Ranch Hand

It had taken all of her life savings, cashing in her RRSP, and selling just about everything she owned, but Nadine Cross was able to live her dream. She got out of the headhunting business once and for all, leaving Calgary behind and deciding to settle on the prairie. She put a down payment on a successful horse ranch out in the middle of nowhere.

It was chasing her dream that was the allure. She had loved horses all of her life, but was unable to get near any. Her parents were well-off, but by no means able to afford a horse. Nadine would sit in her room and draw out horses. She loved how magnificent they were, almost like man had truly conquered nature by taming these larger beasts.

What she did not realize, after investing all of her money, was how much work was involved. This did not just mean from a physical standpoint, but for the enterprising nature of it all. There were receipts to draft, farm subsidies to puzzle through, transportation and feeding bills. What was worse was that the rancher she bought the ranch from had not only retired, but decided to take the village vet with him down to South America. She managed to find a new vet, but she actually had to fly him in if she wanted a house call.

Still, she was managing alright, and was still loving every part of it. The only thing missing was someone to share it with. Nadine was never really lucky in love, and had always been a bit on the chubby side. She was by no means unattractive, and she still had a beautiful face. Nadine knew that she was just heavy enough that she would not attract a lot of attention in any crowded bar. She was just shy of forty, so ever those days of her being the cute girl with the curves was getting behind her.

It was late into the winter, and Nadine was having trouble keeping up with the work. The hay bales dropped off to her place were heavy, and Nadine was unable to lug them far. She heaved and hauled, trying to get them into her truck. After collapsing on one of the bales, she sat perspiring under her jacket. The sweat was starting to soak into her clothes under her winter jacket. Alberta winters were unforgiving, and Nadine was starting to freeze up. How could she be so hot and so cold at the same time?

After finally getting the horses fed, most of the day was gone. Nadine decided that she had enough, and was going to hire some help. There was sufficient money in the budget for it, and she could get the new hire to do the dirty work while she was able to focus more on the business side.

She had placed an ad, then waited for nearly two weeks before getting a response. Finally, she received a phone call one day.

"Hello," said Nadine.

"Hi, ma'am," said the voice, sounding a little rural to Nadine. "You looking for a seasonal worker?"

Nadine made a fist of success. "Yes, absolutely! Have you ever worked on a ranch before?"

"Well, no, to be honest," said the voice. "I just lost my job at the furniture plant, so I need something right away. You said free room and board?"

"Yes," Nadine replied. She started to hesitate. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"Ma'am, I know you're probably worried about me, but I'll work as hard as you need me to," the young man pleaded. "Besides, if I don't need to pay rent for a while, it could mean a big difference for me."

Nadine clicked her tongue several times. "Can you make it out to Fort Edward sometime this week?"

"You bet I could!" the young man said, sounding jubilant.

"You're not hired yet, though," said Nadine, chuckling. "I have to look you over first." She almost felt ashamed putting it that way, as she sounded like she was sizing up a stallion.

After three days, the young man made his way out to the ranch. He was driving a rusty old pickup when he arrived. Nadine went out to greet the young man.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Clay. Clay Waschuk. We talked about the job."

Nadine took his hand. It was still freezing out. "Nadine Cross. Come up to the main house," she offered.

They went inside and sat down opposite from each other at the kitchen island. Clay was inspecting the interior. "Wow, this place is pretty nice," he said.

"The house came with the ranch," said Nadine. "I know what you mean, though. I thought maybe it would be some log cabin or something." She adjusted herself on her stool. "What made you want to come all the way out here?"

"Oh, I just saw the ad and figured I would give it a try," he said, shrugging. "I figure even if it's the worst work in the world, it's just temporary, right?" He gave a cocky half-smile.

Nadine nodded. "Well, it's not a typical nine to five, though I know that I can't work you too hard. I get up at six and start right away. We usually wrap things up by dinner, but if there's some sort of emergency, I'll probably need your help."

Clay seemed to be thinking it over, but still seemed pretty enthused. "Okay. Uh, just a personal thing. Am I allowed visitors once in a while?"

Nadine did the thinking now. "If I'm dissatisfied at any time, I get to say no, alright?"

Clay laughed. "Oh, I don't mean parties or anything. I just meant my girlfriend might come out to see me once in a while."

