Animal Heart (Beast & Beauty)

by M, Jessie

“Why, is he gay or something?”

  “What? Ha, ha, ha, that's too funny. No, just uncommitted. If he made a choice I get the feeling a few more would pair up.”

  “So what do you do while the women fight over your boss, hmmm?”

  “I play with the customers. But only the pretty ones. Unfortunately, single pretty ladies don't turn up very often. So when they do, I pounce. Especially if they've got red hair.”

  “Lucas, you're so sweet.” She gave him a mock punch in the arm and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Tell me something. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Oh don't get me wrong. I love it here. It's a great life. We go hunting, riding, swimming, and canoeing in the summer. We eat well, and even drop by town now and then for a little partying. The winter's hard though. Being snowed in can be difficult to bear for months on end. We do have a couple of motorised ski sleds and the dog sleds as well, but it's sixteen miles to town. It needs to be worth it!”

  They began to walk back to the ranch, towards warmth and light, and soon arrived at the door.

  “I'm just having a quick smoke. You go in.” Lucas lit up and stood outside while she made her way in. Inside, the room was empty, apart from the clatter of work going on in the kitchen. She popped her head inside to say hello.

  “Hi, I'm Maddy. Thanks for the lovely dinner.” She walked in and Shane and Samantha looked her way with a smile.

  “You're welcome love. We all like our food here. In fact I think it's our sole reason for existing sometimes.”

  “I imagine it's hard work, cooking for a bunch of ravenous people all the time?”

  “It's not so bad. I used to work as a chef in a busy restaurant. I managed five hundred meals a day. This is easy compared with that. But I did have a lot more staff there.”

  “Oh really, where was that?”

  “New York. In the Financial District.”

  “And you came here... Why?”

  “Yeah we all wonder that sometimes, don't we Sam?” He laughed and they gave each other a knowing look. “After a holiday in the Rockies, I fell in love with the place. I met Aden in Calgary. I worked there for a while first.”

  “Do you ride the horses too?”

  “Now and then, but I don't get a lot of time. Three meals a day plus getting the supplies is full on.”

  “How do you manage in the winter?”

  “We have massive freezers. We can last for months if the weather is bad. Dried food, canned, plenty of beer, and of course some excellent company.” He smiled at Sammy and she blushed a little in response. “Plus I love watching movies. There's nothing nicer than being curled up in front of the fire with a great story unfolding before you, is there?”

  “Oh, I know. I love sci-fi and horror and anything that gets my blood racing.”

  “You do? There's plenty of that kind here. Take a look in the study area, by the computer. We have hundreds of movies. Watch them in your room or on the big screen. It's got a great sound system.”

  “I will, thanks for the tip.”

  “Fancy a nightcap?” He asked.

  “If you're having one.”

  “I always do, to relax. Take a seat. So, what'll it be? Wine, beer, whisky...? We've got everything.” He opened a cupboard to reveal a lot of bottles. “It's the cookhouse personal supply,” he sniggered.

  “Wine please. Red if you've got it,” she replied, taking a seat.

  “What do you do, Maddy?” Sammy asked, sitting down at the table opposite her. Maddy examined her in a subtle way. Her eyes were her best feature, although her whole face was quite pretty. They were very expressive, large and grey, with thick dark lashes. She wore her chestnut hair in a plait to the side, and had several piercings in her ears and a little diamond one sat on the side of her nose.

  “I work in TV advertising. In Calgary.”

  “Sounds like fun,” she replied with an interested look.

  “It can be. It's busy and the days go by pretty fast. The pay is fairly good as well. I'm buying my own place. I'd rather be here though. I'm very envious of you. This is my ideal life. Out here in the wilds. Horses, space... fresh air. I'd give up advertising in a second if the opportunity came to work somewhere like this.”

  “You'd need to be very serious about it, we don't get paid much, if at all!” She laughed. “It's more a labor of love. Food and board and a few dollars for essentials. Everything the ranch earns is put back into it, keeping it in top form. It's a massive task as you might imagine. We have two hundred acres. Our land stretches down to the lake one side and the river the other, you know?” She explained proudly.

  “Really? I thought it was just the ranch house and paddocks.”

