The Hard-To-Tame Texan Read online

He couldn’t see her. But he could hear the movement of the hay. He whispered rather loudly, “Be careful. Don’t get smothered.”

  “I’m just over here.”

  He turned, and she was closer to the front of the barn and she was—adjusting the hay.

  She said, “No birds here.”

  He had to laugh and he did that silently. There had to be hands around, and they might hear the two lovers.

  She was a lover. How long had it been since he’d had a woman like her? Had he ever? She wasn’t only logical, she was pliant and interested...in him!

  It wouldn’t be a warn, barn, thank you ma’am rush. She wanted attention. In a hayloft?

  Well, he’d just see to it.

  Andrew watched as JoAnn stripped naked in a ray of sun. She almost smiled at him.

  He was breathing strangely. He was riveted. He was out of his clothes in no time at all.

  She wanted to roll on the condom. They had a discussion on that and he finally said, “Next time.” And he did it by himself.

  He was so body hungry that he couldn’t wait. He carefully entered her and his sex was rampant. He just went ahead and only hesitated in order for her body to catch up with the want in his. So he was clever and patient enough that they hit the high mark together... and they floated down from wherever they’d hung in midair, still throbbing with their ecstasy.

  He was almost appalled that he had been so greedy. He groaned and breathed and lay on her in a collapse. His hand patted her head. He shook his head slowly as he tried to control his breathing.

  Under him, she lay silent.

  He managed to drag himself up on his elbows and let her uneven but crushed chest breathe. His head hung down beside hers. He said in carefully spaced, breathing words, “I wish—I could’ve—lasted longer.”

  She said, “Wow.”

  He cautioned carefully, “Don‘t—make me—laugh. I’m—concen-trat-ing on breathing.”

  “You’re doing okay.”

  “Don’t—be—sassy.”

  “I haven’t stuck out my tongue like you did with that awesome thing that was waggling around in your drawers.”

  He laughed and rolled off her to lie beside her with his eyes closed and his body and appendages as limp as rags, but he held her hand.

  She rolled over until she could look down at him. “Do men all collapse after something like that?”

  “Why—do—you ask?”

  “I just wondered if all men are like you. If I didn’t know you were in good health, I’d be panicked you were in danger of a heart attack or something.”

  “This was—your first?”

  “Well, yeah. How experienced are you?”

  “I don’t remember—ever—doing anything—so drastic—before—in all my—life. I may well die—right here—naked—like this. It was—worth—it. I may—go to sleep.”

  She laughed.

  He snorted.

  She giggled.

  His face was relaxed and he was out! It was real.

  She turned over on her side and put a hand between her tender cheek and the rough hay. She watched him. He really was out cold!

  He slept for almost an hour. The only thing that wakened him was one of the ranch hands delivering a horse to the barn and finding another one who was rested.

  They were silent in the loft. They heard the hand whistling to himself as he worked to relieve the first horse and saddle the other one. He slapped the side of the first one and said, “You’re free—enough. Don’t drink too much water right off, hear?”

  Then he got on the other horse and thudded away over the hard land.

  In the loft, on the flattened hay, she was curled up watching Andrew.

  He told her, “You’re amazing.”

  “You needed a woman.”

  “Yeah. But I got you. I can’t believe it yet.”

  “You need me again, already?”

  “I’m not sure I can perform as well, but it would be nice to see if I wasn’t dreaming you.”

  She rolled onto him.

  That triggered him so that he whooshed air. He was rigid again.

  She said, “You’re too easy. You ought to protest or gasp or chide me.”

  “No.”

  She laughed softly, so amused. “I’m no help this time. You drained me.”

  “Did I hurt you?” He was concerned.

  “Naw. I’m contented.”

  “I’m not.”

  She laughed softly, lying back on the hay to have the room for such an action. It was difficult to laugh softly or to smother a laugh. Especially when they were where they were.

  He kissed her very softly, but he put his hand where he wanted it.

  She chided, “You sneaky man. You thought if you kissed me again, I wouldn’t notice what else you were doing.”

  Moving his finger inside her, he put his face on her breasts and gently moved it over her nipples. He said a whole lot of m’s.

  She sighed. “I suppose I was rash in allowing you one contact. Now you’ll think you can do all sorts of things to my body!”

  He made agreeing sounds.

  She shifted so that he could reach farther. She moved her chest and his mouth captured one eager nub.

  She had never allowed any such contact before and she was so thrilled by him that she wondered what all she’d missed! She made gasping sounds and her legs and arms were restless.

  He rolled over on top of her and said, “Do tell me that you have another condom.”

  She shook her head sadly. “It’s in my room.”

  He stopped. He breathed. He said, “Let’s go to your room.”

  She grinned and said, “I’ll probably get there first.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  And he quite easily showed her exactly how that could be.

  She gasped and moved and tilted her head back. Then she turned her head and he kissed her. She was backward on his lap, his hands were on her breasts, and she could feel the size of him under her.

  She said, “Let’s go to my room.”

  “Yeah.”

  But he squeezed and kissed and rubbed her until she was just about wild.

