Title: Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy
Rating: M
Summary: Inspired by the episode "South by Southwest." Ziva thinks cowboys are sexy. AU, TIVA.
A/N: Ziva didn't get to ride a horse, but she gets to ride a cowboy. ;)
The title is from the Big & Rich song of the same name. M.E. Wofford's story, "Here for the Party," inspired me to think of other country songs for TIVA stories. (Thanks, M.E.!) Gretchen Wilson has collaborated extensively with Big & Rich, so I figured that if Ziva was a fan of Gretchen, she'd be familiar with them too.
Tony shifted uncomfortably in his chair, wishing that the minutes would tick by faster so he could stop sitting. His butt was so sore that he didn't think he'd be able to sit without pain for the next week.
The past few days hadn't been the greatest. He'd had to go to the Southwest, which he hated, and even ride a horse and camp out. Then he'd come back home to find out that not only had he not inherited Uncle Clive's estate, but that he owed cousin Crispian $10,000. Plus interest.
After the week he'd had, he just wanted to go home, get into bed and bury his head under the covers.
He caught Ziva looking at him expectantly. They were supposed to go out for dinner and a movie tonight, but he really didn't think he could handle any more sitting today.
She read his thoughts and took pity on him.
"Let's just order pizza and rent a movie," she told him.
"Good idea," he said gratefully. "No Westerns, though."
A few hours later, lying on the couch on his side, with her snuggled up against him, he felt a lot better. Cousin Crispian could have the moldering old estate. Who wanted to live in England, anyway? He had everything he wanted right here. A great job, terrific friends, a nice place to live… and the woman he loved at his side. He didn't need a Ferrari or a mansion to be happy. Uncle Clive had had all the money in the world, but it still hadn't made him happy. He hadn't married or had a family, and he'd died a lonely old man. And whiny cousin Crispian would probably end up just like Uncle Clive. He was no fun at all. It was just like Ol' Crispy to try to collect $10,000, after he'd just inherited millions. It wasn't just that Crispian had always been jealous of Tony and tended to be vindictive – he really did want the money too. He was that greedy.
But money wasn't everything. There were so many things that money just couldn't buy.
Like these moments together with Ziva.
She kissed him softly, sweetly, and he pulled her closer to him. The movie had ended, but they remained on the couch, perfectly comfortable where they were.
"It's good to be back to the comforts of civilization," he said with a sigh.
"You were only gone for one night, Tony," she reminded him, amusement in her voice.
"One night in the Southwest is one night too many."
"I've always wanted to see it."
He contemplated that. "You would have liked it," he agreed. "I've just had too many bad experiences out west."
"Did it really look like Dina Risi's painting?"
"Yeah, it did."
"Her painting was beautiful."
"It was radioactive."
"But still beautiful. Just like the real thing."
"Yes," he conceded. "But it was in the middle of nowhere. We had to rent a Jeep with 4-wheel-drive and drive for miles to get there."
"If you had the Jeep, why did you have to ride the horses?"
"The terrain was too steep and rocky for the Jeep. The locals called it 'The Badlands.' The only way up there was on horseback. So we packed our supplies, saddled up the horses and made our way up the mountain."
"You had ridden a horse before, yes?"
"Sure…" he hedged. "If you count the pony I rode when I was eight years old."
Her eyes twinkled with merriment. "It must not be that difficult, then."
He winced at the memory. Despite his valiant efforts, his attempts to wrangle the horse had been less than spectacular.
"My horse was… spirited. He had a mind of his own."
At least he'd managed not to fall off. That would have been embarrassing.
"Did you have to wear…" She gestured to sides of his legs. "The leather… What are they called in English…?"
He looked confused.
Her brow furrowed as she struggled to find the right word in English. When she couldn't come up with it, she finally settled for the Spanish word. "Chaparreras."
"You mean chaps?"
"Yes! Chaps."
"No, we didn't need those."
"Too bad."
He raised an eyebrow. "You want to see me wearing leather chaps over my jeans?"
"No. I want to see you wearing them without the jeans."
