Only, Aidan wasn’t using a lunge whip or even a lunge line.
He wasn’t using hand signals.
He wasn’t even using his voice.
The two together were a beautiful thing to watch. Trainer and horse formed a real team, Mac working hard as if to please Aidan. Mac was one of the most magnificent pieces of horseflesh she’d ever had the pleasure of seeing. And Aidan was the most attractive man whose flesh she would like to see.
Shaking away the lascivious thought, Cat reminded herself she’d been through this already. The issue was settled. Wasn’t it? Aidan was simply her business partner. She told herself she didn’t need him to be more than that.
But the magic she was watching felt incredibly seductive to a woman who lived and breathed to make beautiful foals that grew into magnificent horses, while Aidan lived and breathed to train them to be champions.
At that moment, Cat thought she might be just a tiny bit in love with Aidan.
The balletic duo ended too soon. She’d gotten out to the barn too late to see the entire exercise.
Aidan walked over to her, Mac following like his big dark shadow.
“How do you do that?” she asked, noting how Mac caught up to Aidan and swung his head into his trainer’s arm for some personal attention.
Aidan gave him a pat. “What exactly?”
“No lunge line. No voice. It’s as if Mac Finnian anticipated your every move.”
“Exactly.” Mac jostled his arm again, more insistently this time, and Aidan reached into his pocket and pulled out a candy. “We have a special connection. We read each other without words.”
Cat grinned as Aidan unwrapped a striped peppermint. Aidan offered it to Mac, who at the moment made her think of the dogs when they wanted a treat. They would pester her to death until she acquiesced.
Suddenly realizing Aidan’s implication, she said, “Wait. Are you saying you have a psychic connection? With a horse?”
“Do you think it impossible?”
“I think it’s a little out there, Aidan, but I’m sure you’ve heard that before.” Something truly special had gone on between the two, but “psychic” was a little over the top. She sighed. “Jack used to talk like that. He told me all kinds of tales to charm me. Maybe he took all the magic out of my life.”
“I’m not trying to charm you, and I’m not your ex-husband.”
He sounded ticked, Cat thought. And he was charming her whether or not he knew it. “Okay, fair enough.” Let him have his fantasy. It didn’t hurt anyone.
“Believe me when I tell you I just know what Mac wants, and he knows what I want from him. I’m a McKenna from a family of McKennas who have…well… certain abilities. My immediate family all have different abilities with horses and other animals.”
The way Mac was shouldering Aidan, hanging his head over the trainer’s, Cat could believe he and the colt had a link of some kind, even if there was nothing supernatural about it. “A lot of trainers claim a special connection to their horses. What makes your relationship with Mac any different?”
“I know what he’s thinking.”
Back to the psychic claim. She laughed. “Okay, I’ll go along with it.”
Aidan’s expression closed a bit. “Well, you shall just have to see for yourself, will you not? C’mon, lad, let’s get you moving for a bit. Don’t want you to cool down now that you’re ready to work.”
Cat realized she’d been dismissed because she hadn’t taken Aidan seriously. Surely he hadn’t thought she really would believe the tale.
He began circling the round pen at a walk, Mac accompanying him, sticking to his side as if he were Aidan’s companion. Like one of the dogs, she thought again, though neither Smokey nor Topaz would stay by her side for this long. Curiosity would get the better of them and they would run off to investigate any movement or smell. Watching horse and man so connected enthralled her.
Noting the saddle and accompanying tack stacked on a nearby equipment storage box, and reluctant to go back inside the barn, Cat asked, “Are you going to take Mac out on the training track?”
“Aye. It has been a few weeks since he was able to really stretch his legs.” Aidan moved to the gate. “He’s ready to race.”
As Cat saw for herself ten minutes later.
Once tacked up and on the track near the wheeled two-stall starting gate that took up a quarter of the track’s width, Mac started to dance. Aidan mounted him and walked the colt to familiarize him with the foreign surface. And undoubtedly to make certain he was properly warmed up before running, Cat thought.
“The track is five furlongs,” she told him. “Do you think he’d be all right if you took him around twice?” Ten furlongs was a mile and a quarter, the length of the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
“Aye, but I’m not going to push him just yet,” Aidan said. “I intend to breeze Mac and if he wants to go farther, then let him set his own pace. Let himself decide if he wants to go the distance.”
Appreciating Aidan’s care for the colt’s potential stress in a new environment, Cat settled down to watch as he lined Mac up alongside the starting gate with the same effortless power as before.
What would it be like to be with a man who possessed that kind of power? How would he use that power on her?
With a silent signal from Aidan, Mac broke from his position and Cat caught her breath as the colt’s musculature bunched and released. Mesmerized, she barely blinked as he rounded the track. He passed the gate once. Dirt spewed around him and he picked up speed as he rounded the track the second time. The colt’s pace was so fast she fancied he had the wind under his hooves. She swore he made the second lap seem easier than the first. He breezed by the starting gate as if ready to do another five furlongs.
Aidan let the colt slow to a trot, then turned him to come back to where Cat waited near the starting gate.
“Mac looks like a champion to me,” she said, unable to contain her excitement.
