Riley’s Downfall(10)

Not that he couldn’t shift and heal them, but fuck if it wouldn’t have hurt. The horse became agitated every time anyone went near him. And his very human mate had waltzed right into the stall, as if Hell Raiser was Buster, their gentle quarter horse, and tried to saddle the damn beast.

Was the guy nuts?

Scratch that. Riley knew for a fact that Sterling didn’t think like anyone else. But he didn’t think the man was suicidal. Sterling was this skinny little human who couldn’t weigh any more than a buck fifty, soaking wet and rocks in his pockets, and he had acted as if Hell Raiser was the gentlest creature on earth.

It also shocked him how serene Hell Raiser became once Sterling started petting the damn horse. The black stallion ate the attention up. He not only leaned toward Sterling’s hand, which gave Riley a fucking aneurism, but he had eaten carrots from it as well. He was baffled and amazed at the same time. He had never seen anyone who could tame the wildest of animals, and Riley wasn’t sure he liked it. Hell Raiser could turn on Sterling at any moment, and his mate could be killed by the horse’s hoof alone.

“Are you mad at me?” Sterling asked solemnly as he walked Buster from the barn, fully saddled.

After getting some damn clothes on, Riley had agreed to teach Sterling how to ride. If he didn’t, he had a feeling Sterling would try and teach himself. And Riley knew that was a disaster waiting to happen. One coronary a day was enough. So the only way to keep Sterling safe was to teach the man how to ride.

“I’m not happy, Sterling,” he admitted as he pulled Warrior closer, hating the sad look on his mate’s face. Riley may throw a fit about Sterling, but he wasn’t a complete asshole. He didn’t want his mate to look so unhappy. It tugged at a spot deep inside Riley. A spot he wasn’t sure he wanted to examine.

“Hell Raiser could have seriously hurt you, or worse.” And it was the worse part that scared Riley to death. Sterling really seemed to have no concept of how much danger he had been in.

He thought Hell Raiser was just a damn horse and not the spawn of Satan like everyone else knew he was.

Riley doubted the man would last much longer on the ranch and he couldn’t figure out if he was glad about that or sad. There were so many things that could happen to the human. Sterling was way too—“Sterling?” Riley spun around in a circle when he lost sight of his mate. “Where in the hell are you?”

Riley spun around again and then squatted down to look under the horse’s belly. He saw a set of jean-clad legs sticking out of a stall at the other end of the barn. Riley closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of his horse.

Sterling was driving him mad.

“Sterling, what are you doing?”

When he received no answer, Riley walked around his horse and over to the stall Sterling was half lying in. Riley paused at the edge of the stall and looked over the top railing. Sterling had squirmed his way under the bottom railing and lay on the straw floor, halfway inside the stall.

Oh hell, he was cooing softly to a pile of piglets as he stroked his fingers down their backs. Surprisingly, the mama sow was just lying there. In Riley’s experience, mama pigs with new piglets didn’t let anyone near them.

“Can I have one, Riley?”

The eagerness and hope in Sterling’s voice cut him to the bone. Riley was surprised at the feeling. He knew he had to say no. He needed to say no. Pigs were for meat. They were not pets. But the pleading in the light-grey eyes staring back up at him stripped away any of Riley’s intelligent thoughts. He found himself nodding even though he knew it wasn’t a good idea.

Whether Riley wanted to openly admit it or not, Sterling was worming his way inside Riley’s heart. How, he wasn’t sure. But he could feel the soft emotions fighting to surface, and Riley felt powerless to stop them.

“Really?”

Riley’s breath stuttered in his throat at the glowing smile Sterling sent him. He was so busy basking in it that he was totally unprepared for Sterling to jump to his feet and hug him. Riley awkwardly patted Sterling on the back while trying to ignore how good Sterling felt in his arms.

He especially didn’t want to think about how Sterling’s jumping and bouncing made his cock harden in his jeans. Every time Sterling bounced, he brushed up against Riley. It was driving him crazy.

Damn piglet.

“Okay, pick one out, and I’ll tell Pa that it’s yours.” Riley couldn’t believe he was doing this. It was so…un-Riley. He was giving in to his mate just because Sterling had looked so breathtaking when he smiled up at Riley.

Sterling whirled around with a happy little squeal. Riley rolled his eyes when Sterling dropped to the floor again and scooted under the lowest railing. When he started talking to the little buggers, Riley had had enough. They were farm animals for crying out loud. You didn’t croon to them.