Chapter 1: The Beginning

“Rachel, do you know where my sweater is? I must be at the airport at 6 am.” As far as Rachel knew, the trip was for a horse breeder’s convention. Little did she know that her whole world was about to change. He would be gone for two weeks, or so she thought. The only thing Rachel knew was that she hated these semi-annual trips; she hated how she was always left alone.

4 am arrived bright and early and Michael was chipper, as always - a morning person. The morning silence was interrupted only by the sound of his humming as he shaved. Rachel shuffled into the bathroom, kissed the back of Michael’s neck and plopped herself down on the toilet. She asked again if there was any way he could get out of the trip. Michael’s response was strange. He seemed oddly glad to be leaving. She hated living so far from civilization, although she did have Sam, their two-year-old cocker spaniel, to keep her company when Michael was gone and a barn full of wonderful horses. She and Michael had started with 4 horses. One Stallion and 3 mares, the two had invested everything they had to get the horses and the mortgage on the land, house, and barn. Making the ranch work was tough at first. The breeding had to be done by Michael and Rachel. They could not afford to pay anyone to work for them. In the end, it seemed that it had all paid off. The ranch now had 30 mares and 3 stallions. Michael had finally been able to hire some help and the ranch started making money. The barn had been renovated and expanded, allowing much more room to house and breed the wonderful horses. There was enough room now to even provide boarding for some of the local horses for the rich kids. Rachel had even agreed to let Michael hire someone to give the rich brats riding lessons on the brats’ horses that were housed at the ranch. The barn could hold up to 75 horses at a time now. She wondered why Michael seemed so happy to be leaving.

The drive to the airport was tense. The questions that popped into Rachel’s head nagged at her. Because of that nagging, she wondered what Michael was really up to. As the car pulled into the drop-off zone, Michael took Rachel in his arms and placed a soft gentle kiss on her lips. He gazed into her eyes and murmured “I love you.” The passenger door opened and then Michael was gone, quickly swept into the onslaught of early morning commuters. For a moment, she felt all her fears melt away, but as she turned her Land Rover onto I20 to head back towards home, her brain started to niggle her with the same fears. He seemed so dispassionate with her the past several months. He was never Mr. Romance, but now he almost seemed so occupied with everything else that she barely existed in his world, causing her to again entertain thoughts she didn’t want.

The next four days went by relatively uneventfully. Rachel spent time reorganizing and straightening her craft room. She was an avid scrapbooker and loved to crochet and knit. Her true passion was beadwork. Keeping all the craft supplies organized was a job in and of itself. Rachel made almost daily trips to the national craft stores in Aiken, SC. She loved the items her two hands could create. She was an avid painter and loved stenciling. She even stenciled her kitchen cabinets to change the look of the room. Michael always encouraged her to embrace her talents and passions.

Rachel went into town to place an order for feed for her horses. She also made her almost weekly stop to pick up a few beading patterns she had her eye on. She and Sam had a few other chores to do, and then, she could spend the rest of the day relaxing and reading. The farm hands that they’d hired took care of the work and that made Rachel’s existence there almost mundane except for her crafting.

As Rachel pulled into the drive, she could see the beat-up Ford pick-up that belonged to Thomas. “Why the hell is he here so early?” was the thought that echoed inside her head. Thomas always made life for Rachel so complicated. He didn’t realize it. But, to her, his very presence was like a lighted lantern to a moth! She found him all but irresistible. He had bright hazel eyes and jet-black hair. She thought him darkly sensual if not just plain sexy. His chest looked chiseled from marble except for the curly black hair that dwindled into a thin line enticing her eyes to travel south. Rachel’s mouth suddenly went dry. Without Michael’s presence, she feared her lust for him would become obvious. Rachel’s cheeks reddened at the thought of being found out. Seeing Thomas was always a challenge. When she and Michael were married, Thomas hinted to her she was marrying the wrong man. She was enraged that he would imply such a thing, yet deep down she’d instinctively known that he was right. The wedding went as planned but she continued to find that whenever Thomas was around, she’d become almost totally distracted. Rachel had gone on a few dates with Thomas before she started dating Michael. Thomas was injured in a seemingly random drive-by shooting and was not expected to live. He remained in a coma for almost a year and during the recovery time, Rachel had grown closer to Michael. The longer the time passed, the more she fell in love with Michael and by the time Thomas woke up from his coma, Rachel had already agreed to marry. He was very upset that his brother and girlfriend had become engaged, but he understood begrudgingly. It took time for him to get used to the new arraignment. The two brothers had even had harsh words about Rachel at one point or another. They were, however, able to put the rivalry in the background and maintain the business the two were engaged up to their necks in.

