GOE 08 - Bound By Darkness [calibre 0.9.30]

Instead, he was pacing the meadow and imagining a dozen different scenarios, all of which included Jaelyn injured or captured or ...

A frigid chill swept through the air, sending a flood of sharp relief through his body, closely followed by a ready male response to the potent womanly scent that filled his senses.

Precisely the two reactions he didn’t want, dammit.

He turned to watch as she stepped into the meadow, his heart squeezing at the mere sight of her.

Gods, but she was beautiful.

She’d showered while she was gone. Her silken hair was still damp and it glowed as glossy as a raven’s wing in the moonlight despite being wrenched into a tight braid. She’d also changed, although the stretchy bits of black cloth did nothing to lower his blood pressure. To top it off she’d matched the sexy ensemble with a brand-spanking-new sawed-off shotgun, which she’d strapped to her slender waist with a belt lined with cartridges.

Holy ... shit.

Beautiful didn’t come close to capturing the sight of her drenched in moonlight.

She halted next to Levet, who was perched in the low branches of a tree, and with one smooth motion she tossed a sack into his stubby arms.

“Food?” The miniature beast sighed in pleasure. “Ah, you are an angel.”

Ariyal snorted. “You just consumed an entire deer.”

“There is always room for cake.”

He was distracted from the smirking gargoyle as Jaelyn turned to toss him a second sack.

“What’s this?”

“Clean clothes.”

He lifted his brows, sensing her hidden anticipation. He was almost afraid to check and see what she’d brought for him. Then his enjoyment at her unexpected playfulness was destroyed as he noticed the faint color that stained her cheeks.

She’d obviously fed. And the mere thought of her fangs buried in some stranger’s throat was enough to send a raw burst of fury through him.

“Did you enjoy your dinner?”

She stiffened, futilely attempting to scurry behind the icy dignity that he detested. Thankfully his ability to annoy her overcame her brutal training and she moved forward to punch him in the center of the chest.

He would take a broken rib to her clamping down her emotions any day of the week.

“Oh for God’s sake,” she hissed. “I went to the nearest hospital and raided their blood supply. Can we move on to something more interesting than my dietary habits?”

He grasped her wrist, using her blow to tug her off balance.

“Come with me,” he urged as she tumbled against his chest, his arms automatically wrapping around her slender body.

“Where?”

“There’s a stream hidden by the trees.” His gaze dipped toward her full lips, his feral satisfaction at the knowledge she hadn’t taken another man’s vein pounding through his blood. “You can wash my back.”

The scent of her desire spiked the air before she was roughly shoving him away.

“I just showered.”

He smiled, breathing deeply of her enticing arousal. “What’s your point?”

With a deliberate motion she allowed her fingers to caress the hilt of her shotgun.

“You can wash your own damn back.”

Ariyal reached to brush his thumb along her lower lip. “So cruel.”

“Be happy I haven’t stuck a dagger in it yet,” she muttered, turning to stomp away.

Resisting the suicidal urge to toss her over his shoulder and haul her to the privacy of the woods, Ariyal contented himself with the absolute certainty that she wanted him as he headed to the stream. The Addonexus might have done their best to mold her into ruthless executioner without thought or feeling, but they hadn’t succeeded.

At least not completely.

Below the ice was a passionate female just aching to break free of her restraints.

And he was just the man to help her discover her suppressed needs.

Entering the woods that lined the edge of the meadow, Ariyal briefly halted as he caught the unmistakable stench of cur.

It wasn’t unusual for dogs to be sniffing around such prime hunting grounds, but he kept his senses on full alert as he stripped off his clothes and waded into the hip-deep water of the creek.

Once clean, he slid on the jeans he found in the bag that Jaelyn had tossed at him, tucking a dagger into the waistband at his lower back and strapping another to his ankle. Then after braiding back his wet hair, he reached back into the bag to pull out the shirt.

A brief glance was all that was necessary for him to comprehend Jaelyn’s earlier amusement. Good ... gods. The silk Hawaiian shirt painted with gaudy yellow and red flowers was an affront to fashion.

Clutching the offensive garment in one hand, and his sword and scabbard in the other, he marched out of the woods and across the meadow, finding Jaelyn and Levet resting beneath the large oak tree.

“I suppose you think this is funny?” he demanded, dangling the shirt in front of her nose.

Beside her the annoying gargoyle doubled over as his laughter echoed across the countryside.

“Oui. I think it is très amusing.”

Ariyal glared at the pest in warning. “I thought I caught the scent of cur near the creek. Why don’t you go investigate?”