Chapter 19
Molly woke up Wednesday of Stampede week already exhausted.
All the details had been driving her crazy.
She delivered the pups to the professional trainer and left them for the week, so they were out of her hair, but so was Shadow, and she missed having Shadow at her side.
Willie, Buck, and Becky had helped with yard set up. She’d gathered comfortable wood outdoor chairs from every source she had, including Betsy, Mack, Evelyn, and Silas. She had a dozen situated around the fire pit for happy hour and the after-dinner fire.
Willie and Buck had set up an open air tent protecting a serving table from the sun.
All food would go on the table and everything would be served buffet style.
They set up a long table in the shade for the sit-down meals.
August at Summer Lake was hot. Molly wanted happy hour to be stand and mingle, but she wanted dinner at a common table.
Becky set up a kick-ass outdoor sound system complete with western music playlists.
Her final count was fourteen with Cheyenne’s kids, and her table worked perfectly, two on each end, five on each side.
She’d put Bart’s parents at one end and Bart and her at the other.
At noon on Thursday, Willie and Buck would bring a giant self-draining chest of beer, white wine, and soft drinks.
The bottom was lined with ten pound blocks of ice.
The drinks would go on top of that and bags of cubes on top of that.
The chest was designed to supply four days of drinks, with a daily replenishment of cubed ice.
She wouldn’t have to worry about beverages.
Molly checked the set up hourly for two days, adjusting this and that, until she finally released on it.
She was ready.
The main item on the agenda for Wednesday was an appropriate show of appreciation for Bart.
The gift of Ginger was over the top. She knew how much horses cost and Ginger was an expensive horse.
Had they been dating three months? Well, sort of.
Three months of two days a month. So, they probably hadn’t spent ten days together.
That was a wildly extravagant gift for ten days of dating.
But it felt like more than that to Molly, especially with Ginger in the mix.
It felt like there was a relationship and that it was maturing nicely.
She just didn’t know where it was headed.
And she wasn’t sure how long she’d put up with the two day a month program.
She suspected not much longer. Either he was interested enough to spend more time with her, or he wasn’t.
That would be the measuring stick for his level of interest, and the future of the relationship.
Was he willing to sacrifice his beloved wilderness life to be with her?
She wasn’t going to press on this yet, but it was seriously on her mind.
Heaviest on her mind was saying thanks to Bart. Since the moment Ginger became hers, sexual fantasies were flooding her mind. She wanted her thank you to be personal. Very personal. And memorable. A sexual adventure he’d never forget. Tingles ran up her spine each time she thought about it.
Her plan was coming together, but she was nervous about it.
Since the decision to join the relay race, Molly worked daily conditioning Ginger: full out sprints, long, sustained gallops, and timed runs around the quarter-mile track.
Ginger was in amazing condition and maybe the fastest horse she’d ever ridden.
She was as fast as Jo, possibly faster. Ginger’s power surge from a dead stop was breathtaking and her staying power impressive.
Molly didn’t think she would ever enjoy riding a horse other than Jo, but she looked forward to her daily workouts with Ginger.
She wanted to get a session in before Bart arrived Wednesday afternoon, so she quit work early and took Ginger out at 1:00.
They were just finishing a vigorous workout when she saw Silas and Bart watching from the corral.
She started the cool down, once around the track in a slow trot, then back to the corral.
Molly felt Bart’s eyes on Ginger as she approached. She slowed her beautiful horse to a walk a hundred yards before the corral as they ambled up to Silas and Bart.
“Howdy, Cowboy.”
“Nice horse.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Huh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He was grinning ear to ear, beautiful pearly white teeth flashing, and those blue eyes piercing right through her. God, he was handsome. And he looked happy. She could see it in his face and eyes. It fit perfectly with the feelings that were warming her heart.
“Cute. I understand there’s more to the story.”
“More to the story? Gee, can’t wait to hear that myself. I’ve never seen this horse in my life.”
He was having fun, and she was enjoying the banter. She slid off, and the two of them walked Ginger to her stall. They ran into Becky on the way, and Molly did introductions, asking if Becky could brush Ginger down and set up her feed.
