The Lady and the Cowboy

The next morning, I was sitting on my bed, brushing through my hair, and completely oblivious to what was going on around me. I could still feel him on my body, and even though there was a small ache between my legs, I welcomed it as a reminder of what Tripp and I had done last night. I relived those moments over and over again as I dreamily got ready for the day.

"Earth to Kira?" I turned when I heard Lucy and saw her watching me from her side of the room. She was cautious, and didn't seem to be her normal, bubbly self. Then I found out why.

"Yesterday I got up to get a drink in the middle of the night," she said, a frown upon her face.

Well shit, it was just my luck something like that would happen. Sneaking out hadn't been the most fool-proof plan, but it had seemed like the best idea at the time. Then again, I thought, perhaps this wasn't such a bad predicament. If I was going to be spending this vacation with Tripp, then shouldn't I tell at least one person in my family, especially the one person who might actually understand my situation? I didn't have to tell her everything...

"So?" I asked her casually. I wasn't about to incriminate myself, and chose to play the ignorant act until she spelled it out.

"So...you weren't there. You weren't in your bed, sleeping. You were gone, I looked out into the main room too. And then, I lay awake for about twenty minutes and heard you come in, tiptoeing."

I turned to face her. "Did you tell anyone?" I asked, concern written all over my face.

"No...but what's going on, Kira? It seems like every time we turn around, you're gone, or you're staying behind at the cabin or something. Where did you go last night? I thought you were sick?" She certainly played the part of the concerned younger sister well.

"Lucy, you promise you won't tell anyone?"

"...Sure, as long as you spill because now you've got me curious."

I decided that this was the type of thing sisters should be able to share with each other. "There's someone here, at the ranch, and...I was with him last night."

Her eyes got wide and then her face lit up. "Oh! Why didn't you say something sooner! Tell me, who is it? Is he cute? Wait a minute! I know who it is. It's him isn't it? Tripp! The one Luke said you had a thing for!"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!"

"Oh, Kira! He's gorgeous, I'm so jealous!" she squealed.

"Well as Luke said, he's too old for me, so he's definitely too old for you," I laughed.

"Wait, what did you guys do last night?"

"We walked around the ranch." It was partly true, so I didn't feel bad about misleading her. Tripp had walked me back to the cabin, which constituted walking around. She didn't need to hear the other part.

"So you like him?" Once you got Lucy going off on boy talk, she didn't shut up. I just smiled and nodded. If she only knew how much I liked him...the word "like" didn't even begin to cover it.

"Has he kissed you yet?" she giggled as she asked it. I swear, this was better than daytime television to her. Again I nodded, and more giggling ensued.

"With or without tongue?"

"Lucy!" I turned and buried my face underneath my pillow as I laughed. Oh god...the mention of the word "tongue" got my mind racing. She asked if he had kissed me. I laughed inside my head as visions of his mouth against my dripping pussy flashed through my brain... The pain in between my legs now turned into a pleasurable throbbing. What time was it? Nine o'clock, I thought to myself, looking at my watch. I was going to go to breakfast with my family, and then I would meet Tripp in the main barn, where he was working today.

This morning, we ate in the Lodge, which had a buffet set up for the guests. People buzzed and bustled around us, and my parents seemed to be on a first name basis with some of the folks who they'd met over the last couple of days. I tried to listen to the conversation at the table, but in my mind I was wondering how quickly I could get away with eating and then excusing myself. The knowledge that Tripp was in the barn, only a small ways away from the Lodge, had my heart racing.

Some people who apparently had already met my parents came over to our table. My mom's face lit up when she saw them, and they exchanged pleasantries. They were an older couple, and reminded me of my grandparents, but there was also a younger man, probably just slightly older than myself, who stood next to them. By the look on his face, I could tell that he wasn't enthused about schmoozing with us over breakfast.

"So do you mind if we join you?" the older woman asked, smiling at my parents, and then to Luke, and Lucy, who also seemed to know who these people were.

"Of course! And who is this, I don't think we've met before," my mom motioned to the young man.

"No, no you haven't," the older man started saying. "This is our grandson, William. He wasn't on the trail with us a couple days ago."

