Meridio's Daughter Part 14

Casey finally broke her lips away from the kiss, breathing hard, her eyes closed; she leaned her head back against Tessa's shoulder.

"Oh, please, Nikki," Casey murmured.

"Please what?" Tessa asked, knowing what Casey desired.

Tessa's center throbbed painfully at the slow and careful seduction, and she ground her hips against Casey's backside.

"Please...I want to feel you inside me."

"Mmm, inside you? Why, baby?"

Casey could barely think, considering the fact that every brain cell and nerve synapse was firing between her legs at the moment.

She understood completely what Tessa wanted to hear. Dear G.o.d, do you know how hard it is giving that up to someone?

"Because it feels so good when you fill me up." Casey turned her head and once more captured Tessa's lips. Pulling away to catch her breath, she continued, "Please...I'm begging you...

please, f.u.c.k me."

Tessa took Casey's mouth, her tongue exploring hungrily even as the thrust of her own hips grew stronger.

*"That was a good answer, baby. Because you asked so nice and because you look so d.a.m.n hot begging me like that..."

Tessa pressed two fingers inside Casey, and instantly Casey's hips thrust down hard on her fingers. She continued to stroke the hard nub of flesh with one hand while matching the rhythm of her lover's hips with the other. Tessa's own climax rushed upon her, and she held it off as long as she could, but the feel of this woman's excitement was having an intense effect on her body.

"Oh, Casey," Tessa groaned, feeling her body's shuddering release begin.

"Nikki..." Casey buried her breathless cry against the warm skin of Tessa's neck.

Casey's hand locked Tessa's wrist in an iron grip, and Tessa stilled her movement, feeling her lover's inner muscles spasm, then clench tightly around her fingers. It was as if there was a connection between Tessa's hand inside Casey and her own groin.

Feeling the fluttering of Casey's inner walls against her hand prolonged the release coursing through her own body.

"Theh Mou!" both women hissed at the same time.

"I don't usually...as a rule...thank G.o.d after s.e.x," Casey panted, "but...that was...incredible."

"You look pretty cute like that." Tessa kissed Casey's nose as Casey stood and buckled her skin-tight riding pants at the waist.

"Between you and me, I hate them. I'd much rather ride in blue jeans and Tony Lamas."

"You and your bad American habits." Tessa folded her arms across her chest.

Casey ran her palms along the thighs of the tan riding pants, then stepped forward and slipped her arms around Tessa's waist.

"I love you," Casey said softly and placed a tender kiss on the startled woman's lips.

"I...Casey...I don't-" Tessa uncharacteristically stammered, unsure of how to react. Oh, Casey, if I feel it, why can't I say it?

Casey stopped Tessa by placing her fingers over the soft lips she just kissed.

"I know. I know how hard this is for you, love. You don't *have to say anything at all. I can feel what's in here." She placed the palm of her hand over Tessa's heart and rewarded Tessa with a smile that was as bright as sunshine.

Tessa didn't hesitate, pulling Casey to her, holding her tightly.

"You are truly a gift to me, little one," she whispered, trying to hold back the tears that burned the back of her eyes.

"Muhammad bin Yamen, please let me introduce my daughter, Ca.s.sandra Meridio. She is an excellent rider and will show you how fine the horseflesh raised on Mkonos is." Andreas Meridio looked nervous as he made the introductions.

Yamen and his henchmen were polite upon meeting Casey.

In their eyes, she was a woman and looked at as nothing, but they learned to get along with the ways of other countries and the position women attained. The tall, Amazon-looking woman, however, worried them.

"And this is Tessa Nikolaidis, my Kare, " Meridio said.

The Libyan visitors made no attempt to shake hands with Tessa, but she never flinched or turned her gaze away from their obdurate stares. She casually folded her arms across her chest and glared back, the perpetual scowl upon her face. She was used to situations like this, Old World men who were offended at the idea of working alongside a woman. Tessa's retribution was to straighten herself to her full height, a good six-feet-two with her riding boots on and look down at the shorter men. They hated that, and Tessa could barely contain her mirth when she saw a few of them straighten up to try to equal her height.

Casey gave the men a tour through the family stables, giving them more information than they probably wanted to know about horses and the way they were trained for the steeplechase. Tessa stood back and not only kept a protective eye on Casey, but also studied her newest adversary, Yamen. Tessa listened as Casey spoke and was again surprised by her new lover. She knows almost as much about horses as she does olives. Why in the h.e.l.l does she dig up dead stuff for a living?

