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

socks and stepped into the boots. “Connor, I regret what happened between us.”
    Connor tipped his head to the side and smirked. “As do I. But you have always been a rather surly phooka. My ma told me I should find friends less inclined to stomp on me, but I never did listen to her all that well.”
    The joke helped ease the tension evident in the room, and the other men relaxed. He shrugged into the T-shirt and fished under the counter for an elastic to secure his hair back. The remains of the torsca who’d attacked Peyton formed a pulverized, gory mass in the center of the room. Blood spattered the walls and left long rivulets on the floor.
    “I need to get that mess cleaned up before Peyton sees it. A simple glamour won’t work. She saw through ours before.” Shit, she’d be out any second, confronted with a wall of Fae hungry to see if she was their mate, and with a horror movie set as the backdrop. He hoped with everything in him that Daegus didn’t lie, and she was meant to be his, but he wasn’t banking on it.
    “No worries.” Irial whistled, and a pack of wolf hounds streamed in through the wall. Their black and grey wiry coats formed a tidal wave of motion. Seconds later, the remains were gone. Irial sucked in a deep breath, and the blood disappeared.
    He nodded his thanks and studied each of the men. Life-long friends, the whole lot of ‘em.
    If a single one of them touched Peyton, he’d rip their arms off.
    He knew when she came into view without turning around. All seven men in front of him straightened their posture. Marcan tugged at the neckline of his shirt. If he spun to see her, it would kill him even more to lose her. But hope filled his heart that she’d be his. Would Daegus lie to him? What if she was meant for one of his brothers as well? He didn’t share, but he knew of other relationships that functioned that way.
    “Ian, you’re growling,” Connor whispered to him. “She’s waiting for you to acknowledge her. Stop the growling shite and turn around you dumb eejit .”
    The pale blue fabric clung to her like a sheath made of spider webs. Each curve and dip accentuated by the twinkle of reflected light from the gemstones in the fabric. Her hair flowed over her shoulders, and the ends brushed the upper mounds of her breasts. A large white flower had been tucked into her hair above her right ear.
    She hesitated a few feet away with the skirt clutched in both hands. Lonan whistled under his breath, and she blushed. A low toned rumble erupted from his chest, and he used slow, measured strides to approach her.
    A lump closed his throat, and he stared at her. His hands shook, but he took her right hand and kissed her knuckles. The liquid golden brown of her irises gave off a faint light.
    “I’ve never seen a woman more beautiful than you.”
    She toyed with the zipper on his jacket. “You don’t look so bad yourself. You going somewhere?”
    “With the Hunt.”
    A crestfallen expression came over her, and he gathered her close to his chest. He rested his palms in the small of her back and sucked in a deep breath. The flower in her hair added to her unique fragrance; it tantalized and enchanted him.
    “What’s wrong?”
    When she tucked her chin down and didn’t reply, he chased after her and tried to meet her eye.
    Marcan, the least vocal of all his brothers shouted from his perch on the last bar stool closest to the wall. “She thinks you’re leaving without her, you damned bumbler.”
    The resounding clatter of tools hitting the floor reverberated through the show room.
    He cursed and tilted her head back with one finger under her chin. “I would never leave you Peyton. I will be with you no matter what. However you want me.”
    A smile played with her lips despite the tears in her eyes. “You really shouldn’t swear at the pixies. They gave me this flower you know. Helped me clean the blood off.” A deep breath lifted her breasts against him, and she sighed. “Why do I