The Rapunzel Rodeo Read online

  “That first mark, the lasso rope, well, that’s my breed mark,” said Matt. “American Saddlebreds tend to have that circular rope design. Around it is my herd mark. It’s a tattoo.”

  The lasso mark on Matt’s body was black and raised like a scar, but smooth. Around it, there was a ring of pink flowers that looked like roses and green stems, leaves, and thorns.

  “What’s the herd mark stand for?” asked Olivia.

  “Prairie Rose Herd,” said Matt, putting his shirt back on. “I joined up as soon as I got my shift. I knew I wanted to join ever since I was a kid. My family’s all part of it, and Prairie Rose stands for growth of the self, the family, and the community. I knew a bunch of other people from other clans, and I never felt as at home as I did when I hung out with the other members of Prairie Rose. Even as a kid, I could go to the herd lodge and I was made to feel welcome. There was no question I’d join, and it was of my own volition. No pressure.”

  “That’s amazing,” said Olivia. She reached for another sandwich.

  “Enough about me. What about you? What’s something you love to do for fun?” asked Matt.

  Olivia burst out laughing. “Me? Having fun? Trust me. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages. This isn’t regular Olivia. This is rare.”

  “Okay, what would you do for fun today if you could do whatever you wanted?” asked Matt.

  Olivia thought about giving her real answer: being taken by Matt, then and there, on the blanket on the beach by the setting sun. The only thing that stopped her was the fact that there were still families at the lake and the last thing she wanted was her big bare butt to be on the front page of the Fallowedirt newspaper with the headline ‘BBW Rides Horse Shifter Cowgirl Style.’

  “I could go for a swim,” said Olivia. It was true: it was hot, and the icy colas weren’t enough to keep her cool.

  “Then let’s do that after our meal,” said Matt. “Do you trust me…and do you want to do something crazy?”

  “Of course I trust you. I’m up for anything today,” said Olivia.

  Once Olivia and Matt finished up, Olivia walked with Matt to his truck…and Matt started stripping down.

  “Whoa there, cowboy,” said Olivia. “What in tarnation do you think you’re doing?”

  “You wanted to go for a swim, right?” asked Matt. “Do you want to get your clothes wet?”

  “I’m not about to go skinny dipping,” said Olivia.

  “Nobody’s asking you to,” said Matt. “Put this on.”

  Matt opened the door to his truck, rummaged around, and found what he was looking for. He tossed it to Olivia.

  Olivia looked at what was in her hands. It was a swimsuit, two pieces, with ruffles that would make her curves look even bigger and more luscious than they already were, but it wasn’t too skimpy.

  “I trust you won’t look as I get changed?” asked Olivia.

  “If you don’t look while I get changed,” asked Matt.

  “Agreed,” said Olivia.

  Olivia undressed and slipped on the bathing suit.

  “Done,” said Olivia, and she turned

  In front of her wasn’t Matt in a pair of trunks.

  In front of her was Matt, naked. She only saw him nude for a split second, but that was all she needed to have fantasy fodder for a week.

  “Matt! Where are your trunks?” asked Olivia, her eyes shut.

  “Get on my back,” said Matt.

  “What?” asked Olivia.

  “Do you trust me or not?” asked Matt.

  “I trust you.”

  “Then get on my back,” ordered Matt.

  Olivia opened her eyes. Matt had turned around and gotten down, his arms ready to hold her knees.

  “Hold onto my neck when I lean down, okay?” asked Matt.

  “Okay…” said Olivia, still confused about what was going on. She got on Matt’s back, and when he leaned down, she kept her arms around his neck.

  Within seconds, she realized why she’d needed to do that.

  Matt had shifted underneath her, his body growing between her legs and spreading them as his already broad, big body turned into a bigger, broader body. His skin became coated with a thick layer of fur as his bones and musculature changed. It was no wonder he had insisted on going nude. He’d have ripped his trunks to smithereens while shifting.

  “Matt, I’ve got to give you points for style,” said Olivia.

