Chapter Five
Sharp rapping on the door woke Marnie up. She groaned, blinking quickly trying to see in the dim light of the early morning but didn’t move. Dawn had just broken, but to her it was still night-time.
“Marnie! Time to get up!” Sam’s voice was muffled through the door, but he sounded firm. And after what he’d done to her last night, she wasn’t inclined to disobey him quite so soon. Tomorrow, maybe, if her ass had recovered, but not just yet.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” she mumbled.
Slowly, the door slid open and Sam strolled in, fully clothed, looking as chirpy as ever. She hated people like that; people who looked happy and alive first thing in the morning. People like that made her feel useless and lazy when she wasn’t, not really. She just didn’t like mornings. And in her experience, mornings didn’t like her, either.
The bed dipped as Sam sat down on the edge of it. Marnie froze. Her stomach clenched as she remembered what had happened the last time Sam had sat in that very spot. It hadn’t been pleasant in the least. She groaned again. “What time is it?”
“Five-thirty,” Sam responded cheerily.
Marnie didn’t move. Instead, she clutched the sheets tighter to her chest, a protective measure in case Sam decided to flip her over and smack her bottom again, just as he’d done last night. What had he told her yesterday, at the barn? Something about dragging her out of bed and slapping her ass before sending her down to breakfast? She sat up.
“Are you going to thrash me again?”
Sam’s brow lowered just a fraction as he frowned at her. “Have you been naughty already? The day has barely begun!”
“No! I just mean…”
Marnie bounced in the bed as Sam stood up abruptly. “Five minutes, Marnie, don’t be late.”
She poked her tongue out at his retreating back, but slowly slid back the covers and got out of bed. Her ass was still sore and the skin felt tight. No way could she handle another spanking. She would be a good girl, for today at least.
* * *
He heard the floor creak in her bedroom as he sauntered back down the narrow stairs. Marnie was obviously getting out of bed. That was good. He smiled. She was so cute still half-asleep, the way she’d looked up at him with sleepy eyes, pink marks along her cheek from the creases in the sheet, her hair all tousled. She looked sweet and innocent and harmless, just like a kitten. And then she’d opened her mouth. She was going to be a handful.
The pipes under the sink clunked in protest when he turned the tap on to fill up the kettle. It really was time something was done about the plumbing in the house. It was far too temperamental for Sam’s liking. Clicking the full kettle into the electric base, Sam flicked the switch to turn it on. No doubt Marnie would want coffee, and he could do with a cup himself. He didn’t always start his mornings off with coffee, but with Marnie tagging alongside him all day today, he figured he would need all the help he could get.
He wanted to work with the young horses today, and it would be good for Marnie to watch. Maybe he could set her up in the yard with Taxi and the grooming bucket, get her used to horses slowly. She’d be safe with Taxi, nothing bothered him, and she’d be close enough to Sam for him to keep a bit of an eye on. He felt a bit guilty, throwing her into the deep end so quickly, but he had to get these young ones up to speed before the season kicked in fully. There were a few treks booked in this weekend, but it wouldn’t get really busy until December. He needed Marnie, and the young horses, confident and capable by then.
Sam looked at his watch. She was cutting it a bit fine—forty-five seconds to go. He didn’t exactly want to start the day off with a spanking, particularly not after being so hard on her last night, but he would if he had to. Marnie had to learn that he wasn’t mucking around; when he said something, he expected to be obeyed. When the season got busy, he wouldn’t have the time to be hovering over her, enforcing his orders. He had to be able to trust her.
With just five seconds remaining on the five-minute deadline, Marnie came clomping down the stairs. She’d tied her hair back; that was a good start. Long, loose hair had the potential to be dangerous around horses—if it got caught in a piece of tack and the horse took off, it could be very painful indeed. But that was about the only thing she’d done right. She was wearing the same short shorts again, and another tank top. Did she have no idea how strong the sun was out here? She’d be burned to a crisp if she didn’t cover up a bit better than that. He was about to open his mouth to chide her choice of clothing, when he clamped it closed. He’d promised her just yesterday that he wouldn’t do that. He’d also promised to take her to Farmlands, get her sorted clothes-wise. Dammit, he’d just have to tie Taxi up in the shade.
