The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder (The Friendship Series) (9 page)

“Fine!” she groused and slowly lifted her hand again, feeling the warm, soft nose, almost laughing when the horse sniffed her fingers, causing warm air to blow onto her skin.  “She’s very nice.”

“So you’ll ride Nella,” he said with satisfaction, nodding to the stable hand. 

Nikki swung around, about to argue but before she could get the words out of her mouth, Nella put her nose right next to her face and Nikki froze.  Nazar chuckled and shook his head.  “It looks like Nella really likes you,” he explained.

“Why do you say that?” Nikki asked, barely able to turn her head to see the animal for fear of those teeth that were now even closer to her skin. 

“Well, first of all, Nella likes everyone.  But the fact that she didn’t back up and snort or try to pull away is her way of showing you that she’s now your friend.”

Nikki doubted that the animal was smart enough to tell anyone all that, especially by only putting her head close, but she didn’t argue with Nazar. 

He moved in behind her once again and took her hand, lifting it up to Nella’s neck.  “Here, pet her along her neck and coat like this,” he explained and rubbed her hand against the brown fur.  “Horses like to be petted,” he told her.  “Just like humans like being touched.”  He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest as he continued to rub her hand against the horse.  “When you pet the horse like this, it reminds the animal of how her mother would lick her, which is the mother’s way of cleaning and soothing her offspring.” 

Nikki resisted for a moment, but when the horse didn’t do anything startling, she petted the animal herself.  “How did you learn to ride?” she asked, almost smiling when Nazar released her hand but didn’t move his arm from around her waist.  She should object, but it simply felt too nice. 

“I learned on a pony when I was about three or four years old.  Unless I’m traveling, there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t ride.”

That was startling.  “Really?  I would think you have too many other issues on your priority list to take the time to ride.”

He smiled slightly.  “I do some of my best thinking while riding Midas.  Sometimes we race through the desert and other times, we trot through the field but riding helps me think, clears my mind and gets me to work through problems better.  So yes, there are many pressures on my mind, but they would be even worse if I didn’t take the time to mentally work through those problems in my own way.”

She was actually fascinated by that idea.  “How long do you ride each day?” she asked, curious about this side of him.  She would have pictured him as a hard core workaholic.  Not someone who tried to balance his life.  “And how many hours do you work each day?”

He handed her the reins, “Keep your hand under his chin and gently tug her this way.  She’ll follow wherever you want her to go, but remember that she’s bigger than you and needs space to turn around.”  He waited until she had the reins before he answered her question.  “I don’t know how many hours I work each week and I’m sure it’s just like any other employee.  It depends on what’s going on.  If I have meetings or a crisis, there have been times when I haven’t gone to sleep several nights in a row.  If things are running smoothly, I take the occasional afternoon off and go for a longer ride or a swim.” 

She continued to ask him questions. All the while, he showed her how to brush and groom Nella.  With the distraction of his voice and his male body so close to hers, she actually forgot to be nervous of the animal. 

“Ready to get on her?” he asked, waving to someone behind her.

Nikki turned around to see what was going on and was horrified to see that there were three grooms coming towards Nella.  One had a saddle, the other a bridle and the other was leading Midas out, already saddled up.  “What’s going on?” she asked warily, pulling back but Nazar wouldn’t let her go too far, keeping hold of her hand gently but firmly. 

“Nikki, you’ve been working around the animal for the past forty minutes.  You know by now that Nella is not going to hurt you.”

“Yes, she’s fine while I’m here on the ground next to her.  There’s no way I’m getting on top of her.  That wasn’t in the plan for the day.”

He chuckled and shook his head.  “It was always in the plan for the day.”

“No, you said to just come down and see the horses.  You didn’t say anything about riding any horse.  I’ve seen the horse.  I’ve groomed the horse.  I’m ready to let the horse do whatever horses do while I do what humans do.”

He took her hand and led her closer.  The grooms pulled back, having saddled the horse and Nazar tested the bit and the girth, the strap underneath the horse’s stomach that held the saddle firmly in place.  “Humans have been riding horses since the beginning of time, Nikki.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” she countered belligerently. 

