Read Online Melting Ice by Jami Davenport - Free Book Online

a pair, all right, hating the world and everyone in it.
    Only Isaac didn’t hate Avery—far from it.

Chapter 5—Playing with Fire
    Once in a rare moment, Avery had rides like this one.
    Avery held the reins in her hands as if they were thin threads of silk to be handled with the utmost care. Riot’s raw power rose under her seat, as she rode him around the arena in an almost trancelike state.
    She was in the zone, and it’d never happened before with Riot, and rarely happened with other horses. She was so attuned to her horse, she thought where she wanted to go, and he would go there as if reading her mind. She imagined what she wanted him to do, and he’d do it. All the while, she never lost sight of that delicate thread connecting them, so easily broken with a minor lapse in concentration or a moment of tension. Pure relaxation turned a pure athletic performance into an art form.
    Time stood still. Nothing existed but her and Riot, only they weren’t two separate beings, they were of one mind, one body, one soul. Riot moved willingly underneath her, giving her all she asked for with a rare display of enthusiasm.
    She noticed Sam and Hans, the German dressage master who coached Sam, leaning on the arena gate watching them, and wondered how long they’d been there. Avery sat up straighter and applied a slight tension to the reins, slowing Riot to a walk. Her first temptation had been to ride Riot until their surreal bond dissipated, but she’d ridden him long enough, and she didn’t want to take advantage of his unusual generosity. Nothing equaled moments like this—except maybe sex with a dangerously hot man named Isaac.
    “That was freaking awesome.” Sam’s huge smile said it all. Hans, in his typical German manner, said nothing, his face expressionless.
    Avery halted Riot near the gate. He stood quietly, his sides heaving from the exertion. “Did it look as good as it felt?”
    “Absolutely. What the hell happened? How did you manage to get that out of him? I’ve never seen you ride like that. You were relaxed, focused, gentle.”
    “Thank you.” Avery swallowed back a lump in her throat, almost in tears. “It was indescribable. I mean there are no words.”
    “I know,” Sam answered, still grinning. “The first time I felt that with Gabby, I knew we had a special bond. Now the key is to duplicate it. Be greedy. Want it every time. Find a way to get there.”
    “But when I try too hard, he sulks and won’t cooperate.”
    Hans cleared his throat, and both women turned to wait for whatever words of wisdom he chose to impart. He’d trained the best of the best, including gold medalists and trainers of gold medalists. Semi-retired, Hans worked out of the barn once a month for a week. Last year, he’d married one of his wealthier students, and the other three weeks they vacationed wherever their whims took them.
    Avery waited for the day she became one of the chosen few. To date she’d filled in for other riders when they weren’t able to ride. Hans preached absolute patience and kindness with the horses, but his students were often the object of his ridicule and verbal abuse. He didn’t cut his two-legged students any slack.
    “Iz gut,” he grunted. The highest compliment Avery had ever received from him. He turned to Sam. “Why iz she not part of my regular schedule?”
    Both Sam and Avery knew why. Hans clearly stated a few months ago she wasn’t ready for him yet and should continue her instruction with Sam and ride as many different horses as she could.
    “Your lesson schedule is full,” Sam pointed out, as Hans didn’t like to teach more than six hours a day.
    “You vill squeeze her in.” On that note, he strode away, shouting to one of his students that he was ready for lunch, as if she were his personal minion. The poor woman ran after him, like a puppy hoping for a pat on the head.
    “Are you ready for his abuse one week a month?” Sam winked at her.
    “Yes,” Avery answered.