“It’s been twenty years since I’ve been on a horse.”
“Then you’re ahead of anyone who’s never been on one. Come on, you don’t need your own pony, we can share this one.”
“Whoa, hang on. You’d make that poor horse carry both of us? And what about the dog?”
“Sun is a big, strong quarter horse; he could carry us both all day.” She contemplated the dog, who cocked her batwing ears and gave an eerily human smile. “Let Angel off the leash and see how she does.”
“She could disappear again.” The idea troubled him more than he cared to admit.
“I don’t think she will. She likes us. C’mon, turnabout is fair play. I had to ride your metal horse. Mine is flesh and blood.”
If he was looking for distractions, this certainly beat all. He’d ridden his aunt’s horses enough times to get tossed off once or twice, and he didn’t want that at his age. But Jill’s smile was almost as eager as Angel’s, and she was right. She’d been game about the Triumph.
“Well, Sun old boy.” He patted the horse’s sleek neck. “I’ve been invited on your date with the pretty girl. Is it okay with you?”
Jill giggled at him and kissed Sun on the blaze between his nostrils and cupped her hands around his muzzle. Grasping his top and bottom lips she made them move. “Yes. It’s fine with me,” she said in a low, ridiculous voice. “I would be honored to carry you.”
“You know you’re goofier than a monkey with a mirror, right?”
He might just as well have told her she looked like a princess. Her pure, childlike grin pushed a spike into his pulse. As he unclipped Angel’s leash he wondered if this ride was such a good idea after all.
Chapter Thirteen
JUST PAST TWILIGHT, Jill halted Sun at Bridge Creek’s outermost pasture. Angel, who’d traveled the trail as if born to it, sat as if commanded beside Sun’s forelegs. Behind her, on Sun’s broad rump, Chase shifted. She was almost used to the bulk and strength of him and almost over the shivers his arms around her waist sent zipping down her spine. But whenever she stopped marveling at the sensations, he would speak, and his rolling, accented baritone ratcheted the desire right back up again.
“This is quite a spread.”
“David has worked hard. Bridge Creek is one of the premier facilities in the Midwest. Maybe you’ll be here for his big show in August.”
Her stomach bounced a little in anticipation. Would he be? She shouldn’t care since she’d know the man four days. Or was it three? Or was it a week?
“That’d be a premature guess, ma’am.”
She smiled to hide the tweak of disappointment at his equivocal answer and changed the subject. “You stayed on pretty well for that long ride. You’ll look great as a bowlegged cowboy tomorrow.”
“Hope so, because that’s definitely what I’ll be come morning.”
She threw a grin over her shoulder and urged Sun forward again. Chase rocked against her, and a new round of thrills danced jigs in her stomach.
They walked the fenceline for several minutes until Chase gave a snort of amusement. “We’re being followed.”
She glanced into the pasture at their shadowy equine stalker and halted again. “Slide off, I’ll introduce you.”
“This guy looks like a carbon copy of Sun.” Chase reached for the other horse’s muzzle.
“This is Cassidy. Isn’t it uncanny? I’ve owned Sun since I was nine and he was five. When I found Cass through a Thoroughbred rescue, I couldn’t resist her. Their dark liver chestnut color is rare enough, but even the blazes give the same twist over their left nostrils. Cass is the horse that put my mother over the edge. Who needs three horses? And she’s right. I really can’t afford them, but who would I get rid of?” She scratched Cassidy’s cheek. “Not you, would I, love?”
“It’s hard to miss how you light up around horses. You were in a little bit of ecstasy when you caught sight of that huge horse at McCormick’s this afternoon.”
“Yeah. She kind of blew me away. I really like it when I see a kid taking lessons suddenly fall in love with horses, too. It happens all the time.”
“Oh, I see. You’re no more than a drug dealer creating junkies to support your habit.”
He was quick. Completely unexpected. And perceptive. She was a dealer—a proselytizer. If more kids took up riding and the care of horses, schools and streets would be safer places. Rebecca Barnes was a case in point. The child needed a solid dose of barn work to take her mind off sneering and shrugging.
