Disclaimer: My story entirely

Warning: Coarse language and sexual content

Authors Note: Hey to all of my old fans, I know this is probably not what you wanna see, but... To bad. Apologies for spelling or grammar or punctuation mistakes that I missed. Also, jeeeeez, I have to go through so much to publish now -_- Have to go to fanfic first and then publish on fictionpress.

Review! :)

Mary stood in the sweltering kitchen of her parent's house, her plain summer dress clinging to her damp skin and her hands unconsciously wringing a tea towel as she gazed out the window that hung above the kitchen sink.

She was watching her father speak to one of his farm hands about something, the topic of discussion was of no importance to her, she was far to busy staring at the help. He was new, and he was young, somewhere in his early to mid-twenties and extremely handsome in his own blue-collar way.

His hair and eyes were both a dark shade of brown, his skin was tanned and sweaty from all of his outdoor work. He had facial hair and his nose was sharp, he looked roughened and weary and Mary was more attracted to him than she'd ever been to any other man before in her life.

He suddenly looked up toward the window and caught her eyes, lifting his hand up and tipping the brim of his cap up a little as he stared right at her, a strange kind of acknowledgement burning in his eyes.

Mary quickly stepped out of his sight and pressed herself against the counter, swallowing heavily and blushing.

She'd been caught, she'd never be able to stand being around him now that he knew she'd been watching him. The female groaned and brought a hand to her sun-kissed forehead, at the same time pushing some blond strands of hair out of her eyes.

God, it was his first day there and the first time he'd got to see her and now he probably thought that she a freak.

She sulked, now she would just be Mr. Dolan's strange little daughter to him and nothing more.

Her shoulders hung low and she slowly started to fan herself with her hands, trying to get rid of some of the heat that hung heavy on her body.

It didn't matter what he thought of her, she supposed, because honestly she was a very shy young woman and rarely spoke to anyone other than her mother and father anyways. She guessed by this point in her life that everyone just thought that she was the obscure offspring of Ol' Farmer Dolan and his wife.

At that moment her mother, a slim handsome woman with wispy dirty-blonde hair, swept into the room, tugging her hair back into a messy bun and humming quietly to herself. The woman paused to look at Mary curiously, eyeing the girls red cheeks before casting her gaze out the window, a knowing look suddenly gleaming in her hazel eyes. "Well now, you havin' fun in here looking out at your Papa's new help, Mary?" The older woman teased pleasantly, letting out a well-mannered laugh as she saw her daughters cheeks take on a new, deeper shade of red.

"N-no Mama, not at all. I don't know what you're talking about." Mary sputtered and averted her eyes away from her caring mother, feeling foolish for being caught so quickly by the perceptive woman.

Suzy, Mary's mother, nodded doubtfully and tsk'd, "You've been a rotten liar ever since you were little, especially with me. Now, there ain't no shame in giving him a look, he is a handsome boy." Mary sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands, closing her eyes and shaking her head shamefully.

"And you'll get to have an even better look at him in an hour or two when all the boys come on in for supper." She added mischievously, a smile curled onto her lips and a warm look in her eyes.

Her daughter's jaw dropped and sudden realization passed behind her eyes. "I forgot all about that... Oh god, oh god... He saw me looking out at him!" Mary was beginning to feel faint; horrified about the embarrassment she'd have to go through at dinner time that night.

Suzy rolled her eyes. "Now calm down child, he didn't catch you doing a thing, for all he knows you were looking out at the fields or your Papa. And if by some chance he 'does' happen to know than what of it? At least he'll know you're interested."

"Mama, sometimes I wonder what goes on in your head." Mary muttered and slunk out of the room, the sound of her mother whistling lingering behind her as she escaped the kitchen.

Her mother and father were both strange; she supposed it was because they had lived in the same small community for such a long time. She guessed that if she'd been around little Elmerton as long as they had then there'd be something off with her too.

