A Little Night Muse (8 page)

Chapter 13

Josh slapped his hand against the doorway. It was a
double door, floor to ceiling, the giant padlock in the middle beautifully
executed in heavy brushed steel.

And very, very locked.

He took Adelyn’s hand and whirled her to one side as he yanked
the pistol from his waistband.

“Josh, no—”

He fired a round into the lock.

The iron bullet ricocheted with a screaming whine and buried
itself in the wall opposite them.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“Not everything
phae
is an
illusion.”

“Too bad the lock is one of the real things.” He stared back
the way they had come. “No sense digging out right into the mouths of those
devil dogs, but the rubble won’t hold them for long.”

Adelyn touched his hand. “Can you put the gun away? The
iron...”

With another curse, he tucked the pistol in the back of his
jeans. “Sorry. I forgot.”

She averted her gaze. “What I am must shock you.”

“I knew you were
phae
.”

“I mean...” She brushed one hand over her bare shoulder where
scales dappled her skin. “When you saw the skin in the toadstool ring, you said
‘damn snakes’.”

He dragged one hand through his hair and glanced at her
sidelong. “Is that why you left?”

“I couldn’t hide what I am.”

“Adelyn—”

“I don’t mean just the hair.” She wrapped her arms around
herself. Even the serpents seemed to coil protectively tighter. “By leading the
imp to the valley, I wrecked Vaile’s refuge. I only wanted to save myself, but
you saved me instead. I might as well have been a snake without hands I was so
useless. You showed me how to use my hands—to touch, to make, to hold—and I
wanted to show you...” She caught her breath.

Slowly, he spun on his boot heel to face her. More slowly yet,
avoiding the serpents, he raised his hands to frame her face. Under his
fingertips, the scales at her temples were silky-smooth, like polished stone but
yielding.

“Adelyn.” He waited until she raised her green gaze to his,
more shy than he had ever seen her. “You said not everything
phae
is fake. This—” He took a step closer to her, his
heart pounding with the boot-fall. “This thing between us is real. And I’m going
to hold onto it no matter what it looks like, not matter what
you
look like.”

He leaned down to kiss her.

Her lips parted beneath his on a soft sigh, a sigh echoed by
dozens of tiny tongues flickering around him. He closed his eyes—it would take
him a couple kisses to get used to this—but not seeing only intensified the
pleasure of having her mouth under his, the curves of her body under his
hands.

“So,” he murmured against her mouth. “Tell me about Medusa who
turned all the Greek warriors into rock.”

“The Greeks got her name confused, but I suppose even
musetta
can have an uninspired day.”

“You rock me. Part of me anyway.” He traced his way from her
face, down her shoulders, over her breasts, to settle on her hips and pull her
close so that she could feel the hard truth, his truth. “I want you. I want you
more than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

“Do you want badly enough to get us out of here?” She met his
gaze when he opened his eyes. “You are a smith at heart, Josh. You could command
these doors.”

He shook his head. “Command the doors how? With magic?” He took
a step backward. “I’m not like you. I’m just a...cowboy.”

She followed, edging him toward the locked gate. “You stepped
into the circle without hesitating. You said my name and found me. There is
magic in your heart, Josh Reimer, should you desire it. What do you want?”

He stood his ground. “You. I want you. Back in my valley, back
in my bed.”

She took one more step that brought her into his arms again. “I
want to be there.” She kissed him. “Now let me inspire you.”

Her hands went to the fly of his jeans.

His brows shot up. “Whoa! Here? Now?”

She smiled up at him. “What better time?” But her hands stilled
on his belt. “Think how you would have me do it, Josh. Imagine how the buckle
comes apart. Dream how the edges unseal to release your desires.”

Blood pooled hot and heavy in his cock.

In his chest, his heart strained with equal yearning. This was
not the place for them. Here, under the lies was only this cold, hard, steel
gray. They should be back in his valley, the sun shifting to stars as they made
love through an entire day and night.

“That’s it,” she crooned. “You want it. And I want you. It’s up
to you, Josh, my love. Believe it.”

