Iris Johansen - Dark Rider

"Then Morgana is yours."

She couldn't believe it. "You mean it?"

"I don't lie, Cassie." His lips tightened. "And I'm not trying to trick you into getting a foal by Kapu."

She had not even considered that possibility. "I know you wouldn't do that. It's just… I never dreamed…" Morgana was his prize possession, and this gift was generous beyond belief. "Are you sure?"

"Reparation," he said again. "You're not the only one who believes that sins must be atoned. I'll have to find another way to make things right with Lani, but I knew this would probably satisfy you." He stepped back and opened the stable door for her. "Take him to her."

She just stood there staring at him. Josette's words came back to her.

Sometimes he does something splendid, and you forget everything else.

He suddenly smiled at her. "I never thought I'd catch you speechless."

"I don't know- It's too-" She swallowed to ease the aching tightness of her throat and grabbed Kapu's reins. She asked gruffly, "Are you coming?"

"I wouldn't miss it." He followed her, past Morgana's empty stall. "You'll remember I do have a considerable interest in the outcome."

Morgana was at the far end of the pasture, and the bright moonlight revealed every shimmering, beautiful line of the mare. Cassie felt a surge of pure joy. Her dream, her horse. Morgana was going to be hers .

Kapu nudged her forcefully from behind, his ears pricking forward.

She chuckled as she realized the stallion was scenting Morgana. It seemed Kapu did not agree with her; Morgana was not Cassie's, but his mare. She took off Kapu's halter. "Open the gate."

Jared opened the gate and stepped aside.

Kapu bolted into the pasture.

Morgana froze and then bolted in the opposite direction.

"You didn't hobble her," Cassie said. It was customary to hobble the mare to make it easier for the stallion to mount her.

"I don't like ropes," Jared said. "As you may remember. Kapu will have to work for his pleasure."

It appeared Morgana was in full agreement. She raced around the pasture with Kapu at her heels for a full ten minutes, never letting him get too close. When she tired of that game, she came to a halt and started a new gamut of playful teasing, backing toward him and then, when he came near, swishing her tail disdainfully and dashing off again.

Jared chuckled and shook his head. "Poor Kapu."

It was comical. Kapu was totally bewildered, his dignity crushed as he helplessly chased after the mare.

Then, suddenly, everything changed.

Morgana stopped and turned to face Kapu.

"Ah, she's ready," Jared murmured.

Cassie tensed, watching as the two horses stood confronting each other. Something was passing between them, a message both mystical and primitive. A communication as old as the ages, beautiful and secret and mysterious.

All mysticism vanished with the next breath.

Kapu half reared and neighed in triumph.

Morgana turned and backed toward him.

Cassie heard Jared's muttered exclamation. Her own throat was too dry to speak. The entire night seemed compressed to contain only the two horses in the meadow.

No, Jared was here, but somehow he was part of it.

Kapu mounted Morgana. Dear heaven, how would those delicate legs support his weight?

She stood firm as he entered her.

Raw, driving power. Stallion and mare both lost in the sexual dance of life.

Heat tingled through Cassie and then became molten. She knew that primitive dance. She wanted it.

Jared's hand covered hers on the fence.

She shuddered but didn't look away from the two mating horses.

Kapu's teeth were sinking into Morgana's neck. She did not feel the pain, Cassie knew. At this moment you felt nothing but the drive, the emptiness being filled, the hot intruder that you had invited within your body.

Her hands were clenched so tightly on the railing that her palms felt bruised.

"Cassie?" Jared asked hoarsely.

She turned to look at him. Kahuna , Lust. Stallion.

She closed her eyes, but the scent of him still assaulted her.

She cried out as his hands cupped her breasts; they swelled instantly in response. Her lids flew open.

His nostrils were flaring with the harshness of his breathing. "God, don't say no."

No? She could no more refuse him than Morgana could refuse in that final moment. She shook her head.

"Thank God." He picked her up and was carrying her.

"Where are you going?" she whispered.

"Not here," he muttered. "I don't think either of us would notice, but I don't want you chilled." They were in the stable. "Morgana's stall is the closest…"

Soft hay beneath her, Jared above her, his hands tearing frantically at her gown. She helped him, her fingers trembling, her entire body shaking with need.

She was naked on the bed of straw. Jared parted her legs, his fingers searching.

No, this wasn't right…

She pushed him away and rose to her hands and knees.

He understood at once. "Like Morgana?" He muttered. "Whatever you want…"

He entered her, covered her. She expected it to be like that night in the cabin, but it wasn't. It was like nothing ever before. She was whimpering, moving backward, taking him. His hands cupped her breasts as he drove hard, harder…

He was muttering wildly, his breath coming in great labored gasps. Then, suddenly, he was withdrawing, turning her onto her back.

She looked up at him dazedly. "Why…"

"Because you're not a mare, goddammit." He gasped as he entered her again. "You're a woman. Mine…" He plunged deep, again, again, again. "Mine."

Her teeth sank into her lower lip but she felt no pain. She felt nothing but him. She wanted nothing but him. Forever…

Climax. Different this time. Release that has no end…

He cried out and his back arched as he gained his own release. She saw the painful contortion slowly vanish from his face. He looked down at her and she met his gaze.

Mystery. Life. Destiny. How strange that this moment of realization had come after the act, not before as it had been with Morgana and Kapu…

"Cassie…" A note of wonder, of bewilderment.

"No." She didn't want him to speak. She pulled him down and held him close as the last ripples of passion shuddered through him. She had given him this pleasure. A surge of joy tore through her, so intense it made the physical release pale in comparison. He was hers, as Kapu was hers, as Lani was hers.

No, more. So much more. The truth crashed down upon her, jarring her back to reality.

Dear God, how had it come to this?

She lay stunned, unable to believe she had not known before. She had not been careful enough. The Jared of daylight and darkness had merged, and she would never be able to separate them again.

"I didn't plan this." His words were muffled in her hair. "I didn't want it to happen this way. I wanted Morgana to be a gift."

"I'm certain you didn't," she said dully. She knew him so well now. She knew his humor and his impatience, his passion and sensuality, his gentleness with Josette and Bradford. She knew his strict sense of justice and his total determination. She wished with all her heart she knew less about him. "It wasn't your fault."

It was her own fault. She had done the unforgivable.

He raised his head to look down at her. "What's wrong with you?"

She shook her head without answering.

He muttered a curse, moved off her, and adjusted his clothes. "You wanted it, dammit! I did not rape you."

"No." She sat up and brushed the hair from her eyes.

"Then why are you acting as if I did?"

"I want to go to my room." She didn't look at him as she straightened her clothes. "Will Kapu and Morgana be all right in the pasture?"