* * *
Marnie trailed the brush she was holding down the shoulder of the big brown gelding, Taxi, that Sam had tied to the railing. She’d been terrified, at first, standing next to a horse that was taller than her, but Taxi hadn’t moved at all, he just stood there contentedly nibbling on his hay net. Slowly, she’d relaxed, and rummaged through the tack bucket Sam had left for her. He’d pointed out the dirt crusted to Taxi’s coat that needed to come off, quickly showed her what to do, and then left her to it. Apparently, he had young horses to work. And from where she was standing, mostly hidden behind the gentle giant of a horse, she had the perfect vantage point.
She’d been out of bed for about an hour now, and she was still surprised by how well she was coping. The early morning air seemed so much fresher than normal and the grass was still damp with dew. And, most surprising of all, she wasn’t even tired. It was somehow nice, being outside before there was too much heat in the sun, breathing in the scent of horseflesh. And that surprised her, too. Yesterday, the dirt and dust had horrified her. The stench of horses had disgusted her, and the thought of being so up close and personal to one of the big beasts had terrified her. But she was quickly learning that Taxi wasn’t terrifying at all. He just stood there, totally ignoring her, while she half-heartedly swiped the brush at the dirt embedded in his shiny brown coat.
If she stepped sideways just a bit, she could see Sam working with one of the young horses. She had no idea what he was doing, but there was a lot of rope swinging going on, a fair bit of moving on the horse’s part, and Sam’s rumbly voice sounded pleased as he talked quietly to the horse. Her insides somersaulted; he’d used that same tone with her, once. And when he did, she’d been like putty in his hands. It had washed over her, infiltrating her, flowing through her pores, making her feel like the most important person in the world. It had turned her inside out and upside down, making her want to do scandalous things to him, and have him do scandalous things to her in return. Like what he did on the bike…
“How’s it going?” Sam’s deep voice interrupted her daydream and she jumped, startled. Beside her, Taxi didn’t bat an eyelid.
“Um, yeah, okay I guess,” she mumbled, refusing to meet his eyes. Did he know what she’d been thinking about? His timing was too perfect. She felt her face flush with heat. She had to stop thinking about that! Sam had made it clear that there would be no more sexual activity between them, and the way he’d rebuffed her advances last night still stung.
Sam took the brush from her hand and stroked it vigorously along Taxi’s body, down his neck, across his ribcage, sending dust flying. “You have to put a bit of effort into it if you want to get the dirt out,” he told her. “Like this. See?” A flick of his wrist sent a clump of horse hair and dried-on mud flying in Marnie’s direction.
“Bleurgh!” Marnie coughed and fanned a hand in front of her face. He’d done that on purpose.
“Sorry.” Sam chuckled. He didn’t look sorry, though; far from it. If anything, he looked amused, seeing her choke on dust. “Here.” He thrust the brush back at her. “I want to work with Trixie now. You just stay here with Taxi, get yourself acquainted with him, be confident around him. Brush his other side, too. We want both sides clean, not just one.”
“Dick,” she mumbled, half under her breath, as Sam walked away. “He’s so arrogant!” she muttered to Taxi. “And so condescending!” The horse ignored her. “And bossy!” At that, Taxi snorted into his hay net, sending more dust, along with bits of hay, flying at her.
Marnie glared at the horse. “Great. Just great. You, too?”
If she hadn’t turned right at that moment, she would have missed it, and Sam taking his shirt off, the fabric riding up his torso exposing the best six-pack she’d ever seen, was a not-to-be-missed sight. He was spectacular. His bare abs were well-defined, enhanced by the line of dark hair that trailed from his navel, down the centre of his body, and disappeared inside the waistband of his jeans. Her mouth watered. At that moment he turned to her and caught her ogling, then he threw the shirt at the fence, pulled his singlet down to cover his stomach and winked rakishly. Her heart skipped a beat. Damn, the man looked good. Having felt the hardness of his body already she knew he would look good shirtless, but nothing prepared her for the rippling muscles, the raw power of his body that seemed even more magnified out here where he was in his element. The view in front of her right now almost made up for the dust. Standing at Taxi’s shoulder, where she could spy on Sam without being seen, she absently worked the brush in long strokes along Taxi’s neck and tried to force thoughts of Sam from her mind.
