To Tempt a Wilde Read Free

stalled area he stopped, his eyes narrowing.
    Standing before the Arabian palomino he’d recently purchased was a woman, the top of her head barely reaching the horse at mane level.
    Her face was turned slightly away from him as she ran a small hand over the horse’s neck, down her side. As she whispered soothing words, the horse’s willingness to allow her to touch him fascinated Nate.
    He’d recently purchased the horse from a rancher who’d put up his livestock for sale after selling his spread to a major conglomeration for a hefty fee. Although he’d owned mostly cattle, he’d also sold several horses. However, the palomino remained.
    The old rancher had rescued it from a shelter that recovered abused horses and sought to rehabilitate them. Eventually the man had given up tryingto tame the beast, unable to get anywhere near the animal besides to feed him.
    Nate had gone to the ranch for the sole purpose of purchasing the Braunvieh bulls, paying a hefty price for several of the bulls to breed with their Angus. Yet when the rancher had shown him the stables and the last remaining horse for sale, he’d bought the horse, too.
    It was beautiful and wild.
    Beyond the fear,there was a keen intelligence in the horse’s watchful gaze, and Nate knew he had to buy it, convinced he could get to the animal, earn its trust. Nate had been sure that with the right touch, the beautiful horse would eventually come around.
    In the week since the horse had been delivered, Nate hadn’t been able to get within two feet of the damn thing without it neighing, kicking its feet up andpitching a damn fit.
    Last time he’d tried, he’d come in serious danger of losing his ability to father children….
    And now, to witness this small, unknown woman uttering soothing nonsense at the horse, and it not only allowing, but encouraging her, nuzzling against her hand, was nothing short of amazing to Nate.
    He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his broad chest, and watchedthe interaction between the semiwild horse and the woman, listening as she spoke, a deep frown pulling his brows together.
    Â 
    Althea hadn’t been so…at ease, in a long time.
    She inhaled a deep breath, a smile tilting one corner of her mouth up slightly. Even the air smelled better. Cleaner, new. Alive.
    That was it. That’s what was different.
    She hadn’t felt so alive as she did here at WyomingWilde. Hadn’t felt so protected as she did now in longer than she wanted to remember.
    Although the ranch was accessible, no one set foot on the property who wasn’t invited. And no one came without at least ten men knowing of their arrival.
    Continuing to smooth her hands over the beautifulhorse’s mane, she thought of her short time at Wyoming Wilde Ranch.
    The morning she’d awakened from thenight when she’d felt someone watching her, she’d known it was time for her to move on.
    Not that she’d gotten any sleep after she’d turned off the light.
    Instead she’d alternated between staring up at the ceiling, watching the blades on the old ceiling fan swirl round and round, the loud hum fading into the background, and fingering the business card she held clutched in her hand.
    Finally she’dgiven up on sleep, just as the early-morning sunrise was peeking through the cracked blinds. She’d risen and brewed a cup of coffee before sitting down at the beat-up kitchen table. Thoughtfully, she’d sipped the strong brew while contemplating what her next move would be.
    Glancing down at the card she’d laid on the table, Althea had made up her mind. Wyoming Wilde…she was going to the ranch.Why not? She’d gone on flimsier leads than that in her two years of moving from place to place.
    She’d packed her scanty belongings before going by the diner to inform her boss that she was quitting.
    That had been the hardest part of her decision.
    The harried