“Yeah, I’ve spoken to Kenzie a few times myself.” Allison stepped back a pace, as much for self-preservation as anything. If she could just remove herself from his personal space…
Nope. That wasn’t working. He’d gotten not just under her skin, but inside her somehow. She couldn’t put words to the sensation. What she wanted to do was lean into him and bury her face in his neck. She wanted to grab his shirt with both hands and pull him closer.
But she wasn’t that kind of girl. Or hadn’t been.
Daniel righted himself and pushed off from the wall. He reached for her hand slowly and covered it with his own. She thought he was going to pull her along with him down the row of stalls, but instead he lifted her hand to his cheek and stroked his face with the back of it.
Allison sucked in a gasp. Touching him again wasn’t helping. The shock was still there. Maybe worse. Her entire body shook, tremors she couldn’t control.
He pulled her closer, seemingly unable to stop himself, his gaze locked on hers. When her chest landed on his, she braced herself against him with her free hand. And God, his pecs…
He was a wall of muscle. Solid.
“I couldn’t shake your scent from my mind after we met the other day,” he whispered. He inhaled deeply and set his forehead against hers until their eyes were too close to really see each other properly. “I haven’t slept well. I know the timing sucks, but…”
But what?
She held her breath.
He didn’t finish. Instead he held her shoulder with his free hand and stepped back. “Let me show you around.” He’d already said that. So far all she’d seen were his pecs and his fine ass. If there was a barn surrounding her, she was nearly oblivious.
He didn’t release her hand. He threaded his fingers between hers and started shuffling backward. Allison followed. It took forever. “So, this is the barn…” she teased.
“Yep.” He winked. “There are some horses in each of these stalls we pass.”
“Figured that.”
“The last one is Sadie. She’s my favorite. We’re going to ride her.”
“We?” Allison stopped, her arm pulling tight when Daniel didn’t.
He tipped his head to one side and gave a wry grin. “Yeah. Don’t worry. I’ll hold on to you.”
She shook her head, almost without meaning to. “I, um…not so much.” She bit her bottom lip, curling it between her teeth.
Daniel chuckled. “No worries. Sadie is the gentlest soul you’ll ever meet.” He tugged, forcing her to continue forward. “You’ll love her in no time.” He finally stopped at the last stall in the back of the barn.
Allison was vaguely aware of other people around her, undoubtedly working, but she never glanced in their direction. She looked to the left when Daniel released her hand and opened the half door to the stall. As he entered, she gripped the wood across the top of the door and watched him.
Sadie was huge as far as Allison was concerned. And gorgeous. But that didn’t make Allison want to ride her. Or even climb up onto her back.
She was a solid dark brown and her ears twitched when Daniel rubbed her back. He made a click with his tongue and took her reins to lead her from the stall. When he had her in the center of the aisle, Allison plastered herself against the wall.
She wasn’t exactly afraid of the horse. More like uninformed. Up close and personal like this, she couldn’t breathe. She was majestic and barely flinched while Daniel put a saddle on her and cinched it tight. He glanced at Allison every few seconds. “You really aren’t fond of horses.”
She shook her head and then licked her lips. “It’s not so much that I don’t like them. It’s just that…”
What, exactly?
“Trust me?” He reached for her again.
That was a loaded question. In her soul she knew she trusted this stranger with her life, but he was really asking her to trust Sadie
,
and she wasn’t as sure about that.
As though he’d read her mind, he spoke again. “Sadie hasn’t ever met a person she didn’t like
,
and she’s never tossed anyone yet.”
Good to know
…
“Ready?” He didn’t give her time to think. He wrapped his hands around her waist
,
and before she knew it, he’d swung her up onto the saddle. She held her breath and grabbed the horn between her legs. Seconds later, Daniel swung up behind her.
Oh God
.
Allison squeezed her eyes shut and stifled a groan. She was barely aware of the horse. All she knew in that moment was Daniel’s firm body pressed against her back and her pussy against the saddle horn.
