El Rancho del Corazón
35 Heaven Sent
I’D BEEN SHANGHAIED after dinner Sunday night. Doreen wanted to practice. Rhiannon wanted to help. Liz and Sandy wanted to help Doug. Doug and I were overwhelmed. It was a little after eight when I staggered out of the bunkhouse to go rejoin my casa. I still had some reading I was planning to do. The sun had gone down, but there was still enough light to wander back and check on the horses before I went in. They all three came up to me to snuffle. I promised them carrots in the morning. I knew they’d all had treats after the girls finished riding this afternoon. I was headed for the side door when I heard car doors slamming.
“Look at that. Fucking spics burned the place down. No wonder the cops have been wandering all over,” a guy said. There were other voices.
“It’s going to rain, Steve,” a girl whined.
“So we’ll go to the barn. That way nobody will see our campfire. Grab the blankets baby. As soon as we’re high, I want your pussy on my cock,” he said.
“Nobody will tell, will they?” she said. “Dawn would kill me.”
“None of you will tell, will you?” Steve laughed. There was a lot of laughter. “Fuck! The door’s stuck. Give me a hand, Adam. We need brawn.” That’s when I walked around the corner of the barn and saw them straining at the barn door. They must already be drunk enough not to notice that there was a new double door right next to them.
“What the hell are you doing?” I demanded.
“Trying to get the fucking door open. Don’t just stand there. Put your shoulder into it,” Steve said. He didn’t even look up. The porch light came on.
“You’re trying to break into my house. That door has been sealed,” I said. I saw the drapes move on the door window and then drop. I willed the girls to not come out that door.
“It’s a fuckin’ barn. Who are you?” Steve finally turned on me. There were half a dozen others moving up from where they’d parked their cars haphazardly. They had coolers and blankets.
“I live here. It’s not empty anymore and you are trespassing.”
“Oh, give me a break, asshole. That Rancho del Fuckme bunch of Mexicans moved in here last summer and burned the place. This is where we always come to party.”
“Not now. You’re trespassing on private property and you need to leave right now.”
“Who’s gonna make us, midget?” Right on cue, I heard both bunkhouse doors slam and felt Whitney step up beside me on one side and Rose on the other. “Fuck me! You’ve already got a party going. Man, you don’t have to be selfish. Share that hot piece beside you.”
“Ste-eve,” the whiny girl behind him cried. “Let’s go.”
“That’s good advice, Steve,” the hulking guy next to him said. He was a small mountain, but from what I could tell, a really good looking one, too. “We’re in the wrong place. This isn’t available to party now.”
“What are you scared of, Adam? A midget and a bunch of girls? Don’t tell me our up and coming halfback couldn’t take them,” Steve said. “Hell, I could take them and I don’t have a black belt.”
A black belt? I felt Whitney stiffen and we both turned to Adam and lowered our heads slightly. He closed his eyes and sighed. Steve was posturing and ready to fight. A couple guys with him grabbed beer bottles out of the coolers and swung them around by the necks. The girls started to fade back. I wasn’t sure how this would go. Rose stepped in front of me.
“Let’s not have a blood-bath,” Rose said. “It takes a while for ambulances to get out this far. We live here and you are trespassing on our property. You!” She pointed at the halfback. “Are you going to defend them or get them out of here?” Oh shit! That was a challenge. Steve started pushing at Adam with all his crew egging him on. He finally stepped forward.
“Maybe we can settle this respectably,” he said. He reminded me of my football buddies back in junior high. They graduated from Notre Dame this year. “I’m Adam Wolfe. I’m a third degree black belt in my discipline. Do you have a champion who will face me to the third fall?” He clasped his hands together and bowed to Rose but his eyes never left me. There was something sad there. Whitney pulled my hand back before I could bow to him.
“We don’t have belts,” Rose said. “We have masters and disciples. Which would you face?”
“My sensei would never forgive me if, having made a challenge, I chose to face a disciple instead of a master. I will face your master.”
