About Seeing a Man About a Horse
Written by Lorne Rodman
66 pages / 26000 words
ISBN: 1-933389-44-3
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Rancher Casey has been buying horses from the wild horse round-ups for years. He’s never seen a stallion like Feder, though, and when the two of them meet up his well-ordered life goes right out the window.
Feder has always been able to transform from horse to man, but he’s never really had the urge to spend any time as a human until now. He finds Casey, and the things they do together, incredibly intriguing. What both Casey and Feder have to remember is that cowboys and wild animals need to be free to be happy. Can they find the balance that allows them to be together?
Review
Cynthia Potts, editor of the upcoming Play Ball, writes: Oh no, I groaned, upon starting Seeing A Man About A Horse. Stories told from the animal’s point of view are far from my favorite, and I was reading the thoughts of Feder, a mustang stallion who was about to be gelded.
But this book is from Torquere, where a horse is a horse is a horse – except when he’s a shape shifting stud. Feder is rescued by Casey, brought home to the barn, and that’s where the fun and games begin.
One of the tropes of the erotica genre is that everything ends happily ever after, no matter how amazingly unlikely that’s going to be. So when author Lorne Rodman starts exploring Casey’s thought process, and has the pragmatic rancher consider the unlikely pair’s possible future, it was a welcome and well-crafted surprise. Then when a surprisingly satisfying end comes out of what appears to be an unworkable situation, it is even more delightful.
A pleasant change of pace. It’s nice to see a shape shifter story that doesn’t involve abandoned houses, clan wars, and government conspiracy, but still has plenty of hot sex.
Sample
The place was dim and quiet, smelling strongly of manure and straw, and the musky scent of animals. Casey let his eyes adjust to the dark, searching for whatever had set Abbey off. None of the mares were acting strangely, but the new stallion was nowhere to be seen.
He caught a movement out of the corner of his eyes and when he turned to look he'd be a monkey's uncle if there wasn't a man in his barn, in the stallion’s stall, a butt naked man at that.
Casey brought the gun up to bear, not really sparing too much thought as to why a thief would be naked. Just a little more thought went into the fact that his new stallion was gone.
''Who the hell are you? And what have you done with my horse?''
The man jumped, limbs pale and slender, dark brown eyes a little wild, his nostrils just flaring. Long, almost white hair fell in a wild tangle around a long face. The man started to back away, steps clumsy, slow.
''Hey. No way. Stay right where you are.'' No way was the guy gonna slip away.
The man stopped, eyes on the gun and then took another step, stumbling and rolling into the shadows. Before he could take a step forward, the whereabouts of his new stallion became clear, the animal bucking and rearing near where the man had rolled to. He could hear the horse's hooves hitting the barn wall, making the place ring with the noise.
''What the fuck!'' He ran over, peering over the stall door, safe from the flashing hooves, separated from the animal by the stall gate. The stallion's brown eyes were wild, long neighs and whinnies coming from the animal as it kicked out.
''Shh. Hey, shhhh.'' The shotgun clanked against the barn wall as he set it aside far enough that no struggles would knock it over and set it off. Then he climbed up on the slats of the stall door and leaned in a little, crooning. ''Hush, now. Ain't nobody gonna hurt you.''
The horse shook its head and its back legs went out, making the walls ring again with the power of that kick. His voice did seem to have some effect though, the bucking stopping, turning into a sort of prancing in place, the horse’s sides quivering.
''Yeah. That's it, buddy.'' He had to get the damned nag calmed down so he could look for the guy. Hell, the man was probably pulp by now. Casey just
couldn't believe he'd missed the horse in there on first glance.
The stomping started and the horse shook his head, snorting, nostrils working hard.
''Whoa. Whoa, now.'' Damn it, if the silly fool didn't hold still he'd never see anything. ''I just need to see...''
The horse backed up suddenly, getting as far away from him as possible and whinnying at him.
Well, Hell. No man. Casey eased back down, grabbing up his shotgun and checking out the rest of the barn. He could feel the stallion watching him, the horse snorting now and then. The barn was definitely empty though, no sign that anyone had been there but him and the horses. Blinking, he looked back at the stallion, brow furrowing. ''Shit. Well, you sure did scare him off, buddy.''