by Anna Hard
A bright white smile broke out on her face as she hurried over to Ranger. “Is this my horse?” She patted his neck. “I love paint horses. They remind me of the old west.”
“Ranger is a good confidence builder. He rarely does stupid things. Note the word rarely. Every horse does something unexpected and silly given the right set of circumstances.”
I dropped the crossties and slid on the horse’s bridle. McKenna watched the whole thing with keen interest. Her excitement about going for a ride was fucking adorable. “All right, Slick, I’ll let you lead him out of the barn. We’re going into that same round pen you saw me get bounced around in. Ranger likes to keep all his feet on the ground, sometimes even more than he should, so you won’t have to worry about getting bucked off.”
Once we were outside, I pointed to the stirrup. She grabbed the edge of the saddle, stretched her long leg up and pushed her foot in.
“Take hold of the reins, and I’ll give you a little boost up.”
She reached up and hung in that awkward position of a rider with one foot unnaturally high in the stirrup while the other was still on the ground. I moved behind her. A second earlier, it had been an innocent enough idea to give her a hand up, but suddenly, I was just inches from her. Her shiny hair was swept up and away from the back of her creamy neck. I temporarily lost focus as I visualized myself running a trail of kisses along that neck. A fragrance that was somewhere between fresh lemons and a field of lavender drifted off her silky skin. I closed my eyes briefly to absorb her scent, her intoxicating scent.
“Uh, that push up?” Her voice woke me from my fleeting fantasy, a fantasy that included a field of lavender and her naked body.
“Yep, here goes. Now, remember to stop in the middle. I’ve seen people swing right past the saddle to land on the other side.”
The sound of her lyrical laugh coupled with my hand on her bottom, giving her a lift up, brought back another round of erotic visions. This was going to be harder than I thought. I’d started the morning convinced that I had enough grip on myself to take her out for a riding lesson. But now, the reality of just how badly I wanted McKenna was like a slap in the face.
She smiled proudly down from the saddle. “Pretty good, huh? I guess now I just have to learn how to make him move.”
Her enthusiasm for the lesson forced me to focus. I’d started this, and I needed to follow through like a gentleman. Gentleman, fuck, I was going to deserve sainthood after this.
Chapter 10
McKenna
The sun had nearly brought the moisture in the air to a boil. My shirt clung to my back, and sweat dripped into my eyes. But I was having the time of my life. Ranger was a great horse. After an hour in the saddle, I’d learned to trot and stop and even back up. The horse was a patient teacher and so was the man. The friendlier Mr. Jekyll version of Luke had shown up for the morning lesson. Of course, I knew too well that Mr. Hyde could return at any minute. For now, I was too thrilled to be riding a horse to care.
Luke was sitting on the railing, looking every bit hunky cowboy. “Well, Slick, I think that’s good for today. Ranger isn’t used to being ridden much anymore, so he’ll be tired too.”
I didn’t even have to pull the reins for the horse to throw on the brakes. He released a snort that sounded like a giant sigh of relief. I patted his neck. It was wet with sweat. “Thank you so much, Ranger.” I looked over at Luke. “I’m in love.”
He stared at me, his green eyes looking extra striking beneath the black hat. “Yep, I know the feeling.”
It was a strange response, but I decided to wave it off. I was tired and sweaty and I smelled like horse. I was nearly giddy with the thought of it. “Wait, before I get off. This is such a dream, take a picture of me up here. That way I don’t have to pinch myself.”
That perfectly crooked smile propped up one side of Luke’s mouth as he pulled out his phone and took my picture. Then he looked at it and smiled again.
“Do I look like a true blue horse person?”
“You do. And Ranger looks like a true blue horse. I don’t get it. If you’ve been this crazy about horses, why didn’t you learn to ride?”
“Money. The only girls I knew who rode were the ones who could afford it. When you live in the city and not on a big ranch, you have to pay a lot of money to keep a horse.”
“Makes sense. Well, you’re a natural.” Luke hopped down from the pen and swung open the gate. I led Ranger through, or more accurately, the horse led himself through. He headed straight for the barn. Luke followed up the rear.
