Chapter 10

Ana found Chase’s brothers still asleep when she walked through the den. It was almost dawn, and she was on her way to greet the new day with Fergi, something she’d done for as long as she and Fergi had been together.

She eased out the back door and ran into the yard, calling for Fergi as she headed for the barn. She heard Fergi’s reply on the wind as she entered the barn. She stopped by each stall to greet and stroke the horses as she made her way to West Wind’s stall.

“Hey there, handsome,” she said as she opened his stall door. “You wanna go out and run?”

He neighed and tossed his head. “Well, come on then and let’s get you saddled up,” she said as she crossed the barn to the tack.

He followed and then stood patiently as she saddled and bridled him, using the style taught to her by her grandfather that negated the need for a bit in his mouth. “You sure you’re okay with this?” she asked as she led him outside.

He tossed his head and whinnied in response, and she climbed into the saddle. At first, he was a little uncomfortable and let her know with his neighs and prancing, but it only took a few minutes of soft coaxing before he settled into the feel of her on his back.

“Well, all righty, then.” She grinned and turned him toward the pasture. “You think we can clear that fence, big fella?”

He responded by rearing up then taking off toward the fence with Ana bending low over his neck.

* * * * *

Chase had woken to find himself alone in bed. Ana was nowhere to be found in the house, which prompted him to go outside. He stepped out onto the porch just as the stallion cleared the pasture fence. “What the—” he murmured to himself in amazement.

The stallion raced across the pasture, jumped the far fence, and kept on going, with Ana on his back, her long hair streaming out behind her like a black silk banner. Chase ran to the barn, quickly saddled Whiskey, and took off in pursuit.

Ana let West Wind have his head and they flew across the land, his powerful legs propelling them at breakneck speed, his hooves kicking up clouds of dust to trail in their wake.

She laughed with delight, both her own and his. He was born to run and there was little more thrilling than for her to be on his back, racing the wind with Fergi flying overhead cheering them on.

It was not until she turned him to circle back toward the ranch that she saw the rider in the distance. Even from afar she recognized him, the long dark hair blowing back from the strong planes of his face and the long, lean muscles of his body as he leaned over Whiskey’s neck.

It was a sight that filled her with such love and longing that she wished she could freeze them in time, to stretch out the delicious anticipation she felt at his approach. She reined West Wind into a trot as Chase closed in.

“How the hell did you get him saddled?” he asked as he reined Whiskey into a turn and trotted alongside her.

“Uh, with my hands?” She knew what he was asking but could not help teasing.

“Well, yeah, smartass, I get that part. But how did you get him to put up with it?”

“Oh! That’s easy. I asked nicely.” She gave the horse a rub on the neck. “Right, big guy?”

West Wind tossed his head and let out a long whinny and Ana laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Chase asked.

“He said it isn’t so bad without that…fucking bit in his mouth.”

That was when Chase noticed that the horse did not have a bit. “Where’d you learn to rope bridle a horse like that?”

She smiled at him, and he tilted his head back and then down in realization. “Oh yeah, your grandfather, right?”

“Yep.” She directed West Wind over close enough that she could reach out and grab Chase’s arm. “Ride with me?”

Chase hesitated only a moment before making the transfer from Whiskey to West Wind without his feet ever touching the ground. He settled behind Ana on the saddle, the tight fit forcing his crotch to snuggle tightly to her backside. His arm wrapped around her to take the reins. Whiskey trotted off a ways and started grazing contentedly.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Born that way, Sassy.”

“Well, in that case…go, West Wind!”

The horse shot off like a bullet. Ana hung onto West Wind’s mane, stretching forward so that the upper portion of her body was against the horse’s long neck. Chase was pressed against her back, and she could feel his steady strong heartbeat. They moved as one with the animal, his long legs eating up the landscape in seemingly tireless strides.

The feel of Ana’s tight ass pressed against his groin and the motion of their bodies in concert with the powerful stallion soon had Chase thinking of riding of a different nature.

He felt Ana’s body jiggle and heard the lilt of her laugh on the wind just before she wiggled that delicious ass against him, making his erection strain at the fabric of his jeans. The horse must have sensed the chemistry. He threw back his head and let out a call that Chase recognized both as a rancher and a male. It was the call of mating. A male sending out his message that he was ready and wanting.

