Chapter Four
Swivelling abruptly, and stirring up the dirt at my feet, I whirled around. A few yards away, on the other side of the road, was a man on horseback. The black bay creature, with white rings above its hooves and another light patch on its forehead, cantered energetically.
The man on the horse’s back was dirty - that was the first thing I noticed about him. He wore an Akubra (or wide-Brimmed hat), which had once been cream in color, but was now covered in a layer of dust and red handprints. His blue plaid shirt, with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, was equally filthy. His pale jeans, with non-designer rips in the knees, looked as though they had grease stains all over them. His sun-bronzed arms and face were tinged with ochre from the plumes of dust kicked up by the heavy hooves beneath him.
“Hey there,” he called, pulling his animal to a halt once they were level with me, but still on the opposite side of the wide highway. His accent was heavy; drawling vowels and round ‘A’ sounds coupled with the languorous delivery that seemed typical here, as though the heat of the place made speaking itself seem like too much effort.
“Hi,” I hollered back.
“You all right?” he wondered, pushing at the brim of his hat and revealing blond hair beneath, which was, as would be expected, grubby.
“I...uh...” I replied, unnecessarily checking the empty road before stepping out into it. “My car broke down a way back.” With a flick of my hand, I gestured in the direction I’d come. Crossing the careworn old asphalt, I no longer needed to yell. “I couldn’t get a signal, so I was trying to find one.”
“Ohh,” he smiled. “You won’t get one round here. But the ranch is a just a couple of miles up,” he added with a jerk of his head. “You can use the phone there.”
Slipping my cell into my back pocket, I drew a little nearer to him and his horse stretched its head towards me. Startled, I stepped back out of its reach.
The man chuckled. “She won’t hurt ya,” he assured, rubbing a hand across a chin that bore at least two days’ worth of stubble. “She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
I believed him, but I was still too nervous to get any closer. Apart from a friend’s birthday party, when I was ten, I had never been near a real horse. And back then, it was a miniature pony in one of those mobile petting zoos. This animal was huge in comparison.
“How far away is your car?” the man asked, smoothly lifting his rugged tan boot from the stirrup and jumping down from the saddle. He landed with a hefty clump that sent a surge of dust flying up.
“Umm...I’m not sure,” I admitted softly, feeling thoroughly foolish. But also feeling a little uncomfortable. This man could be a perfectly nice stranger, trying to do a good deed. Or, he could be some grimy, sleazy maniac. The smile, which was broad, easy and bright, could have been lulling me into a false sense of security.
Now he was standing, I could tell that he was a little over six feet. He also seemed to be pretty athletically built; slim, but not weedy; muscular, but not dysmorphic. “You’re quite a way from home, aren’t ya?” he asked, casually slipping a thumb into a belt loop.
I assumed he was referring to my accent, and also suspected that his question was a rhetorical one.
Pale blue irises seeming to laugh as they slipped over my features, he used his free hand to vigorously pat his horse’s neck. “So, you wanna get up?” he suggested calmly.
“Huh?” I replied in bewilderment.
“Well, it’s gettin’ pretty dark,” he shrugged, still rubbing at the sleek long neck of his ride. “I don’t think Tia will complain too much about having to carry your weight, too.”
Swallowing nervously, I didn’t know what to do or say. On one hand, it would be intensely rude to turn down his offer of help, not to mention it was possibly the only help I was going to get. But, was it worth the risk of being raped, murdered and eaten by dingoes just because I didn’t want to seem discourteous?
“Umm,” I hesitantly replied.
“Listen,” he said, his face still occupied with that laidback smile, “I know being out here on your own must be frightening, but I promise all I want to do is help.” Taking a small step, he slipped his thumb from his jeans and wiped that hand vigorously down his thigh. “You know what? This is all my fault. Of course you don’t trust a stranger.” Seeming happy that his palm was relatively clean, he extended it toward me. “I’m Jay,” he said warmly.
“Faith,” I responded, wrapping my fingers around his calloused hand and shaking it firmly - I didn’t want him thinking I had a weak grip. If he did plan to attack me, being aware of my ability to give a good, solid handshake would surely make him think twice! I don’t know why it seemed important, but for some reason it did.
