George and Ben

"I can't slow down, oh god, this is so good, oh, oh, oh, oh yes!" Her hips jerked in a series of spasms and she fell, gasping for breath, forward onto him, her head on his shoulder and her lips pressed against his neck. "I feel like such a slut, I can't believe that I want so much more of you, I can't get enough of you."

Ben held her close while she slowly relaxed and dozed off into a deep sleep. He pulled the edges of the blanket up to cover her and dozed, disbelieving what had just happened, into a deep sleep himself.

"Wake up Honey, there's work to be done!"

"Just a minute Dad, I'll be out in a minute." Kelly glanced at the watch on Ben's wrist, it was almost 8:00. "Quick Ben, Dad's here, we need to get decent." She scrambled to her feet and began to search for her clothes. Ben grabbed his and began to dress quickly. Two minutes later they scrambled through the access door, with their boots in hand, the confined space in the trailer was hardly conducive to easy pulling on of boots.

"I wondered who owned the Hog. Are you going to introduce me to this new friend of yours?" By the way that he said it, they knew that he was under no illusions as to what they had been doing.

"Dad, this is Ben, Ben this is my father Rob Jordan."

"Pleased to meet you sir." Ben held his hand out and there was a brief and inconclusive power struggle over the handshake, neither of them forcing the issue, or yielding.

"I'll get George out and let him browse while we fix the trailer." Ben helped her lower the tailgate and went to George's head to unclip his halter from the ring. George snickered a welcome to him and backed slowly out. Kelly and Rob looked on in surprise at George's ready compliance. Brad had never been able to unclip the halter, let alone walk him out.

"Ben has something to show you." Ben took out his mobile and showed Rob the video he had taken of Brad and her trailer.

"Sore loser." That was all he said, but both Kelly and Ben knew that this was not the end of it.

"Ben, can you help me get the gear out of the trailer?" Rob had brought the spare axle, and the tools necessary to change it, in a second float. He saw Ben's look. "It was easier to load it into one of these than try to carry in in the SUV, and it was also a fall-back position, if we couldn't repair the damage we'd load George into this one, and drag the other one back minus a wheel."

"Do you want me to go back up the road and grab the wheel that fell off?"

"If you would, that'd be great, we may be able to repair the threads enough to fit it back."

Ben set off up the road to find the wheel. "Well my girl, tell me all, how and when did this happen?"

"When the wheel fell off I pulled in here to check the damage. Ben was with a group of bikers, not the kind that you're thinking of, and he stopped. I couldn't get a signal on my mobile,l so he took me to the top of the hill up there and I got through to you. He went back to the truck stop for food and we've sort of been together since. George took to him straight away." She added quickly, as if that was the answer to everything.

"So, you and George have both fallen instantly in love with this man, is that what this is about?"

"Yes Dad. Ben is about as far away from Brad as you could possibly get."

"That's one good thing. Never took to Brad, spoilt brat." Rob was economical with his conversation, but a lot can be said in few words.

Rob took a set of dies from his tool box and ran one up the wheel studs, cleaning the threads. "I'll have to take the brake rotor off, it's too badly damaged. What I suggest, to save us time, is that we put the wheel back on this trailer, swap them over so that you can put George into mine, and drag it back behind your Range Rover, and I'll follow with your trailer. What do you say?"

"Sounds good to me, but what are we going to do about Ben?"

"What do you want to do? If he wants to come with us he can always ride his bike."

"If we put his bike in the trailer, he can ride with me, can't he? We need him to come with us because I don't want Brad to get away with what he has done to me."

The wheel wasn't badly damaged and was soon fitted back on the axle. The trailers were changed over and George loaded into the one that Rob had brought with him. "Ben, I want you to come with us, will you? Can you?"

"I can and I will, and it's not just because I love you, but I want, probably as much as you do, for Brad to be punished for his part in this, although, thinking about it, if he hadn't done this I might not have met the love of my life." He kissed her.

"Do you want to follow us on your bike, I know that you love riding it, or would you rather load it onto one of the trailers and ride with me?"

"Silly questions she's asking now. Help me load it." The Harley was soon in the trailer securely tied down so that it couldn't move, and the convoy headed down the road.

