Tethered (The Stables Trilogy #2) (8 page)

And of course, he couldn’t not say anything. “He did this to you, didn’t he?”

It wasn’t really a question, because they both knew it was true. “He was pissed about Bane.”

Raúl grunted noncommittally. “I’m sorry I said anything, then.”

I’m not
, she thought as she remembered J.B.’s rough fingers on her clit. Something cold and lavender-scented swiped across her thighs. She cried out, letting the mattress muffle the sound.

“Sorry. Witch Hazel and some lavender. It can act as an astringent.”

It took Herculean effort not to writhe and roll her hips as he worked. Maple tried not to think about the fact that Raúl was just staring at her bare ass right now. He was looking at where J.B. had marked her. She tried not to think about where those marks had come from, because she couldn’t afford to get majorly turned on.

As his fingers started to spread a new, cool gel on after, Maple couldn’t help but moan. It
did
feel better. Whatever he was coating her cuts with had a numbing agent. Blissful relief spread under his confident touch.

“How do you know about this?” His lack of surprise was startling.

“Mariela.”

Wincing, Maple popped up on her forearms and twisted to look at him. Inside, envy was coming out of its cage, teeth gnashing and ready to shred her from the inside out. “He hit her?” She wished the question didn’t come out so strangled sounding.

He wouldn’t meet her eyes, instead focusing on his work. “Only once. Remember when I told you Mariela tried to help him? Like you are?”

She nodded. “Well, I don’t know how far it went. She’s my sister, so I kind of don’t want to know. But I know that I saw her after he whipped her, and I went crazy.”

Smearing more ointment on, his thumbs began to rub absent-minded circles into her ass cheeks. It felt a little too good, but Maple didn’t want to interrupt his story. “What then?”

“He’s my boss. My friend, sometimes. I look up to him in a lot of ways and--”

“You don’t question him.”

This did earn her a sharp glance. “Right. But I warned him not to lay a fucking hand on my sister, or we’d be done.”

“He could have kicked you out. Or had you deported.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Mariela’s all I’ve got, though, and damned if I’m going to let her be whipped by some son-of-a-bitch in mourning.”

The thumbs began to work deeper, forcing Maple to shift away. She rolled off the bed and pulled her pants up. “This was right after Rachel died?”

“Yeah.”

“It wasn’t that long ago, was it?”

“No.”

“What about Mariela? What did she want? Did she… did she want J.B.?”

Raúl flopped back on his bed, resting his hands behind his head. “Nah, she didn’t want him. She was trying to find a way out, and thought if he’d teach her, maybe she could start her own business.”

“How would that even work?”

He smiled. “No offense, Maple, but just think about it. While the women sign up for that crazy shit, the business isn’t exactly something where legality is a concern. Mariela could make a killing, and no one would give a damn about her nationality. She was so pissed when she found out I’d said something. But I’m content here.”

“So that’s why J.B. turned her down.”

Raúl shut his eyes. “Yeah. That, and I think he knew he was just trying to hide from his grief.”

Maple shifted around. Her skin felt much better. The numbing agent made moving tolerable, and her backside didn’t feel as hot, either. “What was Rachel like?”

She was prying again, but she couldn’t help it. Plus, she was so relieved to hear about Mariela and J.B. Maple needed to get her jealousy under control. Wasn’t she here because of his attention in the first place? And hadn’t he just whipped her--

Raúl never answered. Deep snores filled the room. Smirking, Maple covered him and left quietly, her mind filling with new questions.

She wished sleep came as easily for her as it did for him.

Chapter Eight

“Tonight I want you to watch me, Maple.” J.B.’s low timber pulled her from her thoughts. He didn’t look at her as he said it, and she felt her pulse quicken. Just the two of them?

Maple had spent the day worrying about Bonnie. The horse seemed normal, loving on Maple and trying to nose out more carrots from her pockets. The stumble had hopefully just been a fluke. It was hard to admit, but it was probably time to retire Bonnie from all rides, even the gentle ones.

“Um, okay?” His eyes narrowed. “Okay! I’m watching you.”

Something was changing between them, and Maple liked it.

Frowning, he led out the pony girl named Eden. Eden had long, straight, shiny, black hair. Her body was willowy, with tiny breasts that gravity would never claim.

“There’s going to be some important customers at the show. Wealthy. I figure if you can cut down my time getting the ponies ready to present, I can make the sale better.” Eden whinnied, pleased at this.

You’re hopeless, you know
.
Just because he made you come doesn’t mean he wants you. He didn’t let you touch
him
, did he?