Chase felt a kinship with the horse because at that moment his entire being was focused on the feel of the lithe, strong body of the woman between his legs. He reined West Wind into a trot, then slowly to a walk. Ana looked over her shoulder at him.

“Had enough?” The mischief was clear in the smile on her face.

“Never.”

She executed a maneuver he considered a feat of gymnastics and turned to face him, her legs on top of his, spread wide to straddle him. Chase groaned at the delicious sensation that shot through him. He lifted the handkerchief hem gauze skirt she wore and discovered beneath it nothing but Ana.

“You don’t much take to underwear, do you, Sassy?”

She laughed. “Nope. That a problem with you, Hawks?”

“Nope, no problem at all,” he grinned and stroked one finger down the crease of her thigh, ever-so lightly brushing the side of her sex. “Well, except for these damn jeans.”

“Well, surely a world-class cowboy like yourself ought to be able to rid himself of his pants.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re on a horse.”

“Uh-huh, but like I said, a world-class cowboy—”

“I’ll show you world-class,” he threatened jokingly. “Now scoot your pretty little ass off me.”

Ana lifted off him and across the horn on the saddle, so she was perched on the base of West Wind’s neck. Chase swung one leg over the saddle, keeping his weight on the foot in the stirrup. Hanging on with one hand, he managed to slide his free leg out of his jeans.

“You’d don’t take much to underwear, do you, Hawks?” she teased.

Chase left his supporting leg in his jeans, swung back into the saddle and with both hands, lifted her up. His dick stood straight up, like a gun aimed at its target. He lowered Ana onto it and sank into the wet heat of her sex. “Now, what was that about world-class?”

“Ahhhhh,” Ana sighed as her body loosened to accommodate him. “Hmmm, so you gonna show me some world-class cowboying, Hawks?”

“No, Sassy. I’m gonna show you some world-class lovin’.”

“Bring it on.”

West Wind danced and pranced, the smell of sex in the air affecting him in the way of the male of any species. Even the charm Ana had used could not override the nature of the beast.

“Oh, oh!” Ana exclaimed a split second before West Wind reared.

Only through Chase’s strength and skill did she not fall. West Wind landed on all four hooves and took off, headed back toward the pasture. Chase tried to rein him in, but the stallion had a mind of his own and with no bit, he wasn’t inclined to oblige.

“Shit!” Chase barked and pushed Ana backwards, her body bowing back over the saddle horn as Chase pressed his body forward. West Wind sailed over the pasture fence as if he weren’t bearing their weight and flew across the pasture.

“Another one!” Chase yelled as West Wind drew near the fence.

Ana almost went sideways on the landing, but Chase pulled her up against him. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body as West Wind ran for the enclosure on the east side of the barn where two mares were pastured.

“Whoa!” Chase pulled back on the reins as they neared the barn. “Shit, come on!”

Ana reached back to place one hand on the horse’s neck. ““Easy, big guy, we need to get off.”

West Wind tossed his head but slowed, coming to a stop in front of the house where a tall man with silver hair and a white hat was climbing out of a truck.

Chase’s eyes widened then narrowed as the man turned to look at them, first in surprise, then through eyes that crinkled in laughter.

“So that’s what it takes to sit that beast,” the man commented. “Well, if that don’t beat all.”

Ana looked from the man to Chase, whose face wore a look that was decidedly annoyed. The man stepped toward them. “Where’s your manners, boy?” he asked Chase then looked at Ana with his hand extended. “Charlie Russell, ma’am. Chase’s daddy.”

Ana looked from Charlie to Chase, sitting there bare-assed with her straddling his lap and the smell of their sex mingling with the scents of the horse and land. It should have been completely embarrassing but it was just too funny. She chuckled, adjusted her skirt so that it covered both her and Chase’s crotch, wiped her hand on the skirt then extended it to Charlie.

“Nice to meet you, sir. Ana Stillwater, Chase’s…riding instructor.”

Charlie threw back his head and bellowed with laughter as Chase’s mouth tightened against the smile that was trying to assert itself.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Stillwater,” Charlie said through his laughter. “Chase, you gonna invite your old man for coffee or you just gonna sit there with your pecker hanging out?”

