Lisa Ch. 05b: Only Human cont

"Are you okay?" Jim asked reaching out for her arm. Jessica nodded as she steadied her breathing.

"So?" Scott asked leaning forward in his seat, elbows on his thighs. His lips curled into a knowing smile. Jessica's feelings were evident. Josh had leaned toward her also, nodding his head toward her when Scott looked over at him, wanting to be sure he wasn't the only one picking up Jessica's signals.

"Yup," Scott said to Josh and Jim, "you're not imagining it."

And then swinging his lust riddled eyes back to Jessica he asked,

"What's your answer Jess?"

"Okay," Jessica said. She took another sip of her wine taking the opportunity to look away from the men and stare at her wine. She worked on steadying her breathing and controlling her feelings. Her body was giving her desires away and it was disconcerting ... bordering on embarrassing.

"Alright," Scott said, "what do you want from us if you and Jessica win Josh?"

"I want one of each of your nights with Jessica," Josh replied without hesitation.

"I wager the same thing with your night Josh," Jim said.

"Me too," Scott said.

"And Jess, you understand that riding is pretty big. You'd win that from both Scott and Jim, not to mention me." Josh said.

Jessica nodded, returning to examining her cards.

"Let's play then." Josh said.

The game went swiftly and decisively to Jessica and Josh. When the final point was won, Jessica could barely contain her excitement. Josh was pretty happy himself ... a couple of extra nights with Jessica.

"So tomorrow morning? First thing?" Jessica said excitement in her voice.

"Yes Jessica," Scott said more than a little upset that he'd lost his night with her.

"Well," Josh said looking at his watch and then stretching his arms and faking a yawn, "if we're getting up early tomorrow then we should get to bed. Sorry Scott, better luck next time." He continued with a crooked grin.

"Screw off," Scott said and Josh laughed.

"Ready Jess?" Josh asked.

Jessica put her empty glass in Jim's outstretched hand and kissed him goodnight. She kissed Scott and then held Josh's hand as he led her to his room.

*********************************************************

"Josh! Josh!" Jessica said as she shook his arm. Josh groaned and opened one eye. Jessica had climbed down from the bed to his spot on the floor.

"What's wrong Jess?" he asked.

"It's morning ... time to get up."

"What time is it?" he asked. Jessica pushed up to his side table and returned with his watch.

"It's seven."

"Seven!" Josh exclaimed. "Jess, aren't you the least bit tired? We spent all night going at it like rabbits ... don't you want to sleep in?"

"You know," Jessica said running her hands through Josh's short hair, "I read somewhere that rabbits are early risers ... "

"Oh really?" Josh said placing his hand on her thigh and moving it up to the mound of hair between her legs, "Maybe they get up early to fuck again ... that I can live with ..." he snaked his other arm up around Jessica's waist and slid her down to lay beside him, leaning in he began kissing the nape of her neck.

"No ..." Jessica said giggling as his kisses tickled her. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed away with all of her might. "I think they get up early so they can go horseback riding."

"What?" Josh asked, looking up at her. "Rabbits? I guess you don't mean your regular rabbits ... just us two legged fucking rabbits ..." He pulled her on top of him again.

Jessica laughed. "Yes, I guess so. Come on Josh ... please ... please can we go?" She kissed him quickly on the lips and then leaned back, pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes.

Josh laughed. "Cute Jessica, very cute. Alright ... let's go." Josh said and followed Jessica as she stood up. They were dressed in record time. Neither Scott nor Jim were up yet. Jessica began making breakfast, Josh put coffee on.

"We should wake them up," Jessica said when breakfast was made with no sign of Scott or Jim.

"Right." Josh said. "Allow me. If you go to get them you may never get to go horseback riding ...."

"You're right," Jessica agreed, "they're two legged rabbits too."

Josh laughed as he hesitated at the entrance to the hallway. He watched Jessica flutter around the table pouring coffee. He looked at the front door. He'd have to be fast.

"Where are they?" Jessica asked jumping up from the table when Josh returned alone. Josh laughed. He'd been doing that a lot lately and despite the fact that his face was starting to hurt, he enjoyed it.

"They're coming Jessica ... they have to get ready." He sat down in the chair next to where Jessica stood and pulled her onto his lap, "and for the record, they think you're crazy."

"I prefer the word eccentric thank you very much." Jessica replied while smoothing a few stray strands of Josh's hair that stood up here and there.

"Sure," Josh said, "just a fancy way to say crazy but I can oblige."

