Claiming the Vampire Read Online Free PDF Page A

Three
    Jessica’s body and mind were in turmoil. She didn’t know what kind of madness had overtaken her in the last few minutes, but she’d better get a grip on herself, and fast.
    Hawk was right—one of the approaching voices belonged to her mother.
    “Much of the elite Green Fae training takes place here on my grounds,” Talia was saying. “We train with all weapons, old and new.”
    “New?”
    “Yes. The humans of this world have been quite inventive over the last few hundred years, and they’ve developed many ingenious ways of killing people at a distance. Have you no gunpowder or explosives in your realm?”
    “We do not. I know of what you speak, but my people have rejected that kind of weaponry as destroying the sport of war. There is no honor or joy in killing by such means.”
    “I heartily agree, Your Highness.”
    Your Highness.
    There was only one other person expected here tonight whom her mother would address by that honorific.
    Her intended husband. The Dark Fae prince.
    And now she could see the two of them, walking slowly across the grounds in their general direction. The queen’s guard walked several yards behind them.
    “Who’s the bloke with her?” Hawk asked. She’d turned her back on him to peer out from behind the tree, and he spoke from behind her left shoulder.
    His nearness made her tremble, and she prayed he didn’t know it.
    “My fiancé,” she answered, staring at the stranger. She wished she could see him better, but it was impossible to distinguish his features from this distance and with no light but that of the moon. “At least I think it is.”
    There was a short silence before Hawk spoke. “You think it is?”
    Jessica swallowed. “I…haven’t actually met him yet.”
    There was another silence, which gave Jessica enough time to remember the fiery trail that Hawk’s hands had left on her body—and to wonder again what she’d been thinking. How could she have let him touch her like that? He was a stranger—and she was engaged to be married.
    She took a deep breath, and another. The only thing to do was forget everything that had happened with Hawk. All of it, from the time she’d come out here tonight. She’d been out of her mind, but now it was time to be sane again.
    “They’re coming closer,” Hawk said. His voice was cool, and it was hard to believe that minutes ago that same voice had growled possessively as he touched her. “Shall we go and meet them together?”
    His voice was ironic, and Jessica flushed. Obviously she’d much rather not have Hawk beside her when she met her fiancé for the first time…especially considering what Hawk could say about her, if he chose.
    He was going on. “How do you want to manage this? I intend to speak with the queen tonight, but I don’t much care when that conversation takes place. If you’d prefer, I can stay concealed here for now while you go to meet Talia and your…intended. But decide quickly. They’ll be here in a minute.”
    She looked at him for the first time since they’d broken apart. “How will you get inside later on? There will be guards at the doors.”
    “I’ll manage.”
    She was sure he would. And as much as she wished she could just leave him here in the shadows while she went to meet her mother and her husband-to-be, she couldn’t. He might have saved her life, and she might have let him put his hands all over her, but neither of those things absolved her of her responsibility to ensure the safety of this house.
    “I can’t allow that. I’m sorry. I can’t leave you here unattended, knowing what you are—”
    “You knew what I was a few minutes ago, didn’t you? When I had my hands on your breasts?”
    He asked the question carelessly, as if the answer didn’t matter very much.
    She chose to ignore it, but she couldn’t control the rush of blood to her cheeks. “We’ll go and meet them, and you can address the queen. Remember that you’re unarmed and that her guards are