either get on that horse or I’ll use one of these reins to bind your hands and drag you behind.’
‘I’d like to see you try,’ she invited him coolly.
He couldn’t believe this posh piece of work was calling his bluff. ‘Would you, now?’
She balled her hands on her hips and drew his sight to her slender curves. Not a clever move in his currently cantankerous state of combined anger and arousal. Of course he wouldn’t drag her, but he’d subdue her and throw her over his saddle.
He saw the moment she realised his threat wasn’t entirely idle.
‘Only men with very small appendages play the tough guy.’
‘And only women who are incredibly stupid challenge a man they’ve never met to prove his masculinity. Fortunately for you, I don’t feel the least threatened to prove myself by shrewish females.’
‘What can I say?’ She cocked her hip towards him insolently. ‘You bring out the best in me.’
Wolfe breathed deep at her intentionally provocative manner. ‘I’m sure that’s very far from your best, Princess,’ he drawled.
Her brows slowly rose and Wolfe realised he’d inadvertently revealed how attractive he found her. No doubt it was something she was used to and, like all women in his experience, would take absolute advantage of it given half the chance.
Something he didn’t plan to do.
Aggravated by his one-track mind, he was about to end her rebellious stance by physically dumping her onto the horse when his phone rang.
‘We found the car, boss. She’s legit. Her purse must have been thrown from her bag because it was lodged under the front seat.’
Wolfe grunted a reply and told his men to meet him at the cottage.
He looked up in time to catch her superior expression and knew that she’d overheard his conversation. ‘Seems you are who you say you are. Next time use the gate.’ He brought Achilles alongside her and grabbed the stirrup. ‘Give me your leg.’
‘You’re not even going to apologise?’
Her tone spoke of generations of superiority that made any apology Wolfe might have given die on his lips.
‘Your leg?’ he repeated, his eyes cool and guarded against the fire pouring out of hers.
Moving forward, she tossed her ponytail over her shoulder, caught her heel on a rock and pitched straight into his arms.
Already highly sensitised to her touch, and not sure if the move had been deliberate, to throw him off balance, Wolfe immediately set her away from him. ‘And don’t try using that sexy little body to garner any favours, Princess.’
‘Trust me when I say that touching you is the last thing I would want to do.’
She presented him with her stiff back, gathered the reins up in one hand and stamped her foot into his hand. Wolfe didn’t know whether to be amused by her or angered, and perhaps if he hadn’t been about to head off after Gilles’s wedding to oversee an important software installation he might have hung around to test her lofty challenge. But he was, and he wasn’t stupid enough to get involved with another highly strung female.
‘Shift back,’ he grated. No way was she riding in front, where she would be cradled between his hard thighs.
‘You know, all that masculine muttering is entirely uncalled for. You are unquestionably the most irritating individual I have ever had the misfortune to come across.’
Wolfe was just about to tell her the feeling was entirely mutual when she twisted the reins out of his slack hold and dug her heels into Achilles’s side. The horse responded like the thoroughbred it was and sprang into an instant gallop.
Wolfe couldn’t believe it!
Not only had the little spitfire turned him on just by breathing, she had completely got the better of him. Neither of which had happened to him in…It had never happened before!
‘Dammit!’
Cursing under his breath, Wolfe whistled sharply. If Gilles had trained his animals correctly the horse should come to a complete stop.
ONE MINUTE AVA was flying across the uneven ground with breathless speed and the next she wasn’t moving at all. The horse did little more than twitch its majestic tail as she tried to urge him forward. By the time she worked out what had happened the overbearing inbecile was almost upon her.
‘Come on, horse. Do not listen to him. He is nobody.’
‘You look like butter wouldn’t melt in your mouth, but you’re a bossy little thing aren’t you, Princess?’
‘You are so arrogant.’
He settled his hands on his hips. ‘That’s rich, coming from you.’
‘I am not arrogant,’ she said in a voice that would have made her father proud. ‘I am confident. There is a difference.’
He had the gall to laugh. ‘And the difference would fit inside a flea’s arse.’
Ava used her sweetest voice to call him a foul name in French, knowing he probably wouldn’t understand her.
He shook his head and tsked. ‘Temper, temper.’ His gaze lifted to her hair. ‘If I didn’t know better I’d say there was a red streak running through that glossy mane of yours.’
A chauvinist. How original. ‘I suppose you think I should be flattered you didn’t say blond?’
‘No, I would never confuse you with a blonde,’ he said with mock seriousness. ‘I like blondes.’
‘Then I do consider myself flattered!’
She thought about flicking the reins to try and ride off again, but he read her mind and his jaw clenched. ‘I don’t make the same mistakes twice. Shift back.’
Ava noticed how big the hand was that gripped the reins and instantly recalled how they had felt on her body as he’d caught her. Once again her pelvis clenched, sending delicious ripples of sensation through her whole body. Surprised, and a little breathless, she berated herself for the physical reaction. He was Neanderthal man two million-odd years later, his blood supply no doubt taken up by all the muscles in his body instead of his head, where he needed it most.
He moved a small handgun out from under the back of his shirt and tucked it inside his boot, and she felt another traitorous thrill shoot straight to her core. Peevishly she hoped the gun went off and shot him in the foot.
‘I’m sure many women get turned on by your barbaric tactics, but I can assure you I am not one of them.’
‘Good to know.’ He stroked the horse’s neck in long, smooth sweeps. ‘Since I’m not trying to turn you
