Fantasyland 03 Fantastical by Kristen Ashley Read Free Book Online Page B

Salem (who seemed to snort his greeting at me
though I couldn’t sense this like I could sense what Aggie meant
when he chirped, it was only the impression I got), he got on Salem
behind me and we took what seemed to be a long ride to the
river.
    My bath wasn’t all I’d hoped it would be
seeing as he took off his boots and waded in with me, we both got
in fully-clothed, we had no soap and although the river was
gorgeous (regardless of the gray day) and crystal clear, it was
danged cold.
    Sopping wet, we rode back, he stoked the
fire while I sat by it, hugging my knees shivering then he informed
me he’d be back and he took off.
    That was when I decided on my plan. I sat
there pulling my stiff fingers through my hair, detangling it and
hopefully drying it as I alternately got up and fed fuel to the
fire and decided what to do to get out of my latest dire
predicament.
    I was going to tell the truth.
    He’d likely think I was mad but I didn’t
care.
    I had to do something.
    I heard hooves on stone and knew he was
back.
    I bit my lip and felt a thrill race up my
spine. I didn’t know if this thrill was fear or something else and
I didn’t think about it.
    I had to concentrate on what I would say to
get him to believe me.
    The hides were swept back and he walked in
looking great even though his shirt was wrinkled and his hair was
mussed. Or, maybe it was because of the latter. He was also
carrying two jugs hooked to just one finger with the rest of his
fingers wrapped around a rough sack and another rough sack in his
other hand. He dropped the sacks and put the jugs on the table.
    Then he turned to me.
    “I’ve returned,” he announced the obvious, a
smile playing at his gorgeous lips.
    “Goodie,” I muttered churlishly.
    The smile grew full-fledged.
    Ugh.
    “Fresh milk,” he said, tipping his head to
the jugs. “And ale,” he went on.
    Yuck. I hated milk and beer. Still, it was
something. Though, I wished I knew how to use that kettle
contraption. I’d checked it out and it was beyond me. There was no
filter. And even if I figured it out, there was no water. And I
needed caffeine, stat.
    “Right,” I mumbled.
    He lightly kicked one of the sacks with the
toe of his boot. “Porridge oats, bread, butter, sugar and salt
beef,” he went on.
    Now we were talking.
    “Fabulous,” I murmured.
    He lightly toed the other sack. “Clothes for
you. And shoes.”
    Oh dear.
    I bit my lip.
    He smiled again.
    Oh shit.
    “Now, love,” he started walking toward me,
“I hope you spent my time away thinking about how creative you can
be.”
    Oh shit!
    I started backing up.
    “We need to talk,” I informed him.
    His head tipped to the side but he didn’t
stop moving. “Well, that’s creative but not what I was
thinking.”
    Oh shit!
    My back hit stone so I lifted a hand, palm
out.
    “Noctorno,” I whispered.
    His chest came up against my hand and kept
coming, pushing it back so it was caught between our bodies.
    Yes, that was how close he was.
    Yikes!
    “Uh –”
    “I warn you not to delay, Cora, I’m hungry
and it’d be a shame, me eating in front of you,” he advised.
    I stared up at him and all I could see were
his light blue eyes. They were very blue and very clear. Like the
sky on a sunny, cloudless day.
    “Your eyes are like the sky on a sunny day,”
I blurted and his mouth twitched.
    Oh God. Why did I say that?
    But I knew I said it because he was that
close and he was that hot. A hot guy that close would make you
blurt anything, even if he was a jerk.
    He pushed closer and I felt his heat hit
more than my hand and let me tell you, his heat was hot .
    Wow.
    His head dipped so his face was close to
mine. “Sweet,” he whispered in his deep voice.
    Wow… and… nice .
    “You’re very hot,” I told him.
    “I can get hotter,” he told me.
    Yikes!
    “Noctorno –”
    “Whatever you do, I want you to do it with
your mouth.”
    Oh dear.
    “And tongue,” he went on.
    Oh man.
    My fingers fisted in