by Anya Summers
Except, he hadn’t expected the first touch of her generous lips against his to feel like heated satin. Or for her mouth to taste like honeyed nectar that he wanted to drown within. Or that the feel of her slight form against his would stoke his internal forge to volcanic proportions.
Or how much he had wanted to unbuckle the belt holding her robe in place and view the bounty he held in his arms. The need to comfort her, ensure she was recovered from her dunking in the stream, was at war with his desire—for her.
He’d been more than a little shocked by his internal admission. Mia called to him on an elemental level.
Alex Hunt, one of his long time good friends, as well as the owner of Hunt Trail Rides, had contacted him this morning. He and the majority of his crew had come down with a nasty flu virus that week. Alex was still praying to the porcelain god and needed someone to lead an all-day trail ride.
Cole didn’t have a tour booked today, so he was a shoo-in to lead it.
However, it was only for a single guest: one Mia Evans, who needed the guided trail ride. It was as if fate, being the capricious bitch that she was, had decided that the two of them should be tossed together once again. Perhaps to try his patience and resolve.
At least it was Friday and he planned on heading to the club that night. The quickest way around this situation would be to sink himself inside a willing sub and not emerge until all thoughts of the city girl had been scorched from his mind.
After a quick breakfast, he collected the boxed lunches and headed down to the stables. The day dawned bright and sunny. While there was still a chill in the air, the forecast had called for temperatures to spike up into the upper fifties later, making it a great day for a trail ride. Oreo, his ten-year-old black Arabian stallion, greeted Cole with a nip on his shoulder.
“I know we haven’t been out for a bit. But we’ll make it up today.”
Oreo nudged his shoulder. Cole ran a hand over his face and scratched behind his ears, only to have Oreo snort. He loved the hot-tempered stallion, who tended to get his feelings hurt and be more than a little ornery when Cole didn’t pay enough attention to him.
Cole saddled Oreo and was prepping Morning Glory, a sweet and rather docile amber quarter horse, when he felt Mia approach. He finished adjusting the leather saddle, making sure it was fastened correctly before he straightened and addressed her.
His gaze drank in the sight of her. If anything, she’d grown more lovely since the last time he’d been with her. The wealth of her chestnut hair had been corralled into a single thick braid that lay over her right shoulder. With her hair pulled away from her face, her eyes appeared more luminous. Her generous lips were turned down at the corners when she spied him.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Good morning to you too, city girl. Alex, and just about every member of his staff, are down with the flu. So I will be leading your trail ride today. Problem?” he asked, noting the way her light gray Henley clung to her form and accentuated the swell of her cleavage beneath her tan jacket. And how her jeans were tight, hugging every blessed curve of her slim legs. She wore a pair of knee high, black riding boots which, while not nearly as sturdy as a pair of cowboy boots, would suffice for the ride today.
“No. I’m just surprised to see you here when I was expecting someone else,” she said, but he noted the blush creeping up her neck.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you. If I were you, I would hit the restroom at the back of the stables, and then we’ll get underway.” He pointed toward the back of the stables, near the offices, where there were public restrooms.
“Okay,” she said.
“Meet me at the front of the barn when you’re done,” he instructed.
While Mia was taking care of necessities, Cole led her mare outside, looping the reins around a fence. Then he went back in and led Oreo out.
Mia joined them. Cole introduced her to her horse. “This is Morning Glory. She’s a good-natured gal who should give you a pretty smooth ride today. She’s been trained to follow a lead horse and will come along without you needing to do much. Now, let’s get you up on her back.”
He brought over the stepstool that they used for inexperienced riders. “Now, I want you to grab the pommel and then swing your right leg over the saddle,” he instructed.
Her delicate hands did as he coached, and then she slid her leg over the top. She squirmed on the saddle until she was centered. She made quite a pretty picture atop a horse.
“Good. Now I want you to put your feet in the stirrups,” Cole said, then adjusted the straps on each of them slightly to fit her legs.
