Rocky Mountain Rebel

Chapter Seven

Maybe he should have worn a cup. The flash of rage in her eyes shocked him with its intensity.

Then, in the next breath, all was calm. She stared at the floor, her shoulders shaking slightly. “I’ll shovel shit forever to avoid the actual horses.”

Joel grabbed his own shovel. “Well, it might not be the method they’d use at some fancy training school, but you said to teach you what I know. I’ve hung out in these barns since I was little, following my dad and brothers. Taking care of the animals and doing chores. I didn’t start with the big smelly beasts.”

She lifted her head and smiled as she clung to the shovel handle, using it to hold herself vertical. “You gonna call them that all the time now, just to tease me?”

He grinned his answer. “For the next while we’ll take it easy. You got until May to get ready, so there’s no rush, right?”

She eyed the line of stalls warily. “I’m gonna be working full time. I can’t be over here doing your chores every spare moment I get.”

“No, you’re not. ’Cause you and me are also going on the town. Plus spending other time together.” Her pulse quickened—he saw it in the curve of where her neck and shoulder met. Hell yeah, his body tightened as he considered what was coming in the days ahead. “You’re going to get used to the animals slowly, and every time you accomplish the next task, you get a reward.”

His sister-in-law had been right. Everyone liked an incentive, and by the way her eyes lit up, it seemed Vicki was no different.

“What kind of things you got in mind?”

“We’ll make some of them up as we go along. Today? You get this task done and I’ll give you a surprise.”

“You’re not even going to tell me what it is?” Her lower lip was out, and it was so damn adorable he nearly reconsidered.

“I can tell you you’ll like it.” He hoped she’d like it. This part of the planning was worse than figuring out what lesson to give her with the horses.

He wanted to lift her to the top of the railing and consume her like a feast. Kiss her until she gasped for air, hold her squirming self to his body and let her rub all over until his cock gave up aching.

Going slow was necessary for dealing with the horses, but hell if going slow sexually wasn’t going to kill him.

Her nose wrinkled. “Okay, teach me, but don’t try to tell me this doesn’t stink.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Joel showed her where to find the latch to open the gate. He moved a wheelbarrow into position. “Just think. When you go home after a long day of work, wouldn’t it be nice to have a clean bed and a cool drink waiting for you?”

“You got French-maid fantasies. Nice.”

He laughed. “While you’re missing the French-maid costume, you do get to make beds.”

He showed her how to clean the mess into the wheelbarrow, then he pushed it outside for her the first time.

“Oh, man.” Vicki fanned a hand in front of her face.

“Come on.” He left the full barrow for a moment and walked her around to the garden side of the manure pile. “This part doesn’t smell as much. It’s wonderful compost now that it’s aged. We turn it over in the fall and by the spring it’ll be ready to be worked into the garden.”

Vicki raised a brow before a full-fledged snicker broke free.

“What?”

She clutched her hands over her chest dramatically and stared into the sky. “Be still, my beating heart, for I am a-swoon with delight. My new boyfriend showed me a compost pile.”

Joel smirked. “It’s one of the ‘little things’ you’ve always wanted to experience, admit it.”

Her eyes sparkled. “It’s been on the list forevah. What other secrets you gonna share while we toil with the behind-the-scenes shit?”

“Ha ha. Watch and learn, my young Padawan.”

Joel helped her empty the heavy wheelbarrow, then took her to the pile of shavings to fill up a load. She tipped the bedding to the floor in her cleared stall, but barely got the oversized contraption back to vertical.

“I don’t suppose you have any junior-sized barrows?”

Joel shook his head.

She spread the shavings with the pitchfork, a little awkward with the length of the shaft compared to her arm reach, but she didn’t complain. Joel watched her for a minute to make sure she had it, but cleaning stalls wasn’t rocket science, so he went back to work as well.

They continued at their tasks, chatting over the stall walls. Joel had a good time working alongside her. For a novice, she did a decent job. Never complained, didn’t take breaks or try to shortcut. She put her back to the task, wrinkled-nose expression firmly in place, and got it done.

She’d gone quiet in the past ten minutes. Still bouncing, but her energy directed toward finishing. And the expression on her face when he caught a glimpse was no longer as if she were holding her breath, but more as if she was having fun.

Well, what do you know?

They finished about the same time. Joel stepped behind her as Vicki laid a hand on the sidewall of the stall and leaned in. She breathed deeply, and he laughed.

Vicki twisted. “Fucking hell, can we put a bell on you or something?”

