Fae High Summer Hunt Read Free Page B

raw offer, he’d become a most desirable lover.
    He cradled the back of her head with his hand, slid his thumb under her chin and tilted her head back to force her to meet his stare. “We have a bit of a dilemma here, don’t we? I don’t trust you any more than you trust me. I want your vow that you will give your all when we love, Naeme. There will be no holding back. I won’t have you treating our agreement as a means to an end.”
    “It’s not in my nature to not embrace all the pleasures my encounters engender. It’d be like taking a bite of a peach and not savouring the sweetness of the juices or the succulence of its flesh.”
    She nuzzled the skin under his ear and placed her lips on the pulse point at the base of his throat. She licked at his flesh and tasted the earthiness of a male Fae in his prime. Baylor jolted. His horse bucked and whinnied as his hands loosened on the reins.
    Skimming a sharp fingernail over the mound between his thighs, she watched the sapphire-blue irises darken. Naeme trailed her fingertips over the growing bulge before she slid her hand under his ball sac and pressed the heel of her palm onto his pubis.
    Baylor dragged in a sharp, shuddery breath and slapped his hand over hers. Her stern soldier wasn’t as in command of his emotions as he would have her believe.
    “Do we have an accord?” she murmured against his skin.
    “Do you want a drawing of blood?” His hoarse voice belied the coolness of his tone.
    “Nothing less would do.”
    Baylor pulled a small dagger from his belt and took her left hand to form an unseen bond connecting their hearts. He placed the blade between their palms and pressed them together as he slashed their flesh.
    Like slow-seeping mercury, their viscous life-blood dribbled to the ground. Wherever it landed green shoots shot out of the earth, budded and bloomed in a matter of a few seconds. The plants grew to tower over their heads, the branches intertwined and the flowers enlarged to create a fragrant haven. The blossoms ranged from the palest pink to the darkest crimson, royal purples, brilliant blues and yellows to rival sunshine.
    A flower-laden bower.
    Naeme shifted with unease. It was too intimate, too revealing. This rare and wonderful sanctuary created by the commingling of their blood shouldn’t have happened, not with him, not now.
    Confused by the inner stirrings she couldn’t identify, she wavered and floated to the ground. “I don’t want to be here.” She looked around her, a little frantic. Naeme needed to think, reassess. This was not what she wanted. She enjoyed her flitting from amusement to amusement like a bee gathering pollen.
    With a fluid gracefulness, Baylor slid from his saddle and caught her by the forearms. “Afraid to acknowledge the possibilities? Naeme, I never took you for a coward.”
    This place was a danger to her equilibrium. The arousal she had experienced earlier paled in comparison to what she experienced now. She didn’t feel the quick incendiary flash of lust, which would soon burn itself out. Baylor’s closeness, the warmth of his hand seeping over her suddenly chilled body, infused her with the heat emitted by embers that would burn white-hot for a long time.
    She twisted from his grasp. “It’s a fluke, an opportune twist of fate. For all I know you engineered this to suit your purposes.”
    He tilted his head and looked her over with a bland expression. “The magic never lies. It’s the purest form of the only truth there is.”
    “That’s rich coming from a man who knows it can be twisted.”
    “True, but it always rights itself and punishes those who’d corrupt the gift.”
    “We have no need for this. Why waste time on tomorrow when tonight is yet to be lived?”
    His face tightened with anger, and a bleak disappointment flitted through his eyes. “Very well, if we return it will be only at your behest.” He swung her up into the saddle. He leapt up behind her, took up the reins and kicked