She rode her paint mare down the worn trail through the dogwood trees that dotted the ranchland, usually in clusters but occasionally one would stand alone. Shrubs also populated the arid spread, which extended several thousand acres. Its boundaries met only by the foothills in front of the mountains.

Sierra looked around her, guarding her eyes from the hot sunlight that shone down on everything blow it, without favoritism or mercy. Her mare snorted when she tugged on the reins and then squeezed her legs to push her to a canter.

The riding through the ranch to where she needed to go fix the smaller stable would do her good. It would help her clear her thoughts and her feelings about a certain man that she worked with who drove her frigging crazy every time he looked at her.

Dustin her boss the foreman at the ranch who she had been working alongside for two years since she was but 18 and had come there looking for a job. Her parents had both died in the flooding that had seized the valley two years earlier and she had decided she had enough of state foster care. They cut her loose on her 18th birthday leaving her with a small stipend, some references and to fend for herself.

So her searching had led her to this ranch where at first Dustin had looked down at the young woman dressed in faded jeans and a patched up shirt, plus worn out boots that clearly had been handed down. He hadn't laughed at her like some of the foremen on the neighboring ranches but he hadn't wanted to hire her.

But he finally did because she gave the sales pitch of her life, the one that came born of desperation because she really had nowhere else to go ... and at the end of her, the guy who had been sitting back in his chair with his boots on the table had given her a job.

Sierra loved working outdoors day in and day out, with the horses and cattle on the ranch and during the breaks, lying on her back looking up at the wisps of clouds floating across the blue sky. The other hands treated her as one of them once they realized she could not only carry her weight but work many of them into the ground.

She'd even gained Dustin's respect. The only problem is that she wanted more than that. She hadn't known when it had happened but she wanted him in her bed. So far he hadn't been biting.

The mare wove her carefully through the grove of tall trees to where the stable lay behind ... it was an original addition to the ranch but had fallen in disuse after the flood had separated it from the rest of the ranch. But now Dustin had said that they would renovate the structure and put it to use again and she had been given the task of being one of those assigned to work on it. Dustin had also taken an active role in the repairs and they had worked very well together, stripping off the old rotted wood and replacing it with freshly bought lumber and the stale smell of neglect had wafted away to be replaced with that from several coats of paint. They'd work for a few hours in the morning then break for lunch outside away from the smell of the paint and turpentine that had been used for cleaning.

Then a few more hours of work before they would ride their horses back, another day done ... she'd head back to her cabin ... or hut really ... she couldn't live in the male only bunkhouse so they had converted a tack room into a cabin complete with plumbing. Nothing fancy, but it was shelter. She had a nice sized bed, a closet, dresser and desk that she used to do some writing on her computer.

Better than the places she had lived after her parents had died. She had been shuttered to a couple different temporary households but those taking her in were more interested in the monthly checks than in looking after her.

This was fine with her because she had been okay taking care of herself ... and didn't need any help.

Sierra got off of her horse and tied her to a railing near some grass that she could nibble on while Sierra put in another day's work. She had come out alone herself because most of the ranch hands had gone into town to attend a rodeo. Dustin had said something about going with them so that left only her to work on the stable.

The day wore hot and she felt the sweat breaking on her brow and the back of her neck beneath her shirt. The smell of fresh paint still permeated the room and it made her a little dizzy so she took short breaks, taking some iced tea that she had put in a little frig that hooked up to the electrical outlet. Power had been restored so they could use tools for the repairs and she loved having a place to stash plenty of cold drinks to refresh her during the hottest hours of the afternoon. She set her drink on the hay bales where she had lain a faded blanket so that she could nap during the mid day and then wake up revitalized to finish out her work.

She had been fine tuning some paint that needed touch ups on the stall doors and that had required her concentration until she finished then she looked at the finished job and sighed in satisfaction.

The stable felt stuffy so she had opened up some windows and allowed air to circulate which helped a little and she thought about taking her short nap. But she felt a bit wired because she had been thinking about Dustin again and how much she wanted him. He was tall and ruggedly built like the classic cowboy ... with thick brown hair and a mustache with the beginnings of a beard. His hands were large, his fingers thick and he was built stocky from a lifetime of working outdoors in all kinds of conditions. His face had some crow's feet and had tanned from hours spent in the sunlight, but the lines which cut his face had been etched in stone.

