"Please." He held up a hand as if in self-defense. "I'm sure it's a long list, and very entertaining. But I don't have the time."
"You'd never measure up to it anyway."
Ben chuckled. "Darlin', you're hardly an authority on the subject."
His condescension rankled. She knew more about men than he thought! Although women back in these days were raised on silly Victorian principles, she had grown up in a time that was far less prudish. Her peers had prided themselves on being modem and sophisticated about sex. They had seen plays and read books about it until they ceased to become shocked by such openness and had merely been bored by it. Although Adele had never had an affair, she was part of a generation which had come to adulthood wondering what all the commotion was about.
"I'm not as sheltered as you seem to think," she said.
"I have an idea you're not as experienced as you seem to think."
"How do you know? I believe you said that you resisted my… er, advances in the stable."
"You still can't believe I turned down your offer, can you? I had no idea how much it bothered you."
"Don't look so smug. It didn't bother me at all! I'm thrilled nothing happened between us. You can't imagine how… What are you doing?"
He took her arm in a firm grip and pulled her over to Jessie.
"Don't," Addie said, her voice changing rapidly. "I can't manage her."
"You're too rough with her. Her mouth is sensitive, and you're fixing to tear it up. You're also bumping your heel against her side, which doesn't exactly set her straight about what you want her to do."
"I admit I'm not handling her well." Stubbornly Addie turned away from the horse as Ben urged her nearer to the animal. "But the rest of the problem is the fact that that animal is mean and bad-tempered, and that's nothing you can fix."
"She just needs the right handling. Like any female." Ben rested his hand on the saddle, preventing her from slipping by him. "Now, get on."
"Stop it. I've had enough of y-your orders." The rage she felt was directed more at herself than him. She had gotten herself in this mess by not putting her foot down this morning. She should have refused to go in the first place. Now there was nothing to do but get back on the horse.
"Enough," he said, turning her around and taking her by the waist. "I don't know what inspired you to play this game-"
She managed to knock his hat off as she struggled with him. "It's not a game!"
"-but if you want to pretend you don't remember how to ride, then I'll oblige you. You want a riding lesson? I'll give you one hell of a lesson, Adeline."
Before she could say a word, he handed her the ends of the reins and lifted her up into the saddle. Instinctively she scrabbled for a secure position on the horse's back, clutching at a coarse mane, and Jessie started to fidget. Addie closed her eyes and clung tighter, knowing she was going to be thrown again. Ben swung up behind her, his powerful thighs clamping down on the mare's sides.
"She's jumping around again," Addie gasped, drawing in the reins as tightly as she could.
"Stop yanking on those," he said, sounding irritated. "You're going to bruise her mouth."
"She's trying to kill me, and you're worried about-"
"Give me the reins." He took them in one hand and' slid his other arm around her midriff, pulling her against him as Jessie tried to rear on her hind legs. Addie's breath caught in her throat, and she clung blindly to the arm around her, frozen with fear. Contrary to her expectations, she didn't fall off. Ben's hold on her was hard and. secure, his body perfectly balanced as he accommodated Jessie's motion with no effort at all. The mare quieted soon, sensing the futility of opposing his commands. "Turn your heel out. You're kicking her again."
She was paralyzed. "I'm just trying to stay on."
"Turn your heel out."
As soon as she realized Jessie was going to stay still, Addie let out a taut sigh and obeyed, loosening her death grip on Ben's arm. Slowly his hand slid to the front of her midriff, settling in a place perilously close to her breasts. "Now, take the reins. And keep them loose. "
"S-stop talking in my ear," she said, uncomfortably aware that his murmur had produced a tickling sensation in the tops of her thighs. "And take your hand off me."
"Isn't it what you wanted?" he asked, and his hand remained where it was.
"You are the most insulting-"
"Take her around the cottonwood and back.”
"Do you mean walk or run or-"
"That depends on how much time you intend us to spend together."
Addie had had enough of his ridicule. In a flash of anger she gave Jessie a heartfelt kick in the side, hoping the mare's jerk forward would dislodge Ben. He only laughed and settled one hand on her hip. Swift as the wind, they flew toward the cottonwood tree, and Addie's eyes half-closed as the warm spring air rushed against her face.
"We're going so f-fast," she protested, her lips stiff.
"Then make her go slower. She'll do what you tell her." He sighed impatiently. "You're a hell of an actress, Adeline. I'd almost swear you didn't know how to ride this damn horse. And we both know better, don't we?"
Tentatively she increased the tension on the reins, surprised to find that Jessie obeyed the signal. "Not so hard," Ben directed, his hand covering hers to adjust her grip. Instinctively she shifted her weight in the saddle, finding a more comfortable seat. And then an unexpected feeling of ease stole over her.
"Bring her around the tree." His voice grazed the hollow behind her ear and skimmed down her spine. "Gentle. Don't pull sharply." The body of the horse leaned into the turn, and Addie found it all too natural to relax against Ben's chest. He sounded mildly exaperated as he adjusted her hold on the reins. "She's getting away from you. Slow her down. Like this. Yes."
"She doesn't want to go that way-"
"It doesn't matter what she wants. You're in control."
"Should I just-"
"Gentle. Be easy on her."
Addie's face was drawn in concentration. The rhythm of the horse's gait seemed to echo in her head, pounding, pounding on a locked door, while an elusive memory struggled to break free. Staring at the horse's fluttering mane, the land around her, the blue sky with its white clouds yawning in the distance, she searched her mind and tried to remember. Then it happened. One moment there was nothing but blankness, and in the next, a bolt of understanding burned through her. All of a sudden she knew what she was doing, as if she had remembered something she had learned long ago. But that was impossible. She had never been able to ride.
"Take her around the other way and bring her to a walk," Ben directed, and Addie discovered that the mare obeyed with just the lightest pressure on the reins. Magic. Addie gave a breathless laugh, and she could sense Ben's wry smile.
"All coming back to you?" he inquired dryly, his hand sliding upward until his thumb rested in the valley between her breasts. The heat from his palm seared through her blouse. Swallowing hard, she said nothing, concentrating on bringing Jessie to a stop.
When the sound of the mare's hooves had gone and all was still, Addie was acutely conscious of that hand, the caress of his thumb in the hollow of her bosom. "And this was all for my benefit," Ben said softly. "I had no idea it would be such an enjoyable morning. Tell me, how far in advance did you plan this? Or have I been treated to a spontaneous performance?" One part of her mind demanded that she struggle away from him in outrage, but she was confused and strangely weak. Not a sound escaped her lips. Her heart was thrashing in her chest, her breathing shallow. His thumb stroked the undercurve of her breast as she sat there facing away from him, and Addie was tormented by shame and pleasure as she felt her nipples harden. What am I doing? she wondered frantically. Stop him!