Tethered (The Stables Trilogy #2) (15 page)

Yvonne looked wistfully at Ashley. “She’s the closest we’ve seen to my coloring, J.B. Micah’s been trying to breed me, but--”

“So go to a doctor.”

She hissed, “This is how we’ve chosen to deal with it. I want a pony, J.B. For fun. We have a stud already picked out. In fact, if she’s amenable, she can meet him today. We’d be happy to stud him out for free if she’d like to see what she’d be in for.”

“But,” Yvonne continued, only now she was entirely focused on Ashley, “If J.B. agrees to this purchase, your baby would be mine. You’d have everything else you want in return. Comfort. Protection. A mate, if you desire. You’d be a well kept pony with… freedoms most of us do not receive in these contracts. I’m afraid...” her voice pitched higher, tremulous, “that I’m unable to have children of my own.”

“I haven’t said I’d sell her to you,” J.B. wasn’t being subtle now. He was warning Yvonne.

Maple was holding her breath.

It was Ashley who was the deciding vote. She snorted to get J.B.’s attention and stamped emphatically on the ground. Once.
Yes
.

She wanted this deal.

“Fucking hell,” Reece whispered. His eyes were dancing.

J.B. looked at Ashley. “Do you want me to negotiate now?” Two stamps.
No.
“Do you want to try out the stud first?” One stamp. “It will be public, Ashley. Are you sure?”

One stubborn stamp.

“Maple!” J.B. barked. It made her jump, and her eyes locked on to the floor, knowing she was busted for watching the exchange. There wasn’t time to apologize, though. “Dress Ashley. Just a bridle and bit, please.”

Yvonne clapped her hands and practically skipped to Micah. J.B. went over, too, and they began hammering out some specifics in hushed tones. Reece, diabolical jerk that he was, leaned against Ashley’s stall and watched Maple’s every move.

Her skin crawled, but she dressed Ashley quickly. Maple wasn’t a dummy. She knew that a horse being studded meant sex. It blew her mind that Ashley, petulant and angry Ashley, had just agreed to be fucked by another pony in front of people.

That she was considering being a surrogate for Yvonne.

Who were these women? J.B. had rattled off facts about Ashley that sounded beyond impressive. Accountant? She could make her own money. Take care of herself. Spoke three different languages? She could travel. Work for the UN. If she really wanted a husband, Maple had no doubt Ashley could land a politician, or a lawyer, or a doctor, or something prestigious.

What had made her ask J.B. to train her? To throw away everything to become somebody’s property?

J.B. was always pushing Maple to put herself in their places, but she couldn’t. She didn’t want to be a pony, she wanted to be
his
pony. She didn’t want or need a husband, or a caretaker. She just needed J.B. She needed the man who saw into her and didn’t flinch. Like his paintings, he delighted in it.

He didn’t know everything about her.

Maple shuddered as she considered that. Reece obviously hadn’t said anything to J.B. about the snippet he’d overheard. Surprising, considering how he obviously enjoyed stirring the pot. Even now, she felt the burn of his teasing gaze, which managed a perfect balance between malevolence and wonder.

Ignoring him as best she could, she slid the bottle of coconut oil out and showed it to Ashley. The pony girl met her gaze. Ashley’s face was tight, her pupils wide and fearful. Maple raised her eyebrows then looked pointedly at Ashley’s pubis.

One stamp.

It wasn’t much, and it might make J.B. mad, but he hadn’t said she couldn’t do it either. Peeking to make sure he was still engaged with Micah and Yvonne, she unscrewed the lid. She knew Reece was watching, and she’d just deal with that later.

Scooping the some on two fingers, Maple reached between Ashley’s legs and spread it on the girl’s sex.

It was a nicety she didn’t want to think too much on. But ranchers lubed and impregnated cows and horses by hand all the time. If they wanted to treat Ashley as breeding stock, the least Maple could do was make her as comfortable as possible.

Wiping her hand off on her jeans, Maple grabbed the reins and led Ashley out.

“Let’s go,” J.B. said, taking Ashley from Maple. Unsure of what to do, Maple stood, rooted in place, until he snapped, “you coming?”

Chapter Thirteen

Apparently Micah had his own section of stable as well. It was small, containing three horses, all male. Yvonne clucked at the pony boys, grabbing a crop off a nearby table. She went to J.B. and held out her hand.

“No marks, Yvonne,” he growled as he handed her Ashley’s reins.

“No marks,” she agreed as she took Ashley. “Now, pretty pony, I’ll show you your stud.” She led Ashley to the third stall.

In it was a tall man. Giant, even. Over six and a half feet tall, his body was all muscle. Heck, Maple thought, his muscles had muscle. His hair was also red, like Yvonne’s. Maple realized that Yvonne was trying hard for a red-haired child. One that would look like her own.