So that was where they all had met -- on that hiking trip that I had skipped so I could spend the day with Tripp. No wonder I seemed out of the loop.

"Nice to meet you all, and please, call me Willy." The man put on a smile as soon as his grandparents introduced him. I didn't know if anyone else saw it, but to me it looked fake, matching perfectly with his voice, which reeked of arrogance.

"It's a pleasure, Willy," my mom said with her typical friendly grin. "And I don't think you all have met Kira yet, have you?" She turned to look at me and I shook my head. "Kira, this is Mr. and Mrs. Marshall. We met them the other day. They're staying the week as guests as well." Being polite, I smiled and nodded a greeting. My mother continued, this time to the Marshall's. "Kira's my eldest daughter, and she was sick the other day during the hike."

Across the table, I saw Luke roll his eyes. He was still suspicious about my strange absences for the past few days. Sometimes, when his brotherly nosiness kicked in, he could be a royal pain in the ass.

"Well I hope you're feeling better, dear," this coming from Mrs. Marshall. "I know how awful it is to get sick on vacation."

"Thanks, yes I'm feeling much better. It must have just been something I ate." I was beginning to feel guilty about the amount of people I was selling this facade to. Maybe I was imagining it, but I thought I heard Lucy give a small chuckle when I said it.

The Marshall's sat down with us, and I was surprised when Willy took the seat directly on my right, instead of sitting near his grandparents, who were on the other side of the table.

He was handsome, there was no denying that. He had light brown hair that was full, but cropped just above the ear, and his chin was strong and pointed. He wasn't tall, but not short either, probably around Luke's height, I thought. Even though he was at a dude ranch, he seemed to dress nicely, wearing khaki pants and a striped collared shirt that was tucked into them, a black leather belt around his waist. As he sat next to me, he turned to give me a grin. Something about him made me feel uncomfortable...I think it was his eyes. Although he acted warmly, they didn't match the rest of his pleasant demeanor. There was a coldness in them...and I definitely didn't like the way they flickered over my chest a moment too long before coming up to meet my face.

I gave him a polite smile before turning to concentrate on spreading jam on a piece of toast. "So, Kira, are you in school?" Willy began to strike up a conversation. That arrogance was still in his voice, and I wasn't pleased at the idea of talking about myself to him. I turned to look over, acknowledging his question and gave a simple "mmhmm".

Apparently my mother felt the need to add her tidbit. "Kira just finished up her first year at UCLA. She's going to major in finance." Lovely, now the conversation was focused on me.

"That's great, I just graduated from Harvard, top of my class, with a degree in international relations," Willy answered. He seemed like the type of guy who brags about his degree, his job, his car, etc. I continued to nod politely.

"Willy's going to be an ambassador someday," Mrs. Marshall said proudly.

"I'm attending Stanford in the fall to start my masters in foreign policy," he said with that trace of haughtiness in his voice.

Well good for you, Mr. Ivy League, I thought, beginning to get annoyed, even though Willy wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong. It was just that something about him rubbed me the wrong way, and I definitely wasn't in the mood for conversation at this moment. My mind was still racing with thoughts of Tripp, and the passion we had shared last night. Was it too soon to excuse myself?

And then, as if my mind had conjured him into reality, there he was, across the room, talking with Jack Waterman. I hadn't seen him walk in, but he stood near the entrance now. He looked amazing, wearing a thin plaid shirt that hung open to reveal the tight white tank-top underneath, and jeans that molded against that perfect butt of his. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow and there was a smudge of dirt on the white undershirt, a telltale sign that he'd been working. He looked rough, hard, and utterly delicious. Everything from yesterday was coming back to me in a wave of desire. All the man had to do was stand in the same room as me.

"Kira?" My mother said my name, snapping me back into reality. Oh god, I was staring and hadn't heard a word that was being said at the table. Quickly, I looked down at my plate before glancing at my mom.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked, hoping no one had noticed that something else in the room had captured my attention.

"Mrs. Marshall asked you about how you're liking school," my mother had a wary look on her face.

