To Love and Protect (23 page)

"I was
thrown
off. There's a difference."

"If you say so."

"Okay, smarty-pants, where did
you
learn to ride? Maybe you can teach me a thing or two."

"I took riding lessons as a kid. I was one of those girls who always loved horses. When you're around horses at a young age, you get to understand their behavior and know what to expect without having any fears. A horse wants you to be in charge. If he thinks you're weaker than he is, he'll play all kinds of tricks on you because he figures you're lower in the pecking order."

"I
am
lower in the pecking order," Matt insisted. "This horse could kick my butt!"

"True, but he doesn't know that unless you give him those signals. I'm not saying you have to be physically hard on him. In fact, that's not the way to be at all, even, though that's how some people try to keep horses in line. But mutual respect always works better than fear. Think of them as the equine equivalent of Clara the Psychic Cow.  They know what you are thinking."

"Yeah, okay Doctor Doolittle."

"Okay, Sitting Bull."

Matt smirked. "Why did I ask you to come out here with me? Remind me before Mutt throws me off and I finally have some sense knocked into me."

Shelley snickered. "All right, I'll behave."

"You know, I'm kind of surprised you don't have a few horses yourself, especially now that I know how much you love them. You certainly have the land."

"We were going to get a couple−" Shelley stopped, biting her lip.

"Go on," Matt urged. "You and your husband were going to get some horses, is that what you were going to say?"

"Yes," Shelley said quietly. "We had talked about it and even hired a building contractor to put up a barn. But then Ted was killed and ... well, you know the rest. After he died, I just didn't have the will to go ahead with the plans. It was something we had wanted to do together, you know?"

Matt was silent, his strong chin jutting out from beneath his hat like a true cowboy. "I can really picture you having some horses around," he finally said, looking straight ahead. "Galloping in the fields, your long hair flying in the wind..."

He turned to Shelley, his eyes meeting hers. "Maybe someday you'll get that desire back to have some horses around."

"And maybe someday I'll have someone to gallop around the fields with me."

"You'll probably want someone who's a real cowboy, huh?" Matt asked, clearly waiting for Shelley to tell him otherwise. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

"Definitely. The kind of guy who could take a nap on his horse in mid-trail because he's so at ease."

Matt shook his head. "You're a tough cowgirl to please."

"You know I'm just teasing you, right?"

"Yup.”

"Good. Because I'd hate to upset you so much that you fall off Mutt."

Matt turned to Shelley and grinned. "I'm glad I brought you here today, even though you're driving me crazy."

Shelley maneuvered Jeff, her chestnut quarter horse, closer to Mutt so that she could lean over and kiss Matt in mid-stride. The fact that Matt was bumped up an extra foot on Mutt did present a degree of difficulty, so she stood up in her stirrups as he bent his head lower to meet her halfway.

"I'm glad you brought me here, too."

Another kiss, and Shelley felt desire kick in that brought her back to their passionate encounter in the far corner of the Hearth and Kettle.  Except the chairs they now occupied were bobbing up and down.  Their eyes met, an unspoken declaration that the best was yet to come.

As a section of the trail widened to a one-lane, dirt road, Shelley felt her adrenaline kick in as she contemplated picking up the pace. Responding to her non-verbal signals, Jeff suddenly swung his head and began trotting, with Shelley gently urging him into a canter. "Race you!" she yelled to Matt, who was already left behind in the dust.

Several moments later he was at her side, with Mutt vying for the lead.
"Isn't this fun?" Shelley yelled over the thundering of hooves.

"It will be when I pull ahead!" Matt shouted back, leaning forward in the saddle with the sudden skills of a barrel racer.

Matt wasted no time teasing her about his win on the trail as they walked the horses in a circle in front of the barn to cool them down before bringing them inside.

"Oh, come on,” Shelley said as she rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. “I
let
you pull ahead of me. I knew your ego couldn't take it."

Matt laughed his deep, hearty laugh. "You just can't admit that you lost, can you."

"Nope.”

As they silently untacked the horses and brushed them down in the barn a short time later, Shelley couldn’t help but feel that there was a third unspoken presence in their midst – the mutual desire that had yet to be fully addressed and was growing exponentially. As if reading her thoughts, Matt suddenly looked over, his deep brown eyes locking onto hers. His sleeves were rolled up and a five o’clock shadow was setting in, making him almost achingly sexy. He released Mutt from the crossties and led him into his stall, and Shelley soon followed suit with Jeff. As he contentedly grazed at the hay pile, she closed the stall door and turned around, taking one half step square into Matt’s solidly rugged body.  “Geez, you scared me!”

Matt brushed a lock of hair aside from her eye.  “Jumpy, are we?”

Kiss me, you fool,
she said in her mind, but the thought was only half finished before he pulled her close into a passionate kiss. She had been waiting to return to this moment ever since it had been interrupted the previous night, and her body responded as if there had been no lapse in the desire that had been building from the restaurant and then to the parking lot. As Matt effortlessly hoisted her up off the ground, she wrapped her legs around his waist.  After a playful squeeze of her buttocks as he held her in place, his eager eyes quickly scanned the barn interior.  “Maybe we should wait until we’re back in the guest room tonight.”

