“Just wanted to stop in and let you know that I have to go to a damned meeting in town all day.”
“Oh, okay,” she called out. “No problem, I’ll be fine.”
“Why don’t you take Sandy for a ride today? I think you’ll like him a lot.”
It wasn’t a difficult suggestion for her to accept. Since the very first time that she had laid eyes upon the jet black gelding, she had wondered what it would be like to ride him. “I might just take you up on that,” she responded.
“Do,” Amy responded. “And princess, enjoy your day. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay, bitch, you too.” She heard Amy’s soft laugh and then the door close. For a few moments, she lay in the silent house. There were only a few sounds in the stillness of the morning. She could hear birds, three different kinds, she believed, calling to each other. There was the occasional blowing or nickering of a horse and once in a great while, she could hear a cow and calf calling to each other off in the distance. She had gotten used to the silence after having been in Boston where it seemed that the noises never stopped. It was the first instant that she had considered staying in Texas. The thought didn’t last long, but the fact that it had come at all was certainly a major change in her attitudes and emotions.
She had drifted off to sleep while listening to the birds, but awakened again an hour later and decided to get out of bed. That was also something new. Since she had come to the ranch and her emotions had kept her in such a depressed state, she had spent a great deal of time, simply laying about and letting the morning pass her by until Amy came for lunch.
She got dressed and wandered down to the barn and corrals. She leaned against the fence and looked in at Sandy. His black coat glistened as though it had been sprayed with polish and buffed to a brilliant sheen. The sight of him stirred her into action. She was going to go riding early. The idea of being alone with Sandy, the fresh air and her own thoughts had very suddenly appealed to her and she took up the bridle and approached the gelding who came to her willingly enough and nearly placed his head in the bridle for her. In little time at all, she had him saddled and was headed out of the ranch yard and into the rolling hills.
Matt was still irritated with himself. He had tried to apologize with no success and he had tried to make some light conversation, but he had, in truth, been avoiding Reenie as much as possible. The irritating part was that he really didn’t want to avoid her. She was beautiful. He couldn’t keep the thought of her large, brown eyes penetrating through him. The shape of her was all woman and perfectly proportional and he often daydreamed of the two of them being together. The problem, however, was that every time his daydreams got to a certain point, he would see her wild, frightened eyes and the pain of the stupid thing that he had done would grab onto him anew.
How could he have been so stupid? Was he really a sick pervert? With those questions lingering, he hadn’t felt much like himself for quite some time. He went through shifts of anger and depression with a regularity that was wearing pretty thin. Something was going to have to give because the animals that he cared for were taking the brunt of it all. “I gotta get my shit together, Charlie,” he told his bay gelding. Charlie often caught a good deal of Matt’s ranting, as well as any other particular thing that was on his mind.
It was in this state of mind and during this conversation with his favorite gelding that occupied Matt when he saw someone on a black horse top out on one of the low ridges in front of him. The horse looked like Sandy, but he could tell, even from a distance, that the rider wasn’t his sister. A man who spent all of his life in the saddle recognized the difference between someone who had sat on a horse most of their life and someone who was new at it. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew. He especially knew how his sister rode and that wasn’t her. “Must be Reenie,” he told Charlie. “And on that black horse too. Well, I’ll be damned. Wonder where Amy got off to?”
The temptation to ride to her was strong, Matt fought it back. He would just make a fool out of himself again. He would try to act kind and engage her in conversation and she would politely avoid it. He really wanted to get to know her, but she had kept him at bay and there was little getting to know someone who had no interest. The entire set of the pros and cons of going to meet Reenie were presented and discussed with Charlie and were still the object of debate when Matt caught sight of an event that completely tilted the entire argument in one direction.
On the ridge, he saw the black horse dodge to his right very suddenly as he reared, spun-away and dashed away, down the top of the ridge and disappeared. There was no hesitation in him as Matt spurred Charlie into action and was covered the space between himself and the top of the ridge at an all out, ears laid flat run. He saw the figure sit up and look after her horse and then saw the very same figure frozen in shock and watching something on the ground in front of her. Matt knew what it was immediately and was reaching for the pistol in the waistband of his chaps.
When he topped the ridge and very near the startled Reenie, he started to pull up on Charlie and at the same moment saw the rattlesnake coiled up not more than six feet in front of her. His head was poised to strike and had she advanced any closer, he or more than likely, she would have struck. It was nothing new to Matt and he quickly took aim and snapped the head off of the snake with a well placed shot from the .357.
Before he was able to dismount, Reenie was on her feet and facing him. The shocked expression and the large, dark eyes, still reflecting the fear that she had just faced stabbed through him just as it had so many times. It was that same terrified look which he always saw when her image popped into his mind. “You a’right?” he asked.
“Yes, I think so,” she answered.
