by Rhavensfyre
“What are you doing?” Rohanna hissed.
Alex turned her attention back to her client. “My job. Is there a problem?”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“You didn’t have to do that, I was handling him just fine,” Rohanna sputtered, barely able to speak past her anger and embarrassment. How dare she just step in like that and take the lead line from me! “He was just a little antsy from being cooped up for so long.”
Alex murmured something to the gelding, just below Rohanna's hearing. He relaxed in Alex's hands, allowing her to guide him with a loose lead into the cross ties. After snapping his halter in, the now complacent animal dropped his head to be scratched, content to be in the company of the farrier. It was only then that Alex turned and looked at her.
“Horses are incredibly sensitive creatures. They can pick up your emotions better than you can, and react accordingly. I am sure you know this,” Alex said, patting Galileo’s shoulder. “Your horse was feeding off your emotions. Whatever conflict you are feeling is making him nervous.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“I didn’t say you were nervous, I said you were feeling conflicted,” Alex corrected her, then gave her a sharp look. “But since you brought it up, am I making you nervous?”
“Of course not,” Rohanna scoffed, feeling the lie all the way down to her toes. The tall farrier did make her nervous.
“Hmm. That’s good then, isn’t it?”
Alex’s voice slid across her mind like silk, caressing her skin and sending her thoughts skittering down dark paths lined with soft gasps and eager bodies slipping against each other.
What the hell?
Rohanna closed her eyes, swaying a little as she tried to banish the images in her mind. A firm hand clasped her shoulder, steadying her.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
Her voice was close, too close, it breathed against her like a hot wind spiced with the scent of cloves and apple groves. Rohanna felt drunk on it. She opened her eyes only to find the smooth tan skin she was fantasizing about a scant few inches away from her. Christ, the woman was tall.
She had to look up before she succumbed to the desire to look down, to follow the vee of her shirt where the slightest swell of flesh gave just a hint of what was hidden beneath the light denim shirt. Bright blue eyes gazed down at her from beneath the shadow of the black bandanna Alex wore across her forehead. The contrast was striking.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I must be overheated,” Rohanna stuttered, backing away awkwardly.
“It can happen, the courtyard can get quite warm,” Alex said, her lips twitching in a suggestive half smile. “You do look a little flushed. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“No, no…I’ll be fine. I just need to cool off.” Rohanna backed away some more until she ran into a solid wall.
“Okay. But if you change your mind, let me know.” Alex’s smile widened into a toothy grin. “I wouldn’t want it to get out that I left a customer of mine unsatisfied,” she added before she turned and walked back to Galileo.
Rohanna’s jaw dropped. She tried to be outraged at the obvious proposition but she couldn’t do it. God help me, but I want what she’s offering.
Rohanna ran the back of her hand across her brow. She was perspiring, her palms were damp and she couldn’t stop trembling. Worse yet, she couldn’t stop herself from staring at the tall farrier. She ran her eyes over the long, lean form of the woman who seemed able to send her libido into overdrive just by her presence.
Unlike most of her male counterparts, Alex was trim and well groomed. As she worked, sleek muscles played across her shoulders and back. Alex was deceptively strong, muscular but not so heavy that she looked bulky or clunky. She looked more like a dancer, or a gymnast. The bulk of her muscle was in her upper body, accentuating a slim waist and hips that took nothing away from her more womanly attributes. A long, thick braid hung down past her waist, as black as a raven’s wing. Rohanna had never seen hair that long or that lustrous. When she moved, strands glinted in the bright sunlight. Idly, she wondered how long Alex’s hair was when it was unbraided and imagined what it would feel like sliding across her bare skin. Goosebumps rose on her arms and she felt the small hairs on the back of her neck rise in response. A chill ran down her spine that made her shiver in the heat, while other bits of her warmed considerably at the thought.
This is so not good, she thought.
“Here, it’s cold.” Alex’s voice made Rohanna jump. Somehow, Alex had walked past her into the barn and returned without her noticing. She held out a cold bottle of water for her.
“Thank you.” Ro took the bottle. Droplets of perspiration hit her wrist, and she flicked them off. As hot as she was, the ice cold water felt like fire against her skin.
“No problem.” Alex took a swig from her bottle, then gestured towards Ro’s horse. “I took a look at Galileo’s hoof. Luckily, I was able to pull the shoe without causing any more damage. But I have to tell you, the work was pretty shoddy in the first place.”
“What? We’ve used the same guy for years. That doesn’t make sense.”
“Well then, either you need a new farrier or he was in a hurry.”
“What do you mean? Can't you just tack it back on?”
“No, in fact, the other shoes need to come off as well so that I can even out his toes. The back shoes had too much overhang, and the clinches were too big. That’s why he was able to grab the front shoe and pull it off.”
Alex wandered back to Galileo’s side and started laying out her tools, leaving Rohanna alone to think about what she said. The poor quality farrier work didn’t add up. She narrowed her eyes, immediately going to the one person she knew would and could arrange such a shoddy job. A bad shoeing could lame a horse. If it was Galileo, all the better, right Belinda?
