Rise of the Fae Read Online Free PDF Page B

photograph, he was still human.
    “What are you doing?”
    The deep voice startled her. She turned, dropping the photos into the box and closing the lid.
    Neeman stared at her, his gaze intense. He took several steps toward her. She clipped the lock on the box.
    When he reached the corner of the bed, his eyes widened. He moved to her in one stride and pulled her to her feet. The box clattered to the plush rug.
    “Hey!” She tried to wiggle free.
    “I asked what the hell you think you’re doing in my closet with my things.”
    A trickle of fear skittered over her and Selene rubbed her fingertips together. She took a deep breath, and sucked in his fresh, manly, ever so enticing scent.
    “It’s your own fault. You’re the one who put me on toilet duty. And I haven’t been on this plane for so long I wanted to know what’s happened since I left.”
    “You have no right to go through my things.” He bared his teeth.
    Selene swallowed and kept up her nonchalant facade, though she wanted to run from his anger.
    “So sue me. I never said I wouldn’t snoop.” She wrenched her arm free and crossed it over her chest. “You don’t like it, give me something else to do.”
    Neeman stared at her hard for a minute, his fists clenching and unclenching. Finally, he blew out a large breath and turned from her, running his fingers through his hair.
    His shoulders were broad and slimmed to a tapered waist and tight buttocks. She couldn’t help but stare at the round firmness beneath his pants. A flutter stirred in her stomach. What she wouldn’t give to be able to grab onto his firm backside as he— The room compressed around her like a vise, gripping her tight and overheating her body.
    She coughed, and fanned herself, trying to get her thoughts under control. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man, but she needed to keep her wits about her. Her mother had been right in being concerned the draw of this plane might sidetrack her. And Neeman was definitely a distraction.
    * * * *
    Neeman pulled on his hair and tried to control his anger. Why had he agreed to let her stay in the compound? He had trainees to look after and demons to hunt. He had Vampires to protect and a million other things. He didn’t have time to police her.
    Worst of all, she was in his room, in his closet, snooping. He spun around and retrieved the box from the floor. Inspecting it, he caught the faint scent of ozone but the lock was still intact.
    He placed the box in the closet and closed the door. It was the only thing he owned that meant something to him, his past, present, and future all wrapped into a single eighteen-inch by twelve-inch by twenty-four-inch box.
    She stood, arms crossed and defiant a few steps away. Her cheeks had flushed a beautiful deep shade of rose and though she tried to mask it, her arousal wafted off her and made his head spin once more.
    “I don’t want you in here again.”
    She shrugged. “Fine with me. One less room I’m subjected to cleaning like a common house slave.”
    “You aren’t a slave. You’re a guest.”
    She cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously? All your house guests clean the bathrooms?”
    “They do if they want a bed and food.”
    Her beautiful face twisted into a sarcastic smile and he suppressed a sudden urge to laugh.
    He blew out a long breath and set his fists on his waist. “Look, Selene. I know you didn’t ask to be here, and trust me, neither did I for that matter, but this world isn’t the way it was the last time you were here.”
    “Yeah, I noticed that.”
    “What I mean is…” He tried to put into words the last several decades. “When was the last time you were here?”
    “I left in the early nineties. My mother insisted we leave with the first wave of fae returning home.”
    “So you didn’t see the awakening, or the outbreak, or the war?”
    “We left just after the awakening.”
    Neeman nodded. He remembered that time all too well. “So you never saw the vamps.