Crossroads (5 page)

It was probably not a good idea to be
thinking about that right now. I wasn't doing myself any
favors.

For a much needed distraction, I glanced to
my right, at our young chaperone.

She had a blissful, dreamy look on her face.
I was touched this meant so much to her. She looked happy and at
home on Harry, our oldest horse at eight years of age. Her initial
anxiety had evaporated when she realized there was nothing to fear
from him.

She'd been hesitant, when she'd seen his
size. Although he was a big horse, he didn't stand as high as mine
or Tiffany's. I'd chose Harry because he was predictable and calm.
Not much would ruffle Harry's feathers.

After circling him with an anxious
expression, wringing her hands, I wondered if our plans for the
evening would have to be canceled. It didn't look like she wanted
to get up there. But once I'd let her feed him an apple and a
carrot, she'd giggled with excitement, and petted his nose and
ears. And the next thing I knew she was asking to get up on his
back. She was such a sweet kid. My heart ached for her, having to
face life with anything but a perfect hand. I hoped things worked
out.

I wondered if she'd like to do something
around the horses. To help feed or groom them. In return, I could
get one of the guys to give her riding lessons in the coral. I'd
think about that a while.

I turned back to Tiffany.

“Enjoying the
ride?”

“It's so peaceful out
here. I understand why you love it.”

“It has its charm. And a
lot more charm today.”

She gave me a coy look, her eyes holding
mine. It gave me hope.

“Yeah, not too bad at
all.” Her mouth curled into a cute little smile.

“Was that a subtle
compliment,” I asked.

“No, but it wasn't an
insult.”

I laughed at her and she
laughed in return. Her whole face lit up. I was hooked on that face
and her range of expressions. There was one I particularly liked. I
hoped it wouldn't be too long till I saw it again.

“Ten minutes to our
destination,” I announced. The stream came into view, meandering
its way through the field, as we crested the brow of the last
rolling hill, and began to descend to the valley.

The small copse of trees and rocks around
the river was like an oasis in a desert of grass dunes.

“Oh, that's pretty,”
Philipa said.

“Yeah, it's a sweet spot.
A place I like to be.”

“It's special to you?”
Tiffany asked.

“Yeah, real special. I've
been coming here for years.”

It had been special since I was a boy and
old enough to ride out here on my own. And it was the last place I
spent the day with my mother before she became too sick to
ride.

We trailed down, single file, along the
narrow track behind the trees.

I drew to a halt and slid off my horse,
helping Philipa down. We took the horses to water and tied them,
then I grabbed the four bags of food and drink from the horses
packs.

“C'mon, there's a perfect
place to sit, along here.”

We arrived at the rock where I placed the
bags down.

This was officially Joshua's rock. The one
I'd sat on for so many hours in the past, that I felt the right to
claim it and name it.

It hung partly across the river, where the
water tumbled gently over the glistening black rocks in a set of
mini rapids. I liked the way the river disappeared underneath.

“Oh Josh, it's beautiful.”
Tiffany stood at my side. She took my hand. I felt a bolt of
electricity shoot through me. I turned to face her, taking her
other hand and placing a kiss on her cheek. “Yeah, real
beautiful.”

“Can I have a drink,
please?” Philipa asked, pulling my t-shirt.

“Of course you can, honey.
Let's all eat and drink, shall we?” I led the girls away from the
edge of the rock, and spread out the provisions on the far side of
it. A bottle of water; six packs of Pepsi Max, Dr Pepper and
Sprite; plus the food, which our Mexican cook, Manuela, had
prepared. Wow, that woman could cook some.

“Dive in
girls.”

We sat eating and drinking for a while. I
told them a little about the ranch as the last rays of sunshine
faded for the day. It was cooling, very pleasant, and the shadows
cast by the trees bathed us in a mysterious, almost fairytale play,
of dark and light. I lay back on the grass, my feet on my rock as
the sun started to set. The sky was red and purple, the blue
rapidly darkening all around. I couldn't fail to be impressed every
time I saw it.