“And I’ll take the disciple,” Steve said. “There’s nobody standing in front of us that could fight us.” Rose stepped aside. Whitney and I clasped our hands in front of us and bowed. Adam stepped toward me and I pointed him to Whitney.
“You said the master,” I said. “Which leaves me with the shit.”
“He fights dirty,” Adam said as he stepped away. He bowed to Whitney. “If you can avoid it, please don’t kill me.”
“To third fall,” Whitney said bowing. I caught the movement of a fist heading for my face before they’d finished their bow. It sailed past my face as I rolled past it. I had no intention of getting smacked around. I stepped past Steve and swung with a roundhouse kick to his jaw. He fell backward into his buddies and hit the ground. He was out cold.
“Let me know when he’s ready for the other two falls,” I said as I stepped back.
“Steve?” whiny girl said. “Is he dead?” He was moaning, so I didn’t think so. I didn’t think he’d be ready for another round for a while, though.
“Is it necessary to go on?” Whitney asked Adam.
“My discipline. I cannot do less than my best once a challenge has been accepted. To third fall.” He kicked off his shoes and everyone fell back a few steps. My clan knew what to expect. Steve’s buddies didn’t.
It was beautiful in an awesome and frightening way. And I was jealous. Not of Whitney, but of Adam. He was having foreplay with my cónyuge. They were well-matched. He had her by fifty pounds, but her reach was a little better. This summer, Whitney had learned to dunk the basketball. I thought about what Lamar said about the football players consuming as much as 5,000 calories in a day and wondered what we were going to have to feed Whitney once basketball season started. Whitney went down with a well-executed sweep that took her legs out from under her. I swear she bounced back to her feet as if she was made of rubber.
“One,” she said. In a second they were back at it and a minute after that, Adam was lying next to where Steve had fallen. He sprang back to his feet with a little move that made him look like a gymnast.
“One,” he said. They were back at it. He seemed to know how to counter Whitney’s water moves and she was not fool enough to become rock. Rocks can be moved, especially when the mover is really big. I’d been on the receiving end of those. Whitney had a surprise, though. She’d been avoiding most of his attacks narrowly with the water technique and he was flowing with her. He moved in close and sent a straight jab to her lower chest, expecting her to flow around it. This rock did not move. Water breaking on the shore. Adam might as well have encountered a brick wall. He was still stunned with his fist on her chest when she hit him with the exact same punch. He was slower getting up this time.
“Two,” he said. He shook his head and his fist and started rubbing his chest. I noticed Whitney doing the same thing. They bowed again and cautiously circled each other. Adam struck with a flurry that was answered with punches and kicks that were just as rapid. I was going to have to tend the bruises of my cónyuge tonight and hoped I had enough arnica to cover them all.
Your eyes will play tricks on you when you are watching a rapid fight like this. You think you see things that couldn’t be there or that simply couldn’t happen. I desperately wanted Whitney to end this. She was taking too much punishment from her bigger opponent. Maybe I was distracted by the flashing lights I saw about a half mile up the road headed our way. Maybe I saw what I saw.
Adam drove at Whitney with what I knew could be a killing blow. And she simply wasn’t there. I know that geometry says that in order to get from point A to point B, a line has to pass through all the points between. But Whitney was not where Adam and all the rest of us had seen her. She was behind him and her elbow struck against the back of his head sending him sailing onto the ground. He lay there as Sheriff Donaldson jumped out of his car and flashed his light around. Steve was sitting up and watching with wide eyes as Adam struggled to turn over.
“Is this a demonstration, Brian?” the sheriff demanded.
“No, sir,” I said.
“These punks jumped out and attacked us,” Steve complained. What a shit.
“And what are you doing out here on their property?”
“Theirs? You mean they really own this?” Steve asked. “We thought they were just partying.”
“Are any of you sober enough to drive?” Whiny girl and one other dude raised their hands as did Adam. “Brian, do you want to press trespassing charges or assault?” I shook my head. “Then all you kids get out of here and don’t come back. You’re all lucky to be alive.” Adam struggled to his feet. He still looked a little dazed.
