Marcus grinned wickedly and walked over to his horse.
She watched as he smoothed the large black horses coat, his hands seemingly caressing it as he whispered words into its ear.
"A true stallion." He arched a brow at her and smacked the horse hard on its flank.
Emma remained a vision of calmness as the horse whinnied and reared onto its back legs, kicking out with its front ones as it tossed its head. Moving towards the stallion as it scratched at the hay strewn floor of the stables and snorted, she reached out slowly and whispered quiet words as she held her hand in front of its nose, letting it breathe heavily against her glove. Patting its nose, she ran her other hand down its neck as she met Marcus' eyes again.
"Takes one to know one." She raised her brows and watched him mount the black horse. "He's beautiful. What's his name?"
"Demetrius." He smiled at her.
She mounted Mariana and pulled the riding crop out of the inside of her jacket.
"He sounds a little wicked..." She smiled over at Marcus and started out of the stable.
"Very wicked," he purred as he followed her.
When they reached the grass, Emma gripped the crop tight in her hand.
"Well ... guess there's something else we have in common." She gave Marcus a mischievous smile before whipping the crop hard across his backside. "Catch me if you want me."
Marcus' mouth hung open as he watched her gallop off down the slope towards the fields. He was dumbstruck. All of a sudden, this little girl had let a flash of a real firecracker show through. His lips tugged into a grin. This was one challenge he liked the sound of.
"Yaargh." He dug his heels in hard and bolted down the hill after her, listening to her laughing gleefully as she jumped the fence that led onto the field.
Riding hard to catch up with her, he grinned as the wind rushed against his face, his heart beating hard against his chest and his thoughts replaying the moment she'd cracked a whip across his backside.
She was perfection.
Emma smiled wide at him as he came up beside her. She'd known from the start her horse would be no match for his one. The speed and power of the stallion he rode far outweighed that of her mare.
As Marcus caught hold of Mariana's reins, he pulled her to a halt, causing her to bump into Demetrius. He held both horses' reins tightly in his left hand as he grabbed hold of her with his right, tugging her towards him and kissing her hard, claiming his prize for catching her.
She sighed as he kissed her fiercely, with more passion than she'd ever been shown before. His tongue battled against hers, and he moaned quietly into her mouth. A thrill ran through her at this visible sign of pleasure from him, and she leaned into the kiss, losing herself. His strong grip on her arm was causing it to ache, the power he exuded making her reserve towards him melt away. Smiling against his lips, she kissed him for a few moments more before tugging her reins free of his grasp and kicking her horse back into life.
Galloping across the field towards the woods, she giggled as she heard him cursing her name.
Marcus frowned as he found his lips void of Emma, his hands empty once more. Looking at her back as she rode away from him, he made a low growling noise and then rode hard after her. Her actions in giving him a fraction of a taste of her and then running away again had only made him want her more. He felt his temperature rise as he hunted her down, his horse having to slow as he entered the outskirts of the woods.
He rode carefully through it, struggling to keep his focus on finding her as his mind replayed the kiss. It had been more than just a kiss. It had stirred fire in him like he'd never felt before, intense hunger that only she could sate.
"Emma..." he purred after her, listening for any sound that would help him pinpoint her position in the dark forest. "Come out and play..."
He turned the horse in circles, searching for her and growling a string of obscenities when he couldn't spot her anywhere. She couldn't have just disappeared. Maybe this wasn't really happening; it was all just a figment of his imagination brought on by the intense boredom of being trapped in the house day after day.
But that kiss.
He swallowed hard.
"Come on." He frowned and then smiled as he heard a giggle in the distance directly ahead of him. A crack of fallen branches under the horse's hoof gave him confirmation of where she had disappeared to. "Got you now."
)