Bear was searching for Shadow, not happy.
Molly leaned down to talk with him, mentioning Shadow’s name repeatedly so he’d know what she was talking about.
“I’m sorry Bear, but Shadow is with her pups.
Shadow and the pups are at the trainer for the week.
Maybe Bart and I will take you down for a visit later to see Shadow so you’ll understand what’s going on.
But, everything’s going to be okay. Shadow is missing you too.
” Molly used her most soothing voice. All Bear would understand is that she was talking about Shadow in a reassuring way that signaled everything was okay.
Bart picked up his pack, and the two of them headed down the dirt road to the cabin, Bear at their side, letting out the occasional bark and continuing the search for Shadow.
“How’s your new horse?”
“Amazing. I can’t remember being so happy since the day I got Jo.”
“She’s beautiful. How does she ride?”
“Might be the fastest horse I’ve ever ridden. Powerful and smooth. She’s a dream.”
They rounded the bend and she turned into him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and looked up.
There was only one kiss, but it lasted several minutes, starting warm and sweet, and ending as a scorcher.
Molly’s head was light and spinning. She pressed her body hard against him. She needed this, and clearly so did he.
When they finally separated, both faces hot, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she hugged his waist as they walked quickly to the cabin.
Molly had her plan. Bart wanted to shave, so she sent him to the bathroom while she went to the kitchen. With everything ready, she returned to the bathroom just as he was finishing his shave. They both stripped and stepped into the shower.
The soaping didn’t begin until another long, deep kiss, his hands gently on her.
After the kiss, they unloaded with squirt bottles of soap and started scrubbing, top to bottom, and all over again.
Molly loved scrubbing her lean and muscled mountain man and figured Bart enjoyed having a hot, soapy shower with an aroused woman after being alone in the wild.
When he filled his hand with soft soap, she spread her legs.
He vigorously soaped her below as she aggressively moved against his hand.
That felt really good. The itch was driving her crazy.
The shower over, she turned the water off, and they stepped out to dry. As he was reaching for a condom, she said, “Not quite yet, my friend.”
She brought a chair into the bathroom and made him sit down. She went to the kitchen and returned with her tray of goodies. He was obediently sitting in the chair, not sure what was going on. She set the tray down on the counter and faced him naked.
“I’ve been trying to think of ways to thank you for Ginger.
Ginger and Jo are the two nicest gifts I’ve ever received.
Honestly, I have no words to express how much I appreciate what you did, anticipating that I’d need a horse, getting Kitty and Silas involved, then sneaking Ginger into the exercise program on the pretense of finding out if I'd like her. It was just so thoughtful that I wanted to have a special thank you.”
He was listening to her words and enjoying the view. She was standing naked, aroused, legs slightly spread. The ends of her breasts were hard and pointing straight ahead. Face flushed, heart pounding, hands moist, she was aroused but committed to her plan.
“So, do you like hot fudge?”
He chuckled.
She reached into a bowl, filled her hand with hot fudge, and smeared it on her left breast, her eyes locked on his.
He was still chuckling, his eyes focused on the prize.
“How about whipped cream?”
He was laughing now.
She reached into a large bowl and pulled out a handful of whipped cream, smothering it over the hot fudge.
“How about salted caramel?”
He couldn’t stop laughing.
She dramatically smothered salted caramel all over her right breast and slowly topped it with whipped cream.
Then she sat in his lap. Using her left breast as a paint brush, she smeared chocolate and whipped cream all over his face, finally pressing her breast into his mouth.
He was laughing hard as he used his mouth and tongue to consume as much as possible.
“Oh, good boy. You need to eat all of your treat. Good boy. Oh, you’re such a hungry boy, aren’t you? What a strong tongue you have.”
The left breast almost clean, Molly used her right breast to slather caramel and whipped cream over his face before sticking it in his mouth, repeating the process.
His mouth and tongue sucking and licking her breasts was making her crazy, and, sitting in his lap, she could feel his arousal pressing between her legs.
Her breasts sloppy clean, she said, “And I just love peanut butter and jelly.”