"What the hell?" Scott asked as he stumbled into the dining room. "It's seven fifteen in the morning Jessica ..."

Jessica scrambled off of Josh's lap and pulled a chair for Scott.

"Here, sit down. Breakfast is ready ... here's some coffee."

When Jim appeared she pulled a chair for him as well.

"Are you eating?" Jim asked as Jessica stood watching them.

"Oh, right!" she slid into her chair and began shoveling eggs into her mouth. The men looked at one another, laughing.

Scott shook his head. "Crazy ..." he muttered.

"Eccentric ..." Jessica corrected in between mouthfuls of egg.

"X what?" Jim asked with a laugh.

"Jessica prefers the refined word for crazy." Josh replied.

"I'm done!" Jessica said pushing her plate away and jumping up.

"Clearly." Scott said.

"Hey what are you doing?" He asked when Jessica pulled his plate away when he'd skewered his last bite of eggs with his fork.

"You're done too, right?" she asked and moved on to taking Jim and then Josh's plates. She moved to the kitchen dumped them in the sink and bounced back out.

"Okay ... can we go ride?"

"We're not done our coffee yet." Jim said with a wink. Jessica looked like she was going to explode. She fidgeted while Jim brought his coffee to his lips.

"Jesus ..." Scott said when Jessica looked almost physically pained by the forced wait. "Okay guys, I don't know about you but I can wait for coffee."

Jessica began clapping her hands and bouncing up and down ... looking to Josh and Jim expectantly.

"I guess I can wait too," Josh said.

"Oh okay ..." Jim said struggling not to laugh too hard. "Honestly Jessica, I don't know how you maintain that level of enthusiasm without exhausting yourself."

But Jessica wasn't paying attention. She'd grabbed Scott's hand and headed for the door.

"I take it that you'd like to ride Chestnut?" Scott asked as they entered the barn.

"You remembered!" Jessica exclaimed.

"I sure did. The thing is that Chestnut can be pretty frisky at times." Scott said as Josh and Jim moved off to get their horses ready.

"That's okay. I can handle it."

"Do you know how to ride Jessica? And your little two minute stint on Ebony doesn't count."

Jessica was nodding her head.

"I used to ride a lot."

Scott caught his breath and watched her face for any sign that she was upset by the mention of her previous life but there was none. She was looking at Chestnut with longing.

"Okay, let's get her saddled up for you." Scott said moving toward the saddle that balanced on the stall railing.

"Wait!" Jessica said, grabbing Scott's arm. "Do you mind if I do it myself?"

"Okay," Scott said with hesitation. Chestnut was a tall horse he had his doubts that Jessica could manage. But he moved off to the next stall to prepare the horse he would ride. He kept his eye on Jessica as she bridled Chestnut swiftly and confidently. She didn't even have trouble throwing the saddle onto the horses tall back. He was feeling better about this now. Jessica obviously was not exaggerating her knowledge of horseback riding. Or, at least not preparation for horseback riding. They led the horses out of the barn and Jessica swung up onto the Chestnut with ease.

"Okay Jessica, we're going to warm up a little first. Nothing fancy. You haven't been on a horse in years." Scott said catching the reigns of Chestnut as Jessica had begun to urge her forward.

"Got it?" Josh asked beginning to wonder if this was a good idea. "I don't want to have to explain to Riley and Angus if you get hurt ... do you?"

Jessica shook her head but the perma smile that had glued itself to her face when they'd come out to the stables was unmovable.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful, I promise. Where are we going?"

"We've got a lot of land," Jim said indicating the countryside ahead of them. "We'll ride that. Maybe we'll get lucky and run across a few of those wild dogs." He continued, tapping the butt of the rifle that stuck out from the saddle holder near his leg.

"We should be so lucky." Scott said as they began to walk out around the corral.

Josh looked at Jessica. "Would that be good luck or bad luck?" he said and then motioned his head to Jessica when Scott and Jim picked up on his tone. "I'm not sure I'd really want to deal with wild dogs right now, with our present company."

Jessica caught his tone also.

"Don't worry about me." Jessica said. "Wild dogs are wild dogs. I feel sorry for them but if they're dangerous then putting them down is probably the best thing for them."

"Right Jess," Josh said with a chuckle. "I am concerned about your mental and emotional health too, but my immediate concern would be your physical. I think it'd be better if you were nowhere near wild dogs."

