Bliss (36 page)

"Don't exaggerate, Maddy."

"Ha! She doesn't at all exaggerate." Radha kissed Sinclair
warmly on the cheek. "A pleasure."

Madeline looped her arm though Sinclair's. "Come and
have a drink of something cold before you run out to play
with the horses."

The women plied them with fruits and drinks before
showing Sinclair around the large two-story Spanish-style
house. It was a gorgeous space, cool with ceiling fans spinning lazily in every room and walls the color of Jamaican
fruits.

"Hunter is familiar with everything in the stables," Radha
said with an impish smile. She flipped her long braid over her
shoulder as she spoke. "The horses know her. Just have a
good time and come in to see us when you get back."

In the stables, Sinclair watched Hunter with the animals.
She did know what she was doing, greeting each horse by
name and fishing a carrot from the bulging pockets of her
cargo shorts for them. She was gentle and teasing and the
horses responded well to her. The smell of horse, manure,
and leather marinating in the heat made Sinclair eager to
leave the confines of the neatly kept four-horse stable, but as
Hunter soothed the animals with her soft voice and sure
hands, Sinclair, too, became soothed and was content to simply watch.

"Radha and Madeline are very nice women," Sinclair said.

"They are. I knew Madeline when I lived in London. She'd
been unhappy there for as long as I could remember. Only
when she and Radha met did she want to do anything about
her unhappiness." Hunter looked up at her with an odd
smile. "They're good for each other."

"Were you and Madeline lovers?"

"No. But we thought about it. After Radha came on the
scene there was no chance, of course. Love at first sight and
all that."

Sinclair's eyes followed the sleek lines of Hunter's body.
"That's beautiful."

"Yes. It is."

Hunter disappeared into a stall to saddle a quiet brown
horse. The plaque on the door named her Dahlia. She led the
horse out and handed the reins to Sinclair.

"Just hold her gently. She won't bite or anything. I'm
going to saddle up Glimmer and walk them both out."

When she was finished, she quietly took the reins back
from Sinclair and led the horses into the paddock just beyond
the barn door.

"Do you remember much from your teenage riding lesson?" Hunter asked, her mouth a curving tease.

"Only to sit my ass down, hold on to the reins, and follow
the horse in front of me."

Hunter chuckled. "That won't help you in this case, I'm
afraid."

She showed her how to mount on the left side using the
mounting block, how to turn the horse, and how to prevent
Dahlia from galloping away if she saw something tempting
ahead. The height from atop the shifting horse was disconcerting and took some getting used to. Sinclair held the reins
tightly then remembering Hunter's advice, relaxed her grip.

"That's good. Now stay loose in the saddle. Allow her
movements to guide you." Hunter gracefully mounted her
horse without the aid of the mounting block. "Watch me."
She and Glimmer walked around the paddock. The movement of Hunter's hips atop the pale horse was hypnotic. It
wasn't long before Sinclair forgot why she was supposed to
be watching her lover in the first place. She simply stared, admiring the lean and graceful body that swayed in the saddle.

"You watching?"

"Absolutely." Sinclair smiled lazily at her.

Hunter walked Glimmer back to Dahlia's side. "Really?"

"I swear." Sinclair had only enough courage atop Dahlia
to reach out for her lover and slip her fingers through the
ends of Hunter's thick hair. "But I can watch you even closer
if you'd like."

Hunter chuckled and leaned in to complete the motion
Sinclair began, meeting her lips and accepting their moist
warmth. The horses snorted at each other then shifted,
pulling them apart.

"I guess this means that they're eager to get started,"
Hunter murmured with a smile.

"Me, too." But Sinclair was talking about something else
entirely.

They took the scenic route from the Rai-Spencers' densely
green backyard with its acres of grass and fruit trees and color
dappled flowers blazing under the sun. Once they stepped
through the iron gate and crested the rise of the hill, miles of
gold-washed mountain land spread out like a tapestry before
them.

"I don't remember much of this growing up, but my
mother used to talk about seeing the island by horseback all
the time." Hunter and Glimmer moved at Sinclair's side. "She
hated the island, but once she was away it was all she ever
talked about. How could I have loved England when she served
up visions of this," she waved her hand at the vista below
them, "to me everyday?"