“I must be seeing things, because I coulda swore you just sniffed the wall.”

She gave him a hesitant smile. “Okay, it doesn’t stink so bad anymore, so I was, you know, curious. How can it make that much difference we hauled the shit out and, voila, everything is roses?”

“It’s the new bedding. We replaced one scent with another.” He took the pitchfork from her and put it aside. “Admit it. It smells good now.”

“I’m not going to go that far.” Vicki shook her head. “If you bottled eau de barn, I doubt it would be a big seller.”

“You’d be surprised.”

“Speaking of surprises…” Vicki held up a hand to put her work on display. “I finished, boss. What do I get?”

He tugged on her sweatshirt sleeve. “Take this off.”

Eyes going wide, Vicki grabbed the bottom and lifted it over her head without a word. As her tank top came into view, Joel decided life was damn good. This might be a reward for her, but he was going to enjoy it too.

He tilted his head toward the stall where they stored extra hay to have it conveniently on hand. The pile was running low, leaving only a few bales, which was exactly what he needed right now. He’d placed a thick horse blanket over the pokey surface. “Have a seat.”

She hesitated for a second before dropping to the bale and facing him. He reached to the top of the post where earlier he’d placed the jar of cream.

“What’s the surprise, Joel? You’re making me nervous.”

“Trust me. You’ll like it.”

Vicki muttered under her breath, but let him step behind her without any more questions. He straddled the bale, scooped up a couple fingers worth of cream and rubbed his hands together. “Pull your hair out of the way,” he ordered.

She gathered it together and hauled the long strands forward, and once again he got caught in her freckles. He slipped his hands over her neck and shoulders, distributing the cream evenly before going back and working it in, using his thumbs to add pressure.

“Oh God, a massage? Yes, of course I’ll clean your horse poop for a massage.” She groaned, tilting her neck forward. “You should have told me. I’d have done your share of the work as well.”

Good firm muscles flexed in her arms and shoulders. Real strength, not fashion-thin soft arms. “You worked hard, I don’t want you to be sore tomorrow.”

She fell silent for a bit, well, not noiseless, but no words. Plenty of sounds, though. Moans and groans and little exhalations of pleasure, and right on schedule, Joel’s hard-on arrived. He ignored it best he could. Figured he was going to spend a lot of the next month or so jerking off in the shower after he’d finished spending time with Vicki.

He traced a finger along her spine, softer now, wanting to feel her reactions. Get her accustomed to his touch. She leaned back when he lifted his hand away, as if attempting to stay in contact.

“Turn and face me.” It was asking for trouble, but what the hell. Live dangerously.

Vicki twisted on the spot, her legs tucked in front of her like she was unsure where to put them. Joel reloaded with cream before he reached for one arm. “Drape your legs over my thighs. I want to do your arms.”

She shrugged and opened her legs, arranging herself over him. Only her head went down, and they lost eye contact.

Damn. He’d embarrassed her. Still, he didn’t stop. Just smoothed his hands down her arm until she relaxed once more.

It was all about getting comfortable. In the barn, around him. Didn’t need to be explained, just experienced. Every minute now would help stop her from freaking as much when actual horses were involved.

And once he had her naked, she’d already be used to him touching her all over. At least that was the plan. If he could hold out long enough to put his grand scheme into effect.

She was halfway onto his lap, body totally open. The sweet scents of the barn, which he did find attractive, surrounded them. As he massaged her hand slowly, adding pressure to the pads of her fingers, she sighed. “You’re good.”

“One of the things I picked up over the years.”

“Hmmm. It’s nice.”

“You get to learn how as well.” Her eyes popped open. “Hey, trust me on this. Any guy you meet who you like? Give him a massage, and he’ll be hooked.”

“Yeah, because what guy doesn’t want a girl touching his naked body?”

“That too.” Joel returned her grin. “Seriously, though. It’s not always about sex.”

“Bullshit.”

“Not bull.”

Her right brow rose. “Don’t guys spend ninety percent of their time thinking about sex?”

“Only the ninety percent of the time we’re not having sex. While we’re having sex, we’re not doing much thinking at all.”

She laughed out loud before considering him closer. “You’re okay, Joel Coleman.”

“Thanks. So are you.”

She surprised him then, catching hold of his hand before he could let her go. “Your turn. Take off your shirt.”

“I didn’t mean today,” he protested.

“I don’t care. You got to touch me, I get to touch you. Only seems fair.”

