a wild fire shone in Alex’s eyes and she ignored him. Phillip wanted to close his eyes. He did hold his breath. He gripped the fence on either side of him, and time seemed to stand still as dust flew from beneath Eros’s hooves and the ground trembled and the horse sped past him heading directly for the jump.
Alex leaned forward in the saddle, standing in the stirrups, her legs acting as springs, ready to absorb the impact of landing on the other side of the rail. A few meters before the jump, Eros balked, tossing his head and refusing to take to air. His big body twisted and he wrenched himself about, setting his hooves. Alex, unprepared for the sudden stop, was helpless to retain her seat. Thrown over the horse’s head, she tumbled to the hard ground, landing with a sickening crack.
Phillip’s heart pounded in his chest. His eyes burned, and for breathless seconds he couldn’t make himself move. Alex didn’t move, either. Eros pawed the dust, whinnied and danced nervously.
At last, a groom raced into the ring, grabbed the horse’s reins and led him away, looking at Phillip as if he must be mad. As if he were to blame for the woman’s recklessness! Others quickly gathered outside the rails, but no one dared say a thing. “Alex!” he breathed, breaking out of his paralysis and running to her.
Two
Alex’s first awareness that anything had gone wrong was the sudden pressure of hard earth beneath her body, where a leather saddle had been moments earlier. She made herself lie absolutely still, not daring to move. It was a position she remembered with no fondness from her teenage years, the last time she’d seriously ridden. The last time she’d jumped.
She kept her eyes closed and, one body part at a time, assessed her condition. Her head—aside from a dull headache, it didn’t feel bad. Thank goodness she’d worn a helmet. Her back—she gently contracted the muscles and felt her spine respond, straightening just a fraction of an inch but enough to reassure her that all was in working order. Her legs—she wiggled her toes and tightened the muscles in her legs. Her arms—well, the fingers could flex. She tried to push herself up onto one elbow now that things appeared to be functioning. A flash of white-hot pain sliced through her left shoulder.
“Ow!” she moaned and fell back down to the ground.
“Don’t try to get up!” a masculine voice ordered. “Devon,” Phillip shouted to one of his stable boys, “call Doctor Elgado. Tell him we need him immediately.”
“What happened?” Alex asked foggily, honestly remembering nothing beyond the moment she’d come around the circle after taking Eros over the rails laid out on the ground.
“You missed a two footer.”
She scowled and felt Phillip’s hand slide gently beneath her head, pillowing it and raising it even with the line of her neck and spine. “Why’d I do a dumb thing like—” Then it came back to her. Her little deception. Horse trainer, indeed!
“I’m sorry, Alex. Dear God, I’m so sorry.” Phillip’s voice was choked with emotion. “I just assumed you knew best. I should never have let you try to jump him.”
“He was doing so well…” she murmured, lapsing into a spell of dizziness.
“And you looked magnificent up there. Don’t waste your strength trying to talk. Do you know where you’re injured? Is it your back?”
“No, I think I’m okay there. But my shoulder, the one closest to your hand—”
His fingers softly kneaded the area around her shoulder blade, then forward in the soft hollow between her armpit and breast. She felt the area warm and tingle to his touch. Then she winced at the sudden sharp pain.
“Yes, there,” she said tightly.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I can’t tell if anything’s broken. My physician will be here soon.”
She nodded. The ring’s dusty surface felt as hard as the limestone cliff she’d climbed earlier that day. “Do you think we could wait somewhere more comfortable?”
“I don’t want to move you if there’s any chance of spinal injury.”
“I’m sure there’s not,” she said. “Everything moves. No numbness anywhere, no pain except in the shoulder.”
“You can’t walk,” he objected, “and if I try to carry you I might hurt you.”
“This isn’t exactly cozy down here,” she said dryly. “Besides, you owe me, Prince.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he grumbled.
She opened her eyes to peek up at him as he carefully positioned himself over her and slipped one arm beneath her, taking care to support the injured shoulder against his chest as he rolled her toward him. When he lifted her, she felt a flash of raw fire in her shoulder and she squeezed her eyes shut. But she knew he was doing his best not to hurt her anymore. Once she was fully enclosed in his arms and he was standing erect, the pain lessened.
He carried her past rows of concerned faces as stable boys and household staff looked on.
“Someone ought to teach that horse the difference between up and down,” she grumbled aloud. Relieved laughter from his staff rewarded her effort to lighten the atmosphere.
“Is there anything I can do, sir?” a woman in an apron asked worriedly.
“Have Juan wait at the gate for the doctor and bring him straight to the parlor. Mint tea might be nice,” he added vaguely.
“Brandy would be nicer,” said Alex. “In a very big glass.”
The woman chuckled. “Brave girl. Brandy she is.” She cast Phillip a chastising glare. “Why you not warn her?”
“I did—I did!” He let explanations go on a long sigh.
Alex said nothing more until he had laid her down on a long, soft settee arranging pillows beneath her head and neck to support her. Pulling up a leather hassock, he sat close beside her, holding her hand between his two and bringing her fingertips to his bowed forehead as he closed his eyes tightly and muttered something to himself.
“What was that?” Alex asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m so very— I know Eros better than you. I should never have let you take him past a simple canter. It’s just that you’d convinced me that you were on the right track. All that talk about Eros’s fears, starting at the beginning, building his confidence.”
“Well, it’s what a rider does after she takes a fall so I figured why shouldn’t it work with a horse?” He looked blankly at her. “I mean,” she added hastily, “it’s worked so well with other horses I’ve trained.”
“You’re a daring young woman.” He shook his head and kissed her knuckles, his eyes wandering as he became lost in thought. She wondered if he was even aware of the intimacy of their position—he bending over her, his large hands enclosing her small one, his warm mouth lingering against the flesh of her curled fingers.
They stayed like that for a while longer, and she didn’t move, didn’t pull her hand away. Didn’t even want to lose touch with him.