“Damn her all to hell,” he said, waving the pistol in the direction of the dead rattlesnake. Reenie’s eyes followed the pistol and when he noticed that the pistol didn’t help her come to grips with things; he quietly tucked it away in his waistband. “Looked like you took a pretty nasty fall. You sure you’re not hurt?”
“Mostly my pride,” she replied.
“Looks like you’re afoot too,” he answered. “I’m guessing Sandy is nearly back to the house by now. Never expect that out of him. He’s usually pretty level headed.”
“That’s okay,” she replied. “I can walk back.”
“It’s a pretty long walk. I’d guess it to be six or seven miles,” he answered. “Climb on old Charlie, we’ll give you a lift back to the house.”
She looked at the tall, bay horse with his head hanging, still breathing heavy from the dash up the hill. He looked like more horse than she could handle and she was still a little bit nervous about riding horses with which she was unfamiliar. The situation which had just taken place was making a very strong argument in her mind for her hesitation.
“Get on up there,” Matt urged. “He don’t bite.”
She glanced at Matt and that at the horse again. She really didn’t want to walk back, but she wasn’t sure about getting on the horse either. Still, six or seven miles through that rough terrain would be most of the rest of the day. What if she ran into another snake? The thought made her shudder. She felt safer up on the horse. Well, she felt safer before; she wasn’t so sure about it after Sandy dumped her.
Sensing her hesitation, Matt urged her some more, picking up on his last statement. “Charlie aint like some ole’ she rattlesnake. Climb on up. Do you need some help? It’s a pretty long climb. I wish to hell I’d taught him to kneel like they do camels and elephants. He’d be a damned sight easier to get on, even for me.” He realized that he was rambling on and suddenly stopped himself.
“I can do it myself,” she said taking hold of the saddle strings and lifting her leg up to the stirrup. It was a good thing that Matt was tall and he rode with his stirrups a little longer, because it was trouble enough reaching the stirrup with her tight jeans on, but she managed to make it.
Matt fought back the urge to stare at the delicious shape
of her ass as she worked her way up into the seat of his saddle. That really wasn’t his main reason for wanting to get to know her, but if that was one of the side benefits, he damned sure was going to complain about it. He turned his glance away just in time to avoid being caught watching.
CHAPTER 6
She had caught him watching, however, with that sixth sense that women have. In the past, she would have been flattered by it, but with her mind in the state that it was in, she was perturbed by it. The glare that she shot at him went completely unnoticed, however, because he wasn’t looking in her direction. She held her glare and waited for him to turn back around. When he put the reins over the horse’s neck and started to put his foot in the stirrup to get onto the horse behind her she suddenly realized what was going to happen and there was no way in hell that she was going to allow him to sit in the saddle behind her. “What are you doing?” she snapped.
The look in her eyes was intense and he froze. He started to answer her and then thought better of it. He turned away, took up the reins in his hand and started leading Charlie back toward the house. The high heeled riding boots that he wore were specially designed for riding and were little better than a pair of stilettos when attempting to walk for a very long distance. Within a half a mile, Matt was already beginning to feel the punishment that they dished out and his pace slowed even more. It was going to be a long walk home.
He felt the irritation of the pain in his feet, but decided that it was justified. It was his punishment for the way he had acted that first night that he met her. With that thought in mind, he shouldered the responsibility for his sin and prepared to do his penance. He took it on the way that a cowboy would. It was going to be hell and he was damned sure going to hurt for several days, if he managed to live through it, but he could handle it. He stubbornly set his face toward home and continued on.
Reenie, from the vantage point, high up on Charlie’s back saw the way that Matt limped along and realized that the high heeled boots weren’t really designed for walking through the rough terrain. “It served the asshole right,” she whispered under her breath. He’d be begging to get into the saddle in a few moments and she would damned sure turn the worthless asshole away. Who did he think he was?
She saw him pause for a few moments after they had gone a half mile or so and Charlie pulled up behind him, waiting for him to continue on. She expected him to turn back toward her and ask to be let up into the saddle, but instead, she saw him square his shoulders and continue on. “There you go buddy,” she mumbled to herself. He had made the better choice.
She saw the image in her mind of him slipping up into the saddle behind her pressing his groin into her ass and wrapping his arms around her while he “guided” the horse with the reins and it was an image that she didn’t want to make into a reality. In the same instant that she dismissed the thought, however, her mind flashed back to the image of his naked body and the penetrating blue eyes which haunted her as much as his own trapped image haunted him.
Every half mile or so, Matt had to pause to regain his composure. His spurs were rubbing blisters on his heels and every part of his feet was aching, blistered or raw after a little more than an hour of walking. He guessed that they were probably about half way back to the house and gritted his teeth against the pain and took another step to start again. “You’ve gotten yourself into a damned fine mess now,” he told himself quietly as he panted for breath. He had once said that he would walk through hell and back for the right woman. Was this the beginning of hell? If it was, then he guessed that maybe he had finally found that woman, because he continued on, bearing up the load that was on his shoulders.
