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Authors: J.R. Ward

Leaping Hearts (27 page)

BOOK: Leaping Hearts
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He shook his head with regret. “When you wouldn’t go to the doctor, I lost it. I wanted to throttle you for not taking care of yourself, for making me feel so afraid. There was the woman I loved, nearly fainting from—”

“Wait a minute. What did you say?”

“I felt like I was in a nightmare—”

“No, no. After that.”

“I was feeling out of control.”

“A little further.”

“The woman I love—” Devlin halted, cocking his head to one side.

A.J. felt a glow all over her body.

“The woman I love.”
He spoke the words slowly. “I said that. I really said that.”

“You seem surprised.” Her smile grew more radiant.

He laughed. “Only because it feels so natural. Considering how long it’s been since I said it, I would’ve assumed I’d be more rusty. Well, that and the fact that the last time I was talking to a horse.”

When he reached for her, she went into his arms.

“I really do love you,” he said urgently. “You’re everything to me. Whenever I look into your eyes, I can’t explain what happens. I just feel
new
.”

They were the words she’d wanted to hear from him, grounding and earth-shattering at the same time. And she knew that she loved him back. Fiercely.

Dropping his head down to hers, he murmured, “Can you forgive me?”

“Yes,” she said against his lips. “I think I can.”

Their mouths fused with a special softness, as if they were kissing for the first time, and she felt his fingers brush against the side of her neck tenderly. In that moment, she couldn’t remember the pain she’d been feeling or the separation that had torn them apart.

When they pulled back, she was smiling.

“If I thought it was going to get me this far, I would have fallen off that stallion on day one.”

The wind brushed against them.

“We need to get you out of the cold,” he said.

“And out of this dress.”

“Now, that’s a fine idea. Come home with me.”

“I want to.” She arched her breasts against his chest. “You have no idea how much I want to.”

“So get into my chariot, sweet princess.”

“I can’t.” She sighed. “After my father’s birthday parties, he and I go into his study and light a candle for my mother. It’s their anniversary. They were married thirty-four years ago tonight.”

Devlin swallowed his frustration. “You can’t miss that.”

“I’ll come tomorrow morning.”

“For breakfast.”

“Maybe a little earlier.”

“Promise?”

His tongue slid into her mouth and she grabbed on to his shoulders. As his hands traveled down from her waist to cup her buttocks, he drew her against his lower body. When they finally parted, his eyes glittered in the moonlight.

“I better go,” he drawled, “before I can’t leave.”

“I wish I were going with you.”

“If you were, I’d cancel my date tonight.”

“You have a date?”

“With a cold shower. As soon as I walk in the door.” He nodded to the truck. “You want a ride back to the house?”

“No, I think I’ll walk.” A.J. wanted a moment alone to savor what had happened before rejoining the noise and crush of the party.

Opening the door, he got into the cab, a gentleman in a farmer’s truck. She liked the image.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She started to take off his jacket.

“No, keep it. It’s a long walk back.” From out of the open window, Devlin was smiling at her with a wistfulness she didn’t normally associate with him. “Come here.”

She stepped in close. Gently, he took her face into his hands.

“Good night, my love.” The words were soft against her lips. And then he was gone.

The next morning dawned cold, just a degree or two above frost. Before anyone else was even stirring, A.J. got out of bed, showered and packed. In a rush, her bag slapping against the corners of antique sideboards, tables and chairs as she hustled through the rooms of the mansion, she was halfway to the back door when she remembered Devlin’s tuxedo jacket. Dropping her things, she doubled back, retrieved the coat and ran free of the house without getting caught.

Behind the wheel of the Mercedes, speeding to the farmhouse, she was wide-awake, despite having had little sleep the night before. After Devlin had left, she’d drifted up to the mansion on a cloud of bliss, entering the party with a secret smile only her father recognized as evidence of the
reconciliation. When the celebration finally let up, she and Garrett went into his study and lit a single white candle, which they placed on the mantelpiece, below the portrait of A.J.’s mother.

“You’re leaving tomorrow, aren’t you?” he said softly as they stared into the glow.

There was a pause and A.J. replied, “It’s time for me to start training again. My arm’s almost healed. But how did you know?”

