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Arien steered Gunner counterclockwise around the paddock, relaxing into the easy rhythm of his gait. “This isn’t so hard.”
Squeezing his legs into the horse’s sides, Kellan signaled him with a click. Gunner sped into a trot, Arien’s ass bouncing up and down in the saddle. “Yeah, like that. Move with him.”
As they circled the field, she leaned forward a little, her crotch pressing into the pommel, the movement obviously stimulating her. He could hear the catch of her breath, see the flush in her cheeks. Gripping Arien tighter, Kellan urged his horse even faster.
Feels good, don’t it, baby cakes?
Teeth sinking into her lower lip, a whimper of sound escaped her with every exchange of air. He held her, his thumb sweeping up and down her abdomen, muscles rippling in waves beneath his fingertips. Kellan angled his head.
He wanted to see her green eyes glaze.
He wanted to slide his hand inside her jeans.
But he couldn’t.
What the fuck just happened?
Catching her breath, Arien inhaled deeply through her nose. Of course, she wasn’t an idiot. She knew exactly what happened to her, she just hadn’t expected it. And with Kellan flush up against her ass, she wasn’t quite sure if straddling a saddle was entirely to blame for the mess in her underwear.
She tried to keep it from happening, tried to stay quiet, but lost that battle in the end. At least she’d managed not to scream. Arien only prayed her stepbrother hadn’t noticed. How embarrassing would that be?
If Kellan could tell, he was playing it cool. His thumb lazily strummed over her sweater, rocking behind her in the saddle like nothing happened. But then she didn’t know him nearly well enough to read him.
A horse whinnied. The distinct clip-clop of hooves coming from the barn had Arien glancing over her shoulder. Tanner sat astride a gorgeous horse, black with a white blaze and stockings, leading another alongside him.
“Whoa.” Kellan took the reins. “There’s your ride.”
His smile a mile wide, Tanner rode into the paddock. He jumped off his horse and strode over to Arien. “She’s for you.”
Golden coat, its mane and tail white, the mare gazed at her from the post with the softest brown eyes. And instantly, Arien’s heart melted.
“Daisy’s yours now.” Tanner reached up for her.
“Really?” She slid from the saddle into his arms. “She’s mine?”
“Yup.” Lowering her feet to the ground, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “And I’m gonna show you how to take care of her.”
“Hello, sweet girl,” she cooed, running her fingers through the forelock of Daisy’s mane. “Do all the horses have names?”
“Sure do.” Tanner squeezed her to his side, patting the horse’s flank. “This guy here is Tux.”
Arien lifted her gaze to striking eyes of celadon. A lopsided, boyish grin. He was as much of an unknown as his brother, yet somehow he put her at ease.
“What about the cows?” She giggled.
“Yeah, we call ’em Dinner,” Kellan answered with a roll of his eyes. “Can we go now? I still got work to do and it’s lookin’ like snow.”
“He always such a cranky-butt?” Arien asked as she placed her foot in the stirrup.
“Kel’s a moody fucker.” Tanner gave his brother the side-eye. “Ignore it.”
What was up with him? Unlike his brother, Kellan didn’t come off as being the friendliest guy anyway, but he’d been acting strange—cold almost—since they got here yesterday. Well, except during their ride when she…yeah. But then everything felt strange. Waking up in an unfamiliar room. This place. It could be she was just overanalyzing things, right?
Maybe. Or could be he just doesn’t like you.
They left the paddock together. Kellan was silent, leaving Tanner to do all the talking. “This is private land. The ranch, the town, all of it. Has been for almost two hundred years.” He pointed somewhere off to his right. “The highway is that way. Brookside is behind a gate at the end of a five-mile drive. It’s easy to miss the turn-off if you don’t know it’s there. There’s no sign. Google Maps don’t work up here. Anyone who mistakenly goes down our road would think it’s a gate to a private residence, not a whole dang town.”
“Wait.” Arien threw him a look. “No Google?”
