Her Secret (5 page)

“Forget sex. I don’t want you to be
lonely.”

Danial took my hand, caressing it in his cool
one. “I’m not lonely. I have you in my life, and the child you gave
me, not to mention Elle. Besides, who knows how long it will take,
to get you back to normal? I’m going to enjoy you while I can—”

Danial abruptly stopped, holding completely
still. “Shit.”

Danial almost never swore. “What is it?” I
said, alarmed.

“Do you like horses?” Danial asked, hastily
slipping on a shirt.

“Yes?” I said uncertainly. “Why?”

He gave me a quick smile, and then led me out
of the bedroom to the front door. Someone was knocking. Danial
opened the door.

A cheerful man stood there, dressed in denim.
Strands of hay clung to his flannel shirt, and his shoes were
covered with muck. The scent of horses, hay and saddle oil
permeated the air.

These were all good smells to me. I inhaled
deeply, giving him a tentative smile.

“How you doing, Racklan?” the man said,
giving him a broad smile.

“Fine, Chuck,” Danial said, giving him a
broad smile in return.

They shook hands. “I’ve brought Poe tonight,
as you asked,” Chuck said, eying Danial’s clothing. “You going to
ride in those?”

“My apologies,” Danial said graciously. “I
quite forgot I’d asked you to come. Let me present my friend,
Sar.”

Chuck looked me over thoroughly, appreciation
in his eyes. He nodded to me politely. “Ma’am.”

“Hello,” I said. “My name is Sar. It’s good
to meet you, Chuck.”

“This your lady, Racklan?” Chuck said,
switching his eyes to Danial.

Danial never missed a beat. “Yes, she’s my
lady,” he said, prideful. “Would you please take her outside to
meet Poe? I’ll change and be out shortly.”

Chuck nodded, moving aside so I could step
out the door. A huge blue dually—an oversized truck with extra back
tires made for pulling heavy loads—waited in Danial’s driveway, a
horse trailer hooked to the back. Chuck went into the trailer, and
slowly backed out a beautiful gelding. He was easily eighteen hands
tall, very large boned, and glossy black, his coat clean and shiny.
Chuck tied Poe to a post, then rummaged around in the back of the
truck. Soon he was back with a western saddle, blankets, and a
single bit western bridle.

“Danial usually does this,” Chuck explained.
“But I need to be home in a few hours for my last round of the
barn, so I’ll help him out, just this once.”

Danial must be paying him good money to get
him out here. Chuck had most likely been up since dawn, and
probably had done more today than I had all week. He likely had
more jobs waiting for him at home besides settling his horse Poe in
his stall for the night. “I can do it,” I said.

Chuck looked at me in surprise.

I took the bridle from him. “Does he mind if
the halter is left on? Will he stand for me?”

“Yes, you can take it off. He’ll stand still
without being tied.”

I slipped the halter off Poe slowly, moving
confidently. He didn’t know me, and I didn’t want to startle him. I
took the bit in my left hand, and put my finger in Poe’s mouth, in
the corner, finding the gap between his jaws. I opened his mouth
gently, slipping the bit between his teeth, and he accepted it
nicely. I slid the bridle over his ears, and made sure the strap
was the right length, not too tight and not too loose. Tying the
reins loosely to the post, I handed Chuck the halter. “Does he need
two blankets?”

“Yes,” Chuck said. “He’s sensitive, and he’ll
ride better that way.”

I nodded, and put the blankets on, folding
them once, putting one back a little farther than the other. Chuck
settled the saddle on his withers, as Poe was too tall for me to do
it without messing up the blankets. Quickly, I gathered up the
girth strap, and leaned into Poe’s side. When I felt him draw in
breath, I cinched it tight, buckling the saddle on. I tried to move
the saddle a few times, as Poe breathed in and out, and it stayed
put.

It had been two decades, yet I’d still
remembered a lot from my riding lessons. “Can I get on him?” I
asked Chuck.

“When I saw you standing there with Danial,
from the looks of you, I’d have said no. But it’s clear to me you
know what you’re doing, Miss.” Chuck gave me a broad smile. “Go
ahead.”

