Saddled (The Stables Trilogy #3) (3 page)

Chapter Four

When they entered J.B.'s office, Maple was riddled with doubt. Each hiccup from the day had turned into a bullet, striking her at the core of her hopes.

“Have a seat on the couch.” J.B. gestured briskly. It was much like the first night she'd been there when he had taken her in to discuss paperwork. That had been the night she'd seen his art and saw something in him that was irresistible. That had been the night a connection had been made.

Maple tucked her feet under her on the couch. She wanted to curl into a safe little ball and forget all of the things pressing in on her.

J.B. sat opposite, his legs crossed wide and his hands behind his head. “Is it everything you hoped for?” He was sneering, but there was exhaustion threaded through it.

“Why is she still here?”  Maple asked before she could stop herself.

His eyes narrowed, pinpointed on hers. “That doesn’t concern you.”

You’re wrong about that. She concerns me a great deal. Why didn’t you send her away?

“But she broke the rules,” Maple whined, already knowing how stupid she sounded. She couldn’t help it. Panic was making her weak again. Small and meek. Was it even possible for her to change? Or would she just keep reverting to her old self each time things got difficult?

“You aren't exactly a rule follower yourself, Maple. She at least paid in full for her training in the stable. She filled out an application and had a cover letter with reference. You didn’t have any of those things.”

“You can’t hold that against me now, J.B. You would have thrown it in the trash. You
did
throw my check in the trash. If you hadn't wanted me in that much you would have just said ‘no.’” She balled up tighter. She didn’t want to fight. Not about this. Not about anything.

“Maple, all I've wanted from you is obedience, and I've never had it. What would make me think it would make a difference if I had said no? You would’ve found some way to be in regardless.” This was delivered ice cold and monotone, and her blood froze.

J.B. pressed his palms into his eyes.
He looks so tired
. She hadn’t seen him this worn since, well, ever. “I need to give you a safe word. It is yours alone. If you use it, we’re done. There's no stopping and starting with the safe word. Say it, and you’re fucking gone.”

“I’ve never used one before.” She meant it as a challenge, but the reminder of Tony and his abuse only made sadness and caution skate across J.B.’s features.

How could J.B. not get this? She’d made it clear. She
wanted
this. She wanted him to hurt her. The difference was, before she’d felt ashamed of it. She’d craved his darkest touches and then hated how they ignited her. Now she yearned for the kiss of his whip and his hard hand because J.B. held a different kind of power over her. What pain and weapons he wielded, he wielded to
help
.

Strip away the bad and let me shoot new branches from the quick
, she wanted to whisper.

“Your safe word is Bonnie.” J.B. murmured it, reverent. It was a hurtful choice, but maybe, Maple thought, the best one. Bonnie had been her safe place at the ranch. The comfort and friendship that stemmed from that name bore a solemnity she knew he understood. If she said it, she would truly need to stop.

Next J.B. listed the possible punishments and training tools. She was familiar with all of them and started to brush him off. “Maple,” he said sharply, “These preliminaries are important. If you’re going to do this, you're going to do it my way. So shut up and listen.”

All of the methods and tools he listed did nothing but turn her on. She felt her nipples tighten and her stomach flutter. Soon she was squeezing her thighs together, her pussy flooded with anticipation.

His husky voice growled, “If you start seeking corrections, Maple, I’ll find something that doesn’t bring you pleasure.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” she said meekly, and they both knew it was a lie. For hadn’t she spent so much of her time pushing his boundaries in the hopes of reaping a reward?

J.B. shook his head. “I think you would. I still don't understand why you're doing this.” Now his gruff voice was softened with pain and frustration. “We could have been happy, Maple. I had said ‘yes.’” The word caught in his throat. “Don't you understand? I was never going to consider
anyone
after Rachel died.”

He’d never discussed his wife before; just enough to let Maple know the topic was closed. He’d shoot it down quick. It confused her, tore her in two to hear it now. Was this because of Brie? Was she being stubborn, or worse, just plain stupid?

“I know,” she said, trying to let her heart guide her words. “But we couldn't have been happy for long. I’ve spent so long hiding, J.B. Letting myself get sucked into the darkness. It’s twisted me inside, and until I unravel it, ultimately, I’d be no good for you.”

“Don’t you trust me?” He argued, his mouth growing thin.

She smiled softly at him. “Of course.”

