“I’ve got a bay gelding my stallion will tolerate.”
“How about the bay tolerating your stallion?” she countered.
Diego laughed. “I hope you’re not drawing comparisons between you and me and the horses?”
Angling her chin, she gave him a look. “And what if I am?”
He smiled slowly. “I’d have to teach you the error of your ways.”
“Please,” she said, and with a toss of her hair, she left him to climb into the back of the staff SUV.
“Move over, small fry—”
She turned around with surprise to see Diego. He’d ignored the chauffeur-driven limo that had arrived to take him back and had swung in beside her instead.
“We’ll drive back together,” he said with a shrug. “Okay with you?”
She stared into his eyes and saw warmth and heat and humor, and…love? “Okay with me,” she confirmed, feeling happier than she could ever remember.
~~o0o~~
His stallion was snorting and prancing, impatient for his exercise, when Celina arrived in the sun-bleached stable yard ready for her ride. “You should let Rose train him,” she commented, referring to the Irish horse whisperer and constant companion of his Argentinian Romani colleague, Dante. Everyone agreed that Rose could turn the devil’s mount into an obedient pony.
“Mount up. We’ll take our chances.” He was teasing her. He would take no chances with Celina’s safety. The horse he’d chosen for her was a stable companion for his, and though his stallion was notoriously temperamental, the bay was calm, and the two animals were lost without each other.
“Nice horse,” she approved, stroking her mount’s firm, silky neck.
Once again, she impressed him. Springing lightly into the saddle, she adjusted her stirrups without anyone’s help. “Shall I lead the way, or will you?” she asked.
He dipped his head. “Is that a serious question?”
Being confident on a horse proved to be a masterly understatement. Celina could ride like a demon. “Is there anything you can’t do?” he shouted to her as they galloped across the scrubland.
“Keep up with you?” she shouted back.
He reined in, allowing her to catch up. She was smiling and flushed when she rode alongside. She stared at him and held his gaze a beat too long. “Dismount,” he said tensely.
“And make it fast?” she suggested, understanding his needs absolutely.
He grinned as he sprang down from his stallion. Lashing their horses’ reins to a tree branch, he turned. “Get over here.”
Celina’s eyes darkened with arousal and challenge. “You get over here,” she commanded.
They met somewhere in the middle in a clash of arms and kisses.
“Fast,” Celina urged as she yanked at his clothes.
“I brought you here to admire the scenery,” he teased as buttons flew everywhere.
“Really?” she demanded as she ripped his shirt from his shoulders.
Grabbing the edges of her top, he yanked it apart.
“What am I going to wear when I ride back?”
As she was working on his jeans, he was surprised that she cared. He told her so.
“You might care,” she countered with a look.