“He was simply shedding his travel stress. Just think of what he can do without a heavy bloke like me in the saddle.”
Cat didn’t know exactly what Aidan weighed, but she guessed he was about fifty or sixty pounds heavier than the average jockey. Less weight on the colt’s back would mean a big gain in speed. Assuming Mac made it to the Classic, he would carry only 126 pounds including the saddle.
She couldn’t wait to see how fast Mac’s first workout would be when he had a much lighter exercise rider on his back.
Her hopes that Mac had it in him to be a champion soared.
Chapter Seven
Something about Dr. Helen Fox brought Pegeen to Aidan’s mind. Taking care of Mac, he’d gotten a glimpse of the vet as she entered the barn with Cat. There was the fiery hair, of course, which made him wonder if she had more than that in common with his late lover. As he groomed Mac in the next aisle, he listened. The way the vet approached the mares as she checked them over convinced him of her capability, but something off—an odd vibe he got from her—made him want to know more about her. He was finishing with Mac when Dean Hill swept in. Aidan quietly followed, entering the aisle holding Hill’s broodmares, simply to appease his curiosity.
Cat stood with Hill and the vet, and seeing her happy and smiling suddenly made him uncomfortable. Wanting her suddenly made guilt course through him.
“So what’s the verdict on Fairy Tail?” Hill demanded.
“I checked on her, but it’s too soon to tell,” the vet replied. “Give it another day or two.”
“You’d think a good vet would be able to tell more quickly.”
The vet narrowed her gaze on him. “You’d think an owner would be pleased two of his mares conceived so quickly.”
Her cheeky comment to the man who paid her to care for his mares raised Aidan’s eyebrows. But Hill immediately backed down into apologetic mode.
“Of course I am pleased. I’m just excited to finally see foals sired by False Promise. Best damn horse I ever owned. His breaking down
before he reached his true potential bollixed my racing plans, and I’m overly anxious to get back on the track with a future champion.” He barked a laugh. “Think of me as a potential new father waiting to hand out the cigars.”
Aidan understood Hill’s anxiousness, but the reality of the matter was that he would have to be patient for three years before he could race a foal conceived this summer.
“The rewards will be worth the wait,” the vet said.
Her smile looked forced. Did she not like Hill for some reason? Aidan wondered. Or was that vibe he’d sensed more telling about her openness?
“I need to get back to my place,” Hill told Cat. “Let me know if anything changes.”
“Of course. Diamond Dame may be ready for cover by tomorrow. If so, will you be here?”
“Depends. I might be involved in something. Just keep me informed.”
Hill departed, nodding to Aidan as he passed him.
“Are you waiting for me?” the vet suddenly asked, as if she just spotted him leaning against a stall wall.
Aidan took the opportunity. “I thought we should meet. I may be in need of your services.”
“Is something wrong with Mac?” The color drained from Cat’s face.
“Nah, nah.” Aidan stepped forward. “I simply thought since the good doctor was here, that it would be a grand time to introduce myself.”
He held out his hand and the vet hesitated a moment before taking it. “Dr. Helen Fox.”
At the first touch, Aidan started. He saw through the vet’s smile, realized she was forcing it as she had for Hill. Any resemblance to Pegeen lay strictly in the hair. Pegeen had been open and vibrant. Dr. Helen Fox held herself tight, at least with people. But he sensed there was more…something unsettling…something elusive that he still couldn’t pin down.
“So you’re the Irishman with the really fast horse.”
“That I am. Mac Finnian would be his name.”
“I’ll remember that. I wish you luck.”
The vet said the words like she meant them, but did she? Why did Aidan get the feeling she was simply saying what he expected to hear? Though his true ability was with horses, he could often read people, too.
“What time do you want to leave for the track?” he asked Cat.
“Not until 3:30. We have plenty of time. Helen and I need to take a look at the new mare Martin Bradley brought in yesterday. How about getting something to eat in about a half hour and then taking a trail ride?”
Hesitant at spending so much time alone with her—he hadn’t forgotten what had almost happened between them the night before—he said, “We could do it another day when you’ve had more rest.”
Color flooded her face, but she didn’t back down. “Being on horseback is the ideal way to familiarize yourself with the property and surroundings.”
“Good point. If you are certain—”
“Positive. We’re almost through here.”
“Take her up on the offer,” the vet said. “This is the most beautiful time of the year to explore on horseback.”
“Well, then, on horseback it is.”
An hour later, they set off together on two of Cat’s geldings—her on a chestnut, him on a bay—Cat’s dogs accompanying them.
Already a little homesick, Aidan couldn’t help but admire the natural beauty of the land, the pristine condition of the pastures, as they rode along the far fence. “’Tis a beautiful place you have here.”
“Thanks, but you have to give my parents the credit. They turned the old Clarke family farm into the breeding facility that Clarke Acres is today. I didn’t have a thing to do with it. All that work went into the place before I was even a sparkle in Mom’s eye. When Dad retired, they simply handed over the reins to me.”
“But you maintain their work in a grand manner. They must be very proud of you.”
“I like to think so. I love this place and never want to be anywhere else. I know how Dad feels, how much he misses doing the work. I see it in his face every time my parents visit.”
