Only 05 - Autumn Lover

back at Leopard.
    “I spent the next month in the stall with Leopard full-time,” Elyssa said hurriedly. “I kept him warm when there was ice on the marsh and the wind blew fit to freeze hell itself. When spring came I just spent nights in the stall until he was old enough to be weaned.”
    “How old were you?”
    The harsh tone of Hunter’s voice drew another sideways glance from Elyssa and renewed interest from Leopard.
    “Thirteen,” Elyssa said.
    “At that age most girls are trying out silks and fans.”
    Elyssa shrugged. “I never got the hang of fans. My highborn cousins thought it was hilarious.”
    “Highborn cousins? Around here?”
    “No. Mother’s relatives. Lords of England. She hoped I would marry one of them. I didn’t, but I lived with them from the time I was fifteen until I came back this spring.”
    As Elyssa spoke, she brushed down Leopard’s muscular buttocks with quick, strong strokes.
    “Why didn’t you marry one of them?” Hunter asked.
    “They thought everything about me that wasn’t disgusting was quite funny.”
    “Figures,” Hunter said sardonically. “You couldn’t snaffle off a rich husband, so you came running home with your tail between your legs.”
    Elyssa’s temper flashed. It had been bad enough to watch Hunter be cream-pie-nice to Penny. Taking insults from him now was more than Elyssa could bear.
    “Catch,” she said, firing the brush at Hunter.
    Before his hands snatched the brush out of the air, Elyssa vaulted onto Leopard. Her silk skirt flew up above her knees and the scarlet petticoat seethed like flame around her thighs. Impatiently she jammed the cloth beneath her legs and urged Leopard toward the gate.
    Instantly Hunter moved to cut Elyssa off from the paddock gate.
    “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Hunter demanded.
    “Anywhere I please.”
    Elyssa spun Leopard away from Hunter with a touch of her hand on the stallion’s powerful neck. An instantlater the big stud was cantering toward the paddock fence.
    Leopard went over the fence like his namesake, not even tickling the six-foot rails with his hooves. He landed lightly on the other side and danced in place, plainly wanting to run.
    Motionless, Hunter watched Elyssa. Silk skirts and petticoat climbed halfway up her thighs. Her legs were long and lithe. Their womanly curves reminded Hunter of just how taut and full her breasts had felt against him.
    With no warning Leopard gathered himself, took three strides, and leaped back into the paddock. Though the horse landed only a few feet from Hunter, he didn’t back up an inch.
    “Have I made my point?” Elyssa asked in a clipped voice.
    “What point was that?” Hunter asked.
    His voice was somewhere between harsh and husky, and blood beat visibly in his neck. He hoped that Elyssa couldn’t see it, or the blunt male flesh that was swelling beneath his trousers with each heartbeat.
    “You were hired to oversee the Ladder S, not me,” Elyssa said. “I will go where I please, when I please.”
    “No,” Hunter said before he could think better of it.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Now, that’s something I’d like to see, you begging me.”
    “It won’t happen,” Elyssa assured him gently. “My cousins and their highborn friends tried for years to break me. They had time and cruelty on their side. You haven’t a chance, Hunter.”
    “Not enough time?”
    “Not enough cruelty.”
    “Don’t be too sure of that, Sassy.”
    “How long have you owned Bugle Boy?”
    Hunter blinked, surprised by the change of subject.
    “All his life,” he said slowly. “Why?”
    “He bears no marks of quirt or spur. Nor is he head-shy. He has the confidence and calm nature of an animal that has been well and gently cared for since birth.”
    Again Hunter was surprised. He measured the easy way Elyssa controlled Leopard without benefit of bridle, saddle, or even a piece of string.
    The knowledge that she could have run off and left Hunter in the dust was galling.
    Whatever else, she’s a hell of a horsewoman , Hunter admitted reluctantly to himself.
    “In sum,” Elyssa continued, “you are rude, arrogant, stubborn, and hardheaded, but not cruel.”
    Leopard gave a little leap, as though his patience was at an end. Clearly the stud wanted to jump the fence again and have a good run.
    Just as clearly, Elyssa did too. A slight pressure of her hand pointed Leopard toward the fence again.
    “Hold it!” Hunter said. “Just because