“Then trust that I can love you as you are. You don’t have to be anything else for me.”

Oh, God, she wanted this to be enough. See, she did believe him. Maple absolutely believed that J.B. thought what was he was saying was true. But her gut said it wouldn’t be enough. Not in the long run. Because if they were two halves, meant to connect as a whole, they would fail. Her half was riddled with holes. Frail. To connect now would mean she couldn’t support her end.

It wasn’t until she grew stronger, filled in the holes, reinforced herself, that they’d be ready. “Thank you,” she whispered. “But we’re not ready yet. I… I believe that. Look at your newest paintings,” she offered gently. “They’re full of fear. They feel, well, brittle to look at. How can you be so sure of us, when your art says you’re anything but?”

“That’s not fucking fair, Maple,” he growled, sending a shiver down her spine. “Don’t try and psychoanalyze my work and turn it against me. Of course they’re full of fear! I was never going to let you in!” He pounded his chest, fist thumping hard above his heart. “I had shut myself off!”

Her chest squeezed in response, and she was so, so close to crumbling. “It isn’t just you, though! Don’t you understand? This
thing
inside of me… I’ll do anything, J.B.
Anything
-- if I think it will make a man happy. It thrills me. The worse the treatment, the more horrible the abuse? I keen for it. This is the first decision I’ve made for myself, truly for myself and not just because I was trying to run and hide. Please,
please
stop trying to talk me out of it. It feels right. That’s all I know! But I’m choosing something for me, and I need to see it through.”

“I can’t do it, Maple. You’re asking too much. I can’t have these feelings for you and see you like those women. It’s just too fucking much.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “I made a promise to Rachel. I
swore
to never become attached to any woman I trained. You’re asking me to break that promise.”

“I’m asking you to wait for me. It isn’t the same.”

“It doesn’t feel different. If you do this, I mean it-- I can’t promise I’ll be there at the end. I won’t betray her, not even for you.”

The hurt in the room was palpable. Somehow, in trying to explain their actions, all they were doing was wounding each other. Slicing to the bone, exposing everything. If they kept speaking, they’d be nothing but ribbons, shredded by good intentions.

She nodded and slid off the couch, crawling toward him. J.B. groaned but didn't stop her. As she reach his knees, her hands slid up his legs. His muscles tensed beneath her palms. “I can't bend rules, Maple.” He said it, but he didn’t stop her hands from unbuckling his belt.

“We’re still interviewing. It isn’t official yet,” she murmured. His hard cock sprang from his jeans into her eager hands. “Let me give you this before I go to the stable. Let me show you love. It’s just a gift. A memory, if it has to be.”

She took him in her mouth then, tongue swirling over his glans. She dragged her tongue down the shaft, tasting the salt and musk of him, his velvet skin a sensual contrast to the iron-hardness of his cock.

J.B.’s hands knotted into her hair, squeezing. Her hair was yanked from her scalp, stretching into delightful, painful pricks. She hummed, her mouth full of cock, sliding down to take the whole length of him. The blunt end of his dick pushed against the back of her throat, and he groaned.

Maple slid her mouth up and down, sucking hard, taking as much of his thickness as she could. J.B.’s cock stretched the sides of her mouth, challenging her. But his smell, his fucking beautiful cowboy smell, made her heady. The taste of him only encouraged her. She wanted more.

And oh, he knew her. He knew her so well. J.B.’s hips began to thrust a little, forcing himself down her throat. She gagged and moaned, working hard to keep up. Slobber began to dribble down her chin, but still he fucked her mouth harder, more forcefully. His hold on her hair tightened, and Maple’s eyes rolled.

How could this, their deviant needs, be so full of love? Her jaw ached, she was having trouble breathing, her throat hurt as he pounded into it…

Maple’s heart was full to bursting, weighed down by love for him. Wanting him to take what he needed and more.

“Fuck,” he rasped. “How am I supposed to let you go? Maybe I’ll just tie you up. Keep you for myself.” Her pussy flooded at this, wetness seeping into her panties. It was a potent image. She could imagine herself tied to his bed. Permanent rope burn on her wrists and ankles. J.B. coming in and fucking her, hard and ruthless, whenever the urge hit him.

It was enticing, and he must have thought so, too, because his cock twitched between her lips. His grip tightened more, and he shoved himself all the way into her mouth. Maple’s nose was brushing his body, she couldn’t breathe, but she relaxed as the first spurt of his orgasm hit the back of her throat. Warm, salty and bitter, his come coated her throat and mouth. She sucked and swallowed, wanting every drop of him.