“Fine, but can we hurry this up? I just need you to put my horse’s shoe back on so I can get back on the road,” Rohanna ground out between clenched teeth. Her attraction to the farrier was palpable, a physical force that made her uncomfortably aroused. Not knowing what else to do, Ro fell back into a more comfortable persona. “Bitchy woman” could fight the world, keep her safe from her stepmother’s constant manipulations, and kept her from making any mistakes that might jeopardize her goals. She needed to step back and analyze what was happening. She couldn’t afford to let her emotions ride her; she had to be the one with her hands on the reins.
Alex straightened up, and for the first time since Rohanna arrived she spoke coldly. “I don’t rush, ever. If you want me to do the work, I will. But I will not be hurried.”
Alex patted Galileo’s back, running her hand along his rump in order to let him know she was crossing behind him. Alex then headed straight for her, her long legs breaching the distance between them in seconds. “You do want me to do this, right? It’s your choice. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
Brilliant blue eyes scanned her face, flickering down to Rohanna’s lips when she licked them nervously. Somehow, Rohanna got the distinct impression that Alex was asking her a very different question from the one she was hearing.
“Ah, um.” Rohanna lost her voice again.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Alex leaned in closer and continued in a more intimate tone. “We'll continue this conversation later,” she promised, then disappeared into the shadows of the forge room.
Rohanna sagged against the wall behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. For a second there, she thought Alex was going to kiss her. She would have let it happen, too, and that realization scared the hell out of her. She should have shut her down immediately, told Alex she wasn’t interested, but that would have been a lie. For the first time in her life she was more than interested, to the point of losing control of her emotions, and that wouldn’t do. There was too much at stake in her life to add any distracting complications.
Ro turned and strode into the shade of the forge room, intent on finding Alex. The woman was obviously
a player. She was way too smooth. The idea of being added to a long list of faceless conquests was repellent enough for her to resist the strange attraction she had for the farrier. She needed to let her know she wasn’t interested now before things got out of hand.
She was brought up short when she collided into a very tall, very solid wall that slowly registered as Alex’s abdomen and chest. Thrown off balance, Rohanna reached out blindly to keep herself from falling. It was Alex who kept her from falling on her ass, but before she could register that embarrassing fact, she realized she was firmly pressed against Alex’s rock hard body.
Jesus, she feels like coiled steel, Rohanna thought.
Even in the dim red glow of the forge, Rohanna could see the hungry expression on Alex’s face flickering in and out of the shadows in time with the dancing flames. A slow shudder rolled through her body in response to the intimate embrace.
“Umm. This is kind of awkward,” Rohanna managed to say.
“Only if you want it to be.” Alex drew her closer to the flames and away from the shadows. Fingertips grazed along her jawline, tilting her head up until their eyes met. “Do you want it to be?”
“I—I don’t know what I want,” Rohanna whispered, unable to look away. The dim light had eaten away the color in Alex’s eyes, leaving only the thinnest corona of deep blue surrounding flame licked obsidian pupils. Rohanna swore she saw lightning possess the ink black wells, a miniature maelstrom furiously trying to escape its small world.
Alex leaned down much as she had done earlier, except this time, she didn’t turn and walk away. This time she brushed her lips across Rohanna’s. Rohanna sighed. As sweet as the kiss was, it awakened the fire inside her, the one she had so carefully kept tamped down for years. She struggled to free herself, fighting more with her desire than with the woman holding her tightly, then gave in. The next kiss wasn’t as chaste as the first one, but it wasn’t enough to quench the hunger burning like fire in the pit of her stomach. She reached for Alex, eager to even the playing field before losing herself completely.
The feel of packed dirt beneath her palms barely registered, all she could see was firelight and piercing blue eyes, a lopsided smile and the feel of impossibly hot hands burning her wherever they touched.
***
Ro groaned. Her body was stiff and aching from laying on the hard bench beneath her. She sat up too quickly, then brought her hands up to her temples when a sudden pain flashed through her skull.
“Ugh, what the hell?” She felt hung-over and not quite sure where she was. Oh yeah…the farrier’s. I must have fallen asleep. Alex was nowhere in sight, but Ro could hear the soft tinking of a hammer out in the courtyard.
Rohanna stood up awkwardly, feeling oddly disconnected with her body. She had been dreaming about Galileo. Her head felt thick and full of cobwebs, refusing to give up details of the last hour of her life. Rubbing her temples seemed to help both her foggy head and her headache.
She remembered pulling her rig into the courtyard and introducing herself to the farrier and discussing Galileo. Alex offered her a cold drink and led her to the low bench just inside the forge room when she started to felt dizzy.
Galileo had been misbehaving badly, fighting her and being a total snot in front of an audience. That can’t be right. The gelding was well trained. He never misbehaved that badly, especially not for her. That had to be part of the dream. She wasn’t a stranger to odd and disturbing dreams. After years of unexplained nightmares and sleepless nights, she had learned to take them in stride. Rohanna scrubbed her face. It was unusual for her to have one during the day, especially one like this.
