Highland Stallion Page 9

  “Yes. That’s why Horsemen are needed to make the journeys for Rock Blood. If it wasn’t for Carriers like Terra and Moor, there would be no Rock Blood to cure the Plague. They do good work and have plenty of speed and endurance.”

  “Yes. They do. So do the Gatherers, like Inez.”

  “I have plenty of respect for them.”

  She nodded as they watched the sun sink in the horizon.

  Sophia threaded her fingers through his hair as he walked to one of the caves. He ducked his head to avoid striking it on the craggy entrance. Inside was more spacious than Sophia would have believed. Apparently he’d spent much time here. She didn’t doubt that this was where he’d slept the past couple of nights. Two folded blankets rested in a corner and the remains of a fire lay covered in dirt below a hole in the top of the cave.

  “Spread a blanket,” he said, “while I change to Huform.”

  Sophia slipped from his back, trailing her hand over his sleek hide before doing as he asked.

  Zach stepped outside and returned in Huform, his cock already semi-erect above his impressive sac. From where she curled on her side on the blanket, her gaze swept the length of his muscular, hair-dusted legs. She stared at the hard curve of his backside as he squatted to build a fire.

  Sophia shivered and pulled the second blanket over her. She needn’t have worried about the cold. A fire soon blazed, brightening the cave. Zach approached and slipped beneath the blanket, tugging her onto his chest. She rested her head against his shoulder as their legs entwined. His large hands caressed her shoulders and back. His body produced so much heat that within moments she felt warm.

  Lifting her head from his shoulder, she kissed him. His soft lips moved gently against hers, his tongue slipping into her mouth and exploring with sensual strokes that tightened her belly. She wove her fingers through his hair and straddled his waist, rubbing her clit against his rock-hard cock. Moaning with pleasure, she reached down and grasped his balls, squeezing.

  “I’ve wanted you so much, Sophia,” he murmured, spanning her waist with his hands then sliding his palm up her ribs and cupping her breasts. He kneaded the soft globes and circled her nipples with his fingertips.

  “Oh, Zach,” she purred, leaning down as he lifted his neck and captured one of her nipples between his lips. His tongue flicked over the nub and her pussy heated.

  She clutched his head when his mouth claimed her other nipple. As he sucked and lapped, she wiggled against his erection until he groaned. How she loved the sound of his desire! Nothing thrilled her as much as knowing she stirred this giant Horseman who could crush her in his grip. Yet she knew Zach would never hurt her. Never in her life had she trusted another person so implicitly.

  She slipped down his body, her nipples leaving his skilled lips. His grip tightened on her, but she touched a finger to his lips and whispered, “Let me please you.”

  “You do,” he breathed, lifting her so he could continue sucking her nipples.

  She groaned, her clit throbbing.

  “Zach, let me!” she panted.

  Giving her left nipple a final lick, he loosened his hold on her and she slid down his body, covering his chest with kisses. With the flat of her tongue she laved the broad, hair-roughened expanse of muscle, working her way down to his abdomen. She kissed each of his ribs and teased his navel with the tip of her tongue.

  Settling herself between his legs, she rolled down his foreskin and clasped his cock in both hands. She licked the hard staff before tracing the ridge below the crown with the tip of her tongue. His massive muscles tensed as she laved the head and took the velvet-skinned bulb between her lips, sucking in a steady rhythm.

  “Gods, Sophia!” he panted, threading his fingers through her hair. She felt the tension in his thighs. His hips thrust forward a bit, but she sensed his struggle to control the motion. Dropping a feathery kiss on his cock head, she buried her face at the base of his cock, kissing the root and then his balls as she squeezed the heavy sac.

  Sophia’s heart throbbed. Her nipples scraped his thighs, her pussy longed for his cock. After a week without lovemaking, she felt they’d been tortured enough.

  Straddling him, she guided his cock inside her wet pussy and moaned with desire as she rocked atop him.

  “Sophia, Sophia,” he chanted, his glittering eyes half-closed. His neck arched back and his warm hands rested on her hips.

