The Dark Huntsman: A Fantasy Romance of The Black Court (Tales of The Black Court Book 1) (37 page)

His words said he was leaving her, but he held her close, his hands caging her possessively until she stopped struggling.

“I’ll go with you.”

“I need to leave you somewhere safe. Somewhere I’m sure you’re protected.” He leaned in and rested his face on her belly. “And that’s not with me.”

She pushed his face up and held his cheeks between her palms. “I just need to change how I defend myself. Prepare spells and potions ahead of time. Learn some hand-to-hand skills instead of trying to hide. I can’t hide, Logan. It’s done no good. I need to learn more than lengthy trap spells. You can teach me.”

“It’s too dangerous for you, and now we know the queen is aware of my deception, she’ll be looking for me, too. You must stay somewhere safe. And it isn’t with me.”

“But what about the prophecy? You say we’ll be safe, but you’re abandoning the quest to keep us safe forever? The queen won’t give up her quest to kill my family or me.”

“Aoife gave me the prophecy. I’ll share it with you. Your quest is over, now you need to consult learned men and women to find out how to circumvent the prophecy. You’ll have access to that with Oberon. And the queen will leave you alone.”

Was there no way he would stay with her? Did he even want to?

He looked intently up at her, his hands clenching her hips. “I feel badly that I took advantage of you before.” He let go of her and reached into his pocket, pulling out the rolled up contract. He stood up.

“Trina MacElvy, I release you from your bond. You are freed from my service, without obligation.”

The rock in Trina’s chest fell into her stomach. Tears clogged up her still sore throat.

He truly didn't want her. She had been just an amusement and now he would move out of her life.

“You don’t want me?” After all of this, she had lost her heart to a man who wasn’t destined to stay, didn’t even want to stay with her.

“No. I didn’t mean…” Logan’s face contracted. “That’s not what I said.”

He dropped to one knee and clasped her hands between his. “Trina, I need you. You are under no obligation to stay with me. You’re not my servant. You’re free to choose.”

She stopped struggling and stared at him. “What are you saying?”

His voice dropped to a near whisper. “Trina, I love you.” He bowed his head. “Please choose me.”

She stared at the top of his head, his shaking hands clinging to hers.

“I love you, Logan.”

He lifted his face, fire lighting his eyes.

“But I can’t choose you unless you know that I will not go into hiding. I want to learn more than just defensive spells that take too long to work. I want to learn spells that will work faster, better, and be more effective. I know I can’t be your magical equal, but I can be a warrior in this fight against the queen.”

She pulled him to his feet.

“Logan Ni Brennan, can you take me on as a partner? Someone to mentor, not lock away?”

They were bound now by more than circumstance, more than a contract, and more than personal loyalty. His life ran in her veins. He’d sacrificed everything to save her. Could he do more? Could he become a new man, one who accepted that, even with the dangers lying in wait for her, she was the kind of woman who faced them head on?

His hands tightened on hers.

His breathing quickened.

“I don’t know if I can bear to risk you. You are more important to me than myself.” His hand rose to her cheek and slid warm against her jaw. “If you can put up with my occasional tendency to lock you away,” his lips quirked into his familiar cheeky grin, “I will try to respect your need to fight your own battles. Is it enough? Will you choose me?”

He wouldn’t change overnight, but he was willing to try for her. To try for them both.

“You’re far from perfect,” she said, her lips curving up. “You’re arrogant and conceited and more than a little high-handed.”

His grin spread wide.

“Despite all that, I choose you.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him. “Freely, of my own will. I choose you.”

Logan pulled Trina close in, crushing his lips to hers. She opened her mouth, taking his tongue in and deepening the kiss. Licks of desire revved up her blood.

“Oh!” she said.

“What?” He nuzzled her neck, sliding his fingers into her jeans at the small of her back. She shuddered.

“Everything is different, brighter, sharper.” She kissed him again, a deep purr rising in her throat. She sighed. “You taste…like nirvana.”

