The Riding Master (21 page)

“Which do you prefer?”

He stroked her blonde hair draped across his chest. “Doesn’t really matter to me.”

Rayne sat up. “But you must have a preference. Some way you like being in bed.”

“The way we just did it is my favorite. I like taking a woman. I like being in control.” He ran his fingers along the round curve of her cheek. “But I should have been responsible with you. I got carried away and forgot to use a condom. Is that going to be a problem?”

“We’re safe. But we shouldn’t make a habit of it. I’m not on anything.”

“Next time I promise to be more vigilant.”

Rayne noted the subtle hint of warmth had returned to his eyes. “You were different before. Not like now. Why is that?” She rested her head against him.

“How was I different?”

“You were…colder.”

He ran his fingers down her back. “I was turned on, baby. Very turned on.”

“Turned on because you were in control?”

He sat up slightly. “Turned on because I finally got you to tell me what you were thinking.”

“Why would that turn you on?”

“Because sex begins in the mind, and moves to the body, Rayne. To please you, I had to figure out what you wanted, but now that I know….” He kissed her lips, gently at first, but as his kiss continued, his mouth became more demanding.

He careened his mouth past her cheek to her ear. “I think it’s time to try something a little different.” He nibbled her earlobe, and Rayne’s body instantly wanted him all over again.

“What did you have in mind?”

He spanked her butt and jumped from the sofa. “Pizza.”

“Why you….” Rayne stood up and was about to collect her clothes when he stopped her.

“Uh, no.” His arm went about her waist. “You’re going to eat naked with me.” Then he practically carried her to the kitchen.

“Naked? Why?” she challenged when he deposited her next to the breakfast bar.

“Because I’m not finished with you yet.” Trent opened the pizza box on the countertop.

“You do realize I have a dog to get home to?”

He placed a slice of the loaded pizza on one of the white plates he had left sitting next to the box. “Frank will keep. Now, eat. You need to keep up your strength for what I have in mind.”

“And what is that?” Rayne took the plate from him.

Reaching into the box for another slice of pizza, Trent grinned, but remained silent.

Rayne munched on her pizza while her imagination overflowed with all kinds of wonderful notions. Never before had sex been so intriguing with a man. Rayne looked ahead to the rest of their evening together, and was eager to find out what Trent had planned for dessert.

Chapter 15

Rayne’s eyes fluttered open as shards of morning light streamed through the skylights above Trent’s king-sized platform bed. When she sat up, she was wrapped in light blue sheets and lying below a dark wood ledge that served as a headboard. On the ledge were an alarm clock, a few books on riding, and one man’s stainless watch. Next to her, tufts of black, wavy hair were protruding from beneath the sheets and resting on a light blue pillow.

Images of their passionate night together galloped across her mind. Glimpses of moments in the kitchen, dining room, in the pool, and finally in his bedroom made Rayne turn several different shades of red. Each time had been just as intense and exciting as the first on the couch. Every time he had taken command, manipulating her into different positions that had brought her to dizzying heights of climax.

Whenever she had searched for her clothes, he had taken her again to a different part of his house and threw her onto the dining room table, or pinned her against the kitchen counter. When she swore she needed to go home to Frank, he had lugged her to the pool, tossed her in, and made love to her in the shallows.

After he had carried her to bed, she remembered feeling so safe and complete with him that her urge to leave had been completely stifled. They had drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, and at one point in the night when she had attempted to climb from the bed and sneak out on him, he pulled her back into his arms and took her with such ferocity that when she came, she swore her screams could be heard by the neighbors.

But now, in the light of day, she considered whether all that passion had been worth it. Not only was she sore as hell, she had slept very little and had a full day at work ahead of her. Reclining back in the bed for a few more minutes of rest, she felt him stir next to her.

When arms wrapped around her, Rayne smiled.

“You can’t leave,” he insisted, biting her shoulder.

“I have to.” She stretched out her arms. “I have to get home to Frank, who has probably done God knows what to my house. Then, I have to get ready for work.”

“I know.” He kissed her neck. “By the way, last night….” He sighed into her skin. “It’s never been like that with anyone.”

“Is that what you usually say the morning after?”

He shook his head as he sat up next to her. “What makes you think I could possibly go five times in one night with any other woman?”

“Six,” she corrected. “We did it twice in the pool.”

He dramatically slapped his hand over his forehead. “I feel so cheap.”

Rayne tossed the covers aside. “I think that’s my line.”

Trent sat up as she walked to his open bathroom door. “I’m glad you stayed.”

“Like I had a choice?”

He climbed from the bed and went to her side. “You had a choice, Rayne.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Tonight, I’ll make it easy on you and Frank, and sleep at your place.”

Rayne leaned back against the bathroom doorframe. “Are you sure about that? Perhaps you might want to have a break from me.”

“Stop it.” He glared at her, enraged by the suggestion. “I know what I want, and time away from you isn’t it.”

“What if I need time?”

Trent’s anger disappeared and he anxiously searched her features. “Do you?”

Her eyes outlined the square cut of his darkly stubbled jaw, and the concise line on his thin lips. She knew she should play hard to get, perhaps leave him wondering where her feelings stood, but in her heart Rayne could never be so calculating. Despite her fears of him growing bored and walking away, she decided that she would not hold back anymore. It was time to take a chance.

“After last night, I’m not sure how I’m going to get through the day without…wanting you again.”

The smiled that curved along Trent’s lips was so heartwarmingly genuine that Rayne was uplifted.