  Then he lifted her effortlessly and expected her to stand...in straw? And he straightened up, pulled her to him and kissed her entirely witless. Then he expected her to dress!

  She fumbled.

  He assisted her. He knew absolutely nothing about women’s clothing. She had to switch the pant legs so that the zipper was in the front. She showed him the buttons were on the wrong side of her shirt. She ended up tying the tails of her shirt together and just letting it go.

  Her bra was in her pocket with her socks. Her boots were on bare feet. She ran her fingers through her hair and got rid of—well—most of the straw. And she thought she was ready to be in the public eye.

  She looked at Andrew.

  He was stuffing his shirt into his trousers. Then he pulled out the tails and let them hang. He pulled on his boots and stood up.

  She said, “Anybody who sees us will know where we’ve been and why.”

  His grin slowly widened. He said, “Okay.”

  She sighed and looked off to one side. She told him, “I’ll go first. And in twenty minutes, you come to my room. Okay?”

  His face crumpled all screwed up in astonishment. “Twenty minutes!”

  She looked at him with sober consideration. “Make it ten.”

  She left, and he reached for her but she dodged out of his hands and grinned. “I’ll see you soon.”

  And he growled.

  As far as they could tell, no one saw them cross the yard and go to her room. No one was anywhere around.

  At her room, she opened her door for him and no one else was in the hall. She ordered her supper on the house phone to be delivered in one hour.

  Then she smiled at him. It was a Cheshire cat’s smile. She asked, “Can I use you again, this soon?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “You are shock
ingly willing. How basic of you.”

  He just came over and kissed her. He said, “How did I ever find you?”

  “Mrs. Keeper sent for me. I was to tame you. You were such a beast when I first arrived. I almost abandoned you altogether.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t.”

  “How can I tell whether you’re just sexually hungry, or if you are ensnared by me?”

  He considered, tilting his head and observing her in a very theatrical manner. He replied to her question, “We’ll see.”

  That made her laugh.

  And that’s what snared her to him. What other woman would have laughed with such a reply from a man? She would have been either careful or she would have worried. JoAnn laughed.

  So they talked. They talked about what they wanted in life. He wasn’t entirely sure. But she listened to him. And when it was time for dinner to be delivered, she put him in the hall of double closets between the room and her bath, and she closed the door into the room.

  She accepted the meal.

  The deliverer commented, “You must be starving.”

  And she replied, “It’s been a long day. I’ll probably go right to bed.”

  She said that to someone else and kept a straight face!

  Did the server hear Andrew’s quickly silenced choke in the inside hall behind the closed door? Who cared?

  With the waiter gone, Andrew came out of the inside hall and chided, “You’re wicked.”

  And she replied, “Yes. That’s why I chose you. Like likes like. You’re like me. Masculine, but wicked.”

  He lifted his chin and looked at her over his cheekbones. He said, “I’ll have you know that I was raised in a very strange house. My father had me in school in Britain? He couldn’t assume I’d be taught in English at a farther place. We don’t communicate.”

  “How foolish of him.”

  “I don’t mind. We are not acquainted.”

  But Andrew didn’t fool JoAnn—at all.

  Eight

  JoAnn considered Andrew. She sighed without seeming to do so. What a man does to make a woman think he’s macho. It’s really pretty stupid. That attitude wasn’t current. There were the Romans who used men to fight other beasts to entertain in the Colosseum.

  Thoughtfully, JoAnn wondered: Was Andrew such a creature? Had he chosen to be obsolete in order to attract attention to himself? To be on display and therefore watched?

  JoAnn considered.

  His father not only ignored Andrew, but he also had sent his son clear across the sea to another land where he grew up totally isolated from the family. Andrew had been in school in winter and he’d traveled the European continent with a guide in the summer, holiday months.

  What sort of waggle did that cause in Andrew’s opinion of himself? What sort of wimp was his mother? What sort of genes would emotionally cripple his children? JoAnn decided that she would meet his father and his wimpish mother and observe them.

  It was only then that JoAnn learned quite by accident that Andrew’s sister, Lu, was living with the ranch pilot Rip! Rip was the one with whom the dog Buddy had taken shelter.

  And so had Andrew’s sister. Did Andrew know that his sister was living with Rip? Was his knowing Lu was with Rip why Andrew had been reasonable about the dog staying at Rip’s with Andrew’s sister?

  Even then, Andrew had not caught up to time. Did JoAnn want the challenge of bringing him up-to-date? Andrew certainly knew sex. But sex had been around for a whole long time. What else did Andrew know that was current?

  Andrew had been kind to the dog and left him where the dog wanted to be. He hadn’t dragged Buddy back to himself. He’d allowed the dog to decide.

  Of course, at the time, there was Tom’s drawn gun on Andrew. That could quite easily have convinced Andrew to be logical.

  Thoughtfully, JoAnn turned and observed the watching Andrew. He sat in a chair in her room. His eyes were on her avidly. He was again triggered. Would he be that attentive when he was sated? Or would he discard her only to hunt her down when he was again in need?

  JoAnn smiled just a tad and asked Andrew, “What are you thinking?” She knew darned good and well what he was thinking. She just wanted to know what he’d say and how he’d say it.

