Dirty Angel-BarbaraElsborg (23 page)

Lucian laughed. “Saddle him up. Come for a ride.”

“No. I can call one of—”

“I want you to ride. Don’t worry, I’ll go slow and steady.” Lucian winked at him. “Unless you prefer hard and fast. You look as if you do.”

Go fuck yourself.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Lucian asked.

What? Did I say that out loud?

Aden went to get Captain’s tack, and as he was saddling him, whispered in the horse’s ear, “Behave, you hear me? Remember I’m a beginner.”

He’d just finished when he heard Brody calling him. “Aden?”

Lucian and Shadow backed off as Aden led Captain out of the stall.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Brody gaped at him.

“We’re going for a ride,” Lucian said.

Brody’s gaze snapped between Aden and Lucian. “No way. He’s not experienced enough to ride Captain. Who the hell are you anyway?”

Lucian held out his hand. “Lucian Traske. This is Shadow. And you are?”

Brody shook his hand. “Brody Sanders.”

“Ah, Des is your brother? Well, I’ve paid him an extraordinarily generous sum to take care of my horse and I want this man to go riding with me.”

“Not on Captain. Not on…”

Aden could see Brody’s uncertainty as he tried to work out what was happening. He cast Aden a questioning glance. “You want to ride?”

“Why not?” He could think of a lot of reasons why not, but no way was he letting Dante go off alone with Brody.

“I’ll ride Captain,” Brody said. “Can you control your horse? I don’t want him attacking any of the mares. Or my horse.”

“He’s hell to handle, but I manage.” Lucian smiled. “Which ride can Aden have?”

None of them.

Brody turned. “Shawnee, is Twinkle saddled up?”

Twinkle? Christ.

Lucian sniggered.

“Yes, I was just going to take him out,” Shawnee called from a stall closer to the door.

“Aden will ride him.”

Shawnee emerged with a smaller grey horse and smiled at the three of them. “I’ll lead him outside.”

They followed with Captain and Shadow, Captain nibbling Aden’s ear.

“Twinkle?” Aden said. “Can we rename him? Challenger? Lightning? He-who-will-stand-for-no-crap?”

Brody laughed. “He’s slow, gentle and steady. So laid back all he’s missing is a pint of beer, a packet of crisps and a comfortable couch.”

“Why do I have to ride My Little Pony?” Aden muttered.

Both Brody and Lucian chuckled at that.

“You won’t get into trouble on him,” Brody said. “Provided
he
handles the stallion properly.”

Aden watched Lucian spring up onto Shadow and sighed. All the guy had done was grab a chunk of mane and with a quick flick of the wrist shifted from standing on the ground to sitting square in the saddle. Lucian unfastened his helmet from where he’d hung it on the saddle and put it on. Shadow stamped around, rearing his head, snorting water vapor from his nostrils like some barely tamed dragon.

Brody handed Aden a helmet and had to help him fasten it.

“You okay riding Captain?” Aden asked.

“Yeah. I should have done it a long while ago. Guess I needed someone to give me a kick up the backside.”

Aden leaned in to whisper. “I was planning that as a surprise.”

Brody smiled. “Get on the horse. I’ll adjust your stirrups.”

Mounting looked easy. Aden had watched plenty of kids and owners climb on. Left side of the horse, left foot in the stirrup, right hand on the front of the saddle. Knowing he was being watched didn’t help, and when Aden pushed himself up and quickly swung his right leg over the horse’s back, he almost slithered off the other side. He hauled himself upright.
Christ, it’s a long way down.
Twinkle hadn’t moved a muscle.

Brody sorted out his stirrups while Aden sat trying to hold the reins properly. His fingers were already frozen.

“Few rules,” Brody said. “Sit up straight. Leaning forward doesn’t make you safe, it tells the horse you want to go faster. Not that Twinkle will take a blind bit of notice of that, but another horse would. Sit deep in the saddle, keep the balls of your feet on the stirrups, heels down, and don’t balance yourself on the reins. It’ll pull on his mouth. Hold on with your heels and thighs but don’t squeeze hard. Don’t hang onto the saddle, the mane, or the reins. They won’t keep you on the horse. When you want to stop, give the reins a steady pull down toward your hips and not up in the air. It’s easier on his mouth. Got all that?”

“Just the sit up straight bit.”

