Sometimes You Gotta Run Away

Penny ducked back around the corner, leaning against the wall. Her heart was racing unaccountably and a jumbled melange of thoughts chased one another through her mind. Rhiannon, her cousin, was like her. Penny had seen too many silicone implants on actresses and models during her time at Cosmic Cafe; she knew Rhiannon's breasts were real. She was undeniably and thoroughly female... except for that black penis, which at that first, shocked glance, certainly seemed as large as her own. Gathering up her nerve, Penny stuck her head around the corner again.

She twitched her ears; she could hear faint, wet, squelchy noises now, and a wet slapping sound. The mare was snorting a bit, blowing, hooves shifting on the hay-covered floor... but she certainly didn't seem to mind what was happening. As for her cousin – Penny's sapphire eyes tracked back to Rhiannon – she definitely looked like she was enjoying herself. Strong white fingers dug into the mare's rump, and her auburn tail flicked rapidly from side to side. Her head was tilted back, a smile of indecently lustful pleasure curving her generous mouth up at the corners. As Penny watched, she shifted one leg a bit, and the Arabian horse-girl could very clearly see two velvety black testicles swinging freely, making that slapping noise against the mare's rear as Rhiannon hilted herself on each thrust.

She was torn between wanting and not wanting to watch, a little voice in the back of her mind whispering that maybe it could beherbehind the mare, enjoying herself. Unconsciously her hand strayed to her crotch, cupping herself.She doesn't care,Penny thought again, echoing her observation of yesterday. The young Arabian uma had always considered herself self-sufficient, strong and independent, but watching her cousin, she wondered if she had the nerve to simply do something like this, with no hint of shame or apology? She wasn't sure about herself but about her cousin, there was no doubt. Someone could come along right now and she'd just toss them a smile and keep right on fucking the mare.

Penny ground her hand harder against herself, her eyes avidly drinking in the scene. Her cousin must have been at it for a while, though, because as Penny watched, Rhiannon gave a sudden, convulsive thrust, her hips rocking sharply, and the deep, satisfied hissing breath of pleasure as the Appaloosa's body shuddered in a way Penny was only too familiar with in herself;exactlythe same way she'd shuddered in the shower stall last night. She could all-too-vividly imagine what was happening inside the mare's vagina; the thick jets of semen that must be erupting from her cousin's glistening black equine member with each spasmodic thrust of her chestnut hips.She's cumming...!Penny thought distantly, as if some stranger was operating her brain. Her cousin had stamina, though; she kept at it, thighs and buttocks flexing in an undeniable, unmistakable mating rhythm for two or three minutes, at length withdrawing, stepping down off the box, a light sheen of sweat gleaming on her chestnut coat. Utterly unconcerned about her near-nudity or her softening erection, she patted the bay's rump, then took a cloth and began cleaning herself off while her creamy semen drooled thickly from the mare's dark vulva.

Her mind a-whirl, Penny turned to make her way back to the house. She need to stop, to think, figure things out... her cousin was like her; she had a cock, too. But from what Penny could see, she didn't think she was a freak; she didn't feel any kind of need to hide what she was. Preoccupied with these reflections, she brought up short against a wide, warm wall.

"Whoa, there, girlie," a deep voice said, and for a moment Penny thought Earl had appeared. She took a step back. The speaker was a tall stallion anthro, with a noble, chiseled equine head atop powerful shoulders. It wasn't Earl, though; the stranger's coat was a pale, pale cream, as close to white as possible without becoming albino. Large, liquid golden eyes –definitelynot albino – looked down at her from a height of what must have been at least seven feet. His muzzle wrinkled in a friendly smile as he took in her soft silver dappling. "Dang, if you ain't the prettiest thing I've laid eyes on in some time," he chuckled.

Penny got out "Er..." then found herself at a loss for further words. She had been, she thought, immune to male charm, but this was an exception. It didn't hurt that he was bare-chested; in fact, he was wearing only a pair of jeans. Soft, gleaming white tufts of hair adorned his wrists, marking him unmistakably as a drafter. He didn't wear boots, either, she noticed suddenly; his hind feet were hooved like a feral, and again silky 'feathers' of hair swirled around his ankles. He was – no, not handsome, she thought; there was just a bit too much daintiness about him for all his drafter build. He was beautiful, though, like a work of art. Steps sounded behind her, and she turned to see her cousin coming around the corner. "Hey, Amando," she greeted the stallion, then smiled hugely.

"Penny, hon!" she half-sang, and wrapped her arms around her. "Glad to see you're up and about, sweetheart," she went on. "Penny, this is Amando, one of my hands here." She stopped between them and planted her hands on her chestnut hips, cocking her head to consider the stallion who towered over her just as he did over Penny. "It's a good thing y'all are so damn sexy," she teased, "'cause Ah purely get tired of tellin' y'all t' put on a shirt, for Pete's sake! Amando, this here's mah cousin Penny, up from Los Angeles to stay a bit."

