Page 26 of Sheikh's Unexpected Triplet Babies

“It's dangerous to go at a full-out gallop,” Jahin said dismissively. “But we're simply taking a little night ride, nothing dangerous about it.”

He had pulled the black through the gate and saddled it rapidly as Bedelia watched in fascination. This was another task she had always imagined the rich would delegate, but Jahin seemed content and comfortable with it. The more she watched him, the more of a sense she seemed to get for the kind of man that he was. He was a man who would calm a frightened horse rather than dismiss it out of hand. Of course he would see to his own horses and his own tack.

After the black was saddled, he boosted Bedelia up onto a horse that seemed suddenly even taller than it had from the ground. She didn't have a moment to panic, however, because Jahin leaped up behind her, his arms around her to grasp the reins and his thighs settled right behind hers.

“This is cozier than I thought it would be,” she murmured, and she heard him laugh softly.

“Do you dislike it?”

“Not at all,” she murmured.

Walking was fine, and she had almost gotten used to the bumpy motion when with a click of his tongue and squeeze of his knees, Jahin urged the black forward into a trot, and then a canter.

He was right, though...she did love this. She had never been on a horse before, but very quickly, she learned to move her body with his, to anticipate the horse's movements as well as the man's, and to work with both.

She was lost in the motion of the black and the feel of Jahin behind her, and she almost didn't notice the way the sky was shading to blue and then to black. Soon enough, though, the moon rose, full and bright, and there was plenty of light to see by.

Far above, a riot of stars lit their way, and when Jahin pulled the black to a stop, she settled back in his arms to stare up at them.

“This is amazing,” she murmured. “I don't know if I've ever seen stars this bright.”

“Once upon a time,” Jahin said, “these were the stars that everyone saw. You could look up into the sky at night and realize that you were seeing more or less the same thing as people all over the world.”

He slid off the black and pulled her down with him. As Bedelia watched, mystified, he pulled a thick blanket from the saddle bag. He hobbled the black and left it grazing contentedly on a patch of scrub grass, then led Bedelia a short distance away.

She helped him spread the blanket on the ground, and then she went to join him on top of it.

“Stargazing,” she said with a smile. “I love this, but I hadn't thought that it would be a thing you would enjoy at all.”

“And why is that?” he asked, amused. “Did you think I was too busy?”

“Too busy, too rich, used to rarer pleasures, I don't know. All I know is that I am so happy to be here with you. To be close to you. To see this sky with you.”

“As beautiful as it is, this is not what I brought you here for.”

“Oh?” she asked, her voice low and amused. “Though if you are implying what I think you are implying, I might honestly wish that you had brought along some more blankets.”

He stared at her in the dark for a moment, and then he laughed so loudly that the horse, several yards away, looked up, startled.

“Well, I certainly have to say that you are a woman of ideas,” he said with a chuckle, “and perhaps the next time we come out here, I will be sure to have a few more blankets, but that's not what I was thinking of before. Though perhaps you have the right idea...”

She started to ask what he meant, but then he pushed her down on her back, leaving her staring up at the night sky as he kissed her neck. She whimpered at the pleasure of his mouth on her skin, and he chuckled a little.

"Of all the things that I like about you, and the truth is that I like many things, perhaps one of my favorites is how easily and quickly you respond to pleasure," he said softly. "Do you have any idea how rare it is that you are able to simply offer up your pleasure to me?"

"I should imagine that it is the easiest thing in the world," she retorted. "I mean, as long as it is truly you. You can draw pleasure out of me as easily as I breathe..."

She gasped as he feathered breath over her shoulder, tugging down her tunic just enough to expose the sensitive skin there. She could feel where his kiss left her cold, and then how his hand came up to warm her after.

"No, not for me. Too many women...shall we say, hide their pleasure. They react too much to show me how responsive they are, or they keep their reaction from me because it would embarrass them to show off how much they want a thing. Simply letting me see your pleasure...that is wondrous and rare indeed."

She gave up on trying to argue with him because he had found a particularly sensitive spot on her ear. She was just closing her eyes to let him touch her like that, so gently and so sweetly, but then he pulled away a few inches.

"Look up into the sky," he murmured. "I actually did bring you out for a reason.”

"In all fairness, you are not making this easier for me," Bedelia complained, and he chuckled.

"Consider it a challenge," he said heartlessly. "Look up, little one. You'll see your reward soon enough."

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