She's No Faerie Princess by Christine Warren Read Free Book Online

exposed to the older Lupine. She shivered.
    "Fiona," Walker growled, still not looking at her, "I'd like you   not   to meet my nephew, Jake, but under the circumstances, I can't figure out a way to avoid it."
    Fiona extended her hand, then withdrew it at Walker'slow growl. Ooookay. No touching, then. She settled for alittle wave. "Hi, Jake. It's nice to meet you."
    "Jake, this is Fiona. Off-limits."
    The younger man kept his gaze focused someplacebeyond Fiona's left ear, but she could see him pursing hislips, looking half-irritated and half-amused. "Unusual lastname you've got there."
    "Isn't it?"
    Ignoring her glare, Walker herded his nephew farther intothe room and placed himself between the youth and Fiona. If Walker kept this up, all the eye rolling she wasdoing was going to make her dizzy.

    Slouching on the end of the sofa like the college studenthe was, Jake looked up at his uncle and yawned. "So,what was so important that you interrupted your own dateand dragged me out of bed at four nineteen in themorning?"
    "She's not a date. And unfortunately, you're the only pack member I could think of who'd be more afraid of what I'd do to you if you talked about this to anyone than you'd be of Graham if he started asking questions."
    Jake shrugged. "I'm plenty scared of the alpha. He couldprobably kick my ass through the power of suggestion ifhe tried. But he barely knows I exist, so I'm not realworried about the eventuality. You, on the other hand,know where I sleep."
    "Exactly. Remember that."
    Fiona snorted and waved a hand in front of her face. "Stars, the cloud of testosterone in the air around here isgetting toxic. And here I thought the story about menthinking with their testicles was an old wives' tale."
    They both ignored her.
    "Fiona needs to get home as soon as possible, and
    you're going to help me with that."
    Jake looked incredulous. "What? You can't find thenumber of a good cab company?"
    "Oh, it's not that," Fiona put in breezily, "but once you
    cross the planar barrier, the fare just skyrockets!"
    More ignoring. Sheesh, it was like the ability to pretendshe didn't exist was hardwired into this family's Y

    chromosome.
    "Planar barrier?" Jake's voice rose on the question. "Are
    you trying to tell me she's Fae?"
    "Would you please stop talking about me as if I weren't in the room?" Fiona snapped, her patience thinning with every "she" and "her" one of them uttered.
    "In case no one noticed, I am, and not only that, but I
    have a right to have input into my own plans."
    "I don't give a shit about your plans, sweetheart," Walker said, turning a fierce glare on her. "What I care about is keeping you intact and getting your ass back to Faerie before anyone notices you were ever here."
    "What's wrong with the way she came in? I assume it
    was one of the gates. The one in Inwood is closest. If you
    don't want to call a cab, we can use your car."
    Walker shook his head at his nephew's suggestion. "Theproblem is that the last time she got near the Inwoodgate, we ended up getting jumped by an unpleasantfellow with serious sulfur breath."
    "Holy shit!" Jake's eyes widened until he no longer looked the least bit sleepy. "A demon? You ran into a demon? In the park? That's crazy."
    "We got out whole, which is the important thing, but I don't think it would be a great idea to go back there tonight. We can't take the chance of running into it again. It got in a couple of good swipes at Fiona, and I haven't had any sleep in more than twenty-four hours. I need to catch a nap, and it would be smarter not to head back there during full dark."

Jake turned to look at Fiona, his eyes now holding ameasure of respect in addition to the lust. The lust hadn'tgone anywhere—he was a young, male Lupine, after all —but the respect at least made it easier to accept.
    "I'm fine," she said. "I've got a souvenir or two, but it
    didn't do any lasting damage."
    Jake nodded. "Okay, so what do you guys need me