Amando smiled again, showing gleaming teeth, and stuck out his hand. "Glad to meet you, then, Miss Penny," he said, golden eyes twinkling a bit. "I sure do hope you stick around for a while, too."

"Makin' eyes at her? And here I thought I wore you out last night," Rhiannon chuckled and gave the stallion's muscular bottom a playful swat. The stallion's face flushed a slight pink and Penny put dots together – the soft thumping must have been coming from Rhiannon's room, and had she...? Rhiannon gave Amando's rear another squeeze. "Anyway, it's 'bout time for a break, Ah figure," she said. "Ah 'magine Jake and Rusty must be on their way back now, too."

The group strolled back up to the house together, Rhiannon leading. Penny's eyes followed her cousin, from the gentle sway of her hips rolling with her pace to the silky auburn tail, bound with three plain gold bands, that protruded through a neat button-down flap in the back of her jeans. Penny rather liked the style; most trousers for anthros (and umas) had an elastic-lined tail hole in the seat of the trousers, which made putting them on a nuisance sometimes. Amando slid onto the bench then patted the cushions, his gold eyes smiling an invitation to Penny. Rhiannon filled the coffee pot and put it onto perk, then started cutting up celery and carrots and such, putting together a snack plate. The back door opened to admit a fox anthro, a darkly handsome tod with a white mask around his muzzle, and a tall buck 'morph who had to stoop a bit to let his antlers clear the door frame.

"Set yourselves down, boys," Rhiannon called, sliding a full plate onto the table, then turning back to the stove to snag the coffee pot. "And Rusty, just grab those mugs, hmmm?"

"Sure thing, Rhia," the tod replied, detouring past the glass-fronted cupboard. His eyes travelled quickly around the table to do a headcount. "Who's the new face, boss?" he enquired, while the buck plopped himself down on Penny's other side.

"This is mah cousin Penny, boys," she replied, coming to the table with coffee, sugar and a pitcher of milk. "Hon, these two troublemakers're Jake -" she nodded toward the dapper buck "- and Rusty." The Appaloosa busied herself pouring, and Penny cupped the mug in her hands while she tried to figure her cousin out.

The cozy domesticity of the scene warmed her through, but confused her a bit as well. Rhiannon was clearly, indisputably the boss, but somehow she managed to maintain that role without any apparent need to assert herself over her farm hands. Take this break – she was serving them, but certainly wasn't taking a subordinate role. If anything, Penny would call her motherly, except that wasn't right, either. She was... nurturing, that was a better word. She cared, she led, she made people want to work for her. She was also undeniably sexy; Penny could readily sense the smouldering sensuality her cousin radiated with every move, and that too was part of her and how she kept her farm running. Looking at Amando and how his eyes followed Rhiannon made that unmistakably clear. She was less certain how Jake and Rusty fit into the picture; on the face of it, she would have thought a fox and a deer would have been indifferent to her cousin's charm. Clearly, though, that wasn't the case. Was she sleeping – not sleeping, Penny corrected herself; was she having sex with all of them? And if so, how did they feel about her stallion-ness?

It seemed Rhiannon's notion of a break was at least half an hour. Amando was first to excuse himself; draining his second mug of coffee, then rising to excuse himself. "See you all at lunch, everyone," he nodded to Rhiannon. Jake and Rusty lingered for a few more minutes and Penny mainly listened, just enjoying being part of the gathering. Eventually, they too both rose, Jake's antlers brushing the ceiling, and headed back out to their work.

"See y'all at lunch," Rhiannon called after them, then turned back to her cousin. "Ah'm glad mah boys took such a shine to you, Penny sugar," she said, smiling over the rim of her mug.

"I like them," she replied, a bit surprised at herself. "They feel like... a family."

"They are," Rhia replied simply. Her green eyes studied Penny. "Ah look after them and they look after me, hon. They're not just hired hands."

The dappled horse-girl dropped her gaze to the remnants in her cup.Talk to her,a voice inside said.Tell her, tell her what your work's been like, why you left your family behind...but the words wouldn't come. Something hot and thick seemed to rise up in her throat, choking her, and she couldn't stand it, she had to get up, had to movenow...!Her cousin started a bit, laying her ears back as the teen Arabian suddenly bolted from the room, her boots clumping on the stairs, followed by the solid finality of the bedroom door closing rather abruptly echoing down the stairwell.

