Kathryn took it, feeling the rough skin and callouses of hard work. “Kathryn Hunter,” she said. So Lucas had expected her to come early? It wasn’t enough that he was unsettlingly handsome and charming, he had to be a mind reader, too?
“I wanted to see the place in daylight,” Kathryn admitted.
“Looks different, doesn’t it?” Peterson said agreeably. “Especially my babies.” She gazed down the long line of box stalls with a proprietary air.
“You’re the trainer?”
“Head trainer. I have a couple of assistants and some grooms. Lord Donlon spares no expense when it comes to his animals.”
“He breeds them?”
“Some. Mostly he rides for pleasure. But he loves horses, and he’s proud of what we’ve done here, so he doesn’t mind letting one of his stallions cover the occasional mare or two. For a price, of course.”
“Of course. Does he ever go outside his own stock for stud?”
“No.” Peterson shook her head. “If he’s interested in a particular line, he’ll buy the stallion outright. It’s a thing with him.”
“Men and their dicks, I suppose,” Kathryn muttered.
Peterson laughed. “You’d be right about that.”
The big black suddenly kicked the side of his box stall hard enough that it rattled the whole structure, causing several other horses to protest.
“Tromluí doesn’t like being ignored. He’s a big baby that way.” She walked past Kathryn to the stallion’s stall and held out her hand. The horse immediately stuck his nose into her fingers and tongued up whatever had been there. “Carrot,” Peterson said, rubbing the animal’s nose with a fond smile. “He’s got a sweet tooth, this one.”
“Tromluí,” Kathryn repeated. “That’s his name?”
“It’s Irish,” Peterson told her, without looking away from the big horse. “Means Nightmare.”
“How appropriate.”
“Isn’t it? Yeah, this one’s Lord Donlon’s special sweetheart.”
“Does Donlon do any of his own training?”
“Quite a bit, though he leaves some of it to me, too. He’s mostly interested in the stallions, but he takes on the occasional mare. Likes to sweet talk ’em first, ’til they don’t even notice he’s climbing into the saddle.”
Peterson gave such a lusty chuckle that Kathryn knew she’d intended the double entendre.
“He breaks them himself?”
Peterson smiled, as if remembering something pleasant. “Breaks isn’t the right word for what he does. I swear these animals understand every word he says. He can take a horse like Tromluí here and have him literally following him around like a baby goat. It’s a sight to see. Not to mention the pretty picture the two of them make together. Two beautiful beasts moving as one. And that man does know how to sit a horse, let me tell you. MmmMmm.”
Kathryn grinned, then hid it quickly. She might agree that Lucas was yum-worthy, but it wouldn’t do to let him or anyone else know it.
“Does it bother you,” she asked Peterson curiously, “to call him Lord? I mean this is America, after all.”
Peterson shrugged. “The Queen of England comes over to visit, and everyone has to learn how to curtsey, right? They don’t call her Liz, or even Missus Whatever-the-fuck-her-last-name-is. It’s kind of like that for Lucas. He’s a ruler, I guess you’d say, in his own society. It’s only polite to grant him his title. Besides, he’s a good employer. He respects my opinion and lets me do what I love for a living. I don’t mind granting him a little respect in return.”
Kathryn nodded. Put that way, it made sense to her, too. Besides, deep down she knew she was only trying to poke holes in Lucas Donlon to avoid dealing with her attraction to him. She couldn’t afford to be attracted to anyone right now. She needed to be focused on one thing, and that was finding her brother Daniel.
“You ever notice any strangers around here, Judy? Maybe vampires you don’t see regularly?”
Peterson didn’t answer right away, but seemed to be giving it some thought. “Lord Donlon doesn’t get too many visitors out here. This is his escape. You know, from all the decisions he has to make everywhere else, all the people coming to him for favors and stuff. He goes away for a few weeks every now and then, and when he comes back, I can see how stressed he is. Then he comes out to play with my babies, and he gets happy and becomes himself again.”
Kathryn eyed the trainer in some surprise. That was a very thoughtful assessment of Donlon. Apparently, Peterson’s talents for understanding animals extended to vampires, as well. Or maybe it was just to stallions, no matter the species.
“Lord Donlon said you’d be riding later?” Peterson said, with a sideways glance. “You ever ride before, Agent Hunter?”