Page 27 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

Blake was right. If he was going to bite her, gloves wouldn’t help much, so she slipped one off.

‘Ah, mi guapo. Eres amable?’she asked softly of the handsome animal.

Her question—whether he was going to be gentle—resulted in a puff of air being blown onto her skin. She moved to stroke his nose.

It seemed he was indeed going to be gentle with her.

‘What happened to you?’ she asked, wishing, as she so often did, that horses could simply tell her.

She felt his velvet nose and his hot breath, and then he dropped his muzzle down so she could stroke his face. She chuckled and told him a secret.

‘I think I am more scared of your boss than I am of you...’ Carmen whispered.

Or rather, she was scared of these new and unfamiliar feelings.

The wonderful thing about talking with horses here was that she could do it in her native Spanish, so nobody around her would understand. She could pour her heart out to them and they would stand calmly as she did so, accepting her whispered confidences.

Dom was no different, standing quietly as she told him about her day.

‘I’m sure he thinks I grew up in some barn, with a couple of old horses and donkeys!’ she said, and laughed.

Don nudged her hand, wanting more attention.

‘Are you looking for a treat?’ she asked, and for the first time looked directly into his dark brown eyes. ‘Good boy,’ she said, stroking him, reassuring him that this eye contact wasn’t a challenge.

Dom was true black, with not a single white marking that Carmen could see. He was absolutely beautiful and, yes, he would be an incredible sire.

‘I don’t blame him for not wanting to give up on you,’ she told him.

There would be a lot of work required, though, and even then it might not work. Sadly, some animals could not be fixed. Schooling the stallion, riding him, trying to gain the trust and respect he had clearly lost somewhere, would be the only way.

Elias was completely right—no one should be near him unless they had serious experience.

But Carmenwasseriously experienced.

And maybe, just maybe, she could work with Dom...

Of course, neither Blake nor Elias would ever agree, unless she revealed to them her true skills...

No!

Instantly, she discarded that idea. She was here to discover herself—not to return to being the old frightened and confused Carmen Romero...

‘Tomorrow,’ Carmen told the gorgeous stallion, ‘I am going to bring you a treat.’

She had bought some hand-made liquorice for Presumir, as a present—it was the only treat she ever used for training...

‘And I’m going to make you my project.’

After all, taming an aggressive stallion seemed a far safer bet than falling for the boss.

CHAPTER SIX

FORTHEMOSTPARTthe world felt a little more as if it was in the correct order now that she was back working with horses again.

Each morning Carmen woke on a very uncomfortable mattress to the sounds of Laura and John making out in the bedroom below—though apart from that she’d never have known they were a couple.

When they were finished—and fortunately it was always very quick—Carmen would pull on the yard uniform of cream jodhpurs and the same kind of black polo shirt that Elias wore. Then she would go to the bathroom, brush her teeth and tie back her hair, and then head down the creaky stairs to stand in the outdoor kitchen, gulping coffee with the others as the lunches were handed out.

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