His Convenient Marchioness
Page 28
‘Riding lessons, of course. This is a riding school.’ She didn’t flinch.
‘You already ride exceedingly well, as I am sure you know.’
‘I am told you’re the best. Isn’t that reason enough?’
‘The best at what?’ It was a provocative question, hardly the sort of thing one said to an unmarried young woman. But she was not the ‘usual’. One had only to note her breeches, as opposed to a riding habit, to know that much. The mischief in him wanted to knock Miss Grigorieva from her high horse. The officer in him wanted to control her, wanted to rein in the danger she might pose.
‘Riding,’ she answered with a cool arch of her brow that implied an innuendo of her own. She turned towards Zvezda, reaching up to grip the saddle and a bit of mane. ‘A leg up, if you please?’
Touché. All the better to see her with, Nikolay thought wryly. He cupped his hands to take her boot, keenly aware of the curve of her hip and buttock, so near to his face that he could kiss that derrière as he tossed her up. He opted for professional detachment. ‘Let’s try the jump again. This time, I want you to count your strides. Anyone can jump if they’re brave enough,’ he challenged. ‘Not everyone can do it on a pace count. That’s true art. Take it in five strides.’ Nikolay drew a line in the dirt with his boot. ‘From here.’
‘I’ll take it in four.’ She fastened her helmet.
‘I asked you to take it in five,’ Nikolay responded sternly. If this had been his cavalry, he would have had a soldier whipped for such insubordination. ‘If you study with me, I expect you to take direction as well as your horse, Miss Grigorieva. Can you do that?’
She wheeled the white mare around in a flashy circle but not before Nikolay caught the hint of a flush on her cheeks. Ah, so Miss Grigorieva was not used to being disciplined. He imagined not, with that haughty demeanour of hers. She was used to people doing her bidding, not the other way around. She took the fence in five strides, but it was a fight for the fifth before the mare lifted. She’d started too fast and the mare had eaten up too much ground. ‘Again, Miss Grigorieva! This time with five even strides so it looks like you planned it that way.’
She shot him a hard look and Nikolay chuckled. The wilder the filly, the better the ride. Part of him was going to enjoy taming the diplomat’s daughter and part of him was going to regret it. He just wasn’t yet sure which part was going to be larger. ‘Heels down, Miss Grigorieva. Let’s try again.’ London had just got more interesting, if not more dangerous.
Copyright © 2017 by Nikki Poppen
ISBN-13: 9781488086434
His Convenient Marchioness
Copyright © 2017 by Elizabeth Rolls
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