Nadine kept a stern face for a few seconds, then gave a small grin. "Nothing that distracts you from your work, all right?"

Clay looked relieved. "Oh, thanks! She's studying back in Drumheller, so she probably won't get a chance to see me hardly."

"Well, far be it from me to keep you two apart!" laughed Nadine. She looked over the young man in front of her. He certainly looked like he could do physical labour. "Okay, Clay. What's say you get your stuff ready? You'll be in the other bedroom."

Clay looked thrilled. "Sounds awesome! Thank you so much, ma'am."

Nadine looked serious. "Now I don't have any tolerance for heavy drinking or drug use, even weed. Legal or not, it's not conducive to hard work."

Clay nodded. "No problem. I mean, I tried it once in high school, but that was it for me."

"Okay, great," she said. "We'll see how it goes, but I have a good feeling about you, Clay."

Clay had moved his things into the smaller bedroom. He had already brought his luggage with him, and he appeared to have few other personal effects. Nadine was going to have to adjust to having someone in the place. She wondered if maybe building a smaller cottage off of the main house would be worth while. It would be in the cards once she got the ranch more established.

The next two weeks proved to be a bit of a trying time for Clay. Nadine was doing her best to help him out. As daunting as she found the labour, trying to get Clay properly up to speed was also proving to be difficult. She sympathized with him, however, as Nadine was still stumbling along with the business as well.

Clay was a good height, over six feet. He was not especially strong, but he was fit and trim. Nadine liked his enthusiasm. She was surprised that he was twenty-eight, given his energy levels. He could lift the bales pretty easily, but he got tired out by mid-afternoon.

Nadine led Clay to the barn one day, bringing her bag with her. "We have a special job today," she told him. She held up her special pouch. "Do you know what this is for?"

Clay looked over the pouch. "Nope."

"Okay, so I don't just sell horses," said Nadine. "I sometimes sell sperm to other breeders."

Clay made a face of distaste. Nadine pulled a vial out of her pocket. "Now we use this to get the stud in the mood. This is mare urine."

"What?" exclaimed Clay. "You get the horse horny by letting him smell pee?"

"Yes, and it pays surprisingly well," said Nadine. "I'm going to make about twenty-five thousand for this batch."

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Clay. "Who buys horse cum?"

Nadine laughed at his vulgarity, but she was so used to the grosser aspects of the job by now. "Crazy rich guys in Mexico, that's who! Plus they pay nicely, and I can't breed horses by flying them out to their place." She got the pouch ready and put on her latex gloves. She took a deep breath and looked at Clay. "Now Clay, you're going to watch me do something that might forever change how you feel about me."

Clay raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Let's do this crazy thing."

They went to the stall where Trumpet was penned up. He was a beautiful black stallion, standing perfectly still. "This is my baby," Nadine told Clay. "He's sixteen and a half hands high."

Clay whistled. "Is he for racing?"

"No, he's for show," Nadine told him. "His mother was a racer, though." Nadine started to prepare the pouch and opened the gate. "Now I want you just to stand back for this. No offense, it's just that if we spook him too badly he might not ever breed again."

First she had to prepare the horse with warm soapy water, which she got from the sink. Nadine then proceeded to put the musk up to Trumpet's nose. She quickly slipped the bag onto the horse's penis as he became aroused.

Clay could hardly watch the spectacle. "You sure are some woman, Nadine," Clay said, almost sounding like he admired her.

Nadine sputtered while laughing. "Yeah, I guess I do it all. I mean, I gave up a pretty good gig just to be here. I was a corporate headhunter for C-level people."

"Why'd you give it up?" asked Clay.

"Because I love these big animals, and they annoy me less than executives." The horse began moving his pelvis, and Nadine held onto the pouch tight. The pouch was mounted with handles so that Nadine could brace it against the animal. The horse gave an indication he had finished, then backed away from the pouch.

Nadine looked at Clay with a sense of elation. "Paydirt!" She pulled out the smaller insert bag on the inside. "I have to get this to the deep freeze," she said.

She took Clay to her mini lab, where she had a special freezer for such things. "Wow! This is pretty high-tech!" observed Clay.

