Free The Dark Huntsman: A Fantasy Romance of The Black Court (Tales of The Black Court Book 1) by Jessica Aspen Page A

amused snort of her captor.
    As they approached the tall, dark trees of the forest, her mind raced in a thousand disjointed directions. Her inappropriate clothes. Her frustrating new position. Her lack of direction as to how she could possibly get away from the domineering elven lord and back to her real job of finding out why the queen had it in for the MacElvys. She wasted time here. Her cousins and aunt were fleeing for their lives. Right now, they could be in danger.
    They rounded a curve, entered the forest, and the light grew dim and green. Solanum’s hoofbeats muffled into a distant heartbeat. The pack of hounds, wild, waving tails held high, coursed around them down the wide trail into the dappled sunlight at the edge of the woods. An unwanted blanket of quiet settled onto Trina’s back.
    The night before, she’d been aware of nestling between Logan’s legs as they rode, but today, under the hypnotic rhythm of the ride, the honeyed warmth of horse and master wrapped around her. A direct contrast to the intense sexual heat of less than an hour earlier, this slow rocking was sweet, sticky, and seductive, and she was more than tempted to give in, relax, and lean into Logan.
    The easy motion, and her tired abs, seduced her into finally sliding back until the bare skin of her thigh pressed against rock hard muscle. She trembled at the contact, not having to see his face to imagine his lips curved in a knowing smile. He felt solid and steady. Her treacherous instincts said she should sink into him, rub her face in his chest, and inhale his scent of leather, smoke, and wild.
    She pinched the skin on the top of her hand, using the pain to distract her body from the condescending hot male pressed against her ass. If she didn’t keep her desires in check, she would be completely at his mercy. And she wasn’t sure he had any.
    Searching for additional distraction from the sensual slide of her skin against Logan’s thighs, Trina examined the forest. Evidence of life was scant as they wound their way along the nearly impassible track between tangles of fallen logs and ivy-covered rocks. The near silence of Solanum’s muffled hoofbeats was barely audible against the small soughing of the wind through the ancient trees.
    No birdsong, no frogs, no crickets. Just them. And the weight of the forest that grew increasingly dense as they moved forward. Trina pulled the heavy air into her lungs, tasting the rich flavor of silent moisture and mossy rot on her tongue.
    And then…a movement. Caught in the edges of her vision. An awareness of something inhuman, perhaps intelligent, rippled through Trina and the hair lifted at the nape of her neck.
    “What…!”
    “Easy now, lass. It’s just the forest. Lean back.”
    She turned her head. Whatever had been there was gone.
    She allowed her body to ease back, her right thigh and hip rocking against Logan’s reassuring warmth. The hounds split, the majority of the eerie soundless pack moving ahead, leaving two or three behind to shadow their trail.
    Logan’s easy confidence as he rode through this place gave her an ironic sense of security. He wasn’t anxious. Didn’t seem to sense, as she did, that something here was wrong.
    She tried some deep breathing techniques she used when she had trouble centering and succeeded at last in lulling herself into a state of uneasy relaxation, edging closer with every sway into the solidity and safety of her captor’s chest.
    The hounds in front had pulled away around a bend in the trail. Without warning, Logan’s arm tightened into a steel band.
    “Hang on.”
    They turned the corner and Solanum pulled up short, nearly running into the hounds splayed out in a semi-circle. Teeth barred and hackles up, they were silent, ferocious weapons aimed at a creature three times their size. Twenty feet tall, humanoid, with grey-green skin and tiny eyes. And hairy. Very hairy.
    “What in the Goddess’s name is that?”
    “Shh.” Logan’s warm lips