He didn’t. In fact, while she came hard, J.B. had taken no pleasure from her. Hadn’t forced her to please him. Or asked. Nothing. Just fucked her with his hand, forcing her to feel the rawness from the switch as he did, and then kicked her out.

“Show me what to do,” she mumbled, stepping next to Eden. She tracked each piece of hard wear as he slid, strapped, and cinched it on. Bit. Then bridle. Followed by a body harness. This was the first time she’d seen it put in full use. Leather straps decorated Eden’s elegant, slim shoulders. They tightened around her small breasts, then dropped and wrapped around her torso and hips. A bar was slipped through loops in the harness behind Eden. Her elbows hooked over it and it nestled in their groove. J.B. cuffed her there, locking her arms behind her. This forced her back to arch and her chest to be thrust forward. It was simple and beautiful.

Finally, Eden bent at the waist, preparing to be tailed.

Maple was familiar now with the steel plugs. The hair that flowed from them had been dyed to match each woman’s hair, creating the illusion of mane and tail. Up until this point, Maple had only removed and cleaned the tails. Now J.B. expected her to learn how to put them in as well.

She should have been paying closer attention to his hands as they grabbed the tail and a large bottle of lube. He squirted a large amount on the steel plug before positioning it at Eden’s puckered hole.

J.B. was saying “Because the ponies wear the tails so often and for so long, there isn’t much resistance when you--”

But Maple wasn’t really listening, and she wasn’t paying attention as he began to push the tail in. The sounds of Eden’s grunts didn’t register much, either. Her focus was completely on J.B.’s face as he tailed the pony girl.

It was blank. There truly was no emotion in it as he shoved a steel plug up this girl’s ass. He could just as easily be teaching her how to clean a toilet, or how to write with a pencil. Like this was an everyday common activity.

For him, though, it was.

The thing that bruised her, though, was that it was the same face that had brutally brought her to orgasm. No emotions.

Maple shivered.

He handed her the reins. They felt light and soft in her hands.

“Lead her on the left. Go to the cone, execute a turn, and come back.” The riding crop in his hand was tapping against his well-muscled thigh.

Clucking, Maple began to walk and Eden followed. The pony girl’s knees lifted high before she stamped down. It was an elegant, and truly equine, gait. Gripping the reins more firmly, Maple set a slow showman’s pace. Eden responded well to the gentle tugs on the reins.

As they approached the cone, Maple held a rein in each hand. She tugged gently with just the left, turning Eden. It was a little awkward, and Eden stumbled a bit.

The stumble woke up Maple’s worry about Bonnie. She’d been caring for the old horse long enough that she knew to listen to her gut. Her gut told her something was wrong. Visions passed by of all the times Bonnie had listened to Maple’s problems. Maple loved nothing more than when she could bury her face in the horse’s long, warm neck. Feeling the pulse of Bonnie’s heart pressed against her cheek was reassuring.

The ranch had become a home for Maple, albeit a strange one. She managed to feel completely at ease there, like she belonged. This was due to the dependability of her schedule and taking care of the stable. Having a purpose each day and being able to see the rewards of hard work each night was validating. It helped her forget that she had made so many bad decisions. That she had blood on her hands.

Then again, the ranch also had J.B. The torrent of lust and desire she felt for him was only made murkier by not knowing how he felt about her. He managed to bring out the things in herself she most wished to hide and make them feel, well, okay. Like the whipping, which should have been a shameful and decidedly
wrong
way for an employer to punish an employee.

It had been excruciating bliss.

Bonnie was her homing beacon. Reliable, beautiful, gentle. When Maple’s frantic mind was racing, or trying to descend into darkness, or so infatuated with J.B. that the rules he set threatened to suffocate her…

Bonnie brought her back to herself.

Now, though, a sharp lick of the riding crop on her arm yanked her to the present.

“Maple, what are you doing? I said take her to a trot!” J.B. was watching her carefully, his eyebrows pressed together.

Shifting to a jog, Maple clucked again and repeated the trip to and from the cone with Eden at a trot. To her credit, Eden managed without showing the exertion on her face. It couldn’t be easy, trotting with that silver plug settled deep inside her.

As they tried the turn, Maple tugged too hard on the reins, jerking Eden forward. The pony girl tripped and fell to her knees, crying out.

“Oh no! I’m so sorry!” Maple dropped to a crouch beside the girl, ready to help her up.

“Hands off, Maple. Get up, Eden.”

It was a struggle not to help. Because Eden’s arms were locked behind her, she had to carefully stand, her legs shaking. As the pony girl managed, Maple saw the bright red slashes on the woman’s knees.

