Free Love Me Like No Other by A. C. Arthur Page B

aren’t totally bad traits. I mean, without them you wouldn’t be where you are today.”
    He looked at her quizzically. “I never thought of being in a relationship with a woman, especially not back then.”
    Jade shrugged. “I had no idea what I wanted out of life eight years ago.” Again a partial truth. She’d known without a doubt that she wanted to be with him.
    Silence hung between them again.
    “Do you have regrets?” she asked quietly.
    “I don’t regret what we shared together.”
    Jade turned away from him, her horse taking a small step as she nudged the reins from his hands. A part of him wanted to go to her, to tell her the things he’d held back. But how could he explain that she’d scared him, that the intense emotions he’d felt as they’d lain together that night hadthreatened his entire future. Clenching his fists at his sides he swore under his breath. He hadn’t meant to hurt her and yet realized that’s exactly what he’d done. He’d called it protecting her, protecting them both from the ultimate disappointment. Instead he’d made an awful mistake.
    A mistake he badly wanted to rectify now. He would take this week to make it up to her, to reassure her that he had wanted her then but their timing was wrong. Linc wondered if now was any better.
    He was about to move toward her to calm the tension now lingering between them when he felt something whiz past his ear and land with a loud splash into the creek. Both horses jumped but he quickly steadied his. Turning in his saddle he realized that Jade hadn’t quite handled her mare and was now trying to wrap the reins around her wrists as the mare started an uneasy trot. Linc turned his horse to help her when another object, a golf ball he now realized as he heard a voice yelling “Fore” in the distance, hurtled toward them landing against the hind quarters of Jade’s horse. The mare took off into a wild gallop.
    Jade’s ponytail swayed and bobbed as she was jostled by the horse’s erratic running. Linc followed her trying to catch up to the frightenedmare. Jade looked like a rag doll being tossed about as the horse tore through the grass up a small hill and around a bend. She was just a few feet away when he saw the reins slip from her hands. Everything shifted to slow motion as fear clawed at Linc’s chest.
    Time stood still as he watched her body being tossed from the saddle, landing on the ground with a loud thump that had him swearing a blue streak. Pulling on his own reins Linc jumped down before his horse could come to a complete stop and ran to her side. His heart pumped wildly in his chest as he watched her curl up into a ball and whimper in pain. Without another thought he lifted her into his arms and began walking back toward the house.
    Jade groaned. “I can walk on my own.”
    Thankful that she was at least conscious Linc dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead. His own heart still hammered in his chest as the sight of her falling to the ground replayed itself repeatedly in his mind. “You took a bad fall. I’m not letting you go until you’re checked out by a doctor.”
    “I don’t need a doctor,” she protested.
    He ignored her. “You’re seeing a doctor.”
    She looked up at him and rolled her eyes. “I don’t need a doctor,” she mumbled.
    Linc swore. Had he ever known anyone asstubborn as this woman? With a heated concession he realized he did. Himself.
    Looking down at her he said with finality, “It’s not an option.”

Chapter 5
    “S hh.” Linc clapped a hand over Jade’s mouth and settled her back against the numerous pillows on the bed in their room. He had a private suite in the house, as did his brothers. The doctor had left them just moments before. Thankfully Jade was just bruised and nothing was broken. His heart had only resumed a normal rhythm after the doctor’s diagnosis. He’d stood right beside her during the examination ignoring her heated looks. There was a particularly harsh bruise