Until Forever Ends: A Dark Mafia Romance by Adelaide Forrest (free children's ebooks online TXT) 📕

the gate open and stepped into the barn. A tan horse was cross tied in the aisle, looking clean and pristine with an orchid halter on its face.

"I do," Rafael admitted, stepping up to one of the open stall doors. A massive ebony horse poked its head out, turning his strong neck to face Rafe and leaning into his body. Rafe accommodated the affectionate touch, stroking his face with a gentleness I'd only ever seen him use with me before. "This is Valerio," he said.

Rafe walked to the table at the head of the barn, grabbing a cube and hand feeding it to the massive horse who took it from him carefully with massive, flat teeth. I didn't move to them despite the horse's beauty, too distracted by the tan horse in the aisle. The horse's warm brown eyes studied me cautiously as it tossed its head twice. "That's Challen," Rafael said. "Shining Moon."

"Shouldn't he be white to be a shining moon?" I laughed, stepping forward cautiously.

Rafael hummed his amusement. "Perhaps, but you were always my shining moon in the night. It seemed fitting since he's yours."

"Mine?" I asked, wincing when he took my hand in his and held it out for the horse to smell. The whiskers of his nose tickled the back of my hand as he scented me, his nose twitching against my skin. "But I don't know the first thing about horses."

"I've had him for over a year, so he's well trained. He'll be a good horse to teach you anything you want to know." Rafe released my hand, letting me move closer to the horse that studied me as uncertainly as I did him. I touched my palm to the top of his face, stroking over the short hair there and chuckling when he raised his head into the touch and his nose brushed against my stomach. His nose twitched there, tickling me through my shirt gently. Rafael went into the room off to the side, emerging with a fabric pad that he tossed onto the horse's back. He secured it beneath his body, pulling it tight. Challen nudged me with his nose, his eyes glimmering as Rafe disappeared again and came back with a leather and rope halter. He attached reins to it, tossing them over Challen's neck before unfastening the one from his face and taking it off.

He moved me to stand beside Challen's shoulder, placing the halter in my hands and helping me to guide it on over his nose. Once it was secured around his jaw, he pulled the reins free from his shoulders and placed them in my hands. I stood there, holding the fucking horse with no clue what to do, while Rafe moved and grabbed a helmet from the tack room. He put it on my head while I stared at him in horror.

"You can't possibly think I'm about to ride a horse," I protested. "Shouldn't there be a saddle or something at least?"

"I have always thought the best way to learn to ride is bareback. You can feel the horse's movement better, and there's just something about the connection it creates that you can't achieve with the barrier of a saddle," he explained, stepping out toward the back entrance of the barn. He motioned for me to follow, and I hesitantly guided Challen to turn. He followed at my side, his footsteps so close to mine making me nervous.

I backed away, giving him more slack in the reins but he just moved closer to me once again until his shoulder almost brushed against mine. "You sound like a man complaining about condoms," I said to Rafe with a swallow.

“And what would you know of that, mi reina?” He laughed, stopping just outside the barn. When Challen and I caught up to him, he took the reins from my hands and tossed them over his neck. The horse stood still as Rafe moved me to line up with his back. He bent down slightly, putting his hands out and cupping them. "Left foot in my hand. I'll give you a leg up. You get your body on his back and pull your right leg to the other side."

"Oh for fuck's sake," I groaned. "That sounds way too coordinated for me. You realize I trip over my own feet right?"

He raised an eyebrow at me without answering, leaving no doubt that we wouldn't be going until I tried. Putting my foot in his hand, I shrieked when he flung me up onto Challen's back. The poor thing must have hated me as I struggled to maneuver my aching body onto him and swing my leg around, but he didn't so much as take a single step. "See? Not so bad."

"Are they always so tall?" I asked dumbly, knowing the answer to the question as I gathered the reins in my hand.

"Challen's a pony, mi reina," he chuckled. "He's small for a horse."

"Well I'm glad for that," I mumbled, touching the short multicolored mane that stood up straight on his neck with a chess board design of black and white cut into it.

"He's a Norwegian Fjord. That's a typical style for the mane," he said, smirking as if he could hear my thoughts. He took my foot in his hands, tilting it harshly as my sore muscles protested the change in position. "Always keep your heels down. It helps your seat and will keep you on the horse."

"Smart. Remind me about the potential of falling, because I see that being totally helpful." I swallowed as he touched my spine, guiding me to straighten it beneath his touch.

"We're just going to go for a walk today," he teased. "Maybe we'll do some trotting. I want you nice and sore by the end of the day." I swallowed again, the reality of already being sore feeling like a condemnation as I tried to shove off the physical signs of it. Maybe the riding would give me an excuse for it and I