She had a sinking suspicion that this dream had more to do with Alex than anything else. The woman was handsome, cocky, and arrogant…not to mention incredibly attractive. She made Ro feel awkward and gawky, like a teenager experiencing her first crush. Wincing at how close that actually hit the mark, Rohanna ruefully examined her dream more carefully. Years of practice had taught her to remember her dreams, to recognize the ones that turned dark so that she could force herself awake before becoming trapped inside a nightmare.
Embarrassment flooded through her, making her cheeks burn. She might have kept herself from acting like a fool in front of the tall farrier, but her unconscious mind had made sure she understood just how attracted she was to Alex.
Nightmares were one thing, but having sex with a perfect stranger in a dream? Rohanna shook her head at how far she had fallen. Her body still hummed with leftover sensations. Her nipples were sensitive where they pressed against her bra. She felt slick and heavy; her pulse beat rhythmically between her thighs as if her orgasm had escaped the dream.
She needed to get Galileo and get the hell out of there. Rohanna’s legs felt like rubber bands and she wobbled a little when she walked, but she was determined to leave before Alex started to ask questions. Straightening her shirttails and smoothing her hair, she summoned whatever few ounces of self-respect she still had and marched back out into the courtyard.
***
Oh, yeah, Alex thought as she watched the huge trailer disappear down the wooded driveway. Dottie definitely called this one right. Rohanna might try to pull off cool indifference now, but what they had shared earlier was neither cool nor indifferent. Of course, Alex would have preferred if things had happened differently. Alex hadn’t expected to be drawn into the other woman’s dream, but once there, she wasn’t about to deny her the fantasy. She had to admit that Rohanna had quite the imagination, even as untried as she was in lovemaking. Alex pursed her lips, considering that bit of information. It was unusual for someone like Rohanna to be so inexperienced.
Rohanna didn’t behave as any of the other Demi-Fae Alex had met. She didn’t embrace her nature like others of her kind. She hid from it, denying herself pleasure when there was no reason to. Or was there?
Rohanna seemed ignorant of her heritage, which wasn’t that unusual, but she also seemed determined to deny her true nature…and that was unusual.
Alex frowned. After generations of intermingling with humans, most Demi-Fae carried only a drop or two of faerie blood. That was the problem. With the veil closed for hundreds of years and most of the Fae choosing to stay on the other side, someone like Rohanna shouldn’t be possible. As far as she knew, the only pure lesser Fae were the Mere folk, and that was because you were either born Mere or not. The lines never diluted.
Rohanna was different. Rohanna was an enigma, an impossibility in this mundane world. More importantly, she was strong enough to invite Alex into her dreams.
Alex rubbed her fingers together, reigniting the spark that had jumped between them when they touched. The current rolled between her thumb and forefinger like ball lightning, then dissipated when she spread her fingers wide. She stared at her palm, considering the strange occurrence. The sensation was very similar to what she felt when she touched bare iron, but instead of just pain, the promise of pleasure had sweetened the ache.
Alex was looking forward to running into Rohanna again and wondered how she should go about making that happen. The light breeze swirling through the courtyard picked up speed, birthing a small dust devil that delighted in tossing about the few bits of leaves dotting the stone landscape. It struggled with a larger bit of debris, a white sheet of paper that spun dizzily on the wind before landing at Alex’s feet. She bent and picked it up, instantly recognizing the same Expo flyer she had tacked on her kitchen wall.
This is where she’s headed this weekend? How convenient. Considering her booth there had been booked for over three months, it looked like the fates were playing on her side, handing her a winning hand before she even stacked the deck. She had planned to wait until this evening to head out for the fairgrounds, but now she was eager to get on the road. The coal fire would have to be put out first and her finished pieces loaded onto her trailer before she could even think of leaving, but that wouldn’t take long.
Alex grinned. Her pulse jumped and her breath quickened
in response to the thrill of the hunt. For now, anticipation would have to serve, but there was always plenty of down time at the Expo after the crowds left for the night. Alex was looking forward to spending that time with Rohanna.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Oh my, will you look at that?” Shyann asked, tracing one suggestive finger along her lower lip.
Ro felt sorry for whoever had just piqued Shyann's short-lived interest. Her cousin was as well known for her wild ways as Rohanna was for being uptight. Despite living on the opposite sides of the sexual spectrum, the two of them had remained fast friends through the years. Ro often joked that she didn’t need to have sex since she lived vicariously through Shyann’s sexual escapades. In return, Ro often suffered from good-natured teasing for being the consummate “ice princess”. It was an odd relationship, but it worked for them.
She looked down the row of tents and covered tables outside the exhibition hall to see who had captured Shyann’s attention. Rohanna almost stumbled when she saw Alex standing in front of a small three-legged forge, working a piece of iron on a smaller version of the anvil she kept at her shop.
The heavy short-handled hammer made sparks fly with each solid blow. Alex handled the hammer with such ease that most people wouldn’t realize it weighed almost five pounds. The same worn leather bracer she wore that last time they met supported her left wrist, and she wore a similarly worn leather apron to protect her from the heat and slag as she pounded the metal.
“Now, she is absolutely yummy looking,” Shyann said. “And if my gaydar is right, which it always is—she definitely plays on our team.”
“Keep your voice down, dammit,” Rohanna hissed, looking around nervously. “What if someone heard you?”