Daniel wrapped one arm around her just under her breasts and held her closer. His nose met her ear. “On second thought, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Your pheromones are driving me crazy, woman.” He nipped her ear with his teeth and then kissed it.
Allison thought she would faint. She held the horn with both hands, squeezing so tight her knuckles turned white. She didn’t know for sure if she held on to avoid falling or to keep her pussy from rubbing against the leather.
“Next time, maybe not sandals for riding,” he said, nudging her legs and pointing at her feet.
“I didn’t exactly leave the cabin with riding in mind.”
“What did you have in mind?”
She didn’t answer him. Her hands lurched from the horn to his thighs as he clicked with his tongue and Sadie headed for the door.
He was touching her in too many places. Her mind went to mush as she tried to concentrate on how high off the ground she was and the clip-clop motion that made her body sway back and forth as they left the barn. It was useless. All she knew were the places Daniel touched her. Her breasts bobbed above his arm, grazing his forearm over and over. His fingers kept touching her bare arm as he held her. His chest was like a rock behind her
,
and she couldn’t avoid plastering herself to him without rubbing her clit into the saddle.
And that maddening horn was doing a number on her. What the hell did they put those things there for?
She held his thighs with both hands, digging her nails into his jeans for support.
Allison tried to look around as they left the stable and turned to head toward a trail behind the building. The day had been hot. Now she was steaming. And she doubted it had anything to do with the temperature.
“You okay?” he whispered.
She nodded, a brief
,
sharp jerk of her head.
“Tell me about yourself.”
Now?
She couldn’t think, let alone talk.
He chuckled into her ear. “I know you’re from New York and you don’t care for horses. What else?”
She swallowed and released his thighs to hold on to his forearm. “My favorite color is purple?”
He laughed again. She loved the sound of it, his chest rumbling at her back. “Okay. Okay. You can elaborate on that later.”
Thank God
.
•●•
Daniel held his mate tight, far tighter than strictly necessary, but he couldn’t help himself. She smelled so fantastic, like summer. Her shampoo was fruity and only masked her personal scent slightly. Her skin was so soft on her neck he couldn’t stop from rubbing his nose and lips across the space behind her ear. And she shivered every time.
She held him with iron fingers. He couldn’t decide if she was afraid she might fall or afraid she wouldn’t. Either way
,
his idea of taking her riding was one of his best-laid plans.
Now if he could just convince her to relax a little.
When he had cleared the area around the barn, he tapped Sadie with his ankles to move into a trot. Soon the breeze blew across his face and cooled his heated skin. He was burning everywhere he touched his little mate, and he had no interest in alleviating that burn.
“She’s so calm. Gentle.” Allison patted the horse’s mane awkwardly with one hand.
“She’s used to working with children with disabilities. All of our horses are gentle and tame.”
They came to a clearing. “Whoa, girl.” He patted Sadie as they came to a stop.
“What’s the matter?” Allison asked.
“Nothing.” He kissed her temple and then swung his leg over the saddle to dismount. When he reached for Allison’s waist and lifted her down, her eyes widened. “I thought this would be a good place to relax. Get to know each other. Without being interrupted.” He turned back to the saddle, releasing Allison and regretting it immediately.
But he couldn’t very well continue to hold her and retrieve the blanket he’d secured to the back of the saddle. He lifted it into the air and shook it out so that it fluttered to the ground
,
spreading open enough for them to sit on it.
When Daniel glanced back at Allison, he found her rigid and biting her lower lip. Her legs were crossed, pinched together. “Allie? I didn’t mean to imply I intended to claim you right here right now. I just thought it was peaceful here.”
She didn’t move, but her gaze landed on his.
He lifted both hands in surrender. “I swear. I won’t pressure you in any way.”
“What if that’s what I want you to do?” she muttered, her face going red.
He smiled and sat on the blanket before his legs gave out and caused him to fall. He leaned back on his hands. “Well, there is that. Not here
,
though. I mean, that’s not what I intended anyway.” He couldn’t seem to draw in enough oxygen
,
as though Allison were sucking all of it out of the air and leaving him none.
