City Slicker Ch. 01

Cody grabbed me by the waist, pulling me in close to him. My hard nipples rubbed against his bare chest, sending a strong sensation to my brain that I hadn't experienced for a long time. Our lips were within inches of each others. Cody took advantage of the situation, kissing me softly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to resist him or not. I could feel his cock brushing against my leg as we prolonged our first kiss.

Stopping to gasp for breath, I felt the urge to push away from him but his hands held me tight. We looked into each other's eyes knowing the inevitable was going to happen.

"Cody, I can't." I mumbled, avoiding direct eye contact. "I can't go any further."

"Is it me or because of that scar on your face?" He questioned.

"It's not you." I answered. "It's just me. I don't have sexual feelings or desires anymore. I'm really sorry."

Cody didn't stop embracing me. Instead he ran his hands up my back in a gesture to soothe my frustrations.

"I could change that if you'd just let me." He whispered in my ear. "I don't think you're telling me the whole truth."

I couldn't very well tell Cody about my failed marriage. It was something I often thought about but never discussed with anyone.

Swimming back to the edge of the pond, we climbed out of the water. My hair was soaking wet as well as the rest of me. My white bikini panties felt like they were about to slide down my legs.

"Take off your underwear. I'll hang them on a tree limb to dry." Cody stated.

Tossing the wet garment to him, my hands made a feeble attempt to cover my pussy. Cody reached into his saddlebags, retrieving a towel. He tossed it to me to dry off.

"Looks like you thought of everything." I commented.

Cody didn't respond to my comment, ignoring me completely. I wrapped the towel around me trying to cover as much as possible. Cody slipped on his boxers, then sat down facing me.

"I was married once." I muttered. "I caught my husband in bed with one of our friends. He said it was because I didn't spend enough time with him......and I didn't satisfy him sexually."

"Is that why you feel the way you do or is it because you're afraid to give love another chance?" Cody questioned.

"I don't believe in love anymore." I replied. "Too often, people confuse love with lust."

"What about the sexual situations in your books?" Cody asked. "Are they something you just conjure up?"

"No. Not really." I answered. "I write them the way I think sex should happen. Whether it's just casual sex or making love or if it's rough or gentle. Whatever fits the particular situation and the participants; that's the way I describe it."

"What about the kinky stuff?" Cody inquired. "You seem to be able to describe it in great detail. Have you ever been an actual participant?"

"Depends on what you consider kinky." I replied, grinning. "Nothing I've ever written, I'd consider kinky."

"If you mean have I ever experienced things I've written about." I added. "Some I have and some I've only watched."

Cody's curiosity seemed to have been satisfied, at least for the time being. I could tell by his demeanor, he was thinking about what I'd said.

An hour later, we were riding out of the canyon. Back at the ranch, we unsaddled the horses and cooled them down before putting them in their stalls. My grandfather came strolling down to the barn just as we were giving the horses grain and hay.

"Looks like you two went ridin'." He assumed. "But, why's your hair all mussed up?"

"Cody took me out to the waterfall in the canyon." I replied. "We went skinny-dippin' while we were there."

"Don't worry! Nothin' happened!" I quickly added. "Cody was very much a gentleman."

"Well, at least you didn't kill each other." My grandfather quipped. "I should be thankful for that."

At dinner that evening, Cody joined my grandfather and me. I listened quietly while the two of them discussed cattle and recent thefts they'd been incurring. From what I gathered, the Lazy K wasn't the only ranch experiencing cattle thefts. My interest was peaked but I didn't see a storyline for another book in it.

"Whatta you think, Michelle?" J.D. inquired. "You got any ideas on how we can catch these rustlers?"

"Well, it's probably impossible to watch a dozen herds all at the same time." I replied. "At least not without a lot more ranch-hands. If you've got a road map of the area, I'd like to see it."

"What good's a roadmap gonna do?" Cody asked.

"Well, they've got to be trucking the cattle out." I answered, suppressing a grin. "For that, they've got to be traveling along the roads. If you watch the roads north of Highway 50 that border along the ranch, you're bound to run into them sometime."

"Geez! That might just work!" My grandfather exclaimed. "It's worth a shot anyway."

While my grandfather searched his office for a local map, I booted up my laptop computer, logging onto a mapping website. Within minutes, I had a screen image of the only two roads that ran along the ranch property. Cody was looking over one shoulder; J.D. was looking over the other. One road ran east-west, the other north-south.