As Shelley gripped him tighter with her legs and kissed his neck, he added, “Or not.”

With determination in his stride, he headed to the end of the barn, swinging the tack room door open with one hand as they both peeked inside. The sharp aroma of leather wafted towards them, and the dusty wood floor looked anything but cushioning.  The grain room door was flung open next, bare save for several large tin barrels lined up against the wall.

Shelley leaned in for a kiss.  “Hurry, cowboy.”

“Don’t you worry, little lass,” Matt replied with his best twang as he whirled them both around and headed for an empty stall that was used to store bales of hay.  He eyed a thick pile of loose hay in the far corner. “I think this is as good as it’s going to get,” he said, cradling the back of her head as he pulled her in for a lingering kiss.

“Mmmm,” she purred in appreciation, releasing her grip as Matt lowered her downward.  She closed her eyes and gently fell back into the pile of hay, its sweet-smelling softness cocooning her body.  Opening her eyes, she held Matt’s stare as he unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a perfectly chiseled chest that matched his powerful arms.  He kicked off his boots and then reached over and pulled off her own, tossing them to the side. As she lifted her sweater, he helped pull it over her head, stealing a kiss before watching with a heated admiration as she removed her bra.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said quietly as he ran his fingers through her hair. Another round of fumbling with buttons and zippers, and their jeans landed in the pile of boots and shirts.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment,” he said as he draped himself over her and kissed her neck, sending shivers of anticipation through her body.

“About as long as I have,” she said softly, drinking in the heat of his skin as it melted against hers, an instant buffer against the drafty barn air. She closed her eyes as she explored his body with her touch, the smooth tautness of his chest, the shallow waves of muscles that rippled across his back. She couldn’t imagine too many circumstances that would make her feel more vulnerable than making love to someone for the first time, and yet she felt utterly safe and protected as her body melded with Matt’s – just as she had since the moment they met.  As he cupped her breasts and ran his tongue over her hardened nipples, she moaned and dug her hands into the hay pile, crunching strands in her fists as her desire grew to a peak that was almost painful in its quest to be fully released.  He pulled his body upwards, and she cradled the back of his head as they kissed long and deep, their tongues intertwining and dancing in sync. Impulsively, she slid out slightly from under him and pushed against his shoulder, but quickly realized it would be easier to move a stone ledge than to reposition his rock solid body.  Still, he yielded to her cue and turned onto his back.

“It’s your turn to roll in the hay,” she said softly with a hint of tease.

He reached over and pulled her on top of him in one fell swoop, grabbing her buttocks and gently squeezing them as her chest brushed against his and she kissed and nuzzled his neck.

“I want to feel even closer to you,” she whispered, though their bodies were already so close that a feather couldn’t be slipped between them.

“I think I can help you with that,” he said, guiding her hips back until the spot that craved him most met with his hardened desire. She slowly rubbed against him until she could take it no more, and as he entered her powerfully and yet gently, she arched her back and they rocked together, the warmth inside of her growing into waves that exploded into such a full-body frenzy of pleasure that she cried out just as Matt audibly gasped for air.  Almost immediately, Mutt popped his head over the stall divider, no doubt curious as to the source of the ruckus beside him. The sight of his huge head swiveling to get a better view below sent Shelley toppling off Matt in a heap of laughter.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she landed on her back and in his arms. “It’s not exactly the most fitting way for something like this to end.”

But Matt was too amused himself to accept her apology. “Actually, considering how a dog basically brought us together, there’s something almost perfect about this ending with a horse.”

As she snuggled up to him and buried her head in his chest, he scratched the back of her head.  “Can I tell you again that I love you?”

She froze, waiting several moments for her breath to return. “Again? Was I sleeping the first time you told me?”

He lifted her chin towards him, his eyes half closed in contentment. “I guess I’ve said it too many times in my head that I figured it must have already slipped out once or twice.”

She grinned, then kissed him softly. “I love you, too.”

Laughter erupted once more as Mutt’s sudden high-pitched whinny reverberated through the barn. As the cool air rippled over her skin, tickling her as it carried away the heat that had peaked just minutes before, Shelley closed her eyes and realized that for the first time in a while, her mind wasn’t filled with worry about how something unbelievably good could be taken away from her in an instant.  Instead, she was savoring all that she had in the moment − nothing before and nothing after.  As Matt pulled her even closer, kissing the top of her head as it rested on his chest, she smiled at the realization that she had finally turned a corner … and she was leaving the past – and all it sorrows − behind.

THIRTEEN

“Ken called this morning and wanted to make sure we had a nice visit over the weekend,” Matt said as he stood across the treatment table from Shelley.

She looked up from examining Carly’s scarred hindquarter. “I hope you told him we had a great time.”

“Of course – but then he said he figured that much after we came back from the barn and you looked like you had wrestled with a scarecrow and half of him ended up in your hair.”