I untied the reins. Putting them over the
saddle horn, I grasped it with my left hand, and put my left foot
in the stirrup. Then I pulled myself up, swinging my right leg up
and over. Poe was taller than any horse I’d ever ridden. Yet the
saddle’s feel under me was familiar.

Chuck checked the stirrups, then shortened
them both. “You’re all set.”

“Does he have a soft mouth?” I asked “Is he
easily scared?’

“Nope to both,” Chuck said. “Just stay out of
the forest. I don’t want him tripping over a tree root and throwing
you.”

I grinned. “Okay.” I turned Poe and we began
to walk down the drive.

It felt so good to be on horseback again. I
tightened my legs into Poe’s sides and suddenly he was galloping,
stretching out his neck to run. I crouched over his neck, trying to
move with him and not bounce, the night air sweeping through my air
and lungs invigoratingly.

In ten seconds, we had reached the driveway,
and were barreling down it. I eased back on the reins. Poe dropped
into a trot and then a fast walk. He was certainly eager to run. In
spite of how eager I was for that too, I turned Poe around, and
tightened my legs around him again, not wanting to deprive
Danial.

Poe and I galloped back down the driveway,
tearing across the lawn. We slowed abruptly, coming to a stop in
front of Danial and Chuck.

“She’s quite a horsewoman, your lady is,”
Chuck said, giving me a smile.

“So it would seem,” Danial said, giving me a
considering look. He turned to Chuck. “Next time you come, can you
bring a horse for her?”

“Sure thing,” Chuck said. “I have another who
will suit her just fine.”

“Go ahead, Sar,” Danial said, giving me a
smile. “Ride him a little more. I’m enjoying watching you.”

“Are you sure? You were supposed to ride
tonight.”

“I will, in a while,” Danial said. “I want to
watch you for now.”

“Take him down the driveway,” Chuck reminded.
“The woods aren’t safe to gallop in at night, but the driveway
won’t have any trips or holes.”

I didn’t need any more urging. I wheeled Poe
around, and we were galloping again in a flash. It took us only a
few minutes to reach the road. Turning him, we raced back down it,
the speed leaving me breathless and excited.

“You’ve been wonderful,” I said, patting his
neck. “Come, let’s walk around the yard a bit. Your sides are
heaving.”

After about thirty minutes of pleasant
meandering around the front yard, Poe and I were familiar with each
other, and he was no longer breathing hard. Slowly I walked him
back to Danial.

“Done?’ he said, as he came over to help me
dismount.

“Yes,” I said, giving both he and Chuck a
brilliant smile. “It’s been a long time since I rode. But it was
fantastic. Thank you.” I handed Danial the reins.

Danial gave me one of his soft looks. “You’re
welcome.” He quickly lengthened the stirrups and swung up into the
saddle. He looked so good sitting there, as if he belonged on
horseback. At four hundred plus, he probably felt more at home
there than behind the wheel of a truck.

Danial smiled down at me, then turned Poe
with a deft touch on the reins. They ghosted away over the grass,
trotting toward the driveway.

“Danial, he really likes to ride,” Chuck
mentioned, watching then disappear into the night.

I didn’t reply, too upset that I’d never
known of Danial’s love of riding. But Danial hadn’t ever mentioned
it to me, not in the years we had been together. This couldn’t have
been an interest he’d developed in the last few months, not with
his skill. Why hadn’t he shared it with me?

Danial was soon back. Effortlessly, he began
elegantly cantering around the yard. It was obvious he was an
excellent equestrian. Poe went beautifully for him, seeming to move
as an extension of Danial. I watched raptly, enchanted.

A half hour later, Danial rode back to us and
dismounted.

“Walk with me,” he said to me. “I need to
cool down Poe before he goes home.”

When we were out of earshot, Danial said
softly, “I never knew you could ride.”

“I never knew that you enjoyed it as much as
I can see you do,” I answered. “You never said anything about it,
not in all the time we were together.”

Danial smiled and took my hand as we walked.
“We had other things to think about then. We didn’t pay enough
attention to one another the first time we were together, or share
enough of ourselves. The second time, there was Elle to raise and
we were trying to have Theoron.” He stopped walking and turned to
me. “I am not going to miss this third chance. In the time we have,
these Saturdays, I’m going to do with you all the things I never
made time for before.”

I squeezed his hand, then gave him a soft
look of my own. “Good.”