Two hours later they arrived back at the Jordan farm. Rob watched while Kelly and Ben unloaded George from the trailer and took him into his yard for a run, he noticed that George was walking between them, his head over both shoulders and his halter rope dangling on the ground. Kelly and Ben's hands were clasped tightly. Rob smiled to himself as he went inside to make a phone call, he was going to enjoy this.

Half an hour later Brad and his father arrived. "What's this all about?" Brad's father asked them.

"The way that I see it," Rob said to them, "is that Brad can pay for the damage he caused to Kelly's trailer and we'll leave it at that, or, if he refuses, we go to court and have him charged. It's entirely up to him. There is however two non-negotiable outcomes, the first is that he is to apologise to Kelly for his behaviour, accusing her of trading sexual favours for competition points, and that I will never sell you another horse, no matter how much you offer for one."

"I never said that! And I didn't touch her trailer. You have no proof."

"Yes we do. Ben, show them." Ben turned his mobile to face them and played the video. Brad's father's face went red, he was about to blow his stack.

"As for the other, the accusation that you made about Kelly, I was in that truck stop and heard everything that you said, you were shouting it loud enough for everyone to hear. And just so that you know, I am a Lawyer, and if this gets as far as the courts, I will be representing Kelly in any action that she brings against this sore loser. Do I make myself clear?"

"She couldn't have won without influencing the judges, she's a novice, and novices just don't win their first competition." Brad was reluctant to concede that she had beaten him without resorting to courting favour from the judges.

"She may be a novice at competing, but she's no novice to riding over each of the three eventing disciplines, she has been practising for years. And she and George have a perfect understanding, if she puts him to a jump he knows that she has every confidence in him taking it, they trust each other. Having a better horse is useless unless your horse trusts you. Brad here uses physical persuasion when he puts his horse to a jump, if the horse fails, it is the horse's fault and not his, and because of this the horse no longer trusts or respects him. George has never hit a jump in his life because Kelly never asks the impossible of him, and he knows that." Rob said.

"Come with me you stupid fucking idiot." Brad was dragged by his father back to their car and, in a shower of gravel it roared out of the yard.

Kelly took Ben in her arms and kissed him. "You were wonderful Darling. Do you have to be anywhere just now?"

"Nowhere that I can't get out of, why?"

"Come, I want you to meet Mother."

"Why do I get the feeling that this is another of those non-negotiable situations? Not that I'm complaining mind you."

"Because it is one of those situations. Come, you'll love her, and she'll love you. She had better or I'll never speak to her again, ever."

Kelly's mother, Jan, was an older version of Kelly in every way. "Mum, this is Ben, the man who saved my life and reputation, Ben, this is my mother Jan."

"I'm pleased to meet you, I can see where Kelly gets her looks." He was rewarded with a punch on the arm.

"I'm happy to meet you Ben, anyone that can make Kelly behave like a soppy schoolgirl is alright by me."

"M-u-m. You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am Dear, I am, but when you were with Brad you were so uptight that I had to check on the photo albums just to make sure that you were my daughter, and not some ring-in."

"Yes, well he does that to people."

"Go and tell your Father that lunch is ready, you are staying for lunch aren't you Ben?"

"I'd love to, thank you."

"He's polite too." Jan said.

They headed out to the Garage where Rob was stripping the axle from Kelly's trailer so that he could fit new wheel studs. "Come with me, I have something to show you." Kelly said as she dragged Ben around the back of the garage, stopping long enough to tell Rob that lunch was ready. She led him to a paddock that contained a mare and foal. The mare looked at them and walked towards them. "This is Victoria, and that foal is Elizabeth, Vicky and Lizzie for short. Vicky is George's dam and Lizzie is his full sister. His sire Henry is in that paddock over there, we're putting him to another mare today, hopefully we'll get another good bloodline out of that mating. The bloodline is Fernwood Supreme Monarch, with a monarch's name after it, we have Henry, Victoria, George and Elizabeth so far."

Ben reached out and patted Vicky's nose. "I suppose that Lizzie will be as big and strong as George."

"Probably. Do you like her?"

"I think she'll look spectacular when she's fully grown."

