Page 87 of The Viscount in her Bedroom
For only a moment he remembered what had happened the last time he’d gone riding. But then he found himself stroking the horse’s nose, running his hands down the neck. The next thing he felt was the hem of a petticoat.
“No farther,” she said softly. “Call no attention to me—I’m not riding sidesaddle.”
“What a daring woman.” He thought of where his hands had almost roamed, and he was immediately aroused.
“I have a picnic meal,” she said, as if he needed more enticement.
“Shall I walk beside you?”
“I could lead your horse.”
He had vowed never to ride again—and she knew that. Yet here she was offering, as if she thought he should try. He imagined what the servants would think watching their master led around like a child. Of course he’d just followed a rope around the garden.
He even considered riding on the same horse with her, but that would set the rumors flying.
Not to mention what just the thought of her between his thighs as they rode was doing to his ability to think.
“This is Ladyflower,” Louisa said. “I’m assured that she is the most gentle mare in the stable. Would you like to ride her?”
“All right.” He said the words before he could change his mind.
She must have thought the same thing, because she dismounted quickly. “She’s all yours.”
“I should adjust the stirrups.”
She paused. “They’re already adjusted for you.”
“Ah, I see.”
She said nothing.
“All right, I don’tsee,” he continued, smiling, “but I understand your prearranged plan.”
He found the stirrup and put his foot in, grasped the pommel, and mounted. The horse danced beneath him, and instinctively he calmed the animal. He was breathing too quickly, and he’d lost his sense of direction when Ladyflower had circled.
“Louisa?”
“I’m right here. Would you like me to take her head?”
“No, get a horse. I’ll wait.”
“I have a horse right here.”
He heard the creak of the leather saddle as she mounted. “So prepared,” he said dryly.
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“You seem to be having your way with me,” he said.
She made a choked sound.
He couldn’t help but smile. “I meant about the railings and riding a horse, but you can interpret my words any way you please.”
“You’ve taught me too well,” she said.
Not everything I’d like to teach you, he thought. But he was the one who’d made the decision to take their relationship no farther. As she took his reins, he didn’t ask where they were going. He tried to tell himself he was making the right choices, but it was difficult. If he would have ridden with her, right now he would be feeling her backside between his thighs. He could have held her waist in his hands, reached around to the front of her and—
She didn’t deserve to be the object of his lustful thoughts. There was a truce between them, a friendship that was more than physical. And she’d been so hurt. Now when she worked with Georgie, he heard a hesitation in her voice that had never been there before. He wondered if she’d lost faith in herself and saw helping him as a way to recover it.
