Chapter 4
Part of me thought the universe was finally taking pity on me by bringing Madison back to the arena, but maybe it was fucking with me.
Every innocent touch from her was magnified, every sweep of her gaze over me setting my blood to simmering.
Her mahogany hair was pulled into two braids to accommodate the helmet, showing off her heart-shaped face.
Raspberry gloss drew my gaze helplessly to her lips as she spoke.
There was nothing sexual about teaching her how to saddle Eclipse, but every time our hands brushed, I thought about stealing her away to some private alcove.
Get a fucking grip.
Charlotte had been clear that Madison was with an alpha who didn’t want to pack up, which meant she was entirely off-limits. I always thought it was selfish of alphas to demand monogamy when omegas thrived in a pack system.
If Madison was happy, that was the only important thing here.
Except… was she? The last time I’d seen her had been at Charlotte’s birthday, when her boyfriend had been up her ass for getting her picture taken with me in costume, like a dozen other people at the show had already done.
He might as well have had a neon sign over his head saying INSECURE.
“Did I do everything right?” Madison asked.
I checked the saddle and bridle again, though I had watched her do everything already. “Looks good to go. Let’s get you up there.” I showed her how to hold the reins to lead Eclipse and took them both out into the arena, where Charlotte was sitting with Chico.
We used the edge of the arena as a ladder for Madison to get onto Eclipse and her eyes widened, staring down at the ground. “This is way higher than it looked when I was standing.”
“You’ll get used to it. Eclipse won’t let you fall and I’ll be right there to catch you if the impossible happens.
” I adjusted the stirrups for her, making sure they were the right length and that she was able to sit comfortably.
“I’ll hold the reins for our first lap so you get used to the movement of him.
You can hold onto the saddle if you need to. ”
I drew Eclipse into an easy walk, Madison’s fingers white-knuckling the saddle.
“Holy core workout, Batman. This feels weird.”
“It takes time to get used to. Keep your muscles engaged but not tense, because Eclipse can feel everything you do up there. If you’re scared or agitated, that’s going to translate through your body language to him.”
She reached out to pat his neck. “I’m sorry I’m nervous, baby.”
“He’s a pro at lessons, so don’t stress too much.”
We walked until her posture adjusted, tension slowly dissolving out of her.
It took a few loops, but all that mattered was that it happened eventually.
I passed over the reins and showed her how to comfortably hold them while still maintaining control before setting off on another loop.
She guided him carefully around the curve and I turned to her with a grin. “There you go. Good girl.”
She jerked the reins, her cheeks bright pink, and Eclipse halted.
Ah, fuck, that was not an appropriate thing to say. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”
“It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“I’ll try not to say it if it makes you uncomfortable. It slipped out.”
“No, I like it.” Her cheeks turned even darker pink.
“How are you feeling up there?”
“A million times better than when I started. Feels like one of those rhythms your body has stored away in a genetic vault or something.”
“Humans and horses have been partners for a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.”
“Why don’t saddles come in memory foam? My butt cheeks are starting to hurt.”
I laughed. “Yeah that happens. You have to ride a lot for that to stop.”
“Pretty sure that just kills the nerves in your ass,” Madison said with a chuckle.
“You’re probably not wrong about that. Whenever you’re ready, you can hop down if it hurts. Our only goal for today was to get you comfortable up there.”
“I’m going to practice some self-care and get off the horse. I have a client’s nest to set up later today and I need to be able to move to do that.” She angled Eclipse toward the arena boundary and paused. “Do I have to do anything special to get off?”
“Not really. Just make sure you don’t yank the reins. Do you want to use the wall to step off or slide down right now?”
She eyeballed the ground. “That’s a long way down, though.”
“I’m right here.”
Her gaze shifted from me to the wall and back again. “Okay, here’s good. I’m not always gonna have a wall. What should I do?”
“Get your other foot out of the stirrup. You’ll put your weight on this one,” I said, patting her calf, “and swing your leg over, then you can step down.”
“If I fall, I’m blaming you.”
I braced one hand on her knee while she untangled herself and when she kicked her leg over, I moved my hands to her waist to balance her weight. “I won’t let you get hurt.”
Her step down was more of a controlled fall with how tall Eclipse was compared to her, and her weight smacked against my chest.
“Motherfucker,” she squawked.
“You okay?”
