Free Rapunzelle: an Everland Ever After Tale by Caroline Lee

mane, and he was gently turning her back towards the DeVille ranch using only his touch. His gentle, compelling touch.
    He’d ridden to save her, and now she felt utterly, utterly protected. She was having an adventure. With another laugh, she threw her arms out and leaned back against him and kept laughing. The wind whipped the little hairs around her face, pushing them back with their much longer neighbors, and she grinned just to feel the rush of cold air on her teeth.
    How amazingly thrilling .
    This was riding, this was an adventure. The way she felt here, being held by him, riding with him, was much, much better than anything she could’ve felt alone on that silly horse. Anything she’d felt before, ever .
    She’d have to ask Briar if it was normal to feel this breathless atop a horse, or if it was just because she was in his arms. Zelle was pretty sure she already knew the answer.
    Laughing again, she pressed herself back against his strong chest, felt the muscles of his upper arms tighten around her, and reveled in the marvelous excitement, the perfect safety, she felt in his arms.
     

     
    She was breathtaking. From the moment he’d pulled her off her runaway horse and onto his lap, Dmitri had felt a rightness . He tried to tell himself that it was just the aftermath, knowing she was safe after so many heart-pounding moments when he wasn’t sure if he’d get to her in time. But no, he knew the truth; having her here in his arms was what made his heart slow, his shoulders relax, his head clear. Taking a big lungful of air scented by her strawberry goodness, he knew.
    It was her. She was the one who made it feel so right.
    Did she know how close she’d come to disaster? Being thrown from a galloping horse was no joke; he’d seen men die that way. But either she didn’t know, or didn’t care, because practically the first thing she did after landing in his arms—after looking up at him like he was her savior—was to laugh. Laugh, and throw her arms wide open and face the racing wind and revel in it.
    Her sheer joy left him breathless. She had no idea how hard it was to control a spirited animal without stirrups, without a bridle; had no idea how he was struggling to keep his weight even and centered while he slowed the mare to a trot. All she knew was joy . And having her pressed against him, knowing that he could keep her safe and happy…that caused an odd sort of joy in him, too. One that he’d never experienced before.
    One that he wanted to experience again.
    He wanted to give her adventures. He wanted to show her things that would make her this joyful, in the hopes that some of it would be shared with him. He wanted to bring her joy.
    He exhaled when he realized what he was thinking.
    When the horse had slowed enough that he could point her back towards the cluster of stables and barns, Dmitri glanced behind him, enough to discover that Roy, Jr. had peeled away in the opposite direction, and Zelle’s horse had followed behind. His own thoroughbred would make it back to the corral in excellent time, and he could drop her off with her parents and send them home before he got any other crazy ideas.
    Doctor Carpenter had no suggestions about the next step in Dmitri’s search. There was nothing more for him to learn here in Everland. He’d failed his father, failed in the mission, unless there was anything left to be learned in New York City. Either way, he’d be leaving Everland soon. Forever.
    If only her father had given him some news, some hint, some lead. Something to keep him here. But no, there was no reason for Dmitri to stay.
    Nyet , there was one very good, very compelling reason to stay, and she was sitting on his lap reveling in the freedom of being atop a powerful horse. But it wasn’t enough; as much as he wanted to stay in Everland, to spend time with her, to make her joyful, to compromise her, it would be wrong. He had to go home, to his horses.
    To his father’s dead dreams.
    He