“Stop him before you get to the barn or he’ll carry you right into his stall and go straight to his pile of hay.”
I pulled Ranger to a stop. Luke walked up next to the horse. I swung my leg over and dropped a little too quickly to the ground. I collapsed on wobbly legs. Luke caught me.
“Who replaced my legs with wet noodles?” I laughed.
Luke’s arms stayed around me. My back was against his hard chest. I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. As tired and sweaty as I was, my body reacted in a way I hadn’t expected. His strong hand was pressed against my stomach, and suddenly, all I could think about was that same strong hand sliding beneath my t-shirt and along my naked skin.
“I think I’ve got my land legs back,” I said weakly, completely stunned by my physical reaction.
With obvious reluctance, he lowered his hand and stepped back. His sudden silence had a chill to it, and I wondered which Luke was standing behind me now. Ranger shook his body, saddle and all, and it startled me out of the strange moment of tension.
I led the horse into the barn. The other horses poked their heads out to watch us walk past. A few, including the one that was Ranger’s neighbor, nickered at him as he plodded through on heavy hooves.
I hadn’t turned around to look at Luke, but I was hyperaware of his presence. We’d been having a perfectly fun, normal day out in the round pen, but something had shifted in those last few moments. His closeness, his hand on me, his breath on my neck, all of it had stirred feelings that I’d thought I’d just been imagining up until then. Luke was extremely handsome, the kind of man who would turn every woman’s head in a crowded room. But I’d assured myself my fleeting moments of feeling attracted to him had been nothing more than that, fleeting lusty moments.
This morning, when he’d seen me topless in bed, I’d felt too miserable from the wine binge to care. But now, thinking about him staring openly at my naked breasts made my nipples harden, and I thought about what it would be like to be touched intimately by Luke Maverick.
Luke went about his business of undressing the horse. We’d both fallen awkwardly silent. He carried the unwieldy saddle and blanket over to a sawhorse and lowered them down. I stood by rather helplessly. A bucket of brushes was sitting on the ground. Ranger had a saddle shaped sweat mark on his back. I plucked out a brush and ran it along his wet coat.
I heard Luke’s footsteps behind me. “Like this.” He covered my hand with his and showed me the proper grooming technique. It was probably a valuable lesson that I would have easily learned if Luke’s hard, hot body hadn’t been right behind me. I could feel waves of heat and something else, tension maybe, rolling off of him as he held my hand longer than needed.
“Got it,” I blurted. Luke stepped back, but I could sense his gaze on me. He was watching me and something told me it had nothing to do with my technique. Without warning, he strode purposefully out of the barn, leaving me alone with Ranger.
I continued brushing the horse’s coat until my arm felt as rubbery as my legs. More than once, Ranger turned his big head to eye me, almost mockingly. It seemed the horse was well aware that I had no idea what I was doing. He picked up his big front foot and stomped it down right next to mine. I gasped and pulled my foot away.
“He’s no
t mad. He’s just stomping away a fly.”
I spun around. Luke was walking back into the barn. He held his hat in his hand and his dark hair was dripping water down onto his shirt. The fabric of his shirt clung to the muscles of his chest. His face was wet too, as if he’d held a hose over his head. He slicked his hair back and what a sight. He was even more handsome dripping with water. With his broad shoulders, glinting green eyes and water dripping off him, he looked like Poseidon, god of the sea, just emerging from his watery kingdom. He dropped his hat on a hook on the front of a horse stall and walked around the horse to check out his coat.
“I feel guilty because Ranger carried my butt around for an hour and put up with my clumsiness, but after ten minutes of brushing,” I said, holding out the brush, “my arm hurts too much to continue.”
“You got the saddle area. That’s the most important part. Gets the blood circulating.” The harsh tone had returned. I already missed the smiling, even tempered man who had been out giving me my first riding lesson. “I’m sure you’re tired. Go on back to the house.” He dropped the hook and rope that was attached to Ranger’s halter. “I’ll put him away.” He led Ranger to his stall.
