"I hope this little game of theirs doesn't take forever. Let's pray that they catch that black one right away, so they won't be too tuckered out to fuck us tonight."
"Barbara!"
"What! Don't tell me you're not aching for some more of my husband's cock… I saw you last night, the way you twitched your sweet little cunt to get every inch. And I noticed that you didn't mind gulping down your boy friend's cum either. Just watch it, kid, and don't tempt me to spout off to your uncle that you're a cock-sucking little slut."
"But Barbara, you don't understand – I love Ken."
"Shit."
"Believe me, I do," Laurie bristled. "God knows, I wouldn't have allowed your creaking old husband to rape me that way if it hadn't been for what you two were holding over Ken and me."
"Correction, honey. You mean what we are holding over you – and don't forget it." They were silent then, both fuming within themselves from the other's remarks, wracking their brains for insults equal to the hostility they felt. The whole issue hinged on their mutual attraction to Ken, his charm and obvious sexual appeal. But Laurie had added an extra dimension to her feelings for him – love. It was something she was certain that Barbara, in her wanton desire, would never understand about the relationship. Still, though, Laurie could not help but painfully recall the fervor with which he had sucked Barbara's breast, and then her vagina, until the woman had moaned in sexual abandonment and had finally climaxed. The girl now wondered just how much of the handsome ranchhand's zeal had been in the line of duty – giving his share of the payment to buy the Ross' silence about what they had seen – and how much had been the result of sheer pleasure on his part. Yet, how could she blame him either way? She, too, had yielded to her body's demands, had actually drowned in the ecstatic feelings that had swamped her while Will Ross brutalized her. It was all too much for her now, too much to piece together in any rational order until she could discuss everything with Ken. Meanwhile, she thought, it could not make things any worse but could definitely make them more comfortable – if she softened up the older woman with a bit of old-fashioned kindness.
"Maybe you're right, honey," Barbara said with a smile spreading over her face. "I'm sorry I spouted off like that… And I'm also sorry if I botched things up between you and Ken. Just try to understand – I'm still a young woman, with all the needs a woman has, and your blond boy friend turns me on. I can't help it any more than you can. But I don't kid myself that I'm in love with him. It's that great big cock of his that I'm interested in. And you'd better ask yourself if that isn't his main attraction for you as well."
Laurie was staggered by the woman's complete honesty, so much so that she began to wonder if Barbara might be altogether right. Perhaps she had allowed her girlish heart to blind her to the real facts: that she was no more in love with Ken than he was with her; that their sole interest in each other was entirely sexual, as much an adventure as was this crazy scheme of her uncle's to recapture the ornery black stallion.
Just then Laurie heard three rifle shots in the gorge beyond. Laurie's first impulse was to spur Sniffy full speed across the meadow and around the bend, to see if anyone had been hurt or was in danger, but she knew that her uncle would never forgive her for interfering and exposing herself to further risk.
"Try not to fret, Laurie, it's probably just one of the boys shooting into the air to haze him into a better position," Barbara soothed.
"But they've been in there quite awhile now," Laurie objected, "and I'm worried that they might be in trouble."
"I expect they're having a fair share of trouble, all right, trying to put ropes around that beautiful black boy's neck," the older woman agreed, "but the men know their business. They're not taking any unnecessary chances."
"I hope not… They're pretty important men to us," the pretty redhead said, grinning warmly at Barbara.
A few minutes later their suspense was ended, for the ebony black stallion raced around the bend and into view with two taut ropes around his powerful neck. Behind him came Ned and Will, desperately spurring their horses' flanks to stay close to the big stud. Once they were far enough into the clearing, both men reigned their mounts to ride off obliquely in opposite directions, stringing the infuriated stallion between them as they slowed to a trot and finally a walk. He was forced to slow down as well, at last coming to a complete standstill, his eyes wide and rolling as he screamed and pawed the ground, proudly defying the men who hampered his freedom. A moment later, Laurie saw Ken draw his horse to a halt beside her uncle. The two men switched mounts then and Ned rode to a spot about twenty feet in front of the stallion while Ken kept the rope taut.
"Your uncle's going to try roping the devil's front feet," Barbara explained as the two women watched Ned Dow shake out his second lariat to form a medium-sized loop. They saw the big man nod toward Will, who fired his rifle into the air as though it were part of a prearranged plan. The stallion jumped at the sharp sound, straining forward mightily against the ropes until his front hooves were virtually off the ground. Ned's loop snaked out and fell in a wide circle under the stud's elevated forefeet, then came alive again, lifting and closing around the beast's ankles when the big rancher whipped it with a single downward thrust of his arm. Rapidly twisting his end of the rope around the saddle horn, Ned urged his mount backwards and made the third restraining rope humming tight.
"Okay, hold him steady!" Laurie heard her uncle shout to the other men. She watched awe-stricken as her uncle slowly eased his dun-colored gelding to a position that was in a forty-five degree line with the black horse. Then, again nodding to each of his assistants, Ned pulled hard on the gelding's reins and clucked to him, moving him backwards until the pressure on the rope made the stallion lose his balance and fall to the ground with a resounding thud. The rugged animal struggled to regain his feet as he continued to scream and snort out his hatred of his captors, but was unsuccessful.
Laurie heaved a sigh of genuine relief when she saw all three men dismount and move confidently toward the downed stallion. She knew that now they would rope and tie his hind legs in order to approach him from the back. She had heard the men talking at breakfast about the potent tranquilizer they had brought along, and how they would inject it into the stallion's rump if they were lucky enough to catch him.
In a few short minutes it was all over, Ned signaled Laurie and Barbara and they rode up within a few yards of the great, fallen black stud.
"What do you think of the crazy bastard now?" Ned huffed, breathing hard from the Herculean exertions. "We've shot him full of that stuff the vet sold me, and I ain't afraid to admit I'm glad I had the good sense to bring it along. This is the Goddamnedest, meanest son-of-a-bitch I've ever owned in my life. Hell, he's even meaner than Will there!"
Everyone laughed and broke the extreme tension with relieved patter and jokes about how they were going to get the stallion back to Dow Ranch, now that they had caught him. Everyone laughed and joked, except Laurie. She was strangely quiet and stood looking into the captured beauty's wide defiant eyes, a deep sadness filling her.
"If it's all right with you, Mr. Dow, I'll make a hole in the barricade," Ken said. "I guess you'll want to rest awhile in the clearing where we left the pack-horses."
"We'll do more than rest," Ned roared happily. "We'll set up camp there and get drunker then hell to celebrate… Spend the night too!"
"I'll go for that," Will said, a hint of shrewdness in his voice as he glanced suggestively toward Laurie.
CHAPTER FOUR
Later that evening, when everyone was celebrating boisterously around the fire, Laurie signaled Ken with a covert glance, indicating that she wished to see him alone. They both rose, one a little behind the other so as not to draw the other's attention, and ambled casually to the outer edge of the clearing. When the pair had seated themselves on a rock, Ken leaned over and gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. Then they sat quietly, allowing themselves to be lost in the primeval hush of the night, thinking. After several minutes, Ken said: "Baby, listen to me, I'm sorry about last night. I know you were frightened and that you went through hell when that silly bastard, Will came at you from behind. But believe me, there was nothing else we could do. What happened was surely a lot less painful than the mess there would've been if your uncle had found out about us."