She finally eased up to him and sat cross-legged at his side, facing him. At that proximity with her legs spread open, he could smell every nuance of her. She was aroused. Not that he wasn’t. His dick had started aching the moment he’d found her outside the barn.
But it was different for Allie. She was wet. And the smell of her sex permeated the clearing.
He tried to breathe shallower to no avail. He reached for her face and tucked a lock of hair behind one ear. “May I call you Allie?”
Allison smiled. “Just you. No one else calls me that. But I like it coming from you.”
He melted a little more. Seconds ticked by while he stared into the depths of her sky blue eyes. They were such a clear color he thought he could see into her soul. And it poured out of her gaze in any case.
Is this how it is for all mates?
She opened her mouth to speak
,
and when she finally broke the awkward barrier between them, she spilled a litany of words into the space separating them. “I’m conflicted. There are so many thoughts racing through my mind, I can’t grab one long enough to ponder it.
“On the one hand, I’m so attracted to you, I can’t see straight.” She glanced down at her lap and fiddled with the bottom edge of her shirt.
Daniel held still, letting her get it all out.
“Everything they say about mates is true. My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest. My hands are sweaty. My brain is fuddled. You smell fantastic, like clean straw and whatever soap you used.” She flushed as she spoke, not looking at him directly most of the time.
“I want to do things I’ve never wanted so bad in my life.” Now she fisted her hands in her lap. “But…”
Ah, the gauntlet. Daniel stiffened.
“I can’t picture where we end up after the frenzy. I mean it’s so beautiful here and it’s your home. But it’s not my home. I need noise and traffic and crazy people fighting in the street. I’ve never spent this much time in such silence. It’s…disconcerting.” She lifted her gaze to his. “You belong here like the Mona Lisa belongs in the center of Leonardo da Vinci’s canvas. This is your home. You wouldn’t be you if you left.” She bit her lower lip again
,
and he wanted to kiss it, stroke it with his tongue until she relaxed.
Daniel watched her shoulders ease marginally as she finished, like a small piece of the weight of the world had been lifted by spilling all her thoughts into the air.
He cleared his throat. “You haven’t said anything that hasn’t gone through my mind. Believe me. And I don’t have all the answers. And I know you’ve been through a lot. Hell, I don’t even know the entire story of where you’ve been and what happened to you. But I have spoken to my brother Drake
,
and I do know that trying to avoid the Call will get us nowhere fast.
“It isn’t something we can ignore. So all those questions we have, we’re just going to have to sort through them together one at a time and find the answers.”
“Do you have to be so damn practical?” She grinned.
He chuckled. “If by practical you mean, please let me claim you before I explode and we’ll deal with the rest of the questions later, then yes.”
She sucked in a breath but didn’t shy away. In fact, she lifted her small hand to his cheek and pressed her palm into the side of his face. “I can’t believe I would say this, but yes. I don’t see any way to avoid the claiming. I haven’t slept well since I met you
,
and that was only for a brief few minutes. Now that I’ve touched you, spoken to you, I don’t think walking away is an option.”
“Good.” He put his hand over hers and twisted his mouth to kiss her palm. “When was the last time you shifted?”
She lowered her gaze. “Over a year, before…The Gathering.” She carefully avoided stating the obvious. “I’m guessing the drugs he used on me didn’t really leave me with the energy to shift. I’ve been sort of out of it forever. My mind is slowly coming back to me. I think I was dazed.”
“I’m so sorry.” He sat up straighter and pulled her into his lap, not with any sexual plan in mind, but because he ached for her
,
and the best way he knew to let her know how he felt was by holding her in his arms. “I’d give anything to take the last year back and have you whole.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “If I hadn’t spent the last year in a cabin in Wisconsin, chances are I wouldn’t be here today and we still wouldn’t have met. Who knows if we ever would have?”
How the hell could she find a bright side to this coin?
Daniel swallowed his glass-half-empty attitude as he gazed into her eyes. She was the one in captivity. If she could find something positive about the experience, who was he to deny her?