I stood there for a moment feeling completely confused. It seemed I was back to being a bother to have around. “Well, thank you for the lesson. I had a great time,” I called to the stall he’d just led the horse into.
“Yep.” His voice drifted out.
I’d had the most awesome morning, but I left the barn with a heavy heart, once again hurt by Luke’s sudden mood change.
Chapter 11
Luke
I was a damn idiot. For a short piece of time, I’d thought this could work. I could just hang out with McKenna, give her a riding lesson, and not think about her naked and willing in my arms. It had been a good hour too. I could not have found a more enthusiastic pupil. Everything about her was cool. She was easy going and funny and, unlike most girls I knew, she didn’t mind laughing at herself. But once she’d climbed down from the safety of the horse’s back, and once I’d gotten physically near her again, every form of dirty thought raced through my head. It had been nothing but a mere brush against her as I kept her from collapsing on tired legs, but my cock had grown stiff. Even dousing myself under a spray of hose water hadn’t taken away the lingering effects of touching McKenna.
I scrubbed my wet hair with the towel. Once again, I’d turned to cold water in the shower to cool my head and my body. Once again, it had done little to help. Chloe had sent me a dozen texts, but I’d had little interest in reading them. They were always the kind of texts that sent me straight over to her house for a good round of wild sex. I’d never ignored her requests. Never. Until now.
McKenna was a drug of some kind and the only way I could reach that high I craved was to have her. No one else would do. Apparently, I was going out of my fucking mind.
I walked down to the kitchen and grabbed a cold beer. I glanced through the window. The morning sky had been clear blue but thick, gray thunderstorm clouds had floated in over the plains. I needed to bring the three pregnant mares in from pasture before the storm broke.
Our newest addictive, intoxicating family member was standing at the pasture fence chatting with the mares. The horses seemed quite taken with her. It was never easy to pull their attention from the grass, but all three mares had crowded around McKenna to get a neck rub.
“Guess you haven’t had your fill of horses yet,” I said.
She spun around. “Didn’t hear you walk up. Nope. If they’d have me, I’d bring a pillow and quilt and sleep right out here under the moon with them.” She peered up at the sky. “Although I have to say, the sky looks rather uninviting at the moment.”
I pulled all the halters off the gate just as the first raindrops fell. “We need to get these girls in before it breaks. You can help me.” I put on the halters and handed one lead rope to McKenna, avoiding any contact as I did so. Even a brush of her fingers was too much. I grabbed the other two ropes, and we all walked toward the barn. Halfway there, the first streak of lightning creased the blackened sky. Seconds later, thunder rumbled overhead, but it was only a low roar. It was still far away. The mares pricked up their ears and their hooves moved a little faster. They were anxious to get inside the safety of the barn.
A second streak of light lit up the entire barn, agitating all the horses. Thunder rumbled again, but it still sounded distant.
“As a kid, I always hated thunder,” McKenna said as she waited for me to take each horse into its stall. “Used to climb into my closet with my stuffed animals and hide there until the storm passed. I’ll bet you’re not afraid of anything, Luke, are you?”
I closed up the last stall. She was standing in the center of the aisle with her long wavy hair and her tight jeans and sultry pink mouth waiting for an answer.
“I’m more afraid of myself than anything else. I’m notorious for making stupid ass decisions.”
She nodded but didn’t prod any further. I was relieved. I sure as hell didn’t need to let her know what was going through my head as I gazed at her, my supposed stepsister, standing in the shadows of the barn looking so damn beautiful and feminine and . . . Shit.
“Let’s go.” I knew my tone was harsh again. It had been my defense. Stay cold. Stay distant.
Ranger snorted and hung his head over his stall. She walked over to rub his nose. Rain began to drum a steady beat on the metal roof of the barn. I walked up behind her. She reached up to stroke Ranger’s ears and her t-shirt slid up with the movement. The dragonfly stared back at me from the hollow of her back. Lightning temporarily illuminated the barn, and I could see every curve clearly. It hadn’t even been a conscious decision. It was as if my body had just moved on its own. My arm wrapped around her, and I pressed my chest against her back.
