Purebred (4 page)

A maiden not conceiving in her first season wasn’t unexpected, but Aidan picked up on the strain in Cat’s voice. Was there some reason for her to be nervous?

Dressed as if she were about to go riding, a lovely blonde stepped next to her father. “What about Abigail Runs? Why isn’t she pregnant?”

Cat sounded like she was about to choke when she turned to her client. “Martin, are you unhappy about something? You’ve been with me for three years. You know I always do the very best for you.”

“Hill already has two pregnant mares and this is his first breeding season with you.”

“Sheer luck. You’re not in a competition. Not here, away from the track. Just give it some time.”

The man grunted and gave Aidan a once-over. “You the Irishman Jack told me about?”

“That I would be,” Aidan agreed, holding out his hand. “Aidan McKenna.”

“Martin Bradley,” the other man said, taking Aidan’s hand and shaking. “My daughter, Simone.”

Aidan noted how Cat’s jaw clenched.

He nodded at the blonde. “Miss Bradley.”

Simone held out her hand, and when Aidan took it, she gave Cat a smug smile. “A pleasure.”

Aidan sensed Cat’s immediate
dis
pleasure.

She asked, “Martin, are you thinking of bringing in more than the mares we originally discussed?”

“Where would you get that idea?”

“Just checking so I can hold open more spots if needed.”

Aidan thought she sounded relieved.

“Gotta get going,” Martin said, whirling back the way he came. “C’mon, Simone.”

The daughter gave Aidan one last look before following.

Cat called after him. “I’ll let you know when one of your mares comes into season.”

Aidan felt the tension drain out of her.

“Do you and Martin not get along?”

“We get along just fine,” she said in a clipped tone that didn’t convince him. Could be the problem wasn’t the man but his daughter.

Suddenly a screech filled the air. Aidan started but Cat seemed to loosen up immediately.

“No need to worry,” she assured him. “Teenagers are rarely quiet.”

As they rounded the empty box stall at the aisle’s end, he could hear a girl’s indignant voice. “You think you’re so funny, I wonder how you’d look with a shovelful of horse manure on your head!”

“Let’s not try it to find out!” Cat said, her order followed by silence.

They turned into the center aisle where Mac Finnian was stabled. Two teenagers—a thin blonde and a husky, dark-haired boy—were squared off. Aidan realized they must be Laura and Vincent, Cat’s part-time workers. Her face flushed, Laura was brushing off her derriere while Vincent tried to hide a grin.

“Are you working or playing?” Cat asked.

“Working,” they said in unison.

“Get to it, then.”

Laura gave Vincent a shove before grabbing a mucking rake and disappearing into a box stall. Vincent snorted and did the same on the other side of the aisle.

Cat moved in close and whispered, “Vincent has a crush on Laura. What he doesn’t realize yet is that she has a crush on him, too.”

When her breast brushed against his arm, Aidan sucked in a quick breath. “’Tis a wonder they get any work done.”

Cat’s good will disappeared in a snap and she stepped back. Aidan couldn’t read humans in the same way he could horses, but he wasn’t dense. She’d clearly taken that as a criticism. She certainly was on edge with him. He was glad when they got to Mac’s stall, but for once, the colt didn’t stick out his head to greet him. Instead, he paced the small space in a tight circle.

Immediately concerned, Aidan murmured, “Mac, what’s up with you, lad?”

The colt stopped short of the door, so Aidan opened it and stepped in, too aware of Cat right behind him. He reached out for the colt, ran a hand up Mac’s cheek to his forehead and then scratched his poll.

“Is he all right?”

“He’s nervous, but after what he’s been through the last couple of weeks, that should come as no surprise.”

Except that it did. Mac was normally settled, unaffected by change or surprises. But there was something about this place that got to him. That made his flesh quiver when touched. Aidan had noticed it earlier when he’d brought the colt inside the barn. Then, too, he’d put the colt’s unease to the strain of the long move.

Unfortunately, Mac still hadn’t settled down.

Aidan could sense the colt’s stress as he moved closer and continued to stroke him. No matter that he ran his hands over Mac’s neck and back and chest, Aidan couldn’t read him, couldn’t say why Mac had gotten so rattled. Frowning, he took a peppermint from his pocket, and offered it to the colt. For a moment, he didn’t think Mac would take the candy. His gut tightened. Was Mac sick? Then the colt moved closer and brushed Aidan’s palm with his muzzle and lipped the peppermint before gently taking it with his teeth.

A sense of relief washed through Aidan until Cat said, “I think I should call Helen. That’s the vet—Helen Fox.”

“He doesn’t need a vet. He’s not ill.”

“I can see how concerned you are, Aidan. We can’t let anything happen to him—”

“I shall decide if and when he needs a veterinarian.”

They stared at each other for a moment. The silence was deafening.