“Horses enjoy riding with their owners,” he argued.  “And if you’ll get on Nella, I’ll show you.”

She shook her head and started to back away.  But Nazar realized that this was one of those “prove it” moments.  She’d never believe that the horse was gentle until she tried to rider her.  So instead of arguing, he simply lifted her up and placed her on the saddle. 

He let the shock of being on top of the horse settle in before he moved Nella forward.  “Are you okay?” he asked. 

Nikki wasn’t sure if she was okay or just frozen.  She was so high up, it was hard to believe.  “Can’t I have a shorter horse?” she whispered, her lips white from fear. 

Nazar looked at her, seeing the terror in her eyes.  He walked beside her, placing his hand on her thigh, distracting her.  It worked instantly.  “You’re going to be okay, Nicole.  Just look into my eyes.”

Nikki heard the soft, coaxing voice and couldn’t help but follow his command.  Looking down into his dark, concerned eyes, she drew strength from him, felt the power in his hand on her thigh.  And then it hit her…his hand was on her thigh and all those crazy, sexual feelings overwhelmed her fear of being on top of the horse.  Her eyes dropped from his to her thigh, looking at his dark hand against the tan of her riding pants. 

He moved his hand slightly, trying to give her both comfort and distraction.  “See?  Nella doesn’t mind you being on her shoulders at all.”

“I’m on her back,” she countered.  “Horses don’t have shoulders.”

He laughed softly and shook his head.  “Actually, you’re more on her shoulders than you realize.  A few inches back and you’d be on her spine and you might hurt her, but here on her shoulders, she has a lot of strength.  She’s perfectly fine.”  He saw the doubt in her eyes.  “Think about a toddler riding on the shoulders of his father.  The toddler’s weight is so small compared to that of his father, the dad doesn’t even feel it.  The only concern the father has is not letting his child fall off of his shoulders.”  He let that sink in for a moment.  “A horse feels the same way.  In fact, if you lean to the right or the left, the horse assumes you’re turning that way as well and will move with you.  They are very sensitive to your movements.”

Nikki tried to listen to what he was telling her, but in reality, she was too focused on his hand and the way it felt against her leg.  “I don’t….”

“Don’t think.  Riding a horse is all about feeling, about being one with the horse.”

She didn’t believe him, but she wasn’t going to argue with him.  She suddenly realized that, the sooner he got through this lesson, the faster she could get off the horse.  “I’m fine,” she replied and her eyes looked back down at his hand, still resting on her thigh. 

Nazar saw her silent admonition to remove his hand, but he ignored it.  “So how do you feel?”

“Everything is fine.  I’m fine.  The horse is fine.”

She was jabbering and knew it, but between her fear of the horse and the heat in his hand, she was struggling to concentrate on his words. 

“So you’re all fine.  Let’s go out,” said.

Nikki stiffened and saw the horse’s head move back and forth.  “Did I hurt her?” she asked nervously. 

Nella snorted again and Nazar took hold of the reins under her chin.  “You haven’t done anything.  She just senses your nervousness.  She’s talking to you if you’d care to listen.”

Nikki didn’t reply, not sure if she’d ever believe that the horse was actually speaking, but if he believed it, who was she to judge.  So the man had a screw loose!  She’d done some crazy things in her life as well.  Mainly, coming here, thinking she could free her friend from the palace prison. 

As Nazar walked the horse and Nikki, out into the sunshine, she looked down at him, wondering about why he was doing this.  Why didn’t he just toss her in a prison or have his wicked way with her?  The man certainly had the power.  He had the authority to do the first, and he knew she was attracted to him enough so he could accomplish the second.  The man was definitely a mystery.  And she didn’t like mysteries.  Rachel liked figuring out puzzles and Brianna was good at reading people.  Nikki was just good at reading, writing and barreling through life.  She wouldn’t put up with crap from her students, even if it was just one of them trying to get out of their homework.

She sighed and held onto the reins more tightly. 

When Nazar stopped and looked up at her, he came closer.  “Okay, here are a few tips.”  He took her foot and settled it into the stirrup.  “Keep your heels down and don’t put your full foot into the stirrup.”

