Lisa Ch. 07a: Jessica

"Ten?" Jim asked starting to laugh ... their laughter was contagious and pretty soon everyone was laughing.

Jessica looked around at the men and sobered a little. "You guys have never been to an amusement park or arcade either?"

"I've been to arcades." Scott said.

"As a kid?" Josh asked in surprise.

"No, as an adult."

"Well the amusement park is what I always thought it would be." Josh said. "You wouldn't believe some of the rides they have there. It's a miracle there isn't vomit covering a ten mile radius."

"Speaking of vomit." Jessica said getting to her feet, "I have to go to the bathroom and get rid of some of the crap in my stomach. Ugh."

"Are you okay?" Jim asked as she passed him.

"Fine, just full of sugar. I thought it'd clear by now but it hasn't. A finger down the throat and I'll be as good as new."

"You're going to make yourself vomit?" Riley asked.

"Yup. If the models can do it, so can I. You got a bed?" Jessica asked looking at a large mattress on the floor.

"No. Just a few self-inflatable mattresses. They inflate and deflate in seconds." Riley said. "I figured it was better than nothing."

"I'll be back in a few minutes then ..." Jessica said skirting the mattresses. They were covered with sheets so they looked like one large mattress.

"Take your time Jess." Scott said. "We'll be going right to sleep." Jessica turned to look at him. There'd been disappointment in his voice ... she felt a pang of disappointment too. Some good sex would have ended the day perfectly.

"It's too late." Riley explained. "We have to get up in four hours to work out ... then you ride. And then the girls are coming ... it's just too much."

"Go on Jess." Angus said with a laugh when a series of emotions played across her face. Disappointment, excitement, and all the ones in between. "We can miss one night of sex, it isn't going to kill us."

"Maybe it won't kill you ..." she muttered as she wandered down the hallway.

"So you've been at an amusement park and an arcade until now?" Angus asked.

Josh nodded. "There are some rides out there that I'm not sure should be legal. And of course, those are the ones Jessica wanted to go on. And dance dance fucking revolution?" Josh said getting to his feet, glancing down the hallway and then lowering his voice, "Jessica is a freaking tyrant on that game. I swear we danced on that thing for hours. It was fun, but she takes that shit seriously. Consider yourself warned."

"Should she really be forcing herself to vomit?" Jim asked as the sound of her heaving wafted down the hallway.

"Oh yeah. I'm right behind her. Ugh. Cotton candy and candied apples, they look innocent enough but have more than two or three and you'll be sorry ..."

Josh disappeared to the bathroom and soon his heaving could be heard. As well as the shower running.

"Guess she's showering." Angus said.

"So tomorrow night we're doing the date dinner?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. Jessica can buy a new dress when she goes out with the girls, and then we'll have a late dinner." Riley confirmed.

"With no sex." Jim added, not sure that even he could stick with that promise.

"Right." Riley said with little enthusiasm.

"Maybe a quicky before we go to sleep ..." Angus said looking at the mattress.

Jim exhaled. "Let's give her fifteen minutes once we're in bed. If she's still awake, then okay."

"Deal." Scott said, pretty sure he could keep her up for fifteen minutes.

"Just remember, the longer you keep her up, the more tired she'll be tomorrow. She may not ride that well." Jim added, interpreting Scott's expression correctly.

"Damn it." Scott swore but when Jessica came into the living room in her pajamas there was no denying that she was ready to crash. Eyes drooping she crawled onto the middle of the mattress. Scott lay on one side of her, Josh on the other. Jim by her head, Angus by her feet, Riley at an angle by her feet as well and within a minute of settling down, she was completely out.

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"So here." Angus said holding his arm out. Hanging from his hand was the purse Jim had given her the other night. Jessica slid her eyes to Jim who nodded at her. "I was going to get you a purse but Jim said he had one for you." He tried to keep his eyes on her face. She was dressed to ride, riding boot, jeans ... they made her look so sexy. He had to stay focused.

"Thanks Angus." Jessica said taking the purse. It felt heavy but Jessica figured it was probably because her arms felt like rubber from the work out.

"I'm giving it to you now in case there isn't much time between riding and when the girls pick you up." Angus continued. "There's a thousand dollars in there. Cash." Angus added when Jessica's head snapped up in surprise. "Spend some of it on a dress for tonight. Something really beautiful and formal. And the rest you can spend on the spa and anything else you want. Are you okay?" He added when Jessica looked like she was going to faint.

"That's a lot of money." Jessica whispered.

"It is." Riley added. "So don't lose it. But it's all yours. Have fun with it."

