"In another minute, Zach will bring in John Royal. He won"t let the stallion rush her. We don"t want to have her jump or jerk."
Katherine felt her entire body stiffen as Zach brought in an enormous copper-coated horse. The horse"s power, his muscles rippling, his strength, scared the h.e.l.l out of her. She couldn"t imagine what the mare thought.
"Here we go," Sam said.
And without any further ado, the stallion rose on his hind legs and moved toward the mare. Katherine saw one of the other men hold up something that looked like a rolling pin and place it between the horses as the stallion plunged into the mare.
"Oh, my!" Katherine said as the mare jerked her head so hard the stick and the stableboy went flying against the wall.
Zach grabbed the mare as two other men guided the stallion. Another minute and it was over, the stallion led away, the mare left standing alone, never having once seen the face of her mate.
"You okay?" Sam said, sending her a speculative look. "Your face is a little green."
"That was so-so animalistic." There had been no emotion to the mating. It was all about heat and l.u.s.t and the need to procreate. Watching it had stirred something very basic within herself.
"They"re horses. What did you expect?"
"I have no idea. Sometimes I feel like I landed on the moon when I landed in that ditch."
"You"ll get your moon legs. Just give yourself a chance. Do you want to step outside and wait for Zach?"
"I think so," she replied, following him out of the shed. The fresh air was a welcome relief. Sam left her to wait for Zach, so she sat down on a bench and took in several deep calming breaths. It didn"t help. She felt unsettled, out of her element, not sure whether she was standing or sitting.
While she was pondering what had just happened, a large orange cat climbed into her lap without waiting for a welcome and purred. Katherine instinctively rubbed her fur, missing her own little kitty. At least this felt familiar.
Zach saw Katherine sitting on the bench and stopped to watch her for a minute. She was talking to the cat, looking more comfortable with an animal than he would have expected. He"d seen her face through the gla.s.s in the breeding shed, the wonder, the shock, the wrinkling nose of disgust.
At first he"d been angry that Sam had brought her inside. Then he"d been glad, because if there was one event that could shock a romantic city girl, it was watching two horses mate in cold, sterile, realistic surroundings.
That was what s.e.x was, elemental, basic, a need, just like an itch or a hunger. It was women who made it more than that. Who wanted words of love and singing birds and sparkling fireworks. Men just wanted to get inside, fast, hard, quick.
Although quick might not be right this time around. He had a feeling a man could go real slow with Katherine, take all day, all night, maybe even a few nights to really touch her, taste her. d.a.m.n. He felt his body harden with each teasing thought. Why couldn"t she have just stayed away?
"She"s waiting for you," Sam said, giving him a nudge. "Go on, so I can get back to work."
"I didn"t tell you to stop work. You should have sent her back to Paradise."
"And miss showing you in action? I couldn"t do that."
"How"s Ryan?" Zach asked, referring to the stableboy who"d been tossed against the wall earlier.
"Sprained wrist. He"ll live."
"I thought that mare was going to be quiet."
"You never know with women. Sometimes they surprise you," Sam said.
Zach rolled his eyes. "I"m going. You better get your old a.s.s back to work or I"ll have to fire you."
Sam went back to work, and Zach walked over to join Katherine. She looked up at him with wary eyes. "Nice cat," she said.
"Simon is a lazy b.u.m. Go on, scat," he said, taking the cat out of her arms and shooing it away.
Katherine stood up and brushed some stray fur off of her light blue sweater. At least she"d come dressed more appropriately today. Even if her jeans were designer, at least they were practical. Unfortunately, they curved in all the right places.
"So what did you think?" Zach asked.
"That was-bizarre, the whole thing."
"It"s the natural way of things."
"Natural? Padded walls, long sticks, a warm-up act?"
"Okay, not exactly natural, except for the act itself. Did it make your stomach turn?"
"I wouldn"t say that exactly. It was just different, shocking, exciting, frightening." She smiled at her confusing words. "I"ve never seen anything like it."
"And probably don"t want to again, right?" He wanted her to say yes. He willed her to say yes, to add that she was going home, to California, to civilization.
"I don"t know that I"d rush to see it again, but I have to admit there was something-awesome about the whole thing. A little sad, too. I mean the mare didn"t seem to enjoy it much."
"Oh, she liked it just fine."
"Spoken like a true man," Katherine replied.
He grinned, unwillingly charmed by her easy manner, her openness to the experience. "So what are you doing here, anyway? Did you come to say good-bye?"
"No. I was on my way to J.T."s farm to talk to him when I saw your sign and thought I"d check out this place first."
"So you came to see me."
"Not you, exactly."
"Then who?"
"I just wanted to see the farm. I"ve never seen one before. I thought it might be interesting. I didn"t expect it to be so big or that there would be so many people working here."
"Forty-seven to be exact, counting all the part-timers," Zach replied.
"Do you own this place?"
"No. It belongs to Harry Stanton and his wife, Claire. I"m just the farm manager."
"Which means you"re in charge of all this?" She waved her hand around the barn area.
"Impressed?" he asked with a c.o.c.ky smile.
"Not at all."
"Good. Because appearances can be deceiving."
Before she could reply, he reached out and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. The action brought him closer to her, so close he could feel her breath against his cheek. She put up a hand to push him away, to give herself some s.p.a.ce, but he caught her hand in his and held it against his sweaty chest.
She tried to look away, but Zach caught her chin with his other hand and held it firmly in place. He looked down deep into her eyes, knowing they"d been heading toward this moment since the first time he"d seen her. "Come with me," he said.
She looked startled. "What?"
