Mustang Romance Ch 01

Introduction: The Nightmare

Hoof beats. Pounding, echoing loudly through rain. Texas tornadoes swung all around, but the hoof beats were louder than any windstorm, louder than her heartbeat. Darkness swirled everywhere, illuminated by the lightning in the sky every few seconds. She just had to get to the farmhouse, before something happened. She shut her eyes, clinging to the black beneath her, feeling his mane whip into her face, the powerful flanks sucking in air and expelling just as quickly through flared nostrils. She kept herself tucked low, trying to aid him in his mad, furious dash, but he could only travel so quickly. Her cabin was a mile from the main house, and on horseback, in a dead gallop, it still took too long. She saw the lightning, knew it was getting closer, and felt the hair on the back of her neck rise as one tremendous bolt found the resting place it had been seeking. She tried to squeeze her eyes shut, but could not help but stare, despite how skewed her vision was by the rain. The farmhouse was ablaze. And she could hear him screaming...

Amy shot up from a dead sleep, panting and covered in sweat. Always the same, this dream. It never went away, it never got better. She sat up in her bed for a few minutes, breathing hard and trying to get control over her wildly beating heart. Dreading going back to sleep, she padded softly over to the couch and sat down, curled up in a blanket.

"Will these dreams ever end?" she said aloud as she fought back tears. Doctors, therapists, everyone had told her they would subdue, in time, but they only seemed to become stronger. She sighed, lying her head down on the pillow, and thinking back to when it had all began.

Chapter 1: Internship

Please note that this story is meant to take a while to develop, it will not rush into anything quickly, so if you're looking for that type, it's not here.  Thanks!

Amy slammed her books down on the table, hard. Maybe too hard, because they landed in a heap and spilled onto the floor. Too irritated to pick them up, she wondered over to the couch, flopping down in a huff. College may have been a blast, but her graduate program was turning out to be a night from hell. There was never time to do anything but work; she had to teach five labs every week, in addition to her research and full-time job. As if that wasn't enough, she'd just received notice of where she would be interning at. That was actually a drop of good news, it was the location she'd requested, but its announcement had been accompanied with a 65 page thesis that was due at the end of the term -- 6 months! She sighed, rolling over onto her back, and grabbing a package of Pringles. Munching away, she tried to close her eyes and forget that she had a plane to catch in the morning.

*****

If there was anything Amy hated, it was flying. Breathing a sigh of relief as they finally landed, she made her way towards the pick-up station. She'd expected it to be hot in Texas, but this was stifling. It was September, and she'd been told the heat would have subsided a little, but she'd trade anything at that exact moment to get back to her Colorado climate. Ah yes, crisp cool mornings, pleasant, breezy afternoons, and chilly, rewarding evenings. Letting a small sigh of desire escape, she looked for the man that had been sent to collect her. The ranch she would be completing her internship at was the best in the state; they had set aside a substantial amount of acreage just for the Bureau of Land Management, for use as a wild horse reserve. That was what she was here for, and that was hopefully what would land her a job working for one of the top equine associations in the country. She'd completed two internships with different equine discipline clubs during her undergrad course work, and an additional one with a equine publication agency, but they had said she needed a complete thesis to fully begin a career there. Once she had it, and it met standards, she'd be offered a full-time job immediately. Stifling a small smile, Amy thought back to all the clothes she'd gone without, all the meals she'd skipped, and all the luxuries she'd passed up to get to the place she was. She was the one who'd gotten herself to this dream, she'd earned every penny to pay for every bit of it, and no one, no one, would keep her from this goal. She'd simply worked too hard to let that happen.

*****

Levi sighed to himself; this was definitely not what he wanted to be doing right now. Cleaning up the stables was his main chore, but he most certainly had no interest in doing it so some prissy grad student could come in here and mess everything up. He'd even argued with his boss, informing him that she wouldn't be anywhere near the stables, but he'd been rebuffed and sent back to work. Huffing, he threw another bale of straw down from the loft, grateful for the manual labor to take the edge off.

The last thing he was interested in was babysitting a know-it-all for the next six months. No doubt she'd have no idea what she was doing and he'd have to walk her through everything. Although he wasn't the top ranch hand, he seemed to get stuck with all the idiots all the same. Just that dazzling personality, he thought to himself with another huff.

Since arriving at the ranch 6 years ago, Levi hadn't changed much. He'd been used to working hard before, but working off the back of a horse all day moving cattle did something to a man. His muscles were lean, and rugged, and he wasn't cut, because he didn't work out, but the hard manual labor had wiped any trace of fat from his form. He kept his hair short, shorter than the rest of the cowhands, but longer than anyone else in his family, though now he couldn't be sure, because he hadn't seen any of them since he'd come here. His hair was blonde, it'd once been brown, but hours in the sun had changed that, and his eyes were a good-natured green. He usually looked humored, except when he was angry or irritated, which was the case right now. He sighed as he heard the truck pulling up, and peered out the barn doors, preparing himself for the worst six months of his life.