Really though she adored her parents and she wouldn't trade them in for anything in the world, she just wished that they weren't so much of an odd pair... And that her mother couldn't tell so much from a simple blush.

Mary sat down on her bed, her legs splayed out awkwardly in front of her.

For a while she just sat, listening to the sound of farming equipment motoring around outside and the sounds of men yelling back and forth to each other.

Slowly she stood and made her way to the window, her arms wrapped awkwardly around her waist, she really was a very timid creature, always had been from what she could remember. It hadn't helped that while growing up and going to school all of the other kids had made fun of her and refused to play with her, they wouldn't even sit next to her on the bus.

And even know that she'd graduated and was practically a grown woman she still hadn't a friend in the world and was ignored and teased by her peers.

Her parents had always supported her the best they could though and kept her busy, making sure her mind was off such depressing matters and usually on work, like tending to the farm animals or helping out at the farmers market in town that her parents brought eggs, vegetables and fruit too once or so a week.

Mary stopped at her window and leaned against the frame, staring out at everything, watching all of the workers packing up for the night, soon they'd be on their way inside for dinner.

Her eyes swept around boredly, not really focusing on much until she caught sight of the new man on the farm, he had his shirt off and her he was giving it a shake out to get all of the dust off of it. This gave Mary a full view of his toned back and his broad shoulders; she could only imagine what his chest looked like.

Vaguely she wondered if he had one those lines of hair, a treasure trail she remembered them being called, running down his abdomen and disappearing down below his belt.

Her heart fluttered in her chest and she couldn't help but continue to blush, knowing that she shouldn't be thinking such sinful things about a man that she didn't even know.

... Then again, it would be worse if she 'did' know him, wouldn't it? So perhaps this wasn't so bad to be doing, they hadn't spoken, and it was just her imagination doing all the thinking anyhow, there was no harm in that... Was there?

With a sigh she shrugged it off and turned away from the window, deciding it was about time for a little soak before supper came rolling around.

Mary had just finished drying and brushing her hair when she heard her mother calling her downstairs for dinner.

"I'm comin' mama!" She called over her shoulder and stood, meanwhile tossing her used towel into her dirty laundry basket and turning herself to face her mirror.

The young woman checked over her plain dress and straightened it out before fiddling with some of the small ringlets that had appeared near the end of her hair. It did that when it was wet and as it dried those ringlets turned into smooth waves and disappeared in her dirty blond hair.

With a sigh and then a deep breath she took off out of her room and jogged down the old, creaky wooden stairs. She slowed as she reached the bottom and collected herself before making her way into the dining room where her parents and a handful of the working men were already seated and filling their plates.

Suzy looked up at her motioning for her daughter to come and take her seat. "Now hurry yourself, Mary, and get your fill of food because I can tell these boys are real hungry from working all day and won't be leavin' us any dinner scraps." She pointed out happily, her words followed by a few dazed murmurs of agreement as the tired, starving men dug into their meals.

The only one that hadn't dove in yet was the new fellow; he had his eyes on Mary and was watching her as she moved around the room to her seat across from him.

Mary kept her eyes down and away from his for a moment before remembering her manners and looking up, she gave a shy smile, cheeks a little pink. "Hello." She greeted quietly and nodded in his direction before casting her eyes away again and this time toward her father who was watching her with a small smile.

Her dad was a tall skinny man with light brown hair, now streaked with silver, and a light coating of facial hair. He had many smile lines around his mouth and his eyes and his skin was tanned from behind outside most of the day. His eyes were a light shade of blue, like the colour the sky was before the sun rose.

"Good evening." The mans quiet, husky voice replied causing Mary's eyes to flash upward to look at him for a moment, searching his face before looking down.

"Rick, this is my daughter Mary, she helps out quite often with the animals and knows how to work most of the equipment. Mary, this is our new farm hand Rick." Her father announced, introducing the both of them to one another. "I'm sure you'll both get along just fine, you're both the quiet type after all."

Mary gave a quick nod and gathered herself a small amount of food, ignoring the feeling of dark eyes watching her every movement.

