Read Online Teach Me To Ride by Rachel Leigh - Free Book Online

power.”
    “I really don’t know what I’m doing.” She seemed struck by the dark, open land ahead of them.
    It was ten o’clock on a warm September night and the sky grew darker by the minute, stars appearing one by one like tiny flakes of snow.
    “You’ll be all right, you know. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
    She looked at him, her beautiful eyes wide in the semi-darkness. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. The fact you need to say that.”
    He smiled at the undeniably shaky tone of her voice.
    “You shove me into riding pants and boots, I can hardly see ten feet in front of me, and you’re holding on to a horse that looks all kitted out for a run. I want to sprint in the other direction, to be honest.”
    He grinned and took her hand, pulling her close so that only inches separated them. “I am about to change your life, Miss James. Why not enjoy the experience?”
    She darted a nervous glance toward the open field, the skin at her throat shifting. “Change my life? Or take it?”
    He laughed and kissed her pouty mouth before he could stop himself. Time stopped as he breathed her in. She smelled of something flowery and, for better or worse, Michael sensed she belonged in his arms in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by trees and open air. Why would anyone want to go to the city and be engulfed by smog and chaos when they could be a part of this gorgeous, English country vista instead?
    He pulled away from her warm body and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, letting his knuckles graze the curve of her neck and then lower over the exposed and delicate ridge of her collarbone. “You’re going to love it. No one can enjoy sex like you and not appreciate the raw power of a horse.”
    She shivered, her mouth curving into a slow, mischievous smile. “You think I enjoyed sex with you?”
    He grinned. “You loved it. All of it.”
    “Maybe.” She turned away toward the field. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not nervous about what you have planned now.”
    “Think of it as research.”
    “Hmm, but is it the kind of research that’s going to get me killed?” She rested her hand on the horse’s neck, smoothing her fingers in gentle circles. “What’s his name?”
    “Fire.”
    Her eyes widened. “Fire? This does not bode well.”
    He laughed. “I still caught you admiring him when I tacked him up.”
    She met his eyes. “That was before I knew you intended me to get in the saddle.”
    “You went from awed fascination, to fear, to what I can only describe as infatuation. Once you gave him that apple from the bin outside his stable, he was yours. Trust him, Caroline. He’s going to look after you.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “He is? Or you are?”
    He smiled. “Both.”
    Michael brushed past her, pushed his foot into the stirrup, and lifted himself into the saddle. She stared up at him, shifting from one foot to the other. He held out his hand.
    “God help me.” Caroline inhaled audibly and slid her palm against his.
    He pulled her up behind him and she slid her arms tightly around his waist as she settled behind the cantle on the saddle. Michael smiled when he felt the weight of her head against his back. “Are your eyes closed?”
    “Yes.”
    He grinned. “But you need to see the beauty of it. Feel the wind against your face. If you hide behind me, you’ll miss it all.”
    “I’ll let go when I know how fast you’re going to ride. Right now, I am sitting on a horse for the first time in my life in pitch black darkness.”
    Michael resisted the urge to laugh. “Relax. Trust me. You’re going to beg me for more.” Her head lifted from his back and her hands slightly loosened from where they were clamped at his torso. “Good. You ready?”
    She inhaled a shaky breath. “As I’ll ever be.”
    Michael gathered the reins and pressed his heels into Fire’s flanks. He gave a soft click with his tongue and they pushed off at a walk. He’d ease her in