Nothing made sense to Penny... how could her cousin possibly understand? Unbidden memories rose up, of a towering figure looming over her, brutal hands grabbing her roughly, shaking her... a coarse voice flinging foul epithets with spittle flying to splatter on her face. Then more pain, more blows, doing her best to protect herself. That scene had been repeated again and again and again, being called names, called a freak, all too often with the stench of booze on her sire's breath as he cursed and reviled her, until her heart quailed, until all she could do was curl up in the corner.

She couldn't tell her cousin; she just couldn't. Her cousin would never understand. Her cousin didn't even knowshewas a freak – and Penny's thoughts tripped over themselves. If Rhiannon knew... if she knew Penny was like her, would she...? But no, she would understand that, at least... wouldn't she? Unconsciously, Penny curled up on the bed, silent sobs shaking her while she jammed her fists against her mouth, lost in the grip of her childhood.

She never heard the door open, nor the footsteps that padded silently toward the bed. But the figure sitting on the bed next to her got her attention.

"Shhh... hon, it's okay," Rhia crooned, resting her hand on Penny's shaking shoulder. "Oh, mah poor dear girl..." Perched on the edge of the bed, she leaned forward, sliding her arms around Penny's waist. "Ah'm here, Penny-girl..." She gently lifted the sobbing teen, sliding back to rest against the wall and cradling Penny's head against her bosom. "It's okay, hon, it's okay."

"N-not... o-o-kay," Penny got out, gasping on sobs. "N-never... w-will be... o-okay..." her voice trailed off again while she clutched Rhiannon's arms and wept.

Rhiannon said nothing further for several minutes; she just rocked her cousin gently, caressing Penny's hair with slow, gentle strokes, crooning softly, wordlessly to the weeping girl. Her cousin's sobs grew softer, less wracking, the hot tears spilling less on the Appaloosa's breast until Penny heaved a shuddering breath, and pulled away, flustered. Rhia took her hand, just holding it while Penny scrubbed at her tear-streaked face.

"I should'a known there was more to this than just a youngster runnin' away," she said softly. "You've been in a power of trouble for a while." She scooted a bit closer to Penny and slipped an arm around her shoulder, taking Penny's chin in her free hand, turning the teen's face to hers. "Hon, we're kin. Ah know we jus' met, but you're always welcome here, okay? No matter what's happened, no matter how bad y'all think things are, you're mah cousin 'n' Ah'm yours, and ain't nothin' can change that." She looked intently into Penny's eyes, then leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Now... if'n you feel up to it, tell me as much – or as little – as you feel like. Ah'm not goin' anywhere on you."

Interrupted by sniffles, and so quietly that Rhia had to perk her ears forward, Penny spoke haltingly. Rhia didn't know what distressed her more; that Penny had somehow lurched through a childhood of misery, abuse, and humiliation, or that she could speak of it with such detachment now that the storm had – for the moment, anyway – passed. Penny's halting voice painted a dark picture, of a drunken lout of a father, a slatternly junkie of a mother, and day after day after day of neglect and ridicule. The little kindnesses that happened, all too rarely, were even worse; they'd given Penny a faint taste of what else might be possible, what could be... the one rare act of goodness when her mother had given her a gift of music in the form of an old CD player.

Her voice broke a bit as she began to tell of her foster family. "I... w-wanted them to be better, nicer, to love me," she whispered brokenly. "But they didn't... they found out, and called me a freak," she went on in a halting voice. "And then he... my foster father wanted... other things. He... he said helikedfreaks... and he was stronger than me, he hurt me... pushed me down... and, and... ithurt,Rhia, God, it hurt when he pushed into me...!"

"You mean herapedyou?!" Rhia asked, ears swivelling back, and Penny nodded miserably. "Oh, Penny..." the Appaloosa said softly, tears welling up in her eyes. She let go of Penny, who sat up, sniffing, her sapphire eyes red-rimmed in her silver-dappled face. The Appaloosa rested her hand on the Arabian horse-girl's shoulder and gently brushed her cheek with the other. "Penny, love, you have nothing to be ashamed of, and everything to be proud of," she said softly. "It's going to take you time to come to believe it yourself, but it's true. My God, girl, look at you! You're beautiful and smart, and you've been doing for yourself and making your own way in the world!" Impulsively she hugged the younger girl. "Honey, don't youeverthink you're worthless. You're strong and I'll keep telling you so until you start believin' it."

"Th-thanks, Rhia," she replied, a fragile smile curving her lips. "I never just... blurted all that out before... but it helped." Her hand came up to rest on Rhia's, lacing her silver-grey fingers between Rhia's cream ones. "That hurt... but it hurts less now, kind of," she added, and Rhiannon nodded.

