They rode for hours, until the sun was just past its highest point.
Cochise was a wonderfully spirited and silly horse, happy to gallop along or graze peacefully beside Ybarra. They ended up not eating while on the trail, too caught up in the majesty of their surroundings and the conversation that only suspended when the horses moved faster.
By the time they returned to the barn, breakfast had worn off and Jennifer's stomach rumbled audibly.
"Let's get these two unsaddled and we can sit down for lunch." They walked the horses back the last quarter mile with their saddles loosened. Their hands brushed as they walked. All morning they hovered close to one another, touching whenever they could. As though they were magnetized towards one another, as though constantly having to reassure themselves that the only one was real.
By the time they were back where they started, the horses were cool and ready to be turned out. They had only to remove and stow the saddles before going to find somewhere to have their lunch.
Jennifer followed Jonathan, curious when he didn't turn in the direction of the house. There was a pickup truck, the bed filled with hay, not far from the barn. Jonathan helped her up into a comfortable spot beside him. It was the perfect vantage point, with a view of the lake and the horses grazing below. They unwrapped their sandwiches and took turns sipping still-cool tea from the thermos.
"What do they do when you're not here?" Even after a full morning of riding, Jennifer could not quite take her eyes off the horses. She didn't realize how much she missed riding, missed the quiet solitude of an afternoon on the trail. She spent so much of her childhood escaping to the farthest corners of her father's horse farm. It was unfair to call her childhood fraught, but she dreamed of riding Sweet Sue and never stopping until she found what she was looking for.. She spent her entire adult life chasing that feeling of freedom, and Jonathan Hart had managed to give it to her in one short weekend at the cabin.
"They're boarded up the road. The family takes great care of them and when they know I'm coming, they trailer them down here." Jonathan wadded up his napkin and shoved it into the ziploc baggie his sandwich came in.
"Smart," Jennifer chewed thoughtfully, wondering if maybe they could extend their stay another day or two. Monday morning would arrive far too quickly, as far as she was concerned. Her worries that she might feel trapped or uncomfortable with only Jonathan for company had dissipated almost entirely on the drive. Now she couldn't imagine going back to the real world.
With a sigh, Jonathan kicked back against the hay. If he had a hat, Jennifer was sure he would have drooped it low over his eyes. He was a cowpoke in repose, his booted feet crossed at the heels. The air around them was sharp with fall, carrying on it the scents of evergreens and the distinctly wonderful smell of horses. It was so soothing, so perfect.
They day, and all its adventures, crept up on her. There was sun drifting between the trees, little spots of warmth that shifted with the breeze. With a sigh of deep contentment, Jennifer snuggled closer to Jonathan. Her thick sweater and jeans protected her from the scratchiness of the hay, which offered just enough cushion from the metal truck bed. It was an unconventional, but wholly perfect, place for a nap.
Jonathan woke, warm and refreshed, to a face full of hair the color of autumn leaves. He shifted slightly, not wanting to wake Jennifer, but even that slight movement sent a twinge of tightness up through his lower back. The bed of a truck and a pile of hay was not the best place for a man of his years to doze, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not with Jennifer curled into him, resting peacefully. His movements must have jogged her, because Jennifer stirred and looked up at him, her beautiful face twisting in a grimace.
"We probably need an hour in the hot tub." Jonathan curled his hand around her back and massaged gently at her hip. "If we can make it that far."
"I won't argue with that, but can't we stay here just a little longer?" Jennifer pulled herself to a sitting position and looked over the sprawl of his land. He followed her gaze, seeing his place the way she must have seen it. Not with his own eyes, appreciative but accustomed, but with the pleasure and excitement he had when he first bought it. The light was turning golden as the day headed into late afternoon. The colors were a little more vibrant, the lines a touch more crisp. It was as though they were in a more tangible reality. Brighter and more intense. Jennifer sighed. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of the view."
He gazed down at the brilliant head of hair beside him and her appreciation of the thing he'd held so dear. He had to agree. He would never get tired of this particular view.
His heart quivered in his chest, full to bursting with feelings for this woman. Feelings he couldn't quite name, and had never felt before. But deep and intense, and heating him from within.
"Me, neither." He said, watching her profile and the little smile that crept over her features. She chuckled, low, and curled her arm around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.
It was chaste, at first, just lips brushing skin over and over. Jennifer slid a denim covered thigh over his, encouraging him closer. Not that he needed any more incentive. Her touch was like a spark on a powder keg, her little moan of satisfaction lightning in his blood.