“Could use longer legs, but yeah. Ow.” She bent forward to rub her inner thighs, her ass brushing against me. “This is like a spin class from hell. I don’t think I’ve ever worked some of these muscles. Are there secret layers that come into existence specifically when riding a horse?”
It took me a few seconds to formulate a response, and even longer to detach my hands from her. “Definitely seems like it in the early days. I promise it gets easier. Horses are a weird shape.”
Madison stood up, giving herself a shake. “I’m very motivated with new exercises. When I started jogging I wanted to die, but I can be stubborn as a mule when I want to accomplish something. How long do you think until it doesn’t hurt?”
“Depends on how often you’re riding. If you do it once a week you’re probably gonna get old before you get used to it.”
Her pout almost undid me. The determination in her sweet brown eyes was unfairly hot.
“I guess riding every day is probably not possible.”
“Every day might be a stretch, but we could figure out something.”
She bounced excitedly on her toes. “I’m gonna get so fucking fit. I go a little balls to the wall with new skills, and that’s probably going to get insufferable. I apologize in advance.”
I wasn’t going to say no to more time with her, no matter how agonizing it might be.
My pride didn’t give a shit where Madison was concerned.
If I needed to be pathetic, then I was willing to do that.
It wasn’t my fault the universe had dropped this captivating and vivacious omega in front of me when I couldn’t have her.
I could accept that she was spoken for and commit myself to simply teaching her how to ride.
Some Madison was better than none. Or so I told myself.
“What now?” she asked, looking up at me with eyes of melted chocolate.
“Eclipse didn’t really work up a sweat, but I’ll show you how to take everything off and take care of him.”
“I’m happy to take care of the stable’s best boy.”
She was cute as hell brushing down Eclipse after her lesson. Praise fell easily from her lips and he soaked up the kisses she planted on his cheek, leaning into her touch.
Lucky horse.
“You’re going to be his new favorite if you keep that up. Don’t tell Charlotte she’s going to have competition.”
Madison giggled and buried her face against Eclipse’s neck. “I can’t help it. He’s so pretty and sweet. Like my cat Pepper in horse form.”
“I love cats.”
Her gaze lit up. “They’re the best. I have two.”
“What’s the other one called?”
“Poppy. They’re my babies.”
“They’re certainly a much more manageable size of baby than this precious weirdo,” I said, patting Eclipse. “I don’t suppose you’d want to show me pictures of your cats?”
That question was the opening of Pandora’s box, but she was so fucking happy to whip out her phone that I didn’t mind gazing upon a thousand pictures of her cats one bit.
“This is Poppy’s gotcha day. Oh my god, she used to be so tiny.” The photo showed off a slightly younger Madison cradling an extremely rough looking tabby kitten. “I found her in the trash when she was six weeks old, and less than a month later I found Pepper while out on a walk.”
“They’re lucky you found them. I assume they’re living cushy lives now with the prettiest mama in town.”
Madison’s cheeks flushed. “I dunno about prettiest, but I try to give them a good life.”
“Are you being modest or do I need to side-eye the people in your life for not complimenting you enough?” I could be content with the first, but if it was the second, then the people in her life needed to step up their game.
Her laugh was sweet and she leaned her face on Eclipse, looking at me with those big doe eyes. “I don’t know what to do with compliments.”
“Fair enough, but I’m not going to avoid making them because of that.”
I was never going to get enough of how pink her cheeks got.
“Would you take a picture of me and Eclipse?” she asked, offering her phone.
“Absolutely.”
She grinned wide and I snapped a few photos. “Be in one with me?”
I slipped in next to her, held the phone aloft and captured her sweet smile.
Madison took back the phone and stared at me expectantly. “What’s your number so I can send it to you?”
My heart kicked against my ribs as I recited the digits.
She sent it to me, saved the photo in a hidden folder, and hastily deleted the conversation.
Did she really have to go to that extent to hide her life from her partner?
I kept my mouth shut. Waiting for a few lessons wouldn’t kill me, and when she was more comfortable around me, maybe the conversation topic would come up organically.
It wasn’t my place to butt in, anyway. Much as I might want to do otherwise, I had to keep some sort of professional boundary.
I would crush on her in silence and focus on making sure she felt safe enough here that the arena could be a reprieve from whatever bullshit she was obviously experiencing at home.
I just hoped my heart survived it.