  Matt turned back and winked before breaking into a trot and then, within a few minutes, a gallop, running on the path, but this time, taking another turn and going out into what Olivia first thought was another beach, but soon realized…was a cliff.

  Olivia was nervous but remembered she’d told Matt he trusted him. All she had to do now was have a little faith.

  Matt sped up, running toward the cliff. Olivia considered telling Matt to stop, jumping off if he didn’t, but her heart didn’t let her say what her mind was screaming at her to open her mouth and say.

  Matt’s hooves left the ground and entered the air. Olivia looked down and didn’t scream. She couldn’t. Her breath had been taken away by the expanse of deep blue beneath her. It filled her vision, and for another few seconds, she swore she could smell the ocean.

  There’s a point between jumping toward the Heavens and falling back down toward the mortal earth that makes one feel like they’re floating, as if they’re in zero gravity. It’s the point at which one’s velocity upwards is no longer positive, and the rate they’re going downwards isn’t positive either. It’s the points at which one isn’t going up but also isn’t falling down. It only lasts a split second, and if one blinks, they’ll miss it.

  Matt didn’t miss it.

  By that moment, he had shifted back into his human form and turned to hold onto Olivia, who had kept a grip on his body even as he rotated. He held her close, and in the split second they were floating together, he kissed her.

  Before the kiss, Olivia had felt like she was floating.

  After the kiss, she’d felt like she was flying, even though she was falling, not just toward the water, but falling in something far more dangerous than the deep lake waters: falling in love.

  Only the feeling of their bodies breaking the surface of the placid lake and plunging into its icy depths broke the kiss. Olivia and Matt reached toward the surface, Olivia’s natural curves helping her float to the top while Matt kept his arms around Olivia and kicked with his muscular legs.

  Olivia took a deep breath when she reached the surface. She’d been breathing during the fall, but the kiss had managed to take her breath away.

  “Are you glad you trusted me?” asked Matt, looking over the brave, sensual woman with whom he’d just taken a leap of faith.

  “Yes,” said Olivia, before wrapping her arms around Matt’s neck, pulling him in for another deep kiss.

  “Um, what?” said Cayenne. “Not gonna lie. Getting some ax murderer vibes from this one.”

  “I swear, it was cute as heck,” said Olivia. “You’re just jealous.”

  “Look, if I wanted to, right now, I could do that off of the Mesquite Manor on Basil’s back, but I’m sure the rest of the family would have us committed,” said Cayenne. “Whatever. Anyway, what happened next?”

  “We swam around, it got late, and then…” teased Olivia.

  “Then what? Come on, give me something,” begged Cayenne. “Let me guess. You did it, in the back of his truck, under the moon, on the picnic blanket?”

  “No, he drove me home and dropped me off with a chaste kiss at the door that will still have the neighbors gossiping,” said Olivia. “I think he’s the one, Cayenne.”

  “Not so fast,” said Cayenne. “You have two more dates!”

  “But I felt a connection with Matt,” insisted Olivia. “There’s a chemistry there I’ve never felt before.”

  “Haven’t felt with anyone else yet,” corrected Cayenne.

  “I’m sure I’m his fated mate,” said Olivia.

  “Who
cares if you’re his fated mate?” asked Cayenne. “Look. It’s not just about what these shifters want. It’s also about what you want, Olivia, in your heart.”

  “Then why can’t I just call off the other two dates?” asked Olivia.

  “Because you committed to going on those dates and because you also had chemistry with them at the Fated Mate Speed Date event,” said Cayenne. “You’ve got to trust me on this.”

  “You just think it’s rude to cancel a date,” said Olivia.

  “That’s also true,” said Cayenne. “After all, you know if Grandma Quiggly heard you were turning down these nice cowboys, she’d tan your hide and turn it into a new purse.”

  Olivia laughed. “And you’d steal the purse.”

  Chapter Four

  Richard picked Olivia up at her house, driving a roomie black SUV.

  “Big car for a big man,” joked Olivia, getting into the car after she’d put away his gift of blood red tulips in a ceramic vase.

