Caroline stared as her body hitched with excitement and her nipples tightened. Sexual intention oozed from his tone, the connotation rife. She pulled back her shoulders, trying for at least a modicum of self-respect, even though she already wanted his cock inside her again. “Maybe.”
A soft smile curved his lips. “Good. Then we understand each other. How do you feel about me teaching you to ride?”
She froze. “What? I couldn’t possibly…I can’t—”
“I want you to feel, touch, and love my horses as I do. I want you to write about my world and mean every word. What happens after that is up to you.”
“Why do I need to learn to ride to do that? I’m on your side.”
He shook his head. “I want more than that. I need you to understand.”
“But—”
“More should come from this than flipping the finger at my dad. I need you to understand my passion for horses. I don’t think you can do this, promote what trainers do…what
I
do if you don’t get it. Would you do this for me? Please?”
She swallowed, her heart racing and her mind whirling. “This is one story, Michael. I’m sorry, but I can’t stay in Fayre Mead. I want London and everything it has to offer.”
Their eyes locked. “Okay, I respect that. But can I teach you to ride, at least?”
“But your father’s coming tomorrow.”
He smiled and hesitated for the briefest moment before he brought his mouth to hers. His tongue slid against hers softly and she groaned, her body instantly responding to him He hitched her closer until her breasts burned against the rock hard plane of his chest. After a moment, their lips parted.
“We still have tonight.” Michael grinned.
Chapter Eight
Michael glanced behind him and bit back his smile as he led Caroline and one of the non-competing horses from the stable yard. Adrenaline pumped through his blood and pride filled his chest. They’d driven from his apartment back to the stables and, the fact she was willing to try to experience something she’d never done before, hitched his attraction to her to another level.
The back of the stables led to miles and miles of open country and he had every intention of showing her what riding was really about. The shows, the contests, and rivalry were only a small part of what owning horses meant. For the most part, it was the sense of freedom and elation these wonderful animals provided. There was nothing like riding in the open air. Nothing.
She stepped ahead of him as they left the yard and the fields came into sight. He studied her and his groin tightened. She’d changed from that dangerous and sexy sleek black dress into a pair of women’s riding pants they’d found laundered and folded in the stable storage room, and paired it with one of his plain white polo shirts and she looked phenomenal. If he’d been asked which outfit made her more of a temptation…he couldn’t have answered. God, she’d look amazing in a damn blanket.
He swallowed at the image of Caroline’s naked curves wrapped in thick fleece on his living room carpet. The woman had well and truly caught him in her web. Trouble was, he had no idea if it was her or the timing that sparked the animalistic need to prove himself to her, to dominate her, to show her that he was his own man regardless of what she—or his father—had planned for him.
Timing was everything. Timing meant the difference between one decision and the next. One outcome and another. Michael narrowed his eyes as he stared across the open fields. Somehow, Caroline had become vital to his next decision. Did he allow a father he’d once loved but now despised back into his life? He couldn’t deny his father’s skill on a horse, but he was still proving to be ruthless in his desires. How could Michael allow a man who destroyed everything in his path back into his life?
He shook his head to clear it as they came to a stop at a closed iron gate. Caroline continued to stare ahead as he studied her tense profile. He’d no idea if putting her on a horse was the right thing to do, but something compelled him to try. He sensed deep inside that she would love every second of riding.
Until he’d seen her in the arena just a few days before, he’d only played with the idea of competing. But now, with her determination and tenacity blending with his, it was something he had to do. Something he could do if
she
believed in him, which was as unsettling as anything else he’d faced in his life. He was a loner. A man who didn’t trust others easily. But the only way she could see what he was capable of was for her to experience it with him.
He turned to face her, passion burning in his gut. “Here, we can ride properly. Show you true equine power.”
“I really don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed struck by the dark, open land ahead of them.
It was ten o’clock on a warm September night and the sky grew darker by the minute, stars appearing one by one like tiny flakes of snow.
