*** In The Apple Orchard ***
"Do you really think my brother can satisfy you?" Trenton stood at the bottom of the ladder, hands shoved in his pockets.
Melody, startled, dropped the wicker basket she'd just begun to fill. "Oh, why must you do that every time?" Melody scolded as she descended. On the ground she scooped up apples in the same efficient manner she handled everything else.
Her quick stabbing look at Trenton almost made him laugh. Up until recently he would have believed the house-mouse appearance she cultivated. But last week had resulted in his car breaking down by Old Mill Pond. Thinking to refresh himself Trenton had stumbled to the pond and onto a most unexpected scene: Melody stretching on top of the broad flat boulder in the middle of the pond.
Only, he hadn't known it was Melody at the time.
Trenton took shelter in the cats-tails and reeds. For the better part of an hour he watched the limber movements of the nude form moving from one position to another. His bewitched mind could focus on nothing but the byplay of shadows and light, color against the gray of the boulder and glassy black of the pond. In all the time of crouching there, He'd done nothing to relieve himself of the pressure gathered behind his fly
For an entire week he'd waited to get her alone. Now, he reasoned, he knew what eternity felt like.
"Melody, Stop." Trenton caught her arm to hold her in place.
She straightened slowly, bringing the armload of apples with her. Melody's hair fell from the bun at that moment.
The curls bounced against the backs of his fingers. Trenton released her arm only tangle his fingers in the chestnut strands. Suddenly the quiet house mouse image she'd always brought to his mind changed to a sleek Mare. Whether she knew it or not he no longer saw her hair twisted up into a bun, reading glasses, the slate blue dresses and gum boots as warning signs of impending boredom. Instead he recognized these things for what they were: walls to keep others away from the deliciousness hiding beneath.
At last he found his voice. "Why are you marrying my brother?"
Her outraged gasp was the only warning he had to her flash-fire temper. Melody slapped his hand down, dropped the apples into the basket and - leaving it all - marched through the orchard in the direction of the farmhouse.
"Everyone has asked me is why I'm marrying Derek." She snapped. "At breakfast, lunch and dinner I get this very same question." She spun about to face Trenton. "Don't you get it yet? - I don't want to marry him!"
"Why go through with it, then?" Trenton asked, coming to a stop only a foot away. In the back of his mind he knew he was crowding her. Worse, Melody was at limit with him. She was going to bolt if he didn't handle this just right.
"You are the worst of them." Melody planted her hands on her hips. "You're forever hounding me. Every time I turn around I find you on my heels. Tell me, why don't you want me married to Derrick?"
"Because he doesn't love you." Trenton answered at once.
Melody snorted. "Love has never been part of this equation." She folded her arms and studied him. "Are you going to challenge my father? Do you honestly think he'd give up all the money Derek is paying him?"
"Should I challenge Derek for your hand?" Trenton wasn't about to tell her he'd been thinking just that. He shoved his hands back into his pockets. It was the only thing he could think of to keep from grabbing her.
At once all the ire and anger drained from Melody. Her shoulders slumped and her head drooped. "Why would you want to challenge for me anyway?" She muttered. "I've not got anything you want."
"Perhaps what you're thinking of is what Derek wants. My brother is a spoiled brat who has grown into a spoiled man. Why not think about what you want?" Trenton lifted a hand to caress her cheek, startled when she looked to bite him. He jerked his hand away.
"I don't have any choice. Father's announced it already." Melody's step back was hesitant. Her gaze met his.
Trenton hid a smile. Melody was skittish, her eyes looking at everything but him. Silently he dared her to run. Running would give him an opportunity to race after her. He could catch her and hold her and... He felt heat flood his loins.
"I just want to be somewhere else." She took another step backward. Melody didn't truly start to worry until Trenton stepped over the basket. He was close again, crowding her out here in the wide-open orchard.
"Women love Derek." Trenton studied Melody. Her breasts heaved with the combination of fear and excitement. Her nipples swelled against the confines of her sweater and formed prominent attention seeking points. For the second time in as many minutes he felt lust tighten his belly.
He tried to push these thoughts from his head. It was impossible. "There's a barn. It's abandoned." Trenton spoke swiftly.
