by Ashlee Price
Here she was now, she reflected, sitting next to him in his truck, driving down the dirt road on the last legs of their journey before reaching the ranch. She felt hot and tired, and looked forward to something cool to drink and a bed to lie on. The seven hours’ drive from Galveston seemed to take forever. Looking at her new husband, she thought herself blessed. He was tall, with chiseled features, and lean, the way she liked her men. Reese looked over her way, gave her a smile, and squeezed her hand.
“We’re almost there, honey, almost home.”
Stacey felt her heart skip a beat. He was hot! Hot and sexy, and amazing in bed! The type of guy who could make her forget all her fantasies…almost.
Rounding the last bend, the ranch house came into view. It was built along the lines of a typical ranchero house; long, stuccoed, with smaller windows and arches. It suited its setting beautifully, looking down a low hill towards a slow moving river at the bottom. The land was dotted with cows, and a large corral to the side of the house held some horses, with a few foals. Seeing her attention was drawn to the horses, Reese stopped the vehicle for a few minutes, allowing her some time to admire them.
“Those are quarter horses,” he said. “We breed and train them. Do you ride?”
Stacey shook her head. “Nope, never had the opportunity to learn how.”
“Maybe you’ll get your chance to learn how to now, huh?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “I sure would like that!”
Reese smiled, gunned the engine, and drove up to the house.
Grabbing all she owned, two suitcases, he motioned her towards the house, where he dropped the luggage, opened the door, and swept her off her feet and over the threshold. “Welcome home, Mrs. Matthews.”
She squealed. “Put me down! You’ll put your back out!”
Reese looked down into the face of the laughing woman and leaned in to kiss her briefly.
“Nope, if I can rustle a cow, madam, I can lug you around!”
He raced down the hall with her still in his arms and into a large bedroom with a four-poster bed onto which he unceremoniously dumped her, her long dark hair flying around, and her large brown eyes laughing up at him.
“Reese!”
“Stacey!” he mimicked, before unceremoniously pulling off his boots one at a time, keeping his balance while hopping around on one foot at a time. “Come on, girl, I want you to myself, before my bro gets back!”
“Well now, cowboy, why don’t you do something about it?”
“Ah, I plan on it!” Reese shut the door and walked towards the bed, his body taking on a mock-menacing stance. “I’m gonna take you and fuck you, darlin’, till you scream my name!”
He pounced on the giggling woman and made short measure of undressing her, blowing raspberries on any skin available, tipping Stacey’s giggling fit into one of full blown laughter. “Stop it, please, oh please stop it, Reese. No more!”
“Gonna behave like a good wife?”
Stacey nodded her head, and lifted her arms out to her new husband.
“Don’t I always?”
Undressing the rest of her, he looked her over, from top to bottom.
“Honey, you have one hell of a body,” he kissed her collarbone, “and I aim to explore each little itty bit of it,” he kissed her soft stomach, “to my heart’s content,” he finally zoomed in on her pussy, pulling the lips apart to get better access to her clit. His tongue licked and flicked her, making her writhe beneath his onslaught. Her low moan made him smile. As a reward, he stuck one finger into her, swirling it around until he found her G-spot, to which he paid special attention while sucking at her.
“Oh Reese, yes, there!”
Stacey could feel the tension building with every stroke and every lick and with every suck at her tender clit, her body tensing up, and then starting to shake with anticipation and need. Just as she thought she was going to come, Reese stopped and positioned himself between her legs.
“I want to feel you come on my dick, honey. Come for me!”
He plunged into her wetness, increasing the pace with each frenzied upward thrust from Stacey, loving the fact that he had found a woman who loved sex as much as he did, and who, he had found, was not averse to experimenting.
He’d had her in any way imaginable, and could not get enough of her. He found, he had learnt to his astonishment that he wanted even more. He wanted to have her fucked by, and see her fucked by, someone else. He wanted her to come in his arms while on another man’s dick, wanted to see her ample breasts bounce around, hell, he even wanted to fuck her while she was being fucked by someone else. He wanted, in fact, to own her sexually, in all ways possible, while calling all the shots.
His fantasies brought him to the edge, and when he felt her first, shuddering contractions, he lost his own control, coming in gusts that at the same time shocked him and delighted him. If his plans could come together, the ranch was going to become an exciting place indeed!
Later, sated and freshly showered, the two went to the back of the house where the kitchen was housed. The log cupboards were dark and polished, with a range at the one wall which housed a huge stove, with electric ovens built into the wall at the side. All the amenities of a first class working kitchen were scattered around, neat and tidy, waiting a woman’s touch, she noticed.
“I was just about to rustle us up some steaks, baked potatoes and a salad. Care to join me?”
The voice behind Stacey was deeper than Reece’s. She turned around and looked up into the bluest eyes in the tannest face she had ever seen.
***
“Stacey, this is my half-brother Abraham, Abe for short. We owe the property together.”
The older man introduced as Abe was taller than Reese, broader of shoulder, and every bit as imposing, if not more.
She stuck out a hand. “Hello, pleased to meet you.”