"One of us could sit where the two roads intersect and the other could sit along the east-west road." Cody suggested. "The north-south road dead-ends at the government property line."

"Sounds like a plan." I remarked. "I'll need to pick up a few things in Pueblo before we give it a shot though."

"We! Whatta ya mean we?" My grandfather exclaimed. "You're not getting involved in this! No way!"

"Yes, I am getting involved!" I retorted. "This is my idea.....I'm running the show!"

"Michelle, these guys aren't out playing pranks." Cody warned. "We're talking cattle rustlin', downright thievery."

"I know what I'm getting into." I responded, rising from my chair. "I'm gonna be the one sitting near the intersection. Cody, you're gonna be sitting somewhere along the east-west road."

"And, just what am I supposed to do?" J.D. questioned. "Sit here on my butt!"

"You need to stay where it's safe." I answered. "I don't want you getting all riled up. You know you couldn't survive another heart attack."

J.D.'s eyes fell to the floor, partially from shame and partially because he knew I was right. My grandfather had suffered two mild heart attacks, one before his retirement, the other less than a year afterwards. His doctors had warned him repeatedly about the condition of his health but he was too stubborn to listen.

The following morning, after Cody got the ranch-hands all squared away with their work details, the two of us drove over to Pueblo. I had a mental list of items we'd need to put our plan into place. My grandfather had already left on his business trip to Denver. I noticed he'd packed his golf clubs instead of his briefcase!

"Have a.....you ever been with another woman? Sexually, I mean." Cody inquired out of the blue.

"What?" I exclaimed, stunned. "What brought that subject up?"

"Oh, I was reading one of your books last night." He replied. "Never Enough. You remember it?"

"Remember it!" I answered. "I should. I wrote it."

"Well, have you?" Cody asked again after a short period of silence.

"We need to get you a girlfriend." I commented. "Someone who can satisfy all your curiosities."

"Don't talk to me like a kid!" Cody warned. "I've been with other women. I know what the hell I'm doin'."

"Just how many women have you been with? One? Two?" I asked, grinning.

"Five!" Cody bragged. "Five different girls, not the same girl, five times either."

"Well, congratulations!" I jested, almost laughing out loud. "I'm sure there's five women out there with fond memories of you."

The rest of the trip into Pueblo was made in absolute silence. I was smoking one cigarette after another, which didn't set well with Cody. My incessant smoking along with the smart answers to his questions had made him angry.

After stopping at an electronics store and an army surplus outlet, we were on our way home. Cody suggested stopping in Canon City for lunch. I readily agreed since I'd skipped breakfast, opting for coffee and a cigarette instead.

It was hard not to chat after we placed our order with the waitress. Avoiding eye contact was even harder.

"I never realized J.D. had survived two heart attacks." Cody commented. "He never mentioned it in any of our conversations."

"My grandfather thought living out here where it was peaceful and quiet was all that the medicine he needed." I asserted. "He always wanted a cattle ranch so the two kind of went hand-in-hand."

"I think it's a lot more than what he bargained for." I added. "I've watched him sitting at his desk going through all the paperwork, bills and legal stuff that's involved."

"This cattle rustling business probably isn't helping matters either." Cody remarked. "I hope we find out who it is so we can get the sheriff to do something."

"Fremont County's awfully big." I affirmed. "There's probably only so much he and his deputies can do."

"She." Cody countered. "The sheriff's a woman, not a man. Damn good lookin' woman too!"

"Which number is she?" I quipped. "Number three, four or five?"

"Katy's not on my list of conquests." Cody replied. "She's somewhere in her mid-thirties."

"Well, that's prime time for a woman." I kidded. "They always say women reach their sexual peak in their mid-thirties."

"So that means you're about eight years away then." Cody surmised, grinning.

"No. My sexual peak has long past gone." I muttered, looking away from him.

Arriving back at the ranch, we unloaded our purchases, putting them in the back of my old Camaro. The two-way radios were charged and ready to go. I hoped the nightvision binoculars would work like they were supposed to. We'd also purchased two multi-cell flashlights for our stakeout. We had everything we needed. I just hoped luck would also be with us.

