Laurey fell off the horse with a dull thud. Tears of frustration pricked her eyes before she even felt the pain in her arm. Then she heard it–of course–someone laughing at her. And no question in her mind who it was. The voice came closer to her, accompanied by footsteps.
"You all right, Laurey?"
"Yes, Jud, I'm just fine." She began to struggle to her feet, but he grabbed her under the arms and pulled her up.
"Can you walk?"
She nodded, but he kept a firm grip on her.
"You hurt or just scared?"
She took stock of herself. Nothing was broken, but she had a long gash across her arm, where she had taken the brunt of the fall. "Mostly just scared, I guess. But my arm is–"
He visibly flinched looking at the wound. "I'll take you to the house. Eller ain't back yet, so I'll patch you up."
"All right, Jud." She wanted to refuse, but she was so shaken that she wanted someone nearby, especially someone who could tell Eller she had tried to go riding on one of their best ponies if she made him mad. But when Jud kept his hand tightly on her shoulder, she couldn't help but give in to her temper, just a little bit. "I can walk just fine, Jud, I don't need you pressin' against me like that. It ain't proper."
"Yeah?"
The second she saw the small, dangerous smirk on his face, she knew what he was going to do. Before she had a chance to react, he reached down and in one fluid motion he swept her up in his arms.
"That better?"
"You–you put me down this minute!" mad and embarrassed as she was, she didn't want him to drop her, so she settled for lightly hitting his chest, making him laugh again.
"I can carry you over my shoulder; that what you want?"
"No, no, no! Please don't"
"Right, then stop hittin' me. And you know, I'd be less liable to drop you if you put your arms around me."
"Might get blood on your shirt."
"That don't bother me."
Resigned, she put her arms around him, just so she would feel more secure.
Still smirking, he carried her back to the house, gently lowering her down outside the front door. He then led her straight into her room. before closing the door behind him. Her heartbeat quickened as she realized she was alone with a man in her room. She knew that Jud worked for her, that she could fire him if she wanted. But it was still Jud, and Jud still made her feel–she didn't know how he made her feel. Like no matter how many nights he had dinner with her and Eller she never got to know him any better. Like she wanted him to stay away from her. Like she always wanted him to get a little closer. Like she shouldn't be wasting her feelings on a hired hand, that's how he made her feel.
"Get blood on the carpet if you keep standin' there."
"Oh!" she yelped and immediately joined him by the washbasin, where he wrapped a clean rag around her wrist. "Ow, Jud that's too tight!" she whined, looking up at him.
"Might bleed to death if it were any looser."
She knew she wasn't bleeding that much, but she also knew better than to argue, so she sighed and tried not to look at him too much.
"Who were you goin' to meet?"
"Wasn't gonna meet anybody. Just takin' a ride."
"In your new dress? With your face and your hair all done up?"
"All right. I was hopin' to sorta bump into a man in Claremore."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah" she wanted to stop talking, but she figured if he wanted to know, she was better off telling him than risking his temper. "He's a veterinary; cured some of our horses last winter. And his wife just died, so…"
"A veterinary? Make a lot of money?"
"I couldn't say" she turned away as he undid the bandage, ostensibly to avoid the sight of blood. The bleeding had stopped, and he wet a towel before gently running it up and down her wounded arm.
"How old is he?"
"He ain't old, maybe…forty" she shaved off a few years, but Jud still raised an eyebrow. "But I don't see how that matters; it don't make no difference to you who I visit."
He laughed, a harsh sound that seemed to penetrate her head. "Don't suppose it does. Just don't reckon some old veterinary'd be able to handle you."
"What do you mean handle me, Jud Fry?" she jerked her hand away from him.
"I mean like, does he kiss you when you talk back at him?"
"I surely don't know what you're talkin' about." Old Benjamin had never kissed her once, let alone when she talked back at him. "Besides, I never talk back at men who're good…and…nice…and all that." she noticed with some confusion that the gap between them had been bridged and she somehow wound up on his side of the washbasin. "I only talk back at the ones who deserve it."
He smirked again and put a hand on her waist, pulling her against him. "Good God, Laurey, you are achin' for it."
"Oh! As if I would ever want to be kissed by a low, ugly, mean, pig-stealin'-mmmh"
With one hand around her waist and the other tangled in her hair, he kissed her. Kissed her real slow, real strong. The way she'd always imagined a real man would kiss her. Tightening his grip, he eased his tongue into her mouth. She knew it should have been disgusting, but she found herself doing the same to him, reveling in their closeness.
Eventually, he broke the kiss, but he kept his hands on her.
"Oh, Jud" she sighed, making him laugh again, a sound that snapped her out of her trance. She should have pushed him away, slapped him, should have yelled at him, should have done anything but let him kiss her like that. He chucked her under the chin, forcing her to look up at him.
"You like that?"
She shook her head, knew that was what a lady was supposed to do.
"Then I'll have to keep kissin' you till you change your mind."
Before she could respond, he was kissing her again, a little gentler the second time.
She couldn't stop the emotions that were flooding her body. By the time he pulled away, she felt as though she were the only woman in the world, someone beautiful, someone special, someone who should be loved.
"That better?"
"If I say 'yes', will you stop?"
"'Course not. Gonna kiss you whether you like it or not, so you might as well enjoy it."
She furrowed her brow as he kissed her again. He could do anything he wanted to her; there was no one around. But she did like the kissing, so she supposed it didn't matter. And he probably wouldn't kiss her like that if he knew she didn't like it.
She quickly gave in again, and wordlessly, they began exploring every way to kiss each other: gentle pecks, his tongue in her mouth, her tongue in his mouth, their tongues pressed up against each other, biting and sucking on each other's lips.
They broke apart immediately when they heard the front door open. He winked at her and walked into the hallway.
"Hi, Eller"
"Oh, hello, Jud" Laurey could hear the confusion in the woman's voice and cringed, wondering what Jud was going to say.
"Laurey kinda busted her arm, so I was fixin' her up."
"Busted her arm, huh?"
"Yeah, we was sittin' on a fencepost an' she just fell off."
"Really?"
"Ask her."
The sound of his footsteps receded and Eller knocked on her door.
"Just a second!" Laurey caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, only to see that the bottom half of her face was smeared with the remnants of her red lipstick and a bright purple bruise had already formed on her lower lip where he'd sucked so hard it hurt. Laurey grabbed a bar of soap and frantically began rubbing off the lipstick, figuring she could cover the bruise with lipstick later on.
"Come in" called, her head still bent over the washbasin.
"So, sittin' on a fencepost talkin' to Jud Fry?"
"What's wrong with that? You always say he's the best hired hand we ever had and that folks ought to be nicer to him."
"Reckon I did say that. You just be careful with that boy, Laurey."
"Yes, Aunt Eller."