“C’mon, we should get back. The barn’s probably deserted by now.” She checked the cinch on Sun’s saddle and then mounted easily without too much protest from her shoulder. “Step up on the bottom fence rail and climb on.”
As Chase settled behind the cantle, Jill’s stomach gave a lurch and excitement spun immediately into a whirl of desire that traveled low and settled securely between her thighs. Electrified and embarrassed in equal parts, she concentrated on not letting him know how hot her face felt or how liquid and boneless her body had gone.
Once back at the barn, Chase took it on himself to give Sun a thorough brushing. Jill watched him while she finished with the tack, wondering how it was possible he could be the sexiest man who’d ever groomed a horse. He leaned into the task, naturally following the contours of Sun’s body, scrubbing hard over the big muscles, lightening his touch over the tender spots. What would it feel like to have him take such care with her?
The memory of their lip brush that afternoon sent one spasm of pleasure deep to her core. When it didn’t break up but nestled there, begging for more hot fuel, she gave Chase the okay to quit, afraid to watch him any longer.
Together they let Sun into the pasture with Cass and the others, and Chase fell into step beside her as she headed to the barn for a last check. His quiet presence continued firing all her nerve endings into a frenzy. She longed for the courage to touch him and see what happened. But the courage wasn’t there.
At the end of the barn walkthrough, he leaned against an open, empty stall door.
“All done?” he asked.
“Yup, lights out.”
“Ready to head home?”
“Sure,” she said, her emotions churning in disappointment.
“Do you need to go home?” he asked.
Disappointment slid toward shivery hope. “We should take Angel back.”
“I could tempt the fates again and smuggle her into the guesthouse again.”
“You’d do that?”
“I hate to stick her back in that kennel. And neither of us has eaten. Do you always eat this late?”
Disappointment flared again. Drat his perfect gentleman’s manners. He wasn’t suggesting anything but food.
“Too often. Luckily, I know a few late-night spots. And I’d love to not put Angel at the clinic.”
“Then it’s decided.”
“Okay.”
Reluctantly, Jill found the light switch near the door and snapped it. Blackness robbed them of sight.
“Muwahaha.” His disembodied voice echoed. “Beware of bogeymen.”
“Heck, what good is having a big, strong, Southern biker around if he can’t protect you from bogeymen?” Her eyes began to focus in the dim light. “Where’s the dog?”
“She was right here.”
“Angel?” Jill called. “C’mon, girl. Let’s go get you something to eat.” She’d responded to her new name all evening. Jill frowned.
Chase gave a soft, staccato, dog-calling whistle. Angel stuck her head out from a stall a third of the way down the aisle. “There she is. C’mon, girl.”
Angel disappeared into the stall.
“Weird,” Jill said, and headed down the aisle.
At the door to a freshly bedded, empty stall they found Angel curled beside a mound of sweet, fragrant hay, staring up as if expecting them.
“Silly girl,” Jill said. “You don’t have to stay here. We’re taking you home. Come.”
Angel didn’t budge. She rest
ed her head between her paws and gazed through raised doggy brows. Chase led the way into the stall. “Everything all right, pup?” He stroked her head.
Jill reached for the dog, too, and her hand landed on Chase’s. They both froze. Slowly he rotated his palm and wove his fingers through hers. The few minor fireworks in the car earlier had been nothing compared to the explosion now detonating up her arm and down her back.
“I’ve been trying to avoid this since I got off that dang horse.” His voice cracked into a low whisper.
“Why?”
He stood and pulled her to her feet. “Because I am not a guy someone as young and good as you are should let do this.”
“You’ve saved my life and rescued a dog. Are you trying to tell me I should be worried about you?”
She touched his face, bold enough in the dark to do what light had made her too shy to try.
“Maybe.”
