“That was terrible. I need to get over the flame-ups I tend toward as well.” She wrinkled her nose, and it was the cutest sight. “If I could trade in my temper for some cool horse sense, I’d do it in an instant.”
“Take your energy and redirect it. It’ll be fine.” He finally let his gaze go where he’d been longing, taking in the swell of her breasts, the trim cut of her waist. She filled her jeans nicely, but she wasn’t showing it off like…
He stopped and scratched his head to drag his thoughts away from the rest of the Hansol family and what they usually wore around town.
Okay, parts of this were going to be fun, and parts were going to be hellishly difficult. In the end, though, he would learn a few lessons, and so would she. With her leaving town in the spring, there was a solid deadline involved as well.
He could handle it. And enjoy it.
Vicki fidgeted where she perched on the bench. “Well, I suppose I should go. Let you think it over a little.”
He caught her and again prevented her from escaping. “Nothing to think about. Just one more question.” She stopped bouncing for long enough he rose to his feet and pointed at her motorbike. “Can I take her for a ride?”
All the sexual innuendo from their previous discussion left her confused for a moment as to what exactly Joel was asking. She didn’t think he was going to simply lay her out in the grass and fuck her right then and there. If he tried, she would give him a violent reason to change his mind.
She might be naïve, but she wasn’t an idiot.
She’d seen porn. Which, for the most part, seemed stupider and more hickish than she felt at times, but even they took a minute to move past the “bad cop pulls over the innocent-yet-way-too-busty miniskirt-clad speeder”.
But when he ran a hand over the leather seat of her bike, her earlier amusement returned with a vengeance. “Typical guy. You only want me for my Harley.”
Joel straightened from where he’d been examining the bike, his gaze coming down hard on her chest, lowering to between her thighs before rising back to her face. “Oh, darling, are you ever wrong.”
A flash of anger struck, and she turned away to hide her reaction.
She’d asked for this. He’d done nothing wrong, and taking it out on him would be stupid and ignorant, not to mention screw everything up before they even began.
She needed a minute to figure out how to deal with her conflicting emotions. Vicki forced all the enthusiasm into her voice she could muster, that is, she lied her fucking ass off. “Why don’t you take her for a spin. I’m going to hang out and relax for a minute.”
“Vicki? You okay?”
“Hell, yeah, just—like I said, I’ve never been here before.” She pointed down the riverbank. “I’m going for a walk. Take your time. You need a hand?”
Joel caved. There was no other reason her pathetic excuses worked, because he looked suspicious as hell. But he nodded and lifted the bike to vertical, rolling her out from under the tree and aiming her toward the main highway. “I’ll just try her for a bit. Always wanted a bike, just never seemed to get around to buying one.”
“She’s nice on the highway. Take as long as you want.” Vicki grabbed the helmet off the bars and pressed it to his side. “It’s not going to fit great, but wear it anyway.”
She waited until he’d cooperated, both of them real careful and polite. By the time Joel had mounted up, she was ready for him to be gone. She needed some space.
Vicki slipped down the bank before he even fired up the engine. The rush of water grew as the bike’s motor faded. The farther Joel got away, the more her surroundings were nothing but wilderness. Birds chirping every now and then. Mostly the water, and this weird creaking sound she finally figured out were the trees themselves shifting in the wind.
She found a flat rock right at the water’s edge and sat, a handful of pebbles at the ready.
Talk about an unexpected twist. Joel’s help with the horses was awesome. His promise to help her get a better name in the community, and keep Jesse out of it— Well, the first part of the deal had been wholly dependent on the second. She couldn’t get involved with two guys and make things anything but worse.
But being his actual girlfriend? Asking him to have sex with her?
My God, she’d slipped down the exact same path her sister and mother were walking. Using sex to get what she wanted. Only…
Only what she wanted
was
sex.
The first rock she tossed barely made a ripple. The current was strong enough the slight weight broke through the surface and vanished as if she hadn’t even been there. Vicki stared at the remaining rocks resting in her palm.
What she’d said she wanted was true. A way out. Which meant a future to look forward to. A little redemption from her past, in terms of people seeing her with new eyes.
And a present filled with pleasure. What the hell was wrong with that?
She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there, stewing, tossing one stone after the other before a loud rumble sounded from the top of the ridge and Joel’s face popped into view. Vicki rose and brushed the dirt from her hands, adjusting her T-shirt before she stepped up the narrow path to his side.
He wore a huge grin. “That was awesome. Come on, I want to show you something.”
She took the helmet he offered. “Where are we going?”
He slipped forward on the seat. “Hop on. It’s better seen than explained.”
Chapter Five
For a moment, he wasn’t sure she would cooperate. Stubborn was too light a word to describe what he’d already discovered about Vicki.
“You don’t have a helmet,” she pointed out, the one he’d returned dangling from her fingertips as she clutched the straps.
“I’ll be real careful, and we’re not leaving Six Pack land. Come on, trust me.”
She slipped the helmet over her shining hair, and Joel twisted in the seat to let her hop on without him staring.
He wanted to stare. Oh my God, he wanted to strip her down and look his fill. He’d never thought before if he had a type. He’d loved the girls, and they loved him, and there hadn’t been much thinking beyond the physical pleasure they shared.
But if he had a type? Vicki was it. Typical male he might be, but those tits of hers caught his eye. It was the whole package he really liked, though. How small the rest of her was, the way her eyes lit up when she got pissed.
This unexpected turn of events was becoming more interesting as the day progressed.
She nudged his foot. “I can’t climb on without a boost.”