“That’s a beautiful name,” he replied, releasing my hand. “And it’s appropriate,” he chuckled. “So, what d’ya say? Will you have a little faith and let me take you to the ranch house?”
I cast my mind back to a self-defense course I’d taken in my sophomore year of college. Trying to remember the classes, I wondered if any of the moves, which I’d never had a call to actually use, were fresh enough to muster if required. What I did very prominently recall was the first rule: trust your instinct. If you’re in a situation that feels wrong, get the hell out.
As I looked at Jay and then the gentle brown eyes of his horse, who nuzzled her owner’s upper arm, I didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instinct wasn’t telling me to run. I was aware, of course, that my instinct could be betraying me, but it was a risk I had to take...wasn’t it?
“Two miles, you say?” I mumbled, tearing my gaze from him and looking in the direction he’d pointed to with his head.
“About that.”
“Thank you,” I replied softly, nodding.
His grin broadening, he cocked his head to beckon me to his horse’s side. “You ever ridden before?” he asked, as I followed his instruction.
“No,” I informed him, a little embarrassed by the confession and not sure why.
Tia’s face followed me as I nervously approached her. She sniffed me gently and then extended her tongue. I remained motionless, as she licked the sweater that covered my shoulder, anxious that she was about to take a bite out of me.
“Hey,” Jay gently chided, placing his palm on the horse’s nose and urging her away. “Sorry,” he added. “She’s not usually that friendly with people she doesn’t know.” Placing his right hand on the rear of the saddle, he bent to hold the stirrup steady. “Just stick your foot in there,” he instructed simply. “Take hold of the saddle, and heave yourself up.”
Inexplicably concerned about making a fool of myself, I demurely did as he suggested. Slipping my sneakered foot into the stirrup, I reached up at full stretch to take hold of the saddle. Then, with a light bounce of my foot in preparation for the effort, I hauled myself up with a soft grunt.
Jay moved with me, straightening until his shoulder came into contact with my butt and then giving me the extra push I needed to swing my right leg over the saddle.
Chewing at the inside of my cheek, I looked back down to him and found him laughing.
“What?” I demanded.
“Nothin’,” he hurriedly insisted. “Nothin’. It wasn’t bad for a beginner.”
“Then, what’s so funny?”
Refusing to tell me, he ran his hand absentmindedly over Tia’s nose. “Shuffle up as far as you can,” he said, “and take your feet out of the stirrups.”
With slightly clumsy movement, I freed my feet and left them dangling either side the barrel of the horse. Then, gradually, I slid forward until my pubic bone struck the saddle’s pommel.
“OK?” he asked as he placed himself on my right and lifted his own foot into the stirrup. After my silent nod, he propelled himself with perfect ease. As he smoothly dropped into the saddle behind me, he inadvertently pushed me slightly further forward.
Pushed tightly against the hard swell of leather in front of me, I experienced an involuntary and e
ntirely unwanted tingling. But I could not move. He was flush at my back. The bulge in his jeans pressed solidly against the top of my buttocks.
As he reached around me and grasped the reins, I was acutely aware of his scent. He was sweaty, but it wasn’t a rancid, stale kind of sweat. There was something sweet about it, but it was also earthy, and mingled with the dust around us, the leather of the saddle and something citrusy that I guessed was his deodorant, or shampoo, or shower gel.
Knowing that I was also sweaty, I wondered if I smelt good to him. Then silently asked myself why the hell that mattered. I wasn’t trying to attract him. Still, the other mute voice in my head reasoned, I didn’t want him to think I stink.
“You all right?” he asked, his breath tickling my ear.
“Uh huh,” I muttered, it was all I was able to muster, as I started to feel the thud of my heartbeat in my tongue.
His thighs gripping my hips, he gave Tia a subtle kick of encouragement and she responded instantly. She moved gently, but the fact that she’d moved at all made me feel suddenly very unsteady. My fingers snatched down to hang on to something, and what they landed on was his hands.
I both felt and heard him chuckle. “Don’t worry,” he kindly said, through his amusement. “I want let you fall.”
Self-consciously, I removed my hands from his, but I grasped the reins a little lower down despite his promise.
Then, with a click of his tongue and another kick of his heels, he squeezed both Tia and me. It prompted a burst of energy in her, and the sudden motion forced me back against his chest. Then, as her slender legs eased into a rhythm, my body, and his, undulated evenly with her.
