FLAME BOUND (EROTICA)

The sun was shining brightly and intently over Aqua Ranch, everyone was hard at work trying to get the day's work done.

Aqua Ranch was in the distinguished part of Texas, it was the best amongst better, it took years and a lot of work before it became a house hold name.

Jacob Flinch ran from the spot lights of San Francisco with his daughter after the death of his wife, he poured his sweat, blood and all his money into the stable to make it work and after a few deadly loans and late repayments it finally did.

He handed the business down to Rachel his daughter when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer, he couldn't even imagine the thought of forgetting her or who he was but the disease didn't really give him a choice. Two years later after the disease had taken the better parts of him he took his last breath.

Rachel caressed the pens arranged side by side on her table shaking the nostalgia she felt, she tried her hardest to remember her father in his good days but the disease had killed that image till she had nothing left but the frame, how could she long for home when she was there?

It was another dull day at the office, she hated how slow and hot it could get, her top was sticking to her body which made her uncomfortable, the fact that she couldn't do anything about it bothered her the most.

"Hey Rachel" Her right hand Mark smiled from her door, he had been her father's right hand man, he knew everything about the business and had guided him through it, now he guided Rachel. Mark was an old man, she didn't like to think of him as old but the visible white hair on his head made her worried, he wasn't the strong man who put her on his shoulders when she was four, he was nearing the end of the road.

"Hey Mark, why're you on your feet? I thought I gave you fifteen years off."

Mark waved her off. "I'd be dead by then Rachel besides I love working here, Amelia would kill me with all her talk if I spend another day in the house." Amelia was Mark's wife, she was a beautiful woman, which was where the good attributes ended, Rachel never liked her and Amelia returned the feeling.

"Anything to keep you away from Amelia old man" Rachel appreciated it anytime he came in, his expertise in the job saved Rachel a lot of stress with the newbies, she was never a patient teacher, she could never keep her anger in check.

"Thanks. Now, what can I do for you today?"

Rachel threw the strenuous jobs out of her mental list, "You could help me teach the newbies how to not go close to the wild horses, I've had three cases this week of broken bones, I can't have any more."

"I'll do just that boss."

Rachel watched him walk away smiling at the spring in his step, "He's a crazy old man that's for sure."

Rachel went back to her boring desk job, she yearned to be out on the field doing what she loved but she couldn't, she hated how her life was filled with all the things she couldn't do, she was sick of it.

"Rachel?" Mark smiled sheepishly by her door hours later with his hat in his hands.

"What's wrong Mark?" Rachel's brow was knitted in worry; she was about rising to her feet when Amelia walked in. Rachel glared at Mark with a fake smile plastered on her lips.

"What a lovely surprise you brought me."

"I was in the vicinity and felt I needed to check on my Mark, he doesn't need to work as hard as you're pushing him Rachel Hun." Amelia smiled with all her teeth.

Rachel rolled her eyes; she didn't need this kind of drama so early. "I'm sure he feels better sitting at home listening to you yap about the nothing you do all day."

"Excuse me!" Amelia gasped indignantly.

"I think Rachel has had a rough day Hun, you should get going so she can rest her head." Mark all but dragged her out of the room.

Rachel blew at the hair straying out of her band; she didn't understand why her life had to be so basic. Get up in the morning, eat, come to the office and glue her ass to her chair till the day ran out.

She wanted to pull her hair out whenever she saw they had a new horse that needed to be tamed, she should be the one on the field creating a beautiful bond with the beautiful horse and his or her surroundings yet there she sat with a smile on her face as she signed the horse off to any personal trainer available nearby.

They only reared and kept the finest horses in the country, no wild horses were allowed in the Aqua stables, Rachel loved to always think of her horses as royalty.

"I'm sorry about that." Rachel jumped when she heard Mark's voice beside her.

"God damn it Mark!"

"Sorry Rachel, I've always been quiet on my feet." Mark smiled in apology.

"Its fine, I'm used to her drama." Rachel reassured Mark.

"I know but I'm sure you two can still get along." The thought of Amelia being in her personal space irked Rachel.

"I think Amelia and I are fine where we are."

Rachel and Mark stood in silence for a few minutes lost in their own thoughts, it was something they did whenever they had the chance to be together, they gave each other peace. That was unparalleled to any other feeling Rachel knew.

"That weird mail came in today again."

Rachel wrinkled her nose. "The one about debts and selling the ranch?"

"Yea that one but this time, it says you have till Friday unless they will send a representative here to check out the ranch."