  “I love you, Zach!” she gasped, her motions increasing as desire grew.

  “Sophia, I love you so much!”

  She took his hands in hers, their fingers entwined, and braced herself against the strength of his powerful wrists and forearms as she rode him to climax. Her eyes squeezed shut, her lips parted, and she exploded. As she throbbed and shook atop him, his hips surged upward and he groaned his release.

  Chapter Four

  Fair Day

  Zach and Sophia spent the night before the fair at Inez and Terra’s cottage. In the afternoon, while the women remained home, looking over Sophia’s needlework entries, Zach and Terra flew to the village square.

  “Oh my goodness, I’m so excited about the fair tomorrow. It’s always so much fun,” Sophia said. She was glad for this time with Inez and Susana. It was nice to spend time involved in simple conversation with no purpose other than to develop their friendship.

  “So am I,” Susana agreed.

  “Zach has been working so hard at his training. I just wish he didn’t take winning so seriously. I would hate to see him hurt.”

  “I think he has a really good chance to win,” Inez said.

  “Moor told me that in the mines Zach moved all the heaviest loads, and that was under terrible working conditions,” Susana said.

  Sophia sighed. “I shudder to think about what he and the other slaves endured in the mines.”

  “It was just terrible. I could have killed them for what they did to Moor, but Zach was such a good friend to him in the mines. He’s a good man, Sophia.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. He’s everything I’ve always dreamed of. I just wish he could understand that.”

  “Just keep letting him know how you feel about him,” Susana said. “Moor once felt insecure about our relationship because of our age difference, but we’ve learned that no barriers can keep two soul mates apart.”

  Susana hoped her friend was right. Sometimes Zach still had nightmares about his time in the mountains. Though he seemed happier after talking to her about his guilty feelings, she knew it would take time for him to recover emotionally after so many years of torment.

  “All my life I wanted to be with a Horseman,” Susana continued dreamily. “But even in my fantasies I never imagined being married to one would be as wonderful as what I share with Moor.”

  Inez’s son released a piercing scream from where he sat on the floor in a corner of the room, playing with a wooden toy.

  “Sounds like he’s hungry.” Inez was about to stand, but Susana placed a hand on her arm.

  “Let me. I’m so looking forward to the day when Moor and I have our own baby.” Susana cross the room, picked up Canyon, and brought him to the table.

  Sophia smiled at the plump baby and quickly gathered her needlework so they wouldn’t be stained while Canyon was being fed.

  “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful mother,” Sophia said to Susana.

  “Oh, there’s no doubt she will,” Inez agreed.

  Sophia smiled, glancing at her friends, the baby, and the cozy room in which they sat. If only Zach was with her, the moment would have been perfect. Soon he would return from the village. Even when they were separated for just a short time, she missed him.

  * * * * *

  In town, the men the men looked at some new tack in the blacksmith’s shop until the blacksmith finished helping another customer.

  The burly human approached, wearing a grin. “How’s the harness working out, Zach?”

  “Excellent,” he replied.

  “Do you want to get
shod before the race tomorrow, Terra?” the blacksmith asked.

  “Hell, yes. I’m not galloping over that gravel with bare feet.”

  “I can shoe you now, then. Just give me a minute.”

  Terra nodded as the blacksmith disappeared in the back room of his shop.

  “The only thing I hate about being shod is I have to keep my beast-half until the race is over. No bed for me tonight.”

  “I’ll keep my beast-half until tomorrow, too,” Zach said. “I’d rather keep it until the contest is finished. Besides, Sophia and Inez are using your bed tonight.”

  “We can stay in the barn where there’s more room. I can’t stand inching around the cottage with four legs.”

  “Cottages are cramped enough in Huform, let alone with the equine-half.” There were times when being a well-muscled seven feet was an annoyance; however, Zach would be grateful for his size and power on fair day.