“I know he’s your colt, Aidan, but I have a big investment in his well-being. And this is my barn. I’m responsible—”

“I know that. And I know you want what’s best for any horse in your care, Cat, but I know Mac. He simply is stressed by the move, is all. I feel him relaxing already.”

Which was true. Horseflesh softened under his touch as he continued to stroke the colt. Mac undoubtedly needed a bit of reassurance, was all. Considering his deep connection to Mac, Aidan would surely know if there was something more about which to be alarmed.

Cat nodded. “Fine. I didn’t mean to question your judgment. I was simply concerned.”

“We’ll both keep an eye on him tonight, then,” Aidan said, trying to defuse the tension now between them. “Just to be certain.”

“All right. When I check on Fairy Tail, I’ll check on Mac, as well.”

“I would appreciate that. As well as you telling me if you find anything off about the lad.”

All this walking on eggshells was starting to get to Aidan, but he felt like he couldn’t be himself, couldn’t feel free to say what he wanted.

Cat obviously loved horses as much as he—they had that in common. He quickly quashed the rush of longing that shot through him. He’d almost forgotten what it felt like to have any kind of relationship with an attractive lass in the very industry that took up every moment of his life. There was something exciting about sharing work as well as play with the same woman. Not that he and Cat had a personal relationship or ever would.

Pegeen’s tragic death nine months before broke his heart, and he wasn’t going to replace her.

No one ever could.

* * *

S
HE
TOOK
HIS
SWOLLEN
tip in her mouth, drew him deeper and then into her throat, inch by inch. Her nails scraped the insides of his thighs and he thought he would pop like a champagne cork, but she stopped just in time. She knew exactly what to do with him, how to make him insane with desire. Each time they were together, he learned she had new tricks.

He closed his eyes and let her work him and just as he was about to find release…

An inhuman scream woke him.

Chapter Five

A sound…a scream more than a whinny…woke Cat.

She bolted upright in bed and listened for a repeat. The night was silent but for the wind whistling around the house. A storm was imminent but the skies hadn’t yet opened.

The dogs were relaxed, curled up on their beds, their heads raised so they could watch her.

Taking a deep breath, Cat willed her rapidly pounding heart to still. She must have been dreaming. She checked her bedside clock. Three in the morning.

Awake now, she decided to get up and check on Fairy Tail. And Mac. She might as well do it now, before the rain started and made things uncomfortable. Wearing only a thin nightgown, she pulled on the jeans she’d thrown over a chair.

Sleep had eluded her for hours. She’d been restless and out of sorts all evening. Aware of Aidan in the in-law apartment below her, she kept imagining him arguing with her, giving her looks that sent shivers down her spine.

Not shivers of fear.

Just the opposite.

What the heck was wrong with her? she wondered.

Something about him tugged at her. It wasn’t just his looks or his obvious sexuality. Something that came from inside. The deep love he had for the horses he trained had been so obvious when he’d checked on Mac earlier. It was an emotion she understood. One Jack had never had. Too bad she hadn’t realized that when she’d met him.

She pulled on her boots.

Expressions hopeful, Smokey and Topaz left their beds.

“All right, you know you can go out anytime you need to.” They had a doggy door to the run, but apparently they were after more than a brief outing. She patted them both as she got to her feet. “Sorry, no walks in the middle of the night.”

Looking at her empty bed, she knew exactly what was wrong with her. She hadn’t gotten as lucky as one of the broodmares in her barn for nearly a year. The moment she’d discovered Jack’s infidelity, she’d kicked him out of her bed, and no man had replaced him. Yet. Every time she bred one of the mares, she wondered when it would be her turn to feel a man over her and inside her.

Only, not Jack.

She hadn’t been able to imagine with whom until now.

Aidan’s chiseled features suddenly filled her mind. This would never do. She had to get the Irishman out of her thoughts. She couldn’t have fantasies of her business partner or she would never be able to work with him.

Leaving her bedroom, dogs at her heels, Cat walked through the dark house to the back door.

“Your run is that way.” She pointed and the dogs reluctantly headed for the doggie door.

Her eyes adjusted quickly once outside, the dusk-to-dawn light on the exterior of the barn was her only illumination now. The moon remained hidden by storm clouds. A gust of wind tore at her nightshirt so that it billowed around her like a sail. The air that sneaked under the material was chilly and humid, heavy with unshed rain. She gladly escaped it as she ran into the barn.

Leaving lights on all night would mess with the normal reproductive patterns of the mares, so the barn was dark.

Since she was only checking on Fairy Tail and Mac, and not wanting to disturb the others who should be sleeping, she took one of the combination flashlight/lanterns from a hook near the door and used it to guide her to the aisle housing the Hill mares. Whenever she entered the barn at night after a mare was covered, Cat always tried to be as quiet and unobtrusive as possible so as not to awaken more of the horses than she needed to.

But tonight, a low nicker from one side of the barn and the sound of hooves clicking against the stall boards on the other made her stop short. She listened intently, but heard nothing that should disturb the horses.