  His smile vulnerable, he said softly, “You’re so kind.”

  JoAnn laughed. She asked, “Because I lie down and spread my legs for you?”

  Without changing his expression, Andrew replied, “Because you’re logical. You understand. You say what I need to hear. I’ve never been taught how to be with other people. In England at the school, I was different.

  “I had no other choice but to be what I was. I traveled as did the people long ago. I could then be—different enough to be noticed. I’ve been ignored by my family. I don’t know how to live. You could guide me—logically.”

  JoAnn didn’t huff or verbally push him away, she listened.

  Andrew said carefully, “It’s very strange to be somewhere as a child, and be...different.”

  JoAnn began to really dislike his father and mother. What asinine people they must be. But she also knew she had to be logical with Andrew. If she comforted him or took his side, he could become hostile to his family.

  She would need to be an arbitrator. Someone who is on neither side. She would listen.

  She couldn’t reply what she felt, so she did as she’d decided and she listened. She asked careful questions so that she understood Andrew better. “Are you good at the English games?”

  “Oh, yes. They were careful that we all played and knew what we were doing. That direction was in the classes also. I was different. No other ‘Yankee’ was anywhere around. They called everyone from over here... Yankees. It was an adjustment for me.”

  Then he said thoughtfully, “No one needed me. They weren’t rejecting as much as they just didn’t realize I was there.”

  “The teachers didn’t notice?”

  “They were kind. They spoke to me but there wasn’t the open camaraderie there is here.” He corrected that thoughtfully, “I felt—different.”

  JoAnn’s heart squeezed in silent sympathy. She despised his selfish parents. She’d shrivel them into pits.

  She went and sat on Andrew’s easily excited lap. She slid her gentle fingers into his hair.

  His eyes were vulnerable and his breathing changed. He said, “How come you did that?”

  “It’s a caress.”

  He said, “Oh.”

  Then he asked, “If I put my hand like that, is that a caress?”

  “On that particular area, it’s okay when we’re by ourselves, but with someone else around, it would be salacious.”

  “Wow! I’m being...salacious?”

  “Stridently. Anytime you’re within three feet of me.”

  He licked his lips carefully and even bit into his lower lip a tad. Then he said, “Why, I hadn’t noticed—being salacious. How...shocking.” His tone was all wrong.

  She said, “Hah!”

  Now, Andrew had never had the teasing and sassiness of a woman in all his life. It was new to him. He was so charmed by it. By her. By JoAnn’s response. By her tolerance. By her chidings and limits. By her delicious laughter. It was so soft and—intimate.

  She shivered his insides and about wrecked his sex. Could it grow bigger? It was shocking to him. It was so eager! He laughed. “You keep this up, and I’ll have to carry Freeman in a wheelbarrow.”

  “Freeman?” Her smile was gentle and filled with not understanding.

  “That’s the name I have for my, uh, sex? It’s obviously male, and he sure as hell has a mind of his own. He wants you at the worst possible times.”

  She put her head back and laughed so softly and so amused.

  Andrew’s voice was vulnerable. “I love the way you laugh when you’re with me. You’re so gentle and tolerant that—”

  She straightened. “Tolerant? I’m—tolerant? Balderdash! I either agree or I strongly disagree and—”

&nbs
p; “At the pilot’s house, you allowed me to obey Tom without losing my dignity. Your words were chosen to kindly chide me and to allow me freedom. I’ll never forget that.”

  “I understood you.”

  He gasped, “Do you have trouble with your family?”

  “No. But I’ve witnessed clashes between people that I never could understand.”

  He said gently, “I’m so glad I found you.”

  “You’re not like other men. Remember when we first met? You were about as rude as you could—”

  “You terrified me.”

  She was startled. “Why did you think that?”

  “I didn’t know how to handle you.”

  She lifted her eyebrows and shrugged nicely as she commented, “Well, you’ve been handling me pretty well ever since!”

  “You noticed.”

  She laughed as she sat on his lap and ruffled his hair.

  So they kissed and murmured and laughed softly and went to her bed and did it again.

  A few nights later, as John and Mina Keeper were getting ready for bed, and Mina was winding her curls again, John said, “I haven’t seen either Andrew or JoAnn in several days. Have they left?”

  Mina took a pick out of her mouth and put it in her hair. She replied, “No. They’re becoming acquainted.”

  “So that’s what it’s called now.”

  “Hush.”

  John asked, “Do you agree with people shacking up before they’re married?”

  “We did.”

  John put a hand on his undershirted chest and exclaimed in a very soft manner, “We...did? How shocking! Was I asleep and you took advantage of me?”

  “Never. You were always using all nine hands.”

  John was surprised. “I have...nine hands?”

  “I counted.”

  “How come I didn’t have...ten? An equal number and balance. For a horse man, balance is important.”

  “I bit off the one when you first accosted me.”

  “So that’s what happened to it. Um-hmmm. I remember that, now. You were a handful, as I recall. I had a terrible time trying to get you under me.”

  “A crude, uncouth man.”

  “You loved it.”

  “Hush!”

  “Why?”