Why was he still watching her? Was he waiting for her to do something strange or crazy?

Or maybe did he find her to be-no! It wasn't even remotely possibly that he could find her even the tiniest bit attractive, she was just an odd young woman that no one except her family wanted to associate themselves with.

She chanced a glance up and their eyes met, he wasn't looking at her expectantly or anything like that, nor did he look disgusted or repulsed by her at all. His eyes just held a very heavy, pointed and to her an undecipherable emotion in them.

After a few very long seconds of eye contact they both looked away and at their respective plates.

"So, Rick," Suzy started casually, looking up and around the table from under her long lashes, "how was your first day working with us?"

He looked at her and gave a half smile, bringing his hand to his head and ruffling up his unkempt brown hair a bit more, "It was great, it's really nice to work with everyone, I've always enjoyed farm work... And might I add this dinner isn't too bad either." He complimented in a roundabout way, voice still low and soft.

The oldest woman in the room smiled without restraint, "Well thank you kindly, Rick, that's lovely of you to say."

"Not at all, m'am." He gave her a smile, finally showing off his perfect set of teeth.

Mary nearly beamed when she saw his nice teeth, they didn't look as if a bit of chewing tobacco had ever touched them and that was a mighty sight to see. Near all the men in the town chewed or smoked tobacco and that left them with yellow teeth, black gums, and disgusting breath.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by her father calling her name, "-Mary, you're ma and I are goin' to be riding into town right after dinner, I got some things to pick up, so would you mind tidyin' up once we've left?"

The girl blinked and shook her head. "Not at all, pa." She responded before looking back down at her food and beginning to pick at it a little bit.

Soon enough everyone was finishing their meals and making there way out of there, her parents left first, taking with them one of the men to give him a lift into town where his truck was currently being tended too by the local mechanic. And just after them left another man, leaving just Mary, Rick, and one other man alone.

"If you'll excuse me..." Mary muttered and trailed off, standing and gathering the unused plates before disappearing into the kitchen. She wasn't nervous at people left with two men lone, she was a grown girl after all and she had know the man, John, for quite a while now, nearly six years.

The girl set the dishes near the sink and began to wash them up, staring down at her hands as she scrubbed the excess food off of the plates.

She was so engrossed in her own thought's she didn't notice the door to the kitchen open up and someone else join her.

A throat cleared softly and she nearly jumped out of her skin, but instead just let out a slow breath and turned a little bit, looking up to find herself alone in the room with the man that she'd been ogling at earlier that day.

Rick stood near the door with a stack of plates in his hands, he was watching her closely but his face was straight, his eyes not betraying a single hint of emotion. "John just left, would ya like me to put these near the sink for you?" He spoke, his voice sending pleasant chills down her spine.

Unable to vocalize a response she nodded and turned herself away, her hands busying themselves once more. She almost stiffened when he stopped right next to her and set down the plates but kept herself poised, she had to act like a proper and graceful young lady.

Well, she had to 'try' at least.

Mary could feel him watching her as she washed the dishes and after a moment she felt him come closer, soon he was right next to her, watching, his chin tilted down and the brim of his hat casting a shadow over his eyes.

She turned her head towards him and slowly looked up, meeting his eyes unsurely, her brows furrowed together in confusion.

"I just wanted say that it was nice to meet you," Rick paused to raise up the brim of his hat and stare into her eyes, "your eyes... They're very pretty."

She could barely believe her ears but instead of showing her shock she gave him a timid smile and blushed, nodding and looking away from him, keeping herself as composed as possible.

Rick cleared his throat and then took hold of one of her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze and a shake and then dropping it and turning away. "Bye." He muttered, barely breathing out the word as he made his way out of the kitchen, seeming a bit flustered himself but still serious and focused.

The young woman watching him leave and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the front door opening and closing and some seconds later the sound of a truck rumbling to life and then driving away.