I looked to Mrs. Marshall, who was staring at me curiously. "Oh!" I tried to sound chipper. "Oh, well it's great, really beautiful campus, and I'm going to be rooming with some of my friends from the dorms next..."

In mid-sentence, my fork suddenly hit my plate with a loud clatter when I made the mistake of glancing toward Tripp. He had noticed me now, and he was staring at me with that look in his eyes that made me feel weak. It was as if he were picturing me sprawled out underneath him, naked, instead of sitting down to breakfast in a room full of people.

"Kira, are you alright?" someone at the table asked, I wasn't sure who since my mind had gone to mush at that point.

"Um..." Look away from him, look away before they notice who you're staring at, I told myself. How I managed to pry my gaze from him, I don't know, but I managed. "Sorry...I...uh..." C'mon, get it together, Kira. I could still feel his eyes on me, and I had to get out of there, before I ended up running into his arms in front of everyone. "I'm sorry, you know what, I just realized I left something back at the cabin. But I'm finished with breakfast anyway...stuffed and couldn't eat another bite. It was delicious though. You should all try the pancakes, they're really good." I had absolutely no idea what I was saying as I got up from the table and pushed my chair in. If I had retained even a scrap of sanity, I would have realized that everyone was staring at me as if I was crazy because all I'd had to eat were some eggs and toast. I don't even think they were serving pancakes that morning.

He had left the Lodge as soon as he saw me start to get up from the table. I all but ran out of the room. Once I was on the porch a strong hand grabbed my arm and pulled me around the side of the building, where less people were present. He dragged me down the stairs, and I had to practically run to keep up with him.

"C'mon, the stables are empty right now," his voice was rough and by the way he acted, it was as if he were a ticking time bomb, about to explode at any moment.

We ran the last few yards into the large barn and slammed the doors behind us. We were wild for each other. Not even so much as glancing to see if there were any stable-hands around, he pinned me against the wall by the door and attacked. His hands quickly wove through my hair and grabbed fistfuls of it to pull my head back so my mouth pointed upward, primed for his descent. A tongue immediately penetrated my lips, dizzying me and completely blurring my senses until I was covered in a haze of pure ecstasy.

"It took all my willpower not to go over there and ravage you in front of your family," he groaned as scalding kisses were placed down my neck. "I wanted to rip your clothes off and have you on the goddamn breakfast table."

My hands gripped his shoulders for support and held on as I gave a small moan. Suddenly, he grabbed my butt and squeezed while lifting me against the wall and moving forward. My legs wrapped around him and he held me there. His powerful hands were moving all over my body now as he pinned me to the wall, as if he wanted to feel every inch of me at once.

"Tripp..." I grunted. "We can't do this here can we? Won't someone come in?" I was almost at the point where I didn't give a rat's ass. The whole ranch could watch us for all I cared, I just wanted him inside me. That small, rational part of me decided to say something though.

He groaned against my neck and paused, as if trying to get his passion in check. "No..." he said before slowly placing a single kiss on my lips, his mouth lingering for a moment. "No, we can't do this right now, not in here, in the middle of the day." He backed up an inch and placed me on the ground. My legs were a little wobbly and he grinned. "I'm sorry, Darlin', it's just when I saw you all I could think about was last night."

Oh did I know the feeling. I had been in a semi-haze all morning just remembering what we had done last night, running through every detail in my mind blissfully. "Tripp, I want to do it again," I said in a soft voice. I didn't think I would ever get enough of him.

He chuckled and reached for me, turning me around and wrapping his arms around my front. "We will. You can't imagine how much I want you," he whispered softly in my ear. I had a pretty good idea if the rock-hard bulge I felt against my back was any sort of indicator.

Just then we heard a sound from the back entrance of the barn. Someone was coming in. I looked to Tripp who quickly grabbed me by the hand and shoved me in one of the empty stalls. I realized it wouldn't look good if we were seen alone together in the stables. It would be quite obvious what we were up to, so I crouched down in the corner of the stall and waited.

"Tripp?" a man called out from across the barn, his voice was getting closer.

"Over here, Romero," he called back in a voice that sounded less than enthused. At this point I could hear him moving something, probably to make it seem like he was working.