“That is the most amazing
sunset I've ever seen.” Tiffany lay close to me, her thigh pressed
against mine.

“Lap it up, it's the
highlight of the tour.”

“Maybe,” she said
cryptically.

Philipa sat beside me sipping a Dr Pepper
and munching some potato chips noisily. I tugged her plaited
pigtail and she poked my arm, then placed her little hand in mine,
before she lay down.

Although I'd had a lot of wonderful and
exciting moments in my life, getting wildly drunk; riding my horse
hard; tucking down, flying on my bike and not to mention, a shit
load of excitement in the arms of way too many women, it all paled
in comparison to that moment.

It was like a light came on in my head. I'd
been in the dark, feeling my way around, wondering what the hell
life was all about. And suddenly I knew. Here, with these two
girls, sitting in the peaceful beauty of nature, stone cold sober,
with no bike, nothing of monetary value, I'd found it.

I don't think I'd ever
felt so happy and so contented as I did right now. I wanted a whole
lot more of this kind of feeling.

Tiffany rolled on her side, leaning over me
and traced my face with a stalk of grass. She tickled my nose, then
placed the end of it on my lips. I opened my mouth, as she probed
inside, gently twisting it over my tongue. With a smile, she looked
across at Philipa, watching her for a moment. I turned my head. Her
eyes were closed.

Tiffany, bent down and whispered in my ear.
“She's napping.” I slipped her hand from mine and turned to face my
girl.

I rested on my elbow and put my hand on the
swell of her hip. Heat rushed through me as she started kissing my
face. Tiny kisses, fleeting touches of wet tongue. She drew back
and we stared in the fading light.

“Come closer gorgeous,” I
said, pulling her tight against the length of me.

My heart skipped a long beat.

I sank into her, taking hold of all that I
wanted so badly. Fuck did she feel good. Way better than I
remembered. I groaned with pleasure at her touch. Her scent was
making me high. I stroked her neck with my lips, nipping her ear
and squeezed her sweet little ass, pulling her hips against mine,
letting her feel my hardness growing fast between us. She wrapped
her leg across me, rocking her hips in a way that seemed to be
simulating sex. Not that I was complaining.

I ate her soft moan, devouring her mouth and
tongue. My lust-fogged brain filled with pleasure as she kissed me
back, enthusiastically, her tongue moving in my mouth in a wildly
arousing, hot rhythm.

I was lost in sensation. I felt like I was
floating in her arms, the sound of my blood and the river raging
through my head.

But nothing more than this was gonna happen
here, not with Philipa snoozing two feet away.

I gently caressed her face and body,
exploring all her contours. Her hands roamed all over me, and up
into my hair, tugging at the roots, sending waves of pleasure
cascading through me. We were oblivious to time and the dusk
falling all around us.

I'd never enjoyed a kiss so goddamn much.
She kissed me like it was the last one she'd ever have, putting her
heart and soul into it. I couldn't help but respond in the same
way. We were breathless, but neither of us cared about breathing.
Who needed air for crissakes?

She rolled on top of me, her long hair
tumbling all around us like a sensual curtain of silk.

Images started to flash through my head.
Naked, very physical images of us together.

I'd never wanted anyone this much. And it
hurt. Deep in the pit of my belly, a fire roared for her.

I needed a whole lot more than this kiss; I
needed to touch every part of her bare skin.

I wanted hours and hours of my mouth on her
and hers all over me. I could almost taste her coming in my mouth.
Heat flooded me and my cock strained, aching for release, in the
tight confines of my jeans.

Her hand slipped down
between us, over my stomach. I tensed as she undid the button,
unzipped a little and inched inside my jeans, as if she
instinctively knew I wanted her to feel me. She gripped me hard,
her fingers tight around my erection,
and
oh fuck
, the wild feelings that were
pulsating in my groin as she rubbed me up and down, couldn't be
described with mere words. Everything screamed inside me to take
this further, all the way to the finish line.

