Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Rebel

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.”

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.