"Come." She climbed over the fence and walked towards the foal who started to run away. Vicky spoke to her and she stopped. Kelly and Ben approached her carefully until Ben was able to reach out and pat her head. Lizzie came to him.

"That seals the deal." Kelly said.

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked.

"How would you like to take up eventing?"

"I don't know, I've never ridden a horse in my life."

"But you can learn, I'll even teach you."

"I'll think about it, okay?"

"We'd better go in for lunch, but let me tell you, I think that you'd make a good event rider, you love horses, and you love me, what more to you need to know?"

"Give me a chance to make up my mind will you?"

"Don't take too long or I'll find someone else for Lizzie."

"That's coercion and against the law."

"Stop being a Lawyer for a moment and think about this, if you take up the sport we can be together, and I can't think of anything better."

"Okay, I give in, but let me tell you, the first time a horse throws me that's it, there will be no more riding."

They had arrived back at the house just as Jan came out to find them. "There you are, from what Rob has told me, I thought that I might have to go behind the hay bales with a bucket of water."

"Mum, I really think that that's uncalled for." They both burst out laughing. The relationship between mother and daughter was the most open and friendly that Ben had ever seen. Everything about this family is built on them trusting and respecting each other, Rob seemed unfazed when he found Kelly and Ben in the trailer, together, and it didn't bother him that they might have been making love.

Now Jan had recognised the fact that there was an attraction between Kelly and Ben that was very much a physical one, as well as the love and respect that she had hoped for her daughter and the man in her life, something that was missing between Kelly and Brad.

It was a sparse meal, a salad with cold meat, followed by fresh fruit and cream and proper coffee from an espresso machine. The conversation began with Kelly recounting her weekend's triumph. "We wish that we could have been there, but there were things happening that kept us here." Rob said.

"I understand." Kelly said. "You had those people coming to look at some horses and couldn't get away. How did it go, by the way?"

"They were interested in a couple of yearlings and," he paused, "they asked about Lizzie."

"You didn't sell her did you, please tell me that you didn't?"

"No, no I didn't. I told them that I would have to ask you about it before I sold her. He's ringing tomorrow to get your answer."

"That's good, she's not for sale, not at any price. I am going to give her to Ben, and he can work to becoming an event rider."

"I have reservations about that. You've known him for how long? Not even a day, and you're making plans involving someone who I would guess has never ridden a horse seriously, let alone over jumps. What if it doesn't work out? What if he's no good at it? What then? Kelly, you know that I love you and respect your decisions when it comes to horses, but don't you think that you should think this over for a while longer before jumping in?"

"No! That's just it. I want Ben to do this because I know that he can. You saw how George took to him, he recognises that Ben is the right person. And before lunch Ben was patting Lizzie on the head like he'd been doing that all his life. Even Vicky recognised that there was something in him that she liked. The three horses have accepted that he would make a perfect event rider."

"So what's the plan then, Ben will have to go to work at some stage, he can't spend all his time here if he wants to afford the cost of this sport, and that's even before he has to fork out for the obligatory clothing. This sport doesn't come cheap you know." He said, addressing this to Ben.

"I'm aware of that sir. I would like to give it a try, just to see if I like it and I have the talent for it."

"Do you have time to make a start this afternoon?" Kelly asked him.

"I can spare a couple of hours, sure."

"Then let's go, you'd better come too Dad, you're a better judge of this than I am because you aren't biased in any way."

The first thing that Ben had to do was to walk up to Lizzie and rub her nose while talking softly to her. Lizzie didn't back away from him when he approached, and stood while he rubbed her nose and whispered to her. He kept this up for at least half an hour before Kelly asked him to walk away from her. Lizzie, without hesitation, followed him, the imprinting had begun.

"Well, what do you think?" Kelly asked Rob.

"I'll reserve judgement until I see him ride, if he doesn't have a good seat, then all of this has been wasted."

"Give him a chance will you, he's never ridden a horse before."

"We'll start him gently, I don't think that you should put him on George first up do you?"

"Actually, that's not such a bad idea. George has taken a liking to him and I think that he will recognise Ben's lack of experience and make allowances for it."

"Make allowances for what?" Ben had arrived at the end of the conversation.

