not even sure who I am anymore.
“So, I will see you in a few hours? I’ll be sure to get Ruby settled. Then we will settle you in your house.”
And into my life.
“Tonight?” Constance has a hint of fear and excitement in her voice.
“Why wait? I will keep you safe, and Ruby too. I promise.”
I say a quick goodbye. I want to stay, but I also don’t want to scare the living bejesus out of the poor girl, so like ripping off a bandage, I do it quick. A moment later I’m out the door and down the hall of the hospital, trying to remember how to breathe.
I have six small houses on the property at the facility, besides the main house where I live. They are for staff or live-in students, and I need her there. Secured and safe under my watch. My thoughts keep turning to where I’d like her, in my bed and in my life in ways I have never considered, but I’ll start with having her on the property. What she doesn’t know is I will be watching her every minute.
With a few phone calls, I’ve got a trailer on the way to pick up Ruby. I’ve sent Doc Mills, along with two of my best handlers and a couple of grooms, to meet me there. I admit, it’s overkill, but I’ve never been one to do things half way. And this feels like the most important moment in my life and I’m not going to let anyone fuck it up.
On the walk through the hospital halls, I keep playing over and over the way her hand felt in mine, the way her lips moved against me. My formerly hibernating dick is still thick and greedy inside my pants as I make my way to my car in the hospital parking lot. I know most guys would give their left nut to have what I’m packing down below, but right now, I’m so scared I will hurt her. I have no doubt I will make her mine, have her in every way. But I’ve been overly blessed shall we say.
The jokes about hung like a horse are not funny. If I truly hurt her, I’d kill myself.
My long-standing rule to never get involved with a student or even allow them to think that sort of thing is even a possibility seems to have a loophole when it comes to her. All the rules and control I’ve fortified myself with over the years seem to be falling away, one pillar at a time.
I make a couple stops on my way back, gathering some things I want for Constance when she arrives. By the time I reach my house at the farm, I’ve received text messages from my staff that Ruby is on the trailer without incident and will be arriving within the hour. I make a call to my barn manager, making sure that both Ruby and Constance’s accommodations at the farm are ready.
My head is swimming with how to train her and keep her safe, and balance that with these feelings I have for her. A relationship between a trainer and student is built on absolute trust, and the last thing I would do is to put her in danger. I vow to maintain my control, to train her as she needs and yet figure out a way to make her mine.
Because that much she is. Mine.
Dark memories crawl up my spine and I realize even after such a short time, how Constance could hurt me. Shatter me.
All the waiting, all the years have come to this, and it’s my job to figure out how to bring her to me and give her everything she deserves.
C H A P T E R S E V E N
Reed
Much to my surprise, Constance pulls up to the barn in a white Suburban exactly two hours later.
That must have been a record discharge because she got a lot done is a short period of time. How do I know?
I see through the windows of the SUV the back seat is sporting two big suitcases. In the rear storage area I see two mahogany tack trunks, a couple saddles and a giant stuffed horse that looks like it’s been around a while.
“No mom?” I ask, opening the car door. She needs to understand there are things I will be doing for her from now on and opening doors for herself when I’m around is one of them.
“Thank God, no.” She groans dramatically and she makes me s
mile. “She was all set to come with me, blabbering on about everything and anything, trying to keep me under her thumb. I just packed up, dragged my bags to the car I pulled around the back of the house and left. I’m pretty sure she’s still sitting out in the front driveway in her car, waiting to tuck me into bed tonight. You would think I’m perpetually ten years old with my parents.”
“I think her heart’s in the right place.”
“I suppose. I’ve been her whole life for so long, but come on, time to cut the cord, Mom. I’ll buy her a dog, maybe two. This is good; I needed to make a break from them. I love my parents, but enough already.”
“Didn’t you go away to school?” I want to know everything about her.
“Not really. I went to college when I was sixteen, and finished in just over two and a half years, so they kept me at home. I had a driver who took me to classes every day at University of Michigan, they wouldn’t even let me get my license. I did it myself once I turned eighteen.”
“Well, we’re going to get you going. Ruby’s here and I think it would be best to get you two back together ASAP. I’ll have your bags taken to the house. It’s that one over there.”
I point into the distance. I put her in the house closest to mine. They are all white with green shutters. Mine looks like a plantation from the Deep South, with three stories, white pillars and a broad front porch that stretches right across the side of the house. The smaller houses are still comfortable, two bedrooms with cozy kitchens and comfortable cottage decor. I imagine her there, sprawled on the white linen sofa, naked while I—
I grit my teeth, trying to stay in the moment.
“You sure you want me to ride today?” I hear the quiver in her voice.
“Oh no, you won’t ride. There are many ways to communicate with a horse, riding is only one. Today we will reacquaint you. Re-build Ruby’s trust. Horses remember trauma, just like humans. She needs to associate you with safety and calm – you said before yesterday you’d never had a problem with her. So we will need to figure out what happened and work through it. Just follow my lead. This is my specialty.”