Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE - DARK” BY TOMMEE PROFITT, brOOKE
LARK
We spend the rest of the day looking around the stables, and they’re fucking vast. There must be over fifty horses here, all thoroughbred and winning racehorses, probably worth a fucking fortune, but as we’ve established, the Tailors are as rich as King Midas himself.
After a few hours, they take me to where four horses are saddled out in the yard.
Samson is there, snorting and pulling his head, as his groom—look at me getting all fancy with the correct terms—tries to calm him down.
Spoiler alert; it’s not working and I swear the groom has to dodge a vicious kick to the nuts several times.
Three other equally beautiful horses wait, and I watch in awe as Tarl, Knox, and Jude all walk over to them, stroking the animals’ necks and then swinging up onto their backs with an ease that is as sexy as it is unfair.
I swear I fall over standing still half the time, yet these guys just mount horses as if they’ve been born in the saddle.
Jesus.
I can see why all those damsels let the highwaymen rip off their bodices. There is something criminally sexy about these guys on horses, controlling them with strong thighs and firm hands. Especially in their tight, black jodhpurs, henleys, and tall, black riding boots.
Aeron tugs my hand, pulling me towards the snorting, pawing, black beast which is his horse. Go figures his would be a bit of a bastard. Like owner like horse, right?
“Uh, I think I might just sit this one out,” I say, my voice only slightly trembling as I look up at just how fucking high this animal is.
“Not a chance,” Aeron replies, a smirk on his beautiful lips.
He untangles our fingers, then grabs my hips and turns me to face the saddle, Samson having calmed down now that Aeron is near.
Running his palm down my left arm, he takes the back of my hand in his and wraps my fingers around the front of the saddle.
“One hand here.” My heart thuds in my chest, my core tightening with a mixture of trepidation and arousal as he repeats the same move with my right hand, placing it in the back of the saddle.
The leather cracks as I grasp it. “Other hand, here.” His large palms come to cup my waist, squeezing lightly before sliding down my hips, and then he trails them down my left thigh, pausing at my knee.
“Bend your leg at the knee so that it sticks out behind you.” Fucking hell, I’m panting, my skin is tingling along the path that he took, and even though I’m wearing clothes, I felt every fucking caress.
Taking a deep inhale, I do as he commands, deciding that it’s probably not worth the argument.
He said earlier that he’d be with me, so what’s the worst that can happen?
“Now what?”
Slowly, he grabs just under my knee and around my booted ankle, and I swear by all that is fucking unholy, I’m about to pass out with how wound up I feel. I’m literally panting for his touch on my naked skin.
“Now, I give you a boost up, and you swing your leg over. Understand?” His voice is a deep rumble against my ear, and the feel of his breath tickling the shell of my ear has me shuddering.
“Yes, sir,” I reply, my tone a little sassy, and hella husky, and he full-on growls behind me, the sound vibrating straight to my aching clit.
I yelp as he suddenly throws me into the air, just remembering to swing my leg over and land with a not-so-graceful thump on poor Samson’s back.
Of course that pisses off the stallion—like owner like horse, remember?—and he huffs, stamping his feet. Thank fuck he doesn’t rear up as I scramble to sit up, otherwise, I’d be flat on my ass. My heart pounds regardless, and I swallow thickly when I see how far away the ground is.
“Graceful, Dove. Real elegant.” Aeron scoffs, placing his foot into the stirrup.
“Fuck off,” I grumble back and just catch the flare of his eyes as he fucking effortlessly swings himself up behind me, just like the others did.
Samson skitters again, pawing the ground, and I only make a small squeak this time as I grab for the front of the saddle, the pommel I think they said it was called.
“Shhhh,” Aeron soothes the stallion before lifting me up to settle more in his lap.
At least I think it’s the horse that he’s trying to calm down, even if his hands run down my thighs.
I shiver when I feel his solid legs beneath mine, the leather of the saddle pressing into the front of my pelvis not unpleasantly.
He takes the reins from the groom, leaning forward so that his mouth is against my ear.
“Lean back into me, Dove. Hold on to the front of the saddle like a good girl.”
It shouldn’t turn me on, it really shouldn’t.
But damn, I’m only fucking human, and my panties grow damp as he clicks his tongue and we move. I can feel the blood as it rushes around my body, my heart freezing then pounding when I look around at the others.
I’m on a fucking horse!
