by Meg Buchanan
She swung off her horse and waited for him to do the same, then he wandered over and kissed her. The peaks on their helmets gnashed.
“Better?” he asked.
She nodded.
“We should tie them up.” Because really, with them both holding reins in one hand, the helmets in the way, and with horses looking over their shoulders it was a bloody unsatisfactory kiss. He took the reins from her. So much for her taking charge. “We don’t want them running away, if we’re preoccupied.”
Milly smiled and nodded.
He led both horse over to a tree with a convenient patch of grass. Got them tied up. Milly stood and watched him.
He went back to her.
“Now, where were we?” He pushed the hair back from her face and hooked it behind her ears. “You look great by the way.”
She smiled tentatively. He put his arms around her and went to kiss her again. She gave that hesitant smile and moved her mouth away.
“I tried to work out a way to bring a rug, but Dad was there.”
For fuck’s sake. He put his forehead against hers.
“What does Tom have to do with this?” Now they were talking about her father.
“It would have looked strange to him.”
He slid his hands inside her jacket, gently tasted her lips.
“It would have.”
Or then again, maybe she was one of those girls who liked to talk things to death first. He wished he knew her better and knew why it was always start stop, start stop with her. After the other night under the canopy most girls he knew would be all over him. But here she was now, curved and perfect, and as stiff as a statue.
He stopped, rested his palms on her hips. “Don’t you want this?”
Her hands slid up around his neck. She looked up at him, lips parted, that breathless look to her. And finally nodded.
“I just can’t work out how it would work. It’s so early in the morning and the grass is wet.”
So that’s the problem. “Leave the logistics to me.” If she wanted him to take charge he could do that.
20. Chapter Twenty
Milly nodded again, and he kissed her properly this time. The taste of her filled him. This is what he’d been imagining. The way she felt, the way she tasted. The warmth, the softness.
This time her response came as quickly as it did under the canopy, the quick drawing in of breath, the soft warm welcoming mouth, the hands through his hair.
Then he lifted her up and she giggled, her arms tightened around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her the three steps to the big tree and rested her against it. This time the kiss went as deep as he could take it. He felt her tighten her legs around his waist and force herself even closer, trying to get more. He slid his mouth along her jaw line and her head tipped back against the tree trunk.
He looked up at her face, her eyes closed, lips apart.
He needed to solve the wet grass problem before they both fell over.
He carefully lowered her so she was standing again, leaning back against the tree.
Slowly he tapered the kiss and pulled away a little.
Her eyes opened, dark and smoky.
She ran her hand down his t shirt and looked puzzled. “Cole?”
He slid her jacket down her arms, then dropped it beside them. She shivered as his hands moved back up and cupped her face. He kissed her, deeper and more urgent this time, her response overwhelmed him again.
He pulled away and shrugged out of his jacket.
“I need to sit down.” He spread it over the damp grass under the tree, then spread hers out beside it. “Room for two,” he said.
“I didn’t think of that.” Milly smiled in the dappled light and pushed her hair back off her face. Her cheeks pink and warm. She had that just kissed, red-lipped, slightly breathless look.
He took her hand and led her to the makeshift bed. The horses munched on the grass and the river rumbled.
He sat down on his coat and tugged her hand to join him.
“Come here.” He leaned back on one elbow.
But when she did join him, she kneeled just out of reach, with her hands resting on her thighs.
What the hell? It felt like everything she did this morning was to make this as bloody awkward as possible.
She tipped her head to one side and gave a little half smile. “Very smooth, Mr Davies.”
There she was in jersey and jodhpurs, still just out of reach, laughing at him now. He nodded at the long riding boots, tucked under her.
“Nice boots,” he said. The boots fitted like a glove. They looked like they’d be hard to get off and the jodhpurs too.
“Would you like to take them off?”
“A bit hard to figure out how to do it with you sitting that way.”
“I can change that.” She moved enough so she half sat and half lay down, like he was. She rested on her elbows, but was the wrong way around still. His head near the tree trunk, hers the other way, the only things touching were their legs.
She stuck a boot, all black leather and zips and elastic, onto his lap. “Go on,” she said.
Okay, he could rise to a challenge. He felt at the back of the boot. Unzipped it and got rid of it.
“Next one?” Got rid of that one too, and then knelt up.
At least Milly seemed to have got over her shyness, and her worry about the wet grass. She lay there in the damp, resting on her elbows, and waited.
“Now, where were we?” he said, and Milly giggled. “Sit up.”
She sat up, and nothing seemed awkward any more. He lifted her jersey and t shirt over her head. She had a bra on this time, all white and lacy. He unhooked it and it went the way the boots had gone.
Milly had stopped talking.
“Lie back.” And she did and stretched her arms above her head offering him her body as a present.
He took his time, touching and tasting, lips, throat, breasts and stomach. She just ran her fingers through his hair or stretched and arched into his mouth and hands.
He moved to the dome on the jodhpurs and looked up at her.
