Page 14 of Wild and Wanted

Stevie shook her head. No way. She’d got on Gertie without it. She’d get off without it. ‘Keep this foot…’ He tapped her knee and even though it was brief and impersonal, the touch flushed up her inner thigh, swelling to a breathtaking ripeness between her legs.

Oof… mama.

If Clay noticed, he didn’t let on as he continued his instructions. ‘…in the stirrup and take the other foot out.’

Stevie dutifully followed his orders.

‘Now put this hand’ – he nodded at the one closest, thankfully not touching this time – ‘on her neck close to the saddle and the other hand on the rim of the saddle just off to the side a little near your other hand.’

Again Stevie did as she was told, looking to Clay for approval of her handholds, which he gave with a dispassionate nod. ‘Now lean forward over your hands and push yourself upright until you’re standing with that one foot in the stirrup taking your weight.’

A shot of trepidation took hold as Stevie hesitated. ‘Won’t that drag on one side of her?’

Patting the horse’s neck, he said, ‘It’s fine, Gert’s used to it.’

Stevie drew in a deep breath and braced herself as she slowly lifted herself into a standing position. Her leg shook as it held her weight in the stirrup. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried that Gertie might make a sudden movement and toss her on her butt, but the horse didn’t move.

‘Okay,’ she said a little breathlessly as she glanced at him. ‘What now?’

‘Keeping your hands where they are and this foot in the stirrup, swing your other leg behind you with a pointed toe then swing it over Gertie’s back to join this one so both legs are on this side of the horse.’

He made it sound easy but he also moved closer as he explained it, which led Stevie to believe that it might not be as easy as he was implying. His proximity certainly wasn’t helping the jittery sensation she had going on. Was he there to catch her or to guide her?

The thought of either shortened her breath.

‘It’s okay,’ he assured her, although he was back to being grim-faced again. ‘I won’t let you fall.’

Slowly, awkwardly, Stevie swung her leg over the horse as Clay had tutored, both her knees pressing into Gertie’s side.

‘Good.’ He nodded. ‘Now, what you’re going to do is keep your weight over your arms and the centre of the saddle, lean into Gertie as you slip your foot from the stirrup. You’re going to support yourself against the horse with your extended arms and then when you’re ready I want you to push yourself off and hop down in one smooth movement.’

Hop down. Just like that.

The thing was, though, Clay was looking at her with the type of confidence he exuded in himself, which was remarkably buoying. He didn’t seem to doubt that she could do it, so why should she? Taking a steady breath, she fumbled her foot out of the stirrup and sought for a comfortable hold as she clung to the horse.

‘That’s it,’ he encouraged with what sounded like mild praise. ‘Now just push off your hands and hop yourself down.’

Stevie eyed the dirt, then Clay, then the ground again. It wasn’t that far and yet just hopping down backwards seemed ripe for mishap. He was close though – probably a little too much for her sanity – so he should be able to quickly intervene if she screwed up.

She smiled at him then. Fake it till you make it, Stevie. A mantra she was all too familiar with these past couple of years.

Well, okay… here went nothing.

Springing backwards, her hands let go of the saddle, both boots landing on the earth seconds later a little too close to Clay for comfort, the impact causing her to wobble a little.

He reacted quickly, snatching her around the waist, which caused her to startle and wrap her hands around his biceps as she leaned into the solid wall of him.

‘You okay?’ he asked, concern in his voice.

It wasn’t exactly a textbook perfect dismount, but she was stable now and she’d done it! Whooping her accomplishment, Stevie beamed up at him. ‘I did it.’

The concern etched in his granite features disappeared and he grinned, and man… it should be illegal for Clay Calhoun to grin, his amber eyes glowing as he seemed to enjoy her achievement as much as her.

‘You did,’ he said with a chuckle.

And it was so deep and warm and his body was hard and strong against hers, honed and fit, muscles solid beneath the plaid of his shirt, and she could see his eyes, shaded by the brim of his Stetson, were dancing over her face and his lips were so close and turned up as he laughed, and she’d just ridden a horse in Wyoming and Stevie was so completely swept up in the moment that, for a second, she lost her head.

Quickly rising up on her tiptoes, she closed her eyes as she planted her mouth on his – sort of. It kinda missed a full-frontal lip lock and landed more on the side of his mouth requiring some awkward realigning but what she lacked in finesse, she made up in gusto, leaning into the closed mouth peck with everything she had.