  Zach watched as the blacksmith cut away part of Terra’s rear hoof to fit the shoe. In the mines, he and the other Horsemen had wished for shoes. Many had been so badly weakened from overwork and underfeeding that they’d died from infections in hooves damaged from hours of hauling loads over craggy ground. Here it was so easy. Simply walk into a shop and if you had the money to pay or the goods to trade, you had shoes, comfortable tack, or anything else to make work simpler.

  A wiry human male wearing a broad smile that revealed a missing front tooth stepped into the stop and approached Terra.

  “Getting shod for the race, huh?” asked the man.

  “Sure feels that way,” Terra replied, a smile playing around his firm mouth.

  “You’re in good form, though, right? No muscle pulls from the Gatherings, been getting plenty of sleep and your wife’s cooking good meals?”

  “Let me guess, Henry.” Terra smirked. “You plan to bet on me tomorrow?”

  “You know I always do, Terra, but I’ve seen Gael race before. He goes at a good clip and he has staying power.”

  “You know how we Fighting Carriers lack endurance.” Terra glanced at Zach and raised his eyes to heaven. Zach’s lips twitched upward in the slightest grin. With Terra’s reputation, anyone would be a fool not to bet on him. Unless he sustained injury or illness, Zach didn’t doubt Terra would beat Gael, professional racer or not. Fighting Carriers were the greatest racers of all, and the toughest, and Terra was known as the best.

  “Don’t worry, I know who to put my coins on.” Henry winked. “I’m going to have a lot on you tomorrow, Terra, so don’t go spraining a wing again or anything.”

  “Goes double for me,” the blacksmith grunted.

  “I’ll do my best. And if either of you want to double your profits, put some money on Zach to win the pulling contest.”

  Henry’s gaze swept Zach. “You look like a good puller, that’s for sure, but you’ll have to be great to beat Frederick.”

  Frederick! Zach was itching to finally see this hoofed god in action.

  “See you tomorrow,” Henry said as he left the shop.

  Once Terra’s shoes were in place and the blacksmith paid, both Horsemen headed for home.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing Frederick,” Zach said as they cantered over the lush grass.

  “He’s damn good, but I’ve heard stories about you from Moor. He said you were an amazing worker in the mines, and I’ve seen you practicing for the contest.”

  “I can win.”

  Terra flashed a grin. “Confidence. I like that.”

  “I wish I was as confident about other things.” Zach thought about his relationship with Sophia. By now, he knew he could never leave her, but he wanted to provide well for her. The pulling contest meant so much to him because it would be the first step towards his own business. Sophia did well on her own, but he wasn’t about to depend on her generosity for the rest of his life. He wanted to give her the best he could offer.

  “You and Sophia seem to be getting along well.”

  “She’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  “That’s exactly how I feel about Inez. There’s nothing like finally meeting your dream woman, is there?”

  “No.” Zach’s insides warmed with thoughts of Sophia. “Absolutely nothing.”

  * * * * *

  After dinner and some pleasant conversation with the women, Zach and Terra decided on an early night. Before retiring to the barn, Zach plodded along the riverbank in the field behind Terra and Inez’s cottage. The night was wonderfully cool for summertime. A light breeze fanned his bare torso and sleek, equine coat. The muddy ground near the river felt good beneath his hooves as he strolled, enjoying the beauty of the starry sky.

  “Feel like company?”

  Zach turned, gazing at Sophia as she approached. He took her small hand in his and drew her close, kissing the top of her head. “I always want your company.”

  Her arms slipped around his waist as she pressed her lips to his chest. “Are you nervous about tomorrow?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe a little. Not about the pulling, but about having people watch. I’ve never thought of it as a sport before.”

  “Whether you win or not, I’m proud of you.”

  He smiled. “Thank you, but I intend to win.”

  “I believe you will. I’m going to miss you tonight.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to camp somewhere?”

  She shook her head and stroked his chest, a soft brown curl of his chest hair wrapped around her finger. “You and Terra need to get a good night’s sleep and concentrate on tomorrow.”

  Zach swept her into his arms and kissed her. “Do you have any idea how much I’m going to want you by tomorrow night?”