When she opened the door to her Land Rover, she found herself wondering where Thomas had disappeared. Was he in the house, or was he in the barn with the horses? As she entered the barn, she knew immediately that Thomas was there, because the unmistakable aroma of his aftershave and his natural scent were present, along with the scent of the mare. She simply followed his scent. When she turned the corner, she saw Thomas washing up after he had artificially inseminated one of the mares with the essence of one of their prized stallions. His hair was messed up and his shirt was removed so Rachel could see his features. He was completely unaware that Rachel was watching. She felt her body react with a burning desire. The desire was something she had felt many times before, because he was just so damned manly. Rachel tried to avert her eyes when she felt her face flush with desire, but she couldn’t stop looking at his broad shoulders and powerful arms. Just as she turned to go, one of the mares whinnied and Thomas looked up. He flashed her his warm intoxicating toothy smile and said, “Hey girl, what’s going on?” She tried her best to not let her response reveal her desire. She swallowed hard and said, “It gets so quiet around here when Michael is gone. I hate being alone.” Damn, she had not meant to say anything about being lonely. She knew that she had divulged more than she wanted and blushed even more. Rachel turned quickly to leave and ran right into the door jamb of the barn. She fell back and saw stars. Thomas rushed forward to aid her, took her into his arms and saw that she had banged her head solidly, verified by the lump growing on her forehead. She came to her senses and realized that Thomas was holding her and was still shirtless. The pain in her head subsided very quickly and she felt her pulse quicken. She feigned faintness and Thomas picked her up and carried her to the clean hay and laid her down. With every inhale, she found her desire growing. She lay still and slowly opened her eyes. What she saw was Thomas looking at her. His eyes traveled the same route every time. First the chest for a brief pause then down between her legs. She saw him lick his lips and she suddenly flushed feeling moistness in her loins. The pain in her head was worth seeing his desire. He was unaware that she was watching, and she asked, “Like what you see?” He replied. “Yeah, I do.” He spoke with such ease that it angered her. She hoped that she would find him a little off balance by the question, but he wasn’t. She found herself so tongue-tied she could barely speak. She hated feeling almost powerless around Thomas. He helped her to her feet and put his shirt back on and they both headed for the house. Rachel asked him why he was there so early, and he responded by saying that he had stuff to do. He said he would appreciate a good lunch. They headed toward the house giving her time to recover her senses.

Rachel opened the door of the house, and both stepped into the private world of Michael and Rachel Tobias. Rachel panicked a bit ... trying to think of a way to have this situation become more public. Then she quickly said, “I haven’t shopped for groceries, so we’ll have to go out somewhere for lunch. Thomas went to the freezer and filled a plastic zip lock bag with ice and applied it to Rachels lumpy forehead. After fifteen minutes of ice being applied, they traveled into town to have lunch at Dottie’s Chuck Wagon. The ride was uneventful, and Rachel again felt herself calming a little, and her breath steadied. The chatter turned to simple everyday chit-chat. They spoke of Michael’s trip, and when he would be returning, as well as what she would be doing to occupy her time. Little did she know that the time she would have to occupy would consume much more time than the two weeks which were planned for the trip.

After lunch, the conversation commenced once back in the car. Again, Rachel found talking to Thomas both too easy and yet so complicated. Easy because she enjoyed his laid-back style, and complicated because of her unquenched desire due to her past with him. Just as they were reaching the house, Rachel received a text saying “I’m sorry! Whatever happens, just know that I’m sorry and I love you” What the hell??? Why was Michael apologizing? Confusion spread across her face. “Rach, is everything okay?” queried Thomas. Rachel felt her whole world start to cave in on her and the only person there was a man she found irresistible. Rachel turned to speak, and nothing came out.

Rachel slowly regained her voice and asked Thomas what he knew about Michael’s semi-annual meetings. Her eyes burned into him as if searching for hidden answers. When Thomas spoke, he knew he would have to tell her the truth or find a way to avoid divulging too much. He knew she would see if he was lying, so he spoke...

