DISCLAIMER: I don’t own either of them, only the
horse they rode in on . . .
AUTHOR: Kristine
RATING: PG 13
SUMMARY: Lee And Amanda Spend The Day Together.
FEEDBACK: Yes please.
TIMELINE: After “Nightcrawler” but before “Do You
Take This Spy?”
NOTES: To the girls in chat who mentioned horse
back riding in the first place. Also to
Elmira, Almira and their typist, your work is inspiring!
ARCHIVE: Yes, but I still need you to ask first.
GIDDYUP!
Q Bureau
Monday, 4:30 p.m.
Amanda’s
eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at her fiancé. ‘Is he serious? He can’t be!’ “After what
happened last time, you really expect me to climb up and---“
“Mount.”
“What
did you say?” Amanda asked.
“The
word is ‘mount.’ You don’t ‘climb up,’
you ‘mount,’” Lee corrected.
“Well,
you can just forget it! I’m not
mounting anything, buster!”
He’d
tried to anticipate all her responses last night, when rehearsing his plan of
attack. Well, nearly all of her
responses. The last one had taken him
by surprise—and sparked his imagination.
Lee
chuckled to himself. As entertaining as
such thoughts about his fiancée were, it was time to focus on the matter at
hand. With a resigned look, he went for
the Stetson home slide. “Horse riding
is one of my favorite things to do. I
just wanted to share that part of my life with you, Amanda. But, hey, if you don’t want to . . . I
understand. Really.” Avoiding eye contact and slumping his
shoulders, he eased off the edge of her desk.
“You
really want me to do this, don’t you?”
“I do
. . . But if you’re not comfortable with the idea, we can do something else
together.”
‘Don’t look at her yet.’
‘Lower the bottom lip, give a sigh.’
Lee
started his silent countdown. ‘1, 2, 3, 4
. . . ‘
“Oh,
all right! I’ll go. But it’s only because it’s you who’s
asking!”
Lee
looked up, grinning. “Amanda, you’ll
love it. Just wait and see.” He leaned across her desk and gave her a
quick kiss.
“Uh-huh.” She didn’t sound convinced.
“I’ll
go over to the stables and set everything up for Friday. This is gonna be great!”
Just
as his hand clasped the doorknob, Amanda’s voice made him turn.
“I
guess I can return the bathing suit.”
His
hand dropped.
“Bathing
suit?” He loosened his collar.
“Mmm-hmm. I thought we could spend Friday having a
picnic and going swimming.” Her
expression was dreamy, her voice as slow as honey warmed by the sun. “I know the perfect lake . . . quiet . . .
secluded . . .”
He
gulped.
“But
I’ll be happy to do one of your favorite things. A bikini isn’t important, compared to that.” She shrugged.
“Bikini?” ‘Why
is it so hot in here?’
“A red bikini.”
“I
just traded a bikini for a horse,” Lee muttered. As the door clicked shut behind him, he ducked his head to avoid
all eye contact.
.
~ ~ ~
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~ ~
Amanda’s
House
Friday, 9.15 a.m.
Lee
leaned against the counter, sipping coffee.
Friday had finally come. It had
taken all his self control not to pound on the door at 5 a.m. Any time he spent with Amanda was precious,
but when you added horse riding . . . the day couldn’t begin early enough.
‘Speaking of which.’
“Come on, Amanda! We’re gonna be
late!”
As he
leaned over the sink to rinse out his cup, he heard her voice float down the
stairs. “I’m almost ready. Mother took me shopping for today.” Her laugh chimed. “Guess everybody wants quality time with me lately.”
He
splashed water into the mug. “You didn’t
have to buy anything special. The
stable’s fully equipped.” Glancing at
the wall clock, he wondered how to hurry his beloved along.
“I
know. The last time Mother saw me on a
horse, I was six and wearing pink taffeta.
She thought we should buy something to mark this occasion, too,” came
the muffled reply.
“I’ll
bet you looked cute,” he called out, envisioning a small Amanda with pink bows
in her long brown curls.
