Chapter Nine
Murphy’s Law
“Are you getting hungry?” Dale asked as he led Kristin around a corner, into a clearing. They’d been riding for around three hours already, and aside from the fact that her stomach was growling, Kristin also knew the horses needed to rest for a bit.
“I could eat something,” she told him. They pulled to a stop in the clearing, close to the tree line where there was some shade, and Dale dismounted, starting to unload his saddlebags, which he’d apparently filled with picnic materials. Kristin was only mildly surprised; it was the sort of thing Dale would do, and he’d quite obviously planned ahead. She took the blanket from him and spread it on the ground while he pulled out food and drink and made sure the horses were tied up.
The meal was pleasant. Roast beef sandwiches, homemade potato salad, and brownies certainly hit the spot. And the conversation was even better, discussing some of the scarier moments Dale had in putting together the ranch and a few times Kristin had thought her career would fail. She still didn’t mention the layoff; she didn’t want pity.
They grew silent as their bellies filled, and Kristin was lost in the moment, surrounded by the incredible beauty of nature and a reminder of what life was like before she’d complicated it with business. She ate her brownie slowly, chewing thoughtfully as she imagined how it would feel to go back to the concrete jungle when this vacation was over.
“You told me you loved me once.” Kristin whipped her head around, staring at Dale, who was lounging back, leaning on his elbows with his long legs stretched out in front of him. His face was serene, and he stared at her without accusation or pain. “You told me you loved me, and then you ran away. I figure one of two things happened. Either you realized it was a dumb thing to say because it wasn’t true, and you couldn’t tell me that, or you were afraid of it because it was true, so you ran from it.”
Images rolled through Kristin’s mind at light speed. She flashed through the time she’d spent with Dale all those years ago, and she couldn’t remember ever telling him she loved him. Had he imagined it, or had she blocked it from her memory? He waited patiently, not interrupting her search through the files in her brain, and as the slide show slowed to a crawl, she found the one she was looking for, her eyes widening at the memory.
It was the day they’d gone riding, and Kristin had packed a picnic similar to this one. They’d stopped by a creek and shared the food, and then they’d lain back on the blanket, Dale cradling her in the crook of his shoulder. She’d traced her fingers up and down his chest over and over, and at one point, she’d simply breathed, “I love you, Dale.”
Now, she nearly choked on the tears she refused to shed, realizing how badly she must have hurt him. As she met his mossy gaze, she shook her head. “I was eighteen, Dale. I didn’t know what love really meant.” But that wasn’t an excuse, and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat as she remembered what had really made her turn away. “And Dale…you never said it back.”
He sat up and hit her with an intense stare. “I was so overwhelmed to hear you say it that day I didn’t trust my voice. And you never gave me another chance. But I’ll tell you now I was crazy in love with you, and I’ve never felt that way about anyone since.”
It was like he hit Kristin in the chest with a sledgehammer, and she couldn’t breathe. She sat there, trying to gulp air and failing, the information registering and weighing her down. Her defense mechanisms kicked in and she shook her head. “We were so young, Dale. If what we had was love, it was puppy love. We’re adults now. Maturity changes everything.”
His eyes sparked with sadness. “It doesn’t change everything, Krissy. It changes a lot, and it pulls people apart, but sometimes, it brings people back together, too.” He stood abruptly and started collecting the trash, stowing it in the saddlebag, and Kristin folded the blanket. She handed it to him, and her fingers brushed against his, making her whole body jump. How could she possibly feel so close to someone she barely knew? With a sigh, she untied Rocky, rubbed his nose, and mounted him.
He whinnied wildly and bucked, nearly throwing Kristin, and she scowled, bringing him under control. Still, he skittered, favoring his front right hoof. She climbed off immediately and joined Dale as he bent to carefully inspect the leg and hoof. She didn’t see anything wrong with his leg, but Dale let out a fierce curse and pointed to the horseshoe on his hoof. Kristin saw the issue immediately. Somehow, a large, sharp pebble had lodged between the shoe and the hoof.
“I can’t ride him like this,” she said, shaking her head. “That much weight and pressure, especially as far as we have to go back, will split his hoof.”