  “I can make a good guess.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Her arms tightened around his neck as she kissed him.

  As if from nowhere, thoughts of the rebellion in the mine struck him. He tried to shove away thoughts of bloodshed, but couldn’t. It seemed whenever he felt happy, memories of the killings rushed back in full force, threatening to destroy his happiness.

  “What’s wrong?” Sophia asked.

  “Just—”

  “Thinking of the mines?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s all right, Zach. One day, we will have made so many wonderful memories together that your days in the mine will seem far away.”

  “I hope so.”

  Smiling slightly, she caressed his face. “I will make it my duty to see that it happens.”

  A light shone through the open cottage door as Terra stepped outside. Inez stood in the doorway, Canyon on her hip. Terra kissed his wife’s mouth and the top of his son’s head before walking to the barn.

  “We should say goodnight, too,” Sophia whispered.

  “Goodnight.” He kissed her, his tongue slipping between her lips. Zach pressed her close, feeling her curves through her dress and scarcely resisting the urge to remove every stitch of her clothes. Reluctantly he placed her on her feet and walked with her to the cottage.

  Before stepping inside, Sophia stood on tiptoe for another kiss. Zach bent, cupping her face in his hand. She gazed at him over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her.

  Sighing, his belly fluttering with desire, Zach headed for the barn.

  * * * * *

  The fair took place in the field half a mile outside of the village square. By the time Zach’s small group arrived, tents and stands had already been assembled. Villagers from Hornview and many surrounding settlements mingled, browsing through merchandise and edibles from the many vendors. Children and adults played games and watched entertainers.

  While the warm, cloudless day was pleasant enough for patrons, Zach and Terra grumbled to one another about the heat.

  “Feels like the damn tropics.” Terra squinted toward the glaring sun. “I hate sprinting in this weather.”

  “Won’t make pulling a picnic, either,” Zach said.

 
“Perhaps you both should sit this fair out,” Inez said, though Zach saw her wink at Sophia. “Especially you, Terra. You aren’t getting any younger, you know.”

  “Like hell I’ll sit out.” The black Fighting Carrier grasped his wife and tickled her. He nuzzled her neck. “And you are a sharp-tongued little tease.”

  “Do you really think the weather will affect you?” Sophia glanced at Zach with genuine concern.

  “Of course not.” Her question annoyed him. Though she said he’d win, he knew thoughts of Frederick’s power still lurked in the back of her mind.

  Zach glanced across the field to the pulling area. Several sledges stood, already piled with logs. A couple of Highlanders mingled, talking. Zach doubted either was Frederick. For pullers, they were rather small and from what he heard about Frederick, the man was sizeable. Zach itched for a look at his rival, but it seemed he would have to wait.

  “Too bad Moor and Susana couldn’t come with us this morning,” Sophia said.

  “I know, but with several of the village women ready to deliver at any time, Susana didn’t want to leave the square and Moor is keeping her company,” Inez explained. “It was nice of them to watch Canyon for us today, though.”

  Zach and the women followed Terra to the starting post since the race would soon begin. Sophia had told him that fair competitions always began with the Carrier race. After the race, the pulling competition began. Once the pulling contest ended, there were sports with humans and true-horses. Later, food and crafts were judged. Sophia had a quilt and several lovely pieces of needlework on display.

  As they approached the starting post, Zach noted several Carriers already waiting. There were two dark-haired youths with gray coats, both appearing lean and eager. A tall, burly roan with his head shaved bald and tattoos on both arms paced with furious strides, his teeth gritted and ears pinned.

  “Looks like he means business,” Zach mentioned to Terra.

  Terra smirked. “That’s Lyon. He’s fairly fast but he also races dirty. One year he practically ran me into the canyon that’s part of the course on the ground part of the race. I think he’s still wearing my hoof prints on his ass. Even with the scuffle, he came in a very distant second. Not that he was able to collect the prize. One of the judges posted saw what he’d done and he was disqualified.”