“It’s
not too late. I can exchange this
get-up for taffeta if you like.” Her
voice sounded husky and nearer, as if she’d reached the family room.
Lee
turned and opened his mouth to respond.
His mouth remained open, but he was incapable of speech.
Before
him stood a vision.
She
wore a tailored white shirt, cuffs rolled up to reveal lightly tanned
forearms. The vee in the front was
unbuttoned just enough to show the sparkle of her ever-present heart necklace.
His
eyes continued downward.
Next
came a wide brown leather belt, tightly cinched around her tiny waist.
Then
the tan riding breeches. They clung to
her body like a second skin.
Until
the boots. Glorious, mid-calf, shiny
black boots.
‘Forget about talking,’ his brain commanded. ‘Try
to swallow.’
‘It’s gonna be one lucky horse.’
“Lee?”
“Umm.” The tick of the clock thundered in his
ears. Or was that his pulse, blood
rushing to his head and . . . other parts of his anatomy?
“Is this okay to wear? Or should I change?”
His
tongue unglued itself from his palate, and the words tumbled out. “No!
Don’t change. Don’t ever
change.”
Amanda
smiled. “Let’s go, then. The stables
await!”
“Uh,
Amanda, could you remind me of something later?”
“Sure.
What?” She held out her keys, preparing
to lock up.
“Remind
me to thank your mother.”
He
watched the play of her muscles beneath the suede jodhpurs as she walked ahead
of him.
‘Flowers AND chocolates. Definitely.’
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A Stable Near Arlington.
Friday, 11:15 a.m.
Amanda’s
laughter rang through the musty stable.
At first, Lee’s idea that she should get to know her chosen horse
sounded ridiculous.
Surely
it would be better to start practicing the sitting, no mounting, she corrected herself.
That,
and staying on, were where she’d always encountered the most trouble.
But as
she felt Walter’s downy lips softly mouthing the carrot in her palm, she was
glad Lee had insisted. She could grow
to like this.
The
scuffle of Lee’s footsteps through the straw littering the mounting yard brought
her attention away from Walter and back to her lesson.
“How
are you two getting along?” he asked, taking in Amanda’s glowing face and the
way Walter was rubbing his large muzzle along her upper body.
“Wonderfully!”
She grinned.
“Great. Let’s go to the next step, shall we?”
Watching
Amanda put her foot in the stirrup as he’d instructed, Lee gently but firmly
placed his hands around her waist.
Feeling
the familiar tingle as soon as he touched her body, his smile widened ‘Wonderful indeed’.
~ ~ ~
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~ ~
Lee’s Apartment,
Friday, 6:05 p.m.
Humming
as he dried his hair, Lee felt weary but happy. He’d reluctantly ended the lesson when Amanda’s allergy medicine
began to wear off. Now he looked
forward to the rest of the evening, the perfect end to the perfect day.
“That
mine?” he asked as he joined his freshly-showered love on the couch.
“Yep. Thought you might like some.” She retrieved
the second mug of hot chocolate from the coffee table and handed it to
him.
“Thanks.”
For a
few moments neither spoke. Amanda
molded her body to his, and they sipped the rich, sweet brew.
Supposedly
chocolate was an aphrodisiac. If you
asked him, so was the smell of liniment that lingered in the air.
“Lee.”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks
for today. I really enjoyed it.”
“I’m
glad.” He gave her knee a light squeeze
with one hand and brushed a strand of damp hair behind her ear with the
other. “After last time, I wanted to
give you some good memories of riding.
Sans taffeta.”
“Oh,
it was even better than when I was six.”
“Yeah,”
he responded, intent on the warm body next to him, the firmness of her thigh
between his hand.
“I
didn’t hear anyone say ‘Giddyup!’ Not
even once! And . . . Mmmph.”
Further
conversation ended as Lee pressed his mouth to hers.
As he
felt her lips open to his insistent tongue, his thoughts drifted to ideas of
their next day off together. And a
certain red bikini that would never be returned . . .
THE
END
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