Winner Takes All (A Full Length Erotic Romance Novel) by Sherilyn Gray Page B

leaned back against the door, smiling. In the afterglow of their
incredible sex, Sasha felt she’d made the best possible decision being Damien’s
secret fuck-buddy. He was an incredible lover and she hadn’t felt this sexually
compatible with a man in what felt like forever. She sighed again as she
re-lived all the ways he’d touched and commanded her until the breath was
tearing through her lungs.
     
    Then the familiar chime of her phone jolted her from her reverie. For a
moment, she couldn’t figure out where the phone was, and then remembered it had
been in her purse that Damien brought with him. She picked up her purse, opened
it.
     
    Her phone had one missed text message. She frowned at the unfamiliar
number. As she read the message, her body turned cold.
     
    I want $5000 by the last day of every month. That should be enough
to help out your brother. You miss the deadline, and I fuck up your entire
world.
     

Chapter Nine
     
    Sasha galloped steadily on top of Red Penny around the track. The sun
pressed down into her shoulders through the thin t-shirt and padded vest. She
gripped the whip in her hand, feet firmly in the stirrups and butt in the air
as they took a curve on the track, dirt flying up under the three year old
filly’s feet.
     
    “Good!” Linc called out to her from the sidelines.
     
    Panting slightly, Sasha patted the filly’s neck and slowed the horse to
a jog, then a canter. Linc walked out onto the track to meet them, making some
notes on his clipboard. “She’s doing real well,” he said. “Not quite ready to
race yet but getting better. She’s still got that little trouble with her left
front but not as much as before.” Now, he patted Sasha’s leg. “Good job.”
     
    They’d been at it all morning and most of the afternoon with three of
the horses Linc hoped to have ready to race by next summer. It was nearly three
in the afternoon, just about the hottest time of the day and about quitting
time. Sasha had her sunscreen on and she’d been steadily drinking water. Her
muscles were smooth and liquid. She was ready to go all day, if that was what
Linc needed.
     
    They were training a beautiful set of young fillies, getting them ready
to race and be as good as High Impact. If not better. This was work that Sasha
loved. Training with the fillies and colts when she wasn’t on the track and
racing was one of her favorite things about the job. Taking a young and
stubborn horse and training it under her whip and between the strong press of
her thighs to be a disciplined racehorse. A winner. The feeling was beyond
compare. Sweat dripped down her face. Her hair felt plastered to her head under
the hat.
     
    “Time to give everybody a break,” Linc said. He grabbed Red Penny’s
bridle, scratched the horse between her ears. “Good girl!”
     
    Sasha had to laugh. The trainer treated everyone, with the exception of
Damien, just about the same. Offering praise and treats, always showing
kindness no matter what. He was a good man. She dismounted, wiping an arm
across her damp forehead. “Quitting time already?”
     
    Linc chuckled. “We’ve been out here since seven o’ clock. I need some
food and some rest. Not everyone is a machine like you.”
     
    It wasn’t so much that Sasha was a machine as she needed the work to
keep her mind from dwelling on the disaster her life had become in the two
months since James had dug his way out of the dung heap and back into her life.
When she was away from the stables, she felt stressed to the breaking point,
aware that her brother’s financial demands were leading her steadily into the
poorhouse. She’d disconnected her cable, only ate food she brought from home,
could barely afford groceries after all her bills were paid. Her life was a
wreck.
     
    “No machine here, Linc. I just love my job.” She smiled at the trainer
although she knew the expression was a bit stiff at the corners. All her smiles
had been that way lately.
     
    “Just