After he released her hair, Maple kept licking, cleaning off every inch of his semi-erect cock. She watched his face, the twitch of his mouth as her tongue dragged along over-sensitive skin. His chest was heaving, but he let her continue her licks and sucks.

Unbelievably, he didn’t grow softer; instead, his cock began to swell again, growing erect as she tongued it.

“Get up,” he ordered. “Strip.”

Chapter Five

She stood, her knees protesting deliciously, and began to take her clothes off. Her fingers worked the buttons of her shirt, slipping them free quickly. She shrugged out of it and let it drop to the floor. “Faster,” he snapped. Maple slid out of her pants, stepping out and standing bare in front of him. “You’re so fucking beautiful,” he snarled, and it made her body tingle all over.

J.B.’s eyes raked her up and down, lingering here and there. He was inspecting her, letting no inch of her skin go unscrutinized. “Allowing you in that stable is such a fucking waste.” It hurt her, this compliment, but Maple said nothing. She didn’t try to hide.

Instead, her nipples tightened under his glare, and her pussy ached, filled with need.

“Come here,” he commanded her softly. She stepped closer, standing so that her legs straddled his. J.B. reached up and parted her sopping folds with a finger. Maple gasped, the touch electric.

“Put your hands behind your back.” She did, grabbing her elbows behind her. It was on purpose-- it gave her the same look the ponies had when J.B. barred their arms behind them. Tits out, back arched.

Two fingers slid inside of her roughly.  She trembled at the invasion. A memory, black and oily, tried to shove forward of another man’s fingers inside of her, the stable, the sour taste of fear in her mouth--

“Stay with me, Maple. You wanted to gift
me
, so stay with me.” J.B.’s gravel tone soothed her and brought her back. She was in his office. She was safe. She wanted him to be touching her.

His thumb circled her clit and she mewled, spikes of pleasure jolting through her. His fingers worked her harder, stroking her hot channel. Standing in his office, naked, speared by his hand, she felt vulnerable and exposed. But the fiery look in his mismatched eyes kept her anchored.

The slow coil of a climax began to tighten inside of her. Her hair slipped over her shoulders, down her back as she leaned her head back. J.B.’s fingers stroked her hard but slow, fully exploring her depths before curving, caressing her on their way out.

Frustrated, she began to rock her hips, her eyes shut tight.

He pinched a nipple, twisting and tugging. The pain shocked her, and she cried out. “I’ll set the pace,” he warned.

Damn, the things this man did to her body. Something as basic, as simple, as finger fucking was like his art; dark, rough, but so intensely sensual she couldn’t help but respond.

“I’ve got your number, Maple,” he whispered softly. “It’s why I can’t fathom your need to go into the stable.” His thumb skimmed her clit again, dancing around it, teasing her. Maple felt insatiable. This was pure, luxurious torture. “You want pain. You want me to possess you.”

“Yes,” she hissed.

“I’m not going to. Not the way you think you want it.”

Maple keened, her body on fire. She needed release. He knew she did. Why wasn’t he letting her come? Or spanking her? Anything to set off the climax that was churning inside, desperate for ignition.

J.B. removed his thumb, and she wanted to cry. He buried his fingers into her, rubbing firm, tight circles on the spot inside that made her scream. Her body felt like it needed to pee, but that impending pressure mixed with the wound-up pleasure in her pussy.

The need to come was overwhelming, but her body refused to commit. It hovered, skirting just below the surface. Everything was a tease; his touch, his words. Hell, the very air seemed to be teasing her, cooly licking at her burning skin.

“If you were mine,” he murmured, mouth descending toward her pussy, “I’d torture you like this. Slow.”

“Uhnnn,” Maple moaned, thrashing her head.

His lips brushed her clit, and she thought she might collapse. “Gentle,” he whispered, breath brushing the sensitive bud.

“Please,” she gasped.

He answered with a delicate lick, his fingers still inside of her, still insistent.

She unravelled, her orgasm exploding through her. No one could do this to her, not even herself. Completely shatter her with just a feather of a touch. Maple cried and writhed on his hand, his mouth, and he obliged, dragging out her climax.