"I learned a bit online and from the old owner about how to cultivate this," said Nadine, getting her sample ready and then locking it away. She snapped off her gloves, then looked at Clay. "I'm hungry. You want some cream of mushroom soup?"

Clay gagged while Nadine laughed wildly. They went up to the main house and got lunch.

Clay got to know Nadine very well over that time. Nadine was what most guys would consider a fun date. She swore, she spit, and she always said what she was thinking. Clay even decided that the few extra pounds on her could be easily overlooked. Nadine had long, brownish hair, although he did notice a few greys creeping in.

After about a month of Clay working up there, his girlfriend had come up for a visit. Nadine went out to greet her.

"Nadine Cross," she said and offered her hand. "Welcome to Silver Creek Ranch!"

Clay's girlfriend was a bubbly little blonde with a bob cut. She had a very nice body, and her nails appeared professionally done. She took Nadine's hand. "Hi! I'm Darcy." She looked around the ranch. "Boy, this place is soooo big! You must feel so lucky to get to work up here."

"Yeah, it's been a ride getting this place going, but I think it will pay off," said Nadine. She went to help with Darcy's luggage. "Feel free to stay as long as you need."

"Thank you," said Darcy as they made way into the house. "I just hope I'm not being a burden."

Darcy was quickly becoming a burden. She mostly sat and watched TV with it way too loud, she did not help out with any chores, and she was a constant distraction to Clay. Even Clay seemed irritated with her being there. It had only been one night, and Darcy had officially worn out her welcome.

Nadine had turned in early. She settled herself into bed and got under the covers. She had on a billowy button-up nightgown for the night. She was about to drift off to slumber when she started to hear a strange noise. Nadine sat upright as she listened for any possible horse activity, or maybe even thieves.

Instead what she heard was unmistakable—Darcy was in the throes of passion. She could hear her moaning from down the hall. Apparently was as loud and obnoxious when she was having sex as any other time.

Nadine dropped her head back into her pillow, then tried pushing it to her ears. Darcy was getting it good, practically screaming. "You like it, don't you? You like to get fucked, right?" she was yelling at Clay.

Poor Clay was even getting questioned by his girlfriend when it came to just about anything. It was hard to feel sorry for a man when he was in that position, though. Eventually the moaning and yelling was getting to be too much for Nadine. She unbuttoned her nightgown, then just let her legs spread open. She looked down at her body and wished she could get some of that. She was getting a strange feeling for Clay.

Nadine decided she would just touch herself for a little bit. She rubbed at her breasts for a while, then worked her way down to her pussy. All of the moaning was making her feel hot, even though she was still nursing resentment for Darcy. She pictured Clay on top of her, ramming that dick inside of her.

Nadine reached over into the nightstand and pulled out her purple pussy beater. Turning it on, she let the whirring work on her inner thighs. She figured if you can't join 'em, might as well beat it. She let the vibrator work on her clit for a while, then shoved it up inside of her. Darcy was still moaning out as Nadine pumped the device inside of her.

Clay's voice was nice and low, and Nadine could not make out what he was saying. She sat up and decided to ride her toy, picturing herself fucking Clay. She set the toy down on the mattress and humped herself up and down, holding onto her breasts with one hand. Feeling daring, she whispered, "Fuck me, Clay. Fuck me hard."

Clay suddenly made a loud moan. A breeder of horses recognized the cues, which must have meant that he finally shot his load. Nadine hoped he was at least able to come on her face, or even inside of her. It was the least that Darcy could do for being so annoying. Nadine twisted her nipple as she pictured herself riding on top of him. A few more pumps inside of herself, and Nadine started to shake and moan herself. She collapsed on her bed face-first.

Nadine suddenly realized that she might have been making a bit too much noise, as there were no more sounds coming from the other room. Were they listening to her? Nadine suddenly found herself not caring. It wasn't as if they were so quiet. Plus, maybe Nadine needed a little sex now and then as well. She threw her nightgown back on and went to sleep.

Nadine made everyone a nice early breakfast. Clay had managed to get up on time, but Darcy slept in until ten. Nadine got a full day work out of Clay, then they went in for dinner. Darcy had not even offered to clean up or cook anything. Nadine smiled and shook her head, then got everything ready. Clay had helped to set the table, and washed the dishes that Darcy had ignored.

