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I roll my lips, a smile begging to break through. My pulse races with excitement. “Then, yes! Yes, yes, yes. But don’t think this means you’re getting out of telling me all about what happened in Nashville this past week. I’ve been waiting very impatiently,” I warn him.
He doesn’t fight me on it, just drifts close and grabs me by my hips, pulling me flush to his front. The feel of him against me is addictive and enthralling, threatening to turn me into mush. Especially when he winds a hand through the hair at my nape and buries his face in my neck, inhaling with a deep, desperate groan. I swallow, and his lips find my pulse before they part and he licks a hot trail up the underside of my jaw.
“Never loved being bossed around, Anna, but when you do it, my cock turns to steel. I’d let you order me around any fuckin’day if it meant I got to hold you like this after.” He digs his teeth into the sensitive skin below my ear and whispers, “I’ve jerked off to the memories of you ridin’ me for a week now. Have you touched yourself thinkin’ of me?”
“Oh, my God.” A shiver so violent it becomes nothing short of a full-body shake moves through me. My body grows tight with arousal, my clit throbbing. “You can’t say those things to me out here. Not when anyone could walk by and hear.”
“Anyone with half a mind wouldn’t consider comin’ out here for a damn second when I’ve finally got my hands back on you after bein’ gone a week. It’s a fuckin’ miracle I haven’t taken you against the side of the stable already with how out of my mind I feel right now.”
I drop my forehead to his chest and curse the rough scrape of my hard nipples against my bra when any slight movement has pleasure rippling down my spine.
“Take me on a ride to town first. If I let you fuck me right now, we won’t make it out until tomorrow, and you’ve got me too excited to wait. We have plenty of time together still, right?”
His eyes snare mine, so focused and intense, the flare of arousal forgotten for the time being. “We got time, baby. I’ll devour you later, all damn night long if I get my way.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Let’s get you in the saddle, then. Slide your left foot in the stirrup, and then grab the reins in your left hand.”
I follow his instructions, too excited to think of anything besides riding Sky. A squeak escapes me when Brody uses his grip on my hips to give me a boost when I push off my right leg to throw myself up and into the saddle. I settle onto it with a rough exhale before loosening my hold on the reins, feeling a hell of a lot higher up than I actually am. I’m grateful when Sky doesn’t move as I try and find a natural position on the saddle.
“Good?” he asks, hovering at my side, touching Sky’s neck. “It’s normal not to feel steady yet, but she won’t move until we’re ready for her to. Keep your back straight and hold her reins, but not too tight.”
He mounts Sky with much more grace than I had. In the blink of an eye, he’s perched behind me, his back to my chest. We hold her reins together, and then we’re moving at a calm, slow pace.
“Try and move with her. Relax your legs and let yourself sway,” Brody says gently, his mouth so close to my ear.
“It’s a lot easier in theory,” I admit.
He hums in agreement. “Riding a horse takes practice.”
“It’s a good thing I have a great teacher, then.”
“We’ll have you ridin’ on your own in no time,” he says, leading Sky through the open Steele Ranch gate and onto the road to town. “Up for goin’ a bit faster?”
Despite my nerves, I blurt out, “Yes.”
Brody slides an arm around my waist, fingers curling in my belt loop before Sky picks up speed. She doesn’t take off, but the uptake in pace shifts how I sit in the saddle, the bouncing motion taking me by surprise.
“I won’t let you fall. Relax your legs and let yourself move with her,” he instructs, his tone gentle.
It’s hard to think of much other than the steady feel of him behind me, holding me protectively, but I try. Slowly, I begin to relax, fighting off the discomfort of being jolted around. The rhythmic sound of her hooves in the snow travels through me, and I try and lean into it.
“How did you manage to stay away from her for so long? This is amazing. I feel so free,” I say, bewildered by the sudden love I have for this new experience. Something clicks into place, a sense of rightness, maybe.
Brody tightens his hold on me, hot breath fanning the back of my head. “I was a stubborn ass too terrified to acknowledge a lifetime of pent-up grief. My mother loved to fix broken horses. Her entire career revolved around how many wild ones she could tame and heal from past tortures. That passion took her from me.”
“What happened?” I ask, going off my instincts when they tell me he’s not going to tuck tail and run. He’s ready to talk about this now; I know it deep in my gut.
“It was a freak accident. She always wanted to push boundaries and do what nobody else thought was possible. That night, that same drive led her and one of the battered mares too far out on the east side of the ranch where she knew nobody would come lookin’ for them. Nobody found her for hours after she was bucked off one of the wild ones she’d been workin’ with. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong horse. The entire thing was wrong. There were too many rocks, and when she flew off . . .”
I release the reins in my right hand and grab his from its place on my middle, clutching it tight, hoping he can feel the strength I’m offering him. “You don’t have to continue. I’m sorry, Brody. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Thank you.” He slides his fingers between mine. “I couldn’t touch another horse for years afterward. Only Sky, but even that hurt too bad after a while. I hated all of them for what happened, and it wasn’t fair. It was just easier to put the blame on them instead of the universe for takin’ my mom from me.”
“What changed?”
Brody leans forward and presses our cheeks together, his beard tickling my jaw the way I’ve grown to love. “You. Wantin’ a future with you and realizin’ that I’ve been hidin’ from far too much in my life. I want to talk about her again—with you—and be able to do all the things I love with the woman I love. It was just time.”
