“Good, so you trust me?”
Her tongue swept over her bottom lip. Fuck, she was flirting with him. “Perhaps.”
“That’s good enough, I guess.” Bending, he smiled. “Put your arms around my shoulders.”
My stomach knotted, wanting to tell him to be careful, but Jaz immediately looped her arms around him and allowed him to scoop her useless legs from the chair.
I’d never seen Jaz so open to trusting someone she hadn’t vetted and investigated within an inch of the law before. Yet she accepted Vaughn so easily.
Holding her in his arms, he completely forgot about the rest of us and the over-packed stable.
I coughed deliberately.
Vaughn grinned not giving an arse what I thought. Murmuring in her ear,he carefully placed Jasmine on Claret. Her useless legs wouldn’t straddle the horse, but Vaughn held her aloft so Jaz could grab her jodhpurs and sling herself into position.
Once Jaz sat on the horse, she nodded. “You can let me go now.”
V did as she requested, looking at me for instruction.
Leaving Nila, I climbed the ramp and checked the girth was tight, Jaz’s legs were anchored and buckled to the custom saddle, and her balance was correct. The pommel came up extra high and the back of the saddle cradled her back with cushioning and a seatbelt.
She’d have to be careful of sores and bruises as she wouldn’t be able to feel but she was as safe as she could be on a beast.
“Ready for your first ride?”
I’d never seen Jaz’s eyes so bright. The thought of doing something she’d given up granted a smidgen of magic on this melancholy day. “Never been more ready.”
Fighting my brotherly protectiveness, I passed her the reins. “You sure?”
Her lips pursed as she stole the leather. “Positive.”
Giving her a dressage whip, I climbed down the ramp. The whip was longer than a hunting version and meant she could encourage Claret to move without having to kick or twist.
Moving toward Wing’s stall, I stopped dead as Nila came out of Moth’s enclosure already sitting on the dapple grey.
So many times in the past fortnight I’d thought of Kes. Pictured him still living and joking and teasing.Laughing.Filling the holes of our lives with antidotes only he could.
But my brother was gone and his horse, who he so generously gave to Nila, remained.
My heart skipped a beat as Nila pulled to a stop, her eyes drowning with love. For me.Love...something I never thought I’d earn.
I marched to the side of the large dapple and grabbed her wrist. “Kiss me.”
The one sentence that started it all. The command that broke my every resolve.
Nila smiled softly. “When you ask so nicely, how can I refuse?” Bending in her saddle, I stood on my toes to reach her delicious mouth.
It wasn’t a slow kiss or even erotic. Just a quick affirmation we belonged to each other and always would.
Reluctantly, I let her go. Vaughn had managed to help Tex climb onto a large Clydesdale called Bangers and Mash, and a stable hand in turn helped V clamber on top of a newer addition to the stables called Apricot.
“Head on out, everyone. I’ll catch up.”
Jaz obeyed, flicking her whip and urging Claret forward. A procession disappeared out the barn. Tex followed gingerly, his hands tight on the reins while V chuckled, shaking his head at his father’s nervousness.
Their lack of skills was what happened when you worked in a factory all your life.
Now Nila was mine, I intended to share.
