Riding High

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Bottom line, he hadn’t loved Jeannette the way he should have, considering the big step they’d been about to take. He hoped she’d find someone who would love her like that. It felt good to wish her well. Thanks to Lily, he could finally do that.

  As he walked the property, he evaluated which two horses should come back to the corral with him. Then he noticed Rex standing on a small rise, head up, mane and tail fluttering in the breeze. Okay, that one. He was one of the troublemakers, which meant he might require more effort, but he would show well in the corral. Getting him adopted would eliminate one of Lily’s biggest headaches.

  Instead of approaching the big palomino, Regan relaxed his posture and waited to see if Rex would come to him. They’d established a tentative bond yesterday. Regan visualized the horse walking right up to him.

  Rex looked over at Regan and tossed his head. Then he posed. Regan couldn’t describe it any other way, and it made him chuckle. Rex stood with his chest out and his head high, as if to showcase how truly magnificent he was. Regan wasn’t sure how long this demonstration might last, so he tried a low whistle, just to see if Rex might have been trained to respond to that.

  Rex whinnied exactly as a movie horse might have been taught to do, and walked straight over to Regan. Then he began nosing Regan’s pockets for a snack.

  “Sorry, no treats.” Regan clipped the lead rope on the palomino’s halter and started walking back to the corral. Maybe he’d pick up another horse along the way. “Something tells me that whoever brought you in wasn’t your first owner. You’ve been spoiled by more than one person, haven’t you, Rex?”

  The horse snorted.

  “Yeah, thought so.” Regan glanced back over his shoulder, and sure enough, several horses had fallen into line behind Rex. Regan would have his pick of another animal to train.

  By the time Lily arrived at the corral, Regan was making good progress with Rex. A big bay named Molasses was tied outside the corral waiting his turn. The rest of the horses had drifted away, apparently bored by the proceedings.

  Regan spared a quick glance at Lily, who’d left her hair loose around her shoulders. He’d like to believe that was for his benefit. She’d also added a Western hat, which was wise considering her fair skin. She looked darned cute in it, too. After allowing himself one potent image of her red hair spread out on a white pillowcase, he shut down that avenue of thought and concentrated on Rex.

  “What can I do?”

  “How about untying Molasses and leading him around a bit? See how he does on the lead, unless you already know.”

  “I don’t. Because I never cared where they wandered, I had no reason to put a lead rope on any of them.”

  “Then finding out how he leads would be a good thing. Holler if you need any help.” He figured it would be a good exercise for Lily, too. “By the way, have you ridden any of them?”

  “Nope.”

  “I never thought to ask—do you ride?”

  She shrugged. “I rode my friends’ horses every so often when I was a kid, but I wouldn’t say I’m really confident. That’s probably why I didn’t think to ride any of these guys, especially being out here alone.”

  “That’s okay, but we should know whether they can be ridden before we adopt them out. Did the people who dropped them off mention whether they were good saddle horses or not?”

  “Uh, no. I’m embarrassed about how little information I asked for. I need some sort of intake form, I guess.”

  She should have created such a form early on, but that was water under the bridge. “Don’t worry about it. You have a couple of saddles in the barn we can use. After I’ve worked with Rex and Molasses for a while, we can saddle them up and take them out.”

  “You mean go riding?”

  “Sure.” He had a sudden thought. “Unless you’re too tender.”

  She laughed. “Not yet. But if I’m going to be riding horses this week, then maybe we should refrain from—”

  “Sorry. Not acceptable. I’ll ride the horses.”

  That made her laugh even more. “My, my. I can tell where your priorities are.”

  “As if you had any doubt.”

  “Let’s see how it goes. Maybe I can do both. As for this afternoon, I’d love to take a ride with you, assuming neither of these boys is a bucking bronco.”

  “I’ll make sure of that before I let you get on one.”

  “I’d appreciate that. Okay, I’m off for a walk with Molasses. I won’t go far, in case I need your help.”

  “Good idea.” He hoped she’d get along fine with Molasses, so he wouldn’t be required to come to her rescue. That would bode well for both woman and horse. But he was a typical guy, after all, and he’d discovered that being a woman’s white knight was pretty damned cool.

  * * *

  LILY DIDN’T HAVE a single problem with Molasses. She couldn’t decide if he walked quietly behind her at a respectful distance because he was well trained, or if he was responding to her more assertive attitude. She followed the tips Regan had taught her earlier that day with Sally and simply assumed Molasses would do what was expected of him.

  Fortunately for both of them, he did. When Molasses had his turn in the corral with Regan, he was a model horse, so maybe his behavior had nothing to do with her new attitude.

  “I have a feeling we’ll be able to take that ride,” Regan said as he came through the gate leading Molasses. “I had no trouble with this boy.”

  “Me, either.” Lily untied Rex and walked beside Regan as they all headed toward the barn. “I guess that’s because he’s just a good horse.”

  “Not necessarily. It might be that he recognizes you mean business.”

  “I really have changed my attitude. Sally chewing on the windowsill was the last straw.”

  “That bothered you more than the porch railing?”

