Page 23 of Her Guarded Hero

“This is my job. I do it day in, day out. I’ve been doing this since I was fifteen, Sullivan. You need to let me handle it.” She tested his hold, there was no give. She went for a different approach and slowly relaxed her body. His hold changed too, one of his arms slid up her back and cuddled the back of her head, the other arm hugging her closer to his body. For a moment she reveled in the closeness. How could she not? Then she took advantage of his inattention and wrested herself away and went to a special bucket.

“Aurora, what do you think you’re doing?” He was exasperated.

“I’m getting some herbs that he’s going to eat. They’re calming.”

He took a look at the plants in her hand. “What is it?”

“Comfrey, dandelions, valerian and meadowsweet. You need to let me do what I do best.”

“But that’s the problem, you’re not at your best. I saw you at breakfast this morning, you were pale and unsteady.”

“I’ll be careful,” she said as she went toward the stall door. Dalton’s hand was there to stop her.

“No,” he said simply.

He was so damned frustrating. Great, now she had two stallions she had to soothe. For a second she considered offering him some of the herbs.

“Dalton, could you please look at Aladdin? Really look at him in there.” She waited while he took a long look at the horse. “What do you see?”

“I see a very scared, two-thousand-pound animal that could easily kill you.”

“Do you see him shaking?”

Dalton nodded.

“Look at his legs, do you see those crisscross scars? Did you know that their legs are their most sensitive area on their body because they have so little padding and it is right next to bone? Do you see how much scarring he has?”

Dalton squinted, then he nodded.

“Sometimes that’s a sign of someone trying to train a horse to do different maneuvers for dressage. They’ve done a shit job, since nobody wants a scarred horse out in the arena.”

“All of that abuse would be done for an equestrian event?” She could hear the disbelief in Dalton’s voice. “Just how big are the purses for winning something like that?”

“They’re nothing compared to winning the Kentucky Derby, they’re pennies on the dollar. Most of this is about getting into the Olympics with your horse, and later competing nationally and internationally. There is a big community associated with this sport and more than a little prestige that goes with it.”

“Yeah, but at the expense of this kind of abuse?” She liked hearing the outrage in his voice. She liked people who stood up for kids and animals, it was a big thing for her. “Still, it doesn’t matter if it was for a little bit of money, or a lot of money, this is just sick,” Dalton ended.

“Exactly,” she agreed. “Now can I go in?”

“No.”

She turned her head slowly so as not to scare Aladdin, but her glare was fierce. “I’m effing serious. I’m going into the stall. I’m never going to tell you how to be a SEAL, you’re not going to tell me how to work with abused animals. This is my job. Are you going to be a bully and actually use force to keep me away from Aladdin?”

He gave her a calculating look. “Are you one hundred percent sure that you will be safe?” he asked.

“No. No, I’m not. But I’m ninety-eight percent sure that I will be, and I know how to protect myself. I need to get to him before he ends up working himself into another state and bloodies himself against the stall. I’ve seen him do it. You’ve got to let me work with him.”

“Dammit, I wish there was a police vest or something that we could let you use. Can I go in with you?”

“No, that would just spook him. You’re going to have to trust me.”

She waited. Finally, Dalton nodded.

Aurora silently unlocked the stall and slowly entered it. She was careful to lock the door in the same silent manner. It broke her heart seeing this proud stallion quivering in the back of his stall.

Aurora had no idea how long she whispered and crooned to the animal, waiting for his ears to finally perk up. There was no way she was going to move much closer when his ears were flat back against his head, but she wanted to be in a position to watch the stallion’s tail. She moved two feet forward diagonally, so she could get a look at his tail which was still clamped down.

“Hey Handsome, I have some treats,” she held out her hand, continuing to watch his ears and tail, waiting for signs of relaxation. She could feel Dalton’s eyes on her, because her senses were wide open.