“Mmmm,” he said, and caressed the skin of her back, tracing teasing fingers along the skin under her jeans.

Liquid heat pooled between her legs, her folds growing slick and wet. She slid her hands under his shirt and around his waist, pulling him in closer to settle against her jeans. He rocked into her and she ground against him. “Take this off,” she urged. Tugging first his jacket and then his shirt from his shoulders she took the time to touch and explore the muscles that ridged his stomach, licking kisses down to his pants.

“Hold on,” he gasped, tugging her up. “Let me touch you or I’m never going to last.” He sat on the wide side of the casket and pulled her to him. “Come up here.” He patted his lap and braced his legs as she straddled him, her slippered feet dangling down inside to touch the silk, padded lining.

Hands trembling, he stripped her of her shirt and bra. When she was exposed, he lay his head on her breasts and breathed on the sensitive skin in the valley between. “I love the way you smell.”

He licked out, skimming the side of her breast. She wrapped her legs tighter around him and shook.

“And I love the way you taste,” he growled, vibrating against her skin.

Trina rocked against him. Logan tightened his hands on her waist and his tongue flicked out and skimmed her nipple causing it to peak and pearl. She moaned. He lifted his head and licked it again, sucking and running the edge of his teeth along the wet, tight bud, his fingers digging into her waist.

She threw her head back, glorying in the connection between his mouth, her breast, and the open, widening sensation in her pelvis.

“I need you.” He rasped against her breast. “I can’t wait any longer.”

With fever-hot hands, Trina undressed, watching Logan tug off his pants. He sat back on the edge of the casket, his engorged cock rose up, weakening her with desire. “Come here,” he said.

She climbed on, teasing her wet folds against his tip. Logan groaned. “I’m going to spill right here. I want to come inside you.”

Trina laughed. Secure in his desire, she slid onto his shaft. “Oh,” she said, suddenly serious. She held still and gazed into his now familiar eyes, her muscles tightening around him.

“I love you, Trina MacElvy. Spend forever with me.”

“Yes,” she hissed and arched her back, pushing him deeper inside. He dug his fingers into her waist and helped her slide up and down. She leaned into him, their weight over-balanced and they toppled over into the white, satin-lined coffin. Logan twisted, controlling their landing.

“Umph,” she said, and they both started to laugh.

Logan’s eyes grew serious. “Now, my lady,” he said.

Joy surged through her body. She leaned down, tasted his mouth, and moving in an easy rhythm, she rode him to her crescendo.

Curled together in the coffin, Trina scrolled her fingers on Logan’s chest and looked at the flickering torches. “So, I have to know. What is the prophecy?”

Logan’s eyes sparkled. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yes!” She pummeled him on the arm. “What is it?”

His voice dropped low.

“One like ivy shall entwine

An elven prince wilt then be bind

This downfall then the queen’s shall be

Enacted by the MacElvy”

“What does it mean?”

“I don’t know, my love, but I don’t think you or your family will be entirely safe until we have found the prince and solved the puzzle.”

Trina locked her hand around Logan’s ribs and held him tight.

He squeezed back. “Easy, lass. I’ll keep you safe.”

“I’m not worried about me. But Cassie, Bryanna, and my aunt…they’re out there running from the queen.” She wasn't worried about herself. How could she be? She had the love and partnership of a gorgeous fae for the rest of her, now very long, life. Aoife, Logan’s uncles, Stephan, even Solanum, when pressed, would look out for her. “We’ll be safe under Oberon’s protection, but what about them?”

“I know. I have Kian to worry about. The prince is somewhere and I’ve put off finding him too long. Finding your prophecy is only the first step. Tonight, we’ll reach a safe haven. We’ll find your family. Maybe Oberon will shelter them as well.”

“And your prince?”

“When we have Kian, we’ll face the queen.”