The two men shared a look and burst out laughing. “She’s formal, yeah?” came the rumbling voice of Abe, before he swooped down and lifted her off the ground in a bear-hug. “Welcome home, darlin’, it’s going to be a pleasure having a beautiful woman such as yourself around the place.”
With a resounding kiss on the cheek, she was put down on her feet, and ignored as the two men started cooking. They were a good team, it seemed, as they quickly and efficiently threw a meal together in no time.
“Oh this is good!” Stacey said around a mouthful of the steak. “Where did you learn to cook like this!”
Reese’s mama knew how to keep growing boys happy,” it came from Abe, “and she believes that we needed to know how to look after ourselves.”
“Where is your mother, Reese? I had presumed she was dead and that Abe was your only living family?”
“Nope, she is alive and well, living in Scotland with the new husband. Met him three years ago when we sponsored her a holiday in Europe.
She’s the wife of an early or something. Never was good at the blueblood hierarchy, but he is titled. Met him a few times when they came over to visit. Nice man, and he looks after her well. We got no problems with him. His son, though, is a different matter. Elite fop who tried looking down his nose at us until he found out we could buy him and his father out a few times. We might be ranchers in our blood, but we have business savvy too, which is why I need to go to the city at times.”
“And your mother, Abe? Reece said she and your father divorced when you were still a baby?”
Abe shifted around uncomfortably. “She’s a self-styled artiste, met her just after dad died. She came around looking for something to inherit, as it seemed she had worked through the fortune the old man had given her just to get rid of her in the end. She was living in a dive with some guy. Now we pay her a monthly allowance but have no truck with her and her so-called friends. Lazy fuckers, the lot of them. But she expected the high life when she married the old man. Saw herself hosting parties and playing the diva. On a ranch? No idea what she was thinking. Actually, I have no idea who my father is
. Dad adopted me when he married my mother.”
“Oh,” Stacey managed, not sure what to say. “So, ahm, you are not related by blood, then?”
“We are related in all ways that count, Stacey. Abe is my brother, more than any brother in blood could ever be.”
“Eat up, sugar, your supper is getting cold.” Looking at the older brother, she smiled, and dug into her food. Damn he was sexy, not that Reece wasn’t, but she wondered what it would be like kissing him. Flushing at her suddenly un-wifely thoughts, Stacey reprimanded herself and tried concentrating on her food on the plate, unaware of the look that passed between the two men seated at the table with her.
They cleared up together, Stacey washing the dishes, while the two men dried and put them away. All the while, she was aware of the two men, their body heat seeming to burn her each time one came closer, their different smells mingling, sending her senses spinning. She was in serious trouble, she knew. She was married to the one, and she loved him, but Abe. Abe was something else; gruff where Reese was suave, hard where Reese was soft, the true rancher while Reese was more the businessman.
She was shocked from her reverie when she felt Abe come up behind her, close; too close. His body brushed hers when he took the plate out of her hand that she had been washing the past two minutes while lost in thought. Her sharply indrawn breath was not lost on either of the men.
“If you wash that plate any more, darlin’, you’re going to wash a hole clear through it.”
Stacey managed a soft “Sorry”, and went on doing the rest of the dishes.
“Why don’t you go on to bed, sweetheart, you must be bushed. Abe and I will finish up here.”
Given the opportunity to escape, Stacey dried off her hands and made her way to their bedroom, the soft tones of the men following her all the way down the passage until she managed to close the bedroom door behind her. Her hands, she realized, were shaking.
Squaring her shoulders and reprimanding herself, she got undressed, dropped her clothes into the hamper, and drew herself a bath of water, pouring a liberal amount of water into the bath. She had just lay back and closed her eyes, trying to relax, when she realized that she had not unpacked her clothing yet.
Stacey was bent over one of her suitcases, busy unpacking, when the door behind her opened with a soft click. She turned around to find Abe standing there. His pupils, she noticed, where dilated, as he took a good look at her. The bath towel she had tied around started slipping, and she managed to grab it just in time, before it had a chance to fall to the floor.
The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever.
Abe broke the uncomfortable silence.
“Thought I’d ask you whether you’d like some coffee. Reece is making.”
“Ah, yeah, thanks. Let me just get dressed. I’ll be there presently.”
With another appraising look, Abe left, leaving her in the same state she had been in when she had left the kitchen.
She found them in the drawing room, both relaxed. A huge dog that she had not noticed earlier was lounging on the one couch, Reese was in a chair, and Abe occupied the other couch. She had no other option, but to go sit next to him. She accepted the coffee cup Abe offered her gratefully, glad of anything to occupy her hands.
“Big dog you guys have there.”
“Daisy? Yeah, she thinks she is a puppy. Reese got her for me. Keeps me company when he is away.”
“Daisy? You call her Daisy?” Stacey couldn’t help laughing.
“Yup, she may be huge, but at heart she is a pup. Loves running with the horses while I am out on the range, checking things over. She’s smart, though. Let’s me know when a foal or a calf is in trouble. Besides, with her size, very few would be brave enough to try something.”