Aidan wished his parents were equally interested in what he and his brothers did. They’d started in the racing game despite their father’s very vocal disapproval. The McKennas had always owned land and horses, but for pleasure riding only. Their parents would have had their three sons all be professional men—meaning working in offices that would have choked their spirits. For their own good, of course. Aidan knew his parents loved all three of their sons even if they didn’t understand them.
He and Cashel and Tiernan had spent their boyhoods plotting and planning. Even then they’d known they’d wanted to be horsemen.
Suddenly Cat stopped her horse and dismounted.
“Is something wrong?”
“Just turning off the electric fence so the dogs can come off the property. I’m going to take you on the forest preserve trails—they start only a few minutes’ ride from here.”
“Lovely,” he said, meaning her as well as the anticipation of an unexpected adventure.
The way she looked…the way she moved…the way she kissed with such passion…
Guilt licked at him. How could he be so attracted to another lass when he hadn’t forgotten Pegeen? Not that he wanted to forget her. Or replace her.
Still, no harm in looking. Or admiring. As long as that was all it was…
“Okay,” Cat said, “we’re good to go.”
The dogs, undoubtedly ecstatic to be off the more familiar property into new territory, led the way.
“I haven’t been out here for more than a month,” Cat said. “The spring rains have done their job. Everything is so lush now.”
They followed a line of trees marking the end of Clarke Acres property at an easy lope, going from open pastureland to forest within a few minutes. The dogs zigzagged back and forth, alternately exploring and checking on the humans. Eventually, the riding path split. Cat took the one where the land sloped and twisted and turned. They slowed the horses to a walk and traversed the narrow path above a ravine and the creek beyond.
Aidan noted they hadn’t seen another soul.
A short while later, Cat took him off the trail into a thickly forested area, where the horses carefully picked their way between trees until they came into a little clearing with a fire pit and downed trees as seating. They were directly above the creek. The dogs shot ahead to explore again.
“’Tis like being in a paradise of our own.”
“Today.” She dismounted, let her horse get some water. “You wouldn’t want to be out here on a weekend. Anyone who owns a horse would probably be on the trail.”
But they weren’t on the trail anymore. Following her lead, Aidan dismounted as well, one thing on his mind.
Her. Naked.
What did he have to do to stop himself from thinking like that?
“I’ll take paradise when I can get it, then,” he said, rubbing his mount’s ears and giving him silent instructions to stay put.
Cat was watching him closely. Her gaze burned into him, and his flesh responded instantly. Unable to help himself, he dropped the reins and stepped toward her.
“What are you doing?” she asked, the words coming out in a gasp.
Her eyes were wide, her lips parted in invitation.
As hard as he tried, he couldn’t stop himself. This time he kissed her.
She dropped her horse’s reins and wound her arms around his neck to pull him closer.
Cupping both breasts, he backed her against a fallen tree that hit her at hip level. He circled her nipples until they hardened to small peaks. She moaned but didn’t object. Instead, she began exploring him.
This was a bad idea.
He knew it was a bad idea and had vowed not to let it happen.
At the moment, he simply didn’t care.
Within seconds they were undoing each other’s belt buckles, snaps and zippers. He slipped his hand into her pants, into her. She felt so hot and swollen and wet.
Her hands on h
is hard flesh…he didn’t know how long he could stand it.
He broke the kiss, whispered in her ear. “Are we really doing this?”
“It’s just sex.”
The right response. Just sex.
No emotional involvement.
No betrayal of a memory.
No taunting a curse.
The curse was well and done anyway, Aidan reminded himself, had been fulfilled with Pegeen’s death.
Just sex, he thought, as they pulled down each other’s jeans in unison. Trying to take her like this was awkward. They’d have to take off their boots and the clothing puddling around their knees. Unless…
He turned her so she faced the log. She draped herself over it and he draped himself over her.
She was so wet, he slid into her easily from behind, so swollen she held on to him like a tight fist. Knowing he wouldn’t have long, he trailed his lips up her arm and lightly bit the soft flesh of her shoulder while forcing a hand in front of her to touch and tease and torment her until she was breathing heavy.
Panting.
Murmuring, “Now…now…now!”
Her plea inflamed him. He plunged deeper and faster and within a few strokes, her strangled sounds forced him over the edge.
She cried in pleasure, then whispered something that sounded like “I needed that.”
That made two of them, he thought, now using his hands on the tree to steady himself. His legs felt like rubber.
He’d dreamed this after they’d met. His gut tightened and he took a deep breath to control the panic hiding a nick away.
Just sex.
Very clear-cut. No emotional entanglement.
Still, as he backed off, he couldn’t take his eyes off Cat. Her face was flushed and still marked with seduction. His physical response surprised him, considering he’d just finished, but she had already dressed. What could have been an awkward moment wasn’t. She didn’t avoid his eyes. She met them. Held them. A knowing smile played around her lips.
Knowing or promising?
The dogs barking from somewhere nearby broke the tension. Aidan realized they’d been barking earlier, but they’d been so physically involved that the source of the noise hadn’t registered.
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