“Don’t anybody get in my car,” he said to his friends. “Sheriff, with your permission, and with yours, sensei, I would like to talk peacefully with the master and her disciple.”
“Adam, you’re a wuss!” Steve called from the car before he was shoved in by one of his buddies.
“Your call, Brian,” Sheriff Donaldson said. “My daughter said there was some good peach cobbler left over. Wouldn’t mind a piece if you’d share.” Whitney offered a hand to Adam and invited him into the house. Everyone came inside.
“When did you learn that move?” I whispered to Whitney as we led the way into the house.
“I learned it from you.”
“What?”
“It’s the same move you used on me when you dropped me the last time the sheriff caught us sparring,” she said.
“No way.”
“Shh.” We all gathered around the dining table and a few of us sat to talk. Well, the sheriff sat to eat peach cobbler and drink coffee.
“Thank you for not killing me,” Adam said. “I thought this was the safest way to keep the jerks from just going berserk on you all. I honestly didn’t know this was your place. I’m glad I recognized you in time.”
“Recognized us?” I said.
“You. Heaven told me to watch out for you. That was the best idea I could come up with.”
“Heaven?” Just about everyone chorused around us.
“Oh God, I’m sore. Master, you are awesome,” he said turning to Whitney. She looked at Samantha and Sam ran for the stairs. In a few seconds she was back with the arnica. Adam didn’t know what to make of it when Jennifer and Courtney started stripping him out of his T-shirt.
“Do I need to leave now?” Sheriff Donaldson chuckled.
“Have another cup of coffee, Daddy,” Sandy said. “I know for a fact you’re staying up all night tonight. We’re packing you some sandwiches and a thermos. You can share with the other guys.”
“Heaven didn’t tell me the sheriff’s daughter lived with you, too,” Adam said as he winced. All three girls were rubbing arnica into his bruises. “She just said to look for a prince with a harem of beautiful girls who would defend him to the death.” Hannah, Rose, and Sora turned Whitney’s chair so she was facing away from the men and stripped her shirt off to apply the salve to her bruises, too.
“Do you need anything rubbed, Brian?” Liz asked. She started tugging at my shirt.
“He didn’t actually touch me,” I said. “I just didn’t want to miss what Whitney would do. Adam, how do you know Heaven and what do you mean she said to look out for me?”
“I do some modeling work. I was on a shoot with her three weeks ago, just before we started two-a-days for football. She’s also hired me as a bodyguard on a couple of occasions,” he said. Applying arnica had become more of a massage and I had a feeling Sam, Jennifer, and Courtney were enjoying rubbing Adam’s muscles. Rhiannon brought an ice pack and applied it to the back of Adam’s head. Man, that one had to hurt. “Heaven told me some of her friends would be freshmen this year and that they needed to be looked after. She implied that there would be a lot more work with her coming my way if I made sure none of you got hurt. Especially you, Brian.”
“She didn’t mention that to me last weekend,” I said. “Trust Heaven.”
“You saw her last weekend?” Adam asked. “I heard her brother got killed. Is she all right?”
“Yeah. I was there for the funeral and we spent some time together.”
“I don’t know what it is about her, but when she asks you to do something, you just believe her and want to do it. I seriously thought you were a prince like from a different country.” Five girls broke out laughing. The sheriff’s radio crackled and he stepped away for a second.
“I’ve got to go,” he said. “Are you sure everything here is all right now?”
“Yes, Sheriff. Don’t know how you found out about this, but thank you,” I said.
“Well, at least I taught my daughter how to dial 911. Thank you for the sandwiches and the coffee.” He clutched the bag and thermos as he left.
“Bye, Daddy,” Sandy called. Whitney was sitting beside me and my hand just sort of naturally joined in helping apply the arnica. I mean, maybe her nipples were bruised, too.