“Time for everything else to go?”
She nodded, so he slowly removed them, no problem, as smooth as silk, then the lace that matched the bra. She moved just enough to help when he needed her to.
“What do you want me to do now?” she asked, when she lay there naked on the jackets.
“I still get to choose?”
Milly nodded.
“Okay.” He studied her naked in the soft morning sunlight. Milly lay there quiet and passive. It wasn’t the way she’d been under the canopy. The small breasts, the flat stomach, the wisp of hair. He could just keep going with his hands and mouth. She’d liked that under the canopy. He had too.
The sun filtered through the leaves of the tree and made patterns on her skin. Her hair fanned out on the grass, messy and slightly damp. Her eyes were darker, her lips redder, her body white, except for the bikini lines. She looked perfect.
And he knew exactly what he wanted her to do.
He rolled onto his side, so they were facing. He rested his cheek on his palm.
“Show me what you do when you’re alone,” he suggested.
“Really?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
“I’m interested. Have been since you told me.”
“That I can make myself come?”
He nodded.
“And you want to watch?”
He nodded again. As fantasies go it was a good one. He didn’t know how long he’d watch for, but he suspected he wouldn’t get bored.
“You won’t laugh?”
“I won’t laugh.”
She nodded then hesitantly lifted her hand and touched her fingers against her lips.
She opened her mouth enough to lick them, still watching him.
He watched intently as she slid her hand down her body until her fingers were between her legs. Her eyes closed as
she stroked gently. Then her head fell back, and her lips parted, slowly her breath became harsher.
Then one hand clutched his thigh, as the other stroked between her legs. Mesmerised, he watched her back arch and her knees bend and part. Now he could see the hand stroking the flesh, much harder than he would ever have dared.
She looked spectacular and lost to him somehow.
He’d never seen anything as amazing before.
After a while, he saw a change convulse over her, her hand moved harder and faster until she shuddered, and she sank back into the jackets.
Then she reached for him, still touching herself, gently now.
He pulled her close and she curled up into him. Her eyes still closed. Her arm around his waist.
He held her, and she seemed to slowly come back to him, as he stroked her hair, lost for words.
She drew in a breath like a sigh.
“I can’t believe I did that with you watching,” she murmured.
He held her tighter. “You were beautiful.” That seemed a good safe word to use.
She’d done what he’d asked her to. Now he owed her something in return. “Tell me what to do, boss,” he said after a while.
Milly slowly uncurled. “Make love to me.”
She sat up and touched the hem of his shirt. He wiggled enough to help her get it off. She dropped it, stroked the bare skin of his chest, then ran her fingers down his arm.
“Tessa is right. You should go on stage like this.”
“That right?” He stood and got rid of the rest of his clothes.
She curled on her side and watched.
When he lay down beside her again, she tangled her legs with his and dug her hands in his hair. Then dragged his head down to hers and kissed him.
They both rolled enough that he was on top of her, and he pushed himself back to go down on her. His mouth moved between her breast, then lower. But she stopped him.
“No, not that.” She reached for his cock. “This.”
He was ready. He wasn’t sure if she was. Didn’t know how that worked. But if that’s what she wanted. He entered her moving slowly at first.
Yep, she was ready. He moved back and then she gasped as he went deeper, her thighs tightened around him.
Again, and again until he felt her body stiffen. He went with her, found his release, then collapsed. After a while, she wrapped her arms around him.
He pushed the hair off her face. “Good?”
“Yes,” she said breathlessly. She raised her head to kiss him, and he ran his hands down her back.
21. Chapter Twenty-One
As they were riding back to the house, Milly looked over at him and smiled. The memory of her, flushed and naked, bringing herself to a climax just because he asked her to, echoed through his mind.
Usually, when he made love it was all about the girl. He suspected that’s why they liked him. The last hour or so with Milly had been all about him and what he wanted. He could get used to that.
Tobias skittered sideways at a leaf blowing in the wind. Milly pulled him back in line. It took them a lot longer to get dressed than it should have. He didn’t want their time under those trees to end. She was great, and not just at riding.
“I heard what Daddy said about you having to watch me when I’m training Tobias.”
He nodded. “It seems pretty reasonable considering a leaf fluttering can upset him.”
Milly leaned forward and patted Tobias’ neck. “He just needs to learn to trust me. Like Wildfire did. She started off as flighty as he is. I still miss her, I wish she...” She trailed off and didn’t finish the sentence. He felt guilty again. he’d killed her bloody horse.
After a while she looked up at him. “You’d talk to me before you told Dad Tobias was too much for me, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“That’s good.”
They were almost back at the house before she said anything else. Then she turned so she could see him again. “I’ve been thinking. Instead of just watching me work, you could help me train them.”
“I don’t know anything about dressage or jumping.”
Milly shrugged. “You’ve been working here for four years. You’re good with horses. I think you’d figure it out. Anyway, I could teach you.”
“Yeah. If that’s what you want.”
