She looks at me with those big doe eyes that I want to drown in. Not yet. Fuck. Not ever.
“Fine,” my voice is more angry than I feel at the moment, but I like how she reacts to it. “Let’s go. She’s your horse. You need to take care of her.”
The temptress bites into her bottom lip and stomps toward me like an angry cub. It’s quite pleasing.
“As if I’d letyouhandle her alone,” she scoffs. “You’d scare her to death.”
Kieran and Adrian chuckle as I follow the fuming little sprite out of the house. Her ass sashays from side to side, impossible to ignore. The dress is not flattering, and the color is awful, but I have a suspicion that this female looks delectable in any clothing.
“You’re barefoot,” I comment as we approach her horse.
“Wow,” she breathes. “You should be a detective with observation skills like that.”
A low warning growl ripples across my chest. “Watch it, cub. Insolence will not be tolerated.”
Bonnie, her beautiful palomino, eyes me with suspicion. But her ears don’t slide back, and after a few more steps in her direction, she relaxes. I give her elegant neck a few soft strokes, and I can feel the human’s eyes on me.
“It’s rude to stare,” I taunt her.
She huffs at me, coming to stand in front of her horse. The mare nudges her nose against the girl’s face.
“What’s your name?” I ask suddenly, realizing I don’t know it. My mother would shame me for such bad manners.
“Goldie,” she offers with a small smile.
It’s a beautiful sight, and I am eager to see her face shine for me as brightly as it does for her beloved horse. We walk in an almost comfortable silence to the stables. We have six stalls, three on each side, and only three are filled. My brothers and I each have our own horse. Kieran and Adrian like to ride, but they don’t enjoy it the way I do.
I say hello to each of the horses, speaking softly to them and passing each one a carrot before opening the door to an empty stall.
“You’re really good with them,” Goldie muses, watching me. “Which one is yours?”
Pointing to the black stallion at the front, I smile at myboy. “Kai is mine. He’s a brute with a temper that’s almost as bad as my own.”
Goldie giggles, and the sound chimes softly in my ears. I am desperate to hear it again.
“Did you just make a joke about your own grumpiness?” She laughs again. “Well, we love a self-aware man, don’t we, Bonnie?”
Her horse whinnies, now fully relaxed as Goldie undresses her. I watch, mesmerized, as her slender hands make quick work of removing the saddle.
“And you’re a horse girl, as they say,” I tease her, preening like a damn peacock when she smiles at me again.
Goldie nods. “Bonnie had been my best and only friend for years.”
Her comment bothers me. “You don’t seem the type to be lonely. What about friends, or family?”
I hate myself for asking when her sunny face disappears into melancholy. “Not really.”
Taking the bridle from her hands, I place it on a nearby hook and turn back to her with concern. “Kieran said you were running away?”
Goldie nods, her eyes glued to the floor. I reach out slowly and tilt her chin up, giving me full access to her beautiful blue eyes. “Let’s go back inside, and you can finish your story for us, hm?”
Her cheeks are flushed, and a pleasant purr builds inside me that I am the one to bring that color to her fair skin.
“Okay. It’s not a fairytale, though,” she sighs, rocking back on her heels. “The prince is the opposite of charming.”
I gnash my teeth mere centimeters from her face. “Then I’ll just have to eat him.”
5
