Chapter 86: Will You Teach Me
Nina stood at the entrance of the riding house, her eyes fixed on him.
The lycans fell silent, every pair of eyes shifting between their Luna and Alpha as the two stood in a tense standoff. The atmosphere grew heavy, the only sound the occasional snort from the horses.
Rodrigo held her gaze for the longest moment before finally turning to the lycans.
"You all, leave."
His voice was calm, but it carried the weight of an unquestionable command.
Without hesitation, the lycans straightened and began filing out of the riding house. One by one, they disappeared through the wide wooden doors with their horses until only the two of them remained.
The doors shut with a dull thud.
Rodrigo’s gaze returned to Nina’s, unwavering.
She cleared her throat before letting go of the horse’s reins. The mare remained where she stood, as though sensing the tension in the room.
Nina walked toward him, her boots echoing softly against the packed earth.
"What are you doing here?"
Nina’s feet came to a stop as his voice echoed through the riding house.
She drew a slow breath, her eyes briefly sweeping across the wide arena before settling on him again.
"I came to practice." she swallowed a lump in her throat, as she forced her eyes to hold his gaze.
Rodrigo’s brows furrowed. His grip tightened slightly on the leather reins.
"Practice what?" he asked.
Nina arched her brow.
"What else is practiced with horses?"
Rodrigo didn’t answer.
Instead, he tilted his head ever so slightly before giving the reins a firm tug. His heels pressed into the stallion’s sides, and the powerful animal surged forward, bursting into a full gallop. Sand sprayed beneath its pounding hooves as man and horse moved as one, cutting across the arena with effortless precision.
Nina watched him race to the far end of the riding house. Without slowing, Rodrigo leaned with the horse into a sharp turn, the stallion pivoting smoothly before charging back across the arena toward the opposite end.
He never spared her another glance.
Again, he shifted the reins, guiding the horse into another sweeping turn as it thundered across the sand at breathtaking speed. His jaw remained tightly clenched, his focus fixed ahead as though she wasn’t there at all.
Nina drew a slow breath.
Her eyes traced the path of the galloping stallion.
Then, without hesitation, she stepped directly into it.
Rodrigo rounded the turn.
His brows lifted the instant he saw her standing in his path.
The stallion didn’t slow.
Nina didn’t move.
The distance between them disappeared with every thunderous stride.
Rodrigo kept coming.
She held his gaze.
Twenty feet.
Fifteen.
Ten.
The stallion’s powerful breaths filled the arena as its hooves hammered against the sand.
Five feet.
Still, Nina refused to budge.
At the last possible second, Rodrigo yanked hard on the reins.
The stallion reared slightly before digging its hooves into the sand, skidding to an abrupt stop directly in front of her. It let out a sharp, shrill neigh, its nostrils flaring as hot breaths escaped in heavy snorts.
Rodrigo’s teeth clenched.
His dark eyes bore into hers.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Nina folded her arms across her chest.
"I haven’t ridden a horse before," she said softly, never breaking eye contact.
Rodrigo’s jaw ticked once.
His gaze flickered toward the white mare standing several yards away before returning to her.
"Can you teach me?’’ she asked, in a pleading tone, her gaze softening.
Rodrigo stared at her for a long moment before his gaze dropped past her shoulder.
"That white horse is injured."
Nina frowned and glanced behind her. Only then did she notice the mare favoring one of its front legs, the slight limp obvious now that she was looking for it.
"Oh..."
A sheepish smile tugged at her lips.
"I didn’t look."
Rodrigo swung down from his stallion in one fluid motion and began walking toward her.
"That’s the first thing you check before riding a horse," he said evenly. "An injured horse is unpredictable. If you’d climbed onto her, she could have panicked and thrown you."
Nina swallowed.
Each measured step he took seemed to steal another breath from her lungs.
By the time he stopped in front of her, there was barely enough space between them for the warm air to pass.
She slowly lifted her head.
The grey in his eyes shimmered beneath the shafts of sunlight spilling through the high windows, flecks of silver catching the light as they settled on her with unnerving intensity.
Nina’s heartbeat stumbled.
Unable to withstand his gaze for long, she looked away, her fingers curling against her palms.
"Understood," she murmured.
Silence settled between them.
His scent drifted toward her—clean leather, cedarwood, and the faint, earthy fragrance of the riding grounds. It surrounded her before she realized she had unconsciously drawn a deeper breath.
She cursed herself for noticing.
With all that was going on she still had the nerve to crave him.
Every sensible thought in her head urged her to step back.
Her body refused.
Rodrigo didn’t move either.
His eyes lingered on her face, tracing the slight flush rising across her cheeks before dropping, almost involuntarily, to her lips.
His jaw flexed.
Nina felt the shift.
She looked up.
They were close now. Close enough that she could feel the warmth radiating from him.
Her pulse quickened.
"So..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Are you going to teach me?"
For a fraction of a second, Rodrigo didn’t answer.
His gaze remained locked on hers.
Then, with visible effort, he took a single step back.
"Come here."
Rodrigo turned without waiting for an answer, striding toward his stallion.
Nina followed quietly, her boots sinking into the soft sand with every step.
As she drew closer, she found herself truly seeing the horse for the first time.
The stallion was magnificent.
Its coat was a deep, lustrous black that gleamed beneath the shafts of sunlight pouring through the high windows, while its long mane shimmered silver, almost identical to Rodrigo’s hair.
Rodrigo rested a hand against the stallion’s neck, stroking it once before checking the saddle, tightening the girth beneath its belly with practiced efficiency.
Nina’s gaze lingered on him.
"Was that why you chose him?"
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Why?"
"His mane." Her lips curved faintly. "It’s the same color as your hair."
A corner of his mouth threatened to lift.
"Not really."
Before she could say another word, he stepped behind her.
Nina’s breath caught.
She hadn’t even heard him move.
One moment he was beside the horse.
The next...
...his presence engulfed her.
She could feel the warmth of him at her back before he even touched her.
Then his hands settled on her waist.
The contact stole the breath from her lungs. Every muscle in Nina’s body locked tight as warmth bled through the thin barrier of fabric, spreading with startling ease. She blinked rapidly, willing herself to focus on anything but the heat of his touch—anything but the way it lingered against her skin.
"You don’t choose a horse because of how it looks."
His voice came low, rough. The words brushed against the shell of her ear.
A shiver slipped down her spine.
Nina swallowed.
His scent—clean leather, cedarwood, and something uniquely him that she hated her body still recognized so easily.
She told herself to breathe. Instead, her lungs seemed to forget how.
Rodrigo’s fingers tightened ever so slightly against her waist as he guided her a half step closer to the stallion.
"You choose one you can trust," he continued quietly. "One that won’t betray your fear."
His chest hovered just behind her back.
Not touching.
Close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from him.
Too close.
Nina’s fingers curled into her palms.
"You make that sound easy," she whispered, trying to distract herself.
"It isn’t," he replied.
His answer came almost immediately.
Nina slowly turned her head.
It was only meant to look at him.
Nothing more.
Instead, she found him impossibly close.
Close enough that if she leaned forward even an inch...
Her pulse hammered.
Rodrigo’s grey eyes met hers. His gaze dipped to her lips.
Nina forgot the lesson.
Forgot the horse.
Forgot everything except the impossible awareness of the man standing behind her.
His jaw tightened.
As though catching himself, Rodrigo drew a slow breath and took a deliberate step back.
"Now," he said, his voice noticeably rougher than before, "let’s see if you can stay in the saddle."