"Come to my office." Still holding her hand, he pulled her along, ignoring the curious looks of some of the employees. They knew better than to question his actions. He was the boss, after all, and if he wanted to have a little privacy with a beautiful blonde, that was his business.
His office was in the first building, a large room with computers, printers, a fax, and a large desk that was perpetually covered in papers. His secretary had an office next door, but she was off somewhere on a lunch break, so there was no one down at this end of the building but him-and Katherine.
He led her into the room, slammed the door behind them, and placed his mouth over hers. It was what he wanted, what he needed, what he couldn"t deny. He"d thought about it all night. He"d almost kissed her in the bar, but somehow he"d held back. He couldn"t deny himself again, not when she was so close, not when she was so soft. d.a.m.n!
Katherine lost her breath as Zach"s mouth covered hers. He branded her lips with a hot, fiery mark of possession. No gentle, get-acquainted kiss for Zach. He sought total possession, sliding his tongue into her mouth with a groan of desire that completely matched her own.
The emotions of the past half hour had heightened all of her senses, and Zach"s kiss turned the sparks between them into a blazing fire. Katherine couldn"t get enough. She put her hands on his chest, then slid them up and around his neck, pressing his head closer to hers, allowing him no chance for retreat. When he withdrew, she pursued. When she stopped for breath, he leaned in for another kiss. It should have ended after one or two or three, but they couldn"t seem to stop.
"Jesus!" Zach murmured, finally drawing back, breath ragged, his black eyes dancing with gold glitter. "I didn"t expect that."
She stared at his eyes, then dropped her gaze to his mouth, to his full lips, and she couldn"t help licking her own.
"Don"t," he said.
Don"t what? She had no idea what he meant, and the conflicting signals in his eyes told her he didn"t have any idea either. "It"s not enough," she said softly, standing on tiptoe to press her mouth to his once more.
"d.a.m.n you, Katherine." His hands came around her waist, his fingers locked with each other, as he pulled her against him.
She could feel every hard, muscled inch of him, and the friction between their legs, their hips, their chests, drove her crazy with need. She wanted bare skin against bare skin, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest. She wanted to feel all that power beneath her, on top of her, inside of her.
She closed her eyes as his lips trailed across her face to her ear, the corner of her neck. She wanted him with every fiber of her being. She"d never understood how a woman could meet a man and jump into bed with him. But she understood it now. She"d known this man for three days, but it didn"t matter. Nothing mattered as long as he was holding her, touching her, making her heart beat faster and her mind spin out of control.
"I should have taken you to my house," Zach said as he lifted his head.
And she would have gone without question, because since she"d stepped off the plane onto Kentucky soil, she"d completely lost her mind.
"You are so..." His voice drifted away.
"So what?"
"Hot."
She wrinkled her nose. It wasn"t the most romantic declaration she"d ever heard. "Thanks, I think." Now that he"d stopped kissing her, now that she had time to think, she felt somewhat awkward and embarra.s.sed by her l.u.s.tful response to his kiss. What must he think of her? She"d practically attacked him, devoured him. She"d never done such a thing in her entire life.
"Second thoughts already?" Zach asked with a raise of one eyebrow. "Your pulse hasn"t even slowed down."
"I"ve never-I don"t usually. I mean..."
"What do you mean?"
"I don"t know why I kissed you like that. I suddenly wanted you more than I"ve ever wanted anyone in my life." She swallowed hard, not sure where the confession had come from. "I forgot..." Her voice trailed away as she tried to remember everything she"d forgotten.
"You forgot who you were kissing?" he asked tightly, completely misunderstanding her hesitation. "Well, let me refresh your memory. I"m a farmhand, Kat. I"m a dirty, sweaty, illegitimate son of a con artist, who got left at the altar by the last girl who momentarily forgot who she was kissing."
Katherine drew in a sharp, painful breath at the bitterness in his voice. "I didn"t forget who you were, Zach. I forgot who I was, and why I was here in Kentucky." She paused, wondering how it had gone wrong so fast. "Weren"t you the one who told me yesterday that we should concentrate on our goals, on your horse and my father?"
He let out a breath. "Yeah, that was me."
"What changed?"
"It"s easy to forget things when you"re around."
She knew exactly what he meant. "I don"t think we should kiss again."
His eyes met hers. "Definitely not."
"Because you"re you and I"m me."
"And we don"t fit."
"It sure felt like we did." The words came out before she could stop them.
"Oh, we"d be good in bed together," he drawled. "If you want a fling, I"m your man. But I"m not looking for anything else-no church service, no white rice, no honeymoon cottage. I tried that once. I won"t try it again."
"Oh, please," she said sharply. "I wasn"t planning on dragging you to the altar before dinner. Why does every man think every woman is after a wedding ring?"
"I don"t think that about every woman, but I do think it about you. You probably have a list of the top ten qualities to look for in a husband."
She flushed guiltily. She hadn"t t.i.tled it that, but she had written something along those lines.
He smiled again. "I"m right, aren"t I?"
"Well, if I did have such a list, you wouldn"t fit any of the qualities. Because you"re a dark, moody cowboy with a huge chip on his shoulder, who doesn"t trust anyone not to lie, cheat, or steal from him. And..."
"And what?"
"I don"t want to get hurt."
"You think I could hurt you?" he asked slowly, his eyes never leaving her face.
"Couldn"t you?"
He didn"t answer.
"I better go." She turned away from him and headed toward the door. She paused, her hand on the k.n.o.b. "Don"t kiss me again, okay?"
"I don"t make promises I can"t keep."