Don't Dare a Diamond (Must Love Diamonds 5)

“Don’t think about it,” Reyes whispered. “Just ride.”

His pulse pounded hard with each stride Fire took toward the jump. Raine’s posture was tense, but her rhythm with the horse was matched perfectly. The closer they got, the farther he leaned in, willing them to sail right over.

It’s time.

Come on, Raine. You got this.

One stride before the vertical, she bent forward over Fire’s neck—and Reyes’ gut clenched

when he saw how far. Too far. Her gelding took the jump, but his front feet nicked the top rail, bouncing it from the cups holding it in place. As he came down on the other side with a hard stumble, Raine pitched forward way too far to keep her seat.

Sonofabitch!

Reyes took off at a dead run, heart jammed up into his throat when he saw her leave the saddle. He shouldn’t have pushed her. If she got hurt because of him—

Fire came to a choppy halt with Raine bear-hugging his neck, her body dangling in front of him. Reyes reached them as she let go to put her feet on the ground. He gripped her shoulders to turn her toward him, his frantic gaze searching for any injuries.

“You okay? Are you hurt?”

Despite her head shake, her eyes shimmered with tears. Her whole body shook as he pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight in an attempt to ward off a huge wave of guilt. If her legs had gotten tangled up in Fire’s—

“I’m okay.” Raine’s voice was muffled against his chest with her helmet tucked under his chin.

“I shouldn’t have pushed so hard.”

“It’s okay.” When he instinctively tightened his hold, she added, “Really. And we finally made it over, at least.”

“Yeah, you did.” Major relief allowed a small smile. “I’m proud of you. Though, I would not recommend doing it that way in competition.”

She gave his chest a little shove and snuck a hand up to wipe at her cheek. “Don’t make fun of me.”

“Never.” He leaned back to assure her that’s not what he intended. Seeing the tremulous smile on her lips, his breath caught. When her lashes rose and her still-teary gaze met his, all rational thought fled.

He lifted both hands to her face as he crushed his mouth down on hers.

All the emotions jumbled up inside him—relief she hadn’t been hurt, days of wanting this, and more—and it all took him from zero to sixty in seconds flat.

He angled his head to deepen the kiss, and Raine was right there with him. Her tongue met his stroke for stroke while her fingers fisted in his shirt, hanging on and pulling him closer at the same time.

A hint of mint teased his senses and had him searching for more. He swept his hands down her back, molding her curves to his chest, cupping her ass in those second-skin breeches. Her breathy little whimper penetrated the foggy haze of desire. The needy sound made his pulse surge in excitement while at the same time it gave him a cold dousing of reality.

Nothing had changed between them. If anything, now that she’d conquered the jump, she’d likely be leaving sooner.

Reyes forced himself to drag his mouth from hers. “I’m sorry,” he breathed roughly. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

She went completely still. The hands fisted in his shirt tightened for a moment, then flattened and pushed against his chest. Reminded he still held her tight against him, Reyes let go and stepped back so she was out of reach.

“No…we shouldn’t have,” she agreed.

Her use of we took equal blame, and when her darkened gaze rose to his, it took everything he had not to claim her glistening, swollen lips with his once more. “I’m sorry.”

“You said that already.” Jaw tight, she reached for the reins. “Forget it.”

Fat chance of that.

“I’m going to do flatwork for a bit and then maybe try the jump one more time.”

He nodded, but she’d already turned back to her horse. He gave her a leg up into the saddle, then moved to the center of the arena to do the job Mark was paying him to do. Fortunately, Raine was focused on her job, because his thoughts were racing like mad.