Coming Together: With Pride (37 page)

I didn't know what to say to that. We'd been meeting at this show for nearly a decade, laying our bodies down together. It didn't matter what was happening at home, who was dating who, or what else was going on in our lives.

Gina bobbed her head toward the ring and broke those red lips into a smile. "So, we doing this, or what?" she said.

"Hell, yeah," I said. I didn't want to think about her not coming back next year.

Darlin' pranced a little beneath Gina, ready to move on. "Good," Gina said. "Then prepare to get your ass kicked, sister."

I wrinkled my nose at Gina and settled my butt a little lower into Sage's bare back. "I doubt that," I said.

For the sit-a-buck class, you ride bareback. Just a fiver tucked between your thigh and your horse. And this particular sit-a-buck class always drew a crowd—it was a jackpot class, meaning if you could keep that bill under your leg, you got to keep the pot. And with the five dollar bills being a solid raise from the normal buck-a-pony, it was usually the fullest class of the show.

I had no worries, even with all that extra competition. Sage was steady as a tabletop, and about as wide—bills stuck to his back like a magnet. Darlin', on the other hand, was a dumb-as-they-come mare who had a reputation for being skittish around anything that shook, rattled, or wiggled faster than a fence post. Damn beautiful animal. Her coat was so shiny red in the sun that she looked more Corvette than horse. She had that fine Arab head, too, soft-as-satin muzzle and those big black eyes with eyelashes most women'd kill for.

But beauty's nothing if you don't have the brains to go with it. Last year, Darlin' tried to take Gina's leg off on a cloverleaf barrel after one of the judges snapped her gum on the sidelines. Gina's knee got all bloodied up from the lip of the barrel. I could have killed that damn horse.

But Gina was loyal if nothing else, and she believed in the good in things, including skittish horses, growling dogs, and hard-assed women.

"You're the one going down," I said.

The truth is, we didn't care who won. We weren't really there for the show. We were there for each other. Not that we'd ever admit it.

Gina gave a grin, that wide smile I'd fallen in love with the first time I saw her.

Darlin' spooked at something and tried to crabwalk into the horse in front of her. Watching Gina's ass in jeans work against Darlin's bare back was killing me. I couldn't tell if it was Sage's wetness seeping into my jeans or the other way around.

I let Sage's reins drop. Showing off his temperament. The way he'd stand still for hours just because I asked him to. "What's the matter?" I asked. "Get spooked by her own leg again?"

Gina twisted her lips sideways. She gave Darlin' a little pat on her prancing shoulder. "Won't say she's the first woman who's gotten spooked by her own leg," she said, looking right at me.

I gave Sage a soft kick, to get him in position. I didn't have anything to say to that.

I leaned over and tucked my five under my thigh. When Gina and I first started riding this class, it was only a buck, like most of them. If you won, and you were lucky, you might bring home a whopping ten dollars. The first year, Gina won, and she bought a bottle of Boone's and some crackers. She had me naked before we'd even opened the crackers.

The first time she took my nipple between her big teeth and twisted, I could feel the shock waves all through my body. Just that mouth on my nipple. She didn't have to touch me anywhere else. She made me beg and beg until, finally, I had to bring my own hand down when I couldn't stand not being touched anymore. She'd sat back and watched the whole thing. It was the first time I'd ever done that with someone else's eyes on me.

I've won the sit-a-buck pretty much every year since and still buy that bottle of Boone's. Although we never open it now. We always leave it in the barn for some groom to help himself to after we're gone.

This year, the stakes were higher. Five bucks a pop meant seventy-five bucks for ten minutes worth of riding. That was something worth working for. You could buy a girl dinner with that. Or a shitty hotel room.

"Alright boy, here we go," I whispered. Sage turned one ear backward, game for anything.

I watched as Gina slid a bill beneath her jeaned thigh. I could practically feel the heat coming off of her and Darlin'. I could, if I squinted a little, imagine that I was that piece of paper going under Gina's leg.

Gina saw me watching, and she winked. Then she dropped her hand into her crotch and cupped it there, like it was just an innocent movement. Like she was reaching to touch Darlin's back. No one would even think twice about that. No one but me. All I could think of was her in the back of my pickup a few years ago, back arched, fingers digging into her lips, legs wider and wider. The shine of her pale skin under the stars… Me just watching… Unable to move until she finally, finally said my name, pulled me to her, with her fingers sticky and wet on my skin.

Sage lurched under me, and I realized we'd started. I squeezed my legs against his sides and kept my eye on the back of Gina's braid.

"Trot!" yelled the judge, and the circle stepped up. Sage had more of a rock than a trot, and I focused on just moving my body with his, hips forward and back, forward and back. It could have been Gina below me, me on top, one hand inside her, taking her backward and forward, rocking.

A few horses ahead of me, a bill fluttered through the air, and a man astride a dappled gelding moved to the inside. The rest of us kept going. Round and round. Canter. A hard gallop. Back to walk. Trot. Fivers fluttered down every couple of turns around the ring. The group of riders in the middle of the ring grew. Maybe thirty or forty bucks were on the ground now.