Jessica smiled as she urged Chestnut onto a trot. "Don't worry Josh ... they'd have to catch me first."

"This is beautiful! You have beautiful land!" Jessica said as they pulled up at the top of a hill that overlooked a huge valley. They'd been riding for about an hour, Jessica setting the pace at a canter.

"Thanks," they said in unison. They were impressed with Jessica. She hadn't exaggerated her skills in any way. And she looked even more beautiful on a horse, hair flying, managing Chestnut so confidently.

"Is that a river down there?" she asked.

"Yup," Scott answered. "It flows into a ravine. It's great for swimming on hot summer days."

As they spoke, Chestnut stepped from side to side snorting.

"Whoa Chestnut," Scott said, "what the heck is her problem?"

"She's antsy, she wants to run." Jessica replied reaching down and patting her neck.

"Run!" Jim exclaimed, "What the hell have we been doing for the past hour?"

"That was by no means running," Jessica said with a laugh.

"Really?" Josh said his voice sounding petulant, even to himself. "Then what, pray tell, is running?"

He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth. Jessica sat up straighter on Chestnut and a look of determination settled onto her face.

"We'll race you to the river ... last one there is a dirty, rotten egg!"

"Jessica!" All three men yelled at the same time, but it was too late. Jessica had spurred the all too accommodating Chestnut on and was flying at break neck speed toward the river.

"Holy shit!" Scott cursed as he and the other men urged their horses after her. She was going so fast ... too fast.

"Jessica stop! Stop!" They took turns yelling but there was no way she'd hear them.

Despite the horror of the moment Scott couldn't help notice that Jessica's body had taken on the riding position of a horse jockey ... as much as she could on a western saddle. And she was going so fast! Even though the men were urging their horses on, the gap between them and her kept widening.

"Is she making a run for it?" Josh asked suddenly, fear coursing through him.

"No," Jim said but there was no conviction behind it.

"She has to stop at the river," Scott added. "she's not going anywhere."

"How can she go so fucking fast?" Josh asked as she pulled even further ahead of them. Chestnut looked like her legs were barely touching the ground.

"She has no fear ... " Jim answered with awe.

"Or she thinks she's going to get away." Scott said. And the horror of the possibility became more real as Jessica approached the river. It wasn't a huge river but wide and wild enough that a person and horse would have to slow down and carefully make their way across it. But Jessica wasn't slowing down.

"What the ..." Josh began as it appeared that Jessica was actually urging Chestnut on, making her go faster.

"She wouldn't ..." Scott said a horrible thought beginning to form. "She's not crazy enough to try and ..."

"Jump?" Jim finished Scott's sentence as Jessica and Chestnut launched into the air and sailed over the river.

The men let out a collective sigh when Jessica and Chestnut landed safely on the other side. They had made it to the river and stood watching Jessica continue to ride away.

"She's not stopping ..." Scott said. But then Jessica looked over her shoulder. She turned Chestnut in a wide arc and raced back toward the river.

"Oh no ..." Josh growled as he realized her intention.

"No! Stop Jessica, stop!" Jim yelled as horse and rider picked up speed near the river. All three men fell silent and watched in slack jawed awe as Jessica and Chestnut sailed back over the river. Jessica guided Chestnut in another large circle and slowed her to a trot as she headed back to the men.

"Did you see that?" Jessica exclaimed while petting Chestnut's neck, "Isn't she great?"

"Great!" Josh growled.

Scott grabbed Jessica's reins and pulled her closer. He stared into her face, unsure what to say or do. He couldn't decide if he was angry with her or impressed by her.

As he watched the excitement on her face, in her eyes, the way she looked at him so innocently as if she had no clue what she'd just put him through, the urge to dominate her swept over him like a tidal wave. But Jessica was too preoccupied to notice.

"Do you know what we should do?" She was asking in a breathless and excited voice.

"No ..." Josh replied through clenched teeth, "what?"

But Scott knew, knew exactly what he wanted to do. But he couldn't do it here.

"We should time the horses." She answered Josh, but then swung her gaze to Scott. "Chestnut is amazingly fast, I bet you the others are too. Ebony will be like a rocket I'm sure ..."

"Don't even consider bringing Ebony into this ..." Scott growled.

She was 100% certifiable. What were the chances that Jim and Josh would let him take her to his room right now? He began forming what he hoped would be a convincing argument to not only convince Jim to switch his night with him but also allow him to fuck her brains out during the day, right now.