"One thing I'm curious about," she asked, cocking her head to one side. "Your father and your foster-father – both grade-A bastards, from the sounds of it – they both called you a freak, and your foster father liked to assault – no," she went on, deliberately changing her choice of words, "he liked torapea girl he could humiliate by calling her a freak. But why? What was so freakish about you?" She looked Penny over. "Y'all look like a normal, pretty umamusume mare t'me," she deliberately exaggerated her drawl.

"Because I – because he saw my... because I'm like you, Rhia," she gulped. There, she'd said it... only her cousin seemed perplexed still, and she dredged up the last ragged remnants of her courage. Despite her cousin's promise, she was scared... and yet, if anyone should understand, Rhia should... "Because I've got, got a cock," she let her voice trail away on the last word.

Rhia's reaction was just about as opposite to what she had feared as was possible. Her green eyes grew round, her chocolate lips opened in an 'O' of surprise as she clasped her hands to her generous bosom, and in the manner of the most histrionic of harlequin romance southern belles, she exclaimed, "Mercy! Penny, child, such language – and whatevahd'y'all mean, y'all have a cock?!" The performance was so utterly ridiculous and over the top that despite her whipsawed emotional state, Penny couldn't help but giggle. Rhiannon's fake-fainting-belle act dropped as she gave a great whoop of laughter – hearty, full-bodied, robust, a true belly-laugh.

"Penny," she gasped as she recovered herself, "was that all it was? Shoot, hon, you need to do some readin'; there's prob'ly more herms among umas than any others. We're not common, but definitely not freaks, and your fathers – both of 'em – were idiots as well as abusers and child rapists." She leaned back against the wall, her jeans clinging to her long legs, and rested her hands on her thighs, thumbs touching, which made the bulge in her jeans quite obvious. "When did you find – ohh..." she trailed off, putting it together. "This morning, when Ah was servicin' Star, hm?" Rhia grinned. "Bit of a surprise?" she asked. At Penny's nod, she went on, "Hon, we're horses, too, you know. This here's a stud farm; what kind of farm manager would I be if I didn't use all my resources? Besides, Amando doesn't do stud duties, so someone has to pick up the slack."

"He doesn't do...?" Penny mused, distracted for the moment by the memory of the handsome white-coated drafter and the faint blush that had adorned his cheeks. "But – last night...?" She looked the question at her cousin.

"Amando's gay, hon," Rhiannon replied, smiling. "He wasn't mountin' me; other way 'round. But he's not my boyfriend or anything, and if you're interested and he is, too, don't be worryin' that I'm gonna think you're poachin'. He's his own boy." The smile grew to a grin. "His room's right next to yours, in fact." She stood, resting her hands on her hips. "Whyn't y'all have a wander about, hon, look the place over, get t'know my boys. Give your mind a break, distract yourself a bit. We'll talk more later. Right now I need to see 'bout gettin' dinner put together."

Penny nodded, thoughts and feelings churning in her head after Rhiannon had kissed her again then left. She had no doubt at all of the sincerity of Rhiannon's affirmation of kinship, but the idea of someone, anyone who was family and wasn't abusive was something to grapple with. Curiously, she found that having poured it out to her cousin, she was better able now to think about many things she'd kept locked safely away in her memories. They hurt – God, how they hurt! - but they weren't absolutely unthinkable any more. She was still thinking when Rhiannon's soft soprano called up the stairs that dinner was ready, and though she replied to various conversation-starters offered, her attention was mostly elsewhere.

After lunch or dinner or whatever it was, she decided to follow Rhia's advice, and followed her cousin's employees-cum-family out, trailing behind a bit. Rusty and Jake had some mysterious relaxed, sauntering pace that nonetheless carried them quite swiftly out along the dusty track winding around a grove of trees. Amando had evidently been in town on errands after the mid-morning break because a slat-sided flatbed truck was parked by the barn, loaded with fat sacks of feed. Whistling softly, he heaved the sacks off the flatbed with apparent ease, and Penny found herself watching the smooth play of muscles across his broad shoulders and down his back. She couldn't help staring at his ass; it was by far one of the most perfect asses she'd ever seen, and she reflected once again on Rhiannon's words....if you're interested and he is too... He's his own boy... Wouldhe be interested, though? Surely he wouldn't think she was a freak, not if he'd been in bed with Rhiannon...? but a herm uma, without balls... wasn't that freakish? He had a very promising bulge in his jeans, too, and that set her thinking again... would it be like her foster father, who'd forced himself on her? She didn't know; it could be, and panic rose in her until he turned again, and gave her an unobstructed view of that marvellous ass once more. Plucking up her courage, she wandered closer. "Hey, Amando..." now what? She realized she had no idea. She couldn't just proposition him... she settled on "Hey, you want a hand with that?"