“You’re radiant and I know you disappeared for a while with…Are you going back to him?”

She didn’t want to reveal too much but she wasn’t going to lie. “We did get a chance to talk.”

“And he’s righted a wrong, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, he has.”

“Please be careful.”

“Are you warning me because you don’t like him?”

“No. Because I love you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“When will you be back?”

“I don’t know. Sometime, I’ll call.” She turned to go.

“Arlington?”

“Yes?” She faced him again.

“Your mother would have liked him. He’s a strong man and I can see in his eyes the love he has for you.”

Her father wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he was staring up at the portrait. When at last he pivoted around, A.J. saw him framed against the image of her mother. Tears came to her eyes.

“Thank you for saying that,” she whispered.

As they embraced, A.J.’s eyes drifted up to meet her mother’s.

Yes, she thought. Mummy
would
have liked him.

Pulling into Devlin’s driveway, she couldn’t wait to go up to the farmhouse but, as soon as she stepped out of the car, she heard Sabbath whinny for her. Hastily scooting into the stable, she opened the top of his stall door. The horse’s head came out like it was sprung from a toaster and he snuffled over her.

“I’m back,” she reassured him as she slipped him a sugar cube.

After a few more moments with the stallion, during which she checked his water and ran her hands over his legs to reassure herself, for the umpteenth time, that he wasn’t lame from their debacle, she took a deep breath. He was good to go. And so was she.

A.J. shut the stall door, and with an erotic anticipation that had her burning, she rushed back to her car, picked up the tuxedo jacket and her bag and ran to the farmhouse. She found Devlin in the kitchen, filling the coffeepot with water. As soon as she came into the room, he dropped what he was doing and captured her in an embrace that bent her almost in half. Lips clamoring together, hands searching out zippers and buttons, they undressed their way up to his bedroom and collapsed in a mad tumble onto his bed. When he entered her with a deep, hard drive, his name left her lips in an explosion as their bodies came together, thrusting and pounding. With a shattering of sensation, they gripped each other fiercely as they were overcome by white heat.

After they came back down to earth, it was a while before Devlin lifted his head and spoke.

“Sorry about that. Usually I have a little more self-control.”

A.J. licked his lower lip, making him groan. “Discipline is overrated, in my book,” she said.

“God, I want you all over again.”

In the silence of the morning, they heard noises drift up from the barn.

“Chester’s here,” he muttered, wishing for once his old friend would have had the courtesy of being late to work.

In a tornado of shirts and blue jeans, the two scrambled into their clothes, just making it to the kitchen as the groom burst through the front door. He was wearing a happy grin.

“Well, it’s just fine to have the family back together again,” he said, looking over at A.J.

“Sure is,” Devlin said, going back to the coffeepot. He’d left the water on and the sink was close to overflowing.

Chester noted the near-accident with a knowing smirk before asking A.J., “Are ya rough-ridin’ ready?”

She smiled as she sat down. “And rarin’ to go.”

“Well, so’s that stallion, let me tell ya. Almost pulled m’ arm out a’ the socket yesterday on the lead line.” The groom settled down at the table as Devlin pushed his breakfast in front of him. “Speakin’ of arms, how’s yours feelin’?”

“Perfect. Just perfect.” She flexed for him, hiding a wince with laughter. “Sabbath was so happy to see me this morning, he was on the verge of speech.”

“He’s missed you, all right,” Devlin said as he put a couple of English muffins under the broiler.

“And wasn’t the only one,” Chester interjected. “This one with the nooks an’ crannies was miserable to be around.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“Compared to someone with their foot in a bear trap, maybe.”

After the muffins were done, Devlin threw them onto a plate and offered them to A.J. Taking a few for himself, he settled down into his chair, stretched his long legs under the table and rubbed his foot against her ankle. She smiled at him.

“Better eat up, girl,” Chester said. “That stallion a’ yours is goin’ to be a lot to handle today an’ breakfast is the most important meal a’ the day.”

“Hey, I’ve got to ask,” she said. “How many years have you been eating that same breakfast?”

“Since fifty-nine.”

“What’d you have before that?”

“Bananas.”

“Just bananas?”