As his belt buckle clicked open, he grabbed her and swooped
down for a tongue-tangling, breath-stealing, soul-searing kiss. She threw
herself into his embrace, knocking him into the steel doors behind him.

Which swung apart at their touch.

He staggered backward, clutching Adelyn to his chest.
“How—?”

“You know metal, and metal knows you. How else do you make such
beautiful pieces? They love you. But not as much as I do.”

She yanked the doors closed behind them. Ahead of them, pines
grew in a tight circle, needled boughs towering into darkness.

“This is one of the
phaedrealii
’s
forever gates.” Adelyn took his hands in hers and stared up at him. “Your heart
brought you to me, Josh. Now I want to go home. To your valley. To your bed.
Take me there.”

She lifted herself to her toes, and the serpents flowed back
from her face.

He plunged his hands into the tangle of scales and kissed
her.

The sound of a dog barking interrupted.

Josh pulled back. “Wolly?” A bundle of bristling red fur and
stub tail butted his knees, and he stared around in confusion. These trees were
not in a circle, and between the trunks, the white glow of snow in evening light
lit the scene. “I say again, how—?”

“This is our forever, Josh. This is where we are meant to
be.”

He shook his head. “Is that how
phae
magic works?”

“No. That’s
our
magic.” Gently, she
pulled away. “If you still want it.”

He scowled. “How can you ask?”

“Because the Queen never does. No one should be trapped,
Josh.”

He looked down at his boots. “I can’t let you go, Adelyn. But I
would if you asked.”

She lifted her arms to him, making Wolly bark. “You, you are
what I want.”

Vaile and Imogene were waiting at Josh’s cabin, minus their
humanizing glamour. His black leathery wings overlapped hers, like a white
butterfly, protectively. Adelyn held her breath as the Hunter and
sylfana
looked her over with measuring gazes. They
knew there was more to the tale, and she fully intended to tell them and to get
their story in return. The
phae
realm was changing,
and they were only among the first.

Obviously sensing the undercurrent, Josh stepped in front of
her, Wolly at heel. “She’s my muse.”

Imogene smiled. “Then we’re glad you found her.”

Vaile slammed down a brand-new frying pan on the porch railing.
“This complicates matters.”

Adelyn shook her head as she stepped up next to Josh. “It’s
very simple, really. He saw past my veils, and I will never go back. I love
him.”

Josh stroked his hand possessively down her back and pulled her
to his side. He smiled at her, the reflected love in his eyes as clear and
bright as the mountain spring sky behind him.

Later that night, as she took him into her arms and into her
yearning core, tears prickled from the corners of her eyes and rolled across the
flannel sheets.

“Stop that,” he murmured. “I have enough already for a set of
crown jewels.”

“Starting with a huge belt buckle.”

“The biggest and shiniest. And still it won’t rival what I feel
for you.”

She kissed him. “You make me believe any dream can come
true.”

“And here I thought you were the muse.” He kissed away the
tears before they could escape. He wrapped his hands in her hair, curling the
black locks in silky ribbons around his knuckles, and gently drew her close.
“Now, let me really inspire you.”

* * * * *

Return to Jessa Slade’s sensual world of
the
phae
in
Dark Hunter’s
Touch
, available now from Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.

Yearning to be free, Imogene has fled the idleness and cruelty
of the
phae
court to hide in the sunlit realm of
humans. When the Dark Hunters find her—and they will—she will face the Queen’s
wrath. But she is tired of running, and after a chance encounter with a
seductively handsome stranger named Vaile, Imogene embraces the earthly passions
within her, if only for one night. But has she fallen for a man—or an
illusion?

Don’t miss the other sensual, paranormal
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The Witch’s Seduction
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Taming the Dragon
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Castle
Demon’s Embrace
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James
Claiming the Wolf
by Michele
Hauf
The Darkling’s Desire
by Lauren
Hawkeye
Her Vampire Lover
by Caridad
Piñeiro
A Jaguar’s Kiss
by Katie
Reus
Reawakened Passions
by Megan
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Incubus Wolf
by Bonnie Vanak

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* * *

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ISBN: 9781460304143

A Little Night Muse

Copyright © 2013 by Jessa Slade

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