All the King's Horses (25 page)

“We can hope.”

So far, it was promising, and when I went into the tack room to get my saddle, I was cautiously optimistic.

He’d been calm and placid the entire time, and that lasted right up until the creak of saddle leather brought out the fire-breathing dragon. One squeak and the loud, sharp snort echoed down the aisle. I stepped out of the tack room with my saddle on my arm, and his eyes and nostrils were huge.

Amy spoke softly to him as she put the saddle pad on his back. Snorting again, Blue sidestepped to the left, back to the right, back to the left, as much as the cross-ties would allow. She stroked his shoulder, made sure the pad was straight, and then came up to stand beside his head. She held his halter in one hand and petted him with the other, talking to him the whole time.

I lifted the saddle and brought it down carefully on his back. Another snort, but he stood still. Well, until I reached under him to get the cinch, at which point he stomped, very nearly bringing his hoof down on the toe of my boot. As the cinch touched his belly, he jerked his head away from Amy, swung it around and snapped at me. Only the cross-ties kept him from biting my arm.

“Hey,” Amy said, keeping her voice firm enough to get his attention without scaring him. “
No.
”

He snapped his teeth and pinned his ears, and she gave the lead a sharp jerk. He jumped, staring at her, but didn’t go after either of us again.

“Somebody’s been taking lessons from Chip, I see,” Amy said, petting his nose with the back of her hand.

“You haven’t tried putting a saddle on
that
one.”

“Worse?”

I threw her a look, and she grimaced.

“Yeah,” I said. “That bad.”

“Well, how about if we don’t add that to our to-do list today?” She looked up at Blue. “I only have room for one grumpy ass in my schedule.”

I chuckled and finished fastening the cinch. “And now, the other fun part.”

“Bit?”

“Yep.”

“Don’t bother with the molasses,” she said. “He’s gotten smart to that.”

“Figures.” I raised an eyebrow at Blue. “You’re too smart for your own good, you know that?” He just looked at me, ears up and big brown eyes pleading innocence. Chuckling again, I petted his face before going into the tack room to get his bridle.

Inside the room, out of Amy’s sight, I paused to collect my thoughts. This was not a good time to be distracted by the woman I couldn’t stop thinking about. Not a good time at all. We had a volatile, scared horse to deal with, and all it took was a moment of not paying attention, and one of us would get hurt.

But my God, Amy…

Focus, King. Focus.

I grabbed the bridle off the rack and went back out into the aisle.

Naturally, when I tried to bit him up, Blue clenched his jaw. I slid my thumb into his mouth and pressed down on his gums, but he just bit down harder.

“Come on, buddy,” I said. “Just open your mouth.”

He kept his teeth tightly together.

“We could always try a bosal,” Amy said.

“Oh, he’ll take it.” I pressed a little harder on his gums. “He’s just stubborn about—”

Right then, Blue opened his mouth and let me put in the bit. In spite of my efforts to avoid it, the bit clicked against one of his teeth, but he still accepted it. He chewed the bit as I put the bridle over his head, and he didn’t protest as I fastened the throatlatch and cavesson straps.

“Okay, well,” Amy said. “If he gives us trouble in the future, maybe we should see how he does with a bosal or a hackamore. Maybe he just doesn’t like his mouth messed with.”

“Possible,” I said. “I swear to God, every horse that’s come from that farm is near impossible to bit up, at least in the beginning. Don’t know what those fuckers did to their mouths, but…”

Amy shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about it. Do they usually get over it after you’ve worked with them awhile?”

“Eventually.” I gathered Blue’s reins and unclipped the cross-ties. “But you never know if it’s going to take one lesson or fifty before they finally decide they’re okay with it.”

Once he was bridled and ready to go, we let Blue stand for a moment, just chewing quietly on the bit and wearing the saddle. Now that everything was on, buckled and not hurting him, he quieted down pretty quickly. In fact, within four or five minutes, he’d gone from agitated to almost completely calm.

“Maybe this will be easier than I thought,” I said.

“Maybe,” she said. “But I’m not counting those chickens until they’ve ridden a few laps. He could still dump me on my ass before this is over.”

I clicked my tongue and shook my head. “Such a pessimist.”

“You want to get on instead?”

“Hey, you’re the one who’s been working him.”

“
Now
who’s not so optimistic?” Amy took the reins from me. “So where do we do this?”

“I’m thinking the round pen,” I said. “Less room for him to go anywhere if he freaks out.”

“Except the round pen has been known to make him freak out,” she said. “I’ve taken him in there a few times, and he’s only just gotten to where he’s
sort of
okay with it.”

“Still, I’d rather keep him contained, just in case he decides to bolt.”

“Hmm. Probably a good plan.” Amy led him out of the barn.

I walked behind them, and I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t taking advantage of the chance to look her up and down. Her tucked-in T-shirt and clingy jeans taunted me, holding on to her curves and her skin while I closed my fists at my sides and pretended my fingers didn’t itch just thinking about touching her again. She couldn’t even imagine how much she frustrated me. How much I wanted her, and how having her once—okay, several times—had only made me crave her more.

And a hard-on is not going to help anything right now.

I focused on the horse instead. On the volatile horse who needed both of our attention so none of us got killed.

All the way down the aisle and out the door, Blue was steady and calm. In fact, he was fine right up until we got to the round pen.

When I opened the gate, he balked. He frantically chomped the bit. His eyes were wide, the whites showing, and sweat already dampened the edges of his saddle pad.

“Easy, sweetie,” Amy said softly, letting him inspect the open gate. I tried not to visibly shiver as I watched her hand stroking Blue’s neck, because I had
no trouble whatsoever
remembering what her hands felt like on me.

Christ, Amy, if you think you’re a mess, you should hear everything that’s going on in my head these days.