Just thinking about him made her sigh to herself, made her tingle in forbidden places and damn it, she was wired enough. She hadn't had any action as it was called on the ranch in six months after breaking off a brief affair with a ranch hand who had been hired for the winter season. So she had been itching ... but it couldn't be just anyone ... she wanted Dustin.

But he had never really even looked at her as anything but that pain in the ass hand he had hired who had proven her mettle over and over on the job. She noticed that he had never had a steady girlfriend ... at least not one lasting over several weeks. He had that restlessness about him. That was fine ... so did she...

She sat on the blanket trying to find a way to relax, on her back ... but as she looked at the rafters and felt the heat layer itself over her, she felt even antsier ... as if she needed something to take the edge off.

Dustin came to mind quickly as she knew he would ... she imagined him standing before her, casually removing his shirt ... ah yes ... she knew from experience that his chest was finely muscled and tanned with sprinkles of hair and a scar from a run in with barbed wire on one of his pectoral muscles. His chest tapered to abs hardened by hard work and horseback riding. Imagining him just wearing his faded blue jeans and boots ... worked for her as she closed her eyes and slipped a hand beneath her shirt and caressed the lace which covered her breasts. She didn't need a bra so she wore a camisole underneath her work clothes. Her little secret ... that something so feminine could be worn ... even though her work was often tough.

She felt her nipples harden from her touch and she slipped her hand underneath her camisole to stroke her bare skin. Her breast swelled enough as she cupped her palm over it, feeling its supple softness. She moved her hand over it and then her fingers lighting on her sensitive nipple.

A groan threatened to escape from between her parted lips but she suppressed it, but not before she noticed the dampness between her legs. She arched her back as she dabbled her fingers over her breasts, moving from one to the other. Then lowered her hand to stroke her slightly rounded belly, the soft firmness of it made her smile ... and then she wondered whether she even dare ... she sucked in her breath and worried her lip, glancing around to make sure she was alone in the stable.

Before ... her fingers trailed down on their own volition, and crept into the gap between her jeans and her pelvis and she reached her lacy panties ... fingering the rims of them before slipping her fingers beneath it. She closed her eyes imagining his fingers there, stroking her especially where it would elicit shards of pleasure much like her own touch did now.

She breathed harder, as she imagined him thrusting one finger inside of her, rubbing where pleasurable warmth would flicker and then intensify with the motion of his hand. He'd look at her, intent in his eyes as he tormented her with his fingers, inserting a second one inside of her stretching her while his thumb rubbed her clitoris.

Her hips arched off the blanket to meet her hand and she sighed as she continued imagining the man she wanted bringing her to climax.

Dustin pulled up his horse next to the paint that belonged to Sierra. He had opted out of going to the rodeo feeling that he'd rather help Sierra continue her work on the stable than hang out on the bleachers at the arena under the hot dusty afternoon. So he had saddled up his gelding and headed on out to the stable.

After he tied up his horse, he walked towards the stable, anticipating his first look at the young woman who he had been enraptured with the past several years. Her beauty had entranced him and her earthy sexiness enticed him. Sometimes it was all he could do when he saw her to keep his hands off of her body ... but he had always prided his self-control even as he cursed it sometimes.

And now was one of them ... but he'd find a way to keep his relationship with her professional and at a distance. They'd work together, keep their chatter casual and then ride back together when the day was done.

That's what was running through his head when he headed into the stable, but in one moment, his best intentions went wayside ... when he heard what sounded like a woman's soft cries and sighing.

Sierra...

He recognized the sounds and his eyes widened as he saw her lying on the hay bale on a blanket lifting her pelvis up and down as her hand was tucked inside of her pants and she clearly was getting herself off.

When his shock abated, he suppressed a smile ... and made no sound. Her eyes were closed so if he remained quiet ... she wouldn't know. Pangs of guilt hit him then that he was watching such an intimate act without her permission. But damn, the sounds she made, the sight of her writhing in front of him, her hand moving up and down beneath her pants ... that made him go hard.

Suddenly, her face seized ... her eyes still closed and then she cried out loud as she arched her pelvis up for a long moment ... before sinking it back to the blanket again.

Oh god, now he was going to need to take more than just the edge off of his own arousal ... before he got any work done certainly any with her ... but if he could leave...