Thunder Canyon Homecoming / A Thunder Canyon Christmas: Thunder Canyon Homecoming

She hesitated a few feet from the fence.

“You’ve never ridden before?” He couldn’t imagine going through life without experiencing the exhilarating freedom of racing over the open fields on the back of a horse.

“No, I have.” Her gaze flickered cautiously toward the horse again. “Twice.”

“When you were a kid?”

She shook her head. “A few weeks ago.”

His lips twitched as he fought a smile. “What happened?”

“Haley convinced me that I couldn’t live in Montana if I didn’t know how to ride, so I decided to take some private lessons.”

“And you had two?”

“I suffered through each one and decided the bruises on my butt were never going to go away if I kept them up.”

Corey shook his head. “You don’t strike me as the type of woman to give up so easily.”

“You don’t know me,” she reminded him.

“I’m working on it.”

“And accepting that something isn’t working doesn’t equal giving up.”

“It sure sounds like giving up to me.”

“If you came here to ride, go ahead,” she said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“And what will you do?”

“I can watch.”

He curved an arm around her shoulders and guided her closer to the docile bay gelding. He whistled softly, and the horse ambled over to the fence.

Erin looked at Jax.

It was an innocuous-sounding name, and the animal seemed well behaved, but he was just so big. Okay, not quite as big as Lucifer, and certainly not anywhere near as menacing as the powerful stallion that was pawing impatiently at the ground and tossing his head from side to side, but still pretty intimidating. But there was something about those big dark eyes that encouraged her to trust that, though he was big and strong enough to toss her around like a rag doll, he wouldn’t.

She started to reach toward the horse, testing herself as much as the animal, then hesitated.

Corey caught her wrist before she could withdraw and guided her hand the rest of the way, until her palm was flat against the horse’s neck. She felt the muscles quiver beneath her touch, and the gelding blew out a quiet breath that sounded distinctly like a sigh of pleasure.

Corey’s hand dropped away, but he remained close while she continued to stroke the animal.

“I think he likes me,” Erin told him.

He smiled. “Of course he likes you. He’d like you even more if you took him out for the run he’s saddled up for.”

Still, she hesitated.

“It’s okay if you’re afraid.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “I’m not afraid.”

His lips curved, just a little, and she knew that she’d fallen straight into his trap. He vaulted easily over the fence, then put one foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle, then he held out his hand to her. “Come on.”

Erin remained rooted where she was. “I thought you were going to ride Lucifer.”

“I am,” he said. “We’re just going to take a walk around the paddock together, until you’re comfortable with Jax.”

Still she hesitated. “You expect me to get up on that horse with you?”

“You won’t fall off,” he promised.

“Won’t we be too heavy for the horse?”

“We’re just going to take a few turns around the paddock. He can handle it.”

Erin remained skeptical.

“Trust me, darlin’, I know what these animals are worth and I wouldn’t do anything to risk harming any of them.”

“Maybe I’m more worried about harm to me,” she told him, but climbed up onto the fence—keeping a wary eye on the horse—and over.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” He smiled. “Not anything that you don’t want to happen, that is.”

It was as much an enticement as a warning. She felt her cheeks flush but chose to ignore the innuendo.

She thought she was going to fall off before she ever managed to get on, but eventually she managed to climb up, straddling the horse’s back behind the saddle.

“Put your arms around me and hold on,” he told her.

She did so, all too aware of his solid warmth and masculine strength. His jacket was unzipped and she could feel the ripple of his muscles beneath the soft fabric of his shirt. Her mouth went dry—although whether it was from fear of the horse or awareness of Corey, she wasn’t certain.

He nudged Jax into motion, and as Erin felt herself starting to slide, she fisted her hands in Corey’s shirt and held on for dear life. He only chuckled. As the horse made its way around the paddock and she realized how easily he was controlling the powerful animal with the hard muscles of his thighs, her grip on the flannel gradually loosened.

Her own muscles felt watery; her limbs were weak. And her heart was pounding so hard inside her chest she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. The rocking motion was somewhat familiar, and the familiarity made her tense. Her butt was definitely going to be sore tomorrow, and the knowledge made her wish that she’d never responded to Corey’s knock on her door. She really did want to learn to ride, but maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be a horsewoman.

“Relax.”

She did and realized that when she stopped trying to anticipate the horse’s movements, she didn’t jolt up and down so much. In fact, she could almost enjoy the steady, easy rhythm. Lulled by this discovery, she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against Corey’s back, breathing in the heady scent of leather and horse and man.

She felt the familiar stir of desire low in her belly, and a tingling warmth between her thighs. Obviously as her worry lessened, her awareness heightened. With every step the horse took, her breasts brushed against Corey’s back, and she was suddenly aware that her nipples had tightened into hard points that were straining against her bra, aching for much more intimate contact.

She wanted his hands on her, stroking over her bare skin, touching her everywhere.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Ready for more?”