Dale nodded grimly. “Blaze can’t carry us both, either.” Straightening, he looked around, squinting, as if searching for something. Finally, he smiled and pointed. “There’s an old barn about half a mile down that trail. It’s a little overgrown, but it’s a short distance. We’ll take the horses over there, get them some water, and get out of the sun. I’ll call for a trailer to come pick us all up. We’ll get Rocky right as rain as soon as we get home.”
The barn emerged on the horizon through the trees, and Kristin could tell it hadn’t been in use for years. Rotted pieces of wood littered the ground around the building, and several other beams were in disrepair. But as they drew nearer, the roof seemed solid, and there were a couple of clean buckets. Leaving Kristin with the horses, Dale took the buckets to the creek, filled them, and rigged them up for the horses to drink.
He pulled out his cell and stepped out of the building to make a call as Kristin searched the old trunk in the corner for a brush. She wanted to tend the horses while they waited, and though the brush she found wasn’t ideal, it would do the job for now. She could hear Dale, shouting into the phone, obviously having a bad connection. “No, the old barn to the south…south, Ricky…Right. It’s about 20 miles down the road…no, it’s closer over the trails but…listen, Ricky. You have to take the road out to the west and turn right by the airmail box…yes. Go another five miles that way and stop…no five. Stop by the drum circle…yes, with the stumps. We’ll meet you there.”
Kristin was relieved, until she heard the next statement. “No, I know. But the farrier won’t take all night. I just need one trailer…no, one trailer for both horses…dammit, Ricky, just do what you can. We’ll wait in the old barn for you. Just call me when you turn by the box so we can head over to the road…right. Thanks, Ricky…no, we ate, we’ll be fine till later. Just try not to take till midnight tonight.”
Dale reappeared through the open doors, tension clear on his face. “We’ve got twelve trailers, and they’re all on the road, taking everyone to the farrier. Rocky was supposed to go get shoed, and I forgot about that. Anyway, there should be a couple of them headed back before dinner. We’ll just have to hold down the camp till Ricky can get one over here.”
Kristin didn’t mind and reached into the saddlebag Blaze carried, pulling out the blanket. She fluffed up some of the very old hay to pad it and spread it on the ground. Yawning, she said, “I could use the rest anyway.” She lay down and tried not to tense as Dale lay beside her. The horses slurped at their water, and Dale chuckled. “Murphy’s Law prevails.”
“It’s not that bad,” Kristin told him, though she wished they hadn’t fought before all this. It would have been much more comfortable. Then again, it was hard to consider their discussion a fight. Trying to ease the tension, she told Dale, “At least we’ve got shelter.”
That turned out to be a good thing. As they chatted about high school and Dale caught her up on some of the things he’d learned at the class reunion, the sky darkened, and before long, a thunderstorm raged overhead. “That was unexpected,” Kristin remarked as the smell of the rain wafted into the barn and a bit of spray blew in on the wind.
“You’re a Texan. Nothing about the weather should ever surprise you.” Dale rose up on an elbow and gazed down at her, a twinkle in his eyes. “You’re not really sho
cked, are you?”
Kristin shifted under his gaze. “Not really. It takes a lot to throw me off these days.”
She saw the mischief in his expression as a smile crept over his lips. “I bet I could throw you off balance.” Before she could rise to the challenge, Dale leaned in, his lips blazing hot on hers, and Kristin instinctively opened to him. Feeling the cracks of lightning overhead course through her system as their tongues tangled and danced. His arm snaked under her, and Kristin rolled to her side, thrusting her fingers into his thick hair. She pulled him closer, pressing her body against his wantonly. She should be ashamed of herself, but she was caught up in the moment, in the feel of his hard chest against hers.
His fingers crept lower, cupping one cheek and then closing around the back of her thigh and drawing her leg over his hip. She gasped as she felt the evidence of his arousal against her stomach, pressing and throbbing, and it made the warmth and moisture gather between her thighs. She didn’t hesitate as she reached for the snaps on his shirt and tore them open, wanting to feel his skin beneath her fingers and palms. Memories raced back into her head, and he’d changed so little that it was as if they were back in her stables, in the loft above the horses, where they’d first been intimate.