“Finally, an honest answer about your feelings. Didn’t that make you feel good?”

She shook her head. “No, it made me feel…vulnerable.”

“Vulnerable? You’re standing naked in my bathroom doorway, baby. You’d better be feeling something other than vulnerable.”

Rayne inclined her head to the side. “What should I be feeling?”

“Relieved that you’re opening up to me. I can’t make you happy unless I know what you want, Rayne.”

“And last night you were trying to make me happy?” she asserted in a suspicious tone of voice.

“I was trying to show you what it feels like to open up to someone.”  

She noted the grin on his lips as a question that had been eating at her since their first date came to mind. “Can I ask you something?”

His eyes hungrily glided over her naked body. “You can ask me anything.”

“Why me?”

He appeared taken aback. “What?”

“Why me, Trent? In the brief time we have been together, you have fought very hard to make me feel….” She paused, searching for the right words. “It’s like you have been on some kind of quest to woo me.”

“You should know the kind of man I am. Competitive, driven, and I get what I want. Right now what I want is you.” He cocked a single dark eyebrow at her. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No, but to someone as distrusting as me, it makes me feel like you have some ulterior motive for wanting me; that this isn’t just about sex, or getting to know me.” She folded her arms over her chest and perused his face. “It’s like you want something more.”

Trent rested his back on the doorframe opposite her and his eyes lost their friendly glint. “I do want something more, Rayne, but as long as you think I have an ulterior motive for taking you to bed and spending time with you then you will never believe me.” He leaned forward and put his hands on the wall behind her, bringing his face to within inches of hers. “From the moment I met you, you have been pushing me away. For once, stop pushing and let me in.”

Her hazel eyes challenged him as her doubt surged forward. “What if you turn out to be like all the rest?”

“I’ve told you before, I’m not Foster.” His arms slid down the wall to her waist. “I’m not looking for a woman to make me look good. I’m looking for someone I can build a life with.”

“What makes me any different from all the other women you’ve been with?”

A fleck of frustration surfaced in his eyes and then vanished. “Well, for starters, you don’t have an agenda,” he began. “You’re the first woman I’ve met that didn’t try to impress me with your looks or influence. You’re stubborn, nervous, distant, make no excuses for who you are, and most important of all, you don’t wear lipstick to the stables.”

“Lipstick?” Rayne giggled, startled by the admission. “You’re kidding.”

“No.” He shook his head, sporting a comical frown. “Big turn off for me.”

“I don’t get it. Why is that a turn off?”

“It means you’re not serious about being there.” He let her go. “Next time you go to the stables, look around to see how many women are wearing lipstick.”

Rayne silently ran through a list of women she knew from the stables, but only one name stood out. “Does Selene wear lipstick?” she questioned, leaning on the doorframe.

“Deep red,” he said, walking to his wide shower stall. “She keeps it in the front pocket of her riding pants and reapplies it frequently.”

As he turned on the shower, Rayne admired the curve of his firm ass. “You’ve seen her do that?”

He tested the water temperature with his hand. “Yesterday, when I observed her class.”

“Some men might find that a turn on.”

Trent chuckled and held the shower door open, motioning inside. “Perhaps, but not me.”

Rayne confidently sashayed up to the wide shower stall door, accentuating the sway of her hips just like Selene. “Are you sure about that?”

Trent rested his hand against the outside of the stall door, mesmerized by her movements. “I’m not interested in her. I’ve told you that before.”

Rayne directed her eyes to the cascading water flowing from four different showerheads into the middle of the wide stall. She was still not completely convinced of his sincerity, but her reasons for staying with the man were beginning to outnumber her excuses for walking away. “I guess I’m still a little mystified that you want to be with me,” she divulged, turning her attention to the ripped muscles in his abdomen. 

“Stop questioning my motives, and just relax. I’m a one-woman man, Rayne. I gave up juggling women when I was a teenager. It’s too hard and you create a lot of enemies.”

Her fingers traced the muscles in his abdomen. “Then why are you so different from other men?”

He nodded to the shower. “Get in there, and I’ll show you just how different I am.”

“Yes, sir.” She gave him a flirty smile and then stepped into the shower. “Just remember I have to get home to Frank.”

“Eventually,” he murmured, following her under the spray of water. “Once I’m done with you.”

***

Rayne spent the morning at the clinic, chugging down coffee and catching up on a backlog of paperwork. It was well past lunch when she finally pushed away from her desk in the cramped, broom closet of an office she had next to the lab. Desperate for food, she made her way to the break room to warm up the leftover pizza Trent had sent home with her.

Thankful to have the break room to herself, she popped her leftover pizza in the microwave. While waiting for her food, Rayne went to the coffeepot on the trolley, but found it empty. She began to make another pot, hoping maybe her next cup of coffee would be the one to finally jump-start her floundering body.

“Are you making more coffee?” Lindsey admonished as she stood in the break room door. “Haven’t you already had like four cups?”

Rayne went back to the microwave. “They didn’t help.”

“What was it; another late night of phone sex with the hot riding guy?”

Rayne blushed at the mention of Trent.

“Ohhh.” Lindsey dashed to her side, the nursing paraphernalia weighing down her pockets jingling as she ran. “That doesn’t look like phone sex to me. You’re as red as a can of Coke. Could this mean you and the horse guy were up all night doing the nasty?”

Rayne turned to the counter. “Not all night.”

“You had sex with the guy and never told me about it. What kind of friend are you?” Lindsey rested her hip against the counter, edging her face in front of Rayne. “I need to hear everything,” she insisted.