That night, a little after midnight, Cody and I took up our positions along the two back roads that bordered the ranch. With the Cowboy sitting far down the county road that ran east and west, I pulled into an abandoned farm, parking amongst the old, rusted machinery. I had perfect cover with a good view of the intersection less than thirty yards away. The night grew slowly into morning with not one single vehicle traveling either of the two roads. I checked my Smith and Wesson .45 caliber pistol numerous times just to keep myself from falling asleep. Cody didn't know that I had packed it along with a thermos of coffee and an extra clip. I knew he'd raise hell with me if he knew I even had it.

As the sun rose over the mountains to the east, Cody and I called it a night. Returning to the ranch, we made it just in time as Juanita was serving breakfast to the ranch-hands. It was the first time since I'd arrived to sit with the four men and talk. They were all in their mid-thirties to late forties and seasoned veterans of ranching. They regaled me with their stories and tales, swearing they weren't exaggerating one bit.

The second night on stakeout was much like the first. The only vehicle was an old pickup truck passing through the intersection. Viewing the pickup with the nightvision binoculars, I could clearly see it was just a young man and his girlfriend, looking for a place to neck. I grew bored, evidenced by the pile of cigarette butts accumulating on the ground next to my driver's door. With the sun rising the following morning, my hopes of catching the cattle rustlers was diminishing.

"Well, look on the bright side." Cody remarked over the two-way radio. "At least we didn't lose any cattle during the night."

"No. You're right there." I responded. "I guess this isn't all for naught."

Our luck changed the third night although I'm not sure if it was for the better. With Cody and I both in position, I heard a car approaching the intersection. It was traveling slowly with its lights turned off but the moonlit night illuminated the white sedan enough for me to clearly see the markings of a county sheriff's car.

"Hey Cody! We got something going." I spoke into my two-way radio. "It's a deputy sheriff without his lights on."

"You're kiddin'!" Cody responded. "Can you see who it is?"

"No. The inside rearview mirror's blocking his face." I replied.

I watched the patrol car cruise through the intersection without stopping and proceed down the road to where Lazy K cattle were herded together. The car pulled up to the gated entrance, then turned around, driving back towards the intersection. This time the patrol car stopped for several minutes.

My hands were perspiring profusely, fearing I'd be spotted.

"What's going on?" Cody asked, speaking into his radio.

"The car's just sitting in the intersection." I answered. "I can't make out the driver though. The windows are tinted too dark for me to see through."

Eventually the patrol car moved on, gradually picking up speed. I breathed a sigh of relief as the quietness of the night surrounded me.

"Whoever it was drove off." I related to Cody. "Goddamn! That was awfully suspicious though!"

Ten minutes later, if that, an old pickup came speeding up to the intersection from the south. Through my nightvision binoculars, I could see three men in the cab. They were pulling a stock trailer. Like the patrol car, they were driving with their lights off.

"Cody! This is it!" I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice low as I spoke into the two-way radio.

"Three men in a pickup, pulling a stock trailer!" I added, excitedly. "Call the sheriff and get them on their way!"

"Be careful!" Cody warned. "Let's let the sheriff handle this. Just get the license plate number."

I strapped the holster for my .45 caliber pistol to my right leg. Making sure the safety was switched off, I checked the clip, slapping it firmly into the pistol grip.

Watching through the binoculars, I could see the men using bolt cutters to cut the lock on the gate. One man opened the rear door on the stock trailer, preparing to load up the cows.

"Michelle! It'll be at least thirty minutes before the sheriff can get a patrol car here!" Cody stated excitedly over the radio. "They said they don't have anyone in the area!"

"Bullshit!" I replied. "That patrol car couldn't be more than ten minutes away!"

I realized immediately, the patrol car that had passed by me had to have been a spotter or a lookout. An off-duty deputy had to be in on the thefts with the cattle rustlers.

I had to risk doing something or chance allowing the thieves to get away.

Jumping back into my car, I pulled out onto the north-south road. Stopping well before the intersection, I waited for the men to load up three Lazy K cows.

"Michelle, what's going on?" Cody asked.

"Sit tight but get ready to come my way!" I exclaimed. "They're just about done loading up!"

As the truck came speeding down the road towards the intersection, I pulled my Camaro onto the road, blocking their escape. I turned my bright lights on trying to hinder their flight.

"Now Cody!" I screamed into the radio. "Get down here quick!"