There wasn’t enough time to really analyze her thoughts about the surrogacy. Yvonne quipped, “Will my stallion do?”

One stamp.

When the stallion was led out, Maple couldn’t help but notice the enormous girth of his cock. It was huge and heavy, and harder than a crowbar. Micah led the stallion, following Yvonne. Maple looked at J.B., but he was avoiding her.

It was Reece who stepped behind her, his fingertips grazing lightly up her spine. Maple shivered and shut her eyes, fighting her body’s arousal. “I think you’ll enjoy this show, Maple. Come along, little stable girl.”

He guided her out.

They were close to a small corral. Around it were several men and a smattering of women, all chatting and drinking.

Waiting for a show.

Maple missed a step; Reece’s hand at her elbow kept her from stumbling. “Careful, Dear. Is this too much for you? Are we corrupting your innocence?”

She shook free of him and threw him the nastiest look she could manage. “No,” he said, “I think this just rings too close to home for you.”

It did. She’d been bound, blindfolded, and gagged. But Maple had been fucked for an audience before. She knew how humiliating it was to be watched. How exciting it was, too.

Yvonne and Micah led their ponies into the corral. J.B. was completely focused on Ashley. He didn’t see Reece hovering around her like a hawk. Teasing her. Trying to provoke her.

Still, Maple didn’t think Reece truly wished to try anything with her. This was his game; he enjoyed making people uncomfortable. Admittedly, she was easy prey.

Now, though, she had J.B. in her corner. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Reece knew it. So instead of shirking him, or treating him like an enemy…

Maybe Reece would be the source of information no one else at the ranch wanted to be.

She gave him an inquisitive look, then found a space for them to stand and watch. One that was dangerously far from J.B. Reece said nothing, but his smile said he was intrigued.

“Is this common? Breeding the horses?” She asked Reece. Her eyes were glued to the stallion. Yvonne had come over and was making quiet commands. Her fingers went to his cock and Maple saw a cock ring slide off. The angry red color of the stallion’s dick faded, but his raging erection remained.

In the clear sunlight, the mark on her back became clear. It was a brand, the skin healed into an angry, shining design. Maple sucked in a breath.

Both ponies were freed of their reins and bridles. Their bits remained in.

“Not as common in the upper echelon of these get-togethers. Bio-equine enthusiasts have all sorts of tastes, though. This is just a part of it.”

Now just the two ponies remained in the corral. The stallion began to close in on Ashley, who took a small step back.

“If this shocks you,” Reece continued, moving close and whispering, “you should see the vet tent. They check these ponies so, so thoroughly.”

Maple bit her lip. Her mind, ever as imaginative as it was destructive, played a fantasy of J.B. as her vet. Checking her teeth. Her vitals. Her temperature. It was like playing doctor, but somehow deliciously more appealing to her.

The stallion’s nostrils flared as he closed in more on Ashley, scenting her. Her lip wobbled a little, but, to Maple’s pride, she stood her ground.

It didn’t take long. This was horse breeding. They weren’t making a movie.

The stallion gripped Ashley’s hips and forced her to turn around. He pushed her until her hands braced on a wooden plank of the corral. One foot kicked apart her legs, a hand shoved her front down, exposing her pussy to him.

When he shoved his monster cock in without preparation, Maple was relieved she’d swabbed Ashley with oil.

“That girl is thanking you right now,” Reece chuckled. She’d forgotten that he’d watched her. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell J.B.”

The stallion was mounting Ashley hard and fast. His hulking body loomed over hers, and he bit into the juncture between neck and shoulder, locking her in place as he plowed into her.

To her credit, Ashley never dropped her pony character, whinnying and grunting while she was ruthlessly fucked in front of an audience. Yvonne’s eyes watched the two hungrily. Maple felt a little sick.

“I need to go back.”

“Too much for you? Let me escort you.” Reece guided her away.

Maple wasn’t sure what to make of what she’d seen. The one thing she’d learned from working with J.B. and the unforgettable night when she’d broken into the stable and discovered his secret was: There’s more than what you get at first glance.

Logically, she knew it was consensual. Ashley had chosen to be led out, was offering her body to be bred.

Maple wasn’t sure if it was the casual delight of the onlookers, or the ease at which these people viewed other humans as property, as amusement, which rankled her more. This wasn’t the caring relationship that J.B. had described in the car.

This was rich people being above their own humanity.

As they made it back to J.B.’s area, Maple was feeling flushed and dizzy enough to sit down. Memory was a powerful thing, and her body was threatening to relive the night with Tony.