“You’ll be all right, you know. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She looked at him, her beautiful eyes wide in the semi-darkness. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. The fact you need to say that.”
He smiled at the undeniably shaky tone of her voice.
“You shove me into riding pants and boots, I can hardly see ten feet in front of me, and you’re holding on to a horse that looks all kitted out for a run. I want to sprint in the other direction, to be honest.”
He grinned and took her hand, pulling her close so that only inches separated them. “I am about to change your life, Miss James. Why not enjoy the experience?”
She darted a nervous glance toward the open field, the skin at her throat shifting. “Change my life? Or take it?”
He laughed and kissed her pouty mouth before he could stop himself. Time stopped as he breathed her in. She smelled of something flowery and, for better or worse, Michael sensed she belonged in his arms in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by trees and open air. Why would anyone want to go to the city and be engulfed by smog and chaos when they could be a part of this gorgeous, English country vista instead?
He pulled away from her warm body and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, letting his knuckles graze the curve of her neck and then lower over the exposed and delicate ridge of her collarbone. “You’re going to love it. No one can enjoy sex like you and not appreciate the raw power of a horse.”
She shivered, her mouth curving into a slow, mischievous smile. “You think I enjoyed sex with you?”
He grinned. “You loved it. All of it.”
“Maybe.” She turned away toward the field. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about what you have planned now.”
“Think of it as research.”
“Hmm, but is it the kind of research that’s going to get me killed?” She rested her hand on the horse’s neck, smoothing her fingers in gentle circles. “What’s his name?”
“Fire.”
Her eyes widened. “Fire? This does not bode well.”
He laughed. “I still caught you admiring him when I tacked him up.”
She met his eyes. “That was before I knew you intended me to get in the saddle.”
“You went from awed fascination, to fear, to what I can only describe as infatuation. Once you gave him that apple from the bin outside his stable, he was yours. Trust him, Caroline. He’s going to look after you.”
She raised her eyebrows. “He is? Or you are?”
He smiled. “Both.”
Michael brushed past her, pushed his foot into the stirrup, and lifted himself into the saddle. She stared up at him, shifting from one foot to the other. He held out his hand.
“God help me.” Caroline inhaled audibly and slid her palm against his.
He pulled her up behind him and she slid her arms tightly around his waist as she settled behind the cantle on the saddle. Michael smiled when he felt the weight of her head against his back. “Are your eyes closed?”
“Yes.”
He grinned. “But you need to see the beauty of it. Feel the wind against your face. If you hide behind me, you’ll miss it all.”
“I’ll let go when I know how fast you’re going to ride. Right now, I am sitting on a horse for the first time in my life in pitch black darkness.”
Michael resisted the urge to laugh. “Relax. Trust me. You’re going to beg me for more.” Her head lifted from his back and her hands slightly loosened from where they were clamped at his torso. “Good. You ready?”
She inhaled a shaky breath. “As I’ll ever be.”
Michael gathered the reins and pressed his heels into Fire’s flanks. He gave a soft click with his tongue and they pushed off at a walk. He’d ease her in slowly, let her feel the power between her thighs, let her slowly trust both man and beast. The night air was warm around them, the scenery shrouded in darkness and lit by beams from the full moon. A perfect night for riding.
Michael smiled as his dick twitched. A perfect night for riding her.
He glanced over his shoulder. “You okay?”
“More than okay. This feels amazing.”
He smiled. “We’re only walking right now.”
“I know, but…I don’t know, it still feels so freeing. Like we can escape and disappear into the night and no one would ever know.”
His stomach knotted. Exactly. That was exactly what happened every time he sat in a saddle. It was freedom. His escape from troubles and concerns. A moment of peace with a powerful animal that only cared about the speed, the control, his master’s commands.
“Are you ready to go faster?” He felt her tense behind him.
Caroline’s hands gripped tightly at his stomach. “I think so. Yes.”