  “No, that's only about ten percent of it,” Shane interrupted the conversation as he placed three glasses of red wine on the table, sitting down to join them.

  “And Aden owns it?”

  “Mmmm, he bought it with the proceeds from the sale of his garage.”

  “Oh, was he a mechanic, then, before?”

  “Yeah, he was. He still looks after the generator and stuff, but mostly he's into his horses now.”

  “I don't blame him. They're the love of my life.”

  “You two should get on very well then. It's not Mia's cup of tea to be honest. She likes riding the horses, but she'd rather be in here, doing something else, anything else in fact! Especially in the winter. She complains like hell about it all. But Aden insists each job needs a man and woman on it. He thinks that's fairer. Rather than keeping the women on domestics and the men outside. It works well for the rest of us. We all enjoy our work. Don't we, sweet?” He placed his hand over Sammy's possessively and a look passed between them that Maddy couldn't help but recognise. They were in love. Very much so.

  She sipped her wine thoughtfully, looking at Shane's attractive features. He reminded her of Christian Bale a little, but a fair version. She couldn't quite get over the good looks of the staff here. There wasn't an ugly one amongst them. Mia was probably the prettiest of the women, with her silky dark hair, tall, slim body and soft feminine curves, and those big brown eyes of hers. But from what she'd seen, she didn't have a very attractive personality to match. None of the men equalled Aden and Lucas in terms of size, but they were all so good looking it took her breath away.

  “I see… Having a party are we?” Lucas appeared in the doorway.

  “A welcome drink and a nightcap. Fancy one?” Shane asked as he came inside and stood behind Maddy's chair, with his hands on her shoulders.

  “No, I think I'll turn in now. I'm tired after our hunt.”

  “What do you hunt?” she asked, intrigued, turning her head to look up at him.

  “Anything. It's not for sport, It's for food, you know.”

  “I'd love to come. I've never been on a hunt. When are you going next?”

  “It'll be a while I'm afraid. We don't hunt when we have guests.”

  Oh, that's a shame. It must be exciting. Do you go on horseback?”

  “No, we go on foot. We track, stealthily.”

  “What do you use? Shotguns, rifles, bow and arrows?” She laughed.

  “We use what we need to take down our prey,” he said cryptically. An odd, creepy look passed between the three of them that she couldn't explain. “Look, I'm off. I need some serious shut-eye. I'll catch you tomorrow my gorgeous ginger nut.” He leant down and placed a gentle, but rather too long kiss on her lips, and then looked at the other two as if to say, 'she's mine, got that?', and he turned and left, leaving them open mouthed at the table, herself included.

  “Boy, our Lukey's a quick worker,” Shane chuckled.

  “I know. He had me in a tight bear hug against the fence within a minute of starting our after-dinner walk. I do like him though. We'll see how it goes, eh?”

  She spent a few minutes more chatting with her two new friends and then got up to leave.

  “I'll get a movie and watch it in bed,” she announced.

  “Good idea. Time
for us to turn in too, isn't it honey?” Shane said with a big yawn.

  “'Night, then.”

  “Yeah, sweet dreams Maddy,” Shane said, as she left to look through the movies.

  She sat on the floor and looked through the shelves. Shane was right. It was full of horror films. Every vampire, werewolf, and creepy monster film she'd ever heard of was there. Plus a lot of comedy, children's films, and quite a few well known Hollywood blockbusters. Someone must like Will Smith a hell of a lot, she thought, as she looked through, as he featured in many of them. She smiled to herself and chose 'I am legend', one of her favorite weird apocalypse films, and carried it off to her room for a spot of night-time horror.

  Chapter 3

  She woke with a sudden start, her ears picking up a sound. It was still dark. She could have sworn she heard howling, not the dogs... but real howling, outside. Wolves. She strained her ears and there it was again, in the distance. She shot out of bed and looked out of her window. The perfect half moon shone brightly above in the starry sky, and she stood and watched for a while. She leant back, preparing to return to bed, when something caught her eye. A pair of wolves shot across the paddock, side by side, towards the trail and the woods. She stared in wonder as they bounded along with huge strides, leaping the boundary fence with ease. She knew a little about them. Wolves had always fascinated her, ever since she was a child. They were the epitome of the wild. She loved the concept of the close knit pack, roaming the forests, foraging and hunting. Squabbling and fighting amongst themselves over the females, food, and leadership. They weren't that different to humans in that way, she thought with a wry smile to herself.