“Rachel, I can’t comment on Michael’s business dealings. I have no hand in them so I can’t speak directly about them.” With that being said, Rachel felt the stress well up in her eyes and she began to cry. It was confusing and she needed to know what the mysterious text from Michael meant for her and their future.

Upon arriving back home the two sat in the Land Rover and talked. Rachel was still struggling with the text that she had gotten from Michael and Thomas hated to see her stress so bad. Thomas always had a soft spot for Rachel when she got teary-eyed. He embraced her and was immediately intoxicated with her natural scent. Her hair smelled too good, and the warmth of her body too familiar, causing his manhood to swell. He hoped she wouldn’t become aware of it. The embrace lingered and became a passionate kiss, and Thomas could feel the heat radiating from Rachel. He recalled previous times and wanted more but hesitated. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and the embrace ended abruptly when Thomas’ cell phone began to chirp. Thomas pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket and read the message. He grimaced, put the cell phone back into his pocket, and told Rachel that he had to leave but would be back in a few days. Rachel tried to coax him into divulging more, but no matter how she asked he wouldn’t elaborate. He kissed her quickly on the lips, hugged her, and then slid out the door and was gone. She exited the Land Rover and called Sam over and sadly said “Let’s go watch some TV boy.”

Rachel spent the better part of the afternoon trying not to think about the text messages that had impacted her. She was furious that she was being left in the dark and was sure that Thomas knew much more than he was saying. Patience had never been one of Rachel’s virtues. She looked at her Apple Watch and saw it was showing the time of 6:15 pm. A sandwich and a nap would help pass the time. With that thought, she quickly went to the kitchen and made a plain chicken salad sandwich, and then poured a nice tall glass of sweet tea. She had to forgo the nap because she heard a ruckus coming from the barn.

The hunger that had been gnawing at her was appeased, and she quickly headed out to the barn and checked on her brood. As she got closer to the barn, she could hear the horses. She suspected that one of the stallions had broken free and was having his way with the mare that was in heat. As she opened the door and walked around the corner she was stunned at the sight. What she saw inflamed her passion and she suddenly felt such a lustful desire she just knew it was to be a very long day.

After the stallion had his way with the mare and, getting the two separated she realized that the stress and physical exertion had left her worn out. She and Sam retreated to the house where she poured and eventually finished off a nice glass of Chardonnay. The wine helped her to relax and assisted her in slipping away into dreamland. Her dreams were interrupted by a phone call at 2:20 am.

Rachel woke from a deep sleep and answered the phone; she was shocked to hear a man threatening bodily harm to her husband Michael. By the time the gravelly voice hung up her adrenaline was pumping. She picked up the phone and quickly dialed Michael’s phone, but she got his voicemail. Rachel hung up the phone and called the number back again hoping for a different result; when the voicemail kicked on again, she left a message begging Michael to call her back. Frustration crept into Rachel’s mind. After trying to figure everything out, she tried Thomas on his cell. Thomas answered but sounded out of breath like he had just completed a marathon. He answered, “Rachel?? What’s going on, are you okay?” Rachel was taken aback by the tone of his voice. He was obviously in the middle of something. Where had he gone and what was he doing? Rachel responded by asking, “Where are you?” Thomas countered with a question of his own. “Rachel it’s the middle of the night for God Sake. Are you sure you are okay?” Rachel proceeded to tell Thomas about the whole day and how she thought she was letting her imagination get away from her until she got the phone call with the gravelly voice and the threatening message about Michael. Thomas admitted it was all very strange but tried to calm her down and told her to go back to bed and he would try to get hold of Michael for her. Rachel was relieved and was just about to hang up the phone when she asked, “Why were you so out of breath at 3 am? What could you be doing at this time of the morning?” Thomas simply said he had gone for a run because being away from home stressed him out and running helped him to relax. He told Rachel to go back to bed to try to get some sleep and he hung up. What Thomas didn’t tell her was that he was running through an airport trying to catch a flight. Rachel felt a twinge of jealousy and frustration thinking that Thomas had a woman with him in bed. Thomas had left her barely 13 hours ago and she was still worked up by the time they spent together in the car. Rachel worried that another woman was getting what she so badly wanted. Thomas!