Page 100 of Abyss

Did he forget that I’ll only be here for another four weeks, or did he mean for the short time I’m here?

A few minutes later, Hudson takes Kansas out of the stall, listening to her cues before placing a saddle over her. He pulls her lead as I follow them both, watching her long brown tail swish as she takes slow strides toward the pasture.

Leaving her in one spot, he opens the gates of the closed-in pasture, placing another saddle on an almost all-chocolate-colored horse named Whiskey.

I fiddle the ring on my thumb anxiously when Hudson comes back toward me with Whiskey striding behind him. “I don’t know, Hudson . . . I’ve never been horse riding before.”

His hands cradle my face, making me look up at him from under my hat. “I promise, with Whiskey, you won’t have to do much. Just hold his reins and let him do the work. He knows the path and will follow Kansas and me.”

I nod and he takes my hat off and replaces it with a helmet he finds in a bin inside the stalls. I love the way he focuses on buckling it, making sure it’s secure on my head.

I take out another treat from my pocket, offering it to Whiskey, and giggle as the other horse, Lottie, comes galloping all the way to the fence, hoping for the same thing. Thankfully, I’d taken a couple more from the box I’d left inside the stable.

After giving Lottie and Whiskey another treat, Hudson helps me straddle the large chocolate horse.

My heart hammers inside my chest as my thighs clasp the saddle, and Hudson gives me some basic instructions on how to ensure Whiskey follows my direction and what to do if he decides to trot and I want him to go slower.

Five minutes later, Whiskey and I follow Hudson and Kansas on a path around Hudson’s property while he points out landmarks in the distance. The soft breeze, laden withthe scent of grass and flowers, lifts pieces of my hair from under my helmet.

It takes me a good fifteen minutes to get comfortable riding Whiskey, but I now understand what Hudson meant. The beautiful horse is so mellow and gentle that I relax as we both get to know each other. He does like to munch on the long stems of grass from time to time, so I have to divert his attention back to following Hudson and Kansas again.

We stop at an overlook above a large field where I see a quilt flanked with pots of wildflowers on the ground and a picnic basket sitting on the edge.

I look over at Hudson with my mouth agape as he dismounts Kansas, tying her reins to a nearby tree before reaching up to pull me off Whiskey. “Hudson . . .”

He doesn’t respond, leading Whiskey to another tree and tying him there before jogging back to me.

I look down at the picnic with complete surprise. “When did you do all this?”

He unbuckles my helmet, taking it off my head and placing it on the ground before clasping my hand and leading me to sit with him on the blanket. “I didn’t.” He grins, his eyes gleaming, and I notice—not for the first time—how incredibly beautiful his rare smiles are. “My property manager, Levi, did it for me.”

I chuckle softly. “Well then, I suppose Levi should be the one I should thank with a kiss . . .”

Hudson leans into me, gently laying me down on the quilt under the cloudy blue sky as he hovers over me. “What have I told you about my rules on sharing?”

“Hmm.” I twist my mouth. “I can’t seem to recall. You do have so many rules, Mr. Case.”

He nips my bottom lip. “And you seem to like breaking them.”

“Maybe I just like seeing you worked up.”

“I’ve been nothing but worked up since you waltzed over to my table that fateful day.”

“Ah, yes.” I giggle. “That fateful day when you fired me from my first restaurant gig.”

He groans. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

I chuckle, dragging my fingers through his hair. “You did have a rather large goose egg on your forehead from where that cork hit you, so I suppose I should let it go.”

He tickles my stomach and I giggle and squirm under him. “I did not have a goose egg, but it hurt like a bitch.”

I laugh. “Thank God for your thick headedness.”

That earns me another tickle and his mouth over my neck.

Our soft laughter turns into something else entirely as Hudson’s mouth drags up to my lips and he kisses me hungrily. He untucks my shirt from the waist of my pants, his hand making its way up my stomach and over my breast.

We continue moaning into each other’s mouths as Hudson pulls down the cup of my bra, brushing his thumb over my pebbled nipple. My core tightens as he rolls it between his thumb and index finger, pinching until I gasp against his lips.

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