They rode steadily down the mountain, ducking their
heads to pass beneath low hanging tamarind trees thick with
vines. Hunter pointed out hidden oases of wildflowers growing in the green forest-the scarlet ginger and bright orange
bougainvillea and white jasmine and red hibiscus. Their colors
were dazzling.

At midday they stopped to eat the sandwiches and water
Hunter brought along in her backpack, leaving the horses to
graze a short distance away on the abundant grass.

"Thank you for doing this for me," Sinclair said, leaning
back against a thick shade tree. "It's been a perfect day."

Hunter bit into her sandwich. "My pleasure."

Sinclair expected some smart-ass comment from her, but
was surprised by Hunter's look of quiet satisfaction and
nothing else.

Even with stops to get food and water for the horses and
to take photos of nearly everything between the Rai-Spencer
house and their destination, they made it down to the beach
well before dinnertime. The sun hung teasingly near the horizon, still full and white in the sky, while under it the
Caribbean Sea sparkled a luminous turquoise. Glimmer and
Dahlia quickly trotted down the well-worn path from the
mountain to the water's edge, eager for a change in terrain.
The horses splashed in the water, kicking up white sand and
seawater on the women's bare legs and arms. They tossed
their necks over the water, whinnying.

"They probably want to play in some water they can
drink," Sinclair said, laughing as another splash caught her.

"Me, too." Hunter slid Sinclair a laughing look. "Food
now, I think."

She and Glimmer led the way to a nearby seaside restaurant. The women tied the horses to a hitching post near a gigantic trough of water and walked in to have a proper dinner.

"Fun times, good company, and food." Sinclair lightly
bumped Hunter's hip with her own as they walked into the
restaurant. "You are, hands down, the best guide out there."

"Of course I am. Wait until you see what I have to show
you when we get back."

"If it involves more of your wet skin then I'm all for it,"
Sinclair said.

They sat out on the deck so they could keep an eye on the
horses while they ate. As Sinclair looked around the restaurant indulging in a bit of people watching, a familiar face
caught her eye.

"Lydia is here."

"Really?" Hunter didn't look up from her menu. "What
are you in the mood for?"

"Something tasty. When was the last time you talked with
her?"

"The day she almost caught us naked at your father's
house." Hunter looked up and saw something over Sinclair's
shoulder that made her grimace. "Damn, I hate dyke drama."
She put her menu down and stretched her lips in a bad imitation of a smile as her ex-girlfriend drew close. "Hullo, Lydia."

"Hey, kids."

Lydia was not sober. She sat down at the table with her
customary grace, but Sinclair could smell the alcohol on her.

"How are you, Lydia?" she asked.

"I'm not really dealing well with my sister's betrayal.
Other than that, I'm fine."

Hunter made a rude noise. "Get over yourself, baby. This
is not about you."

Sinclair stared at Hunter in surprise. Her lover looked annoyed and not in the mood to hide it.

"How can you say that when she took you away from
me." Her voice rose. "I wanted you back."

Sinclair looked down at the table. This was either going to
get really ugly, or it already was.

"I'm not a toy to be-" Hunter stopped and stood up.
"Tell you what, Lydia. Come with me for a second. Let's talk
somewhere private." She didn't look at Sinclair.

The younger woman threw her sister a narrow-eyed look
as she stood up and followed Hunter. People turned to stare
at them and, after the two women disappeared from view,
watched Sinclair to see what would happen next. Sinclair
bowed her head over her menu, annoyed and embarrassed.

"Hello, lovely."

Sinclair looked up to see Hunter's cousin standing near the
table. "Ebony, right?"

"At your service, beautiful lady. I'm pleased that you re member my name." She sat down in Hunter's chair. "So why
is a pretty girl like you sitting here looking so sad? My
egghead cousin put you off already?" She leaned back and
propped her feet up on an empty chair. The silver ring in her
right nipple winked at Sinclair through the tight shirt.

Despite her annoyance, Sinclair chuckled. "No, she hasn't
done a thing to `put me off.' I'm just having a bit of a family
raucous at the moment."