  “You betcha it did! Replacing and repainting that railing would have been work, but doable. Replacing a windowsill, especially for an older, double-hung window like that one, would have been a pain in the neck.”

  “Yep.” He glanced over at her and smiled. “I’m glad you saw the light.”

  “I did. I’m a changed woman.”

  “Hey, let’s not get carried away. I like you fine the way you are.”

  “I was too permissive. I can’t be that way anymore.”

  “With the animals. But I love it when you’re permissive with me.”

  Her body began to hum. “Way to sidetrack me, O’Connelli. I was completely focused on this horse-training exercise until you said that.”

  “You were? Honestly?”

  “Mostly. A girl has to sneak a peek now and then.”

  “So does a guy. Especially when he’s training a mellow horse like Molasses.”

  “Mmm.” She began replaying their bedroom and dining activities, and her panties were suddenly no longer so dry. “Out of curiosity, how long a ride were you planning on?”

  “Long enough to take us out to the back of your property.”

  “Okay. That’s not very far.”

  “Just far enough.”

  “I suppose you don’t need a cross-country trek to find out if they’ll behave themselves with a person on their back.”

  “No, I don’t. And there’s a nice tree out there.”

  She couldn’t imagine what the tree had to do with the riding test. “Are you into trees?”

  “Sure.”

  “So do you want me to ride Molasses, since he seems like such an easy horse?”

  “I’ll probably have you ride Rex. I’m more confident of his behavior now that we’ve worked together twice. But let’s see how they react to being saddled before we decide.”

  Lily stepped back and let Regan saddle both horses, in case either of them ki
cked up a fuss. They didn’t, but she knew Regan was visualizing that they’d stand there without protest, so that’s what they did. She was becoming a fan of assumed consent.

  “I’ll mount Rex first,” Regan said. “If he reacts okay to that, you can get on him.”

  “I’m hoping I’ll remember how to do this.”

  “I’m sure you will.” Regan tightened the cinch on Rex’s saddle. He talked to the palomino in that same low, calming voice that seemed so effective. Then he rubbed the horse’s shoulder and scratched under his mane before leaning against the saddle for a couple of seconds.

  Finally he swung up into the saddle. Rex turned to look at who was on his back. “Just me,” Regan said. As if satisfied with that, Rex faced forward again.

  “So far, so good.” Lily was trying not to think sexy thoughts, but Regan looked mighty fine sitting on a flashy horse. When he’d swung into the saddle with that easy confidence of his, her heart rate had sped up.

  Regan dismounted. “He’ll be okay. Let me test Molasses before you climb aboard Rex, though.”

  “Okay.” She stood back as he repeated the routine with the bay gelding. Turned out he looked equally good there. Regan was impressive no matter what he was doing, but when he mounted a horse—oh, baby. That ramped up his sexiness quotient by about a thousand percent.

  “Molasses is fine, too.” He swung down again. “Go on and get up on Rex so I can adjust your stirrups.”

  She climbed up on the horse and tested the stirrups. Definitely too long. She sat astride the saddle breathing in the scent of warm leather and warm man as Regan worked on the stirrups, his face inches from her thigh. “I’m having improper thoughts,” she murmured.

  “Good. So am I.” He moved back. “Try those out.”

  She stood in the stirrups. “Perfect.”

  He glanced up at her. “Yes, ma’am, you are.”

  Her breath caught at the warmth in his eyes. Desire was there, but something more, something tender and sweet. “I’m far from perfect.”

  “Not too far.” He gave her a crooked grin. “At least that’s my totally unbiased opinion.” He squeezed her thigh. “Visualize this horse doing everything you ask him to.”

  “I will.” She wondered if the technique would work on Regan. Then again, she really didn’t need it. Judging from the way he’d just looked at her, he’d gladly do everything she asked him to, especially when they were both naked.

  Now there was an arousing thought, as if she needed one. As they walked the horses away from the barn, she discovered that riding as an adult was a far more sensual experience than she remembered from when she was a kid. Or maybe she wouldn’t have noticed the erotic nature of sitting astride a powerful animal if she hadn’t recently had amazing sex with the man riding along next to her.

  He turned his head and caught her staring at him. “You doing okay, pretty lady?”

  “Fine.”

  “Be sure and tell me if anything is making you uncomfortable.”

  She watched as his hips moved in rhythm with the bay gelding. Meanwhile she dealt with the soft friction provided by a denim seam as it rocked against the leather saddle. By the end of this outing, she would be more than ready for a different kind of ride. “Define uncomfortable.”

  “Painful.”

  “Then I’m good.” She faced forward, because she simply couldn’t continue to look at him without wanting to have him six ways to Sunday.

  “I think we have a couple of trained saddle horses here. I can tell that to people with confidence on Saturday. They’re also good-looking, which never hurts. Somebody will see that showy palomino and fall in love, I’ll bet. Molasses isn’t as eye-catching, but he has good lines.”

  “You aren’t worried about Rex’s aggressive behavior yesterday?”

  “We need to ask a lot of questions about the home he’ll be going to. He’ll want to be the herd leader, and he requires his own stall. But if they understand that and they’re firm with him, I think it’ll work out.”

