Page 30 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

He raised his eyebrow at me, confused.

I let out a laugh. “I wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight if she’d broken her neck because I hadn’t helped her.”

He smiled back at me, a slow, lazy smile that gave me goosebumps. It reminded me of the sun slowly emerging from behind rain clouds. “May I show you something?”

“Sure.” I followed behind him, and the horses trotted along, happy to be out in an open meadow. Dolly strained against the bit, acting like she wanted to break into a gallop. She was probably feeling competitive with the stallion. But because I didn’t know how far we were going, we stayed at a trot so that she wouldn’t tire out too soon.

I had noticed something earlier while running with Rafe—he didn’t feel the need to fill up silence. And in every other date-like situation I’d been in, when things got quiet, I would talk and talk. It tended to make things more awkward, but I couldn’t help it. I always thought that I was boring the other person and that we’d never go out again unless I could singlehandedly keep the conversation going.

But I didn’t feel that way with Rafe. When I was with him, the silence was comfortable. Like he was just happy to be there with me, and we didn’t need to say anything.

We approached a small grove of trees, and after we guided the horses through it, I saw that we were on top of a cliff with a perfect view of the ocean. Rafe got down, loosely tying his horse to a tree to keep him from wandering off.

He came over to help me dismount, and I wavered between letting him and showing him that I was totally capable of getting off of a horse on my own. Deciding it would be silly to waste the opportunity, I threw my leg over and put my hands on his shoulders. He put his hands around my waist, and I noticed for the first time how big his hands were. He lifted and I jumped down. He could have taken total advantage of that situation, but he was respectful. Which I both admired and regretted, just a little.

Walking toward the edge, I shielded my eyes to see more clearly. The sun was directly overhead, and it made the water sparkle and glimmer. A soft breeze blew, making the leaves in the tree behind us rustle. The light blue sky seemed to stretch on for miles. It was the first time since coming to California that I hadn’t had to look directly up to see the sky. I took a deep breath in and thought I could just barely make out the briny smell of the sea.

We stood together quietly, enjoying the spectacular view.

“Thank you for this. I love riding and I love this scenery,” I said. The scenery also included him, with the wind tousling his black hair, the sunlight kissing his sculpted features like even the sun itself adored him. It was the first time since arriving here that I felt calm and like myself again.

“Why don’t you ride anymore?”

A lump formed in my throat, and the tears that welled at the corners of my eyes surprised me. She’d been gone for a couple of years, and I thought I could talk about it without turning into a sprinkler. “I had a horse. Marigold. I helped deliver her on my farm right after I came to live there with my aunt. Her mom died from complications from the birth, and I sort of took her spot. I adored Marigold, and she used to follow me around. I probably spoiled her.” I let out a little laugh, not letting the tears leak. “Anyway, things went really bad really quickly financially, and we couldn’t keep her. Horses are expensive to feed. She was the last one we sold, and it was one of the hardest things that has ever happened to me. I still think about her and miss her all the time. I hope she’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” I said, trying not to choke on the words, smiling even though I wanted to cry.

He put his arm around my shoulders, his thumb rubbing against the top of my arm. I leaned into the comfort he offered, grateful for his strength and warmth that somehow made me feel better.

Standing so close, with his side pressed against mine, was more than my little pulse could take. It sent out a frantic Morse code to the rest of my body, which responded by directing my arms to wrap around his waist.

Without warning, he turned me toward him so that we were facing each other.

The wind blew my hair into my face, and he reached up to brush it away before I could, tucking it behind my ear. Then he studied me, taking me in. He was going to kiss me. But he was giving me the chance to stop him or walk away.

I had no intention of going anywhere. I’d wanted him to kiss me ever since he’d rescued me from that fence.

His hand went to the side of my face, and he moved in so unhurriedly. Part of me was impatient, but the other part enjoyed the anticipation, the waiting to see what it would be like when our lips finally touched. Like I was standing at the precipice of something, realizing everything was about to change. I breathed in that expensive and yummy cologne he wore, the one that made me a bit dizzy. My heartbeat thudded low and slow, although I imagined it wouldn’t stay that way. My breath caught at his expression, at the fire and promise in his eyes.

Then he kissed me.

To say it was an overwhelming, life-changing kind of experience would have been an understatement. It was more like I finally understood why Sleeping Beauty woke up. It was because she got kissed like this.

He kissed me softly, our lips barely even brushing together. Tentatively, like he was trying it out to see what he thought. His peppermint-flavored breath washed over my face in between his exploration. Little ripples of delight pulsed through me while he tightened his embrace, and I melted under the light caresses of his mouth.

When I let out a sigh of pleasure, something changed in him. The scale tipped from sweet and innocent toholy caliente. There was nothing tentative or soft about what he did then, the powerful way he captured my lips. My nerves had turned into a minefield, setting off a series of detonations everywhere he put pressure. Like I had a gallon of Pop Rocks bathed in cola exploding inside me.

His mouth was warm and perfect and delicious and made me totally unbalanced. Like I was on a boat in the middle of a raging storm and couldn’t get my balance. Everything spun and roiled out of control.

My pulse beat so hard that it seemed to be everywhere, including inside my ears. It was all I could hear, and the pressure of his amazing kiss was all I could feel.

I realized that in the past I had only ever kissed boys. It was a completely different experience kissing a man.

A man who held me so close it was like we were the same person. A man who was doing funny things to my insides, while making little bumps pop up all over my skin.

Kissing him like this, so intently and blissfully, reminded me of riding at a full, hard gallop. There was that same wonderful feeling of flying and freedom with a hint of something more, just out of reach.

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