All About Passion by Stephanie Laurens Read Free Book Online Page A

stamina and the chase. In this terrain it was the fastest and surest bet, especially as, at present, it was running with only a fraction of its accustomed weight. The witch heard him closing; she flung a laugh over her shoulder. "More?" She didn't wait for an answer but set the grey for another path.
    They twisted and turned, then raced across another glade; exhilaration sang in his ears. It had been years since he'd felt such a tug, years since he'd surrendered so completely to the thrill of sheer speed, to the relentless pounding of his horse's hooves, to the echo in his blood.
    She felt it, too, knew it, too—it was there in her sparkling eyes. They met his, sharing the moment, then she was off again.
    It required no conscious decision to follow; as one they flowed through the forest. It enfolded them, held them within its green bosom as if they ran in a place out of time.
    But time still ran.
    Gyles had ridden from the age of three; he possessed an inner guide that sensed his horse's strength, how long they'd been flying at speed. A moment came when he checked. His mount still had some way to go; he'd only cantered to and from the Hall.
    The thought focused his mind on the grey. He would have bet his matched pair that the gypsy had been flying from the moment she'd left the stable.
    He started worrying.
    His pulse leapt at every blind twist in the path; he caught his breath at every rough patch she flew over. Unbidden, images crowded into his mind—of her lying injured, fallen across a log, thrown on her lovely head, her neck twisted at an impossible angle—
    He couldn't get the visions out of his mind.
    The trees thinned. They exploded into another clearing. He called her back, but she'd already sprung the grey. Her face was alight—she threw back her head and laughed, then her gaze fixed ahead, she gathered the reins…
    Gyles glanced ahead.
    A fence, old and decrepit, overgrown with young saplings divided the field in two. She put the grey at it.
    "No!"
    His shout merged with the thunder of hooves—the grey's and the chestnut's. She was too far ahead for him to catch her eye. Then she was too close to the fence for him to risk distracting her. Still yards ahead of him, the grey soared. In his heart, he prayed. The heavy hooves cleared the fence easily. The grey landed, then stumbled.
    She shrieked.
    Gyles lost sight of her as the beast went down, then the grey was up again—riderless. Heart in his mouth, he altered his trajectory so he cleared the fence some yards from where she'd fallen, then he wheeled—
    She was lying spread-eagled on her back in the middle of a gorse bush.
    From the disgusted look on her face and the size of the gorse bush, she was unharmed. The panic that had him by the throat did not immediately let go.
    Trotting to the bush, he drew rein and looked down at her. His chest was heaving—the effort of the ride had left him feeling as if he'd run a mile.
    His temper left him feeling like tearing a strip off her.
    She started to smile at him, then caught the look in his narrowed eyes.
    "You witless female!" He paused to let the fury behind the words sink in. "You heard me yell—why the devil didn't you stop?"
    Her eyes flashed green fire; her chin set mulishly. "I heard you, but I'd be surprised if even a sophisticated gentleman such as yourself could have known there was a gorse bush here!"
    "It wasn't the gorse that was your problem." She struggled to sit up, but the gorse wasn't that accommodating. He swung down from the chestnut's back. "Damn it—you shouldn't be riding, certainly not hell-bent as you were, if you can't pace your mount better. The grey was tired."
    "He wasn't !" She struggled even more furiously to rise.
    "Here." He held out a hand. When she hesitated, eyeing his hand and him through narrowed eyes, he added, "Either take my damned hand, or I'll leave you there for the night." The threat was a good one—the gorse was in bloom, well endowed with spiny spikes. With a look