As soon as she knew he was away she let out a long heavy sigh and opened her eyes, her hands flapping at her face, trying without much effect to get rid of the heat and the blush. She really hadn't been expecting for him to come into the kitchen and say such things to her.

And did he really think her eyes were pretty or…?

She shook her head and turned dutifully back to the dishes, sticking her hands down into the water and grabbing the soapy cloth in her right hand, starting to scrub away at what food remained on the plates and what not.

Mary's mind continued to spot nonsense at her until finally she realized the way that she'd just acted toward him. She hadn't said anything, not even thank you or goodbye. She groaned and shook her head, now he probably thought she was some sort of impolite twit.

Why did she have to be so nervous all of the time?

She huffed irately, starting to chew at her bottom lip and glare into the murky dish water.

Nothing she could do about it now, she'd just have to try and be as normal as she possibly could around him and that was that, but at the moment she had some dishes to finish cleaning up.

The next two days went about with ease for everyone on the farm, but not for Mary, who had spent her time making sure to keep far away from Rick. She'd ever gone to the extent of refusing to eat dinner with everyone else, telling her mother and father that she'd rather be alone do to 'personal matters' she'd rather keep to herself.

Really she didn't like how she was acting, she was being a fool and it was obvious even to her own eyes. But she was unable to deal with the embarrassment of showing her face around Rick.

Currently she was in the barn that held the cows, she was sitting on a stool, milking one of the large but incredibly calm creatures while small beads of sweat travelled down her neck.

It was hot as the sun in there but her back felt cold from the damp fabric of her plain thin dress touching her back. She brushed her hair out of her face, tucking strands behind her ears or blowing at it to get it out of her weary eyes. Mary had never minded this work; it was relaxing, kept her hands busy and gave her a bit of time to think about whatever had been in her mind.

She was dutifully filling up her steel pale when a shadow fell across her, catching her attention and making her pause for a moment to turn her head and look at whoever was behind her.

Her heart tightened in her chest at the sight of Rick standing there, wringing his dusty old hat between his large tan hands and watching her silently with his very serious brown eyes. His hair looked ruffled and he seemed to have shaved the night before because there was now only a bit of scruff covering the lower half of his face.

"Your mother told me you'd be in here..." Rick trailed, sending his eyes off of her and around the space and then looking back at her. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting you, I just thought that maybe we could talk, or get to know one another." He suggested and put his hat back on his hand, looking a bit uncomfortable from the way she was staring up at him expressionlessly.

Mary's face was taking on a deep blush, and it wasn't because the heat of the barn either.

"Ya'd like to get to know me?"

He cleared his throat and turned his head away, gripping onto his belt, "Ya, I would. You're my boss's daughter; I want you to like me."

Her heart sank at his words and she looked down, nodding sullenly before turning her back to him and getting back to her chores. She now knew that he only wanted to be around her at all so that he would get in her fathers good books, it wasn't because he was interested in her at all.

What a fool she'd been to think he would ever have had any feeling for her aside from some sort of strange obligation to become a friend, or at least not an enemy.

"Well course we can get to know one another." She replied weakly over the sound of the liquid from the cows utters shooting into the milk already in the pale. "I'd never thought of treatin' ya bad in the first place." Mary assured him and swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat.

She wanted to crawl into a haystack and die.

Rick didn't say anything for a long while; he just stood and cast his shadow over her, watching her work. "Where have you been, Mary?| He asked lowly and she heard him take a step toward her but she didn't take notice, just focused on her job.

"I'm not sure exactly what you're meanin'." She responded off-handedly, she wasn't feeling very willing to answer any of his questions at the moment.

He sighed quietly from above her and she stopped what she was doing once more, biting her bottom lip and then letting out her own heavy sigh, she turned and forced herself to smile at him tiredly. "I've just been tired, I'll be at dinner tonight though." Mary felt the weight of a promise she didn't want to commit to on her shoulders as these words left her lips.