I can’t stop my lips from tugging up in a wide grin when several minutes later, Aeron clicks again and we move faster.
Yeah, I probably look like a sack of fucking potatoes being thrown around up here but I don’t give a shit.
It’s exhilarating, the wind rushing past me and being so high up I can finally breathe.
“Enjoying yourself, Dove?” Aeron asks, and I can hear the smile in his voice. I wish I could see it. I bet it’s devastating.
“It’s…it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,” I gush, my cheeks heating at showing so much to him. I should be more careful, we are enemies after all, but right now, I’ve no fucks left to give.
“Ready to go faster?”
“Ye—” I don’t get to finish, the rest of the word cut off in a cry of delight when we launch forward, Samson’s hooves eating up the grass beneath us.
My breath comes faster as we sail through the landscape, and tears form in my eyes at the sheer beauty of feeling so free for the first time in my life. I let them track down my cheeks, not wanting to let go to wipe them away, and uncaring if the others see my joy if they catch up.
We slow down as we approach a wooded area, a worn path running through it.
My chest heaves as we come to a stop, Aeron’s own torso moving mine with his rapid breaths.
The others draw up alongside us, all looking even more gorgeous with their windswept hair and sparkling eyes.
The braid that Tarl wove into my hair seems to have held up, much to my surprise.
“Get down, Dove,” Aeron whispers into my ear, and it takes a moment for his words to sink in.
“W–what?”
Letting go of the reins, he lifts me up, forcing me to let go as he swings my leg over Samson’s neck and unceremoniously drops me to a crumpled heap at the horses’ hooves. Fumbling, I get up, brushing off loose leaves and dirt from my grazed palms, wincing when blood wells in the scratches.
I glare at Aeron; the others forming a semicircle around me, matching smirks on their faces as they stare down at me from the height of their horses’ backs.
I’m reminded of those damsels from the bodice rippers, and I can say that, although my heart thuds painfully in my chest, my nipples are also hard as fucking diamonds.
“What the fuck was that for?” I snarl, glaring at each of them, settling on the leader of their fucking merry band of assholes.
“You were told earlier that we would punish you for your rudeness,” he replies, waiting for when my eyes go wide, flitting over to Knox. “This is your punishment, Dove.”
“W–what is my punishment, exactly?” I stutter, wanting desperately to take a step back, but holding my ground and refusing to show any weakness to these bastards or acknowledge the excitement that is currently running through my veins.
“We’ll be going on a little hunt,” Jude bursts out, practically bouncing in his saddle. I swing my gaze to him as his chestnut horse steps to the side and Jude has to tug the reins a little to regain control. Serves him right.
“And you are the prey,” Tarl adds in his sultry voice. I shiver when I look into his hungry, mismatched eyes, even though it’s a hot summer afternoon with no hint of a breeze.
“So, Dove?” Aeron demands, and I finally come back to him. Back to the dark glee that makes his ocean eyes sparkle.
“Yes?” I ask, my heart now thudding painfully in my chest, no longer exhilarated because of the fear coursing through my veins, and maybe, just a little, anticipation.
“Run.”
“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT I WANT” BY LO-FANG
TARL
We all watch as, with wide sparkling eyes, our pretty little bird takes flight, turning tail and running into the woods behind her.
“This is going to be so much fun!” Jude exclaims, and I take my eyes off the spot she disappeared into, casting them over him. He’s bouncing in his seat, poor Maleficent—his mare named after one of his favorite Disney characters—whinnying and stamping her hooves underneath him.
I can’t blame him though, the thrill of the impending chase runs through my own veins, making my entire body tingle. I’ve always loved a good hunt, and I’ve never had prey as delicious as our beautiful bird before.
“Fifty G’s says that I get her first,” Knox states, and I look over to see the same hunger in his eyes that I feel as he trains them on the place where she vanished.
“I’ll take that bet,” I answer, his gaze swinging to mine. We’re all excellent trackers, we’ve been hunting Dead Soldier scum for the past decade, but I like to think that I have a certain edge, given my history, that the others don’t.
“Deal,” Jude adds in, and I can hear the excitement in his voice.
“Deal,” Aeron agrees, and I look to our leader to see he’s got it just as bad as the rest of us, his eyes sparkling as he, too, watches where our pretty bird took off. An alarm goes off on his watch, loud in the quiet. “Showtime.”