She shuddered as he pulled his fingers from her, folding over. How desperately she wished she could fall to the floor. She wanted to lie and revel in the aftershocks of pleasure.

J.B. had different plans. He stood in front of her, rising from the couch like a god from the deep, his cock hard and menacing again. His face had a singular look of lust on it.

“Turn around and spread your ass for me.” Her mind was cloudy still, but she did as he asked. Heat crept up to stain her cheeks and throat as she exposed her tight backdoor to him. Her fingers shook as they spread her ass, and she gripped her cheeks harder, trying to steady herself.

Maple knew what was coming next, and her breath hitched.

The rough callous of J.B.’s fingers shoved between her legs, slicking through her juices. They slid up to her anus, circling it. Over and over he dragged her body’s arousal up, lubricating her ass with it.

She felt pressure as he inserted a finger into her.

This had always been one of her secret pleasures. As much as she loved being fucked in her pussy, having a cock in her ass was so entirely shameful and debasing that it thrilled her.

The finger probed her, preparing her. Another finger joined it, her ass stretching and burning as it was forced to accommodate J.B. Maple bit her lip as he worked his fingers in and out of her, the slow and rhythmic thrust he’d just used on her pussy.

Soon his fingers were gliding in and out with ease, and they withdrew. The hard bluntness of his cock replaced them.

“I’m going to fuck your ass hard now,” he growled. “So that every hole of yours belongs to me, one last time.”

Maple wanted to reply that it wasn’t the last time, that every hole, every single
inch
of her belonged to him. But instead she grunted as he thrust in, pushing the length of his cock steadily into her.

She was being rended in two, the girth of him splitting as it speared her. Unbidden tears spilled from her cheeks, and Maple screamed in joy and pain. The pressure was almost unbearable, but she wanted more. She needed the whole of his cock inside of her.

He was relentless, never pulling back until she felt his hipbones sharp against her spread cheeks. “Fuck!” She cried out.

J.B.’s hand fisted in her hair, yanking her head back. Her neck was pulled taut, the angle hard. It made it uncomfortable to breathe. His other hand gripped her hip, anchoring her to him. “Touch yourself,” he growled. “Touch yourself now, Maple!”

Her hand reached blindly between her legs. She could feel his balls. When her fingers slid inside of her pussy, she could feel the steel hardness of him in her ass; the thin membrane of her body the only thing dividing them.

Her body was tight, each muscle strained. It was also so completely full. He was in every one of her senses. His control was masterful.

Her fingers felt as he pulled out, and Maple whimpered, needing his hardness in her again. J.B. slammed back in, jerking on her hair and hip. Maple screamed.

The way he fucked her was primal. Brutal. All the soft, gentle prep had been a lie. He took her ass like he owned her. He did. Maple gave him everything. She quaked at his touch. The burning pull and stretch of her ass soon became pleasure as he pounded into her again and again.

She made all sorts of sounds as he ravished her. Screams, cries, pleas. Snorts. Grunts, and finally, as he thrust his cock so far into her that she was sure she felt it in her diaphragm, the whoosh of the air leaving her lungs.

He released her hair, and Maple fell forward. J.B.’s grip on her hips was the only thing holding her up. Her hair dangled and brushed at her knees, her arms hung limp by her sides. He didn’t care. She was just a sleeve for his cock now, a tool for his pleasure.

It filled her with blinding joy.

“Maple, I won’t stop fucking you until you get your hand back on your pussy,” he snapped at her, punctuating every other word with a hard thrust. “Make yourself come.
Now
.”

Deep inside, Maple tapped into a reserve of willpower. Who knew that being ordered to come could become such a burden? Her body didn’t want to obey, but she made it.

Her fingers found their way to her clit, and she began to strum herself hard, matching her rough rubbing with the quick tempo J.B. set.

To her elation, it didn’t take long. She pictured herself as one, long tube for him, mouth to ass, made to be filled with his glorious length. Each thrust was his worship to the shrine of her body, which she had made for him.

The climax was hard, almost painful, as it ripped through her. She felt her ass clench down on J.B., knew it to be true because he groaned behind her. His pace became erratic and then he jerked, slamming full into her.

The hot splash of his seed deep inside her bowels was the most gratifying sensation of Maple’s life.

But, of course, he withdrew. Her body was left a husk, the feeling of hollowness more poignant after having him stretch her backside so.

He pulled his pants up, the zipping sound breaking her heart.