Brody laughed. He leapt up onto Captain and for a moment, struggled to steady him as the horse backed and circled, swiveling his ears and swishing his tail. “Whoa, boy. Easy does it.”

Aden could feel Lucian watching him and made sure he didn’t look in his direction.

“What do I do if he decides to run off somewhere?” Aden asked.

“He won’t. Not with an attractive butt in front of him.” Brody glanced at him and smiled.

Aden rolled his eyes. “How do I make him turn?”

“He’ll do it on his own because he’ll follow the leading horse,” Brody said. “But what you do is look in the direction you want to go, for example left, then pull gently down on the rein in your left hand and move your leg back on the right.” Brody smiled at him.

Aden sucked in his cheeks. “Did I tell you it took me four attempts to pass my driving test?” He’d only bothered learning to drive because the local authority paid for it. But when he got the job in the garage, he was glad he’d learned, even if he was never going to be able to afford a car for himself.

Lucian walked Shadow round until he was next to Aden. “You’ve never been on a horse before?”

“What gave it away?”

Lucian chuckled. “Keep a light touch on the reins. You don’t need to hang on for grim death. It won’t save you.”

“Aden!” Brody edged between them with Captain. “You go in the middle.”

“That won’t work,” Lucian said. “Shadow will be all over this one. He won’t try it with Captain.”

Brody hesitated. “Okay. Then bring up the rear, but any problems, shout and tell me.”

Aden didn’t have to do anything to get Twinkle—
fucking hell, what a name
—moving. He followed at his own slow pace. By the time Brody was opening the gate into the field, Aden was more than twenty yards behind.

Lucian turned to look at him. “Give him a little kick to get him to walk faster.”

“Won’t work.” Brody grinned. “You
might
get him to trot. Lift yourself up and down with his stride. There are parts of your body that will thank you. Squeeze with your legs and remember to smile and breathe.”

“Go off and do your thing,” Aden said. “Don’t let me hold you back.” He could tell that the other horses were desperate to get going. Twinkle was like a big grey rock.

“Just keep walking him around the edge of the field,” Brody said. “He’ll be happy doing that on his own once he realizes we’re exerting some energy. Okay?”

“Fine.”

But it wasn’t. Moments after Captain and Shadow moved away, switching swiftly from a trot to a canter, Aden’s horse did the same.

“Shit,” Aden growled and despite what he’d been told, clung on for grim death.

Brody felt guilty he’d not ridden Captain until now. He’d taken out his sorrow and anger on the horse when it wasn’t the animal’s fault Peter was dead. But when he’d walked into the stable and seen Aden about to ride Captain, he’d felt his stomach fall into a deep hole. He also hadn’t missed the way Shadow’s owner had been ogling Aden.

“Can we jump?” Lucian called to him as they cantered side by side, the wind whipping his words away.

“The hedge?”

“What else?”

“You know what you’re doing?”

Lucian smiled. “Always.”

“Go for it.”

As Shadow increased his stride, Brody let Captain have his head too, the horse pulling in excitement. Lucian and Shadow attacked the hedge, soared over the top and Brody followed. Filled with the joy of flying for just those few moments, he exchanged an exhilarated grin with Lucian, and wheeled round to see Twinkle and Aden in the other field racing toward them.

“Christ,” Brody gasped. “Aden! Pull him up. Don’t jump.”

There was no way this was happening. Des had owned Twinkle for years. He’d never been a jumper. He stepped over any obstacle. He was the horse Des used for every beginner. Slow, dependable, safe and boring. Bombproof.
Shit.
Aden was leaning forward then sitting up, clinging on, his feet out of the stirrups, doing everything wrong.

“Pull him up,” Brody yelled. “Turn.”

It was too late. Twinkle took off, soared higher than Brody thought possible for any horse let alone him, and as he landed, Aden flew over his head and crashed to the ground. Brody was off Captain in an instant, but Lucian reached Aden before him. Aden lay crumpled on the ground, face down, not moving, his head at an odd angle, and Brody dropped to his knees at his side.

“Oh God. Aden!” Brody was frightened to touch him. As he fumbled for his phone, Aden lifted his head, twisted it straight, and groaned.

“Fuck it. That hurt,” Aden muttered.

“Flying without wings,” Lucian said. “Not advisable.”

Aden tried to get up and Brody put his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move. I’ll phone for help. You might have broken something.”

“I’m okay.” Aden rolled onto his back and took a deep breath.

