Merry Gentry 05 - Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page A

nodded.
    “Agreed.”
    “You give your word, the word of the queen of the Unseelie Court?” he asked.
    She nodded. “I do.”
    “Witnessed,” Rhys said.
    She waved her hand dismissively. “Fine, fine, you have your promise. But remember, I have to agree that there is at least a hint of life. It better be some evidence impressive enough that I can’t pixie out of it, Darkness, because you know I will, if I can.”
    “I know,” he said.
    She looked at me, then. It was not a friendly look. “Enjoy Mistral, Meredith.
    Enjoy him and know that he comes back to me when this is done.”
    “Thank you for loaning him to me,” I said, and kept my voice absolutely empty.
    She made a face at me. “Don’t thank me, Meredith—not yet. You’ve only bedded him once.” She motioned at me with the sword. “Though I see that you have found what he considers pleasure: He likes to cause pain.”
    “I would have thought that he would be your ideal lover then, Aunt Andais.”
    “I like to cause pain, niece Meredith, not be on the receiving end.”
    I swallowed hard, so I wouldn’t say what I was thinking. I finally managed,
    “I did not know that you were a pure sadist, Aunt Andais.”
    She frowned at me. “ Pure sadist —that’s an odd phrase.”
    “I meant only that I didn’t know you didn’t like pain on your own body at all.”
    “Oh, I like a little teeth, a little nails, but not like that.” Again she motioned at my breast. It ached where he’d bitten me, and I had a near-perfect imprint of his teeth, though he hadn’t broken the skin. I would be bruised, but nothing more.
    She shook her head, as if to chase away a thought, then turned, and the motion caused her black robe to swirl wide. She grabbed the edge of it, to pull it around herself. She looked back over her shoulder one last time before she stepped into the darkness and traveled back the way she’d come.
    Her last words were not a comfort. “After Mistral’s had his way with her, do not come crying to me that he’s broken your little princess.” And the piece of darkness where she had been was empty.
    So many of us let out a sigh of relief at the same time that it was like the sound of wind in the trees. Someone gave a nervous laugh.
    “She is right about one thing,” Mistral said, and his eyes held regret. “I like causing a little pain. I am sorry if I hurt you, but it has been so long since…”
    He spread his hands wide. “I forgot myself. I am sorry for that.”
    Rhys laughed, and Doyle joined him, and finally even Galen and Frost joined in that soft masculine sound.
    “Why do you laugh?” Mistral asked.
    Rhys turned to me, his face still shining with laughter. “Do you want to tell him, or do we?”
    I actually blushed, which I almost never do. I kept Abe’s hand in mine and drew us both across the dry, brittle grass until I stood in front of Mistral. I looked at the blood that trickled dark across his pale neck and gazed up into his eyes, so anxious. I had to smile. “I like what you did to my breast.
    That’s just about as hard as I like it, just this side of drawing blood with teeth.”
    He frowned at me.
    “You like the nail work to be harder than the teeth,” Rhys said. “You don’t mind bleeding a little from nails.”
    “But only if you’ve done the preliminaries,” I said.
    “Preliminaries?” Mistral said, and sounded puzzled.
    “Foreplay,” Abeloec said.
    The puzzled look faded, and something else entirely filled his eyes.
    Something warm and sure of itself, something that made me shiver just from him looking at me. “I can do that,” he said.
    “Then take off the armor,” I said.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Get naked,” Rhys called.
    “I can speak for myself, thank you,” I said, glancing back at him.
    He made a little motion as if to say, Be my guest. I turned back to Mistral. I gazed up into his face, and found that his eyes were already beginning to fade to a soft grey, like rain clouds. I smiled at