Fae High Summer Hunt Read Online Free PDF Page B

it.”
    With a pop and a cloud of sparkling particles forming a haze, Valen appeared. “Sorry to break up your tête-à-tête, but we have a problem I think you should know of as captain of the guard.”
    “You don’t know the half of it.” At Baylor’s terse revelation of Naeme’s spotty memories, Valen’s brows shot up.
    “Shite, but I think my trouble trumps yours. It may even qualify as a crisis. The woods are oddly devoid of our women. I sought out a few who choose to live within the trees and those I knew left court to participate in the Hunt. Many are missing—your men are rounding up the few they can find and taking them within the wards of Titania’s domain.” Valen focused his attention on Naeme. “We need to get her to the safety of the court.”
    “I was just trying to make Naeme see the sense of it, but as usual she’s baulking like a mare about to be bridled for the first time.”
    She shot him a speaking glance. “You have such a way with words. Who would want to disrupt the equilibrium by removing the women from the Hunt?” The men exchanged a glance. “I need to know what you’re thinking or I won’t budge.”
    “I would think it’s obvious.” Baylor took hold of her arm and, though she resisted, he propelled her up to the moss-covered bank.
    A gust of hot air dried her skin, and Naeme found herself clad in supple forest-green velvet. Not a gown she’d have chosen. The long-sleeved garment covered her from her neck to her toes. Not one bit of skin revealed, she thought with disgust, nor any embellishment to draw the eye to her attributes. Still, she found beauty in the starkness of the piece of clothing.
    “Since I can’t perceive the obvious, enlighten me.” She folded her arms over her breasts.
    Baylor’s stallion trotted to join them. He vaulted up into his saddle and held out his hand out to her “We can only think of one person who’d want to take more time than she is entitled to. The Frost Queen.”
    Just hearing the name sent goosebumps over Naeme’s skin and pain shot through her head like a shard. She didn’t hesitate another moment. She placed her hand in Baylor’s, put her foot into the stirrup and allowed him to pull her up to seat her in front of him.
    Anger—fury—fuelled the need for vengeance. A cold resolution filled her to a point that eliminated all other needs.
    “I can’t tell you why, when or how, but I have the sense I was used.” She turned to Baylor. “I accept your claiming, but know this. I will have my retribution. He dared to muddle my mind.”
    “Darling, we all will by doing what comes most naturally to us. As we do at the yearly gathering, our loving will ensure that winters will be mild and short for a time to come.”
    The words murmured over her head were a vow. One she would help him keep.

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Baylor kicked his horse into a gallop, and Naeme’s body slammed back onto his torso when the stallion bounded forward. They barrelled towards a thick wall of trees. A startled gasp escaped Naeme’s lips as she gripped the saddle’s pommel and braced for the collision. She felt the tug on body and bone when they passed through the massive tree trunks that had stood as guardians of the forest for more centuries than Naeme had enjoyed.
    Nothing impeded their progress. They raced forward with purposefulness shared by master and mount. Tension reverberated from Baylor’s taut muscles—in her head it sounded like the pounding, unrelenting drumbeats of a call to arms.
    He lifted a small horn, and its triple warble echoed through an odd stillness that had settled over the night. The whispers, husky moans and grunts on achieving satisfaction that accompanied unrestrained carnality should have rung out through the woodland but there was only silence. The pervading chill in the air increased and with it came an uneasiness she’d never experienced before. Baylor stilled and she angled her head to look up at him, wanting to gauge