  “Hey, I need to make up for my small dick somehow,” said Richard. “Joking. I swear I’m hung like a horse.”

  “I believe you,” said Olivia. “Don’t whip it out here.”

  “All right, I’ll hold my horses,” Richard said, backing out of the driveway.

  “Where are we going, anyway?” asked Olivia once they’d left the town limits.

  “It’s a surprise. You do like surprises, right?”

  “Depends on the surprise.”

  “Okay, you’re going to like this one,” said Richard.

  Richard drove them through the prairie and into a patch of the local woods, along a rough road, until they reached a log cabin.

  “This is the date?” asked Olivia, getting out of the car.

  “That’s not all there is to the date,” said Richard. “It’s not just me taking you to some random cabin. It’s me taking you to a random cabin and giving you a break from your regular life.”

  Richard opened the back of the SUV and pulled out a bunch of paper bags.

  “Do you want help?” asked Olivia.

  “Just get the door,” said Richard, passing her the keys, with the key to the cabin in his fingers.

  “You can take multiple trips, you know,” Olivia said, opening the door for Richard who had insisted on carrying literally every single one of the six bags into the house in one go.

  “Every time I take another trip to get bags, my dick gets an inch bigger,” said Richard. “That’s why I don’t do it.”

  “Weren’t you just complaining about having a small dick?” asked Olivia. She looked inside the cabin. It was surprisingly nice. She’d been expecting an abandoned vacation home, but the cabin looked like something from a travel magazine, with shiny hardwood floors, granite countertops, and a leather sofa and TV in the public space.

  “It’s already too big,” said Richard. “If it gets any bigger, I’m going to have a problem buying pants, but hey: at least I can finally list it as a dependent on my taxes.”

  “You’re weird.”

  “Good weird or bad weird?” he asked, putting the bags down and going through them.

  “Good weird,” admitted Olivia. “Not like any other guy I’ve met.”

  “Good,” said Richard. “Because I’m not just a guy. I’m a stallion.”

  “A stallion in bed?” asked Olivia.

  “No, because I think my shift would break a bed frame…and my head would hit the ceiling,” said Richard. “Shifting in a bedroom is a great way to lose a deposit…or to trash a hotel room like a rock star.”

  “What exactly is the plan for tonight?” asked Olivia, a hand on her hips.

  “I’m going to cook for you,” Richard answered. “And, while I cook, there’s an appetizer. Cheese and crackers with cured meats. And wine. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great,” admitted Olivia.

  Richard stripped his shirt off.

  “Whoa, what happened to cooking a girl dinner first?” joked Olivia.

  “I don’t want to get my shirt dirty,” said Richard.

  “Or, you want an excuse to show off your smokin’ hot body, in the hopes it’ll get me hot and bothered,” said Olivia.

  “You caught me,” Richard said, standing up from the bags with ingredients in hand. “And by the flush of your cheeks, I can tell it’s already working.”

  Olivia put the backs of her hands on her cheeks and felt that they were burning. Darn. While Richard set up the food for the meal, Olivia went through the bags to find the promised appetizer ingredients and wine. She pulled them out, put them on the kitchen table, and started to make a plate of appetizers.

  “No,” said Richard, batting her hand away. “Nope.”

  “What?” asked Olivia. “I’m trying to help!”

  “Your only job is to relax and let me serve you,” said Richard. “Just sit there, and I’ll make everything for you. Got it?”

  Olivia sat and watched Richard work. He was good with his hands. She had to give him that much. She couldn’t figure out what he was cooking, but it smelled good. Once he’d given her a plate of deliciously decadent meats and cheeses to eat while the main meal cooked, her opinion on the date had improved.

  “So, you gonna ask me about the marks?” asked Richard.

  “Should I?” asked Olivia.

  “I know you’re curious,” said Richard

  “Fine,” said Olivia. “What are your marks?”

  “Why I thought you’d never ask!” said Richard. He walked over to Olivia and turned a chair so that he could face away from her.

  “You see the center mark?” asked Richard.