The man squatted down right next to her and set a hand on her dress covered thigh, gripping it gently and looking at her with his straight face. "You're such a sweet thing, I wonder..." He murmured but didn't finish what he wanted to say, instead he hinted at the rest of the question with his dark eyes.

Mary felt a nearly overwhelming heat overtake her from his presumption and from the way he was massaging at her thigh, he looked so comfortable doing it, like he knew that's where his hand belonged. He was sure making himself at home with her it seemed, but at the same time he looked like he was afraid of some sort of rejection from her.

"It's a nice thought but I'm not pure anymore." She answered, having a very hard time keeping her eyes connected to his.

Ricks face seemed to tighten up and he nodded stiffly but then allowed his face to relax once more, eyebrows furrowing thoughtfully. "I suppose that's actually a good thing, I don't think I could bare hurtin' ya badly." He spoke these words so easily she nearly didn't catch his meaning behind him.

"P-pardon m-"

"Rick? Rick where the hell are ya, boy?" Boomed the voice of Mary's father from outside somewhere and immediately catching both of their attentions.

The man stood hesitantly but kept his eyes on her, seemingly unable to stop looking at her now. He looked so sincere, like everything that he'd just said had been completely serious, but Mary wasn't going to fall for such things, not now. She knew he must have been joking, just playing a game with a girl he thought had a naive and simple mind.

"RICK!" Mr. Dolan bellowed once more impatiently, it seemed that Rick was going to be getting a real ass-whoopin' if he didn't get back to his work soon.

He coughed a little and turned away, his demeanour changing completely. "I'll see ya at dinner then." He said flatly but didn't leave, waiting for her to respond.

She had nodded but after a second realized he hadn't been able to see her so she replied with a barely audible, "Yes, dinner."

With that he marched out of the barn, tall and not entirely full of pride.

Mary watched after his retreating form for a long while and finally shook her head to herself, setting her lips in a straight unwavering line. She turned back to her work, trying to focus on milking the cow that stood bored in front of her and trying to keep repeating to herself that she should just forget that the conversation between her and Rick had even happened.

And so she did, she pushed the incident from her mind... For the time being.

By the time dinner rolled around and Mary made her way to the dining room everyone was already there and seated about the table, waiting for her and chatting pleasantly amongst one another.

The young woman's hair stood up on her arms when she saw that the only seat available was the one furthest away from her parents and directly next to Rick.

It took her a bit of quiet self-motivation to begin her walk over to her seat, but she finally made it, and with some hesitation sat down in her seat, tucking herself in nice and proper and folding her petite hands into her lap. She kept her eyes downcast but her back was straight, she couldn't bare to look at any of them for fear that her discomfort may show on her features.

Suzy watched her daughter for a second and then smiled, brushing off the girls odd behaviour like she'd been doing for the past couple of days and then telling the group at the dinner table to dig in.

Everyone at the table with the exception of Rick and Mary went for the food, filling their plates and beginning to fill their stomachs and continue on loudly with the conversation. No one took any notice of the two youngest adults in the room, after all they were both quiet people and this was how they normally acted, wasn't it?

Rick made the first move, taking a hunk of steak and placing it on his place, when he saw that the female next to him was still refusing to move he plopped one of the steaks onto her plate as well.

With shaky hands she grabbed her cutlery and slowly sliced into her meat and took a bite, it was hard to chew. Even though she knew the food should be delicious it still tasted like nothing to her, it was heavy and vile in her mouth but she swallowed it down anyways, not wishing to draw any negative attention her way.

She ate silently and slowly, as did Rick, but he seemed far more at ease then she did with this all.

By mid-meal Mary had calmed down quite a bit, and she was just beginning to feel that dinner would go on quite normally when she felt a calloused hand on her smooth upper thigh.

The girl almost choked on the steak in her mouth, her eyes wide and her posture stiff as a board.

Slowly her eyes dropped down and she saw one of Rick's dark tanned hand contrasting with the pale white skin of her leg. She swallowed her food down heavily and looked up and away from what he was doing, something akin to horror and warmth running through her all at the same time.