He undid the reins and handed them to her, along with a pair of leather gloves. They might be a mite big for her dainty hands, but he’d prefer she wear them.
“What are these for?”
“To keep your city hands from getting blistered holding the reins all day. Couple of things about the reins; you don’t want to pull or yank hard on them. Morning Glory will let you lead her pretty much anywhere without too much guidance. So your grip shouldn’t be tight, but relaxed. Understand?”
Mia nodded. “I think so.”
“All right, well, why don’t you and Morning Glory take a few turns around the paddock together and get acquainted? I’ll join you in a minute and we’ll head off,” Cole said.
He proceeded to complete the last-minute checks, grabbed the saddlebags with their lunches and the medical kit that was required on every ride, along with a long-range SAT phone. Since some of the places they tended to go were far off the beaten path, if an emergency presented itself, they liked to be able to contact both the stables and emergency responders if needed.
Since the rest of the crews wouldn’t be in for another few hours yet, Cole shut the stable door and then led Oreo through the gate. With a hand and whistle, he waved Mia and Morning Glory over. They plodded over at an easy gait and ambled through the gate. Cole made sure it was secured before he swung himself up onto Oreo’s back. His stallion bristled with excitement at heading out.
Cole shifted and glanced at Mia, who was staring at him with such blatant desire it kinetically charged the air around them. He shifted in his saddle as he felt a resounding ache in his groin.
Shit.
“Ready, city girl?”
“Yep,” she said.
He turned in the saddle, nudged his thighs against Oreo’s flanks and the stallion picked up his hooves. He made sure that Mia and Morning Glory were following a short distance behind.
Mia adjusted her butt in the saddle and stared at Cole’s broad back. They were stuck together again. All day. Her, with the man who had kissed her brainless in less than thirty seconds. And who, it appeared, wasn’t going to address the fact that they had kissed. She couldn’t forget that he was the one who had kissed her first. Not the other way around. Being near him again, she realized she had never been so hyper-aware of a man before.
Morning Glory plodded, her gait slightly rocking, along the trail behind Cole and his gorgeous stallion. In reality the trail was nothing more than a dirt path, winding through the forest and tall swaying grass. They crested one of the foothills the resort sat on and then descended into the forest below.
Much like on their day out fishing, nature was on tap. The forest opened into a glistening meadow with tall grass on either side of the trail. The mountains speared the heavens. Puffy, white clouds floated lazily overhead.
And Mia felt another unclenching in her gut. She wasn’t sold on the outdoors, having spent the majority of her life with books and in schools and libraries. But this place, Wyoming, was growing on her. It charmed her. Just yesterday, she’d sat in one of the chairs on her front porch and watched a pair of chipmunks dart over the grass and into the trees. Their antics had amused her and had kept her entertained enough that she had actually gone a whole hour without thinking about Cole and their one kiss.
And what a kiss. Mia had tossed and turned that night, aching for something she co
uldn’t name. Or that she hadn’t been willing to confront, because what she’d yearned for was Cole. She studied him now; the proud lines of his broad shoulders, the way he commanded the gorgeous black stallion with an ease and grace that bespoke of his familiarity with the horse.
The morning passed with effortless ease. Cole pointed out various locations, and even some of the plant and animal life in the area.
At midday, he called their little party to a halt. She watched him dismount from the stallion. He moved with lithe, lion-like grace for such a big man. Once he had the stallion happily munching on some grain, his reins looped around a nearby bush, he strode her way.
“Let’s break for lunch before we do the next half of the ride,” he said, reaching up and helping her down from the mare. Her legs throbbed in agony after being stationary for so long.
Cole caught her grimace and smiled. “Why don’t you walk a bit while I grab our lunches. It will work some of the kinks out.”
She did just that. As feeling returned to her lower extremities, she groaned, then joined Cole on a small abutment of rocks. They relaxed near a tributary of the stream they’d been fishing on.