Reese didn’t say much, but sat back and watched his brother and wife, a small smile playing on his lips.
“I have to go back to the city in a week’s time, baby,” he finally stopped their conversation.
“Why? Can I go with you?”
“Nah, unfortunately not. I have some business I need to take care of. Abe and Daisy will keep you company. Besides, you won’t see much of me. I intend being away about three days, and have crammed as many meetings as I can into that time.”
“But Reese, we just got here! We just got married two weeks ago! You can’t just leave me like that!”
“I’m not just abandoning you, Stacey. I’m leaving you with my brother, the man I trust with my life! You will be okay. Please, don’t be difficult about it, huh? It will only be three days and four nights, not an entire lifetime.”
Realizing that Abe was listening to their little altercation, Stacey nodded and kept quiet the rest of the evening, listening to the two men discuss ranch business.
***
The rest of the week seemed to fly. Stacy learnt to know the house, and started taking over the chores in the morning, while riding around with the two men in the afternoons. The place was beautiful, she realized, nestled in a valley with ample water and grazing, stretching off into the distance. The horses, particularly the foals, fascinated her. She was also introduced to some of the ranch hands and the wives of the two that were married. It was, she realized, a small community, each with his own place in it, doing his own particular job. She soon made fast friends with old Jeremiah who took care of the horses that were stables in the coral she had seen earlier, and it was he that taught her how to care for them.
Reese left for the city the Monday morning, leaving her to her own devices. She started the morning doing her usual chores and was surprised when Abe arrived later to take her for her daily ride. She was fast becoming proficient on horseback, and both men had been pleased to find that she seemed to be a natural.
Abe took the lead, letting her follow. They seemed to be taking a different route to the one they normally followed. The travelled upriver for a while, and came to an area where the river had formed a natural pool in the side of the river bank, the water almost calm compared to the rest. Abe dismounted and helped her down.
“I thought I would show you this. It’s my favorite spot.”
“It is absolutely beautiful! The water looks so inviting!”
“Well why don’t we go for a dip?”
Stacey laughed nervously. “Well, for one, I don’t have a bathing suit with me!”
Abe shucked his clothes, leaving it in on a rock in a messy pile, while Stacey inadvertently averted her eyes.
“Come one. Or are you scared?”
She turned around when she heard a splash behind her, Abe’s head bobbing in the water.
“Come on in, woman, I won’t bite!”
Stacey hesitated; the water looked inviting and the ride had been a long one.
“Oh come on in! Or are you scared?”
Turning her back to him, she undid the buttons of her shirt and unzipped her jeans. “Turn around and don’t look!”
“Yes ma’am”
Taking a look in his direction and noticing his back towards her,
Stacey took off her boots, shirt and jeans, and running to the waters’ edge, jumped in. The water was cold, but refreshing.
When her head bobbed up, she was greeted with a splash of water in her face, the suddenness causing her to gulp in a mouthful and start coughing. Abe was there immediately, patting her on the back. “Hey, are you alright, sweetheart? I didn’t mean to startle you!”
“Why,” Stacey managed in between a bout of coughing, “do you call me that?”
“Call you what?” The man looked genuinely dumbfounded.
“Pet names. Like Sugar, Honey, Darlin’, and so on?”
“Well now, that’s just the way I am I guess. It’s what I call all women. I don’t mean anything by it or to offend anyone.”
“Oh.” Stacey felt a little put out at the newly imparted information. A small part of her wanted him to see her differently, yet the other part, the married part, kept on telling her it was wrong.
“I
see. No offense taken. I was just wondering.”
“Why do you have clothes on?”
“What? I don’t.”
“Yes you do.” He was standing close. Close enough that she could see his nakedness beneath the water if she but looked down. His one finger hooked around her bra strap, pulled it, and let it go, allowing the offending scrap of material to snap back against her shoulder.
“Well, I can’t swim stark naked!”
Abe frowned as if genuinely puzzled. “Why on earth not?”
“It’s not decent!”
Abe’s head snapped back as he let out a bellow of laughter. When he sobered up slightly, he looked at her steadily, his blue eyes piercing.
“According to whom? Your mother? Society? Friends? Don’t you make your own rules, darlin’, live your own life? Who cares what others think or say? You have one life. Live it on your own terms, not on someone else’s! If you break no laws, what could anyone possibly have to say about anything you do?”
“It doesn’t work like that!”
Abe grabbed her hands and pulled her in deeper. “Life is like this pool in the river. The water is the people and their perceptions. You are the individual. Life and the people in it, keep on moving, every one living their own life in their own little world that they have planned for themselves. Do you honestly think they give a shit about what someone else’s idea of propriety is? They don’t. So what you do, honestly, is of no concern to anyone else.”
Before Stacey had a chance to respond, Abe dunker her. As she came up, spluttering once again and gasping for air, he grabbed around the waist and kissed her. It came so suddenly, she had no time to compose herself, and found herself responding. Their bodies were flush against each other, and even though the water was cold, she felt him against her; hard and insistent.