Mary shivered as his fingers pushed the skirt of her dress slowly upwards until her underwear was nearly at the point of being visible. His hand moved further down and in-between her legs, trying to make it to her crotch but he was stopped when she clamped her legs closed tightly, trapping his hand just where it was and stopping him from getting at his prize.

She lifted her eyes up to his and they stared at each other, he looked so relaxed, not guilty at all, she didn't know whether to be upset with him or not.

"M-ma?" Mary sputtered and pried her eyes away from Ricks to look over at her curious mother. "May I be excused; I'm not feelin' to fine." And this was the truth, her face was flushed a deep red and she looked as if she was about to topple backward in a dead faint.

Suzy tilted her head to the side in concern and nodded, "Course ya can sweet heart."

The girl didn't wait a single moment, she spread her legs, letting his hand go and stood quickly, flattening down her dress and rushing out of the room without hesitation. Instead of going to her room she ran through the house and out of the front door into the night, taking in a deep breath of fresh air and making her way around to the house and leaning up against one of the side walls.

She was grasping the front of her dress and panting hard, her knees shaking weakly below her, she felt so light-headed.

Her eyes widened when she heard the creak of the front door open and close and then heavy foot steps going down the old porch steps.

It only took a few moments for Rick to come around the side of the house and make his way over to her. He didn't stop until he was directly in front of her, barely a foot away, staring sharply down at her unmoving form. He lifted up his hands and took hold of her elbows before stepping in closer, his body pressing to hers.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry." He apologized hotly and lowered his head down close before finally letting his mouth drop onto hers.

The kiss he gave her was deep and full of heat, it filled her so entirely with warmth that she nearly melted right there on the spot. Mary rose her hands up and she knocked his hat off before planting her hands on the back of his head, holding him even closer and deepening the kiss.

This was like the kisses she saw in the pictures.

No, it was even better those kisses, so much better, so much realer.

Rick broke the kiss and embraced her, closing his eyes and sucking in some much needed oxygen. "I don't know what's got into me, pretty lady." He spoke softly and leaned back a little to look down at Mary. He quirked the corner of his mouth upward in a semblance of what could be considered a smile.

Mary didn't respond right away, instead backing out of his hold and patting down the front of her dress. "I wouldn't be able to tell ya." Her voice was breathless but she seemed to be trying to make herself look nonchalant, the man only tilted his head curiously.

"You're upset with me?" He questioned innocently and stuck his hand up, grabbing onto her dirty blond locks tenderly and giving an affectionate tug.

Her eyes narrowed a little and she crossed her arms over her chest, making sure to keep her eyes directed away from him. "I'm not sure how to feel with you. I can't be sure why you're actin' this way, it could just be to get in good with my pa like ya were sayin' earlier this mornin'." Mary accused and sent him a quick glance from beneath her eyelashes before turning her head away again.

Rick frowned deeply at her words and shook his head, "You think i'm the type that'd just kiss a girl for a silly reason like that?"

Mary shrugged and tugged her hair out of his hand, her eyes closed and her nose tilted up in the air. She would not be letting herself get fooled by this man. "I don't know what type you are, Rick. And I don't think I'd like to know." With that she turned and started to walk away, heading around the side of the house.

She looked over her shoulder to see him still staring at her with his deep dark eyes and that same serious look on his face. Quickly she turned her head and slipped around the corner, as soon as she was out of his sight she darted inside of the house and sprinted upstairs to her room before anyone caught her.

Her body hit her bed with a muffled thud, eyes wide and peering up at her ceiling as her heart raced a mile a minute.

There was no way she'd be getting much sleep that night.

My god, I have wanted to put this up for mooooonths, but this silly site was giving me so much trouble! Pfft, I hope my old fans give this a read and enjoy it, I really like this one. Also, i'll be publishing a chapter of Captivated soon and i've got half a chapter of Hunters Moon finished!