She stiffened at first, not the reaction I’d been hoping for. Then she relaxed in my arms. As she took her hand from Ranger’s ear, I glimpsed the bruises on her arm. They had faded to a pale yellow, but they were still visible.
“Luke,” she said softly. Her head leaned back against my shoulder as my hand slid under the hem of her shirt.
“Like silk,” I said on a ragged breath. “I knew you’d feel like silk.”
I smoothed my palm over her stomach and her breasts rose and fell with her short, quick breaths as I ran my hand over the lacey fabric of her bra. She didn’t pull away. I’d thought, no feared, that she would. But she wanted this. She pushed her breasts harder against my palm. She fucking wanted this. Everything about this was going to earn me a well-deserved place in hell, but I needed to touch her.
My hand slid down to the button on her jeans. I flicked it open and pushed the zipper down slowly.
“Luke,” she said again in that same sultry tone that made my cock grow hard.
“Shh,” I said against her ear. “I just want to make you come. Please let me touch you.” She relaxed again. I pushed my hand down under her jeans and panties. My fingers found the slick moisture I’d been hoping for. “God, you feel like warm cream.”
A quiet moan slipped from her lips, making my cock throb. But I wasn’t going to fuck her. As badly as I wanted to, I was just going to allow myself the pleasure of touching her. And from the moisture surging between her legs, it seemed she wanted this just as badly.
My fingers slid through the wet folds of her pussy to her clit. She sucked in a breath as I found the sweet spot that made her nearly limp in my arms. She clutched at the arm that held her to keep herself from sinking to the ground. But I had no intention of letting her go.
Rain pounded overhead, but not as loudly as my own heartbeat. She moaned in pleasure as my fingers massaged her clit. She began to rock with the motion of my hand, pushing her pussy harder against the friction of my probing fingers. She held tightly to my arm in a silent plea for me to cont
inue.
“God, Luke, please,” her quiet voice was absorbed by the storm outside.
I pushed my fingers inside of her, and she cried out. Moisture dripped through my fingers as she writhed against the onslaught of my touch. I pushed my fingers deeper, all the while making sure my palm rubbed against her clit. Her ass pushed back hard against me, making contact with my cock, which now ached painfully. She moved frantically against my hand now, squeezing her thighs shut around it and bucking her ass back against me. Each rhythmic bump of her round ass against me made my fucking head spin.
Her fingers dug into the flesh on my forearm. “Fuck yes, Luke, yes,” she cried out as her pussy clenched around my hand. Her head dropped back and slowly she relaxed. I still had a hold on her, certain that she would collapse if I let her go.
As her breathing returned to normal, she pulled away from my chest and zipped up her pants. Reluctantly, I lowered my arm. She kept her back to me and seemed determined not to look at me. The rain was coming down in sheets and thunder rolled in behind it. The only other sounds came from the horses. I stood behind her staring at her small body, her shoulders slightly rigid and her head bowed down. Then without another word or glance at me, she tore out of the barn and into the rain.
Chapter 12
McKenna
The storm had traveled on, leaving only a quiet, starlit sky behind. I’d gone to bed early, claiming a headache. I just wasn’t in the mood for dinner or conversation or most of all, seeing Luke.
My legs were sore from the morning’s ride as I stretched them out under my blankets. It had been a whirlwind of a day, a mind-blowing, confusing, hell of a day. Never in a million years would I have expected what’d happened in the barn. At first when Luke had touched me, I had stiffened with shock, not knowing what to expect. He’d been so damn unpredictable, it was impossible to know what he was thinking. But the thing that really confused and shocked the hell out of me was my own reaction. By the time his strong callused palm had brushed over my skin, I’d melted into putty. I’d wanted him to touch me and damn if I didn’t come easily for the man. His confidence, his obvious skill from what was more than likely a great deal of practice, had brought me to climax almost instantly.