The hard, smooth fingertips of his free hand slid inexorably up her forearm and covered the hand on his cheek. Drawing it down to his side, he pulled her whole body close, and the little twister of excitement in her stomach burst into a thousand quicksilver thrills. Her eyelids slipped closed, and his next question touched them in warm puffs of breath.
“If I were to kiss you right now, would it be too soon?”
Her eyes flew open, and she searched his shadowy eyes, incredulous. “You’re asking permission? Who does that?”
“Seemed like the right thing.”
“Well, permission granted, now hush.”
She freed her hands, placed them on his cheeks, roughened with beard stubble, and rose on tiptoe to meet his mouth while he gripped the back of her head.
The soft kiss nearly knocked her breathless with unleashed power. Chase dropped more hot kisses on each corner of her mouth and down her chin, feathered her nose and her cheeks, and finally returned wondrously to her mouth. Again and again he plied her bottom lip with his teeth, stunning her with his insistent exploration. The pressure of his lips and the clean, masculine scent of his skin took away her equilibrium. She could only follow the motions of his head and revel in the heat stoking the fire in her belly.
He pulled away at last and pressed parted lips to her forehead. Stepping carefully backward, he took her along, their escalated breathing syncing in the dark. Chase backed into a corner of the stall, slumping slightly for balance, and she settled against him, belly to belly, thigh to thigh, her breasts crushing against his torso. Gripping her bottom, he urged her hips closer, and desire rushed to the pulsing spot between her legs.
His touches became offerings, smoothing over the swell of her seat, caressing her sides, sliding up her spine. With the sparest motions he brushed loose wisps of hair from her face before bending to mate their mouths once more.
This time there was no chastity from either of them. When his head angled, she eagerly allowed his warm, arching tongue between her lips, and he tasted good—something far more exotic than anything she’d ever tried before. They started their dance of acquaintance, tasting and turning, learning the steps together. He teased and tantalized her, drew her into his mouth, and let her explore. She pushed into him and groaned as their kiss fanned her desire.
But although each giddy step made his physical pleasure more evident, he never pressured. Jill knew without question she could break away any moment, and Chase would honor the choice. She pressed all the closer and sent inquisitive fingers delving into his thick black hair, fingering it, combing it, and learning its textures before trailing to his cheeks. She stroked the corners of his mouth, riding along with the thrust of his tongue. More thrills scattered like buckshot through her body. She pressed against the length of him, gasping in pleasure at the fit of his arousal against her, weak from the power they were discovering.
“Hey there, kid …” He pushed her away for the first time.
“Kid, is it now?” Out of breath, she set her forehead against his chest. “Did I age you with that kiss?”
He struggled for breath, too. “You’re a kid, all right, even though you sure don’t kiss like one.” He touched his lips once again to hers, but then pushed and held her far enough away that she couldn’t reciprocate.
Sighing, she struggled for a way to discover what had gone wrong. “What’s going on all of a sudden? You aren’t exactly the two-thousand-year-old man.”
He straightened, a wry smile on his sensuous lips. “One thousand maybe.”
“Now, now, you promised to ’fess up about your feeble age after the first—”
He set his forefinger against her mouth. When he spoke, his attempt at levity barely came through. “I thought that was a safe bet.”
“What possible difference could your age make?” She scuttled forward and rocked her hips once more into his hard length. “Under the circumstances?”
His sigh mixed with a groan. “I’m thirty-eight, Jill. You’re twenty-five. Tell me that doesn’t make a difference.”
Jill was grateful the dim light hid her features while she calculated. Thirteen years. The revelation stunned her, not because he was too old, but because he truly was older than he looked. Chase’s hands dropped dully to his sides.
“Wait.” She caught his left hand and found the fingers clenched. After hugging them to her cheek, she kissed his knuckles. “It doesn’t make any difference at all. Did you really think I’d care?”
“You probably should.”
“But why? I’m an adult. You could have told me you were forty-eight or even sixty-eight. It wouldn’t have changed what I felt when you kissed me.”
