The Bride and the Brute(25)

Jayce stared at him sympathetically. “You don’t have to be afraid of Satan.”

“Afraid?” Reese snorted. “I’m not afraid.”

She grabbed a blanket off the fence and shoved it into his arms. Reese stared down at it. Then, with determination, he lifted his gaze to Satan. The horse stared at Reese, watching him out of distrustful eyes.

Reese opened the blanket, cautiously approaching.

“Talk to him,” Jayce encouraged.

“What do you say to an arrogant, willful---”

“Reese,” Jayce warned.

Reese grimaced. “Traitor,” he murmured at the horse. “How could you let a woman tame you?” But Reese knew how. He had to but look into Jayce’s eyes to be captured by the spell of her beauty. Perhaps he had more in common with the horse than he realized. “Easy,” Reese whispered. “I won’t hurt you. All I have to do is slip this over your back.”

Reese carefully stepped up beside the horse. The animal nickered softly as Reese slowly, painfully slowly, eased the blanket onto his back. “That’s a good boy,” he soothed. “You’re doing fine.” He stood for a long moment, unable to move. Finally, he straightened a corner of the blanket and quietly stepped away from the horse.

Reese backed to the gate, refusing to take his eyes from the horse, sure that at any moment he would charge him and try to trample him beneath his hooves. But the horse didn’t move. It stood absolutely still, just watching Reese with dark eyes that mirrored the sun in their depths.

Reese joined Jayce at the fence. He shook his head in bemusement, casting one last glance over his shoulder at Satan. When he looked down at Jayce, he found her beaming a smile up at him. It was a smile filled with pride. “Come on,” he commanded, and headed back toward the castle.

Jayce quickly took up step beside him. In all the time Reese had owned the damned beast, he hadn’t been able to get within five steps of the animal. Satan had knocked him to the ground more than once. But under Jayce’s guidance, he had actually put a blanket on the stubborn horse. Reese smiled in disbelief.

“Now you’re ready to ride him,” Jayce commented.

He looked at Jayce in wonderment, then shook his head. “I don’t think so. Putting a blanket on him is one thing. Riding the monster is another.”





Chapter Eighteen





Jayce gazed out into the black night, content for the first time since she had arrived. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was hope yet. Reese didn’t hate her as he had when she first arrived. A fond smile touched her lips. And she wasn’t quite so afraid of him.

A rumble of thunder jarred her out of her reverie and she stumbled away from the window, staring into the darkness outside the castle. It was mere seconds before lightning lit the sky like a torch.

Jayce grabbed a blanket from the bed and raced from the room toward the great hall. It was late at night, and she knew there would be hardly anyone there. But there would be a fire in the hearth. Perhaps its warmth would ease the chill cocooning her body.

As she descended the stairs, all but running, she drew the blanket tightly around her shoulders. A crash of thunder spurred her on to a frantic pace and she almost tripped, but caught herself on the stone wall of the castle. She ran the rest of the way to the great hall, bursting through the doors.

The room was empty and she padded across the hall toward the inviting flames. She heard the wind pick up outside, howling its fury, and rushed toward the protective warmth of the hearth. She didn’t see the man sitting before the flames until she was almost beside him.

Reese looked up as she skidded to a halt. Those blue eyes swept her, and he was out of his chair, seizing her shoulders before she could think coherently.

“What’s wrong?” he demanded.

She swallowed hard, trying to find comfort in his eyes. For a long moment, she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. She wanted to curl into his embrace.

Thunder boomed around her and the castle seemed to shake. She glanced up at the ceiling, half-expecting the walls to come tumbling down around her.

“Jayce?”

She returned her frightened gaze to Reese, pulling the blanket tightly around her throat.

“You’re trembling,” he observed.

Jayce opened her mouth to reply, but there was nothing to tell him. No words came out.

Another grumble of thunder filled the night, and she instinctively stepped closer to Reese.

He took her elbow and led her to a chair near his. He set her into it and knelt before her. “Are you all right?”

Jayce nodded tentatively.

Reese reached up and brushed a lock of hair from her cheek.

At the soft caress, Jayce lowered her gaze from the ceiling to his face. He gently disentangled her hands from the blanket and held them in his own. His hands were so much larger than hers; they covered hers completely, engulfing them in a sheltered warmth. She watched his hands enfold her own. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You must think I’m a horribly weak person.”