"Tripp, we need an extra hand with the cattle. We're not moving them fast enough and we need to get them in before it starts raining." Romero was standing next right outside the stall at this point. I tried not to move or make any sound.

"Shit, isn't Rick around?" The annoyance in Tripp's voice was quite clear.

"It's his day off, and all the other hands on duty are out there already. What have you got going on in here that's so important anyway?"

"I told Jack I'd clear out the west end of the barn before the storm tonight. Supposed to do it last night, but didn't get around to it," he sounded as if he were making up an excuse.

Romero chuckled. "Yeah I bet you didn't. Heard you were too busy almost murdering Jimmy. What'd he do now?"

"Nothing," Tripp said quickly in a hard tone that expressed his desire to move on to a different subject. I remembered what Lucy had told me last night, about Tripp fighting with the man at the Lodge. She said he'd been angry and someone had set him off.

Romero though didn't back down, and was still laughing good-naturedly. "Probably still going on about that little blonde thing you got the hots for."

"Forget it, Romero." That had definitely seemed to hit a sore spot, or perhaps the harsh tone of voice he used was because the 'little blonde thing' was listening only a few feet away. "I'll saddle up and meet you out at the herd in a few minutes." It seemed as if Tripp just wanted to get the man out of there.

"Well don't take your time," Romero's voice called back as he walked toward the exit of the barn after being dismissed.

I heard the doors on the other end of the stables shut, but I waited until Tripp opened the gate to the stall before standing up and walking out. He looked at me apologetically.

"Little blonde thing?" I raised my eyebrows.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Some of the guys may have noticed my interest in you and were ribbing me about it yesterday when I wasn't in the mood."

I was amused at this point. "My sister told me an interesting story last night about something she witnessed at the Lodge..."

Tripp groaned. "Great. Your family were the last people I wanted seeing something like that." He grabbed a saddle off the wall and brought out a horse from one of the stalls. "I was going crazy yesterday after the way we'd left things in the barn. I thought I'd scared you off for good, especially when I realized that you'd holed yourself up in your cabin after that."

So I had been right. It was our kiss in the barn that had him so riled. He walked over then and put his arms around me, leaning his face down to rest on the top of my head. "I couldn't believe it last night when I opened my door and saw you standing there," his voice was soft and earnest.

I buried my face in his hard chest and inhaled. He smelled wonderful to me, although he'd been working most of the morning. "I wish you didn't have to go..."

His hands cupped my face and he kissed me with what seemed like all the strength he could muster. "Will I see you tonight," his lips against mine were as urgent as his words.

"At the Lodge?"

"No...come to my cabin. Sneak away if you have to. I have to see you..." He was trailing kisses down my neck, and I moaned as I held his face to me. He had to leave, and it was torture knowing I had to spend even a few hours away from him.

"Tripp...please..." my legs were turning into jelly.

"Promise you'll come."

"I'm going to come right now if you don't stop doing that," I whispered wickedly.

He groaned as his eyes danced and smiled. "Tonight, California. Don't keep me waiting," he said breathlessly as he reached around me and gave my behind a playful squeeze while quickly kissing the tip of my nose.

Fire burned through my entire body as he we gave each other one last look of passion before we each turned around, him to his horse, and me for the door. If we stayed a moment longer, we both knew we'd never get out of there.

I forced myself to focus on something, anything but him as I walked back to the cabin. Looking around the ranch though, all I could see was Tripp Carson...he was everywhere. Sometimes when I thought of him, of us together, I tortured myself for a few instants by imagining what would happen at the end of next week, when I left, and he stayed here on this ranch. Only a few instants, before I would cast it from my mind, telling myself that next week was eons away. And then I would replace such thoughts with nearer futures, such as tonight. I let my mind dance with fantasies of what would come that evening, and the small ache in my gut dissolved some.

* * * * *

"Kira!" I ignored my brother's call to me as I quickly walked towards the door of the Lodge. Let them think what they wanted to, it didn't matter to me anymore. They couldn't control me, I wasn't a child. I had diverted questions from my family that day, who at this point were becoming quite suspicious about what was going on with me. After dinner, when I had said I was leaving, I didn't want to stick around for the inquisition.