Amy didn't get a chance to talk to Ty at all that day.
After she'd made pick-up arrangements with Winter's owners, she called to make drop-off arrangements for a new arrival. A three year-old appaloosa Bengie was going to be staying in Winter's old stall while Amy, Joni and Ty worked to gentle the horse and train him to be ridden. Amy cleaned out the stall and laid out fresh bedding. One thing led to another and Joni was saying good-bye for the night. Amy hadn't seen Ty since morning.
After checking in on the horses in the front block, Amy turned towards Mercury's stall in the back barn. As she neared the half door, she saw Ty's broad back as he stood beside the horse, his fingers working in light circles over Mercury's shoulder.
Amy approached the door slowly and leaned over, watching Ty work. Mercury was so relaxed that he only flicked his ear in her direction momentarily, not even bothering to raise his drooped head. The small reaction did not go unnoticed by Ty who looked over at Amy. A smile spread across his mouth and reached up to his eyes, an expression reflected on Amy's face.
"Hey," Amy breathed, letting herself into the stall and moving to stand beside Ty.
"Hey," Ty said in a low voice. With a final pat, he took his hands off Mercury who breathed out hard through his nose and turned his head to nuzzle Ty's pants pocket. Ty chuckled. "You'd think a massage would be enough for him," He reached into his pocket and withdrew a mint, holding it out for Mercury to lip off his open palm.
"Speaking of massages…"Amy trailed off and reached up to place both her hands on Ty's bicep, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "Do you want some supper?"
Ty grinned and narrowed his eyes at her playfully.
"I think that the best place for this would be my room," Ty said logically as they left the feed room with the bottle of diluted cypress oil. "We do massages on the horses in their stalls," He paused to look up at Amy with a grin. "That's my stall."
Amy laughed at this as she walked beside Ty on their way out of the stable and turned off the lights for the night. She hardly had to slow her pace now as Ty was able to move faster.
"Amy," Lou called from beside Scott's jeep. "I'm going out and won't be in 'til late. Grandpa's taken Nancy out as well, there's stew on the stove for you two!" Lou waved enthusiastically and climbed in the vehicle.
"She's excited," Amy observed, laughing at her sister.
"Well at least this will be least awkward," Ty said in a low voice.
"Were you talking to Carey?" Amy asked, raising her hand as the Jeep moved down the drive.
"What are you talking about?" Ty asked, following Amy into the kitchen.
"Never mind…" Amy trailed off as she filled two bowls of her grandpa's stew and followed Ty to the couch in the living room.
They ate in silence, watching a mindless sitcom. When they'd finished Amy washed their dishes and returned from the kitchen with the small glass bottle in hand.
"Ready?" Ty asked, moving to his wheel chair from the couch.
"Are you?" Amy asked. She was met with wide eyes and a sudden grin. "I'll meet you there," Amy added as she headed up the stairs for her room. Ty went into his.
Amy darted up the stairs to her room and quickly changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts. She went back down the stairs and found that Ty had done similar; he was lying in the middle of the double bed, wearing only his boxer shorts staring up at the ceiling.
Amy entered the room silently and saw that his eyes were closed so she quietly pushed the door closed, moved to his bed and slowly eased herself onto it. The mattress shift caused Ty's eyes to open. He moved to sit up but Amy placed a hand on his shoulder to still him.
"Sh…" Her hush trailed as her eyes fell on his torso. She hadn't seen his bare chest since it had been smeared with dark red blood. With Ty's eyes on her, Amy reached out and touched his chest with the tips of her fingers. Eleven small pink scars were spread out over his torso between his waist strap and collarbone. Amy gently circled each individual scar with the tip of her index finger; each one was just around the same size as her fingernail.
Looking up into Ty's face, Amy saw that his eyes were on her fingers. After noting that they had stopped moving his eyes rose to meet hers and he offered her a sad smile.
"Well…" Amy started, her throat had dried and the word was almost inaudible. She tried again. "I should start."
"You're the boss," Ty whispered. "What do you want me to do?"
"Absolutely nothing," Amy answered, picking the vial off the bed. "Only roll over so I can work."
Ty complied and turned onto his stomach. Amy's breath caught in her throat when she saw four jagged scars, far less neat than the ones on his front, spaced sporadically on his back. She reached out and ran her fingers over the slightly uneven surface of the scars. One was on his lower back, just to the left of his spine, two were slightly higher on his mid back both to the right of his spine and the fourth was far to the left, almost on his side, only just higher than the group of two.
"Not very nice, is it?" He asked, turning his head so his cheek was against the mattress and he was looking directly at Amy's knee.
Amy didn't answer but instead bent her head and pressed a kiss to each scar and then moved up to his face and kissed his lips. She felt his tongue on her lip but denied him access by pulling away and chastely kissing him just beside his mouth.
After shaking the bottle to insure that the oils were thoroughly mixed, Amy opened it and poured a small pea-sized amount onto her palm and rubbed her fingers together, coating them with the earthy scented oil. She took more of the oil and readjusted herself on the bed so she was kneeling beside Ty's knees. She quickly became consumed in her work, forgetting everything; she focused completely on her fingers, Ty's calves and eventually the backs of his lower thighs. She worked in slow small circles, just as she would with the horses, moving the muscles slightly. She paused a moment when she reached the bottom of his boxer shorts, but without missing a beat; she took more oil and skipped over the dark blue material, her fingers finding the first exposed skin of his lower back, just above his waistband.
