Page 76 of Ruthless Enforcer

I blink at him, thrown by the sudden shift. "What?"

"Horses. Do you ride?"

"I—yes." I sit back slightly, confused. "Why?"

"Just curious." His hands slide down to my thighs, his thumbs tracing lazy circles against my skin. "You grew up on a ranch. I figured you probably did."

"I love it," I admit. "I haven't as much as I’d like to the past few years, but I used to ride every morning before school. Early, when the air was still cold and the horses were fresh."

"What do you love about it?" His hands return to my back and then dip down, so his fingers slip between my legs.

For a second I can’t think, distracted by the idle way the tips of his fingers are playing with me down there. "The trust, I think. A horse knows when you're pretending. You can't fake confidence or calm. You have to mean it, or they'll know. And when you get it right, when you and the horse are moving together, it's like flying."

Gabriel's expression shifts, something unreadable flickering across his face.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing." He pulls me closer, his fingers closer to my opening. "Just thinking."

"About what?" My hips move of their own accord.

"About getting you a horse."

I freeze. "Gabriel⁠—"

"Several horses," he continues, like I haven't spoken. "You'll need more than one. And land. Somewhere safe, with good trails and a decent barn."

"I thought this was temporary," I say quietly.

"That doesn’t mean I can’t give you a gift,” he replies blithely. "You love riding. You should have horses."

"And where exactly am I supposed to keep these horses when I go back to Helena?"

He doesn't answer. We both know what he's not saying: that he's imagining a place where I stay. A place where I belong. A future that extends past Cole Turner and the end of this marriage.

His hands grip my thighs. "Don't ask me to explain it, Clara. Just let me think about it."

Not knowing what to say, I lean forward and kiss him, slow and soft, and let him hold me while the water pours down and the steam rises around us.

And I don't ask him what happens when this is over.

I'm not sure I want to know the answer.

61

GABRIEL

I’m buying my temporary wife horses now.

This is getting out of hand.

I know—it isn't really about the horses. It's about where I'll keep them. Where I'll keep her.

And the fact that Clara understood exactly what I wasn't saying and kissed me anyway.

Fuck.

I pull back slightly, just enough to see her face through the steam. Her green eyes are soft, open, trusting in a way that makes my chest ache. Water beads on her lashes, her lips are swollen from my mouth, and she's looking at me like I'm not a weapon she married for strategy.