"Unbelievable!" Jim suddenly exclaimed and his tone even caught through Scott's growing urges and got his attention. Everyone looked at him. He was staring at Jessica with the strangest expression on his face.

"You just live, don't you? You don't even consider the possible dangers involved in anything ... you don't even care. You just do it?" Jim was excited. He finally understood Jessica. There was no intent behind anything she did. She wasn't planning and scheming at every moment. She just seized whatever opportunities came along. It was all so clear now.

"I guess ..." she said when all the men's eyes landed on her and waited. She honestly didn't know what Jim was talking about but somehow his words seemed to mean something to Josh and Scott. They seemed to be relaxing.

"Just what kind of horseback riding did you used to do?" Jim asked realizing that this wouldn't be a trait that just developed. It had to be with her from the beginning.

"Racing, jumping, barrel racing, rodeo ..." Jessica rhymed off nonchalantly.

"Your ... parents ... " Scott nearly choked on the words, "would let you do these things?"

"Of course," Jessica replied. "they never said no to anything. They believed anything and everything was possible."

Silence hung in the air as the men absorbed this. Jessica was still smiling at them. She'd answered in a tone that implied it was a matter of fact. No sadness, no anger, no regret.

"That explains a lot." Josh mumbled. Jessica clearly wasn't used to being told no, or what she could or could not do. They'd lost before they'd even begun.

"So," Jessica said, excitement bubbling inside her, "there's a perfect straightaway right there." She said pointing behind them, "we can run the horses flat out and time them!"

"Maybe you can run them flat out," Jim said, "but I sure can't."

"You don't have to," Jessica said, "I can run the horse that's being timed ... but it helps if you ride too, give the horse someone to race. We can start with Chestnut ... Josh will you race too?"

Josh looked at Scott. Scott shrugged. He didn't really know what to do.

"Okay," Josh replied.

"So we should start over here," Jessica said beginning to move away.

Scott let Chestnut's reigns go ... he was lost.

"Line up here." She was telling Jim and Josh. "And we'll race to that clump of trees. And Scott, you have your watch right? You can time Chestnut. Then we can switch horses and we'll time the others. You can use your rifle as the starting pistol."

Scott didn't know how Jim and Josh felt, but he felt like he was in a daze. Obediently he pulled his rifle out as Jessica, Jim and Josh spaced themselves out along the imaginary start line. They looked at Scott. As if on autopilot he fired the gun into the air, and the horses took off. Jessica and Chestnut broke out ahead at what seemed to be an impossible speed. When Jessica pulled up at the trees Scott pressed stop on his watch. He looked at the numbers on the watch and his mind had trouble grasping their meaning.

"How'd she do?" Jessica asked as she came to join him.

"Unbelievable," Scott whispered. Jessica smiled.

"How do you stay on the flipping horse?" Josh asked. He had pushed his horse as fast as he dared ... to the point at which he actually felt fear, and Jessica still blew him away.

"You just have to get in rhythm with the horse ... " Jessica said as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do. "Okay, now switch with me ..." she said swinging off of Chestnut and moving toward Josh.

Josh pulled his rifle from its holder and swung off of Tanner, his horse.

"Do you want to run this one?" he asked Scott.

Scott shook his head.

"Didn't think so." Josh mumbled as he climbed on Chestnut. Jessica was already guiding Tanner to the start line. Scott fired the rifle into the air again and the horses flew off the mark. Scott gasped for breath as he pressed stop on his watch ... another unbelievable time.

Hours later Jessica was clanking around the kitchen preparing dinner. The men sat in the living room watching her. They'd run the horses over and over again. Times improving with each run.

"My ass hurts." Josh stated as he brought the beer he'd been nursing to his lips.

"Mine too," Jim replied.

"Do you think hers does?" Josh asked nodding toward Jessica.

"How can it not?" Jim asked.

Scott suddenly sat forward. "Jessica," he called. She peeked over at him. "How's your ass?"

Jessica looked back at her butt and then back at Scott, confusion evident on her face.

"Is it sore?" Jim clarified with a laugh.

"No," she replied.

"I want to play euchre again tonight." Scott said, her answer being enough for him. No sore ass meant plenty of action was possible. His urge to dominate Jessica had not subsided throughout the day. He had to win tonight with her. Since she wasn't sore after the riding there'd be nothing to interfere with the multiple orgasms he intended to give her.

"Sure," Jim said catching the drift of what Scott wanted.

"Just remember that Jessica has a habit of winning." Josh said also understanding what Scott was after.