Peyton's Ride (Riding With The Hunt, #1) by Jennifer Van Gunten Read Free Book Online Page A

I’ll be out.”
    “Alright.”
    The door shut with a soft snick, and he forced himself to walk away, to not wait right outside like a hovering, love struck teenager. He was halfway back to where Manannan waited when she screamed.
    In three running strides, he closed the distance. He yanked the door open so hard the hinges exploded from the wood, and the slab flew across the room and embedded in the far wall.
    “What’s wrong? Is something trying to hurt you?” He crowded into the box-like like room and searched for danger, every sense alert. “Are the damned pixies in here bothering you?”
    “No. I’m . . . I’m sorry, Ian. I saw myself in the mirror, and it surprised me.” She toyed with her hair and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Long blonde strands glittered under the fluorescent light as she touched her head. “I thought I’d accepted the whole Fae thing and had seen enough of my skin to know it had changed. But seeing my face in the mirror, my hair, it sorta knocked me for a loop. Plus, all the blood...”
    He looked her over from head to toe and back up again. She shuffled her feet and chewed on her lip.
    “You’re lovely.” When she flicked her eyes up to his, he winked. “But I’ve always thought so since the first time I saw you almost destroy all those motorcycles.”
    She clapped one hand over her mouth, eyes huge and eyebrows raised. “You saw? Fuck.”
    “Yep. And you say I have a dirty mouth.” Unable to resist any longer, he claimed her mouth in a long kiss. Their tongues tangled, plunged, and parried. He caught hers and sucked it before releasing it with a light graze of his teeth. His heart hammered as though he’d run at a full-out gallop for miles. “You look different because the magic of the Hunt coursed through you and unveiled your Fae blood. You were born part human, but the longer you’re immersed, the more Fae you’ll become.”
    “Truly?” Fear and excitement blazed in her eyes.
    “Yes.” He groped down and got rewarded with a handful of firm, decadent flesh. A soft moan composed of need and want slid from her. A good—no, a great—reaction. His cock loved it. “Get cleaned up. I’ll wait for you outside.”
    “No pixies?” She crinkled her nose, eyes darting to take in all the corners of the room.
    “No pixies.”

Chapter Six
    W hen he emerged, his friends had joined the Lord of the Hunt at the counter. A pair of boots, socks, leather pants, T-shirt, and jacket sat folded in a neat pile in front of Daegus. The message was clear; it was his time to return to the ranks. As a Fae birthed of the Hunt itself, any offering from Daegus could not be refused by a member of the Hunt.
    His ejection from the horde had been confirmed by Daegus, and now it appeared his acceptance back to the fold was engineered by the same.
    He accepted the gifts without a word. The black shadows around his dark haired friend pulsated and glowed when he stepped into the pants and Daegus grinned, turned his left hand over, and presented his palm. No one else could see the two words inscribed there.
    Peyton Coghlan.
    The reassurance did nothing to settle Ian. In the garage when he’d first seen his destiny inscribed on Daegus’s palm, he hadn’t even had time to hope or process the idea that he’d be mated. Coming to Travers calmed the rut to the point that although he took women out for dates all the time, he hadn’t felt the drive for sex in two years. He wanted the fulfillment of making love with his mate, not meaningless sex with human women.
    If he examined his motives closely, he’d been going out on dates because he was lonely and the humans he’d befriended expected him to.
    “It will be good to have you back, brother.” Connor’s red hair covered most of his face, and he kept his gaze focused on his lap. The last time they’d seen each other, the madness of the rut drove Ian to attack the younger man in a fit of dominance fueled rage.
    “Yes.” He tugged on