Chase The Clouds

She didn’t know how to react to his backhanded compliments, and was continually uncomfortable beneath his warming, caressing gaze. “Tell me what else he has problems with,” she muttered. “The fly in the ointment, no doubt.”

“He doesn’t like water. He’ll damn near do anything to avoid it. Including dumping his rider into an oxer or earth bank.”

Dany looked over at him. “Did your riders quit, or were they killed?”

Sam managed a sour grin. “None killed. One got hurt pretty seriously, and he was out of action for two months. It was after Tony’s fall that I decided I wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life until I could get Richland Stables to honor its commitment.”

Dany frowned, allowing Altair to nuzzle her hair with his velvety nose. “Are you going to let me help you, big boy?” she asked the stallion, giving him a playful pat on the forehead. Altair backed away, snorting. A mare from another pasture whickered a greeting, and the sorrel thoroughbred raised his magnificent head, standing like a marble statue. He bugled out an answering call, the sound raucous and harsh to their ears. Sam smiled and slipped between the railings.

“That’s his way of making sweet talk to them.”

“He’s a nice-looking horse, Sam. So I can’t blame the mares for wanting to entice him over to their paddocks,” she grudgingly admitted.

He took her arm and led her down toward the stable. “We’ve got his yearling crop in here. I bred him to five of my best broodmares. Let’s see what you think of the results.” Dany reviewed the thoroughbred yearlings and stood in the passage between the large, roomy boxstalls with Sam. “That’s simply amazing,” she admitted. “There’s a uniformity in conformation I’ve rarely seen. Each one looks like a stamp of Altair.”

“Exactly. He’s prepotent as hell. I bred him to five different bloodlines to see how his genes would affect the mare’s breeding line. In every case, his stamp came out,” Sam said, sounding somewhat incredulous. “The legs on every yearling are absolutely straight. They’re bred to withstand the strain of jumping.”

Dany smiled. “And you can hardly wait for them to mature enough to put them on the circuit, right?”

He walked her out of the barn, and they ambled at a slow pace toward the house. The sun was barely edging the tip of the Sierras, sending streamers of light through the fog as the thickened mist began to evaporate. The cobalt blue sky turned a shade paler as the sun ascended across the peaks, promising another cool spring day. She was aware of his body only inches from her own, and once again, her skin prickled with a pleasurable tingle as his arm occasionally brushed against her.

Halting at the back porch, he pushed the hat off his forehead, watching her closely. “Well, what do you think? Is he reason enough to stay on?”

She avoided his gray eyes. Instead, she turned her back to him, drawing in a deep, steadying breath. “Please don’t think my decision has anything to do with Altair’s conformation or potential, Sam.” She girded herself inwardly, closing her eyes tightly for a moment. “But I can’t stay. This is too strange an environment for me to stay here. I’m used to the Eastern circuit, and I’m familiar with the people and the land.”

“You’re the only woman capable of bringing Altair around,” he growled.

Dany gritted her teeth. The man was stubborn! Irritation stirred to life within her, and she compressed her lips and turned, meeting his fiery gaze. Part of her resolve disappeared immediately. Sam Reese was no longer pleasant-looking in any sense of the word. He was towering over her, his eyes an angry silver hue. She took a step back, feeling the masculine aura of strength so sharply that it made her dizzy.

“It’s not the training aspect that bothers me,” she managed, her voice strident.

“Then what the hell is it?”

She opened her mouth and then closed it, her sapphire eyes glittering with golden fire. Why did she want to escape? Was she running from Sam? Or her fear of having to ride in shows? She sensed her body’s own hungry needs that had lain dormant for over nine months. She didn’t want a careless affair with him. He was able to manipulate her as no other man ever had, and it frightened her thoroughly. “I’m turning your offer down, it’s as simple as that.”

Sam smiled savagely. “Nothing’s as simple as that, Mrs. Daguerre. Remember, there’s been a contract signed, and I’ll hold you to it if I have to.”

Her nostrils flared with contempt. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“What are you running from?” he asked, his voice suddenly lined with impatience. He reached out, grabbing her arm and drawing her near. “Sorry,” he breathed thickly, “but you’re too good a trainer and I need you for that horse out there. I don’t care what you’re running from, but you aren’t leaving this commitment. You’ll fulfill the obligations.”

Dany muffled a curse, jerking her arm away from his branding fingers of fire on her skin. “You—you bastard,” she hissed. “All right,” she blurted out in reckless abandon, “I’ll stay! But keep away from me while I’m training that horse. Do you hear me? I don’t want a thing to do with you!”

She rubbed her bruised arm, taking two more steps away from him. God, how she hated that composed, implacable look on his stony face. How had she led herself to think it was as simple as flying out to his ranch? His tenderness and care from the night before had thrown her off guard. Well, his true personality was now surfacing. He was just as arrogant and imperious as that stallion of his. Her lips curled away from her teeth. “I despise you for thinking you can run my life for me, Mr. Reese. You’re so used to molding everything to the way you want it. It’s obvious you come from generations of men who are used to getting their way. Well, you may get your way for a while, but as soon as I’m done with Altair, I’m leaving. And I don’t care if I have to run away in the dead of night to do it!”

Sam smiled lazily, beginning to relax. He pulled the brim of the cowboy hat down across his eyes. “If you leave, you’ll find yourself in high country full of cougar, bear and bobcat. And at this time of year, they’re coming out of a hard winter and they’re hungry. So forget that idea.”

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