Scared. The word hit Rhaego like a knife, sharp and cutting, regardless of how mildly or innocently it was delivered. Even seconds after the buckskin mare had spoken it, the prickling indignation trailed up his spine in a hair-raising sensation as his dark mahogany eyes sharpened and narrowed upon her own uncertain one. The uniquely golden eyes that he'd always just thought of as something different and special now held a new meaning to what lingered somewhere beneath the misleading appearance she held now.

The stallion huffs irritably, plainly vexed that she would entertain such an idea. Rubbing his scarred and whiskered muzzle down her side, he snorted again, ultimately taking too long to answer and to outright deny her assumption. It helped matters none that his next inhale after the snort was a breath of air laden with the fertile and ripe perfume of Kitty's heat and he rumbled again, a deep throaty sound emanating from deep in his broad chest, almost a groan. The scent so strong and fresh was overpowering in such close proximity, clouding his mind. He just couldn't gather his thoughts in the fire that was building, couldn't connect, coalesce. Every nerve ending and muscle in his rugged frame tensed and tingled in anticipation of laying his weight over her and claiming her womb again as he had once before.

In a split second decision, the dun pressed his muscled chest forward against the Irish Hunter's hindquarters and levered himself to land across her back. Rhaego reached forward, stained teeth grabbing firmly at a section of ebony mane at the base of her neck - not so hard as to wound her, but certainly enough that it was clear he was not planning on releasing her before the deed was done. Though she had offered herself willingly, that was not to say she could change her mind and resist if due to the irritation brimming up in him he became too rough to her liking. He would take no chances.

Rather than answer Kitty with words, Rhaego was busy proving that even if he did hold any fear for her, it did not go quite far enough to stop him from reacting to her feminine scent. At this moment she was a mare, that much was becoming evident... that moment in the fall seemed all but a distant memory, but not one he could quite shake. Stepping forward upon his hindlegs, Rhaego aligned his hips with hers with and sank home with one swift thrust. He was not gentle - for she was his first mare of the season and for the haughty, domineering nature that was simply Rhaego. He alternated between savoring the feel of her to driving harder forward, grunting with pleasure. He finished and remained still across her back for a moment, not only to bask in the afterglow but to ensure that he seed remained deeply planted. His flanks were dampened with sweat as he slid slowly off her with a satisfied sigh and for a time, he was content to think of nothing else. However, inevitably his relaxed gaze strayed back to her face and a broody twitch of his lips and flick of his ears forward. Shaking sis ivory-streaked mane free from his face, the stallion's husky and rough voice broke the relative silence between them. "Does it seem like I am afriad?" He challenged, an ounce of humor lingering in the words, considering what he had just done - though his eyes remained sharp upon her, watchful.