He shifted his leg out of the way so she could use the footstep. She caught hold of his shoulders and swung her right leg over the bike, settling in behind. Her thighs wrapped around him, her crotch to his ass.
When she slid her arms off his shoulders and curled in tight to his back, something hot and wild raced through him.
It was only the start of physical contact between them, and already his cock had grown uncomfortable, confined by his jeans and the tight position on the bike. He shifted his hips slightly to ease the pressure, and her breasts rubbed his T-shirt.
Another jolt of fire hit hard.
Distraction needed, now. He revved the bike, speaking over his shoulder. “You ready?”
She gripped him tighter in response, fingernails digging into his chest. The tiny bit of pain shot straight to his dick like a bolt of lightning.
Sweet mercy, he was going to die.
Joel took off carefully to not lose his passenger, heading the bike down the dirt road for about a mile before swinging onto a horse trail. This section of land rose and fell in uneven waves, so the family had turned it into grazing land to avoid driving equipment over the hilly terrain. But for the animals, it was a beautiful retreat, with small, shallow coulees and oases of trees clustered in groups.
They crested a hill, and he slowed to allow Vicki to spot the herd. He didn’t say a word, just pointed.
Her grip on him had loosened as they’d ridden, less of a death clasp, more staying safe and in control. Now she squeezed, a deliberate message she’d seen them. Joel headed for the trio of pines standing sentinel over the fields and turned the engine off, balancing the bike so she didn’t have to move.
“Nice bunch of horses.” Vicki leaned forward to look around. “How many are there?”
Joel ignored the pressure on his back from her breasts nudging him and focused on the question. “This is the specialized breeding herd. There are about twenty mares Jesse and my daddy are using to build up the stock. The rest of the herd is split onto other sections of the ranch.”
Vicki crawled right off, her warmth vanishing and making him sad. “Breeding?”
“Means they’re pregnant.”
She glared. “I’m not a farm girl, but I’m not stupid. I know what breeding means. I meant when will they have the babies?”
“No insult intended. This herd should foal by next April. Well, except for Sable. The stud covered her late last fall, so Jesse figures she’s gonna drop sometime in the next couple months, probably before Christmas.”
Joel propped up the bike and followed Vicki to where she’d moved to get a better view of the animals. The herd wandered, grazing a little, but mostly relaxing.
“I’m such a wimp.” Vicki wrinkled her nose. “They don’t look so scary from this far away, but I’m still not keen on getting any closer.”
“Hey, don’t push it. It’s only October, and you’ve…well you’ve got nearly as long to work this through as they have to wait to foal.”
Vicki plopped to the ground and pulled off her helmet, her hair pouring over her shoulders. “Oh goody, it’s a race. Me against the horse. May the least smelliest win.”
Sarcasm dripped from every word, and Joel chuckled. He lowered himself beside her, careful to maintain a bit of distance and not crowd her the way he’d like. “It’s a target. You’ll take shots and get closer to the bull’s-eye all the time.”
She flashed him a smile, that one she’d surprised him with back in the café the other day. “So hitting the target at all is a win in the beginning?”
“Yeah.”
Vicki nodded. “Okay. I can do that. When should the
I love horsies
lessons start?”
Joel moved with deliberate slowness, casually placing his hand next to hers. She was leaning back on her arms, hands planted in the grass. Their fingers weren’t touching, not yet, but damn close. “You free tomorrow? Around the ranch we try to take things a little slower on the weekend. Just the daily chores for the animals and not a ton more. So if you come to the barns, I’ll show you around.”
She shivered as she observed the herd. “Go slow with me, okay?”
Hell, yeah. Slow in more ways than one, although it might kill him.
Joel adjusted position. Again, a tiny move.
He was back in junior high, trying to convince Suzie James to join him under the bleachers for a few stolen kisses. He was in the back-row seats of the darkened science classroom during a movie, him and Tara Koloskis tossing furtive glances at each other as they stumbled around making the next move.
No. This was no flashback to his early days of sexual exploration. He was right freaking there, right fucking now. On the side of a hill, too old to play these kid games, but there you had it. Vicki leaned forward and her fingers slipped over his. She would have jerked away, but he didn’t let her. Instead, he trapped her hand and held her in place with his palm resting over hers.
It was barely holding hands. Barely touching, and she could have been naked and riding him for how hard he’d gotten at the simple touch.
He glanced at her profile as she maintained a fixed lock on the horses, steadfastly refusing to look his way. She wasn’t trying to pull herself free though, that was good.
Blood pounded through him harder than had any right. Joel stared over the herd as well and once again considered the day a bit of a turning point.
Whatever else the next months brought, life wasn’t going to be boring.
He was holding her hand.
Vicki didn’t move. Scarcely breathed.
She would have liked to blame the
not breathing
part on the fact he’d suggested she drop in at the barns the next day, but oh. My. God.
How was it possible that holding hands could cause more violent reactions than her most recent self-induced orgasm?
“There are a couple of mares I’m keeping a special eye on.” Joel sat straighter as he lifted his left hand and pointed. “I’ve got favourites, I guess. Buttercup over there is a first-time mom, and Sable is the daughter of my first horse.”
“Makes—makes sense.” God. She’d had to stop and clear her throat to get past the block in her way.
She tugged their linked hands experimentally, and Joel eased off enough to adjust his grip. Now his fingers were completely enveloping hers.
Giant knuckles, thick fingers. The rougher skin of his finger pads caressing her softly. It felt too damn amazing to want him to stop. Add in the naughty images of him stroking her entire body, and she didn’t want to stop that train of thought either.
But…
shit
. “We really gonna do this, Joel?”