“You said this isn’t common,” she huffed. She hoped conversation would distract her.

“I said it wasn’t common with the wealthier buyers here. Unfortunately…” he paused, his forefinger resting on his lips, “Peyton has, well, widened the market. He’s been sending invitations to a variety of people.” His face darkened. “Some people who don’t appreciate the beauty of what happens here.”

“What do you mean?”

It was his turn to snort. “Earlier there were some men looking at my art. I make it for J.B., you know, and he uses it to move his stock. These weren’t gentlemen. They were trash with money. Somehow they finagled an invitation from Peyton, but those men are pigs.”

“Why did Peyton do that?”

Reece leaned in conspiratorially. “His wife discovered him with another man’s fist forearm-deep in his asshole. Their divorce is stripping him of more than half his income.”

Maple’s eyes grew wide at Reece’s crude description. He laughed. “Always get a prenup. Tickets to sell at this event are--”

“Stupid expensive,” Maple interrupted. “Trust me, J.B. made sure I knew.”

“Did he? Interesting.” Maple hated that when Reece said ‘interesting’ it always sounded diabolical. “The tickets for entry are also outrageous, and Peyton gets a cut of each sale. So it
is
in his best interest to have as many buyers as he can. But…”

“But, what?”

“I’ve been keeping my eye on the real patrons. The ones who appreciate the artistry in a properly trained pony. The ones who don’t just treat this as a kinky hobby. They’re not pleased with Peyton’s inclusiveness. Not at all. And they’re the ones who keep this bio-equine showmanship and trade afloat.”

Maple found her breathing becoming easier. It was late afternoon now. The sun had warmed up most of the mansion’s grounds during the day, but it was quickly becoming nippy again. She should make sure the ponies were okay.

She hoped Ashley was okay.

“Why did you attack me at the ranch?” She said it softly; it wasn’t an accusation. Her words hung between them, delicate, holding them together. The wrong answer could fracture everything.

Reece smiled his disarming smile, but he put some distance between them. It was as if the reminder of J.B. placed her in a new, protective bubble. “I’m truly sorry about that. I misread your signals. It seemed like you were flirting with me.”

She bit her lip. “I was, a bit, but only to provoke J.B. Which is something you seem to want to do all the time.”

“We go back a long time. He wasn’t always so stiff, you know. He was way more laid back before.”

“Before Rachel died?” Maple guessed.

Reece raised an eyebrow. “No. Before Rachel, period. She changed him.”

There was something ominous in his tone. A warning, maybe. Inside, her stomach was shrinking, making room for the anxiety that inevitably was storming in. “Changed him for better or worse?” Maple managed, before coughing, embarrassed at her eagerness.

“My God, I bet you drive him crazy. J.B.’s never been a sharer. I don’t mind provoking him, as you say, but I do mind giving away all his secrets.”

Maple shouldn’t have been surprised. If anything, she’d learned concretely that J.B. inspired fierce loyalty. 

“I have one more question, Reece. Since you’re being civil.”

“Sure.”

“What about me told you… told you what kind of girl I am?” She knotted her hands in her shirt. It was scary to ask a question she was one hundred percent sure she didn’t want the answer to. Want and need were two different things. That, at least, had been a lesson Maple had known since childhood.

She’d wanted her parents to show more affection.

She’d needed to leave their house.

She’d wanted boys.

She’d
needed
the pain during sex.

For once, perhaps, Reece seemed to consider being decent. He lost his shit-eating grin and drummed fingertips on lips as he thought. “I’d have to say that you looked willing.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means that even though you cower, and you blush at the drop of a hat, there’s something about you that is willing. And not just for sex. You’re willing to be crushed. Pulverized. It wouldn’t have mattered what fucked up things I’d wanted to do with you, or if you’d said no-- you would have been willing to let me have all of you. Isn’t that true?”

Maple wanted to deny it. And yet… he wasn’t calling her a pushover, either. Willing meant some part of her was choosing.

Men saw her, and they saw a woman willing to choose the darker path.

It wasn’t the answer she’d expected. She’d expected to hear that she was broken somehow. That when he’d looked at her, he’d sensed her frailty. Her timidity and weakness.

The way Reece was explaining it, Maple didn’t feel weak at all. It felt, well, powerful.

“J.B. will have his hands full with you,” Reece smiled. It sounded like a compliment. Maple didn’t blush, and she didn’t twist her hands or look at her feet. She beamed.

“Look, I’ll run and let J.B. know where you are. Hopefully before he punches me in the face again.”

Maple nodded.

She was happy. She felt strong. All of the fear, the anxiety that had come earlier, was flowing out. She could almost float free if she didn’t know that one thing was missing from Reece’s analysis of her.