“Keep your head up and trust me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, okay?”
She laughed. “Okay. God, I’m shaking.”
“I want you to feel the horse. Feel his power. Then, when you write, you’ll be able to write from the heart. You’ll see why horses become a part of a person’s blood.” He drew in a long breath. “See why my father wants me to ride for him. And why I won’t.”
He gripped the reins and kicked Fire forward. The horse’s power surged through him, and Michael pushed them into a canter. All the emotion, frustration, torment, and need rolled around inside him and fed through to his charge. Aware of Caroline behind him, of the feel of her body pressed against his, and the knowledge that she could help sever the tie to his father, escalated Michael’s passion to fever pitch and he urged Fire on a little harder.
The wind blew past their faces and the trees blurred on either side of them.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.”
Michael grinned to hear joy rather than fear in Caroline’s cries. Her arms were tight and secure around him, but her head hadn’t dropped to his back in fright again. He would give anything to see her face. He imagined her eyes wide with wonder; her beautiful mouth stretched wide in a smile that she couldn’t hold back.
“This is amazing,” she shouted. “Amazing.”
He grinned. “Hold on.”
“Why? What are you…oh, my God.”
He surged forward and charged the hedge at a gallop. He tugged on the reins and Fire took off.
“Michael!” Her shout was real…and loud in his ear.
They landed with ease on the other side, and he pulled Fire back into a canter as he headed toward the darkness of the secluded forest ahead of them. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and heightened every sense. As they eased into a trot, he took the reins in one hand and ran the other over the white-knuckled grip at his waist.
“Are you all right?”
She shuddered out a laugh. “That…that was…oh, my God. Can we stop?”
“Sure.”
He led Fire to the edge of the forest and came to a halt. He dropped the reins and felt Caroline’s hands slide from his waist. He swung easily down to the ground and then raised his hands to ease her from the horse’s back. She gripped his forearms and he lowered her into his arms.
She stared up at him, her eyes alive with passion and awe. She shook her head, opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and opened it again before cupping her hands to his jaw and roughly bringing his mouth to hers.
****
Her body was wired with something so strong, so electric, that Caroline didn’t know what to do or say. She wanted him. Wanted to release the power, the knowledge, the passion that had risen like a tsunami inside of her. It rushed fiercely through her blood, heating her body and arousing her flesh.
She thrust her tongue against his, taking, savoring, and owning his mouth. She glided her hands from his face to the hard plane of his shoulders, lower to grip biceps as hard as iron. She dug her nails into the flesh as her pussy throbbed with impatience. God, she wanted this man. Wanted to keep safe all the passion that burned like a fire inside him.
His gaze ran over her face and down lower to her breasts. “Wow. You’re just…” He laughed, pushed his hand into his hair. “Just wow.”
Caroline grinned. “Lost for words, huh?”
“You feel it, don’t you?” He pressed a firm kiss to her lips. “You feel it just like I do.”
Her body trembled with the rush of the ride, their kiss, and the palpable tension beating like a heartbeat between them. Was he talking about the horse? Them? She swallowed and nodded. She felt
it,
whichever he referred to. “I do. I really do.”
“God, you are something really, really good.” His mouth came down on hers as his fingers ripped and pulled at the buttons of her borrowed shirt. He yanked it over her shoulders and reached around to unhook her bra. The cool night air hit the hot skin of her breasts and her nipples hardened. His mouth left hers and Caroline quivered with pleasure when he leaned down low and sucked one nipple and then the other into his mouth. The sharp pain assaulted her senses and sent her arousal off the charts. She scored her fingers into his hair, her body pulsing with need and desire.
He let out a low, rumbled growl before lifting her off her feet and carrying her away from Fire. He walked deeper into the forest, away from the open space of the fields, away from everything. The trees surrounded them as they came to a small clearing. The previous week’s sunshine and heat had left the ground dry and perfect.
Please let him want me. Right here, right now.