“Well, that was enough excitement for the night for us,” Carl said. “We’re going to go back to our casa party.”
“Yes. Us, too,” Doreen said. “We need to reward our hearthmate for having the presence of mind to call the sheriff.” She wrapped an arm around Sandy and they headed for the bunkhouse.
“This place is incredible,” Adam said as he looked around. “I really had no idea where Steve was leading us to tonight. He was recruiting me to join his frat and invited me to a party. If I’d known he was breaking into someone’s house, I’d never have been here.”
“Adam, you took a real beating tonight,” Whitney said as she turned around to face the table. She didn’t bother to cover up and Adam didn’t really seem to notice. Elaine crawled into my lap and whispered that tonight was a redhead night. “Why don’t you crash in stall three?” She pointed at the room my folks had used last weekend. We’d kept it set up as a guest room.
Adam looked around at the nine beautiful girls that surrounded us and seemed to notice Whitney was topless for the first time. It didn’t faze him.
“Really? I don’t want to intrude.”
“Really,” Rose said. “Tomorrow is a holiday. Plan to relax with Casa del Fuego. We have plenty of food and are grilling steaks tomorrow.”
“Thank you all,” Adam said. “I’d rather not drive back tonight. I didn’t bring anything with me, though.”
“I’ll run and get Doug’s robe,” Liz said. “It should be big enough for you. The bathroom is right next door to the guest room. Jen will make sure everything you need is in it.”
“We’re pretty communal around here,” Rose said. “You’ll find the bathroom is unisex with private stalls. If you are in the shower, though, anybody might join you.” All the girls laughed.
“Um… well… I’m… thanks, but…”
“Don’t worry, Adam,” I said, glaring at the girls. “We have a hard and fast rule that any invasion of personal space requires explicit permission. I hope you can accept that rule, as well.” He breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks. I’d like that shower, but alone, if you all don’t mind.”
Whitney grabbed my hand and stood up. She was still topless.
“I need a shower, too, Brian, and I give you explicit permission to make sure all my bruises have been tended to… inside and out.” I left a bewildered Adam in the care of our hearthmates.
“I thought you’d want to give Adam some explicit permissions, after all the foreplay tonight. And exposing yourself to him as well. We don’t really know him very well,” I said as I washed Whitney’s thick black hair.
“Mmmhmm. It was pretty sexy, even though it hurt a lot. That’s why I wanted to have a few minutes with you. Mmm! And that.” I stuck a finger inside her, just to make sure if there was a bruise there it got massaged. “You don’t have to worry about Adam. With any of us. I think all the girls have figured it out, but I’ll make sure no one makes a fool of herself.”
“What? That he’s got a girlfriend?”
“Well, you’re close. He’s gay.”
“He’s what? He’s a football halfback. He just battled you full out for fifteen minutes. How can you know he’s gay?” I was a little confused and Whitney wasn’t making it better by rolling a condom on me and bending forward. I found her moist opening and pulled her toward me. I held her breasts and lightly stroked her nipples as she pushed back onto me.
“You are such a guy. You think that a big strong man can’t be gay. Believe me, he is. First, he did something that only a true master or a gay man could do tonight. He fought me as an equal. No matter how hard they try, straight men cannot fight a woman without thinking of her as a woman. He’s not a true master for all the degrees and belts he might have. He could be. He probably will be one day. But not now. When we fought tonight, he did not see a woman.”
“I don’t see you as a woman when we’re sparring. I do afterward, but not during.”
“That should tell you something,” she said. What? I’m gay? She didn’t give me time to respond. “Second, he had three hot girls rubbing all over his chest and back and making a pretty wicked display of themselves. Then he had me topless in front of him. I admit, I’m not Playboy material, but he didn’t even get a hint of a rise in his pants. If you had let Liz get your shirt off, that would have changed.”
“Whitney, that’s really… Oh fuck.” She’d started squeezing me rhythmically with her pussy and it was soon obvious that we were no longer talking. We were too caught up in the moment.
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