She heard him gasp and she looked up to his face as he twisted slightly to look at her.
"What are you doing?" He asked; his voice showed neither objection nor curiosity, it was almost a statement rather than a question.
"Didn't I mention full body massage?" Amy asked simply, continuing with the small circles. She moved his taught skin over the muscles of his back as her fingers traveled up to his shoulders. She pressed firmer circles over his upper back and shoulder blades as she found tension in these muscles. Moving down his arms one at a time, she mentally noted that the muscles in his shoulders as well as his arms were more defined, probably owing to the use of the wheelchair. As she felt the tension disappear from under her fingers she felt Ty's back rise then fall in a deep sigh. She finished by bending forward and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. He shivered and she smiled.
"Roll over," Amy commanded.
"But the blanket –" Ty began to protest.
"That's what the laundry is for," Amy whispered in his ear.
He complied. After he'd rolled to face her, Amy captured Ty's mouth with her own but again, when she felt his tongue request entry to her mouth she denied it and pulled back, staying just an inch from his face, looking into his dark green eyes as they slowly opened. Amy saw a new light in Ty's eyes, an unfamiliar spark that caused her to cock her head.
"Aims…" When Ty spoke, his voice was slightly rough. His hands reached up and found her lower back. Slowly, with his expression cautious, Ty's fingers inched their way under the back of her shirt until his palms were flat against the small of her back. He pulled her down until she was lying on top of him.
"Amy," He whispered, looking down at her hands, which she was carefully keeping off him.
"My hands are all oily," Amy explained.
"I'm all oily," Ty said with a grin. He pulled one hand from her back, took one of her hands and placed her palm on the side of his face.
Immediately Ty's hand was behind her neck and he was pulling her face down before he captured her lips with his own, this time she opened her mouth a crack, an invitation Ty immediately seized. His tongue caressed hers with cautiously gentle motions while his lips moved smoothly with hers; causing her to arch herself towards him. A small moan escaped Ty's lips and his hands sought her back again. He kneaded slow, firm circles on her lower back.
Amy pulled back from the kiss.
"Amy…" Ty breathed, his eyes opening slowly.
Amy bent her head and kissed his lips quickly before pulling back to whisper into his ear, "Let the oil work." She rolled off him, which drew a frustrated groan from deep in his chest. Amy lay on her side facing him and Ty rolled over to face her.
"The oil is working," Ty said after drawing a slow shuddered breath. Amy laughed softly at him.
"Not that kind of work," She chided.
Ty closed his eyes, smiled and nodded. He wrapped one arm around Amy's shoulders, the other around her waist and pulled her towards his warm embrace. Amy put her hands on his chest stopping him causing his eyes to flash open and dart to her face.
"What –"
"I have to check the horses first," Amy answered, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing at the momentary fear she had seen in Ty's eyes.
Standing, Amy picked up the fleece throw that was folded at the foot of the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, grabbing the extra material and holding it so the bottom was mid calf to keep it from dragging. She walked slowly to the door, turning to face Ty as she stepped out of the room. He was lying on his side; one hand covering his eyes, the other hand on the bed where just seconds previous her back had been. She judged based on the rise and fall of his shoulders that his breathing was ragged and again she bit her lip to keep from laughing.
Amy stepped into a tall pair of rubber boots and rushed out to the front stable. She looked in on each stall, relieved to see drooped heads and to hear deep breathing. She entered the back barn with more caution knowing that Annie, the still partially wild Brumby was slightly skittish when suddenly approached. Just after Amy had opened the door Annie who thrust her head over the stall's half door greeted her with a snort before she returned to the back of her stall. Amy looked in on the others, most of who had been woken by the sudden noise and saw when she reached the last stall that Annie was munching on her hay net.
"You silly girl," Amy said in a low voice. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself against the night's slight chill and turned towards the house.
"They're fine," Amy announced when she reentered Ty's room. He had turned off the main light and lay with his head propped on the pillow, bathed in the warm yellow light of the lamp on the bedside table. Amy rejoined Ty on the bed, curling up beside him as he lay looking at his hands.
"Look at this," He said, holding his hands out.
Amy looked down, confused at seeing nothing out of the ordinary. She then noticed what Ty had meant; his hands were trembling.
"You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" He asked, his tone completely serious. He wrapped his arms around Amy and tucked her head under his chin after pressing a kiss into her hair.
"You did that to yourself," Amy stated, rolling over in Ty's arms and turning the light off. Ty's hands wrapped around Amy's waist and he pulled her back against his chest, spooning up against her body. She melted to his touch as he pressed his body flush against hers, his hands snaking to her front; he pressed his palms flat against her stomach.
"Ty," Amy gasped as she felt his nose at the nape of her neck. He pressed several light kissed to the back of her neck before resting his forehead against the back of her head and his nose against her neck, his breath sweeping softly down the back of her neck and under her shirt collar.
Ty's scent surrounding her and the feel of his fingers pressing soft but firm circles around her belly button were the last things Amy was aware of before she drifted to sleep.
