Fae High Summer Hunt (2 page)

“A need?” She tilted her head. Suspicious of his sudden verboseness, she surreptitiously checked the shadows.

“My burgeoning will coincides with yours come the spring.”

Her pride pricked, she said coolly, “A vessel. You seek a vessel to bear a babe.” She couldn’t help but be astounded by the sheer arrogance of the man. Masking her growing rage with amusement, she laughed. The sound tinkled through the air with a bell-like clarity. “At the moment of the forming, we’d have to both want what we’d create, which I won’t even consider for many more changes of the seasons.” She sent him a mocking smile. “I doubt very much that once-in-a-blue-moon event would occur.”

“Well, if he won’t do, perhaps I can proffer my services.” The laughing offer chimed out as Valen manifested out of thin air and grinned at them. “Well, hello, darling, you are looking particularly appetising tonight.”

“Valen!” Naeme blew him a cheeky kiss, which he responded to with a brow-waggling leer.

Valen was another of Oberon’s occasional lovers, who happened to be hers as well. He took care of any mundane tasks Oberon couldn’t be bothered with—instigator of all manner of mischievous pranks, primary facilitator of all things sexual.

Fair as Baylor’s was dark, Valen’s sunny hair glistened even in the moonlight. He was tall and whippet-thin, his beauty almost feminine, but she knew from experience that he was thoroughly male. He leaned against a tree with the nonchalance of the confident.

Naeme dashed into his arms and hugged him close. She inhaled the dear familiar scent of him. “How I’ve longed to see you,” she murmured against his velvety coat.

“What are you doing here?” Baylor snarled. The dark menace in his voice, which had many a being quailing with fright, didn’t faze Valen one bit. In fact, he sent Baylor a sunny grin.

“Well, Oberon had a rare pang of remorse. He felt our Naeme here paid too high a price for his, ahhh…enthusiastic attentions. After all, Titania forgave him months ago. I agreed because I’m fond of this delicious girl, who should have known better than to dally with the king for any length of time.” Wicked merriment gleamed in his eyes.

“But our lord can be so deliciously attentive when he sets his mind to it. Who could say no? We had a fine time with him, didn’t we?” Naeme reminded him.

“True, I’ve missed our little romps.” He grinned at her, sharing the memory.

Naeme couldn’t help but respond. Valen was a favourite playmate of hers. They had loved and laughed too many times to count.

“Besides, our sovereigns capriciously tup whoever takes their fancy. It seemed unfair to the dear girl to have to live on the fringes. The king has charged me with the task of ensuring she returns to the fold. Court hasn’t been the same without you, darling.”

Baylor scoffed. “I can do without your interference right now. You are not of the guard. You can’t bring her back without Titania’s leave.”

Valen shrugged. “True, but you can. And since you want her, and it’ll save me the trouble of having to solicit another guardsman to accomplish my mission…” At Naeme’s outraged gasp, he reached for her. She pulled away and glared at him. A speculative gleam in his eyes, he studied her with a hardness she had never seen on Valen before. “Now don’t look like that, my love.” Valen sighed, regret in the soft sound. She stepped back, feeling betrayed. “She might prove to be recalcitrant. I’m here to help if you can’t eliminate her resistance to your, ahhh…wooing.” He shot her a toothy, puckish grin. “And won’t it be fun to persuade her?”

More than a bit put out, Naeme glowered at both men.

“Well, you haven’t caught me yet, and it’ll take more than a yearning for home to get me to meekly fall into your plans.” With a dismissive jerk of her shoulders, she took flight and streamed through the dense growth, dodging trees and branches.

* * * *

Baylor and Valen watched her stream away. Electrical sparks snapped in the air, an indication of the depth of her indignation.

“You let her go! Aren’t you going after her?” Valen grumbled. “Now I’ll have to linger while you fumble along.”

“Of course I let her go. She needs to burn off her anger. I’m not worried. She’ll be mine by sunrise.”

Valen snorted, “Oh, you were doing so well before I showed up. I’m going to see if any of the ardent couples will welcome a third. Call on me when you do catch up with her.”

“I don’t need your help to get Naeme into my bed.”

“Dear boy, you could be a great cocksman if you put some effort into it. Just invoke my name if you encounter difficulties with our Naeme.” He looked at Baylor. “If you do summon me, I may take the opportunity to teach you a thing or two and share something you’ve never experienced before.”