As we continued to walk, Poe’s breathing
quieted. When he was cool, Danial took off Poe’s bridle, blanket,
and saddle, and gave him a quick rubdown. Chuck covered him with a
blanket, then loaded him into the trailer.

“Next week?” Chuck asked, his hand on the
truck’s door.

“Yes,” Danial answered. “And please bring an
additional horse.”

“You got it. Goodnight.”

As they drove off into the night, Danial took
my hand and led me back inside. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” I said expectantly. He wouldn’t have
offered if he hadn’t had something in mind.

“Good.” Danial led me into the kitchen with a
smile. “This was just delivered via fox.”

“Pizza!” I said joyfully. “This just gets
better and better.”

Danial laughed. “I hope you still say that
after the pizza.”

“We’ll see.” Laughing, I carried the pizza
and a soda into the great room, quickly demolishing most of it.

After I’d eaten, I lay back on the couch,
relaxed and happy.

“Are you tired?” Danial asked. “Your eyes are
fluttering.”

“No,” I whispered to Danial, stretching
slightly. “I’m not...”

* * * *

I woke nude lying before the wood stove. I
sat up, a little confused. “Danial?”

Danial walked in, his naked skin bathed in
shining light. God, he had never looked so gorgeous. I checked my
bottom lip to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

Danial held some kind of remote up, and
pushed a button.

I blinked in surprise. “Don’t tell me you put
a TV in here—”

The first strains of the Righteous Brothers
“Unchained Melody” rose from the room’s corners, enveloping me in
longing, making my heart pound. Danial walked toward me with
intent, his eyes locked on mine. I backed away submissively. When
he was close enough, he grasped my naked arms, and began kissing
me.

I hugged him, luxuriating in the sensations.
My lust for him was rising, but it wasn’t the uncontrollable lust
that we’d silenced earlier. This was the lust mixed with love that
I always had for him, the desire that was never truly silent, never
truly gone.

“Are you still mine?” he said softly, looking
into my eyes. He kissed me with passion, then he moved lower to my
neck, pricking me gently as he had before with his fangs. “Do you
want to be?” he whispered.

“Yes,” I whispered back. “And it’s me
answering this time.”

Danial bit me again gently. I tensed up, but
the lust didn’t uncurl within me. Danial applied more pressure, and
I felt one fang slide in just slightly. I shivered, waiting for the
lust to rear up, but nothing happened.

I went weak with relief. “It’s gone.”

“Good.” Danial smiled, and then reached over,
pushing some buttons on his remote again. The song began to play
over, and he began to kiss me gently, then more passionately, our
crescendo building along with the music as the song repeated again
and again. There was none of the franticness of the lust, or the
pure physical rush. Instead, we luxuriated in each other, slowly
building up to an emotional climax that completely satisfied us in
a way the purely physical one had not.

After, we lay in each other’s arms, spent. “I
loved that,” Danial said contentedly. “I wanted us to make love at
least once without The Lust.”

So had I, but voicing that felt like the
betrayal it was. I sighed and pressed myself closer to him. “Thank
you for being safe. I know you hate wearing them—”

“No more talking,” he whispered. “Sleep, my
darling, and have hope. Things will be better tomorrow.”

Chapter
Three

I opened my eyes. I
was warm and everything was absolutely wonderful. I shifted
slightly stretching in contentment. Cool arms reached around me to
pull me close.

“Good morning,” Danial whispered softly,
kissing me.

I tensed immediately, and swallowed hard.
“Good morning.”

“It doesn’t sound as if it’s good for you,”
Danial said, concerned. “What is it?”

I’m a complete and utter slut for waking
up with you so happy while Theo’s home by himself going crazy.
I swallowed again, and brushed back tears. “Nothing.”

Danial kissed my cheek, then hugged me.
“Don’t cry, please. I understand. Just stay here a moment with me.
I want to hold you for as long as I can before you have to
leave.”

I blinked rapidly, then shook my head. “No,
I’ve got to go. We did what we set out to, at least for now.”

“Did we?” Danial nuzzled my neck softly.
“We’re two for one in favor of lust over love.” His hands moved
down, pulling my hips back against his. “Let’s make it even.”

“Stop,” I said halfheartedly. “You know this
is wrong.”