Page 63 of On Edge

I recoil at the voice and look up.

Troy Severin leans over the stall door, blocking my only exit. At the sight of him, my insides flip, and not in a good way.

“No, I…I was talking to the horse.” As I straighten, getting to my feet, I gnaw at my bottom lip. My mind races to think back on what he might have heard.

“Talking to the horse?” He raises a brow; his voice is silk over steel. “About stabbing me? Pitying me? Or baking me a poison cake?”

I swallow, unsure how to answer that.

His brow furrows, but his mouth curls slightly. “This barn is off-limits, just like the terrace. I’m starting to think you have a problem with boundaries.”

Luckily, I don’t have to reply. The wind blows through the said barn, making the big roan behind me paw nervously.

“Easy, girl,” Troy murmurs at the horse. His gaze flicks to it and then to me. “Don’t move.”

Slowly, he enters the stall and advances on the large animal, which is snorting loudly. The space feels impossibly small now. I really want to get out and give him room, and my eye strays to the unguarded stall door. Now would be a good time to leave.

But Troy told you not to move, Nell offers, unhelpfully.

And, of course, I haven’t. Even though the wind is howling louder, and the horse in the stall with us is pacing in dangerous circles. Without warning, it bucks, mane flying, its hooves kick straight for me.

I’m rooted to the spot.

Troy shoves me roughly against the side of the stall, blocking me with his body. The force of it slams my arm into the wall and takes my breath away.

“Alright?” He barely darts a look over his shoulder as the horse shies away. He’s so close; his cologne makes my stomach tangle.

I nod.

But that’s all. Behind us, the large barn doors fly open, and the wind screams furiously through the middle of the building, unsettling all the horses.

His eyes snap back to me. “Then get out and close that damn door.”

I scramble out of his arms, and the stall, and hurry to do as he says. Gusts of wind bang the unlatched door repeatedly until I grab at it, my bruised arm jarring against the wood. I’m still trying to close the heavy door, getting soaked from the rain lashing at me through the opening, when I hear him seethe, “Anytime soon would be nice.”

“Saying please would be nice, too,” I mutter back.

As soon as I get the barn sealed and the chaos dies down, the spooked horse retreats to the corner, sides heaving. I walk back to the stall, and then I can’t help but watch as Troy approaches slowly, whispering soft words as he runs his hands over its neck and back.

“Easy, girl, easy.”

The horse blows out but doesn’t move away, letting him go through the motions, checking each leg for injury.

“Good girl, Comet. That’s it.”

I’m aware I’m holding my breath, afraid any movement will scare the big roan, or remind Troy I’m here. But he seems to have forgotten, too absorbed in his charge. His eyes are downward, focused. I draw in a lungful of air, trying to calm my own heart in the process.

Seeing how Troy is with Comet makes my chest ache; I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s speaking softly for once, moving his hand with deliberate care…

The same hands that pinned me to bed and choked the air from my lungs. The same hands that dragged through my hair and drove into the softest parts of me as he devoured my mouth. My stomach does a little flutter at the memory. Especially when I become aware how soaked through his shirt is, and buttoned partway, like he had been changing when he came back to the barn and got caught in the rain.

I’m mesmerized all of a sudden by the way the fabric clings to his skin, nearly transparent, giving me a glimpse of his ripped muscles beneath. I drink in the sight of his carved abs, straight to the taut V that disappears into his jeans. A dark pulse of traitorous curiosity spills through me, then, forcing me to avert my gaze quickly back up to his chest. Only to settle on a mesh of twisted scars there.

Did he get those from the fire?

They look like burns.

Troy Severin chooses that moment to look up. Making our eyes lock.