Not thinking about Sam was easier said than done. Especially when he was so close, with so much of his powerful body on display. Her breasts tightened and ached with desire just looking at him. Peeking around Taxi’s chest, she watched as Sam approached Trixie, the young horse she’d met just yesterday. The little mare that she’d started to bond with yesterday didn’t much look like she wanted to go with Sam and when he tugged on the lead rope she planted all four feet firmly on the ground and baulked. Even from this distance, Marnie could see that Trixie was fighting him, and that endeared the horse to her even more. Anyone with enough guts to stand up to the brutish Sam was a winner in her book.
Trixie reared, striking out at Sam with her forelegs. Marnie gasped, both in fear and admiration. Instinctively, she took a few steps back from Taxi, just in case. He seemed calm and placid, but then so had Trixie, yesterday. Marnie eyed the gelding suspiciously, getting ready to run. Sam might be brave enough to hang onto the lead rope of a rearing horse, but she was not.
The muscles in Sam’s back and shoulders rippled as he swung the long lead rope in a circle and the light sheen of sweat he’d worked up gleamed in the sun as he matched his movements to Trixie’s, side-stepping, forward and back, an intricate dance. The heat in Marnie’s breasts spread to her core.
Trixie looked the same way Marnie had felt last night—like she wanted to get away from Sam more than anything else, and she would fight with everything she had before she would submit to his will. Her ears were back, her body was tense, her nostrils were flared as she snorted, prancing, jumping on the spot. Even with Marnie’s extremely limited knowledge of horses, it was obvious that Trixie was giving Sam a hard time. Just like Marnie herself, she wasn’t going to do as she was told. Marnie felt an instant rapport with the horse—kindred spirits. Both out to give Sam hell.
Marnie watched, with bated breath, the battle play out between man and horse, with neither willing to give an inch. Although she had no idea what it was Sam was trying to make Trixie do, it was pretty obvious that Trixie had no intention of doing it. She was cheering Trixie on inside her head, wanting the little horse to win if for no other reason than to prove to Sam that he couldn’t always be the boss.
They were front-on to her now. Trixie reared again, her forelegs striking out at the height of Sam’s head, one on each side of him. Marnie’s heart pounded. The horse was going to kill him! Her hooves touched the ground for just a second before she reared again, and still, Sam didn’t back down.
Marnie was surprised by Sam’s patience. She’d supposed he would have lost it and whipped the horse by now, just as he’d whipped her last night, but he didn’t. Every movement he made was controlled, exact. She couldn’t see his face, but from the back, it didn’t look like he was even close to losing his temper. The heat in her core spread even further, making her pussy clench with desire. The more she watched Sam’s skilled, powerful body, the more she wanted him.
Eventually, Trixie moved away from him, just a couple of steps, and Sam’s whole body language changed. Even from here, she could see the difference in his body, the relaxed demeanour, the un-flexed muscles. That same soothing tone of approval she’d heard in his voice earlier wafted over to her on the gentle breeze. What would she have to do to get him to speak to her the same way?
Marnie jumped as Taxi’s velvety lips settled on the back of her neck, shocking her out of her trance. Gripping the brush properly, she picked up where she’d inadvertently left off, slowly ridding Taxi of all his mud.
Trixie looked relaxed now, as Sam ran his hands over her body, throwing the end of the rope up and over her back, speaking to her in a voice so low that Marnie couldn’t hear it. Inside, Marnie was a turmoil of emotions. She’d been rooting for Trixie, so badly wanting the horse to win. But at the same time, seeing those hooves so close to Sam’s head had been terrifying. She’d wanted Trixie to win, but she hadn’t wanted Sam to get hurt in the process. She felt oddly deflated, now that it was over. The fight had been won; Sam had bent another creature to his will.