"You mean with Lydia?"

"How do you know about that?"

"She and I came here together." At Sinclair's raised eyebrow, she grinned. "She's trying out some new things these
days." Ebony picked up the menu. "So I guess they're off
somewhere talking, then?"

Sinclair nodded.

"Lord knows how long that's going to take and I'm already hungry." The waitress chose that moment to walk over
to their table. "Perfect."

After they ordered, the two women sat back to watch each
other. Ebony's mouth tilted in a crooked smile. To Sinclair, it
seemed pained.

"I hope you don't feel bad about being a substitute for
Hunter," she felt compelled to say.

Ebony chuckled. "Not at all. I know that girl doesn't want
me. She doesn't want my cousin either. We're both subs.
That's life. At least I'm getting to enjoy the perks of that
arrangement."

"You're both substitutes? What do you mean?"

"For Della. The girl never really got over her. Especially
since Del left her for Hunter." Ebony shrugged. "I don't get
that. A woman dumps me, I move on. Not try to fuck the girl
she left me for just to prove something."

Things suddenly became a little clearer. "But why is she
still stalking Hunter if it's Della she wants?"

"Don't ask me to explain the minds of crazies, my lovely."
She looked up when the waitress came back with their food, the large tray almost overflowing with the lobster dinner, its
various side dishes, and Sinclair's rather modest crab cakes
and seasoned rice. "Ah! I've been looking forward to this all
day. 55

The two of them were well on their way through their
meal when Hunter reappeared, minus Lydia. She sat down
and greeted her cousin with a nod. "Sorry about that."

"No problem, Hunt. We made the best of it despite being
abandoned by our dates." Ebony scraped the last bit of lobster from the collection of shells on her plate and forked it
into her mouth. "Where is Lydia anyway?"

"I left her in the parking lot. She might come back in here,
but she might not."

"Then I guess I better go find her." Ebony finished her
glass of wine and wiped her lips with the napkin before
standing up. "Good to see you again, Sinclair." She looked at
her cousin. "If you want to keep this one you should start
acting better." She bared her teeth at Hunter. "Later."

Sinclair nibbled on her rice. Hunter slowly turned to face
her, her mouth twisted into a less than humorous expression.
"I really am sorry about that. But her childishness was really
getting on my nerves."

"And that's all, huh?"

"What more could there be?" Hunter brushed her thumb
across Sinclair's bottom lip. "You had some ... sauce on
you." She licked the speck of white off her thumb. "Is it too
late for me to get something to eat?"

"Maybe. How late do you want to keep the horses out?"

"Good point. I'll just grab something to go." She raised
her hand for the waitress.

They rode back into the mountains with the sun chasing
them all the way. Hunter's teasing slowly melted away whatever misgivings Sinclair had about the long talk she'd had
with Lydia. She even offered to share her chicken sandwich,
laughing when the slight woman ate most of it, saying that it was Hunter's fault that she had been too keyed up at the
restaurant to eat.

"I didn't know that Della and Lydia used to be together,"
Sinclair said as they trotted up the mountain.

"Me either until fairly recently." Hunter slid her an ironic
look. "Small world, isn't it?"

Sinclair nodded. "Ebony was just telling me about that
whole mess. Are you OK with it?"

"Yes. I have to be. When Lydia and I talked at the party a
few weeks ago, I found out that this thing ... was never really about me. Lydia still loves Della. And with all that going
on she could never make love with me, much less love me.
You know?" Hunter stared straight ahead as her body moved
like a graceful metronome in the saddle. "That's why it made
me so angry today that she was attacking you for stealing me,
someone who she never really wanted." She shook her head.
"Women."

Sinclair's eyes caressed the other woman's profile. "You're
the one that I want," she whispered. "No other."

Ahead of them, the mountains were beginning to catch
fire. The gold of full sun gave way to the stunning brilliance
of sunset, steeped in shades of amber and orange and red.
Beside her, Hunter, too, was draped in fire, her darkness
haloed and magnified and magnificent as she rode quietly at
Sinclair's side with her mouth curved in a faint smile.