Protecting The Colton Bride. Elle James

stuck her boot in the stirrup, but before she could sling her leg over the top of the saddle, Halo spun.

      Megan held on, managing to get her leg over the top. “I don’t know what’s got her riled, but she’s not acting right.”

      “You want to take another horse?”

      “No,” Megan grunted, fighting to control the horse and aim her toward the open gate. “She needs to get out and run.”

      Daniel waited for Megan and Halo to pass through before he closed the gate.

      Megan released one hand from the reins to pull her hair behind her and tuck it into the back of her shirt. “I should have braided this—”

      Before she finished her sentence, Halo reared, tossed her head and yanked the reins from Megan’s hands. Before Megan could reach out to retrieve them, Halo leaped forward and bolted across the pasture.

      Daniel dug his heels into Rider’s flanks and raced after her, his pulse pounding as fast as the horse’s hooves. At the speed Halo was going, all it would take was a quick change of direction or halt and Megan would be thrown.

      Rider’s hooves thundered across the ground. Daniel leaned forward to decrease wind resistance, slapping the reins behind him against the horse’s hindquarters, urging him faster.

      The stallion’s eagerness to be first in the race would have made him move faster even without Daniel’s bidding.

      Halo had a good head start, but Rider slowly closed the gap.

      Megan held on, bending over the horse’s neck in an attempt to grab her bridle, without success.

      As Daniel rode up beside her, pressing Rider against Halo’s side, he yelled, “Grab on!” Reaching out, he looped his arm around Megan’s waist.

      She grabbed around his neck and held on as he lifted her out of the saddle and slammed her hard against his chest.

      His legs clamping tight around the horse, Daniel adjusted his balance for Megan’s weight and pulled on the reins. “Whoa, Rider.”

      The horse strained against the command, determined to catch up and overtake Halo.

      His grip loosening around Megan’s waist, Daniel’s breath caught and held. If he didn’t get Rider under control soon, he’d drop her and she could be crushed beneath the horse’s powerful hooves.

      * * *

      Megan clung to Daniel.

      Rider had been just as spooked by Halo’s behavior as she had been. In his mad dash to catch up to the other horse, he was ignoring Daniel’s one-handed attempt to bring him under control.

      She was deadweight on Daniel. If she could get her leg around to the back... Swinging her leg behind her, she couldn’t quite reach the back without Daniel losing his grip on her. The front was closer and had a better angle.

      “Whoa!” Daniel yelled at the crazed horse.

      Megan made the decision to go for the front. She looped her leg over the saddle horn and straddled Daniel’s lap, facing him.

      Daniel immediately released her and reached around her to take the reins in both hands.

      Trying to make herself as small as possible, Megan pressed her face into his chest so that he could see over her. Daniel’s thighs tensed beneath her as he dug his heels into the stirrups and pulled back hard on the reins. Rider slowed, whinnying his protest, as he settled into an agitated trot.

      Daniel let off on the reins just a little.

      Rider took that as an invitation to leap forward. He was instantly brought back by a sharp tug on the reins.

      The horse reared.

      Daniel leaned forward, his chest pressing into Megan’s, his breath stirring the loose hair at her temples.

      Her pulse hammered in her veins, but she kept her cool and held on until Rider stamped to a complete stop, pawing at the dirt.

      When she was certain Daniel had the horse settled, she lifted her head, her face inches from Daniel’s. Adrenaline spiking through her system, her breaths coming in ragged gasps, she was hyperaware of every point of contact between her body and his, from her legs resting on his muscular thighs to her chest pressed against the hardened planes of his. She could barely breathe.

      His arms still around her, holding on to the reins, Daniel breathed out a long sigh. “You had me scared.”

      Megan let go of a nervous laugh. “You? I could do nothing to stop her. That was stupid of me to let go of the reins.” The wind lifted her hair and blew it across her face. Before she could shove it behind her ear, Daniel reached out and did it for her.

      “You couldn’t have known Halo was going to take off like she did.” Daniel’s fingers curled the hair behind her ear, and he dragged the backs of his knuckles across her face, tracing a line from her ear to her jaw. “Watching her fly off like that with you on her back the reins dangling...”

      Mesmerized by his gentle touch, Megan couldn’t move away, nor did she want to. Daniel had never made a pass at her, nor had he indicated any attraction toward her in the four months she’d worked for him. Oh, but she’d been attracted to him from the day they met, when she’d interviewed for the job of his assistant.

      Now, with her heart racing for an entirely different reason, her breath lodged in her throat and held as she waited for him to make the next move.

      Daniel’s gaze shifted to her mouth. He cupped her cheek, and his thumb brushed across her lips. “You don’t need makeup.”

      “My mother would disagree. She hates my freckles,” Megan whispered, her breath mingling with his.

      “I think they are one of your best features.” He leaned forward and touched her freckled nose with his lips.

      Megan’s eyes widened. Had he just kissed her? Was she dreaming? Her lips tingled in hopeful anticipation of a kiss that met her mouth, not her nose. She swept her tongue across her suddenly dry lips, and she stared up into his eyes.

      Daniel’s thumb brushed her lips again. “Don’t do that.”

      “Do what?”

      “This.” He leaned forward and touched his mouth to hers, his tongue sweeping across the seam of her lips.

      She opened to him as naturally as a morning glory opened to the sun. Her hands curled into his shirt, dragging him closer.

      Daniel crushed her to him, his arms tightening around her. His tongue slipped past her teeth, claiming her in a long, sensual kiss that made her blood burn a path all the way to her core.

      When at last he raised his head, he stared down at her as if seeing her for the first time.

      Suddenly she felt shy. Her cheeks heated and she stammered, “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

      Her words seemed to shake him out of his trance, his body stiffening. “Right. You’re welcome.” He glanced away, looking anywhere but at her. “I’d have done it for anyone.”

      He could have stuck a pin in her ego, as deflated as she felt after that incredible kiss and then his complete brush-off. A rush of adrenaline-induced anger made her back straighten. She was sitting in his lap, for heaven’s sake, and there was no mistaking his obvious attraction to her pressing against her.

      “Here, let me help you down.” He gripped her arms and started to lift her off him.

      Megan’s arms slipped around his neck, refusing to let him dislodge her from his lap. Damn it. She didn’t want down. Where she sat was exactly where she’d ached to be for so long. She wanted to scream with frustration that he now seemed determined to put her back in her place.

      Megan tilted her chin in challenge. “I know you would have rescued anyone. That’s the kind of person you are. But would you have kissed anyone like