She laughed at his stunned expression.
He mulled it over. Now that she had brought it up, he couldn't help but picture her wearing chaps… without anything underneath.
Needing to cool down, he went to the kitchen and grabbed another beer out of the fridge. It was almost icy since there wasn't much in there. He really needed to go grocery shopping soon.
As he walked back to the other room, he decided to finish off the last slice of pizza while he was at it. It was his favorite – sausage and pepperoni with extra cheese.
"Tell me more about the Badlands, Tony," Ziva entreated, interrupting his pizza bliss.
She'd always been intrigued by the American Wild West. A majestic wilderness of sweeping landscapes, incredible scenery, open skies and magnificent cliffs and canyons…
And cowboys were so masculine and sexy. Conquering the wilderness, upholding justice on the frontier while living by a code of honor…
Tony shrugged, swallowing another bite of pizza.
"Not much to tell. We rode for hours, and there wasn't much out there. Not a soul around for miles. We finally had to make camp along the way. Too dark and treacherous at night for riding on that narrow, winding trail."
"What was it like, camping out there?" she asked.
She was hanging on his every word, he noticed with surprise. She really wanted to know.
"It was hot during the day, but at night, it was freezing. And there's nothing to do out there. So after eating canned beans for dinner, we just sat around the campfire. We camped out under the stars. No tents, just sleeping bags. It was so dark, you could barely make out the silhouette of a cactus in the moonlight. And it was noisy. Crickets chirping nonstop, desert animals rustling in the night… I even heard a coyote howl."
"Like 'Breakback Mountain,' yes?"
"Brokeback Mountain," he corrected her. "And no, it wasn't like that. Otherwise I'd be cuddling up with Gibbs right now instead of with you."
She stared at him. That thought had never occurred to her, but now that it had…
"Don't," he warned her.
Ziva laughed. "I would also rather be cuddling up with you than with Gibbs."
He smirked. "You'd better be."
"So what happened the next day?" she asked, eager for him to finish his tale of adventure.
"The next morning, we rose at the crack of dawn and rode the rest of the way to Dina Risi's cabin," he continued. "She started shooting at us with her shotgun, until she recognized Sheriff Boyd. She trusted him, of course, and we were like his deputies, I guess. We got out of there quick because we knew the bastards from Sunset Mining would be coming after us. They showed up in their helicopter, shooting at us with semi-automatic rifles. The sheriff was hit in the leg, so we took cover behind the rocks. And then Gibbs, he rode out right into their path, and with one clean shot, took out the pilot. The 'copter crashed, exploding into a ball of fire. It was awesome."
She'd seen it on the satellite video feed, but hearing Tony recount it was so much more exhilarating.
"I wish I could have been there," she said wistfully. "I've always wanted to ride a horse."
"You would have better at it than I was," he told her. "You would have made a good cowgirl."
He had no doubt that she'd excel at it. He could easily imagine her herding cattle, lassoing strays and riding in the rodeo. Ziva was good at everything. Even things she'd never tried before. She was a quick study and could pick up just about anything on the fly. Her hand-eye coordination was impeccable, her reflexes lightning quick and her aim deadly accurate. If she'd lived in the Wild West back in the day, she'd have been a real sharpshooter.
She gave him a mock glare, but it ended up as a smile.
"We could go horseback riding together," she suggested. "There are stables around here. In Virginia Beach, they even let you ride on the beach."
"Virginia Beach? Sweetheart, that's over two hundred miles away. It would take several hours to get there."
She shrugged. "If I drove, it would only take an hour or two."
That was probably true, but there was no way he was going to get in the car with her and let her drive two hundred miles at breakneck speed. He hesitated to let her drive even under normal circumstances.
"You really want to drive for hours just to ride a horse on the beach?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes, why not?"
She could picture it, the two of them riding on the beach, side by side. It would be so romantic. Galloping across the endless white sands, while the sun rose over the water, leaving a fiery trail in its wake, its reflection distorted slightly by the waves…
She could almost taste the salty sea air, feel the cool sea breeze on her skin, hear the soothing sound of the surf crashing nearby…
Tony shook his head ruefully. "I don't want to ride a horse again anytime soon."