"We were discussing your next step." Rob said. "And Kelly wants to put you on George first up."

"Shit, so you want to get rid of me that quickly? All you had to do was tell me to go and I would have, there's no need to go through this charade and risk maiming me for life is there?"

"If I didn't think that you and George would behave yourselves I wouldn't have suggested it."

"Let me talk to him first will you?" Ben asked.

"Sure, why not?"

"Alone, I don't want you to hear the threats that I'm going to make to him. If he throws me off he's pet food." Ben said this with a smile on his face, just to let Kelly know that he wasn't serious.

Ten minutes of walking with George settled Ben's nerves. They paced back and forth until Ben was able to let go of the halter rope and George followed him, his head resting over Ben's shoulder. A bond between the two males in Kelly's life was formed in that time. "Okay, I think I'm ready for this." Ben said as they strolled back to Kelly who was waiting at the fence with the saddle and bridle hanging over the top rail.

Saddled and ready, George stood and waited calmly for Ben to mount. "It's a long way up, how do I do this?"

"Grab the front of the saddle in your left hand while holding the reins, put your left foot in the stirrup, push up with your right foot until you can stand in the left stirrup, then swing your right leg over and there you are."

Ben did as she told him and managed on his first attempt to get his leg over and his right foot in the stirrup. "That was easy, almost. What now?"

"Tell him to walk on." On command George walked forward. Keep your hands low and gently pull on the rein in the direction that you want him to turn. Now bring him back." Kelly and Rob watched as Ben and George did a slow motion figure eight before stopping alongside Kelly.

"Well, how did I go?"

"What do you think Dad, does he have it in him?"

"It's early days, but the signs are good. I'll have to reserve my final judgement until I see him at full gallop."

"How do I get down from here?" Ben asked.

"Reverse of getting up, hang on to the saddle with your left hand, swing your right leg back over the saddle and lower yourself to the ground." Ben found himself on the ground with Kelly's arms around his neck and lips on his.

"Ahem." From Rob. They broke the clinch. "Don't get too carried away, there's a lot more work to do before you're ready to compete, it could take years."

"Goodie." Kelly said, hugging Ben. They unsaddled George before taking the gear back to the tack room.

Rob looked at Ben's Harley. "How long have you had that?"

"Since I was twelve." This brought curious stares from both Kelly and Rob. "It was my Dad's, he loved it and I guess that it rubbed off on me. I was twelve when he got cleaned up by a car whose driver just 'didn't see him'. The bike was repairable but Dad wasn't, he was a quadriplegic and in a coma for six months before he died. We thought that he was over it, and on the mend, when complications of some sort finished him off. With Mum's blessing, I restored the bike and as soon as I was old enough to ride it I got my license and here I am. Some of the guys that I ride with knew Dad and have been very supportive of me, and have looked after me." Ben took Kelly's hand. "I have loved meeting you and George and the rest of your family, but I'm going to have to leave, I have a job to be getting back to". (And an unhappy fiancé to confront) He thought to himself.

"When will I see you again?" Kelly asked.

"Next Saturday, if that's okay with you and your family."

"More than okay, will it be for breakfast or lunch?"

"Morning tea." He kissed her. "Good-bye my darling Kelly, I'll be here as soon as I can."

"Wait, can I come and see you during the week? I don't know that I can wait until Saturday."

"Okay, give me a ring on Wednesday, I should have caught up with my housework by then."

"Wednesday, you couldn't make it sooner?"

"Okay tomorrow, but you'll have to put up with my messy house."

"I think I can stand it. I'll call you on your mobile tomorrow before I leave."

Ben rode off, thinking about how he was going to break it to Jackie that he was moving on from their relationship.

"Where the fuck have you been?" The words were thrown at him by an angry Jackie as she opened her front door. "I even rang your uncle to see if he knew where you were. He made some vague comment about you going to the assistance of some broken down motorist. All very vague and that got me wondering why you didn't get home last night, surely it didn't take that long to get the person mobile."

"Actually it did, she couldn't get help until this morning."

"That was this morning, you should have been home by lunch time."

"There was a delay and then I had to see that she got home safely, and then I was invited to stay for lunch as payment for my Samaritan efforts. I couldn't say no to that."