“You’d be good at it. Dressage is just training a horse so he’s flexible, balanced, and obedient. You start the training on the lunge line and then you ride them in the arena to practice what you’ve taught them.”
“Sounds easy. When would we start?”
“As soon as we get back.”
“Slave driver,” he said, and she laughed.
About an hour later, they were both in the paddock with the horses on lunge lines.
Milly gently flicked her line. “We’ll start by working them for ten-minutes on the lunge.”
Tobias walked obediently in an arc around her. Milly looked all business, long whip in one hand and a line in the other. She looked like she knew what she was doing. He was sure he didn’t. Cole had Karim, and the horse looked at him in a, do you know what you are doing, way?
Luckily everyone else was more interested in training the racehorses than watching him.
Milly looked over. “Cole, ask Karim to walk in a twenty-metre circle. When he can do that, get him to trot, then canter and halt. Use consistent voice commands to help him understand what you want him to do.”
Yeah, right.
She went back to lunging Tobias. He walked and then moved smoothly to a canter.
Cole tried to copy what Milly did. Karim yawned then almost did as he asked.
Milly glanced over. “Don’t control the line too much. Allow him to stretch and move naturally. Watch his gait and take note of areas where he might need more training.”
He couldn’t see anything wrong with Karim’s gait. “That might have to be your job for a while.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Milly got Tobias to halt and change direction. He walked a little then moved into that trot again.
“How did you get him to do that?” Cole asked.
“I told him.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“With the line. I’ll show you in a minute.” She went back to working with Tobias. The bloody horse walked, trotted, then cantered. It halted, changed direction and then did it all again. Cole and Karim watched.
After ten minutes Milly stopped working with Tobias. She came over and handed the line to Cole and took Karim’s.
“Hose down Tobias and put him in his box, then I’ll show you what you should have done with Karim.”
By the time he came back to the paddock Milly had Karim working as well has Tobias had been. She made it look easy.
“You take over.” She handed him the whip and line.
She gave instructions and he tried to follow them. Karim seemed to be doing it right, he still had no idea why. After another ten minutes work they hosed off the sweating horse and put him away too.
They walked back to the house together.
“You’ll catch on. By the end you almost had it right.” Milly opened the back door.
He could feel a few eyes on them now. Nobody else got invited back to the house after working a horse. He’d hear about this later. No way Ewan and Gary would let this pass without a comment.
Milly went inside. “Karim knows what he’s doing anyway, so he’ll teach you. I think tomorrow we’ll try them in the arena.”
Inside Tom was making coffee. “How did the first training go?”
“Good.” Milly got three mugs out of the cupboard, then sat down at the breakfast bar. “I’m going to get Cole to help me whenever I’m training them. You don’t mind, do you?”
Her father shook his head.
“No, it’s a good idea. You happy with that, Cole? It’ll be an early start for you each morning.”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m not sure what use I’m going to be t
hough.”
“Listen to Milly. She knows what’s she’s doing.” He poured the coffee into the mugs. “How’s Stadium going?”
“Luke’s got work for us in the weekends,” he said tentatively. He’d been meaning to talk to Tom about this. Tom seemed to expect him to be on call Saturdays and Sundays even though he didn’t officially work those days. “We’ve got a pub gig on Saturday nights in Hamilton.”
“Impressive. How much time will that take up?”
Cole shrugged. “Saturday afternoons, I guess. If you need me in the weekends I can do Saturday morning and Sunday.”
Tom handed Cole a mug. “Sounds fine, we can work around that.” He slid a mug across to Milly. “What’s the plan for tomorrow, Princess?”
“Dressage training,” said Milly.
“You begin dressage training with light contact,” said Milly late the next morning. “Use the lightest possible touch on the reins to guide the horse.”
because he was getting the lecture. They had progressed to sitting on the horses to work them. It looked like she thought Karim knew what to do.
“Ride with a slightly loose rein and a light hand. As the horse gets better, gradually take up more contact. No, not like that. Like this.” She demonstrated what he’d done wrong and then what he should have done. “It's important for the rider to have an independent seat and hand so that the contact remains light. If you hang onto the reins you can hurt the horse's mouth and create tension, the opposite of what you’re trying to do.”
It was an eye opener. It turned out Milly could get bossy and today she showed just how bossy she could get.
Next thing he was riding without stirrups.
“This will help you learn how to sit deep and centred in the saddle, especially at a sitting trot,” said Milly.
“I’m not planning on riding dressage,” he pointed out. “I’m just meant to be helping you.”
“You’re no help to me if you don’t know what you are doing,” she snapped.
He swung down from the horse. “I’ve had enough.”
“But we’ve only just started.” Tobias started backing up. Milly brought him back under control.
He checked his watch. “We’ve been going for an hour since we got back from our ride, and Fred wanted me to help him this morning. You’re going to have to find something else to do.” It wasn’t true about Fred needing help. But he didn’t want Milly storming off if he objected too much. He’d look a fool standing in the arena, holding two horses.