“Did you know that this valley was used by Native Americans for thousands of years as neutral ground to trade with other tribes?” she said, glancing out over the field.
“Is that a fact?” Cole murmured.
“Yep. Blackfoot, Crow, Shoshone, and so many more used this area as a summer camp of sorts.”
“This place has a lot of history to it—history before white men settled here. It doesn’t surprise me.”
“It wasn’t until a member of Lewis and Clark’s expedition in 1806; a man by the name of John Colter, who was the first white man to visit this area.”
“How do you know all this? You seem to be a font of facts,” Cole said.
“It’s what I do—or what I did, anyway. I’m a historian. With an emphasis on early America.”
“You were? So you aren’t anymore?” he asked, cocking his head slightly.
“I suppose I will always be one at heart. But no, I write historical fiction. Or I did. I haven’t done much of that lately either,” she murmured and glanced away from the intensity in his eyes. She still wanted to climb onto his lap and curl into him. She’d never experienced the like with another man.
“Why not?” Cole asked.
She shrugged and tried to downplay her writer’s block. “I’ve just been struggling with the story a bit. No big deal.”
“And what is the book about?”
“A United States Marshall riding in this territory right after the turn of the nineteenth century, during what would be the last of the Wild West, because shortly afterward, you have the advent of World War one and modernization.”
“Sounds interesting.”
“But not your cup of tea,” she said, standing and brushing her hands off.
“I didn’t say that. Don’t put words in my mouth, city girl,” Cole said. “I’d like to read it when it’s finished.”
“That may be a while yet.” Although hopefully not too long, otherwise she’d be in violation of her contract.
“Is it your only book?” he asked, rising to his feet.
“No, there are two out there already,” she said, not mentioning that they’d been turned into a television show. Or that last year, before her world had tumbled around her knees, she’d attended the Emmys because the show based on her books had been up for some awards. She had met some of Hollywood’s elite.
Before Cole could ask her more about her career, she said, “I’m going to go find a bush,” then felt a blush spread up her throat and over her cheeks. She was forever blushing around the man.
“Keep an eye out for snakes. And wildlife of any kind,” he warned as he cleaned up after their picnic.
“Yep.” Because they wouldn’t want a repeat of last time, with Cole riding to her rescue. The last thing she wanted was to have him paint her as this damsel always in distress and in need of saving.
Mia didn’t need to be saved. What she needed was to be loved. And, frankly, she was more likely to be abducted by extraterrestrials.
This time, she didn’t encounter any problems on her short bathroom break. She wasn’t too keen on being without indoor plumbing but she was managing. She had even packed hand sanitizer in the small waist pack she wore. She ambled back to the trail, where Cole was waiting to help her mount Morning Glory.
“Come on, city girl. Put your hands on my shoulders here, then put your left foot in my hands and I will help you get mounted.”
Mia placed her hands on his wide shoulders and nearly swooned. The man was solid muscle. She’d never met a guy so ripped. Cole made her blood churn into magma. Their gazes clashed when she placed her left foot into his hand and she wanted to fan the heat suddenly suffusing her face. The muscles beneath her fingers bunched and flexed as he lifted her up. With his aid, she swung her right leg over the saddle and he put her left foot in the stirrup. Mia glanced down at him, his hand still on her calf, and gripped the pommel tight. His face was upturned. His hand on her calf. As he held her gaze, every molecule in her body sizzled. The air grew thick around them. And Mia wondered if she really needed to breathe at all.
Then Morning Glory nickered and shifted her hooves, breaking the spell between them.
Cole released Mia’s leg and strode over to his horse. Mia nearly swallowed her tongue watching him swing up into his saddle as if it were second nature. Had there ever been any man of her acquaintance who moved with such catlike grace? He was like a big, rangy mountain lion. All sleek and dangerous. He didn’t have to pretend to be an alpha. Joe had pretended, when in reality, he’d just been an asshole.