After dinner, Nadine brought Clay out to the barn. They had to sweep out some of the stalls.

"So what do you like about that girl, anyway?" asked Nadine. "Seems kind of disinterested in things."

Clay shrugged. "She is what she is. You can't help who you love, and you can't change them."

"Change, no," replied Nadine. "Help, definitely, and I know you have better taste in women than this."

"You don't like her, do you?" asked Clay.

Nadine shook her head. "Maybe I just don't know her as well yet, but you know what they say about first impressions." She shrugged. "She's got a good body, at least. Pretty girl. But that kind of thing fades fast."

Clay sniffed. "What else can I do? It's probably good for a guy like me to grab onto someone who is going places. I'm not good for much."

Nadine suddenly grabbed Clay by the collar of his jacket. "Hey. Don't ever let me catch you talking like that about yourself. You work hard, you're sweet, and you are fun to be around." Nadine went back to her shovelling. "Plus, by the sounds of it, you know how to keep a girl happy."

Clay got red-faced. "Oh no. Could you hear us last night?"

Nadine laughed and nodded. "I didn't want to say anything. It's just so...loud. I guess I agreed to you having guests."

Clay scratched his head, clearly embarrassed. "We'll...try to keep it down."

Nadine and Clay worked for another half hour, then went back to the house. Darcy was on the couch watching a reality show. Nadine and Clay washed the dishes.

That night was far more restful for Nadine. Apparently Clay had said something to irritate Darcy. The next morning, Darcy had packed up her belongings and left rather unceremoniously, not even acknowledging Nadine or her hospitality. Clay spent the day moping.

After another two weeks, Clay was handling himself quite well. He managed so well that Nadine did something she could have never dreamed—took a day off. She drove all the way to Vermillion. She did a quick bit of shopping before she went to a local tavern. She sat herself down and ordered a Molson.

There were only a few people in the tavern while she was there. One man decided to try his luck with Nadine, and sat himself down at her booth. He wore a cowboy hat, which Nadine assumed was purely decorative.

He tipped the hat as a greeting. "Hi, young lady," he started, even though Nadine assumed they were the same age. "Can I get you another drink?"

Nadine gave a smirk. "I'm still working on this one."

The stranger leaned in. "You know, I got somethin' you can wrap your lips around."

Nadine leaned in as well. "You know, the only thing that stinks worse than your pickup lines is your breath."

"Oh, now darlin', why you have to make this so difficult?" the stranger asked, seeming to get a bit agitated.

Nadine got up and walked over to the bar. She laid down a twenty in front of the bartender. She pointed in behind her. "Uh, we got trouble with this guy."

The bartender was built like a tank. He threw his wiping towel over his shoulder and came out from behind the bar. Nadine decided to vacate the establishment before she could get any more excitement.

Overall, the day was a complete dud. Nadine was hoping that she could at least meet someone. Getting some sex would have been nice, but she was underwhelmed with what the town had to offer.

She drove all the way back to the ranch. Clay must have already fallen asleep, because everything in the house was quiet. Nadine went to her bedroom and fell asleep right in her clothes.

The next two weeks were quiet as well. Clay was still working hard, but seemed to be getting more distant. Nadine could not afford to have one of her workers distracted.

At dinner one night, Nadine decided to talk to him about his problems.

Clay finally opened up. "Darcy is seeing someone else at school."

Nadine felt sorry for him, although she did see the bright side of things. "You don't need her anyway. She's not a right fit for you."

Clay tried to smile but just looked like he was cringing. "She gave me one final night, then dropped the bomb on me."

Nadine let him be for a while, but decided he needed cheering up. He was sitting on the couch watching the Flames play, when Nadine came in and sat beside him. She gave him a sympathetic look, then she leaned back and let herself get cuddled in his arms. Clay reached around her waist, keeping one of her boobs resting on his forearm.

She just loved having someone to sit and rest with her. They had so much fun just sitting and talking while they watched the Flames win a road game.

Nadine grabbed the comfy blanket from the back of the couch and wrapped themselves up in it. "You're gonna be alone for a bit then," Nadine warned. "It's hard to meet people up here, although in your case it could be easy."

"What makes you say that?" asked Clay.

She turned to look at him. "Because you're cute and you're funny and you sound like you know what you're doing in bed."