Aftermath by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

a pang of guilty pain stab his middle.
    Which was ridiculous. What did he have to feel guilty about? He did what was required to protect his people. He had no time to cater to a half-woman, half-child with no sense of duty. Perhaps choosing the young faerie as his betrothed had been a mistake. He could easily return her to her family and ask that one of the older faerie sisters be given to him as part of their marriage merger of lands.
    Yet the thought of exchanging Trista for one of her sisters left him cold. How quickly the little minx had wormed her way into his household and his life. She was exasperating and taxed his patience, yet she also lit a fire in his blood that had never been there before.
    He should stay far, far away from Trista. But his body ignored the urgings of his mind and he found himself walking toward her.
    She looked up at him, a wariness on her face he did not care to see.
    “What are you doing about so late this eve?”
    “Thinking.” She turned her head and swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks, no doubt thinking to hide them from him.
    “Think inside. ‘Tis not safe for you to be about this late.” Lifting her chin, she glared at him. “I am not a child and will not be treated as a prisoner. I will do whatever I wish and go wherever I need to go.”
    Did she have to argue about everything? “You should not be out wandering alone.”
    “Where I live I do not have to worry about wandering the forests alone at night. Surely I am safe enough here behind the walls of the castle.”
    “You well know the wizards can mount an attack, walls notwithstanding.”
    “I do not fear the wizards.”
    “You should.”
    She laughed. “I have as powerful a magic as they do. I can protect myself.” A pounding hammered at his temples and he inhaled a breath of air to quell the pain in his head. “Your magic will not protect you. I, however, can. Now come along and go to your room.” He bent down and reached for her wrist, pulling her upright. Her hands hit his chest with a hard thud.
    “You are human and I can best you. You have no power over me, or the wizards. Believe me, I can protect myself better than you can protect me.”
    The impudent chit! How dare she insult his honor? Clasping his arm around her waist, he drew her hard against him, ignoring the feel of her soft breasts pressing against his chest. In an instant the sharp point of his sword rested just beneath her left breast.
    “You would be dead by now if I had a mind to kill. Faerie or not, you have just been bested by a human. Now tell me again how you would protect yourself against the wizards if you cannot even hold your own against a mere human?”
    Golden eyes blinked back at him, desire turning them molten and soft. “I will cast a magical spell upon you to render you immobile, then slip right out of your grasp,” she countered. Yet she didn’t push away.
    Her heartbeat pumped madly against his chest. He inhaled the sweet flowery smell of her. Her mouth was only inches from his, her lips parted, her breath like the panting of an animal that had been chased and cornered.
    “Go ahead. Cast your magic upon me, little faerie.” Only he was no longer sure what he meant. Aye, he wanted her magic, but a different kind than what they spoke of on the surface. He wanted the magic deep within the feminine part of her, and he wanted it to belong to him.
    Only to him.

    The hard evidence of Braedon’s desire pressed against Trista’s lower belly, igniting a fire within her she could no longer control. Her befuddled mind recalled her words of casting a spell on him, but the only magic she wanted to perform right now was releasing his cock from the tight confines of his breeches and feeling the thick shaft embedded deep in her throbbing pussy.
    “Do it, Trista,” he said, his voice sounding harsh, yet filled with sensual promise.
    “Do what?”
    “Perform your magic on me. Cast your spell upon me.” Swallowing hard, she did the