My bound rubbing against the saddle with the temperate cadence, I became ever more accurately aware of the strength in his arms, the heat seeping through his shirt, and that intoxicating, masculine smell. A wholly inappropriate pleasantness blossomed between my legs, and I even began to feel my panties dampen. If the ride had lasted much longer than two miles, I would have been in serious danger of humiliating myself.
As it was, trying to take my mind off my body, I searched the landscape around me and urged myself to focus on something else. Ahead of us was a sprawling property, with several barns, two fenced paddocks, and further back still, a two-story ranch house with a massive deck under the shade of an awning.
The light was fading fast as we drew closer, and I spotted two men walking out of one of the barns. In turn, they noticed our approach and stood curiously waiting. Immensely grateful as Tia began to slow, I also felt the pressure of Jay’s chest leave my back as he rapidly jumped down from his horse.
“Hey, Jay,” one of the men grinned, “I thought you were going to check the perimeter. I do it, and bring back a dead wild dog. You do it, and you bring back somethin’ very much more appealing.” He wore a black A-shirt that was soaked with sweat, and a pair of scuffed jeans. His green eyes meandered over my face and then down my body. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Much more appealing.”
Feeling a little disquieted by the way the man was talking about me, and looking at me, I wondered if I had even more reason to be scared now than I had before. After all, there were three of them. No one knew I was there; we were miles away from any other building.
“Robbo,” Jay grumbled. “This is Faith; her car broke down on the highway. Can you take the truck up there, and get it runnin’ again?” His focus leaving his buddy, Jay looked up at me. “You still got the keys?”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” I muttered, stuffing my hand into my pocket, and then tossing them down at him.
His reflexes were quick, and hands supple, he caught the keys easily in one hand then threw them at his friend.
Robbo was not as quick, nor as adept, and fumbled with them before finally wrestling a tight hold. “Which highway did you find her on?” he laughed, unflustered. “She sure ain’t from round here.”
“Just go and get her car,” Jay returned, obviously nonplussed. “Do you wanna give him a hand, Cam?” he added, addressing the other man.
Of indigenous decent, Cam brushed his dusty hands over his khaki pants before nodding. “I guess, I better,” he grumbled in good humor, “otherwise, the poor girl’ll be here all night.”
Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable about my elevated position on the back of a horse; like an overdressed Lady Godiva, I lifted one leg and slid gracelessly down. Robbo gave a snicker, and Cam clapped him jovially around the back of the head.
Then, the two men turned away and headed toward another outbuilding; one I hadn’t been able to see on the way down.
“Pay no attention to him,” Jay said as he took a step toward me. “It’s a birth defect,” he added, “he was born a dipstick.”
I smiled at his joke, but felt far too tense to laugh. Evading his eyes, because I was certain I blush still heated my cheeks from the ride; I turned my focus to Tia and patted her neck.
“Between ’em, they’ll be able to get your car running again, but if you want to use the phone, you’re welcome to it,” he suggested, jerking his thumb toward the house.
“No, I don’t need to call anyone, thank you,” I replied, looking at him while artfully avoiding looking at him.
It was ridiculous really; I was like an awkward adolescent boy who was worried his erection was on display. One of the benefits of being a woman is that you can be intensely aroused and, and nobody ever needs to know. Yet I still felt as though my dirty little secret was visible somehow.
“Sure?” he probed. “Boyfriend won’t be worried?”
It was difficult to know, in my foggy state of mind, whether there was an element of interest or if it was a simple question that meant nothing more than its face value. I spent a few seconds trying to work that out before shaking my head. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”
His reaction didn’t help. Face unaffected by the news, he reached forward and took hold of Tia’s headstall. “Right, well, why don’t you come on in anyway? I’ll make us a cup of jarrah. They might be a while.”
“Uh,” my feet stalled as he began to lead the horse away from me. “That’s very sweet of you,” I added quietly. “But, are you sure your boss won’t mind?”
“Boss?” he queried, twisting his face over his shoulder with a curious squint of his eyes.
“Well, the...” I mumbled, pointing at the massive house, “the guy who owns all this.”
His lips breaking into a broad smile, he slowly turned and continued to walk. Eventually, once he was several yards away, I heard the words, “I own all this,” tossed back at me.