  But these two were most unusual looking. Very long limbed and sleek, with big ears, smallish heads, and extremely long tails. Very odd looking indeed.

  They finally disappeared from view.

  Probably some kind of maned-wolf... They had long legs...

  Her feet were suddenly cold, standing on the wooden floor. She padded back to bed and snuggled down under the warmth of the duvet. She looked at her travel clock. Five O'clock, much too early to get up, her alarm was set for seven. She drifted back to sleep for a few hours, her mind full of wonderful wild things. Wolves, unpredictable beautiful white horses, acres of land, forests, mountains, and lakes...

  This was her kind of place. Seriously.

  Aden stood in the yard waiting for Madison to arrive. He'd saddled up Oberon, a large black stallion with a gentle nature, but a fast pace. He hoped she liked his choice. He paced up and down the yard feeling nervous, but not knowing why. Just thinking about her disturbed his peace of mind. A lot. Last night's less than satisfying activity with Grace had obviously done nothing to calm his erotic thoughts about her, hopefully his body would behave itself today.

  He heard the chatter of voices and Lucas appeared with Maddy, entering the yard. They carried on with their conversation, heads close together and smiling conspiratorially at each other as they arrived at his side. He narrowed his eyes at Lucas. He didn't like the way his arm was slung around her shoulders. It was far too friendly.

  “I'll see you later Mads. Have a good day you two,” Lucas added, placing a big smacker of a kiss on her cheek. Aden's blood suddenly boiled unexpectedly. Now he was going much too far! He knew he wasn't supposed to hit on the guests. Not that he could blame him. She was well worth being ticked off for. His stomach squeezed uncomfortably with reaction to their sudden intimacy, and his chest ached painfully. He took a deep breath and pulled himself together.

  He tried not to stare too hard at her as he said hello.

  “How are you today Maddy? Looking forward to our trip?” His eyes raked her up and down in a frenzy, all control gone in an instant. Her tight riding britches, v-neck black t-shirt, and padded black fitted jacket looked so good on her. Desire started to build rapidly inside him, stirring him to life.

  “I'm fine, and yes, oh boy... I can't wait!” She replied enthusiastically, with a wonderful big smile that lit up his heart. “Oh my God, he's just beautiful. What's his name?” She gasped, finally catching sight of the black horse half hidden behind Storm, and rushing around to stroke his nose immediately.

  “Oberon... So you like him, do you?” He was overly pleased about that and couldn't stop a little smile escaping.

  “I do. Almost as much as Storm,” she added pointedly. “He's gonna be a hot ride, I can feel it.” Before he could utter a reply, she stuck her foot in the stirrup and leapt up astride him with ease. He was a tall horse and she surprised him with her mounting agility. She picked up the reins and turned him, and trotted around the yard, coming to a neat halt in front of him.

  “A real good mover, aren't you, Oberon my boy.” She patted his ebony neck appreciatively and began stroking his wild black mane. “Come on Aden, let's go.”

  “You need to wear a hat,” he said, offering it up to her.

  “You don't wear one,” she pointed out.

  “I know, but you should,” he insisted.

  “No thanks. Not today. I'm going hat free,” she replied in a rebellious tone.

  “Don't blame me if you fall and crack your skull,” he snapped back.

  “I've never fallen, not even once,” she announced, slowly and proudly.

  “Well you know the old saying, 'There's always a first time for everything',”

  “Oh do stop lecturing me and get the fuck on your horse, will you?” She snapped out with fire in her eyes and a hard glare.