Oh hell. Joel didn’t think fair should be involved in this discussion at all. Fair was going to change his hard-on from something he could ignore into something that made him crazy.

She didn’t accept no for an answer, though, scrambling to her knees and tugging at his shirtfront. “As much as I like flannel, off with it.”

Fine. He undid his buttons, enjoying the way her gaze stayed pinned to his body as he removed his outer layer.

“Damn it, Joel. A T-shirt? You cold or something?” She bounced on her knees. “Off,” she ordered again.

He stopped himself from asking if she’d done this before because there was no way that would come out right. She wasn’t shy like he’d expected, or least she wasn’t until he lifted his shirt over his head and dropped it on the bale beside them.

Now the expression in her eyes was less confident than a moment before. “You want me to stop? Back up? We going too fast, or too far?”

She swallowed hard. “You’re just so. Damn. Big. Kinda blows my mind.”

“You need to eat more and get bigger yourself.”

Vicki leaned forward to grab the cream jar. “Nothing doing. I’m not getting any taller, and I don’t want to get wider, so what you see is what you get.”

Which was totally fine by him. What he saw, he liked plenty. Joel was more and more confident this deal between the two of them was going to work out well.

Especially when she rose, walked behind him and put her hot little hands on his back.

She had to hide behind him, because if she’d stayed in front for any longer she was sure he’d know every damn one of her secrets. Those blue eyes of his looked straight through her, and there wasn’t much she could do in defense.

Except hide, which is why she now faced the daunting task of giving her first massage, and holy hell, all she wanted to do was strip down to nothing and rub the cream on his body with her own.

Perhaps later.

For now, she tried to imitate what he’d done. Smoothing a layer of the thick cream over his shoulders before steadily rubbing it in.

“That’s nice. Use your thumbs more. There you go. Yeah. Here, start here.” Joel reached up and caught her fingers, dragging them to the back of his neck. “Push down with your fingertips—you feel that muscle?”

She squeezed lightly, but she could see the damn muscle without touching. “Yeah?”

“Drag your fingers out and follow it. If there’re any knots you’ll find them and, fuck—there. That feels great.”

Hmm, this wasn’t as tough as she’d thought it would be. “You’ve got a ball under the muscle. Is it supposed to be like that?”

“No, so work it out. Dig in with your fingers.”

“Dig in? What if I hurt you?”

He twisted his head to the side. “Trust me, it would take a lot to cause me any damage. Just add pressure, and if it gets too hard, I’ll warn you.”

She was so into what she was doing the sexual innuendo of the comment skipped over her head as she followed his directions. It was only after she’d pulled a hell yeah from his lips it registered. “Does everything you say have two meanings? Like a regular one and sexual one?”

“I’m a guy. Remember earlier about the all sex, all the time comment?”

She laughed, but kept rubbing. The broad expanse before her was heavenly to touch, and she was getting turned on. It wasn’t enough to make her call things off, but damn, touching Joel wasn’t a hardship.

Or having him touch her.

“You know this would be easier if you were lying down.”

He nodded. “We’ll do that later. Any time you want to give me a massage you just offer, darling. You have wonderful hands.”

Vicki screwed up her courage and stepped back in front of him. “You want me to do your arms?”

He held out a hand. “All yours.”

She knelt on the hay bale. He rested his hand on his thigh, but the positioning was awkward. “I can’t get at you easily. Everything is in the way.”

He settled his fingers on her hip, and they both paused.

It was like an elaborate dance. One set of touching, retreat. Another caress, then a move away from each other. Only the longer they touched, the longer she stroked those muscles in his biceps, and the more she traced her fingertips over the dusting of golden hair on his tanned arms, the more the ache between her legs grew.

His fingers on her hip tightened briefly before he tugged her tank top free from her jeans.

“Joel? What—?”

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m not gonna rush you. Just want to touch skin.”

He slipped his fingers under the fabric and held on, and holy fuck, she wanted him to rush. If he’d sent electrical charges flipping through her yesterday when he’d held her hand, this was like being in direct contact with a power plant.

She forced herself to finish the massage. To imitate all the careful caresses he’d given her, but it wasn’t about working kinks out of muscles anymore.

It was about touch. About skin. About the new awareness between them that had nothing to do with horses and everything to do with her wanting to taste the half-naked body in front of her.

She lifted her gaze to meet his. The blue of his eyes had faded to a thin ribbon as his pupils dilated, centers darkened with…desire?

“Am I doing this right?” she breathed quietly.