Oblivious to my thoughts, she murmured to Blue, “Just take it easy.”

Hi sniffed around. Snorted. Pawed at the ground. After a minute or two of coaxing, though, Amy got him to walk into the round pen. She led him around it, and after a few laps in each direction, he’d relaxed as much as Blue ever relaxed when he was being worked.

“I think he’s ready,” she said. “Let’s do this.”

She led him to the middle of the pen and laid his reins over his neck. Then I held the reins closer to his bit, and she stood beside him. He wasn’t happy when she tightened the cinch, and tried to bite her, but I kept his head out of range. Of course, then he tried to bite me, which I corrected as firmly as I could without startling him and sending this whole operation two steps forward and ten steps back.

Amy was in no hurry. She pushed down on the stirrup with her hand, watching his reaction as she did. To my surprise, he didn’t freak out, just turned his head a little and looked at her. Then she reached up and grabbed the saddle horn and pommel, tugging them, wiggling them, gauging how he’d react to pressure on or movement of the saddle. He still stayed calm.

“This looks promising so far.” She looked at me and smiled. “Wish me luck.”

I smiled back. “Good luck.” I held Blue’s reins in one hand and stroked his face with the other.

Amy put her foot in the stirrup, then slowly and carefully hoisted herself up. As she swung her other leg over, Blue suddenly snorted and crow-hopped to the side, nearly crashing into me, and sending Amy to the ground.

She landed with a grunt. He freaked out even more.

“Easy, Blue.” I glanced back and forth between him and Amy as I tried to calm him and make sure she was okay, not to mention keep him from stepping on her.

She obviously wasn’t too badly hurt, though, because she was on her feet with her clothes dusted off and her baseball cap straightened out before I’d fully settled Blue.

“You all right?” I asked just to be sure.

“Yeah.” She dusted her jeans off a little more. “Ready to try again?”

Pretending my heart rate hadn’t shot through the roof and still hadn’t yet come back down, I said, “You tell me.”

“I’m fine.” She nodded at Blue. “What about him?”

“He came back to earth,” I said. “Should be all right.”

“Good. Take two.”

And take three. And four. And five. If not for the dirt on her clothes and face, I’d never have known Amy had hit the ground once, never mind almost half a dozen times: she got up each time like it was nothing, and once we’d calmed Blue down, she tried again. She bounced back each time without much more than a wince, while my blood pressure went crazy every damned time until I was absolutely sure she was okay.

“I’m not so sure he’s ready to take a rider,” she said after the fifth time.

“Yeah, maybe not,” I said. “You want to call it a day, or try a few more times?”

She shook some dirt out of her ponytail. “Maybe two or three. He seems to respond okay to new things once he’s seen it won’t hurt him, but it usually takes a few tries before he gets that through his head.”

“True, but I don’t want you getting hurt in the process.”

“Dirt’s soft,” she said with a wave of her hand.

“Uh, yeah, but the fence isn’t.” I gestured at the five-foot metal fence encircling us.

She grinned. “Then I’ll make sure to aim for the dirt and not the fence.”

God, Amy, if you get hurt…

But I shrugged and said, “All right, your call.”

Blue didn’t even let her get her foot in the stirrup this time. He jerked away, throwing his head, but I kept a grip on the rope. Thrashing and snorting, he stomped and side-stepped, and even as Amy scrambled to her feet, he was going to step on her if he kept this up.

I gave the rope a sharp tug to get his attention in the same instant his rump hit the fence, which startled him and sent him lunging forward.

As I tried to get him back under control, he shoved me sideways, and my elbow cracked against the metal rail, sending lightning all the way to my fingertips. I swore, but under my breath so I didn’t agitate him farther, and gave another tug to get his attention.

He stopped. His front feet were apart like he was bracing against something, preparing for another reason to freak out.

“Easy, bud,” I said, approaching slowly with my hand out. He eyed me warily, and when I touched his neck, his skin twitched like an insect had just landed on him. “Take it easy,” I said quietly. As I petted him, my fingers still tingling, he slowly calmed down. His eye whites no longer showed, his nostrils no longer flared, and his stance was more relaxed.

“Well, that was fun.” Amy dusted herself off. “How is he?”

“He’s fine.” I glanced at her as I walked him in circles. “What about you?”

“I’m good. Dirt’s still nice and soft.”

“There is that.” I looked over my shoulder as I continued leading Blue around the pen. “You want to try again?”

“Of course I do.”

“We can take a break,” I said. “If you need—”

“As long as he’s not too riled up,” she said, “I’d rather keep trying. No need to stop for my benefit.”

“All right.” I stopped him in the center of the pen. “Well, he’s quieted down now, so…”

“Let’s do this.” She petted his neck for a moment, probably making doubly sure he’d really calmed down. Then, she gave me a slight nod, and we tried once again.

Foot in the stirrup. Blue didn’t move. Other foot off the ground. The horse tensed a little. Leg over his back. Blue’s eyes widened, but he didn’t move. Slowly, Amy started to come down into the saddle, easing herself into place.

And Blue reared.

He went straight up, jerking the reins out of my hand, and before his front feet were back on the ground, the sound of Amy hitting the metal fence, then the ground, sent my stomach into my throat.

I settled Blue enough to keep him from endangering either of us, and kept a hand on his neck as I turned to check on her.

She’d crumpled beside the fence, and she didn’t move for a few unnerving seconds. Panic rippled through me, and I glanced at Blue. Shit, I needed to help her, but I couldn’t let him loose, especially not while she was on the ground.

Reins in one hand, I led him toward her. “Amy, you all right?”

She eased herself upright. Eyes screwed shut and lips contorted, she leaned against the fence and held her side with one arm.