“That’s the danger,” he added quietly. “My life is a can of worms. I’m not your basic Disney material.”
“Do I look like Snow White to you?”
“No. You look like her kid sister to me.”
A tiny flash of irritation pulsed through her. “That’s not fair. Did you kiss me just to see what kissing a kid would be like? You don’t seem like the type.”
“Of course not. I kissed you because you’re smart, you’re beautiful, and you’ve shocked the hell out of me by turning me on since the moment you licked ketchup off your T-shirt in that stupid truck of yours. But I shouldn’t have acted. We might not know each other well, but I have figured out you aren’t the kind of girl who wants a one-night stand.”
Her irritation couldn’t keep its grip in the face of his sincerity, warped though it was. “I must be, because I don’t know about you but I sure wasn’t expecting life commitments from this, Chase. Two consenting adults—or one adult and a decrepit old man—making out in a barn. That’s all that was on my mind.”
He finally allowed an easier smile, and he tugged on her hand as he slid down the wall to sit in the soft, fresh shavings. She settled beside him, resting her hand on his thigh, a sense of power flowing through her as he shifted, looking uncomfortable.
“It’s simple to you,” he said. “But we’re very different. You’re fresh and optimistic. I’m jaded and pushing forty. A fairly tarnished forty.”
“A knight in tarnished armor. Pull a worm from the can, Mr. Preston. It’s about time I got a little background out of you.”
She traced a pattern on the denim stretched across his thigh while she waited for him to speak. He’d listened to her plenty, but it was true—he’d shared very little about his own life.
“Among other things my past harbors an ex-wife.”
His sudden admission caused a pang of jealousy. She nearly laughed as it dissipated. Jealous of someone who three seconds before hadn’t existed?
“Is there a current one?”
A mild chuckle pierced his discomfort. “No.”
“Good. That’s sort of the real issue, don’t you think?”
“The important thing is, it matters a lot to me what you think,” he said. “I got married for all the wrong reasons. I was very young, she was beautiful, and we were hot-stuff college seniors. But we never talked about whether our goals were the same. In the end, she wanted glitz
, and I was happy to grub hard at anything. I clung to the marriage for four years because my family believes marrying someone means making a commitment you don’t walk away from. In the end, I made her be the one to leave.”
“I’m sorry.”
She understood his pain over a failed marriage, but something about the depth of his distress didn’t feel right. This had happened long ago, and she wasn’t discussing a future with him. An ex-wife was no reason to freak out over a kiss.
“This bothers you, doesn’t it?” he asked.
She blinked, mystified. “It absolutely does not. What bothers me is the big deal you’re making out of all this. There’s an age difference between us. It’s hardly unheard-of. As for the ex-wife, really, it would have been a little unusual if at your advanced age you’d never been married.” She couldn’t resist poking at the little wound—it was silly in her mind. “C’mon, Chase, it’s like you’re confessing sins, not telling me about your life.”
“You really do get to the heart of things, don’t you?”
“Sometimes, you have to strip things down and look at them for what they are. I’m not always good at it either. But I’m happy to show you how dramatic you’re being over a harmless little kiss.”
She shuffled to her knees, rustling the shavings, and straddled his thighs.
“I don’t think—” he began.
She stopped him with her mouth against his, and after a few seconds he groaned in response. But when his hands finally rose to her arms, it was to push her away yet again. He set his forehead against hers.
“We need to not do this, Jill. I’m sorry. I was wrong to take advantage of you.”
“Dang it!” She scrambled off him and to her feet, her heart pumping with disappointment and a smidge of anger. “Since when is a mutually enjoyed kiss—a freaking great kiss, by the way—taking advantage?”
He held her by the shoulders. “But there are reasons I can’t do this to you. To anyone. I’m kicking myself for forgetting that. You’re a girl a person could fall into and get lost forever—willingly. But I didn’t come here to fall in love.”
“Who’s talking about falling in love?” Her voice rose.
Rescued by a Stranger Page 15