But I have to admit, there’s a big part of me that wants Tina riding up with me.
Seeing her curves bounce and shift when she rode Ruby, and watching her hair toss around….
I want that all to myself, I guess.
“Maybe on the way back,” Tina says, shifting her eyes back to mine and smiling the biggest smile I think I’ve seen from her yet.
The sunshine on her face and the fresh mountain air in her lungs, and maybe a little help from my tongue lashing in the barn…Tina’s already looking like a girl who’s found the country life.
And I hope that’s the life she’ll choose, because I have a strong feeling in my gut that this whole weekend’s going to mean one of us has to make a choice.
“How far to the cabin?” Tina asks, breaking my reverie.
“Too far to carry you,” I quip, and noting her instant pout, I add, “Ten miles the long way or two if we take the shortcut.”
“And we’re taking the shortcut?” she replies, making a face.
“If you want,” I tease her, trying my best to look casual about it, but already wanting to take her right here and now if that’s what she really wanted.
“I think the short way sounds nicer,” she agrees, and we both share a look of yearning for each other that sees her standing on tippy toes as I lean down to kiss her again before lifting her back up onto the saddle.
Climbing up onto the saddle myself, I sit behind Tina. Her body firmly against mine and already making me hard before we’ve even taken a step forward.
I hear her mew softly then shiver a breath as my arms move over hers. Both our hands touching as we hold the reins together.
“What about Lucy?” Tina suddenly asks, sounding concerned.
“Oh, she’ll tag along,” I remark casually. Knowing that wherever Ruby goes, Lucy is sure to follow.
And both mares know the way to the cabin by heart, so it’s no real effort to set off. Giving Tina and me plenty of time to feel so good bunched up as we share a saddle.
With me fielding one question after another from her about the ranch, the horses, trees, and rocks that we pass. Until finally, the conversation turns to me.
Something I’ve never been real good at talking about.
“You never finished your story about why it’s called Silver Fox Ranch,” she says with a probing air.
“The cabin’s just up on that ridge,” I say, trying to shift the subject, but she cranes her neck and frowns at me.
“Alright, alright,” I chuckle, knowing she’s going to find out everything sooner or later.
“It’s probably just easier to show you, though, once we get to the cabin.”
That seems to satisfy her curiosity for now. But I was going to tell her everything once we got there anyway.
The mares have picked up speed, hungry for the sweet grass they know is waiting for them. And passing through an ancient wooden arch, the words ‘Silver Fox Ranch’ burnt into the timber so old it looks like iron, has Tina turn her head to me again in a question.
“I thought you said it was a cabin?” she asks, making me smile. The scene of the original ranch homestead unfolds before our eyes as we round the bend.
“It is. I mean, it was. C’mon. I’ll show you,” I tell her.
Both of us feel more of our own animal attraction building as I help her down and let the mares wander.
And keeping her hand in mine, I lead her up the gravel path to the porch that runs all the way around the old place.
Wishing already that we had more than just tonight together.
Having to push the thought aside because the thought of her not being within arm’s reach for a moment is hard enough.
The idea that she could ever leave is too hard even to contemplate.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tina
“Umm. This is a house, Mack. Not a cabin,” I inform him once we climb the wide stone steps to the porch.
He beams a smile and shakes his head in resignation before he shrugs.
“What can I say? Everything’s bigger in the country,” he laughs, opening the huge wooden door with a big old key.
But I’m not exaggerating.
I thought ‘cabin’ meant a pokey one or maybe two-roomed hut.
Like our apartment in the city. If that were plucked from the building and stuck in the wilderness, that would pass as a cabin.
So, before I even learn that this was the original homestead, I can see it’s not only going to be comfortable, it’s going to have its own story to tell, and Mack doesn’t waste a moment before he starts to show me around.
I half thought, or maybe was half hoping, that as soon as we got here, he’d throw me down on the nearest bale of hay or piece of furniture. Picking right up from where we left off at the stables.