Read Online The Pillars Of The World by Anne Bishop - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anne Bishop
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that black mane brushed against her skin.
“I feel strange,” she whispered.
He made a sound that might have been agreement or understanding.
She pressed her hands against his cheeks.
He lipped her chin.
For a moment, she couldn’t look away from those strange gray eyes. Then she pressed her lips against his muzzle. “There. A kiss to seal the bargain.” Suddenly feeling shy, she went to the cave and pulled out her pack. “Since we’re friends now, I’ll share my meal with you. I don’t think cheese is of any interest to you, but horses like apples, don’t they?”
The stallion nodded vigorously.
Ari eyed him a moment. “You are a horse, aren’t you?”
He turned his head as if he needed to check the body behind him. He swished his tail, then gave her such a quizzical look she couldn’t help but laugh.
“All right. So it was a foolish question. But I wouldn’t want to insult one of the Fae by offering such humble fare.”
He shook his head.
It was nothing, Ari assured herself while she cut up the apples with her folding knife. Just moondreams and too many of her grandmother’s tales about the Fae and how they could change into another shape.
The horse was used to people. And Ahern’s “special” horses tended to act as if they understood what was being said, so maybe there was some inflection in her voice that the horse was responding to, some cue she wasn’t aware of that made it seem like he was really answering her. He was just a horse that, for some reason, was curious enough about her to stay.
As expected, he wasn’t interested in the cheese, but happily munched his share of the apples. Since he seemed determined to have his share of the fairy cakes as well, she gave him one, hoping it wouldn’t make him ill. There was no fresh water nearby, so she kept pouring water from a canteen into her palm until he’d had his fill.
After slaking her own thirst, she tucked her pack back into the cave, then she joined him on the beach.
He arched his neck and pranced in a circle around her.
“Don’t you think it’s time you headed home?” Ari asked.
He stopped, shook his head. One foreleg stamped the sand.
“You’re going to have to make your wishes clearer than that, lad,” Ari said primly.
He did. As soon as she turned her back on him, he came up behind her and gave her a firm nudge.
“Do you bully all your ladies like this?” Ari demanded.
He didn’t bother to answer. He just kept herding her back toward the rock wall. She tried slipping past him a couple of times, but he was bigger and faster and more experienced in herding than she was at dodging.
“All right. All right,” Ari grumbled a minute later. “I’m standing on the wall. Are you pleased now?”
The stallion shook his head. Sidling close to the wall, he presented his left side.
That invitation was plain enough.
“I’ve only ridden a horse a few times when I was a girl,” she said, hesitating. “I’m not sure I remember how.” But she wanted to ride him. Tonight. Here. Now. Oh, she wanted to.
He turned his head and looked at her.
She took off her cloak, folded it, and set in on the wall. Gripping a fistful of his mane, she eased one leg over his back, glad that she had chosen to wear the loose trousers and long tunic she usually dressed in except when going to Ridgeley.
He moved away from the wall at a quiet walk, giving her time to get used to the feel of him under her.
An odd sensation, to have her thighs spread this way, to feel the heat of his body where she was pressed against his back.
They walked along the edge of the foam. There was no sound but the sea sending gentle waves to kiss the shore.
Ari breathed deeply, draining one kind of tension from her body.
He lifted into a canter, the change so smooth she didn’t have time to tense her muscles. The wind in her face tasted of the sea. She knew they were moving far more slowly than his gallop down the beach, but she felt like she was flying.
“I feel strange,” she whispered.
He made a sound that might have been agreement or understanding.
She pressed her hands against his cheeks.
He lipped her chin.
For a moment, she couldn’t look away from those strange gray eyes. Then she pressed her lips against his muzzle. “There. A kiss to seal the bargain.” Suddenly feeling shy, she went to the cave and pulled out her pack. “Since we’re friends now, I’ll share my meal with you. I don’t think cheese is of any interest to you, but horses like apples, don’t they?”
The stallion nodded vigorously.
Ari eyed him a moment. “You are a horse, aren’t you?”
He turned his head as if he needed to check the body behind him. He swished his tail, then gave her such a quizzical look she couldn’t help but laugh.
“All right. So it was a foolish question. But I wouldn’t want to insult one of the Fae by offering such humble fare.”
He shook his head.
It was nothing, Ari assured herself while she cut up the apples with her folding knife. Just moondreams and too many of her grandmother’s tales about the Fae and how they could change into another shape.
The horse was used to people. And Ahern’s “special” horses tended to act as if they understood what was being said, so maybe there was some inflection in her voice that the horse was responding to, some cue she wasn’t aware of that made it seem like he was really answering her. He was just a horse that, for some reason, was curious enough about her to stay.
As expected, he wasn’t interested in the cheese, but happily munched his share of the apples. Since he seemed determined to have his share of the fairy cakes as well, she gave him one, hoping it wouldn’t make him ill. There was no fresh water nearby, so she kept pouring water from a canteen into her palm until he’d had his fill.
After slaking her own thirst, she tucked her pack back into the cave, then she joined him on the beach.
He arched his neck and pranced in a circle around her.
“Don’t you think it’s time you headed home?” Ari asked.
He stopped, shook his head. One foreleg stamped the sand.
“You’re going to have to make your wishes clearer than that, lad,” Ari said primly.
He did. As soon as she turned her back on him, he came up behind her and gave her a firm nudge.
“Do you bully all your ladies like this?” Ari demanded.
He didn’t bother to answer. He just kept herding her back toward the rock wall. She tried slipping past him a couple of times, but he was bigger and faster and more experienced in herding than she was at dodging.
“All right. All right,” Ari grumbled a minute later. “I’m standing on the wall. Are you pleased now?”
The stallion shook his head. Sidling close to the wall, he presented his left side.
That invitation was plain enough.
“I’ve only ridden a horse a few times when I was a girl,” she said, hesitating. “I’m not sure I remember how.” But she wanted to ride him. Tonight. Here. Now. Oh, she wanted to.
He turned his head and looked at her.
She took off her cloak, folded it, and set in on the wall. Gripping a fistful of his mane, she eased one leg over his back, glad that she had chosen to wear the loose trousers and long tunic she usually dressed in except when going to Ridgeley.
He moved away from the wall at a quiet walk, giving her time to get used to the feel of him under her.
An odd sensation, to have her thighs spread this way, to feel the heat of his body where she was pressed against his back.
They walked along the edge of the foam. There was no sound but the sea sending gentle waves to kiss the shore.
Ari breathed deeply, draining one kind of tension from her body.
He lifted into a canter, the change so smooth she didn’t have time to tense her muscles. The wind in her face tasted of the sea. She knew they were moving far more slowly than his gallop down the beach, but she felt like she was flying.
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