The Wild Child by Mary Jo Putney Page A

the satiny neck. Dominic exhaled with relief. Horse and girl were going to be friends. Pegasus looked as happy under her touch as Snowball and Roxana did.
    “Would you like to ride Pegasus?” When her hand stilled, he said, “With me, not on your own. I promise you’ll be safe.”
    After a long, motionless interval, she closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the horse’s neck, the black mane mingling with her own pale hair. Deciding that was a yes, Dominic said, “Very well, we’ll take him out.”
    She moved away as he led the horse from the stall and saddled up. Pegasus almost danced with anticipation as Dominic took him outdoors. Glancing at Meriel, he said, “Keep clear when I first mount him. He’ll be frisky from the lack of exercise.”
    Frisky was an understatement. As soon as Dominic swung into the saddle, Pegasus leaped exuberantly into the air. Dominic barely managed to clamp his legs around the horse’s barrel in time to prevent himself from sailing across the stable yard. Perhaps that would have amused Meriel, but he had too much male pride to want that to happen in front of a pretty girl.
    For several lively minutes, Pegasus worked off his high spirits in a series of bucks, twists, and kicks. Though there wasn’t a mean bone in his body, he wasn’t above testing his rider. Both of them enjoyed the process immensely until Dominic made it clear that it was time for the horse to behave. Grinning, he brought Pegasus to a demure halt facing Meriel. It was going to be hard to return the horse to his brother. Maybe Kyle would be willing to sell? Probably not, and the price would surely be a year of Dominic’s allowance.
    During his bout with the horse, Meriel flattened herself against the stone wall of the stable, Roxana protectively close. She probably expected Dominic to get his brains dashed out on the cobbles. He wondered if she would care.
    Collecting himself as he had collected the horse, he said calmly, “He’s ready to accept a lady, Meriel. Come.” He extended his hand.
    He wouldn’t have bet a ha’penny on his chances of luring her onto the horse, but she moved forward slowly, keeping a wary eye on Pegasus’s iron-shod feet.
    She paused an arm’s length away, and her throat worked as she swallowed hard. Swiftly, as if wanting to act before she could change her mind, she took Dominic’s hand and set her bare foot on his boot just in front of the stirrup. Smoothly he lifted, and she swung up behind him like thistledown. She settled down astride, her legs gripping the horse just behind his, and locked her slim arms around his waist. He glanced down and saw that her leg was bared to just above the knee. The sight combined with the warm pressure of her body sent a dangerously erotic charge through him. This position was entirely too intimate.
    Damning himself for his thoughts, he said, “You’ll find that Warfield looks different from the back of a horse.”
    He set Pegasus in motion, starting with a walk. Meriel was pressed against him so tensely that he could feel how little she wore under her tunic and skirt. And she was definitely woman, not girl…
    Keeping his gaze firmly ahead, he directed Pegasus around the house and into the long, grassy driveway, Roxana following. Pegasus’s paces were smooth as silk, so gradually Meriel’s grip eased. When he thought she was ready, he said,
    “We’re going to change to a trot, so prepare for a different motion.”
    Did she understand and tighten her hold again? He wasn’t sure, but she stayed on easily enough. Since trotting wasn’t particularly comfortable for someone without stirrups, after a couple of minutes he warned, “We’re going into a canter now.”
    He collected the horse, then shifted his weight forward and signaled the change of pace. Pegasus stretched gratefully into a long, smooth canter, flying across the green turf at a speed that matched the gallop of a lesser beast. They swept down the driveway, the trees