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He laughed. “No. That’s the stables. Well, the main one. There are two other buildings, but you can’t see them from here. They are on each side of that one, making the shape of a U.”
I stopped walking and stared at him.
When he realized I wasn’t beside him, he paused and looked back at me. “What is it?”
I pointed at the building. “THAT is a stable?”
He grinned while he nodded his head. “Yeah.”
I stared, agape, at the sight. “If that is where you house horses, what kind of house do you live in?” I asked him.
He cleared his throat as I looked back at him.
With a tilt of his head, he raised his eyebrows slightly. “Something a touch larger,” he replied.
Why did I think it was much more than a touch larger?
I started walking again. I had thought the house I’d lived in with Churchill was big, but it wasn’t as impressive as the stables here. These people had to be billionaires. But with horses? Really? You could be that wealthy, racing thoroughbreds? Clearly, I was clueless about this world. When he had said they owned other things, I was wondering if he meant hotel chains, banks, shopping malls, that sort of thing.
“Why do you need so much room for the horses?” There had to be more than horse stalls inside that mansion.
He rubbed his smooth jawline and sighed. “Well, there is a mudroom, laundry room, tack room, and two different office spaces. One for the stable manager and one for us to use. A game room with a bar, where we host parties sometimes. A large patio with a hot tub and firepit is in the center of the three buildings. Two bedrooms upstairs with private en suites, a gym, a full kitchen with a dining area large enough to feed twenty or so. And of course, the most important thing, twenty-five horse stalls.”
“Wow,” I breathed. I hadn’t imagined that stables would consist of all that.
We were getting closer, and I noticed the area was surrounded by bricked paving. Red brick flooring all around the outside. Someone called out to Sebastian, and he raised a hand to wave, but he didn’t stop. I could see a man wearing a black cowboy hat coming out of the side of the first building with a large brown horse behind him.
Another man walked over and took the reins from Sebastian, then led Sword in the opposite direction.
I was in complete awe by the time we reached the doors to the stables. They stood over twelve feet tall and were rounded at the top, wooden, with a hand-carved design of some kind of symbol on each one. Sebastian reached for the black iron curved handle and pulled it open, then held it for me to walk inside.
To say the inside was more breathtaking than the outside was an understatement. This place was fit for royalty. I stood there, turning in a slow circle, looking at everything I could and feeling as if I would never see it all.
“Let me take you to the game room, and we can get a drink. You probably should sit down after that walk. I don’t want Maeme mad at me for causing you to do too much with your ribs healing,” he said.
I wanted to argue and continue on a tour of the place, but I simply nodded. A drink would be nice, and my side was hurting more than it had been the past few days. As we made our way down the center of the place, I tried not to miss a thing. The ceilings were high, but they were smooth wooden planks, much like a hardwood floor would look. Ceiling fans and recessed lighting were scattered about in a pattern, but the center of the open area was a gorgeous chandelier. Not what you’d expect in stables.
“The colt is just up ahead. We will go there after you sit for a few,” Sebastian informed me. “This way,” he then instructed, turning right and toward a door smaller than the front doors but identical in looks. All the doors inside were.
A woman’s scream stopped me. I turned my head toward the door we had just passed, and my heart began to slam against my ribs wildly. Another scream. I took a step back and sucked in a breath. What was happening?
“OH GOD, YES!” she shouted loudly.
I frowned. She’d been screaming in pain, hadn’t she? Now, she sounded as if she were…
“Sorry about that. Just keep moving. Seems someone needed to let off steam,” Sebastian replied, and I turned to him to see he was trying not to smile.
Another scream of pain. I tensed. Something bad was happening. No one screamed like that from pleasure.
“She’s fine. I promise. I know it sounds bad, but she’s enjoying it. He wouldn’t be doing it if she wasn’t. Let’s go,” he said to me, then pulled open the door and waved his hand for me to enter.
I wasn’t sure I should be here. No one enjoyed being hurt. Screaming was not a good thing. Did she need help? I shouldn’t have come here. I started to back away and shake my head. I couldn’t run.
“HARDER, SIR!” the female voice shouted.
My eyes flew open wider as I stared at the door. What on earth was happening in there?
“Come on, Rumor. Trust me, that’s going to just get more intense,” Sebastian told me.
