“He is soft,” she said, smiling a moment later as she stroked the animal’s nose. “I think he likes it,” she added tentatively when Quinn’s eyelids lowered slightly and he held still for her touch.
“I think he likes you,” Dylan said, a smile in his voice. Encouraged, she stroked the side of the horse’s head and neck, grinning wider when Quinn’s ears twitched and he moved his head to be closer to her. While she made friends with the horse, Dylan put the riding helmet on her head and tightened the band beneath her chin.
“You ready?” he asked.
Her stomach lurched, but she nodded determinedly.
“Who’s going up first, you or me?” she asked.
“You. I’ll come up behind you once you’re on,” he said.
He kicked the stepladder, repositioning it.
“Easy, Quinn,” Dylan steadied at the same time he urged Alice to the ladder. She rose to the top step directly beside Quinn, her breath growing choppy. What was wrong with her? This wasn’t that far off the ground. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being a frightened child. Her embarrassment approached cringing shame.
Dylan came up behind her on the first step of the stool. He placed his hands on the outside of her hips, and her nervousness fractured for a split second. Leave it to Dylan, to make her feel like a grown woman with just one touch.
“Take the reins with one hand. Put your hand on the pommel,” he said, guiding her, “and this foot in the stirrup,” he designated, sliding his hand down one hip to show her what he wanted. “Don’t worry, Quinn will stay steady for you. He’s extremely well trained.”
Alice lunged into the stirrup and lifted her other leg. For a second, she felt awkwardly suspended, and knew a moment of fear. Then Dylan heaved gently on her ass and the back of her thigh, and the next thing she knew, she was straddling Quinn’s back high up off the ground. She remained bent over, clutching the pommel for dear life, her face near Quinn’s mane.
“You got it,” Dylan praised, using his hands to reposition her hips on the saddle. “Straighten up, now,” he urged. “Good girl.” She heard the sound of him kicking the ladder away. “Take your foot out of the stirrup for a second.”
He was making the requests verbally, but Alice was too dazed, staring at the grass far below her in fear, that she wasn’t really responding. Dylan’s hands maneuvered her more than her uncooperative muscles did. She unwillingly straightened at his urgings, not liking the fact that the ground grew even farther away. He swung up behind her without using the ladder, his show of easy strength distracting her for a few seconds. Before there was too much opportunity for her anxiety to mount, he was landing in the saddle behind her, his long legs bracketing hers. His arms came around her, too, his hands covering hers.
He remained like that, so that she could feel his motions. He flicked the reins, and Quinn lurched under her.
“Whoaaahh,” erupted out of her throat involuntarily. Quinn was just walking slowly, but it’d felt like the earth had moved. The rocking sensation so far off the ground made her a little queasy.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” Dylan said quietly near her ear. He tapped her left thigh. “Both feet in the stirrups. Steady yourself. Find your center. That’s right. Just relax and get used to Quinn’s pace. Alice,” he said with emphasis after a moment when she remained stiff and tense as a board. “Relax. Quinn’s got you. So do I.”
“I’m sorry,” she moaned miserably, panic rising in her. “I told you I wouldn’t be good at this. Dylan, I want to get off.”
“I’m right here, baby. You’re doing fantastic.”
A terrible swooping sensation went through her stomach. “I’m afraid of falling,” she blurted out uncontrollably.
“Look out at the lake. Don’t look at the ground,” he soothed. Alice jerked her gaze off the swaying, lurching ground and followed his instructions. Slowly, the feeling of panic receded.
“You’re doing just fine,” he assured, his rough, compelling voice in her ear tickling her. Mesmerizing her. “There’s no way in hell you’re going to fall with me holding on to you. Horses don’t just go down for no reason. Quinn is steadier than a mountain, trust me. Just feel him. Absorb Quinn’s movement. You feel my arms around you, don’t you?” he murmured comfortingly near her ear.
Alice nodded, sinking back against him a little for reassurance. She exhaled in relief at the familiar solid feeling of his body. He transferred the reins into one hand and placed one opened gloved hand on her belly. It felt good. It grounded her.
Slowly, when nothing major happened, and Quinn’s slow circle around the corral remained steady, the tension in her muscles began to uncoil.
“There you go.” The side of her neck roughened at the impact of his voice so near her ear. “You’re feeling Quinn’s movement. You’re letting your body roll with it a little.” To demonstrate his point, he moved his hand on her belly in a subtle up and down, circular motion that matched the horse’s cadence. Suddenly, she was far more focused on the pressure of his hand and the heavy warm feeling growing at her sex than she was on how far away the ground looked.
“Still nervous?” he asked, his lips brushing against her ear when they completed a circuit of the corral. She tingled with sexual awareness.
“No. Not too much, anyway,” she added hesitantly.
He instructed her on use of the reins, guiding her with his hands.
“So if you loosen up on the reins, it’s like letting up on a brake, right?” she asked a moment later.
“Right. You’re giving him a free head … free rein. You control the speed by how much tension you put in the reins.”
She nodded, understanding instinctively despite her anxiety.