Leaping Hearts Read Free Page A

raced on, ready for more action, his lead line streaming behind him like a banner. Chaos reigned as people shouted and cursed and it dawned on A.J. that the horse looked delighted at all the trouble he was causing. He’d broken free of his captors, terrified the crowd and was enjoying himself thoroughly by chasing after stragglers.
    If he were human, he’d be laughing, she thought.
    Peter’s voice was furious in her ear. “I can’t believe you want to bring this demon home!”
    She smiled as the stallion galloped by, a black blur. He was limber and graceful, with the strength of steel in his muscles. “Look at him go.”
    “Straight to hell if I get to pick where to send him.”
    After another ten minutes of people trying to get control of the horse and failing, A.J. tugged her baseball cap down tight and stepped into the ring. She caught the stallion’s eye immediately. Pegging her with a dark look, he rushed at her, only to come to a screeching halt a few yards away when she refused to move. Dirt kicked up around him in a cloud and he pawed the ground in warning, throwing his head up and down.
    Instead of showing fear, A.J. put her hands into the pockets of her jeans. A silence fell over the crowd.
    She could see the horse mulling over his options. Someone standing their ground in front of him was something new and he seemed confused.
    “All right, you’ve had your fun,” A.J. said in a low voice. “Now it’s time to behave yourself.”
    As if he understood her, he shook his magnificent head and whinnied a loud denial. He was breathing heavily, his nostrils flaring widely, but she knew it was more for drama than from exertion. Even after bolting around the ring like a madman running from sanity, he hadn’t broken a sweat across his gleaming black coat.
    While they squared off, A.J. was looking at him with a calm disregard, as if he were a temperamental two-year-old. Inside, however, her instincts were sharp. She tracked every movement he made, noting the subtle twitching in the muscle fibers of his deep barrel chest and the beat of his heart in the veins just under his slick coat. She was searching for any advance warning that he was going to lunge at her, any hint as to what his next move might be.
    After all, she might be daring but she wasn’t stupid. It didn’t take her years of experience with horses to know she had to be extremely careful when staring down an animal like Sabbath. A half ton of stallion backed by the personality of a pro wrestler didn’t make for safety. It was a dangerous situation. And a thrilling one.
    “You know, you may have missed your calling.” She took a step forward, continuing to talk. “You’d make an excellent steamroller.”
    Sabbath snorted and reared up on his haunches for show.
    “I’ll make a deal with you,” she said, stopping when she was only a couple of feet from him. “You calm down and come with me and I’ll help you put all that energy to more constructive use.”
    She smiled at her own words, thinking it was probably like asking a rugby player to turn in his cleats for a pair of tap shoes.
    While the horse seemed to be considering her proposal,A.J. pictured herself saddling him up and mounting him for the first time.
    “It’s going to be a long way to the ground if you throw me,” she said softly. “Fortunately, I tend to bounce.”
    Sabbath let out another ferocious roar. Her smile deepened.
    “So do I take that as a yes? Are you ready to try a little tap dancing?”
    Suspiciously, the horse moved his head forward, putting his black muzzle up to her face. He took in a huge lungful of air, drawing her scent through his nose. Then he blew it back at her, sending her baseball cap flying.
    A.J. shook her head. “If you want to impress me, you’re going to have to do more than play bowling ball to a crowd of people and knock off my hat.”
    Sabbath reared again, his mane streaking through the air, hooves pawing the space between them. Then, looking