Ahead of me, Darlin's footsteps quickened. "Shit," Gina said as the bill fluttered from beneath her thigh. I watched the paper fall. Gina gave me a smile, no teeth, and ducked her head. The judge motioned for her to ride Darlin' into the middle. She headed that way, and then, quickly turned Darlin's head toward the gate instead. I watch as Gina talked to the man at the gate, her hands waving in the air. He shook his head. Leaving in the middle of a class wasn't allowed; I knew if she went through the gate, she could forfeit her right to compete in the future.

Sage and I went around the ring again. I held my breath, tightened my legs around Sage so hard that he tried to speed up beneath me. Then Gina slid off Darlin's back and opened the gate herself. She led Darlin' through, not looking back.

In front of us, another bill fluttered. Another horse went to the inside, but I barely noticed. I was watching Gina's back, so tiny next to Darlin's hind-end, walking away. I'd seen her walk away so many times—at the end of each show. I'd never stopped her. And now maybe she was going for good.

The judge had us slow to a walk. My heart kept moving. I could barely feel Sage beneath me for all the thumping up in my throat. I lifted my thigh just a little. The fiver under it stuck for a moment. Sweaty.

I gave it a shove with my finger until it fell onto the ground. The judge gave me a curt nod. I felt the others waiting for me in the middle. Instead, I followed Gina's vanished back as if by radar, through the still-open gate and down toward the place I had last seen her.

Gina was cooling off Darlin' behind the barn by the time I found her.

"You all right?" I asked.

"I will be," she said.

Gina gave me that damned smile again, those little dimples on each side, her teeth sticking out just a bit. I always got the insane urge to lick them.

"That was about the fastest win I've ever seen," she said.

I slid off Sage's back. Started walking him out beside her, as close as I could get to her without Darlin' freaking. My nipples were tight beneath my shirt, moving toward her, already begging for her touch.

"There are still half a dozen idiots back there, duking it out over a fistful of paper," I said. "I couldn't wait. Didn't want to wait."

Suddenly, getting it out there, putting the words in the air for her to respond to or not, I felt better—my heart pounding but no longer galloping in panic.

Gina reached over and took my hand without saying anything. We walked the horses silently for a while to cool them off, the horses' breath slowing, swish of their tails against their thighs, crunch of hooves through the grass.

Wherever I am, those sounds remind me of Gina; the way her nipples bloom into soft, sweet buds when you touch them, the way she tosses her head back when she's about to come, the way she was so damn far away from me that I couldn't remember her taste on my tongue.

We stalled the horses then stood in the sunshine for a minute. I guess I was waiting for a sign, something to tell me what do next. Gina reached her callused palm out to my face, ran it down, scratching my cheek just a little. "You got a piece of hay there," she said.

Those red, red lips came closer. I couldn't bear to close my eyes. I wanted to watch her there, lips against my lips, until I went old and blind.

"Don't stop coming," I said, when our lips came apart.

Gina looped her finger through my belt and pulled me right against her. Gave me that big toothy grin.

"How could I?" she said.

©

www.shannagermain.com

Freedom to Serve

Nicole Gestalt

In the silence that followed the crack of the whip, Jane sighed in pleasure, the kiss of the lashes still tingling throughout her body. She felt Marcus' strong hands gently caressing the welts that marked her now warm buttocks. A finger traced her spine followed by his lips kissing her neck, her body slick with perspiration.

"You did well today, my love"

Jane beamed with happiness at hearing his words and collapsed into his arms as he released the restraints that had been holding her up, her legs no longer able to bear her own weight. He lifted her effortlessly and carried her to the bed.

****

Sitting down cautiously, Jane looked around at the other suited men and women around the table and sighed, wishing she hadn't had to work today. The welts had gone down a little, but there was still just enough of a tingle to remind her of her night with Marcus. She smiled to herself, and then caught herself wishing she didn't work in a place that seemed to be full of people who never allowed themselves such a small luxury. All eyes in the room turned expectantly to the rather large man at the head of the table. Mr. Linderallman was the head of the company, as his father had been before him, although the one or two people who had worked there long enough to remember the first Mr. Linderallman would openly admit that the youngster didn't really fill his father's shoes.

Standing at the end of the table in a suit that looked a size too small for his rather large body, he looked at each and every department head, Jane included. This had been an impromptu meeting, and no one was sure why it had been called, although there had been rumours for some time that the company was haemorrhaging money. So, it was no surprise the faces looking back at him wore expressions of extreme anxiety. Mr. Linderallman took a deep breath, and Jane unconsciously winced in expectation of his jacket buttons flying off. After pausing briefly to wipe his brow, he spoke.

"I know some of you have heard rumours that Linderallman & Hops has been under-performing of late, and I'm sure some of you will have seen the various people being shown around the building. I called this meeting today to say that I have sold the company to Mr. Sullivan. Each of you has a packet in front of you; inside it are details of the changes that will occur. Some of the departments are no longer needed, and I expect you—as heads of those departments—to let everyone know. From this moment on, I am no longer your employer, and I bid you all a good day."