"Thank you!" Jessica said and went to melt into Angus arms. Angus held her tight, he wished they could go back to earlier that morning when Angus had waken Jessica by eating her out. He could still remember the small mewing noises that had escaped her before she'd woken up. And the taste of her. Man he wanted that again, but they were about to go out and watch her ride Ebony. No way would she go for that right now.

"You're welcome." He muttered in her ear and then reluctantly let her go. She moved to Riley.

"Thank you!" she said sliding into his arms.

"You're welcome." Riley said, burying his nose into her hair and inhaling. They'd woken up late, had some spectacular yet fast sex, and went out work out. They'd had to cut their work out time in half in order to ensure enough time to ride before Jessica went for her girl time. Despite that Jessica had insisted on practicing fighting with a knife. And regardless of the fact that she was improving quickly, it disturbed Riley that she wanted to learn it so badly. She seemed obsessed with the one thing that Riley expected her to have the least reason to need. But maybe it wasn't the actual fighting that she was obsessed with. Maybe it was just the challenge of overcoming something she was having difficulty with. She certainly showed that tendency with some of the other training things they'd done, like firing a machine gun. If she was the least bit less than good at something she insisted on working on it until she improved. But still, it made him uneasy, and now that he had her in his arms he was reluctant to let her go. But when she pushed off of his chest, he let her. He'd have tonight to hold her. Hold her without sex, but hold her none the less.

She moved to the other men and hugged them all in turn.

When she was done she slid the cell phone from her pants pockets and plopped it into the purse.

"I'll leave it here on the sofa." She said depositing it near the arm of the sofa and then she beamed at the men. "Should we go ride?" And then she paused and

looked at Riley and Angus from the corner of her eye. "Do you know how to ride?"

"Yes we do, thank you very much!" Riley said with indignity when Jim, Josh and Scott howled with laughter.

"Why is that so funny?" Jessica asked.

"Even when they did ride, they weren't very good at it." Josh said.

"Hey!" Angus snapped in mock anger, "Not all of us can be bow legged freaks!"

Jessica squinted her eyes at him, and then looked down at her legs.

"It's okay Jessica," Angus said, "it works for you."

"Almost convenient even," Scott said, but Jessica looked lost.

"Ignore these ignoramuses." Jim said. "We'll see how witty they are when they fall off their horses. They'll wish they were bow legged then! In fact, I think we should give them old Rusty and Meghan to ride." He added with a laugh as they moved to the door.

Angus had taken one of Jessica's hands, Riley the other.

"Those horses are like a hundred years old!" Riley protested. "Horseback riding is like a riding a bike guys ... you don't just forget it. I think we can handle horses with a little more life in them."

"Speak for yourself." Angus said. "I'll take the oldest, slowest horse you have."

"What the hell is that?" Riley demanded as they neared the barn and a loud thumping was coming from within it.

"That's Ebony." Scott said, sliding the barn door open.

"What the fuck..." Angus asked as they stopped in front of a stall and with every loud thud, the stall wall shook.

"He can smell Jessica coming ... he's excited." Jim said.

"I know exactly how he feels." Scott said into Jessica's ear as he pushed between Jessica and Angus, on his way to the stall. Jessica smiled when he air blew her a kiss, and winked. A flash of the interlude they'd had that morning came to mind and she felt a jolt of pleasure.

But then Ebony kicked the wall again, and Jessica forgot all about Scott. She dropped Riley's hand and went to unlatch the stall door.

"Is it safe for her to go in there?" Angus asked, reaching forward and grabbing her arm. He pulled her back to him as the wall vibrated again.

"Angus she's fine." Jim said and pulled her away from Angus. She moved to the door and opened it. The black head of the stallion emerged and it ruffled Jessica's hair with its nose. She reached for the halter and slid it over the horses head.

"Do you remember how to saddle a horse?" Jim asked Riley and Angus.

"Yeah, sure." Riley said watching Jessica lead the giant animal out of the stall. He couldn't believe she was going to ride that ... it was a monster.

"This way then." Jim said motioning Riley and Angus to follow him.

"Where's she going?" Angus asked as Jessica led Ebony out of the barn.

"She likes to saddle him outside." Jim replied.

It seemed to take forever to get the horses ready. By the time Angus and Riley led the two horses outside, Jessica was already on Ebony circling in small tight circles.

There was little doubt that the horse was eager to go. He snorted and stomped his feet, and sashayed from one side to the other but Jessica didn't seem to notice or care.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Angus said, watching the constant motion of the horse that Jessica was managing.

"Trust me." Scott said. "Do you need help getting up?"