The driver of the pickup turned on his headlights, flashing them to brights. He wasn't about to stop as he continued accelerating.

"Oh God!" I thought. "They're gonna ram my car!"

Taking careful aim at the grille of the pickup, I fired off three quick shots. The .45 jumped in my hand as I squeezed off each round but it got the result I wanted. The pickup came to a braking screech about ten yards from my car. The men jumped out immediately. Fearing for my life, I squeezed off three more rounds, aiming at the front of the pickup.

"U.S. Marshals!" I yelled out. "Don't make a move or I'll blow everyone of you away!"

"Don't push your luck, Boys!" I added, trying to speak calmly. "I ain't killed nobody today and I got a quota to make!"

"Boy, that was a dumb-ass remark!" I thought. "How corny can I get!"

Within seconds, Cody came screeching up behind the stock trailer. Jumping out of his truck, he took a quick look at me holding the three men at bay.

"Are you crazy!" He shouted. "You wanna get yourself killed!"

"Shut up and frisk them." I ordered. "Make yourself useful."

"You want them frisked, you do it!" Cody retorted. "I'm not touching their sorry-asses!"

"I'll give you some if you do what I ask." I jested, keeping my eyes focused on the rustlers.

Cody didn't have to be told twice. He checked each of the young men but didn't find any weapons. I ordered the three rustlers to lay down in the middle of the road with their hands out in plain site.

"You recognize any of them?" I asked.

"Nope." Cody answered. "They don't look familiar but I'm betting they're from around here though."

We waited and waited till eventually we could hear sirens and see flashing lights approaching the intersection from the south.

"Bout time the law got here!" I exclaimed. "I was beginning to think they were never gonna show."

"Probably lucky for these guys they did finally make it." Cody jested. "You're probably close to just shootin' their butts just so you can go home and get some sleep."

"Actually, I've gotta pee." I responded. "I drank a whole thermos of coffee."

The caffeine along with the nicotine from the cigarettes had probably triggered the adrenalin rush I was experiencing. I couldn't stand still as I kept pacing back and forth, keeping the gun pointed at the three men I'd captured.

With three patrol cars showing up on the scene, their flashing lights lit up the night. Steam had quit spewing from the radiator of the pickup but anti-freeze was still pouring onto the ground. With the three men secured with handcuffs, I could finally relax.

"Who's responsible for all this chaos?" The sheriff asked. "Who's did all the damn shootin'?"

"I did." I confessed, holstering my handgun. "I'm Michelle Gray."

"You got a permit for that handgun?" She inquired. "I damn sure hope you do."

"I've got a permit to carry a handgun." I asserted. "And, it's a registered handgun in my name."

It was almost daylight before the sheriff had finally taken all the information from Cody and me. A wrecker from Salida had towed the pickup and stock trailer off. Two of the deputies helped Cody get the stolen cows back onto Lazy K property.

Katy informed me I'd have to attend a hearing when the three men were indicted. Since a small amount of cocaine was found behind the seat of the pickup, the men were facing more than just cattle theft charges.

Cody wasn't kidding when he said Katy was good-looking. Although she was quite tall, probably close to six foot, she had a terrific figure. Her long, blond hair and bright blue eyes highlighted her pretty face. She was very businesslike, even though she was stealing glances at me every chance she got. Her uniform fit her like a glove, accenting every curve of her supple body. The top two buttons of her shirt were undone, allowing me a glimpse of her lacy white bra.

With her friendly demeanor, I had a hunch we'd be running into each other in the near future. "You and Cody got a thing going?" Katy blatantly inquired. "I hear he's quite a stud."

"No. He just works for my grandfather, J.D. Kramer." I replied. "He's the foreman at the Lazy K."

"Well, that's good to know." Katy responded with a grin.

Cody followed me back to the Lazy K. My adrenalin rush had finally dissipated, leaving me extremely tired. All I wanted was to climb into bed and get some sleep.

Juanita insisted on fixing Cody and me something to eat. I think she was just anxious to hear all the details about capturing the cattle rustlers. I omitted as much of the useless information as I could, hoping to keep our conversation brief. Juanita had to ask numerous questions which delayed my grabbing a shower and getting to bed. She inquired about the mysterious patrol car, which triggered my memory that her husband was a deputy sheriff. It got me to wondering if he might be involved. For Juanita's sake, I hoped he wasn't!