So why were they awake?

She could hear sounds in every direction as horses moved around their stalls. At three o’clock in the morning. Daylight was still two hours away.

What had happened to agitate them?

For a moment, Cat had the distinct feeling she wasn’t alone, that someone else was in the barn with her.

At three in the morning!

Heart drumming in her ears, she listened past the thrum of her own pulse speeding up, searched for another presence.

Was that a footstep she heard? A human breath?

“Is someone in here?” she called out.

No answer.

“Raul?” Her mouth went dry. She held her breath and concentrated on picking up the slightest sound. “Bernie?”

A little freaked, she told herself she was imagining things. No one else was anywhere around. No human anyway. The horses quieted down, a single nicker from across the barn the only sound of disturbance.

With no other apparent reason, Cat put their restless behavior to the coming storm. Wind unsettled horses and made them more likely to spook at any little rustle, because pinpointing the source was nearly impossible. Horses were flight rather than fight animals. Any strange sound could mean a predator approaching, which would kick up their nerves.

Just then the wind whistled into the barn and up the aisle and the restlessness around her increased once more.

The coming storm. That had to be it.

Relaxing, she took a deep breath and moved down the aisle, stopping only when she reached Fairy Tail’s stall. She switched her flashlight to lantern mode so that it would give the area a soft glow and not bother the horse’s eyes.

Seeing that the mare stood away from the door, Cat wondered why she didn’t step forward as she usually did. Fairy Tail normally loved the attention Cat gave her.

“Hey, girl, how are you doing?” Cat called softly.

The mare backed up into the farthest corner, pulled her head high and snorted. Cat could see the mare’s dark eyes staring at her. That and the snort translated into the mare worrying about some hidden danger.

“It’s me, sweetheart. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Cat clipped the lantern to a jeans loop and freed her hands, and as she slowly moved forward, held out one of her hands in a nonthreatening way. The mare was so spooked by the wind that she didn’t trust her. Cat kept talking nonsense in a soft voice, anything to soothe the mare. Her being so stressed wasn’t good, and Cat feared that it would interfere with her conceiving.

“Relax, girl, that’s it,” Cat murmured as the mare finally lowered her head and stretched out her neck so Cat could touch her. “Yes, you know me. You know there’s no reason to be afraid.”

But as she ran a hand along the mare’s neck, her horseflesh quivered. Fairy Tail was afraid of something. And the wind wasn’t even whipping through the barn now.

Had Fairy Tail been hurt by the stallion’s cover that morning?

Had she missed something in checking over the mare?

Continuing her soothing chatter, Cat rechecked every inch of the mare’s body for scratches or bites she might have gotten from False Promise, but she found nothing. Fairy Tail was physically fine as far as she could see. And given Cat’s continued attention, she finally settled. So the mare wasn’t hurt, just frightened.

“You are a scaredy mare,” Cat whispered, kissing the velvety soft nose. A rush of warm breath on her cheek in return made her smile and pat the mare’s neck. “Are you going to be okay now if I leave you?”

Fairy Tail pushed at her in response, making Cat laugh.

“That’s my girl.”

Relieved, she left the stall and got that weird feeling of not being alone again. But though she stopped and waited and listened for something that would indicate another human presence, nothing seemed out of place. It was more an itchy feeling of something being wrong.

Not wanting to stay in the barn any longer than necessary, Cat headed for the center aisle and Mac Finnian’s stall. The colt was acting nearly as weird as Fairy Tail. But like the mare, he quickly settled under her soothing hands. Other than the tension that rippled through the barn, he seemed just fine.

A rumble of thunder followed by a flash of light through the open doors set off the horses once more. They began to shift and nicker.

What a night—she’d never seen them all so edgy.

She’d never felt so edgy being in the barn alone.

It was almost as if something horrible was about to happen here.

Then the tap-tap of rain hitting the roof made Cat groan. The storm had started in earnest.

Deciding to get to the house before the sky opened and the drizzle turned into a downpour, she left the flashlight on its hook and made a run for it. The rain beat down on her harder than she expected. She tucked her chin to her chest and ran blindly toward the house.

The wet ground beneath her feet made going treacherous, and halfway there, she slipped, slid and caught herself only to ram into another body. Arms wrapped tight around her.

Instinct made her fight and start to scream until a hand whipped over her mouth to hush her.

* * *

C
ERTAIN
THAT
SHE
’
D
LEFT
THE
BARN
, he left the shadows where he’d been hiding. She’d passed right by him without even knowing he was there.

What the hell had she been doing out here anyway?

Five minutes earlier and she would have caught them. She could still catch them. They weren’t by any means done with their work.

He considered the risk.

Considered the reward.

Considered what would have to be done if one night Cat entered the barn at the wrong time.

He decided he couldn’t let it matter—the risk was worth whatever they had to do.

They’d gotten rid of one obstacle.

Cat was equally disposable.