Cal lowered his belt. "Hey, boy, I ain't done whipping her muley ass." He was panting from the exertion of the five lashes he'd given her, and sweat rolled off his forehead and dripped off his nose.

Harlan couldn't help but to laugh. "Set yourself down, Cal. Let the boy take care of her. He'll give her more than a whipping to think about."

Cal gave Harlan a grim look, then smiled. "You make a lot of sense, Harlan." He reseated himself with a look of satisfaction.

The old boar's thanking the Almighty, Harlan thought, thanking the Almighty for sending Seth to take over. It's too hot a day for tanning hide, he's thinking.

Ruby squirmed on the floor, trying to escape Seth's biting and clawing and finger-jamming. Besides that, she was likely still smarting from her father's leather belt. She uncoiled suddenly and struck at Seth's face with her fingernails. Seth jerked away as if he'd been struck at by a rattlesnake.

"Goddamn you, bitch!" Cal shouted, and he started to struggle out of his chair.

Harlan reached over and held him down. "Leave her be, Cal. Let the boy take care of her. He's gotta learn how to tame a wild filly sometime."

Cal settled back. "All right," he said, "but I don't like the uppity way she's behaving. She's been tame enough for five years now – best Goddamn whore a man could ask for. Now why's she getting so Goddamn uppity all of a sudden?" He shook his head.

"Ain't nothing wrong with a little spunk in a female," Harlan said, and he rubbed his aching cock again. He liked women with fight. He'd sired six sons on a muley wife – rest her soul. But that was ancient history. He hadn't wrestled a female in years. He hoped Ruby would still have some fight in her after Seth got through with her.

Seth kneeled up and struggled out of his pants. Ruby lay before him on the floor, glaring at him like a mad black cat. Ruby had yellowish-green eyes and, together with her black hair, they made her look mean. The boy had a tight ass and muscular legs, which were both very white in contrast to his sun-tanned torso. Harlan smiled to himself as Seth sat back to drag the jeans off over his big feet. The boy was wiry and mean. This was going to be a good cat fight.