They took a break for lunch, Olympia having prepared a *veritable feast on the patio. Meridio and Tessa sat with Yamen, the rest of the men at another table, while Casey was relegated to lunching in the kitchen with Olympia. Under other circ.u.mstances, Casey would have been offended and probably would have tried to do something to display that att.i.tude. That day, she didn't mind in the least. She didn't like the way the men looked at her. Half of them, including their leader, looked down their noses as if she were nothing more than a piece of fine furniture or a rug beneath their feet. The other half leered at her when they thought no one else was watching. Tessa was always watching, however, and Casey took comfort in that fact.

It was late afternoon and Casey's lack of sleep the night before coupled with the large lunch she just enjoyed had her yawning deeply as she tightened the strap on the large bay gelding's stirrup.

The horse looked like a skysc.r.a.per standing next to Casey. She tugged on a pair of tight-fitting leather gloves and adjusted the helmet on her head. Taking the reins in her hands, Casey accepted a foot up from the stable hand. The horse seemed skittish, and Tessa watched the muscles standing out in Casey's lean arms, biceps flexing strongly as she tried to rein the animal in. Finally, Casey's will and firm hand convinced the animal to accept the bit, and he shook his head, waiting patiently.

Tessa was impressed at Casey's mastery over the large beast, but she couldn't help noticing the yawn that Casey let out. She walked closer, looking up with concern written across her features.

"You sure you're up for this?" Tessa asked.

"Sure, just wake me up when I'm done," Casey deadpanned, adjusting a set of goggles over her eyes.

"Casey." Tessa lowered her voice so that only Casey could hear. "Are you sure? You could break your back if you fall. I just want to make sure you're alert enough."

Casey couldn't help the smile that found its way to her face.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry, okay?"

Tessa gave a smirk at that and gently hit the horse's rump to get him going.

Casey watched out of the corner of her eye as the spectators climbed onto a few special bleacher seats and pulled out their *binoculars. The steeplechase was by no means a flat course. The Meridio estate boasted a three-mile cross-country course, but Casey would only be using half of that so she would stay in view of the spectators. The steed was Mavro To Vouno, Black Mountain, and she rode him around to each of the jumps, giving the horse a look at the fences.

Tessa nodded to a stable hand, and while Casey still warmed up her animal, Tessa took the reins of a white stallion they called Flash. He was the fastest thing in the stable, and Tessa wanted to be prepared in case anything should happen on the course. Hearing the woman she loved tell her she was fine and believing it were two different things, and Tessa didn't like the tickling feeling in her gut that warned her of trouble.

Casey was a supremely light rider and sat her saddle evenly.

Most of the other "jump" jockeys she competed against were much larger than she was, in the 140-pound range. It took more than speed to win a steeplechase; it took a lot of muscle, too. She took a few small practice jumps, a box hedge no more than three feet high, finally testing the gelding's strength over a four-foot rail fence. Casey enjoyed having an open field to run on. Usually in a steeplechase compet.i.tion, she was vying for position with forty or so other compet.i.tors. The sound of the horse's hooves surrounded you and echoed like thunder in your brain, the mud and divots of earth flying up into your face and body.

The gelding was a jumper horse, big and strong. He was trained for the hurdles and didn't know how to do anything else in life but run flat out and lift his body so that it appeared to be floating in air for a few precious heartbeats. He was larger than most steeplechase thoroughbreds. The strong animal made it look easy. Casey was three-quarters of the way through with her run when she saw the large center jump coming up. It was a nearly five-foot timber fence, fashioned after the Maryland Hunt Cup's largest jump. They had just set into their run when Casey's vision blurred. Hindsight told her she should have just hung on and let the animal beneath her do his thing, but not being able to see clearly, she panicked, and in that moment of distraction, she pulled back *on the horse's reins. The animal felt the pull of the bit against his back teeth and instantly dug in its heels. Casey realized, as she was in midair being thrown from the animal's back, that this probably wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done.

Tessa leapt upon the white stallion's back, her feet never touching the stirrups. She sped across the course at breakneck speed, flying across the hurdles effortlessly.

Casey lay on her back and wondered why she couldn't breathe.

She rolled onto her side. In the distance, she saw Flash taking the jumps more quickly than Casey thought she would ever be able to manage, and she thought of herself as an above average rider.