“Why not?” she asked, looking down and trying to see her foot.  “And why heels down?”

He went through all the reasons, explaining that the stirrup would automatically release if she fell off, but it was safer to keep the bar of the stirrup on the balls of her feet.  Keeping her heels lower meant that she would have better balance.  She nodded her head to each thing he said, but there was a lot to remember.  When he was finished, he looked up at her and said, “Got all that?”

She only nodded, too terrified of what was to come next.  “I think so.”

He smiled, realizing she had no clue what he’d just said.  “We’re just going to walk around.  You’re going to be okay.”

She nodded again, not feeling very confident despite his reassurances.

Nazar walked forward, a nice, slow walk.  The horse moved along with him and, after a few minutes, she thought it might be okay.  “Keep your chest up,” he told her.  “Your hands need to hold the reins like this,” he said and showed her how to grip them so they wouldn’t slip.  “And you’re too stiff.  Move with the horse.”

Nikki had no idea how to move with the horse but she straightened her spine.

“Look where you’re going, not down at the horse.  Nella will take care of you.  Just tell her where you want to go.”

“I thought you were telling her where to go!” she snapped but looked up, straight between the fuzzy ears in front of her that twitched with her harsh voice.

Nazar chuckled, liking the way she was getting feisty again.  He preferred her like this rather than scared.  It was more akin to her normal personality.  “You look upwards so you know where to guide her.  And yes, I’m guiding her, but you should also be using your legs to guide the horse too.”

That stumped her.  “My legs?  I thought I was only using them to stay on the horse!”

He looked up at her, then down at her legs.  “Your legs do keep you in the saddle.  They also tell the horse to turn right or left, back up, stop or even speed up.”

She looked down at him, not believing him at all.  “Are you teasing me?” she asked, growing irritated by everything she had to remember. 

He laughed.  “No.  It seems like a lot, but in a few lessons, this will all be instinctive.  I promise.”

She grimaced as if she were still doubtful.  “Okay, so I’m riding the horse.  This means I’ve accomplished your challenge, right?”

Nikki was more than ready to get down off of the horse.  Nella definitely wasn’t as scary as she’d originally thought, but that didn’t mean she wanted to continue. 

“The challenge was for you to ride the horse.  Right now, you’re just sitting in the saddle while I lead the horse around in circles.”

She grimaced at that because it was true.  “Perhaps you should more completely define what you would consider ‘riding’, please?”   She shifted in the saddle, trying to get more comfortable.  But she suspected that sitting on a horse would never be comfortable.  She had an enormous animal between her legs that could bolt and tear off into the sunset at any moment.  It wasn’t a comforting thought.

His eyes moved to her backside and, as soon as she saw the heat flare in his eyes again, she sat absolutely still.  He looked back up into her eyes again, silently telling her he understood what she was doing and it didn’t matter.  Then chuckled when her cheeks flared a becoming shade of pink. 

“Good color on you,” he muttered. 

“Too much sun,” she replied back, looking away from him. 

“Right,” he said, knowing the truth.  “As for riding, when you do an acceptable posting trot, then we’ll talk.”

She shook her head.  “Oh no!  We’re not going with that ambiguous ‘talk’.  You’re going to define what I have to do.”

He smothered yet another chuckle.  Damn he liked this woman.  She was direct, funny and beautiful.  A dangerous combination.  “Fine.  Since you want an absolute, you’ll have to give me a perfect posting trot.”

She stared down at him as if he’d just spoken Greek.  “What is a posting trot?”  Her stomach tensed with the direction.  She briefly considered option B but then shook her head, mentally dismissing the idea as ludicrous. 

His grin widened.  “You were thinking about the other possibility, weren’t you?”  As he watched her cheeks turn that beautiful shade of pink again, his body hardened, making him almost wish she weren’t so stuck on this horseback riding lesson.  But he’d already made up his mind and had to pull back.  Patience was the most important issue with this little beauty, he reminded himself.  In the end, he was sure he would succeed with his ultimate goal. 

“A posting trot is when you’re lifting yourself up with a rhythm.  You’ve probably seen riders do this before.”  He waved over to the stable hand who had been holding Midas.  “I’ll show you.”