"No. I do not need help getting up!" Angus thundered with indignity as he proceeded wedge his foot in the stirrup and toss his leg up over the horse. But it didn't work. He tried three times before he sighed. "Fine, I need help." Scott smiled and tried not to snicker out loud. Josh helped Riley mount his horse.

Jim moved toward Angus, rifle in hand, and then paused. "I'm not sure you should take the gun ... you may shoot yourself by mistake."

"Give me the damn gun!" Angus demanded and snatched it from Jim when he handed it to him. "Those wild dogs are still out there. Gotta be able to protect Jessica." He grumbled as he slid it into the side of the saddle ... secretly hoping that he didn't prove Jim wrong and blow his foot off.

"Jessica has her own gun." Jim said pointing at the rifle resting near her leg in the sheath.

Jessica began letting Ebony move in wider and wider circles.

"Are we ready?" Jessica asked.

"Let's go." Scott said and the group moved out to the field.

After fifteen minutes of travel Angus was even less impressed with Ebony.

"What the hell is that horses problem?" he demanded. "He's uncontrollable ... Jessica has to fight with him constantly."

Scott watched Jessica reign in Ebony as he pranced left and right, and tried to speed up.

"You guys are too slow." Scott said. "Jessica never rides him at anything slower than a canter. He wants to run."

"Fucking horse!" Riley muttered as he hung on to his for dear life. "Fine ... we can try a trot. Will that make him happy?"

"It'll be way better than crawling along." Jim added and the group sped up to a trot. Ebony was complacent for a few minutes but began his demonstration of dissatisfaction right after.

"Why don't you and Jessica ride ahead." Scott said to Jim. "We'll meet you at the track."

Without hesitating a second Jessica stopped reigning the horse in and took off, Jim following after her.

"Track?" Riley managed before his air ran out. He was holding his breath, watching Jessica practically fly away.

"It's just an oval we dug up in the grass ... put down some dirt." Scott said.

It seemed to take forever but finally they crested a hill and saw the river ... and Jessica and Jim trotting around the track, warming the horses up.

"Nice track ..." Riley commented as they neared it.

"No fucking way Jessica jumped that river." Angus said watching the water flow rapidly down between two shores that looked ridiculously wide.

"Trust me ... she did." Scott replied. Josh had ridden ahead to be closer to Jessica.

"Okay. We stop here." Scott said. And he waved his arm at Jessica, Jim and Josh. Josh waved back. "So they're going to finish the circle and pull up so they come across that line even." Scott was saying. "Once they cross the line the race is on. They have to go twice around the track."

"That horse is a fucking monster Scott." Riley said.

"But you have to admit that Jessica is right at home on him."

"He's fucking huge and he's fucking fast." Angus added. "Yeah, she looks at home, but we already know Jessica has no sense of survival. She'd probably look at home sticking her head in a lion's mouth."

"Yeah, well they're coming around the corner. Get ready 'cause you ain't seen nothing yet."

Josh and Jim fanned out on either side of Jessica and Ebony. They came up even and rounded the corner.

"Their speeding up." Angus said, anxiety growing.

"Why are they speeding up?" Riley asked.

"They have to speed up to race." Scott said. "Now watch."

But suddenly all three figures sat up, slowed their horses and looked to the right over the river.

"What are they doing?" Riley demanded.

"Damned if I know." Scott said following their line of sight. "What the hell are the horses doing down there?" He added when he saw the horses he'd put out to pasture running on the other side of the river.

Suddenly Jessica was turning Ebony sideways, pulling her gun and standing in her stirrups she aimed and fired.

"God damn dogs!" Scott yelled. The dog she'd fired at bowed to the ground, butt in the air. She'd hit its shoulder. But there was another dog chasing one of the other horses. Jessica sheathed the gun and took off toward the river, the horse more than willing to run full out.

"Where are Jim and Josh going?" Angus asked when they took off along the river.

"I guess they're going around. There's a crossing around the bend there."

"So if they're going around, Jessica's going ... shit!" Angus began but his heart nearly leaped out of his throat and Jessica and Ebony launched into the air over the river.

"Holy fuck!" Riley exclaimed, but Scott barely blinked.

"Jesus Christ, she better never do that again!" Angus growled when Jessica landed safely on the other side.

One of the mares ran out from behind a stand of trees, kicking her hind legs out as a little black dot followed her, nipping at her hind quarters.

"That damn dog is going to kill Nelly." Scott groaned.

"Who the hell is that?" Riley asked. Scott followed where Riley pointed. To see a cluster of people at the fence on horseback, watching.

"The neighbors!" Scott exclaimed hope back in his voice. "They're afraid to come over."

... continued in 7b