Jacob had paid off the debts he owed before he died, Rachel was sure of that but for some unknown reason, Winters and Winters Companies kept sending mails to the ranch that her father was owing them, they refused to speak to Rachel insisting on speaking only to Jacob. Rachel might have told them not too respectfully to bring him back to life.

°°°

Rachel was leaning on the fence looking at all the majestic horses running around; she smiled to herself when one of her favorites led the herd.

"You look so peaceful here, you sure you don't want me to saddle up one of the well behaved one's for you to test your rusty skills?"

Rachel smiled softly when she heard Mark's voice, he had been asking her this same question for days now and he wasn't the only one asking. It had been almost five years since Rachel touched a horse; today was one of those days where she just had to feed her eyes.

"No Mark, I think I'm fine just watching our majestic creatures." Rachel squeezed her hands together.

Mark shrugged. "Your choice. We need you out there Rachel, I don't know how long you're going to hide in your own shadows."

"I'm not hiding in my shadows Mark, I jus-" Rachel shook her head when her chest started to feel heavy. "It doesn't matter, you're right, I shouldn't be here, I'll just get out of your hair."

"That's not-" Mark's apology was half out but Rachel was already walking briskly to her office. "-what I meant."

Mark sighed fanning himself with his shirt, the Pam was something he was used to but he wasn't that young anymore, he made a promise to Jacob before the disease got him, he promised to get Rachel back out there, the horses needed her, he didn't understand why she decided to torture herself.

Mark sighed a second time when he heard someone scream, "Damn these newbies."

Rachel locked herself in her office all day doing nothing; she used to be one of the first people cleaning out the stalls for their new arrivals now she just watched them from a distance, which was when she couldn't hole herself in her office anymore.

Rachel avoided the stalls for the rest of the day choosing instead to do inventory, it was the most boring part of her desk job but it wasn't like she needed any drama.

She coughed and waved the dust away when she dropped a box of old files on the ground; some of the boxes had been there since before she ever thought of running the stables.

She liked reading the books again, mostly because she loved imagining the time her father took to write them down, if he was there he wouldn't appreciate the latest technology because he never did. She smiled when she saw some of his old journals, his writing was horrible, she always wondered how anyone could read it.

She spent the day reading books she couldn't decipher and smiling at photos she couldn't remember, she missed the little things, she missed the basic things, she missed her old life.

She found a picture of herself on a horse with a wide smile on her face, she couldn't remember a time when she was happier. The smile on her face then was sad, she couldn't have her life back, it was dead, buried and was probably dust by now.

Rachel cursed when she checked the time, she had been holed up in the inventory for three hours, pushing the boxes aside she promised herself she would come back to arrange all the things she had left out of place.

"Damn Rachel, I've been looking all over for you." Mark moped his sweaty face.

"Were you worried about me old man?" Rachel hugged him with a smirk on her face.

"Of course I was worried about you, I didn't want you dying off somewhere we won't find your body"

Rachel slapped him lightly on the chest. "For a second there old man I thought you cared about me."

"I don't want to disturb the sanity of the newbies once we find your dead body."

"I hate you Mark, I really should die so you won't get to tease me every day."

"You can't die!" Mark held his chest. "Then I won't be able to tease you to death."

"Somebody kill me" Rachel groaned into her hands.

Mark slapped his cowboy hat on his thigh with a big grin on his face. "Your father would love what you've done to the place."

"He's not here to see it now is he?" Rachel smiled tightly, the images of she had of her father weren't the best ones.

"He know how hard you've worked to bring this place to life, continue and go beyond everything he ever wanted to do."

"That might just be you Mark, he never believed in me the way you think he did. I never wanted this desk job neither did I want to look at the horses all day."

"You wanted to ride them off into the sun set, the times you spent riding or tending to a horse were the happiest I've ever seen you."

"That was years ago Mark, some dreams just have to be smashed before you crash and burn." Rachel fixed her gaze on to the ground, the newbies were taking the horses in, she did not want to tempt herself.

"Years that defined you Rachel." Mark lifted her chin so she was looking him in the eye, she was everything he wanted in a child even though God never blessed him with one. Her father might not have shown her he was proud of her but he beamed whenever he talked about her exploits or the wonders she had done in a foreign land.

"It's getting late Mark, the witch might chop off my head if she waited another minute for your old ass."

Mark knew a dismissal when he heard one, "That witch is my wife, she drew me in with her loving charms."

Rachel made gagging noises with her fingers in her mouth. "I think I'm going to throw up."

"Don't do it on me though, I've got a woman to impress."

Rachel stared daggers at Mark's retreating figure, "That's not a woman you've got at home Mark."

"She's way better company than the books you'll be analyzing page by page tonight."