Chase growled and turned the horse. “You know where the pot is. Make some.”

Ana grinned and waved at Charlie as Chase directed West Wind into the barn. “Everything okay?” she asked.

He gave her an incredulous look. “You can’t be serious.”

“What? You’re embarrassed that he caught us…with our pants down?” She couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped. “Come on, Chase. He’s not a virgin schoolboy. For goodness’ sakes, he has four sons, so he’s bound to know what sex is.”

“That’s not it!” he groused as he lifted her up and set her off the horse then climbed off himself.

“Then what is it?” she asked a split second before an ugly thought entered her head. “It’s me, isn’t it? You’re embarrassed because of me. You didn’t want me to meet your father. You’re…you’re ashamed of what’s happening between us.”

“No!” He turned and grabbed her by both arms. “No, Sassy. No. I’m not ashamed of you. I’m ashamed of him.”

“Oh, Chase.” She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against his bare chest. “There’s no need. People are who they are. I know that. And it doesn’t matter to me who your father is or what he does or has done.”

“You don’t know him,” Chase replied. “He’s a hard bastard, Sassy. Wants to control everyone’s lives. Make all the decisions.”

Ana drew back to look up at him. “Maybe. But he did one thing right, Chase. One thing you have to be grateful for.”

“Yeah?”

“He gave you life,” she said softly. “And whether or not you appreciate that, it’s something I’m more grateful to him for than I know how to say. Because without him there would be no you.”

Chase stared at her for a long time, his thoughts turned inward. Finally, the veil lifted from his eyes, and he leaned down to kiss her softly. “I know this isn’t the most romantic time, Sassy, but it’s what we have, and I have a need to say something to you.”

“What?” she whispered, her heart rate increasing and moisture dampening her palms. Was he about to say he wanted her to leave?

“I love you and I don’t want to spend one day of the rest of my life without you. I want to make a home with you, have a family with you and grow old with you. Will you marry me, Ana?”

Ana’s heart literally skipped a beat. “Oh, Chase.” She stroked his face lovingly. “More than anything I want to say yes.”

“But?” he asked.

“Well, technically I’m still married to Giovanni.”

Chase grinned in relief. “Whew! That’s all? Well, hell, that’s why God invented lawyers, Sassy. And thanks to Charlie, I happen to know a real dilly of a lawyer.”

Ana threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, Chase. Now take me inside to have breakfast with my future father-in-law.”

Chase shook his head and hugged her tight. “One day you might cuss me for doing that.”

“Well, then we’ll have some really good make-up sex once we’re finished hollering, won’t we?”

Chase laughed and released her to take her hand. “Sassy, you are definitely one of a kind.”

* * * * *

Chase’s father and his brothers were sitting at the kitchen table, while Chase stood at the stove, flipping pancakes when Ana entered the room.

“Hmmm, pancakes,” she said with a grin and went over to give Chase a kiss. “Just what I’ve always dreamed of. A man who cooks.”

Chase grinned and nuzzled her neck, earning hoots from his brothers. “Perverts,” he tossed over his shoulder at them then directed his attention to Ana. “Don’t guess you want any bacon.”

“Most definitely not.” She shuddered and extricated herself from his embrace to pour a cup of coffee.

“Good morning.” She smiled at the men seated at the table. “You don’t look worse for wear,” she directed her comment to the brothers.

“Neither do you,” Cole replied with a grin. “You should’ve seen her, Pop. Riding the bull.”

“The boys tell me that your granddaddy was Jonas Stillwater,” Charlie commented.

“Yes,” Ana replied with a smile and sipped at the coffee.

“Hell of a bull rider,” Charlie said. “I remember the nationals back in ‘62. He was riding this mean sumbitch called Jed’s Revenge. No one had stayed on that bastard for more than three seconds. Then Jonas came up. What a sight. He stayed on that bull for the full eight seconds and then some. Never saw anything like it.”

“He was something,” Ana agreed.

“So, Jonas passed on?”

“Um-hmm. Ten years ago.”

“Shame. How’d he go?”