Valen vanished on a chuckle, leaving an irritated Baylor.

Naeme wasn’t proving to be as compliant as Baylor had thought. He’d assumed she’d welcome any conduit that would get her back into court. He’d wanted her for too long to abandon his pursuit.

A rare smile spread across his face. She’d always been an intriguing mixture of contradictions and sensuality. He’d take pleasure in this particular hunt, claim his prize and revel in his victory.

Chapter Two

Even as she fled, Naeme knew she didn’t have the slightest chance of evading Baylor for long. The court was a hotbed of plots. He’d earned his rank with his skill with a sword and the astuteness to outwit his adversaries. She knew he possessed the ability to track her through the infinitesimal trail of Fae dust she’d leave in her wake.

It wasn’t his expertise as a huntsman. It was the wanting, the craving that went hand in hand with the pursuit, and that alone could be her downfall.

Excitement shot through her. It grew in her fertile mind and stimulated her body to an eagerness she hadn’t experienced in ages. The result of the hunt no doubt—the knowledge that he’d chase and catch her, then make her weak with desire. Her breath came out in short jerky pants, and her body swelled full with lust as a nectar-filled flower. And she was full, wasn’t she? Bursting with a yearning, a long-denied want and a sudden inexplicable curiosity to know what it would be like to share some loveplay with Baylor.

At the provocative idea, her opposition to Baylor waned ever so slightly. There was a dark reticence about him that she’d love to shatter. A part of her wanted to watch his eyes heat with need for her and her alone. His big brawny body would dwarf hers. With Baylor, her heartbeat would rumble like thunder, her blood sizzle like lightning, and she’d weep as if it rained as she found her pleasure under his bucking body. What woman wouldn’t want to have all that unbridled power surging between her thighs?

With a regretful grimace, Naeme tamped down her sexual inquisitiveness and with a great deal of reluctance, she sent out a lure to attract another guard.

If fortune were generous, some young rogue would woo and bind her to him before Baylor caught up with her.

She’d elude the arrogant captain, acquire a virile lover for a year and thumb her nose at Titania.

Naeme issued a dismissive tsk.

Giving Baylor leave to seek her out on the cusp of their burgeoning vexed her. The Queen had no business meddling in such personal matters. It was another way to flex her powers and penalise Naeme for her minor transgressions.

A triumphant laugh preceded a muscular arm wrapping around her waist and hauling her down willy-nilly onto the back of his mount. She sat astride a steed facing her captor. He was a very young soldier. This must be his first Hunt. He would be in no hurry to secure a lover for the next year. He’d want to dally with as many maidens as he could lay his hands on. With a wicked grin, he gave her a swift kiss on the lips, and pulled back to study her with blatant carnality snapping in his smoky grey eyes.

Not someone she wouldn’t tire of soon, but there was no reason why she couldn’t have a taste of him before she moved on.

“And who might you be, my lovely?” His sensual lips curved into a smile calculated to entice.

Naeme leaned in and traced the tip of her tongue over the contours of his bottom lip. “Does it matter?” She lowered her voice to a provocative whisper.

“No.” He gulped and gave her a hapless grin.

He was as green as a new shoot.

“I can’t believe I’ve caught you, but now that I have you, let’s not waste time. The night passes quickly and there are so many to love.” With a boldness she appreciated, he cupped her breasts in his big hands and clumsily pinched her nipples as if they were the first pair of breasts he’d held. “You’ve got a nice pair of apples.”

Naeme almost laughed. He had a lot to learn about seducing a woman. It didn’t take crass compliments but softly spoken endearments and a caress placed in the right spot at just the moment when a woman needed it most. She traced her fingertips over his chest. What he didn’t have in sophistication he made up for with enthusiasm.

He pushed her sleeves off her shoulders and lowered her bodice to bare her breasts. Her new acquaintance drew a nipple into his mouth and suckled. The tug of the suction elicited a groan from Naeme as she threaded her fingers through his silky hair. She arched her back and pushed the plum of her areola deeper into the moist recess of his mouth. He worked his jaw to slake his greed.

Heat speared through her belly. Fluid seeped from her to pool in her cleft.

