Free Texas Kissing by Helena Newbury

they’re big.”
    I slowly met his eyes. He was studying me. His eyes betrayed far more concern than I would have thought him capable of. “Go on,” he said. His voice was gentle, now. I wasn’t ready for that, for how the deep bass throb of his voice would vibrate through me when he spoke quietly.
    I looked at the horse. “I don’t know what they’re going to do,” I said helplessly. “They’re just big and...unpredictable. I like stuff to be more...controlled.”
    “Always?” he asked.
    I nodded dumbly.
    “Must make it difficult to have fun.”
    He walked towards me. My heart thumped faster with each step he took. I honestly don’t know which I viewed as more of an unpredictable animal, in that moment: the horse or Bull.
    He reached out and took my arm by the wrist, his thumb warm against my pulse point, and I went weak inside. I had sudden visions of him putting my palm to his cheek but, instead, he led me over to a horse with a rich, reddish-brown coat. It probably wasn’t all that big, as horses go. But to me, it was enormous.
    He pressed my hand to its neck. I drew in my breath at the feel of it—warm and velvet-smooth, yet with the prickly kiss of short little hairs. I expected it to suddenly jerk or rear up or something. I’d realized I’d tensed up and tried to relax.
    “This is Caliope,” murmured Bull. “She won’t hurt you. Just say hello.”
    I looked up into the thing’s strange, long face. Every time it moved, I jerked my own head back, afraid it was going to side-swipe me. “Hello,” I said nervously.
    The horse snorted and licked its own nose. I yelped in mixed surprise and fascination.
    “It’s all about trust,” said Bull. “You have to trust it and it has to trust you.”
    I turned and gave him a look. Did all those girls at Lucky Pete’s trust him, too, when they gave him their bodies, only for him to dump them the next morning?
    “What?” he asked, reading my expression.
    I shook my head. I couldn’t put it into words. I began to slowly stroke the animal, the feel of it oddly pleasant. “Now what?” I asked.
    “Put your cheek against it.”
    I looked at him as if he was mad.
    “Nothing will happen,” he said. “Trust me. Or if you can’t trust me, trust the horse.”
    I took a deep breath, leaned forward, and put my cheek against the horse’s neck. It watched me out of one eye, but didn’t move away. After a few seconds, it pressed a little closer. I felt my breathing start to slow down. This was oddly relaxing. Why had I been so hesitant?
    And then something huge and warm and wet dived into my ear. I yelped and stumbled backward. The horse next door, a huge black thing, had leaned over and licked me while I’d been cozying up to its friend.
    I stared at the two of them...and then laughed. Bull put a hand on my shoulder and I tried not to admit how good it felt.
    “There,” he said. “Now—let’s go riding.”
    He strode off down the room and I hurried along behind him. I still wasn’t sure about any of this. I’d shown up confused and strangely horny. Then he’d been normal, arrogant Bull with me. Now he was suddenly tender. What did he hope to gain by taking me riding—was this something he did with all the girls, like the ranch hand had implied?
    If it was, did that make me one of his girls? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
    When I caught up with him, he was putting on a loose white shirt. I watched his tanned body disappear button by button. Not having to stare at that broad chest and those washboard abs made it a lot easier to concentrate, but I started missing them immediately. God, what’s happening to me?
    I coughed and focused on what he was doing. He’d picked up a saddle and was adjusting the straps. “We’re using saddles?” I said, trying to seem knowledgeable and interested.
    He looked at me. “Why? Would you prefer bareback?”
    I couldn’t believe I’d walked into that. I felt the blush crawl up from under my collar, filling