Give Me Tonight(20)

"How do you know? I believe you said that you resisted my . . . er, advances in the stable."

"You still can't believe I turned down your offer, can you? I had no idea how much it bothered you."

"Don't look so smug. It didn't bother me at all! I'm thrilled nothing happened between us. You can't imag­ine how . . . What are you doing?"

He took her arm in a firm grip and pulled her over to Jessie.

"Don't," Addie said, her voice changing rapidly. "I can't manage her."

"You're too rough with her. Her mouth is sensitive, and you're fixing to tear it up. You're also bumping your heel against her side, which doesn't exactly set her straight about what you want her to do."

"I admit I'm not handling her well." Stubbornly Addie turned away from the horse as Ben urged her nearer to the animal. "But the rest of the problem is the fact that that animal is mean and bad-tempered, and that's nothing you can fix."

"She just needs the right handling. Like any fe­male." Ben rested his hand on the saddle, preventing her from slipping by him. "Now, get on."

"Stop it. I've had enough of y-your orders." The rage she felt was directed more at herself than him. She had gotten herself in this mess by not putting her foot down this morning. She should have refused to go in the first place. Now there was nothing to do but get back on the horse.

"Enough," he said, turning her around and taking her by the waist. "I don't know what inspired you to play this game—"

She managed to knock his hat off as she struggled with him. "It's not a game!"

"—but if you want to pretend you don't remember how to ride, then I'll oblige you. You want a riding lesson? I'll give you one hell of a lesson, Adeline."

Before she could say a word, he handed her the ends of the reins and lifted her up into the saddle. Instinc­tively she scrabbled for a secure position on the horse's back, clutching at a coarse mane, and Jessie started to fidget. Addie closed her eyes and clung tighter, know­ing she was going to be thrown again. Ben swung up behind her, his powerful thighs clamping down on the mare's sides.

"She's jumping around again," Addie gasped, drawing in the reins as tightly as she could.

"Stop yanking on those," he said, sounding irri­tated. "You're going to bruise her mouth."

"She's trying to kill me, and you're worried about—"

"Give me the reins." He took them in one hand and' slid his other arm around her midriff, pulling her against him as Jessie tried to rear on her hind legs. Addie's breath caught in her throat, and she clung blindly to the arm around her, frozen with fear. Con­trary to her expectations, she didn't fall off. Ben's hold on her was hard and. secure, his body perfectly bal­anced as he accommodated Jessie's motion with no effort at all. The mare quieted soon, sensing the futil­ity of opposing his commands. "Turn your heel out. You're kicking her again."

She was paralyzed. "I'm just trying to stay on."

"Turn your heel out."

As soon as she realized Jessie was going to stay still, Addie let out a taut sigh and obeyed, loosening her death grip on Ben's arm. Slowly his hand slid to the front of her midriff, settling in a place perilously close to her br**sts. "Now, take the reins. And keep them loose. "

"S-stop talking in my ear," she said, uncomfortably aware that his murmur had produced a tickling sen­sation in the tops of her thighs. "And take your hand off me."

"Isn't it what you wanted?" he asked, and his hand remained where it was.

"You are the most insulting—"

"Take her around the cottonwood and back.”

"Do you mean walk or run or—"

"That depends on how much time you intend us to spend together."

Addie had had enough of his ridicule. In a flash of anger she gave Jessie a heartfelt kick in the side, hop­ing the mare's jerk forward would dislodge Ben. He only laughed and settled one hand on her hip. Swift as the wind, they flew toward the cottonwood tree, and Addie's eyes half-closed as the warm spring air rushed against her face.

"We're going so f-fast," she protested, her lips stiff.

"Then make her go slower. She'll do what you tell her." He sighed impatiently. "You're a hell of an ac­tress, Adeline. I'd almost swear you didn't know how to ride this damn horse. And we both know better, don't we?"

Tentatively she increased the tension on the reins, surprised to find that Jessie obeyed the signal. "Not so hard," Ben directed, his hand covering hers to ad­just her grip. Instinctively she shifted her weight in the saddle, finding a more comfortable seat. And then an unexpected feeling of ease stole over her.

"Bring her around the tree." His voice grazed the hollow behind her ear and skimmed down her spine. "Gentle. Don't pull sharply." The body of the horse leaned into the turn, and Addie found it all too natural to relax against Ben's chest. He sounded mildly exaperated as he adjusted her hold on the reins. "She's getting away from you. Slow her down. Like this. Yes."

"She doesn't want to go that way—"

"It doesn't matter what she wants. You're in control."