Dale lifted her shirt and pulled it over her head, his fingers trailing down between her breasts and tickling along the waistline of her jeans. She panted, every little brush of skin against skin igniting a new set of flames. “I almost forgot how beautiful you were,” he whispered as his lips trailed over her throat and down her shoulder, finding their way to one taut nipple. She cried out and arched her back as he took it in his mouth, swirling his tongue around it.
In a moment of clarity and unabashed honesty, she told him, “I never forgot how good your mouth was.”
He chuckled, the sound vibrating against her skin as he reached for the fly of her jeans and quickly opened it, pushing the denim and her panties down just before he thrust his hand between her thighs. His hand was cool against the gathering heat, and as he stroked her, Kristin’s body convulsed with the first orgasm she’d had in a very long time. It blurred her vision, and she bucked against his fingers as they toyed with her folds and teased at her core. He pinched and rolled her swollen cleft, and the wave of pleasure grew until it consumed her.
Wanting more and feeling impatient as the storm outside brewed heavier with the coming storm inside her, Kristin shoved Dale’s jeans down his legs, catching his shaft in her hand as she released it from its prison. He was long and thick, just as she remembered, and maybe her memory had dimmed because he was smoother and harder than she remembered. He shuddered as she ran her fingers from base to head reverently.
“That feels so good,” he groaned as he dove in for another kiss. Kristin welcomed him, using her free hand to wrap around his back and pull him to her, delighting in their bodies pressed together with nothing in between. She rolled to her back, wrapping her legs around his waist in clear invitation, forcing him to settle his weight deliciously atop her as he shifted between her thighs. “I missed you, Krissy. Are you sure you want this?”
Kristin didn’t really want to answer that question honestly. She wasn’t sure of anything at this point. Her future was a giant question mark, and analyzing if this was a good idea would just throw a wrench into things, and her body begged her mind to give over control. With the wind blowing, the sky cracking, the air was filled with magic, and it infused her with courage she wouldn’t normally have. She stroked his shaft again, firmly and with a determination she usually applied to her career. “I want you, Dale. The hell with tonight or tomorrow or next week. Right now, I want you.”
His kiss made her body erupt with a sense of being alive greater than anything she’d experienced in a very long time. As he made love to her mouth, he slid into her, slowly, easily, and she trembled as a slow thread of pleasure flowed through her at the coupling. He drew out and thrust again, with more pressure, and Kristin tightened her legs around him, drawing him deeper. She raised her hips to meet his thrusts as he found a rhythm that heated them both to the boiling point, their sweat mingling and blending with the smell of rain and sex in the air.
Kristin cried out as his mouth tormented her shoulders and breasts while he plowed into her. Each drive harder and more insistent than the last, her orgasms flowing one on top of the other relentlessly, and still it wasn’t enough. She wanted all of him.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Dale rose up, bracing his hands on either side of her, and drove himself to the hilt, his head thrown back and his body quivering as he found his release. Just watching him brought Kristin to another heavy orgasm. He started to shift off her, but Kristin caught him and drew his full body weight to her, wanting the pressure of it, the warmth of it, the intimacy of skin to skin contact.
Eventually, Dale rose and looked down, searching her face. “Are you okay?” he asked, brushing tender fingertips along the line of her jaw.
She smiled contentedly. “Better than okay.” She stroked a hand through his hair, and he rubbed his head against her palm, making her laugh. “I take it you’re pretty good, too.”
“Oh, yes,” he growled and planted a firm kiss on her lips. Moving off her, he scowled out at the storm. “It’s going to take them a little longer to come rescue us. Are you prepared to stay the night with me if we have to?”
Kristin was in no hurry to go anywhere. She’d found a comfort zone, and even if it wasn’t the height of reality, she wanted to rest here for a while, like a stop along the highway on a long road trip. “I think I can handle it.”
Dale sat up and, still nude, pulled one knee to his chest and draped an arm over it. “So, what now, Krissy? Where do we go from here?”
“Does it matter?” Kristin didn’t know what the future held, and for the first time since high school, she didn’t think it was vital to plan ahead. “We’re here now, and we’re happy. Let’s make that the priority.”
Dale didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, but he covered it well as he smiled and affectionately grabbed her, making her giggle with pure delight.
To be continued...
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