Whereas Cole, well, his sheer utter maleness called forth her biological imperative: that he was the biggest, baddest, most dominant alpha and the best suited for her to breed with for the continuation of the species.
The rest of the afternoon passed fairly uneventfully. The second part of the trail ended up being the most breathtaking. Cole led them along the side of a minor foothill, with distinct views of the valley and surrounding mountains. She snapped more than one picture on her phone during their trek.
And, yes, she even snapped one of him, rather innocently enough and he didn’t catch her. But as the stables came into view around the last bend, Mia sighed. As much as she had enjoyed herself today, even being out and alone with Cole again, she was ready to be out of the saddle.
She’d enjoyed horseback riding much more than she’d thought she would. But her butt hurt so badly right now—what she could feel of it, anyhow. Most of the feeling had left her lower extremities. The horses trotted a bit faster—since they were so near home and dinner, most likely.
One of the stable workers opened the gate for them and they sailed on through. Cole dismounted first and then came over to help her down.
“Hands on my shoulder, city girl. Then stand up and swing your leg back around like you did when we stopped for lunch.”
She went to perform the movement and her legs locked up on her. She tried again, but nothing. “Um, Cole, there’s a slight problem, I can’t move my legs. The muscles seem to be stuck.”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Hold on to the pommel for just a minute.”
He removed both her feet from the stirrups, then slid his hands around her waist. “Lean my way and I will catch you,” he ordered.
“But—”
“I won’t let you fall. Trust me,” he said, adding a smile.
With her hands on his shoulders and a deep breath, she did as he commanded. He lifted her, making sure her right leg cleared Morning Glory’s back. Her body slid down his and she felt every inch of him. Pleasure zinged through her like a pinball machine.
When her feet touched the ground, her knees buckled, and she would have sprawled on the ground if it weren’t for Cole’s arms around her.
“Damn fool. You should have said something,” he muttered. “I need to take care of
the horses and then I can see you to your cabin.”
“Hey, Cole.”
Cole lifted his gaze from her toward a younger guy with straw-colored hair poking from beneath his cowboy hat, and said, “Yeah, Buddy? What can I do for you?”
“If you’d like me to stable Oreo and Morning Glory for you, I can do that while you take care of our guest,” Buddy offered.
“I’d be much obliged. Make sure they both get an extra scoop of oats, they earned it today. I’ll come back down once I get Miss Evans situated.”
“Will do, sir,” Buddy said with a nod, already striding into action and taking Morning Glory into the stable by her reins.
And then Cole hoisted Mia into his arms so she was cradled against his chest.
“Put your arms around my neck, city girl,” he ordered.
Mia did as he asked, embarrassed that she couldn’t seem to get through a day in this place, around Cole, without some calamity befalling her. It wasn’t that she hated nature, but that nature wasn’t overly fond of her. She seemed to be more suited to life indoors, even though she tried to force herself to prove otherwise.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, her face buried in his chest.
“You do certainly seem to want to try my patience,” he said with a teasing hint in his voice.
“It’s not on purpose. I promise.” She couldn’t even look at him. She didn’t want to see the exasperation or the mocking light in his gaze. Not that he was mocking her but if the look was there, she didn’t want to see it.
“It’s all right. Just relax and I’ll get you home,” Cole said. He strode up the path carrying her as if she weighed next to nothing. It made Mia feel utterly feminine. She’d always considered herself a woman men passed over for more ripe and willing fare.
His deep woodsy scent surrounded her. And while the muscles in her legs might be protesting and unwilling to work, the rest of her body wasn’t having that issue at all. In fact, everywhere her body touched the hard planes of his, it burned. One of his large hands gripped her waist and the other was around her thighs. Her shirt had ridden up a teensy bit so that Cole’s palm touched her bare skin. His work roughened hand was heady and she wanted to feel it move over her flesh.