Page 55 of Unbroken

I chuckled and pulled her into my arms, trying to hide the conflicting feelings warring inside of me. For a split second I considered telling her about the job, but the moment was too special to ruin with talk of real life. “Youdidrock my world. And you can saddle up on me any time.”

“Oh yeah?” She perched her chin on my shoulder. “Is that a fact? You’re not too worn out?”

Damn, the woman was insatiable.

I glanced toward my waist and shrugged. “Maybe you should check?”

Fiona slid her hand down my body, and I tensed as she grasped my already hard length.

“Ooh, you’re ready for round three,” she whispered, her lips brushing against my ear and sending sparks careening through me.

“I’d call it round three point five, since I count mutual oral sex to completion as a half round,” I answered.

She laughed and started to climb on top of me, but I flipped her onto her back in a fluid motion so that she was pinned beneath me.

“Missionary?” she said in a teasing voice. “How creative.”

I growled at her in mock anger, moved backward so that I was on my knees on the bed, then pulled Fiona onto my lap.

“I like where you’re going with this,” Fiona purred, moving her legs so that she was straddling me.

I groaned as she pressed her slick warmth against me, teasing me.

“Don’t torture me,” I whispered.

She leaned back and grabbed a condom from the nightstand and handed it to me.

The temperature in the room shifted as I slipped it on, the playfulness between us replaced with my raw need to have her again. Suddenly, everything I was about to leave behind became clear, and my confusion about it caught me off guard.

Our lovemaking had been hot, but knowing that I was going to leave her, leavethis, made me feel desperate. I pulled her back on top of me, letting out a groan as she took me in. She rode me for a few seconds, leaving me paralyzed, until I finally regained my senses. I grasped her hips with a strong grip, to the point where I worried that I might be hurting her, but she leaned back with her eyes shut in ecstasy. I slid one hand down to her seam, seeking out the center of her pleasure. She caught her breath when I reached it.

It had never been like this with anyone else. And as we got closer to climax together, I worried that it might never happen again.

THIRTY-SIX

FIONA

As I used the curry comb on little Agatha, who was growing like a weed, I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this content. Agatha was still as squirrelly as I’d expect from such a young horse who wasn’t even six months old yet, battling between the desire to play or get a rub down as she danced in place.

In an attempt to keep her somewhat still, I followed one of our mom’s recipes and mixed together and compressed the equivalent of equine suet using peanut butter, oats, mashed apples and shredded carrots, placing it in a container mounted to the stall wall so she could lick at it while I worked the curry comb over her body. It was an effective distraction so long as she stayed interested in the treat, but she was slowing down, which meant she was getting full. That meant I needed to hurry.

I felt as if I’d been walking around on a cloud since I’d spent the night at Eli’s. I still wasn’t sure what had possessed me to take off all my clothes and join him in his shower, but it had proven to be a damned good decision. I’d lost count of the number of orgasms Eli gave me, which was saying something given that I normally maxed out at two,tops. But we’d been so in sync with each other and our chemistry had been explosive. I’d had no idea it could be that good with anyone, let alone Eli. Granted, given how well we worked together, it really shouldn’t have surprised me. I couldn’t wait to do it again.

Agatha let out a little whinny, pulling my attention back to the task at hand. “Have you had enough?” I asked her as I set the comb down and led her over to the paddock where Nelly and Lollipop were enjoying each other’s company. “Come on, Agatha, let’s go say hi to your friends.” As soon as I opened the gate, the little foal pranced over to the other two horses and they happily greeted each other.

Both the elderly horse and the Shetland pony spent years enduring abuses that I still found both infuriating and heartbreaking before they’d been rescued. Thanks to my family, they were now living their best lives and would continue to do so here at Lost Valley.

“Ladies, have I got a treat for you.” I had saved some of the suet and broke it up into smaller pieces. I started waving them in front of me so Nelly would know I was headed her way with something tasty.

When she’d initially arrived here, she could still make out shapes and reacted to light, but her cataracts had progressed to the point where we didn’t think she could see much of anything anymore. But she still had a nose on her and her nostrils were flaring at the smell of apples and peanut butter. I held a small piece under her nose and waited while she sniffed it out before taking it in her mouth. Lollipop was more impatient and nosed my side knowing full well that I had some for her too. The pony had been traumatized when she first arrived but with a lot of love and care, she’d slowly come out of her shell. Now, while she was leery of strangers and sudden noises, she fully trusted us, which was apparent given how she pressed up against me, eager for her own treat.

“You’re good with them.” I looked up in surprise to see Zoe standing on the other side of the gate.

“Hey, you. Didn’t expect to see you today. Want to come say hi to these beauties?”

Zoe nodded and unlatched the gate and entered the paddock not moving too quickly so as not to spook the girls. Watching her now, it was hard to believe that she’d had such an intense fear of horses when she’d first come to stay at the ranch months ago. She’d always been a little nervous around horses, but she’d ridden Jude as a child only to get tossed off, breaking her arm in the process. The fear had festered in the years that followed, but thanks to these three, Zoe had worked through a lot of that fear. She now willingly rode horses, although she was still a lot more comfortable in front of a computer than in a saddle.

I pulled more of the suet out of my pocket and handed it to her, so she could break it into smaller pieces for Nelly. Most of the old mare’s teeth were missing due to her early neglect. We gave each of them a couple more pieces before stopping. Too much and they could end up with belly aches. I had no intention of letting that happen. Not only did we not need another vet visit, but there was no way I was going to worry either sibling over the health of any of our horses.

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