He released the hardened nub with a slurp. “Sweet, let’s see what other delights you have in store for me.” He drew her skirt up, bunched it around her hips and slung her legs over his thighs. He looked down and smirked. “Is all this for me?”

A little puzzled by his question, she glanced down at herself. With her legs askew, her pink flesh glistened between the parted lips of her pussy.

Her gauche lover fumbled as he unlaced his breeches and set his ready cock free. A criss-crossing of veins riddled the rigid length of his shaft. Well, she wouldn’t be disappointed.

He gripped her hips, lifted her and set the crown to her opening. Her channel pulsed as he started to lower her onto him.

“Bastion!” The single word lashed out like the crack of a whip, silencing the nocturnal symphony that surrounded them. That single word froze the boy in mid-thrust.

“Captain!” Nonplussed, Bastion flicked his gaze between her and his commander.

Caught between frustration and outrage, Naeme wiggled to free herself, but the dolt, confounded by Baylor’s claim, held her fast. “Sir?”

“I have a prior claim to the lady.” He pinned the boy with a flat, unwavering stare. His tone brooked no refusal.

Naeme spluttered at the blatant overstatement.

He nudged his mount and it trotted over to them. “We have unfinished business, Naeme.”

She shot him a cool smile. “None that I can think of.” She infused her voice with disdain she didn’t feel. Burning with need, she’d come so close to getting a little bit of what she wanted. Well, maybe not little, the guard was hung like the proverbial stallion.

Naeme seared Baylor with a baleful stare and snarled, “As you can see, I am otherwise occupied. Do go away. If I am unfortunate we may come across each other again.” She dismissed him with a jerk of her shoulder, reached down and stroked the cock that was a mere hair’s breadth from ramming into her empty, hungry cunny.

“She is a wonder to behold, isn’t she, Bastion? Hair like moonbeams, skin as soft as the petals of a rose, her body ripe for the taking.” Baylor dropped his eyes to Bastion’s member pointedly. “And you’re so ready to jump into the fray, but she’ll sap you, boy, and you won’t have the strength to move on to the next lass. You won’t have time to savour the Hunt to its fullest. Go ahead and take her. You should last for a moment or two.”

If ever there were words spoken to intimidate a subordinate they were those. And they accomplished the impossible. The males of her race were noted for their perpetual erections, but the one within her grasp, or rather on the verge of sinking into her, went soft.

Bastion’s face reddened. He gave her a helpless shrug and stuffed his deflated member out of sight. “Sorry, luv.”

With a disgusted tsk, Naeme pulled her bodice in place, and soared into the air. A beam of light looped around her forearm and stalled her escape.

She tugged at the tether, but it wouldn’t give. Below her, Bastion galloped away without even so much as a backward glance. So much for gallantry.

Suspended in the air, she ceased her struggles and composed her face into a mask of haughty contempt.

Baylor focused on her like a predator studying its prey to find its weaknesses. “If it’s a fucking you want, I’ll provide all you can take.”

“And what makes you think you could satisfy me with your brutish, heavy-handed ways? You’re a soldier. I have been sought out, courted and invited to the bower of the most sensual, hedonistic men of Titania and Oberon’s retinue.”

“You’re a total sybarite, but you’re tired of your courtly lovers. Why else would you tempt fate by dallying with Oberon?” He pulled her closer and she remained statue-still. She wouldn’t give him any indication that his offer set her heart fluttering in her chest like the wings of a hummingbird.

With their faces inches apart, he trailed the blunt tip of his finger over her night-cooled cheek. “I’ll strike a bargain with you, Naeme. Stay with me until the great gathering at the end of the Hunt. I will take you back to court and revoke my claim after the Queen sanctions your return. If that’s what you want.”

Naeme scoffed. She didn’t trust him one bit. He was too cocksure. “Another hunter could get me that. What would I gain from such a bargain with you?”

“Every pleasure you can conceive of wanting.” Baylor pressed his lips to her mouth, slid his tongue through the seam and flicked the tip over hers. A myriad of flavours burst over her tongue. Sweet, tangy, tart, never the same—like the man, an enigma to delve into and explore. A lure, a taste, a promise.

Chapter Three

“And why should I take you at your word?” She’d take complete advantage of everything he had to offer. He had the skill to fulfil every predilection and desire she had and a few she could create.