"Oh."
Seeing her crestfallen expression, he said, "Maybe McGee will go with you."
She gave him a look of exasperation. "I do not wish to go with McGee. I wish to go with you, Tony."
He leaned back against the couch cushions. "Why the sudden fascination with horseback riding?"
"Why not?" she retorted, a bit defensively.
What is it about women and horses, anyway? Tony wondered.
"It's not as much fun as it sounds," he told her. "And it's cruel to the horses to ride them for sport. Do you really want to contribute to that kind of exploitation? I say, save the horses," he said, gesturing dramatically to emphasize his point.
He was surprised when she started laughing. "What's so funny?"
She shook her head. "You just reminded me of something."
"What?"
"A song. It is called 'Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.'"
"Is that a country song?" he asked suspiciously.
She didn't answer. "I will play it for you," she said instead.
She rose to get her iPod from her coat pocket and plugged it into the A/V receiver. After a moment of scrolling down the playlist, she pressed the play button, and the song began blaring out of the surround-sound speakers. Its hard, driving beat made the windows rattle slightly.
It was a country song. It never failed to amuse him that his crazy Israeli ninja chick loved American country music. Especially considering that many Americans hated that particular genre.
He wasn't too fond of it himself. But Ziva didn't care about what was popular or what others deemed good music. She liked what she liked, and she wasn't afraid to share it with him. He liked that about her. She was supremely confident and always true to herself.
Besides, he had to admit that this particular song was hilarious.
"Good, yes?" she asked, grinning.
"Yeah," he said. And the lyrics had just given him a brilliant idea…
"Wait here… I'll be right back."
He raced to his bedroom, leaving her staring after him, mystified.
Moments later, he returned, and her eyes widened in surprise at the sight before her.
He'd tied a bandana haphazardly around his neck and was wearing a flannel shirt, an old pair of jeans, a Stetson hat that he must have picked up in Yuma and shiny new cowboy boots. She couldn't help but laugh at the boots. They weren't terribly authentic and detracted from the rest of the image.
"No boots," she told him. He dutifully kicked them off.
She looked him over appraisingly.
He looked good. The shirt clung to his well-built frame and emphasized his broad shoulders and strapping chest. He had his sleeves rolled up to his forearms, as though he were ready for hard labor and not afraid to get dirty. Ruggedly handsome and every bit the heroic cowboy – as if he'd just stepped off the cover of a Western romance novel. Like the one she'd read when she'd been stuck at the airport and had nothing else to do except browse the books in the gift shop.
His cowboy attire really turned her on. Tony could sometimes be overly fussy about his designer clothes and fine accessories. He usually dressed to the height of urban style and sophistication, and she liked him that way too… but there was just something about the way he was dressed right now that made him seem so virile and robust.
He looked like a man who lived off the land, who was hardy and independent. A man who could weather any storm and survive anything that Mother Nature cared to dole out, eking out an existence in the most lonesome and lawless of lands. A man who lived by his wits, his quick reflexes and brute strength.
A man who was bold and fearless, yet also gallant and loyal.
A man like that would be hungry for a woman – but not just any woman. She'd have to be beautiful and feminine, but also tough, smart and able to endure the hardships of the Western style of life.
A woman like her.
Maybe she'd been reading too many romance novels – or just McGee's novels – but she couldn't help it.
Tony looked so incredibly sexy…
"Play it again, Ziva," he said, interrupting her reverie.
She blinked. She'd been so mesmerized by him that it hadn't even registered that the final notes of the song had faded away.
She hit the play button again. He gave her a dazzling smile and began strutting up and down the living room, posing every once in a while for her benefit.
From the predatory way she was eyeing him, he was starting to feel like a male stripper. Which wasn't a bad feeling, actually. He was rather enjoying himself.
