“Yes.”
He faced forward and started walking in the direction of the cliff. As if by magic, the horse followed. Ylva did her best to accompany the rolling gait with her body. After a short while, Ulf lifted his bent right arm and turned to the left. The horse followed. It was as if the two of them were linked by an invisible rope, something rather astonishing to see. They went round a few loops in that manner, Ulf asking her to turn her body in the direction they wanted to go each time.
“Do you feel him between your legs, moving back and forth?” he was saying. “You need to make sure you move along with him, that you relax and let your body adjust to the rolling motion. Don’t go against it. Just feel, close your eyes if you need to. Riding is a partnership, each doing his part. It involves two bodies moving in unison.”
Heat invaded Ylva’s cheeks. Did he have any idea that his words could be taken in a different way? Or perhaps it was her mind that was addled by desire, because he was still bare-chested and barefoot, having only put his braies back on.
“Are you ready to try trotting?” Ulf asked after a while. “We’ll go slow.”
“Yes.” She was ready for anything. Her trust in the man by her side and the horse working with him was absolute.
Ulf clicked his tongue and straightened himself up. The rhythm instantly changed, going distinctively bumpier. Oh, yes, this she remembered from the day they had ridden into town, it was nothing like the gentle rolling she had been getting used to, and far more uncomfortable.
“I think I’m doing this wrong,” she called out. It was hard not to sound panicked when she was being tossed about like a rag doll. Would she fall? Be thrown from the saddle?
“You’re not doing anything wrong, you’re just not used to trotting.” Ulf sounded as calm as she was agitated. He didn’t seem to see any problems with what was happening. It helpedher to relax a little. “You need to raise yourself off the saddle every other step, using the ball of your foot to push yourself up. One, two, one, two.”
As he trotted alongside the horse, he raised his shoulders in rhythm to his counting, encouraging her to do the same with her whole body. It took a while but she eventually managed to do as she was told. It did feel more comfortable. But it didn’t take her long to see that doing it right was exhausting.
“I need to?—”
As soon as she opened her mouth, the jolting stopped. She blinked. It was as if Ulf had read her mind, and in turn, the gelding had read his. Of course she knew there had to be more to it than this but she was amazed once more at the connection between man and beast. How good it would be to feel at one with such a splendid animal…
They walked along for another few moments, Ylva being the one directing the horse this time. Once she had caught her breath she tried to trot again, and was able to improve on what Ulf called the rising trot. Finally, they slowed down to a halt by the water.
“Well done. For a first lesson, you did exceptionally well.”
She was sure he would have said that regardless of what had actually happened, but she accepted the compliment, because ithadbeen an achievement. “I think I did the best I could.”
“Definitely. Now, seeing how good it went, do you want to try a short burst of canter to finish off the lesson?”
“I…” Hope and delight shot through her. “Could we really do that?”
“Yes. But only if you want to. You can trust me and my friend, but it has to be your decision.”
“Yes. Please. I want to try.” Now that she was here, there was no way she was going to deny herself this opportunity. Rarelyhad she had cause to be proud of herself, and rarely had she taken as much pleasure in anything as this lesson.
“Stay here while I go over there. The horse will not move, I promise. When I’m far enough away, I will call him. Hold on to his mane if you need to and just enjoy.”
His mane? Ylva gave the coarse hair a caress. Could she really pull on it? “Will I not hurt him?”
“No. Don’t worry. Horses are not like us in that regard.” He smiled, as if pleased she didn’t want to hurt his mount. “I will be over there, by the rocks.”
The mention of the rocks caused Ylva to smile. “Are you sure the couple has finished…whatever they were doing?”
Ulf snorted. “Judging from what we heard I would say that the man, at least, has.”
Yes. Probably. In any case, she cared not.
“Very well. See you shortly.”
Ulf started to walk away from them, slowly at first, keeping his gaze on the horse, as if to order him to stay where he was, then turned around and picked up speed. Once he had reached the rocks, he turned around and whistled. The horse lurched forward—and Ylva felt as if she were flying. It was the most wonderful feeling of freedom. She was holding on to the mane and laughing at the same time, thundering toward a smiling Ulf.
All too soon, he lifted a hand and everything slowed down, then stopped.
Out of breath, eyes burning and chest heaving, Ylva slid from the saddle, landed in a graceless manner—and promptly fell onto her backside.
She picked herself up swiftly, too happy to care or even mention the fall from grace. “I-I… It was?—”
