Bewitched by His Kiss (May Day Mischief) Read Free

well above her head. It would never do to let the powder get wet. “You do know about my research, don’t you?”
    “Alexis may have mentioned something,” Elderwood said, his tone now so bland that it was almost worse than open derision.
    “I’m compiling a vast collection of folklore,” she said. “I intend to publish it.”
    “Good for you,” he said, as if she were a child who had sewn her first crooked sampler. What a pity she couldn’t shoot him right now. Through a haze of fury, she heard him drawl on. “And what, pray tell, has this to do with Beltane?”
    Nothing , of course . She set the fury aside to deal with later. “Only that the spot from which one sees the meadow is where one of the Beltane fires would be lit. The other would be in the meadow itself.”
    “But the fires would be lit the night before, not the morning after, so how would one know where to light them?”
    “That’s the whole point of it,” she said, struggling up the hill with the wet skirts of her gown slapping against her legs. “If the guesswork is correct and the fires are properly aligned, the fairy mound opens. Supposedly the door is somewhere near that copse at the top of the rise.”
    “If you say so.”
    He was right to be skeptical, since she was making this up as she went along. Down by the wood, a partridge flew from the underbrush, and Elderwood’s horse gave a startled whinny. Lucasta glanced that way, worried for Peony again.
    “Why, I wonder, are you pitching me this gammon?” Lord Elderwood said with a chuckle, and just like that, he plucked the pistol out of her hand.
    “Give it back!” she cried.
    “The only mounds of the least interest to me are yours,” he said. “And my muff pistol is much more fun than this one.”
    She was no longer an innocent and had no difficulty catching his innuendo. Damn him! The problem with suggestive words from Elderwood’s mouth in Elderwood’s silky voice was that they got her going. Got her heart pounding and her breasts tingling and her blood burning with dark, insistent desires. It made no sense at all. She’d never reacted this way to any other man. Even Alexis, who was good-looking and undoubtedly virile, didn’t arouse such feelings within her.
    If she approached and tried to retrieve her pistol, Elderwood would assuredly get hold of her, and this time she would have no way of stopping the onslaught. She didn’t think he would force her, but he would make her want it, and she might well give in.
    She would give in, and his smile said he knew it.
    She stalked to the copse, swept up a fallen branch and stormed at him, swinging at the hand that held her pistol. “You’re not only disgusting, but a thief, as well. Give me my gun!”
    He backed away, uncocking the pistol and slipping it into his greatcoat pocket.
    She kept on coming, lashing at him with the branch.
    He fended her off. “Don’t make me take that away. You might get hurt.”
    She slashed him across the face with one furious swipe. Blood welled up on his cheek. He didn’t even flinch, merely grabbing the branch with one swift tug. With a curse, she let go, and he tossed it aside. She glared at him, panting. Her hand stung, but she ignored it, just as he was ignoring the blood dripping down his check.
    Idiotically, her heart wrenched at the sight. An absurd wish to tend his wound surged inside her. What was wrong with her? He didn’t deserve any such consideration.
    But she shouldn’t have lashed at him in such a way. What if she’d injured his eye? She wasn’t a violent sort of person. She was civilized and self-controlled...except when she wanted to kill him.
    She hated to back down, but she had no choice. Please be done , Peony . Please .
    He took the pistol by the barrel and held it out. “If you want your gun,” he taunted, “come and get it.”
    “And get raped for my pains? No, thank you.” She took to her heels, pelting down the hill, slipping down the last of the slope to land