Although it’s the simplest of inquiries, I shrug a shoulder. “My papa.”
Disappointed by my meager response, Kieran clicks his tongue.
As if trained, his horse snaps toward my ankle. I tense in my seat, fisting the reins while Dixie nays. My horse teeters a few paces away from the beast.
Gasping, I ask, “Hey, you trained that demon horse!”
“Sure did,” Kieran cuts in, scratching the delighted beast behind his ear.
Infuriated, I demand, “Why did you even grace us with your presence,Your Royal Highness?”
“You’re so skittish when wefeck. This was the only way I could see you ride. And little bird, can youride.” His mouth pulls into a devilish smile.
Oye, I loathe Kieran! From his chiseled face to his cocksure grin.
Flicking my wrist, I urge my mare into an even faster trot while snapping over my shoulder. “If my sex is subpar, drop me off at the first Greyhound. Wait, that’s not a viable option. Aside from kidnapping me, you spirited me away from my . . .”Not my life. The bullshit I call a life was officially over months before Adnan remarried.
Kieran’s possessed horse takes up post beside mine. “One, I’d not call your pussy subpar—”
I cut him off, flicking my wrist again. “I wasn’t referring to—”
“Two, you get wet, Ava. You’ve only one area needing improvement—come alive, sweetheart. Open yourfeckingmouth. Scream my name when wefeck. Just like you did on the beach—”
“I wasn’t in my right mind that morning. A, I’d ran away and stumbled through the woods all night long. B, I was tossed over the edge of a cli—”
“Oh, one more thing.His Royal Highnessis only here becauseyou’drun while Kiera’s around.”
“Why are you referring to yourself in the third person?”
“You did it first.” Kieran saddles up next to me, reaching out to clasp my thigh. Voice growing low and husky in my ear, he says, “Ready for your next challenge, little bird.”
“Yummy, a challenge?” I cork the side of my lips. Now, my knees softly urge the horse, and we take off toward the meadow. As my hips move, I can’t help but hear the echo of Kieran’s erotic words in my ear. We fly past Kiera, who’s dawdling near a field of golden flowers. The apple she was offering her mare tumbles to the ground as she starts after me.
“There’s a pond up ahead.” Kiera catches up with ease. It’s not long before we’ve returned to a trot aside a large body of water. While a school of ducks frolic, one particularly courageous, albeit fat duck wobbles out of the pond at top speed.
“Slow down,” Kiera says. Our horses snort. I glance around the placid body of water, and I cannot find Kieran.
“Does he often disappear during your time together?”
“Eh, he’s reaching out to his Boston contacts, I’m sure. Uncle Ewan’s a lot tougher on him than he once was. And that’s saying a lot because I’ve always detested ourparanoiduncle.”
A red flag ascends. Adnan was paranoid. Kieran . . . I’ll never understand him.
Running a hand over the silky crest to the shoulder of her horse, Kiera muses, “When I was a girl—”
“Hold it right there, honeybun. You’re still incredibly young,chica.” I grin.
I receive a forced smirk. “Awean,a little tot. My brother was just a smidge less of a control freak. I escaped the madness. He found me here. He was so angry. He threatened to sacrifice me to Nessie—”
“The Loch Ness monster?” I ask as my horse moves to the side a second time, thwarting the chubby duck’s furious beak.
As the bird squawks, Kiera carries the conversation. “The one and only. I’ve been told my brother didn’t always have such a mean streak.”
“Hmmm . . .” I murmur. “What happened?”
Finally, both of our horses double-team the little weasel with a puff of their nostrils. I inhale, delighting in the silence of nature as Kiera shrugs.
“I dunno. He stopped talking to Da one day—they said. I never saw Kieran show our da a single act of affection. Not like Mam.”