Astride the stallion was Tessa, her dark hair flying around her, a look of fear etched across her tanned face.

"My knight on her white charger," Casey managed to gasp breathlessly as Flash pulled up and Tessa jumped from his back.

"Casey, honey, are you okay? Where does it hurt?"

"I...could tell you...if I could breathe," Casey panted with irritation.

She tried to sit up and Tessa breathed a sigh of relief, realizing Casey could move.

"Looks like you got the wind knocked out of you is all. Come on, let's get you on your feet." Tessa quickly pulled Casey into a standing position.

Tessa pressed the flat of her hand against Casey's diaphragm.

"Breathe as deep as you can."

Casey tried to take a deep breath and gasped.

"Again," Tessa said.

Casey tried again, and as Tessa pressed her hand more firmly against her belly, she felt the tightness ease up. By degrees, the spasm ended and Casey was breathing normally again. By this time, her father and the visitors made it to the spot of her humiliation.

"Ca.s.sandra." Andreas Meridio had Casey in his arms and pulled back to look at her. "Did you break anything?"

"Only my pride, Pappa," she said with embarra.s.sment, rubbing her sore back.

0.

*"She's fine. She's a tough one, Mr. Meridio. She just got the wind knocked out of her," Tessa said.

Yamen chuckled aloud. "Perhaps you should have had sons, eh, Meridio?"

He smacked Meridio on the back as if it was a friendly joke.

Meridio could do little else but take it that way or risk offending his guests. Tessa saw through Yamen's words. He'd been waiting all day to find something he could use to his advantage, to stroke his ego, and this was it.

Tessa took Casey by the elbow and led her back to the gelding.

"Do you hear them laughing over there?" Tessa asked in a low voice. "You know what they're laughing about?"

"I've got a pretty good guess," Casey hissed.

"You feel good enough to ride Mavro back to the stable?"

Casey nodded.

"You don't have to do anything but ride back in. Do not,"

Tessa cautioned Casey, "take any more jumps. It'll go a long way if you don't let them see you cave, that way we win."

Casey understood the we to be women, so she gave a little grin and stuck her left foot in Tessa's clasped hands, positioning herself once again on top of the gelding's back.

Meridio turned and saw Casey in the saddle once again.

"What in the h.e.l.l is she doing?"

"No problem," Tessa said offhandedly, just loud enough for Yamen and his clowns to hear. "She just shook it off. She's fine."

Tessa watched as Casey rode the gelding in the direction of the stables. Suddenly, Casey turned the horse and they picked up speed. Even from a distance, Tessa could see the look of wild determination on Casey's face as she sped toward the five-foot jump. The horse and rider sailed across the fence with at least three inches to spare. Casey then took the gelding through the rest of the course, trotted back, and pulled up in front of the group.

"Nothing to it." Casey smiled.

"Impressive," Yamen had to admit before he turned away.

The men walked away and Meridio turned to Tessa. "See to it she gets home. I'll see that our guests find their way out."

*Meridio left and Tessa looked up and raised an eyebrow at Casey. "You follow directions so well."

"Sorry, but I couldn't help myself."

Tessa tried to look angry but just couldn't keep the expression going. Casey atop the horse looked so contrite that Tessa had to smile back at her.

"Hey, race ya back to the barn!" Casey took off before Tessa knew what was happening.

It didn't take long for Tessa to jump into the saddle and come even with Casey and the bay gelding. Once she pa.s.sed Casey, she barreled out ahead, flying over the fences like they weren't there.

Casey was mesmerized and pulled Mavro up to a canter. The white stallion and Tessa moved like one animal, absolute fluidity and strength. Finally, Tessa realized she was alone and pulled her horse to a stop, waiting for Casey to catch up.

"What's the matter?" Tessa asked.

"I had to stop and watch, it was...it was like...magic," Casey hesitated.

A slow blush crept up onto Tessa's face.

"Where on earth did you learn to ride like that?"

"My father taught me when I was little," Tessa said, feeling the heat on her face. She wasn't used to being complimented, even if it was by her new lover.

"Then I have to meet him because I would surely love to be able to jump like that."

Tessa's face immediately turned to stone, the hard edge of her mouth rising in a tiny sneer.

"He's dead," she said abruptly as she turned her horse away and spurred him on into the stable, leaving Casey in the middle of the field.