  “Yes ma'am...” he replied, taken aback somewhat by her sudden domineering and rather coarse attitude. He mounted, turned Storm quickly, and left the yard ahead of her, trotting swiftly down the trail towards the woods ahead. He was just picking up the pace a little, as a sudden rush of air took him by surprise. She shot past him at a full gallop, giving him a sly sexy smile as she passed. He couldn't help returning a tiny smile in return at her cheek. He watched her cute tight ass bound away from him on Oberon with an amazing graceful beauty, her hair flying wildly around her like a flaming cloud. God, she was so damn gorgeous, she made his heart weep with want. He knew in that one second he had to have her. He'd need to break his own damn rules about fraternising with the clients. It was rare for him to feel such an attraction as this, and he was going to follow it through. His cock hardened painfully against the constraints of his pants, and the saddle and he shifted to accommodate it. His imagination began to run wild, his mouth watering as he mentally tasted her body, his tongue running everywhere. She brought him out of his highly sexual thoughts with a bump.

  “Come on slow poke, show me what you've got for crissakes, where's your pride?” she called over her shoulder, disappearing into the darkness of the trees lining the narrow trail ahead. He sped off in hot and angry pursuit, chasing her tail like a demon.

  He almost caught up to her when they reached the wide brook that crossed the trail.

  “Mind out for the...” But he didn't finish. She jumped Oberon in the style of an Olympic equestrian, sailing high over the brook, and landing perfectly on the other side and steaming off.

  “Mind out for the what?” she shouted and laughed out loud. He followed her over and after pushing Storm a little, he finally caught up with her.

  “You're an annoying little madam, aren't you?” he said, catching hold of her reins and pulling them both to a stop.

  “It must be the present company I keep. It brings out the best in me.”

  “That mouth of yours is going to get you in deep trouble one day,” he growled, trying to keep calm as he looked into her pretty blue eyes, which were alight with mischief.

  “Awww, have I upset you somehow, my dear Mr Carr?” she purred slowly and sexily, licking her lips at him.

  “No, not at all. It'd take a great deal more than you to upset me. Now then. Let's take a nice slow walk. You'll be able to see something then, won't you?” he added pointedly, his stomach and everything else heaving inside of him in reaction to her close company. Upset? He was far more than that.
He was in a state of aroused delirium. How he wanted to throw her off her horse and have her, here and now, on the bare earth of the forest floor. His eyes were glued to her breasts, rising gently up and down with her breathing. He was imagining his hands upon them, and his mouth sucking at them while he pounded inside her mercilessly.

  Her voice brought him out of his sexually obsessed state, which she thankfully seemed to be oblivious of. He placed his hand strategically, to obscure the view of his very large and hard arousal.

  “Talking of seeing things, I saw something interesting early this morning. Actually, I heard a howling sound first and got up to look. There were two wolves. Going down this very path in fact.” His heart beat very rapidly all of a sudden, at their discovery.

  Who went out without his permission?As if he didn't know...

  “We have a lot of them about these parts,” he replied carefully, hiding his concern, his eyes averted from hers.

  “They were really ugly as well. Long and thin, with big ears,” she remarked. He tried not to laugh. A few of them certainly were a little on the ugly side. Some more than others. He wasn't that attractive himself. Very tall, broad, and huge eared.

  “That's a local breed,” he said quietly.

  “Really? I didn't know there was such a thing as local breeds of wolf?”

  “There's lots you don't know about the wilderness, I'm sure.”

  “Teach me some stuff then. While we walk. Please?”

  They settled into a comfortable pace, walking their horses side by side, as Aden pointed out items of interest. The cool morning air was fast disappearing as the day's sunlight flooded through the trees, lifting the dampness from the ground in a misty haze. The warmth filtered though and she took off her jacket, laying it across her lap. She sensed his eyes upon her, travelling over her body and lingering over her snug fitting top. She had the distinct impression that Aden was having naughty thoughts about her. In truth, she was having extremely naughty thoughts about him. His presence disturbed her. Deeply. In both an emotional and sexual way. She was intrigued about him. He wasn't an open book like Lucas. He had a dark side, and she felt he had secrets. She didn't intend to have too much to do with him personally, after all she was only here for a short time, and he had enough women beating a path to his door. And what's more, he unnerved her more than he should. But she could look, couldn't she? And fantasize. That's what being on vacation was all about, wasn't it? Enjoying yourself and savoring new experiences. Aden was certainly a new experience. She'd never met anyone like him before.