  “Yeah,” said Olivia. The center mark was filled with many tapered lines in no pattern she could discern other than the lines all resembled something familiar.

  “It’s my breed mark,” said Richard. “I’m an American Mustang. Wild horse. Mark represents the grass of our homelands, all woven together.”

  “What’s the other one?” asked Olivia. The mark was a symbol that again looked familiar but that she couldn’t place.

  “My herd mark,” said Richard. “Waxing Moon herd. Our herd mark is a set of phases of the moon, with the full moon at the top. Notice there’s no new moon. Waxing Moon is always rising.”

  “Ambitious,” said Olivia. “Why is it white?”

  “It’s freeze branded onto the skin,” said Richard. “The herd takes a branding iron, makes it super cold, and applies it to the skin. It leaves a white mark because it kills the melanin in the skin. It’s a somewhat new process. The herd used to use white ink tattoos before, but the freeze branding gives us the color we want for the mark as well as connects us to our roots. We used to get branded with traditional hot brands.”

  “There’s no way that’s true,” said Olivia. “You’re pulling my leg.”

  “Nope. Some herds still use hot brands, but we don’t.”

  “That’s just, what, wow, okay,” said Olivia, rubbing her temples. “I guess there’s a lot about horse shifters I don’t know. What’s the deal with your herd?”

  “As you guessed, we’re focused on ambition,” said Richard. “Ambition can take many forms. It’s about being driven toward a goal, even when getting to that goal is hard. It’s about working hard even when passion fades, about committing to finishing something or attaining something. The herd takes its values seriously.”

  “And they let a cowboy in?” asked Olivia.

  “A very, very ambitious cowboy, who hopes to have a dude ranch of his own someday,” said Richard. “I’m a boy from a trailer park in the middle of nowhere. I grew up without a herd around me or my parents, who were solo Mustangs. They rode on their own, even more so after their divorce…at least, until they remarried and replaced me with new kids. But, at the end of the day, that past doesn’t define me. What defines me is what I’m working toward, which is a bigger, better future, as bright as the full moon.”

  “I had no idea that was your past,” said Olivia.

  “Don’t worry about
it,” Richard said with a suave wink. “What did I just say? I’m working toward bigger and better things, baby, and I’m starting with wooing myself a bigger and better woman than the rest of them combined.”

  Richard got back to cooking and soon, had a pot on the oven, a pan in the oven, and something bubbling in a plastic bin with an electronic stick in it.

  “Now, we wait,” said Richard.

  “And while we wait, do you have something planned?” asked Olivia.

  “I do, and if you don’t like my proposal, you can pick a movie for us to watch instead,” said Richard. “Would you maybe be interested in…getting a foot massage?”

  “A foot massage?” asked Olivia with a laugh. “You’re kidding.”

  “Dead serious. Nothing hotter than pleasing a lady, especially when it means getting to touch her sexy feet. Sexiest part of a woman after the curves and face.”

  “Richard, you kinky fuck,” said Olivia, rubbing her temples. “You know what? Let’s do it. Let’s cross having my feet massaged by a foot fetishist off the list.”

  “So I see you’re acquainted with my breed. If I’m to be a billionaire someday, I need to have my eccentric kink. Hey, at least it’s just a foot fetish, and not something weird and messed up like being really into the missionary position,” said Richard, raising his eyebrows naughtily. “Let’s begin.”

  Richard sat Olivia down on the couch and got his massage kit out. He took Olivia’s shoes and socks off for her, inhaling her natural musky scent from her socks before he balled them and put them into her shoes.

  Richard lifted one of Olivia’s feet up and licked the toe while maintaining eye contact with her, sending a shiver down Olivia’s spine.

  He started by using some very gentle baby wipes on her legs and feet. Olivia was embarrassed by how much dirt had come off of her feet. Had Richard had her dirty toe in his mouth? Once she was wiped down, he brought out a warming gel and gently massaged it into her calves. Even on an unusually hot Texas night, the gel was a relief, as its heat, in combination with Richard’s kneading, worked every knot out of her body.