The Sword and the Sylph (Elemental Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her.
    “I thought we had a deal,” he ground out. “But I can see you have no intention of keeping it.”
    “I never agreed to anything.” She stepped around him and he slid off the horse to follow.
    “Stop, Portia. I want to talk to you.”
    She didn’t even slow down, so he grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. He caught her by surprise and she looked down at her arm and then back up to him.
    “Do you really think a mere hand on my arm is going to stop me? If I wanted to, I could have a gust of wind blow you right over the edge of the mountain right now.”
    “Please, I just want to talk.”
    “There is naught to talk about. I have informatio n that would help my father’s men and I intend on relaying every bit of it. So don’t even try to stop me.”
    “Portia, what took you so long?” came a woman’s voice in the distance.
    Bra den looked up to see who he guessed was the Countess of Calila holding up her skirts and hurrying across the courtyard to join them. A guard followed on her heels. The woman was tall and thin and wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes and around the edges of her dark red lips. Her hair was black and the ends pulled up and tucked under a stylish hat with a barbette around her chin. Crispinette, a netting, covered the hair that trailed down the back of her neck. ’Twas a common headpiece of the nobles. Her dark eyes surveyed him as she approached.
    “Who are you , knight?” she spat, scrutinizing him with her glare and looking down her nose. “And what brings you to Castle Calila?”
    “I’ll tell you who he is and what he’s doing here,” announced Portia. “He is Sir Braden, and he is naught more than a . . .”
    Braden never gave her a chance to finish. In order to shut her up and keep his secret, not to mention save him from being executed by what she was about to say, he pulled her quickly into his arms and covered her mouth with his own.
     
    Portia-Maer felt the soft lips of Sir Braden’s mouth upon hers and all thoughts of turning him over to her evil stepmother left her brain. She’d only been kissed once or twice by bold men from the castle throughout the years who’d tried to woo her, but never succeeded. But she had never experienced a kiss like this.
    His lips melded with hers and she felt an odd warmth down to her inner core. He tasted like a rich, full-bodied wine, and excitingly like the male essence of a brave warrior. His scent of pine and leather drifted to her on the breeze, and she breathed it in deeply as he slowly pulled his lips away from hers, gently breaking the kiss. She opened her mouth to speak, and once again found it covered by his own. This time, since her mouth was open, he thought to enter her with his tongue. This bold action excited her and she put her hands on his shoulders and pulled him closer as she returned his gesture with one of the same.
    “Stop!” cried the cou ntess, causing Portia to remember that her stepmother was standing there witnessing their intimate moment. Embarrassed, she pulled away, straightening her hair and looking to the ground.
    “I am Sir Braden of Manterra,” he spoke up, talking directly to the countess. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, my lady.” He took the countess’s hand in his and gently placed a kiss atop it as he bowed with a reverent act of respect.
    “You certainly like to kiss, don’t you?” The countess pulled her hand away, and Portia could not tell if the woman was pleased or insulted by his action.
    “I only kiss my dear, beloved Portia, because she has j ust agreed to marry me,” said Sir Braden to her surprise.
    “What?” Portia’s head popped up and she looked to him in shock. He smiled devilishly and turned his head slightly so the countess could not see him wink his eye at her. Who did this man think he was to be telling such a lie to the countess? And did he really think he was going to get away with it?
    “Is this true?” asked the countess. “Portia, you