The Cowboy's Prize

Chapter 22

We had taken ourselves much too seriously the following evening and were in a rental car, dressed completely in black from head to toe like some kind of cat burglar duo.

Dressing up has always been one of my kinks, but it was surprising how enthusiastic Scott was. We couldn't do much about his hair, so he borrowed one of my farm visiting beanies. The non-cute ones I wore to visit my milk suppliers and the cheese storehouse where I kept my trial cheeses that were currently ageing.

His brilliant white smile flashed at me in the dim light of the car as his face changed from the usual calm Scott I knew in the everyday to the fizzing, ready for action, about to climb on a bull and challenge the beast for the championships look. It wasn't the best time for him to elevate the levels of tension in the car and I had to do something to calm down before we pushed the buzzer and Sam let us in.

"The whites of your eyes are showing Mitch." Scott said as his smile dimmed.

"Sorry Scotty. I'm just freaked out now that we're here, that this is going to all go to hell." I admitted, as bile rose in my throat at the thought of facing Alastair alone tonight.

Scott rubbed my arm and then pulled me in close for a reassuring hug. "It's OK Mitch. I'm not going to let that bastard do anything to hurt you." He promised, and I inhaled his scent as I let him engulf me in those strong arms and hold me close to his rock hard chest. It was easy to believe everything would be OK when you were being held in that embrace.

He smelled like horses, sunshine and musk, it was an intoxicating combination of scents that needed no bottled or manufactured fragrance to cover up. It was really him and I found myself being completely reassured by it. My racing heartrate slowed and I gathered my tattered confidence about myself.

I looked up into his now solemn face and nodded. "We can do this." I reassured myself and him as his smile returned and his magnificent chin dipped once in acknowledgement as he opened the door.

The overhead light flooded the interior of the car.

"Shoot." He exclaimed and flicked the lever to shut it off. We certainly didn't need anyone watching to see our faces and remember them.

Scott picked up the bag we'd brought for Sam and we resolutely strode toward the door of the building. Once our host buzzed us into the lobby, we avoided the doorman close to the elevators and instead took the stairs. Even if he'd seen our faces, hopefully we'd be ignored as we'd been buzzed in immediately by a resident.

Sam opened the door when we got up to his floor and in a horribly loud stage whisper shouted, "Why'd you take so freaking long? I'm freaking the frick out!"

"Shhhh." I reflexively hushed him as we took in deep breaths after our cardio and moved into the apartment. Shutting the door behind us I took a deep breath in, the scent on the air of that space immediately took me back to a time where I was more afraid, more timid... less me.

It was a noticeable enough change to have Scott putting his hand on my back, reflexively rubbing in an effort to reassure.

I turned to him and inhaled his scent through the sleeve of his jacket. It took a deep breath and a pause to settle my fresh nerves before we followed Sam into Alastair's office.

"I couldn't find the computer file." He admitted as his fingers trembled with shot nerves.

"Because you haven't got his current password, or there's so much on here you couldn't find it?" I asked as we stopped in front of the PC on the leather desktop.

Sam ducked his head with embarrassment. "I haven't been able to get his password." He admitted. I've never been able to watch his fingers on the keys long enough to read it in full." He said as his breathing began to change to sobs.