Ziva couldn't take her eyes off of him as he slowly unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, revealing his muscular chest. He kept going until the shirt was half open, then his hands drifted downward to leisurely unfasten the silver buckle of his belt. He unwove the leather belt from the belt loops and tossed it aside.
His movements drew her eyes to the bulge at his crotch, and her eyes darkened with arousal. She couldn't keep her hands off him any longer.
She closed the distance between them and hastily finished removing his shirt, practically ripping the buttons off in the process. Her fingers tangled in the hairs on his chest, enjoying the texture and the way it felt against her skin. His strong arms encircled her narrow waist, and she tipped her face up to his. He could feel her warm breath on his skin.
She kissed him hard and pressed her body intimately against his. It sent her senses reeling. He kissed her back with equal intensity. His tongue slid along the seam of her lips and into the warm, silken depths of her mouth. She moved against him restlessly.
He helped her pull her shirt over her head, and she tensed in anticipation as he expertly caressed her sensitive flesh. Her lips drifted down his jaw and along the side of his neck, while her nimble fingers unbuttoned his jeans and unzipped the fly.
She was surprised to find that he wasn't wearing boxers underneath, but rather… a silk thong.
On Tony it looked spectacular. It showed off his best attributes. She drank in his long, lean torso and ran her palms down his flanks, sending thrills of anticipation throughout his body.
She gently kneaded his butt, then squeezed a little harder when he didn't protest. He inhaled sharply.
She knelt in front of him and shoved his jeans down his legs. Pausing only for a moment to inhale his intoxicating scent, she slowly pulled down the thong and licked every bit of newly exposed skin.
He groaned as she took him into her mouth, licking and sucking with enthusiasm.
She loved the way he tasted.
He cradled his head in his hands. Transfixed, he watched as her luscious red lips wrapped around his hard cock and her tongue stroked him expertly.
After several minutes, she could sense the growing tension in his body, and she pulled away for an instant to quickly strip off the rest of her clothes.
He perched the Stetson hat on her head. She looked gorgeous, buck naked save for the hat. Her smile was feral as she pushed him down on the couch and straddled him.
Her body ached with need. She grasped his shaft and guided him into her, relishing the smooth heat that filled her. She arched her back, taking him all the way inside of her.
He grasped her hips tightly, urging her on.
She rode him hard, like a wild, untamed stallion, maintaining an urgent, forceful, unyielding rhythm.
He didn't mind. He loved every moment of it.
Having her on top left his hands free to caress her. His adroit fingers roused her to new heights of pure physical pleasure. She moaned in pleasure as he laved her breasts with his tongue.
As her cadence became uneven, he knew she was close.
She was screaming his name at the top of her lungs. His neighbors would be complaining again tomorrow – and not about the surround sound – but he didn't care.
He loved how uninhibited she was when they made love. She felt so good, straddling him, her tight muscles milking his throbbing cock. She threw her head back as she came and he was momentarily captivated by the elegant line of her neck.
He could feel her tremors as she shook inside and out, and it pushed him over the edge. He exploded inside of her with a low, guttural moan.
Gasping for breath, she collapsed on top of him. He gingerly set the hat aside on the coffee table so it wouldn't get crushed.
She rolled over to her side to snuggle up against him, finally satiated. He kissed her deeply and hugged her tightly to him.
"Good ride?"
"Good ride, yes," she said with immense satisfaction. She doubted riding a horse would be nearly as much fun as riding her cowboy.
Tony grinned. "You can ride me all night long if you want to."
She laughed. "Maybe I will," she said coyly.
Ziva was full of surprises. He'd had no idea she'd be into playing dress-up. But he was glad he knew now, because the possibilities were endless. He'd dress up as whatever she wanted, if this was the result.
He wondered if she'd dress up for him. He could easily imagine her as a librarian, or a maid, or a naughty nurse… or maybe even a cheerleader or a Catholic schoolgirl…
No, she'd probably draw the line at that.
Maybe next time I'll dress up like a fireman, he mused to himself.
But for tonight, he was just going to enjoy being a cowboy.
The End! :)