“Yup.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nope.”

“You are what you eat,” Devlin offered.

“Have you always had such odd eating habits?” A.J. inquired.

“Like to start m’ days off simply,” Chester explained. “Life gets complicated real quick on its own. No need to anticipate chaos with a breakfast a’ confusion.”

“But you eat spicy things in the afternoon. Those chili dogs I saw you wolfing down at the fairgrounds could melt paint off a car door.”

“Look, you’re talkin’ to a man who ate white food for m’ first twenty-three years. The tan color a’ peanut butter’s about as far as I like to go in the mornin’ but I’ve got a lot of eatin’ to make up for.”

“You only ate white food? How’s that possible?”

“White bread, rice, potatoes, the insid’a apples, spaghetti, chicken, turkey. Although not the dark meat, a’ course. There’s really a lot to choose from.”

Devlin laughed. “Now, I’ve always thought of poultry as more of a bisque color.”

“I was willin’ to grant certain leniencies.”

“Generous of you.”

“No sense in bein’ rigid.”

“Of course not.”

“You’re amazing,” A.J. said.

“Don’t I know it. Almost seventy an’ in great shape. Ya find something good, ya stick to it.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Devlin said, nodding at Chester’s bowl. “You’ve been eating out of the same dish here for the past five years.”

“And a damn fine piece a’ pottery she is.”

They all laughed.

When they were finished eating, Devlin disappeared upstairs briefly and Chester leaned across the table toward A.J.

“You know,” the man said softly, “it really wasn’t the same around here without you.”

“You don’t have to say that, but thanks.”

“It’s true. He missed ya somethin’ fierce. Was a god-awful terror. You two belong together.”

A.J. smiled. “You know, I’m inclined to agree with you.”

Down at the barn, Sabbath was beside himself with excitement, unable to stand still as A.J. groomed him on the crossties. While Devlin and Chester were out in the ring, dealing with the jumps, she talked to the stallion and was struck by how much she’d missed him.

When Chester came back inside, he said, “All set for ya out there.”

“Thanks.” A.J. returned the hoof pick to the groom box. “Say, I notice that loose shoe’s looking really good.”

“Can’t say the same for the blacksmith. But then, no man’s at his best with a picture of Garfield over one eye.”

“Come again?”

“It was on the Band-Aid we gave ’im.”

“And he needed the first aid because…”

“Twinkle toes over there decided to reach out an’ touch the guy.”

“You’re kidding me.” A.J. shot the stallion a glare.

Sabbath stared back at her, the picture of innocence.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said to the horse. “When he comes back, you better behave yourself.”

“He won’t.”

“Of course he will. I’ll be here to hold his head.”

“Not the animal—the blacksmith.”

“Huh?”

“Man’s not gonna come back.”

“Ever?”

“I don’t want to use his exact language, you bein’ a lady an’ all. Let’s just say it’ll be a long time an’ a different horse before he’ll set foot back in this stable.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“Wish I was.”

Devlin came into the barn. “Are we ready to go yet?”

“Just about,” Chester said as A.J. went to get her saddle and bridle.

She was muttering something under her breath about meatheaded Thoroughbreds as she went into the tack room. And walked right into a stack of grain bags as tall as she was. She poked her head out into the aisle.

“What’s all the feed doing in here?”

“I’ll get your stuff,” Devlin said, marching past her and meeting her inquiring look with one of nonchalance. While he banged and crashed around in the little room, she glanced over to Chester, who rolled his eyes.

“Let’s just say, things didn’t run so good when you weren’t around.”

“I guess so,” she murmured, trying not to laugh as Devlin took a header into a pile of blankets.

“Did you see the truck?” Chester whispered.

A.J. nodded, covering her smile with a hand as Devlin emerged with his hair messed up and hay hanging off his sweater. He looked like he’d been through a war.

“You okay there, champ?” Chester asked. “Those there grain bags can be tough when they come atchya in a pack like that.”

Devlin shot the man a look as he handed the tack over to A.J. “Say what you will. At least the stuff is dry. Now, when you two are finished giggling, you can join me in the ring. I’ll be waiting out there to get started.”

BOOK: Leaping Hearts
5.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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