“Josh...
oh, God
... you feel so
hot and so, so good,” she moaned against my ear.

I started to lose control, moving against
her hand, my breathing fast and urgent, my mouth finding hers in a
frenzy of lips and tongues.

Fuck, I need to stop this right now.

I extracted her hand, while I still could,
and pushed her off me, a little roughly and abruptly. I rolled up
and fixed myself, then took the few steps to the river side of the
rock, staring down at the ripples of water in the soft moonlight.
The gentle bubbling sound of untamed water soothed me, not much,
but it was something.

“Josh, baby,” She came to
stand at my side, picking up my hand. “Are you okay?”

“No, I'm not. I want you
like fucking crazy, babe” I turned away, raking my hair with my
hands in severe frustration. “
Shit!
”

She circled me and stepped into my arms,
resting her head on my chest. My heart was pounding out of my body.
I stroked her hair, grabbing gorgeous thick handfuls. She looked up
at me, her face shadowed, so beautiful and desirable in the dusky
light, that I almost lost my mind.

“I'm sorry, that was my
fault. I shouldn't have done that. Not with my sister here. I got
carried away. You seem to have that effect on me.”

“Yeah, likewise,” I
understood completely, I wasn't really capable of thinking straight
when she came onto me.

“I want you to know, that
I'm going to trust you.”

“Well that's good, I
guess?”

She ran her fingertip around my lips and
jaw. I stopped breathing with the way she was looking at me, her
eyes so full of desire. She wanted me just as bad as I wanted
her.

“Yeah, it is. Today I've
seen so much more to you than the tough guy I met in the bar. That
act of yours is a sham, sweetie pie. I like this you, the real you,
so much better, Josh. I'll remember this day forever. It's been the
best. A wonderful date. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my
heart.” She leaned in and kissed the side of my mouth.

“Hell
no
, you've seen through my tough
bastard?
Fuck that's bad!
Keep the sweetie-pie between us, okay? Got a rep
to maintain.”

But they were sweet words, from a sweet
girl. It was touching in a way I couldn't describe. I felt a warm
glow filling my chest, a sensation I'd never had before.

Our eyes met, comfortably, in a long, mutual
stare of deep admiration.

“I like the real you too,
babe...give me more of it, and less of the smart mouth.”

I hugged her to me, pressing kisses all over
her head.

“The two of us are pretty
full on, can we try to take it slower, d'you think? Get to know
each other some more?”

“You think you can keep
your hands off my dick, do you?” I reminded her of what she'd been
doing, which almost sent me crazy a few minutes ago.

She giggled sexily. “I'm going to make sure
I manage that, for a while.”

“Then I have no choice, do
I?” I smiled, resigned to my frustrated fate.

“Not really.”

“Cool. Blue balls here I
come.”

I lit a cigarette and we both sat on the
rock, hanging our legs over the edge, arms around each other.

“Horrible habit, smoking,
you ought to quit,” she grinned.

“Tell me about it. The
bastard things are killing me.” I took a long drag on it and
stubbed it out. Maybe I'll try quitting again, for her sake. It
couldn't taste that great, kissing a smoker.

Her hand gently stroked my side, and I hung
my arm over her shoulder, playing with her hair, winding it round
my fingers.

I turned to her and we both broke into a
smile.

“What does your mom do,
babe?”

“She works in a laundry in
Manhattan.”

“No dad
around?”

“No. My Mom hasn't had a
lot of luck in that respect. Her three guys haven't had much
staying power, family-wise.”

“That's a
shame.”

“Mom's had a hard time.
She admits some of it was her fault, her lack of schooling didn't
help, and she made bad decisions; chose the wrong men. That's why
I'm like I am. I've learned by her mistakes. I don't want to
struggle like she did. Neither do I want to rely on anyone and be
let down. I want my own money and a good job. I don't want to work
in a laundry, that's for sure, it sucks the life out of her. I want
to get her out of there asap.”