Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“My taste in ice cream and fucking differ greatly,” I whispered, then turned and headed for the door. “Let’s go. We have things to do,” I told her not looking back but knowing she was behind me by the sound of her soft footsteps.
Thirty
Halo
If I thought he’d been different yesterday, today, I wasn’t sure Bane was the same person. Like Invasion of the Body Snatchers kind of different. He was almost … charming. Which should send up a giant red flag because Crosby had been charming, too, and I’d been the secret sidepiece. I hated thinking that. I didn’t want to remember him that way.
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I followed Bane into a round, padded room inside the impressive building they called stables.
“What is this for?” I asked, noticing the cameras up near the ceiling.
“Breeding,” he replied.
I studied the room as we walked through it. “So, you, uh, put horses in here and watch them?” I asked, completely fascinated.
“Yep. Have to make sure it happens. We have three champion thoroughbreds that we breed here. Other owners bring their mares here and pay for the stud services,” he explained.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just artificially inseminate?” I asked, thinking this seemed like a lot of work and space just for two horses to mate.
“Can’t. Not to be legally registered as a thoroughbred in the US. The foal must be a result of a live cover. Which means they have to actually fuck.” He flashed me a wicked grin, then opened another door for us to pass through.
I hadn’t seen all this when I visited the stables with Than. He’d taken me to see the horses, and I’d watched a practice jockey on the track, but that was it.
“Do you breed them all year?”
He shook his head. “Breeding season is roughly February to the first of July. We start here February 15 and go through mid-June.”
We stepped outside, and I saw a round pen, where a beautiful chestnut horse stood while a new foal ran around playfully.
“How old is he?” I asked, walking over to watch him.
“He was born last month. Which isn’t ideal, but then we hadn’t planned this mating. We are keeping him, but we won’t know for sure if his sire’s genes were enough to get passed to him with him being born so late.”
Frowning, I glanced over at him. “What does that mean? Why does it matter when he was born?”
Bane leaned on the fence, resting his elbows on the railing, and the mare made her way to him. “All thoroughbreds, no matter when they are born, turn one on January 1. If a horse is born on December 31, it turns one the next day. Since thoroughbreds race according to their age, it can be a big disadvantage when a horse like this one races against a horse born in January or, hell, even June. For this reason, you ideally want them born in January or as close to it as you can get.”
That seemed incredibly unfair.
Bane ran his large palm down the mare’s neck, and I found myself envious of a horse. Switching my focus to the foal as it tried to get attention, I decided that was safer than thinking about Bane’s hand running down my body the way it had in my dream last night. Which had gotten much more erotic. I was pretty sure he’d ejaculated in his boxers in my dream. My face heated, and I shoved that thought away. Not thinking about it. At least not around him.
“How much do people pay to have their mares bred by the studs here?” I asked, needing to be distracted more than anything but also a little curious.
“Depends on the horse. Vladimir cost one hundred fifty thousand. Vindicator runs two hundred thousand because he is a Triple Crown winner. Baldric is one hundred thousand.”
Holy crap, that’s a lot of money.
I nodded as if that wasn’t shocking.
Bane kissed the mare’s neck, then patted her before nodding his head. “Come on. I’ll show you the trophy room. You can see them in their glory days, and then I’ll take you to see them now. Than wouldn’t have taken you to see those three. They’re off-limits for visitors.”
I fell into step beside him, staring out at the vast green pasture that seemed to go on for miles. In the distance, I could see a rider taking a horse around the track Than had taken me to. It was beautiful out here.
We went back inside one of the buildings that had the office where I’d heard Bane having sex with the office manager. I’d only seen a glimpse of her once since we’d arrived. Bane opened a door and waved a hand for me to go inside. The lights came on, and the wall-to-wall glass cases that lined the room were full.