Thank you for reading Trina and Logan’s adventures. Did you enjoy reading The Dark Huntsman? Here’s what you can do next:

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Dare to enter Jessica Aspen’s world of steamy, fantasy romance in her twisted fairy tale series:
Tales of the Black
Court…

Book Two

Prince by Blood and Bone: A Fantasy Romance of the Black Court

A rebellious prince, a reluctant witch, and a mysterious prophecy, twisted together in a tale of Beauty and the Beast

Trapped in an underground palace Prince Kian must remain a beast, or give in to the queen’s plan to strip him of his powers. But Kian refuses to submit to his mother’s evil plan and is determined to escape both his prison and his curse, even if it means dabbling in witch’s magic.

On the run for most of her life, Bryanna MacElvy has never learned to use her healing Gift. When she’s pulled by Kian’s spell into his prison, the prince sees the golden witch as his salvation. Refusing to let her go, or to accept she is incapable of curing him, Kian offers her a terrible bargain: heal him, or give up her freedom forever.

Their lives entwined by fate, the prince must learn to love a human, and Bryanna must learn to trust herself, or risk losing their freedom, his powers, and their passion, to the evil of the Black Queen

Download Prince by Blood and Bone
HERE

Book 2.5

The Other Side of the Mirror (a short 2.5 tale)

When the Black Queen of the fae sends ogres to attack their safe-house in Albuquerque, the three remaining MacElvy witches are forced to use a mystical fae globe to escape. But things go very wrong. When Cassie comes-to her sister, Bryanna, has disappeared and Cassie and her mom are stranded in the lands of the fae. With nothing but their magical Gifts to help them they must find Bryanna and make their way home through Underhill, a magical land where strange beasts, evil spirits, and fierce warriors stand in their way. Or will the evil Black Queen track them down and kill them before they can make it to safety?

WARNING: This story is not a romance. It’s the backstory tale of what happens to Cassie while Bryanna is busy saving Kian from being a beast.

Download The Other Side of the Mirror
HERE

Book Three

Broken Mirror: A Fantasy Romance of the Black Court

Cassie MacElvy believes she’s a fae princess, but her life of pretty gowns and constant parties is an illusion. Trapped in a twisted spell, Cassie uses her psychic Gift to help the Black Queen hunt down the rebel Prince Kian and his human wife, never knowing she’s hunting her own sister. But when a handsome black-eyed fae kisses her, the fairy tale begins to crumble, and she tumbles down into a confused rabbit hole of memories and magic.

Bosco is the court’s fool and a womanizer, but secretly he’s a spy, looking for a missing human psychic. All he has to do is find her and hand her over to his mysterious employer, and he’ll finally have enough power to complete a quest he started nearly a hundred years ago. When he runs into a beautiful fae princess who shouldn’t exist, he knows something is very wrong in the queen’s court. But lovely Cassie might be the only person who can help him achieve his quest, and Bosco decides he will root out all of Cassie’s secrets, even if it means losing her trust.

Download Broken Mirror
HERE

Dear Reader,

Thank you for reading Trina and Logan’s story,
The Dark Huntsman.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it. This book, and the whole series, is special to me as it was the first of my efforts twisting fairy tales. In 2008 I got serious about my writing and sat down to write a paranormal romance, but I wanted to write something besides the ever popular vampires. I decided on a twist of Snow White, but what would be the twist? I’d always thought the real hero of that story was the huntsman, who defied the queen, and not the prince who rides in at the end. So Logan, the huntsman, became Trina’s lover. As I wrote the story I realized Trina wasn’t alone in her life, she had cousins who needed their own fairy tales, and the series grew from there into the three books that will be out over the next few months. Trina and Logan’s story was finished in January 2009, but it’s taken several years (and a few re-writes) to bring it to market. I’m thrilled you’ve discovered it and the rest of the
Tales of the Black Court: Prince by Blood and Bone, The Other Side of the Mirror,
and
Broken Mirror
.