Need, powerful and consuming, had him clutching her nearer, his fingers almost bruising with the intensity of his eagerness.
He didn't know how to express the immensity of what was roiling within him. Need and want, a sudden delirious voraciousness for a connection with her. To ignite in her the same hunger he felt.
It was as though they stood on the precipice of something enormous and thrilling, and in that moment he wanted nothing more than to jump.
She met his ardor with some of her own, fingers clutching and hips grinding. He could take her there, in that pile of hay, but he wanted… he wasn't even sure, but he was impatient for it. For her. For whatever came next.
With trembling arms he pushed himself up. Jennifer was sprawled on her back, hay twisted in her red-gold curls. He had maneuvered her shirt open, the pink lace of a bra he'd chosen for her peeking through the parted material. A wet dream come true.
"I need you." He rumbled, looking down at her. She was dazed and flushed and wide-eyed, her cheeks pink.
"Have me."
Why had they dressed so inconveniently for this? Jennifer wondered, as Jonathan tugged at her boots. Sure they were well equipped for riding but they weren't dressed for riding .
She giggled when she watched him toss her boots over the tailgate. He left her thick socks on, a nod to the rapidly chilling air. But when he began to slither the jeans down over her hips, Jennifer hissed and levitated. Hay was comfortable when there was a fabric barrier, but it left a lot to be desired on very bare, very delicate skin.
Jonathan, for his part, was too busy staring at the skin he revealed. Jennifer didn't want him to stop, wasn't sure she would survive it if he did. And yet…
He was sliding down her front, leaving hot kisses in his wake. Whatever stiffness they he had been experiencing was pushed down by the rise of adrenaline, and Jennifer felt her voice shake as she tried to tell Jonathan to slow down.
"Huh?" He asked, eyes dark with desire and incomprehension.
"The hay. It's…" Jennifer tried to sit up. "Itchy."
Jonathan, usually a very intelligent man, simply stared at her.
"I don't want to get hay…" She felt her cheeks heating. Was she really going to spell out that she didn't want to have a rash on her ass from a literal roll in the hay?
Her words, or the discomfort on her face, finally broke through the haze. Jonathan looked down at her, then over his shoulder to the long walk back to the house.
"Maybe there's a blanket in the truck?" She asked hopefully, not particularly caring to lose all the time it would take to get redressed and into the cabin.
"No blanket." He didn't have much vocabulary, but she could see the wheels working. He was smart, he'd figure it out. "How about this?"
She didn't even have much time to finish the thought before he was helping her up. Her jeans were still tangled around her ankles and he backed them up until she leaned against the cab of the truck. Jonathan reached down to help her with her jeans, tossing them into a corner of the truck bed. They were inside out and Jennifer's last true coherent thought was that she wasn't going to be able to put them back on until they were washed.
"I want to taste you." He rumbled, pulling one of her legs on his shoulder. His intention was crystal clear, and Jennifer felt the sudden rush of moisture between her thighs. Jonathan pushed aside her panties and ran one finger experimentally over her, groaning at the slick heat. "I need to taste you. Here. Now."
Here, in the wide open. Now, in this truck.
Bold. Reckless. Intense. She wanted it all.
He gently laid her back on the cool roof. The leaves above them shifted gently in the breeze, an almost hypnotic swaying dance.
There was a lovely moment of suspended animation, of a breath caught and held, and then the blistering heat of Jonathan's mouth descended on her.
"Oh." She mewled, gripping her hands in his hair, trying to stay grounded as he plunged his tongue inside her. He was so very good at this.
Her heart hammered in her chest, fire cresting in her blood as he continued a relentless onslaught. His appetite for her was the strongest aphrodisiac, the sounds of satisfaction he made vibrating through her.
His thumb brushed her clit and her body rolled, the first crest of an orgasm reaching for her. And still he worked at her, pushing her thighs further apart, until her spine tingled and her breath caught in her chest.
She'd never been particularly vocal in bed, had always felt the keen edge of self-consciousness at the very idea, but she could not help the heaving in her breast, the whimpers that broke the stillness of dusk.
"Jonathan," She sobbed, fingers fisted painfully, her body strung tight. Her toes curled in the air, heels digging into his back. Her heart ached at the intensity of the moment, the voraciousness of his need.
She was never going to be the same after this.
She did not want to be the same.
"Darling," She keened and broke apart.
