Loving Venus (Sally-Ann Jones Sexy Romance) Read Online Free PDF

horse, which had been leading, reared up in surprise, as did the other animal, which was approaching from the bend.
         Its rider was flung onto the ground. Annabella was out of the saddle and beside the unfortunate person in half a second, astonished to realize it was Claudia who lay moaning on the leaf-litter. Claudia, wearing a designer hacking jacket in green velvet, white jodhpurs and long black boots.
         “Are you all right?” Annabella asked her, concerned despite her instinctive dislike of this woman.
         “Claudia, cara , you’re not hurt?” questioned Alessandro, who was now also kneeling beside the prostrate form.
         “My ankle!” Claudia whimpered, gripping Alessandro’s hand.
         “Try not to move,” Annabella suggested. “I’ll ride into the village for the doctor.”
         Alessandro looked up from the woman lying on the ground to Annabella. He had to admit, he was proud of her. She could be excused for behaving less than civilly to his neighbour, yet she was showing nothing but compassion and good sense.
         “Do you remember the way?” he asked her.
         “I think so. I hope so,” she said.
         “Why don’t I go for the doctor, in case you get lost?” Alessandro suggested.
         “No, Alessandro, stay here with me, please,” protested Claudia, who was clutching his arm in a vice-like grip.
         “I’ll find the doctor,” Annabella reassured them confidently, determined not to take a last look at the couple on the ground as she sprang into the saddle. Claudia was now, sickeningly, Annabella thought, being cradled in Alessandro’s arms, her perfectly-groomed head against his chest, her hair brushing against his jaw. Why hadn’t she, Annabella, planned to fall off her horse and gain his attention? Round one to Claudia, she conceded. But she wouldn’t win the next one, not over Annabella’s dead body.
         Alessandro watched his second cousin canter in the direction of the village, marvelling at how physically different she was from the plump twelve year old he ’d known. She really was the swan who’d magically emerged from the plain little duckling.
         “My neck is so sore,” Claudia complained, leaning heavily against him.
         He massaged her neck as best he could in his awkward position, doing his best to alleviate her pain and to swallow his irritation when she complained he was rubbing too hard, too soft or in the wrong spot.
         After what seemed an eternity, he heard horses’ hooves and saw two riders emerge through the trees. The woods were impassable for motor vehicles.
         Doctor Esposito was a keen equestrian. He’d brought essential medical supplies in his saddle bag and dismounted quickly, jerking his head back to Annabella, who was slower in getting off her horse.
         “Your second cousin has a very nasty graze across her forehead,” the young doctor informed Alessandro. “I asked her about it and I got it out of her that she had scratched herself against a low branch in her hurry to find me. It needs looking at but she is worried about Signora Silvestro. Will you persuade her to let me treat it later?”
         “Of course,” Alessandro said, watching with increasing concern as Annabella climbed somewhat giddily from the saddle, one hand holding a blood-stained tissue to her head. He wondered why he wished he could help her and why he resented having to act as an armchair for Claudia. Annabella was, he reminded himself afresh, an unwelcome arrival at Casa dei Fiori.
         The doctor removed Claudia’s kid leather boot and was gently examining the swollen ankle, which was also decorated with a gold chain.
         “Is it broken?” the woman demanded.
         “No, Signora, thank God,” the doctor informed her. “Just a little sprain. You ’ll be dancing again on your terrace in a day or two.”
         “A sprain?” she repeated, making the