“Trampled by a bull teaching some young bucks how to ride.”

Charlie shook his head. “Damn shame. But probably fittin’.”

“Probably,” she agreed.

“So, you followed in his footsteps, did you?”

“No, not really.”

“But the boys said you were tearing up that mechanical bull last night.”

“That’s hardly the same as the real thing.”

“True. So, what do you do, Miss Stillwater? And what brings you to these parts and most specifically to my son’s house?”

You could have heard a pin drop. Ana didn’t think a single one of the boys even breathed and Chase had gone completely still.

“Well, right now I’m in between jobs, Mr. Russell. I’ve done a lot of things but haven’t really settled on any one thing in particular. And I’m here because I ran away from home and my car broke down on Highway 70. So, I walked to town and Chase ran over me with his truck and—”

“What?” Charlie bellowed.

“It isn’t like it sounds.” Chase turned from the stove.

“Then what the hell is it like?” Charlie’s voice took on a demanding tone.

“It was an accident,” Ana jumped in, speaking quietly.

Both men glared at one another for a moment then Charlie turned his attention to her. “I wasn’t really paying attention,” she explained. “I was reading the job ads and crossing the street, and Chase was trying to get his cell phone from Cody and we kind of…collided.”

“So, Chase runs over you and you just hop up and go play house with him?”

Ana didn’t care for the tone of Charlie’s voice. The previous good-natured country-boy charm had disappeared to be replaced by a rude, demanding tone and sour face. Chase didn’t like the change in his father, either.

“Ana’s here at my asking,” he said in an angry voice. “And I won’t have you insulting her either, you—”

“It’s okay, Chase,” Ana interrupted, and when he looked like he would argue, added. “Please. I can fight my own battles.”

“Fine.” He turned back to the stove.

“It wasn’t anything like that, Mr. Russell.” She kept her voice low and calm, despite the spiking tension in the room that was starting to claw at her composure. “I was taken to the hospital where Chase was kind enough to sit with me until I regained consciousness. Realizing that my purse had not been sent with me and was nowhere to be found, I was without means and he graciously offered to let me work for him until I earned enough to get my car repaired and—”

“That’s what you call what I saw?” Charlie barked. “Work?”

His tone and rudeness ate into her resolve to be nice. “Of course not. What you saw was—”

“Was some whore fucking my son on a horse, thinking she’d get her hooks in him and take what I’ve worked goddamn hard to—”

The dishes on the table started to rattle and jump. Cody barked and ran to Ana’s side, lowering his head and growling menacingly at Charlie. Ana stood, her fingertips resting on the table.

“Mr. Russell, I don’t know about the world you live in, but where I come from, we believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt. It’s true that I’m living in your son’s house, on his charity and I’m grateful for that. And yes, it’s true you happened upon a moment between Chase and me this morning that you weren’t supposed to see. But what you saw was not a service being provided. It was a healthy expression of sexuality between two consenting adults and only someone with a very dirty mind and mistrustful nature would think otherwise.”

“I saw what I saw and heard from your own lips, missy,” Charlie bellowed and started to rise from his chair. “And if you think for one red-hot minute that I’m—”

“Shut up!” Chase stood, challenging his father. “This is my house and my life. I make my own way and don’t answer to you for who is or is not welcome in my home. And she is. So, you don’t like it, old man? Then get out.”

Charlie opened his mouth as if to argue then looked at Chase’s brothers. “I ‘spect you at work in an hour.” With that he stomped out.

“Chase, don’t let him leave like this,” Ana pleaded. “Please, I can’t be the cause of the rift between you getting wider.”

“Leave it be, Ana,” Chase said in a firm but resolute tone.

She didn’t argue but got up and left the room. It was not over. Not by a long shot. There was trouble to come, and she had to decide whether she needed to stay and fight or walk and prevent the pain that was headed their way.

Ana went to her room, closed and locked the door, leaning back against it and closing her eyes. “Somebody help,” she whispered. “I don’t want to cause Chase pain. What do I do?”

A soft, unfamiliar voice whispered in her mind and Ana’s eyes flew open. Suddenly she knew who the things in the room belonged to and where she would find help. The question was how to go about it without anyone finding out.