Brody was torn between anxiety that Aden wasn’t keeping still and relief that he was able to move at all. Christ, was the guy some human hybrid with seven lives? “I’m so sorry. I have no idea what got into Twinkle. He never jumps. He’s too lazy. All he does is amble.”

Brody glanced at Twinkle, who’d sidled up to Shadow, not only looking pleased with himself, but also as if he were flirting.
What the fuck?
“You’re too old for that,” he snapped at him. “And the wrong sex.”

“N
ever too old.” Lucian held out his hand to Aden who ignored it.

Aden rolled to his knees, then levered himself up. His face and clothes were splattered with mud. “See? I’m fine. Limbs and head still attached.”

“You sure? Christ, you really
do
bounce.” Brody felt desperate to hug him but wasn’t sure if Aden would want him to do that in front of someone.

“How easily you fall,” Lucian murmured.

“Hey.” Brody spun to face him. “His first time on a horse and he jumps a hedge that high? I’m not surprised he fell.”

“I fell but I got up again.” Aden stared at Lucian. “I’m not someone who gives up at the first hurdle.”

Brody looked between Aden and Lucian and had the strange feeling the two knew one another.

Aden moved to Brody’s side and brushed his fingers against Brody’s. “Put the phone away. I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Brody whispered. “I had no idea he was capable of that. I’d never have put you on him. You’d have been better off riding Captain. It’s all my fault.”

“It’s not.” Aden glanced at Lucian.

What am I not getting?
“Do you know him?”

“By another name.” Aden stepped in front of Lucian. “What was the point of that? To show me how easily I can fail?”

“He’s not to blame,” Brody said. “I shouldn’t have jumped. If I’d stayed with you…”

Aden opened his mouth then closed it again.

“We’ll go back the long way,” Brody said.

“No. I’ll jump into the field.” Aden climbed onto Twinkle. “Tell me what I did wrong.”

“I—” Brody started to tell Aden he couldn’t, saw the determined look on his face and changed his mind. “You fell because your weight was in the wrong place. Push down on the balls of your feet. Lift slightly out of the saddle and lean forward as you go over, but keep your back straight. You can hold the mane if you want. The horse knows what to do. Well, I didn’t think Twinkle did, but clearly I was wrong. You sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” But Aden was looking at Lucian and not him.

Lucian vaulted onto Shadow and turned him to face the hedge.

“Dante?” Aden called.

Lucian looked round and chuckled. “Very sharp.”

“Fuck off to where you came from,” Aden said. “And don’t you dare ask Des for your money back.”

Lucian launched Shadow at the hedge, soared over it and cantered away.

Brody climbed on Captain. “You know him? I thought his name was Lucian?”

“I’ve met him. He told me his name was Dante. He’s bad news.”

Brody stopped himself asking more even though he wanted to. “Still like to jump?”

“Hell, yes.”

Brody went over first and wheeled round to check on Aden. “Get back,” he called. “Give him plenty of space.”

This time Twinkle stopped so abruptly before he even reached the hedge that Aden flew over it on his own.

“Fucking hell.” Brody jumped down and ran over to him.

“That’s it. I’ve had enough.” Aden groaned and pushed to his feet.

Brody’s heart was beating a frantic tattoo. “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to let you do that.”

“Hey, I’m a big boy. My decision.” Aden winced as he rolled his shoulders.

“My responsibility. I’m an idiot.”

“I’m okay. I might not have broken anything, but I need bits of me rubbing better. I’m looking for volunteers.”

Brody managed a strained chuckle. “Hot bath sound good?”

“If it’s big enough for two.”

“I’ve never tried to fit anyone else in it. Stay here and I’ll jump back to get Twinkle and walk him round to the gate.”

“I’m already filthy. I’ll climb over the hedge.”

Brody was impressed Aden wanted to get back on the horse after being thrown twice. When they were both in the next field, Aden climbed onto Twinkle who was back to his docile self.

“I don’t know what the hell got into him,” Brody said.

“I think that’s exactly what got into him.”

Eh?
“Des won’t believe he jumped a hedge.” He glanced at Aden. “Sure you’re okay?”

“Still alive—sort of.”

Brody laughed.

Brody saw Des in the yard when they got back and rode over to him.

“What the hell happened to you?” Des asked Aden.

“Flying lesson,” Aden said.

Brody huffed. “Twinkle threw him.”