*****

Levi tried to keep glaring as the girl stepped out of the car, but he found it impossible to keep that face once he saw her. When Luke grabbed her luggage, she immediately jumped forward to get it herself, showing him that she was capable of being more than a stuck-up princess. Luke didn't look happy about the interference, but he handed the bags over anyways. Levi caught a good look her while she looked around, not noticing him standing in the shadow of the barn. She was tall, and leggy, like a newborn colt, and she had just as wild of a look about her. Her skin was ivory pale, and covered in freckles, and her figure didn't really make a man wonder much, she didn't have an hourglass shape or particularly large breasts. Still, he could tell right away from that figure that she did a lot of riding, and not just ranch horses, but the fancy, competitive ones he'd grown up seeing. Her fiery red hair hung in messy waves to the middle of her back, and he found himself wondering what it'd be like to hold onto that hair as he thrust into her. Shocking himself with such thoughts, he realized she was staring at him, too, and he turned and walked away to hide his growing...interest. Luke quickly regained her attention and began steering her towards the main house, trying once again to take her bags, though she still politely refused.

*****

When Amy had realized the cowboy staring at her, she'd been entranced as well. Looking like a picturesque model for the Wrangler catalog, he'd been gorgeously tan, with sun-bleached blonde hair that stuck out from a beaten and abused cowboy hat, a long-sleeve button-up with the sleeves rolled, and the dirtiest pair of jeans she could remember seeing. He looked, essentially, like a Western wet dream. One she definitely wouldn't mind having. When he'd realized she'd caught him, he'd moseyed on back into the barn, and the ranch hand that had picked her up had once again started hitting on her. She was sure Luke had the possibility of being charismatic, but he was trying a little too hard, and she could tell how bad he wanted her. Still, she let herself be steered into the large house, amazed at the architecture and grandeur. It wasn't particularly enormous, but it was so well-cared for and so picturesque Texas, she couldn't help but be enamored by it. She was led into the kitchen, where a stout woman with crazy hair piled on top of her head turned to see who had entered. She had a pleasant, no, a beautiful smile, and she scooped Amy into a hug without missing a beat, gushing instantly.

"Why, it is so nice to meet you! We've been talking all week about your stay with us! Can't tell ya how excited we are!"

Amy, barely able to breathe at this point, was released. She bit back a laugh and turned to see a tall sinewy man sitting behind them, and found herself thinking of Virgil from Tombstone. From the clothes to the height, to the facial expressions to the mustache, this was definitely a walking example. She laughed out loud in a loud guffaw, unable to hold it back, when he introduced himself.

"Welcome to the Ranch, my name's Virgil." At her laugh he raised his eyebrows slightly, but she could sense the good nature behind it.

The woman, who introduced herself as Jill, cut in, "Everyone responds that way when Virg introduces himself! Don't mind that expression on his face, he's just giving you a hard time."

She glowered at him and he gave her his most innocent, "Who, me?" expression in return. After a bit of chatting, they invited her to stay for dinner, after which Levi would show her to her cabin. Luke protested, but Virgil held up his hand, and Amy quickly learned that that meant no arguing. Luke complained under his breath and walking out the door, slamming the screen behind himself. Amy turned back to the friendly hosts before her.

"Who's Levi?" She asked, more curious about the cowboy who'd been standing outside the barn when they pulled up, but she didn't mention him, in hopes of not raising suspicion. Jill, slowly turning something cooking on the stove, turned to glance at her before returning to her cooking. "Oh, he'll be along for dinner, you'll meet everyone, then."

*****

Even though he'd wanted to, it was impossible to ignore how tense Luke was when he stalked into the barn. He walked over to Levi, who was busy removing cacti pins from one of the gelding's hocks, and lowered his voice, conscious even when angry of how spooky a hurt horse could be.

"Dude, Virg is having you show that new fine piece of ass where her cabin is tonight. You better not start getting any ideas about what you want to do with her, I don't care where Veronica comes into your life. Just don't touch Amy. She's mine and I'm going to get that honey before her time here is up."

Without waiting for a response, he stalked out, leaving a clueless and mostly speechless Levi behind. He knew why Luke had left so fast, Levi was a good 5 inches taller than him, maybe even taller than that. He stood, putting the doctored horse back in his stall, and leaned against the gate, thinking. The last thing he wanted to do was show that little brat where her cabin was. At the same time, his body stirred to life when he thought about all that long red hair and the wildness in her eyes. He was irritated with Luke for talking about her that way, a girl like that didn't need to be broken, she needed someone to run alongside her, letting her be as free as she was meant to be. Startled once again by his thoughts towards Amy, Levi started heading towards the farm-house, hearing the dinner bell echo loudly throughout the canyon.