His fingers stroked her hip. A minute motion that had blood pulsing through her hard. “You’re doing everything perfectly.”

Go slow. Go slow. The words repeated themselves in her head, but her brain wasn’t listening. She wanted something more than what they were doing even though she wasn’t quite sure what. “Joel?”

“Yeah?” The word escaped him nearly as breathless sounding as hers had.

“Can I…?” Damn it. Asking seemed stupid, so she interrupted herself and knelt upright, bringing herself right between his legs. “I’m going to touch you.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay.”

She rested her hands on his shoulders, like she’d done at the start of the massage. This time it wasn’t about copying anymore, but exploring. She stroked one hand down his chest, the heat under his skin warming her fingers. The fine curls on his chest tickled her, the bulk of muscles giving her lots of lovely terrain to tease.

She took her time, smoothing over shoulders, down his sides. His ragged breaths gusted past her cheek as she stared mesmerized by his body.

When she touched his abdomen he sucked in a quick gasp, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and trapping her in position. “I think that’s enough touching for today.”

Damn. “But I wasn’t done,” she complained.

“Trust me, you’re done.”

The husky tone of his voice made her lift her eyes, staring from under her lashes. They gazed at each other for a moment, and all of it hit real hard.

They were going to have sex. Not that minute, but sometime. And she was okay with the idea. Like, oh-so ready for the experience.

“Damn it, Vicki.”

“What?”

He cupped his hand around the back of her head and pulled her forward, holding her in place when she would have lifted her head and brought their lips together. He stopped them inches apart to lean his forehead against hers. “Damn it that I’m not doing this right. I was going to wait. Go slow, but hell if I can stop from wanting a taste of you.”

“I’m okay with it. Really.”

He smiled, wicked lips curling at the corners. “You are so fucking sexy, you have no idea.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna kiss—?”

It seemed it did. Because he did. Kiss her, that is. Soft, brief. Pressed his lips to hers and retreated before she’d gotten to wallow in the sensation.

This horrid noise escaped her. Most people would have called it a whimper. She just knew she wanted more. She slid her hands back up to his shoulders and held on tight as he came in for another pass. This time he stroked her lips with his tongue causing an instant shiver.

“Oh…”

The moment she opened her mouth, he slipped his tongue inside. Teasing. Fleeting. Soft and careful, yet sending every one of her nerves to high alert. She couldn’t press closer. His hand at the back of her head held her in one spot. She couldn’t rub against him. His hand at her hip locked her the precise distance away so there was only their mouths. Only the soft, sweet, intoxicating sensation of the kiss.

She pulled in her courage and met him halfway, darting her tongue out to make contact with his before retreating. He hummed approvingly and kissed her again, open lips closing as he worked his way to the corner of her mouth, planting tiny kisses as he moved.

Oh God, this was good. He nipped her lower lip, and she sucked in air, the shot of pure pleasure taking her by surprise. Another stroke of his tongue followed, easing the throb of pain in her lip, but doing nothing to ease the throbbing elsewhere.

“Ahem.”

A rush of adrenaline hit, overpowering even the lust in her veins. Vicki’s head snapped to the right where Joel’s dad, Mike Coleman, stood casually examining the rafters.

“Fuck.” Joel exhaled the word under his breath as they attempted to untangle themselves. Somehow her fingers had become buried in his hair, and his hand under her shirt didn’t slip out as easily as it had gone in. “Excuse us, Dad.”

“No worries, just wanted you to know you aren’t alone anymore.”

Mike stepped past the stalls and out of their line of vision. His footsteps were replaced by the sound of light tapping from the far corner of the barn.

Her heart pounded in time with the banging. “You in shit?” she asked.

Joel chuckled, shaking out her sweatshirt and passing it back. “Hell, no. Just surprised, that’s all. I was enjoying myself.”

Well, yeah.

He cradled her chin in his hand and brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “I like kissing you.”

“I liked it too.”

Their soft whispers made it seem more real. Like a real kiss between them as boyfriend/girlfriend. God, even if this was just fooling around and helping each other out, her first kiss had more than met her expectations.

Joel sighed. “As good a time to end the lesson as any. I’ll call you this week, okay?”

She nodded as she stood and knocked the loose bits of hay from her jeans. “Hey, Joel?”

He finished pulling his T-shirt over his head before turning those gorgeous eyes on her. “Yeah?”

“You’re an awesome teacher. Thanks.”

Between the brilliant smile on his face and the memory of their kiss, she was good for a few days. And a lot more eager to return for lesson number two than she thought possible.