*** The Race ***
"What?" Melody's mind felt scattered. She liked Trenton from the first time they'd met. He was the kind of man who held open doors for her or who would retrieve the canned beans from the top shelf just so she wouldn't go climbing on the rickety step stool. But until five minutes ago she'd not thought of him as anything other than Derek's older brother.
She bit her bottom lip and studied him. Trenton's short-cropped curly black hair brought out the sharp green-blue of his eyes. His aristocratic nose and high cheekbones were the only parts of him so like Derek. Unlike Derek these features seemed to fit his face and personality. Trenton's full firm lips tilted up on one side as he spoke. His words were lost on Melody as her careful inspection traveled lower. Melody thought Trenton's solid chin and large shoulders spoke of confidence and the type of personality a girl could rely on to keep her safe.
Safe? Awareness zipped down Melody's spine. She felt anything but safe with Trenton.
Now, standing so close to him, she felt her heart pound and her hands go clammy. If she didn't know better she'd have sworn she was sick.
"You're not making any sense." Melody moaned. The trembling in her fingers and wobbly knees belied her words. Everything in her head screamed for her to run! But she couldn't seem to move a muscle.
"For the first time, I'm making perfect sense. I'm going to take you to the barn and show you why you're not marrying Derek." She was going to bolt! Trenton shifted his weight to the balls of his feet. No way in Hades was he letting her get away!
He'd no more than thought this when Melody shot off to his left. Trenton grinned, watching her sprint off. She was so spooked she ran not in the direction of the farm but toward the barn.
Like a stallion, Trenton raced after her.
Confusion, fear and heat wedged in the pit of Melody's stomach. She fought down the first two. These were emotions she dealt with on a daily basis. She leapt over a half rotted log and around a thick tree root. Any moment now she'd burst from the orchard into the fields behind the farmhouse. Someone would see her. Someone would come running, to find out why Melody had run from the orchard in panic.
Even as she thought this Melody was aware of a niggling in the back of her mind. But too many things crowded her thoughts. The sensation in the pit of her belly was nothing she'd ever felt before. It weighted her down and slowed her reflexes.
The sensation reminded her of what she'd felt yesterday on seeing the prize Mare and Stallion mate. The two horses spent days teasing each other, scenting the Mare's heat. Talk of their prolonged teasing was rampant at the dinner table until Derek's father put a stop to it.
"But even you can admit that horses don't do things like this." Derek had said, ignoring the pointed looks from his father. "The wranglers think he's in love with her. They say that's the only reason a male horse would act so stupid."
"I admit this is a bit unusual for to see such displays. But, son, it's not unheard of. Love is a byproduct of nature and nurture." Derek's father had speared Melody with a look that promised a long conversation soon. Thankfully Melody didn't have to hide the reality of this situation from him. This marriage was an arrangement between this man and her father. No doubt he'd thought love was going to form from this relationship. Hadn't Derek's father said as much when he'd first talked to her?
Melody said little throughout dinner that night. She was reluctant to admit she'd watched the entire event from her bedroom window. Luckily, toward the end, nobody had thought to look up. Otherwise, they'd have caught her in a most embarrassing state of undress!
Now, thoughts of the two horses made her want wild wanton things... Like turning around and launching herself at the man not far behind her. She wanted to tangle her fingers in Trenton's hair and kiss him and grind her..."No!" Melody shouted, putting on a burst of speed.
She broke from the trees and stumbled to a stop. No farmhouse littered the other side of the meadow. In fact, the barn that rested there was so odd that - befuddled - she spun about at a loss to which direction she'd run in. In an attempt to regroup her directions she launched herself back toward the trees and bushes.
But Trenton was much closer than she anticipated. He made no effort to slow down but caught her arm as he ran past. Melody whipped about behind him, half frenzied to get away.
The barn door rested at a permanently open angle, weeds and vines having tied it in place long ago. Melody saw this in the moment she had before they were inside the old empty building. She knew this place! A starburst of panic gave her strength to fight against the man holding her arm in an iron grip. "Let me go!" She shouted, beating Trenton about the shoulders and chest with her free fist.
*** A Basic Understanding ***