Every time that Matt paused and continued on, Reenie’s heart became a little bit softer. He hadn’t once asked to join her in the saddle. In reality, it perturbed her a little bit that he hadn’t even looked back at her since they had started on their way. She had expected him to beg and plead like most of the men that she had known, but Matt seemed to be made of different stuff than the others. There was a strength and determination in the set of his shoulders and the steps that he took. Even as he limped through the pain, she could see that he had accepted his fate without complaining and labored on.
Maybe he wasn’t as much of an asshole as she thought? He had certainly not hesitated to come to her rescue. She had seen him down in the valley when she came up over the ridge, but had ignored him. It hadn’t been more than thirty seconds from the time that she hit the ground until he was there with his pistol shooting the head off of the snake.
As her heart softened, she revisited the first night that they met. In that moment she realized that they both had been under the influence of a foreign substance. He had been under the influence of alcohol and she had been under the influence of her own emotions which had been raw and expecting every man to be a lying, cheating bastard. Was there a lot of difference between the two? One was certainly a choice, but was it really that bad for a person to go out and get hammered on their birthday? She had little choice in her situation, but was it fair for her to judge him based on the actions of another man?
For the first time, it came to her mind that he probably wouldn’t have hurt her. Maybe he did just want a little kiss. His eyes had brightened up when she had told him that he could have a lot more than a kiss, but what man’s eyes wouldn’t light up if the prospect was in front of him? She might be looking at the whole thing completely wrong. Amy had assured her that he was a great guy. Amy was certainly a wonderful, dedicated and loyal friend; couldn’t she expect the same from her brother?
She reflected further upon the events as her anger was slowly beginning to melt. He had felt it necessary to apologize to her that same night. It wasn’t some half-assed apology either. She had initially assumed that Amy had put him up to it, but after having watched the way that the man stepped up to the duty of taking care of her, she realized that he had probably done it all on his own. It served to soften her. He had, after all, shot the head off of that “she-rattler”. Why had he called it a she-rattler? “Why did you call it a she-rattler?” she asked.
He was shocked to hear her speaking to him, though he at first didn’t hear exactly what she said. He paused and turned back toward her. “Excuse me?” he said, fighting down the irritation that had worked its way up from his feet through his legs and body and into his mind. He had determined by that point hat no woman was worth doing through hell for.
“I asked you why you called that snake a she-rattler,” she repeated. She saw the look of irritation on his face and realized that his mood was very different from the good natured cowboy that she was used to.
“Because it was likely a female,” he answered.
“How do you know?”
“Well, with snakes, the female is usually the most dangerous and most aggressive,” he responded. He realized that he was being tortured by a different kind of she-rattler as he answered. “Kind of that way with the females of every species, come to think of it.” He glanced up at her as he answered and then turned his shoulders and continued on his way.
Did he just call her a snake? The thought perturbed her at first and then as she continued to watch him, she realized that she had been something of a rattler toward him. It didn’t help that he had first come to her drunk and trying to get a kiss. Maybe she deserved that comment. Whatever the case, she had punished him sufficiently. “Hey Matt?” she said finally. The debate had been won by her softer side.
“Yeah,” he replied stopping and turning back toward her.
“Why don’t you get on?” she said.
At first, he wasn’t sure that he heard her right. When he realized that he had, the first thought that came to mind, due to his irritated state of mind, was to tell her he would rather ride with a nest full of rattle snakes, but the pain in his feet was telling him to be a little bit more reasonable about the situation.
With wisdom being the better part of valor, he climbed up into the saddle behind her and
they continued their journey back to the barn in that fashion, though in complete silence as each wandered off into a whole new set of thoughts that suddenly emerged as the instant chemistry between them made relevant by the fact that both of their minds were now open to something new, not to mention the proximity of their bodies.
CHAPTER 7
The ride home had stirred things inside of her that she had tried so desperately in the weeks before to kill and if she had been in the turmoil of emotions before hand, they certainly didn’t measure up to the new set which assailed her after that ride back to the ranch. Although she willingly would speak to him and didn’t go out of her way to avoid him anymore, she still wasn’t exactly sure what to say to him. If she were to be completely honest with herself, words weren’t exactly the way that she wanted to interact with him.
The feel of his strong arms wrapped around her, the feel of his breath upon her hair and the feel of his body pressing up against her as they moved together to the swaying motion on the back of the horse reminded her of another urge that had disappeared since she left Boston. She had actually despised the thought of any form of sex until that fateful ride had brought it back to her in full force.
Not only was the experience on the horse arousing, but the picture of his well endowed, buff body standing naked before her continued to entice her as well. The problem however, was that she was still in a state of mind in which the fresh wounds of her recent break up kept her firmly in their control. She would force every thought of anything more than a casual friendship with her best friend’s brother out of her mind.
Texas Wild (western romance and sex) (western romance) Page 3