Gentling the Cowboy by Ruth Cardello

sorry for you. There are many things I don’t know, but I do know my horse. And I think it’s sad that you train so many and you don’t know yours.”
    “Believe that if it makes you feel better,” he said, stung by the criticism and, worse, the pity. An instant later he regretted not holding his tongue. He hadn’t invited her out here to argue over ridiculous topics.
    Horses were animals.
    Plain and simple.
    Like most men they were driven by two basic needs: food and sex. Women needed to believe that both species were more complicated than that, but that didn’t change the facts.
    She turned away from him and they rode in silence along the fence and onto a dirt road that led to one of his open pastures. The land sloped a bit, allowing a view of a huge open space that ended in a lightly wooded area. With a flash of a smile, Sarah said, “I’ll race you to the tree line.” and off she went in a flat-out gallop, her hair coming loose and flying in the wind behind her as she leaned forward and urged her horse on.
    It took Tony only a second or two to follow suit. He flicked his reins back, cracking his gelding on the rump, and they were off after her. He had the advantage of riding a larger horse with a longer stride, but she had covered quite a distance during his short period of indecision. He kicked in his heels and felt a rush of adrenaline. Unused to leather snapping on his flank or the surge of energy from the man riding him, his horse gave an excited buck before lowering his head and giving chase.
    A sense of freedom washed through him as he and his horse flew across the open field. He vaguely remembered a time, long ago, when he’d ridden for the sheer pleasure of it. Back then it hadn’t been about working them or training them. It had been simply this. This exhilaration.
    When did I stop feeling this—feeling anything?
    They were closing the distance and would have overtaken Sarah when she came to a sudden stop at the first tree.
    “I win,” she proclaimed with a huge grin, circling her Paso Fino in triumph like she’d just won the Nationals.
    Adrenaline still pumping, Tony brought his horse to a sliding halt beside them. He hopped down, letting the reins drop with the confidence of a man who had trained all of his horses to ground tie. He reached up and, without a word, lifted Sarah out of her saddle and slid her down the front of him, holding her against him, stopping only when her toes reached the top of his boots. She tilted her head to look at him.
    He bent his head to taste her sweet lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and met him halfway. He led and she followed, opening her lips eagerly for him. She was every bit as hot and sweet as he remembered, so he took instead of asked.
    He couldn’t get enough of her. He ran his hands over every part he could reach and his mouth explored all of her bare skin until he needed more of her—all of her.
    He reached down and unsnapped her jeans, continuing his sensual assault as he did.
    She arched against him, momentarily pressing his hands between them as he slid her zipper down. When he began to ease them over her hips, she froze.
    “Trust me,” he whispered and began to kiss her neck as he undressed her. He hooked his thumbs beneath the elastic of her cotton panties so he could remove them at the same time as her jeans. With a shift of his weight, he held her to him even as he pulled the jeans the rest of the way off, easing her sneakers off at the same time. Her blouse hung just to the curve of her ass. That delicious ass. He ran a hand over the soft bareness of it and pressed her wet pussy against the front of his straining jeans. Her head fell back in abandon, exposing more of her neck to his attentive mouth.
    Nature offered him a delightful option. The tree just behind them had two low thick branches just the right height for what he had in mind. He carried her to it and lifted her onto the lower branch. “Open your legs for me,” he