J.B. must have seen it, too, because his look grew decidedly stormy. “You’ve marred the stock, Maple.”

Eden glared and stamped. It wasn’t hard to see that she was pissed off.

Maple couldn’t blame her. The amount of money Eden had paid to be trained by J.B. was more than Maple had ever seen in her lifetime. All of this training, living as a horse, learning to serve and obey-- it was all for one goal. Being purchased. Hopefully married off, but at the very least, set for life.

And now Maple had skinned her knees.

“Take Eden to her stall. Undress her, clean her, and then we need to have a fucking chat.”

Wordlessly, Maple led Eden away. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. Yet again she’d made him mad. This was becoming par for the course. Since she’d been working in the human stable, she’d been making small adjustments to how J.B. had it set up. So far he hadn’t complained about her changes. One of those was keeping a first aid kit in each pony girl’s stall. It was overkill, probably, but she felt better knowing the women had basic first aid available to them all the time.

It took her longer to undress Eden than J.B. had taken to dress her. Her fingers fumbled as she worried about the chat with J.B. Maple doubted it would be like the “talk” in his office. Damn it, she needed to focus! He’d told her to pay attention, and instead she’d let her worry and her thoughts take her away!

Stupid, stupid, stupid
.

When Eden was free from everything, including her tail, Maple brought out the first aid kit. Alcohol pads cleaned the knees, though Eden stamped once or twice in frustration and pain. Then Maple gently applied an antibiotic ointment. The tub said it helped to speed healing and minimize scarring as well. Hopefully that was the case.

She didn’t feel connected to the pony girls the way she did to the real horses, but she didn’t want to ruin their futures either.

After sticking band aids on Eden’s knees, she decided to take one extra moment and try to earn the pony girl’s forgiveness. She grabbed the brush that was kept with Eden’s grooming tools and began to gently brush out the long, black hair. Maple’s own mother had brushed her hair growing up, and it had been one of her nicest memories.

Her parents weren’t big on affection. But Maple’s honey blond hair had always been one of her loveliest features, and her mother had always taken the time to help her care for it.

Now her hand passed in long, soothing strokes down Eden’s hair. If it caught on a snag, Maple would grip the hair just above it and gently work out the knot, being careful not to tug on the woman’s scalp. When the brush could pass effortlessly through, the black hair was shining and soft, falling gently over Eden’s shoulders and back.

Maple patted Eden’s cheek. The pony girl leaned into it.

Forgiven.

Now it was time to face J.B. He was sitting at the desk he kept in the stable. Standing behind him, she waited.

And he didn’t hesitate to make her wait. For a long time she stood silently, watching him read through papers and jot down notes. Finally, when her feet felt like she was hovering on pins from inactivity, he turned his attention to her. “What’s going on tonight?”

Her eyes opened wide. She’d expected him to launch into her. Berate her in front of all the pony girls. Scold her and humiliate her.

Normally, she’d want that. The sick part of her that enjoyed being shamed would be shouting for joy. But this time her screw ups weren’t because she felt defiant or wanted to provoke him. They was because she was worried.

“I don’t think Bonnie is feeling well.” Her voice cracked as she said it. Her throat was tight, trying to hold the tears in.

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “Why do you think that?”

“I took her on a small ride with Raúl, and she stumbled. When I took her in for the night it just felt… different.”

“She’s old, maybe she just can’t be ridden anymore.”

Maple sighed. He was saying all the things she’d been telling herself to make it better. It didn’t feel better. “I know. It just feels like maybe there’s more to it.” It sounded dumb as she said it. Maple couldn’t help feeling young and scared. In need of a hug and someone to say it would be okay.

She was talking to the wrong person for that.

“Okay. I reckon I better get a vet out here, then.”

She nodded, unable to speak. J.B. was listening to her. It was all she could ask for, really. The aching need for comfort would just have to be found elsewhere.

“Finish up here, tonight. We’ve got the auction in a couple of days.”

This startled her. “So soon?”

“Yep. The ponies are as ready as they’ll ever be. It’s you who needs training now.”

Despite all her worries, this elicited a shudder. “W-what do you mean?”

“I mean I need you to learn how to dress them quick and walk them around so they look good. The buyers who come look at the merchandise at all times, Maple, not just when I’m showing them. So you’ll need to learn quick, because I’ll be counting on you.”

“I pick up things fast,” she said, hoping to reassure him. When he’d praised her for being comfortable in the stable it had pleased her. She wanted him to trust her with this, too.