  “I hope so.” The conversation distracted her a little, but her gaze kept wandering to his tight buns cupped lovingly by the saddle. When her lust threatened to get the best of her, she faced forward again. Sure enough, they were headed for that tree he seemed so crazy about. “If someone adopted Rex, it would ease my mind about fights breaking out.”

  “That’s my thought. We’ll concentrate on him. But I plan to train Strawberry, next. If both of them left, you’d be much better off.”

  “I would.” As they drew closer to the tree, she noticed that it had a little patch of grass under it. The horses must have been grazing there in the shade, because it looked as if someone had mowed it. “Nice little spot there.”

  “It is. Nicer than I expected, even. How about stopping for a minute? We can find out how the horses behave if we tie them to that low branch on the far side.”

  “Fine with me.” She was ready to take a break from constant stimulation to her private parts augmented by the hot cowboy riding almost within touching distance.

  Regan swung down from his horse. “Beautiful view from out here. I love the way the shadows fall on the Tetons this time of day.”

  “Do you miss Virginia?” It was as much as she dared ask. Of course he had some bad memories connected to the place, but he’d lived there for several years, both when he attended college and after he opened a clinic with his friend Drake. Wyoming’s rugged terrain was nothing like the manicured pastures and wooded hills of Virginia.

  “No, I don’t.” He walked Molasses over to the low branch on the far side of the tree. “Getting accepted into the University of Virginia gave me an ego boost, and I made some...some good friends there. I stayed for the people more than the landscape, although it’s pretty.”

  She heard the catch in his voice and knew he had to be thinking of the two people who’d betrayed him. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you there.” She walked Rex over to where Molasses was tied and secured her horse’s reins to the same branch.

  “I’m not. Not anymore.” The emotion edging his words made his meaning clear.

  As she met his gaze and saw the frank appreciation there, her chest grew tight. If she was his rebound girl, apparently she’d succeeded in mending his broken heart. She told herself not to worry that this was the beginning of the end. Just because she’d had a rotten experience once before—when the guy had recovered from a breakup and then left her—didn’t mean it would happen again.

  “Let’s go sit on the grass for a minute.” He held out his hand.

  She took it, and her heart squeezed. They were holding hands, just like in his vision of cliff diving. She could fall for this man. She might already be falling. If that was a mistake, she didn’t know how to undo it.

  He led her over to the little patch of grass before releasing her hand. “Pick your spot.”

  She chose one dappled with shade and sat down cross-legged. Taking off her hat, she finger-combed her hair and lifted it off the back of her neck. He remained standing, and she looked up at him. From this angle, she had a fine view of his excellent and talented package. She’d take that view over the Tetons any day. “Aren’t you going to sit down?”

  “Yeah. I just like watching you.” Pushing back his hat with his thumb, he settled down facing her so their knees bumped. “And I like touching you and kissing you and feeling you come when I’m deep inside you.”

  She quivered as heat surged through her. “How you talk, cowboy.”

  “I like it when you blush.” His smile crinkled the corners of his eyes. “It makes your freckles stand out.”

  “You’re about to make me vain about those freckles.”

  “You should be.” Reaching over, he threaded his fingers through her hair. “I just want you to know that you’re an amazing woman.” He rubbed a strand of
her hair between his fingers. “Until I met you... Correction, until you invited me into your bedroom to handle your problem—”

  “Cheesy, wasn’t it?”

  “Nope. Fun. Like you.” He held her gaze. “I had no idea what I was missing, Lily. I never dreamed I could want a woman this much. I lived in a colorless world with no real passion. You inspire me to be different.”

  She wanted him so much she could barely breathe. “You inspire me, too.”

  “When I suggested riding out here, I was thinking we could have some outdoor sex, since we hadn’t done that yet.”

  “Oh.” Surprisingly, she hadn’t considered that, but now that he’d told her, she began to ache in predictable places. She hoped he hadn’t given up on the idea.

  “I pictured it as another quick romp to tide us over until after we’d fed the animals and had more time to ourselves.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Now that we’re here, it doesn’t sound so good to me.”

  “It doesn’t?” She certainly hadn’t expected to hear that. Canceling her ticket on the orgasm train wouldn’t be easy. Maybe she should just tackle him. “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want it to be quick. I want it to be slow and sweet.”

  “Oh!” Apparently they were back in business. Goody.

  “I want you stretched out naked in this fragrant grass while I kiss every freckle on your silky skin. Then I want to slide into you, over and over, and tell you how beautiful you are while I make you come.”

  “Oh.” If he kept talking like that, she might spontaneously combust without benefit of penis.

  “What I want, Lily King, is to make love to you.”

  “Ohhhh.” For the second time in two days, she nearly swooned.

  14

  REGAN HAD CHOSEN his words carefully when he’d announced that he wanted to make love to Lily. Earlier today they’d had sex, and maybe they’d just have sex again in the future. But this time was about gratitude. Six months ago he hadn’t felt particularly fortunate. Today he’d realized he was the luckiest guy in the world.