AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glanced at the lady, noting the rich green of her gown and her simple, yet elegant, pieces of jewelry, and concluded she was quite well off. Curiously, she hadn’t yetflownoff. Interest piqued, he found himself wielding the basic standards of propriety. “What brings you to the forest, lady?”
“Oh, I was so hoping you’d inquire,” she said.
His eyes widened in alarm as she reclined along the branch.
The silk of her gown slithered over her body, displaying lush curves as she adopted a pose better suited to a Grecian goddess resting at a riverside. She twirled a finger through one of the artful curls framing her face. “I found myself rather tired of waiting for the attending gentlemen who fancy ladies to become drunk enough to entertain my advances. One man seemed quite keen, and I was hopeful when he escorted me to the pleasure garden. But one look at Fintan the Minotaur railing an eager miss and my escort lost all muster.” She tisked sadly. “It pains me to say he fled the scene in a rather pitiful manner.”
Minotaur? Railing?
Did that mean what he thought?
A glance at the lady’s face confirmed that, yes, the minotaur had been intimate with a miss in a public setting.Goddamn. That wasn’t supposed to happen outside the Hells!
Theo had to get his sister out of that Ball immediately.
He began struggling against his bonds. They were only stupid vines, for god’s sake, surely he could break free. He wasn’t some soft lord who spent his days drinking tea and playing at fights. He trained. When required, he fought. He could damned well break a few—
A vine snapped and he dropped headfirst toward the earth.
He’d barely gaped in alarm before another vine tightened around his middle and his fall was arrested.
“I’d be mindful of the vines, if I were you,” she observed dryly.
He slanted her a look. “Is that so?”
“Indeed. This forest has opinions.” She plucked a leaf from a nearby fine and spun it between her fingers. “It is why I had such high hopes for Broadstone’s pleasure garden. Alas, my potential lover fled and, while three is often delicious company, none of the couples in my vicinity appeared inclined to share.”
He gaped at her.
If he’d had access to his hands, he’d have removed his spectacles and polished them—simply to make sure it was in fact a lady speaking to him and not some mistress of a bawdy house.
“A great shame,” she continued. “As that minotaur truly was—”
“Madam,” he managed. “I beg you. No more.”
She laughed—a light, birdlike trill that had an alarming effect on his body—and propped her chin on her hands. “You are hardly in a position to do much more than beg, my lord.” She flashed another of those devastatingly sharp smiles at him. “But if you askveryprettily, I could perhaps be compelled to assist.”
He absolutely wouldnotbeg assistance from a lady. And certainly not one who spoke of a minotaur’s private member so casually.
“I assure you, madam,” he said. “I have the matter entirely—”
Another vine snapped and his stomach soared while his body plummeted another foot to the ground. Were those rocks beneath him? Yes. Indeed, they were. Rather pointy rocks at that, surrounded by a variety of sticks and without any soft moss or pile of leaves to cushion the fall. Oh, he could get down, and he’d survive the encounter. But if he got himself bloodied and broken, he’d not be in any condition to help his sister.
Bloody hell.
“Still a long way down,” the lady drawled. “Not a soft landing.”
He cleared his throat and said grudgingly: “Upon considering my circumstance, I find I might be in need of assistance.”
“There.” She grinned. “Was that so hard?”
His mouth scrunched to the side. “Yes. It rather was.”
“Delightful.” She gave a short laugh that was almost a caw. “I did enjoy your obvious reticence, as well as your inevitable defeat. But I have no intention of letting you off so lightly.”
He glanced at the ground. “I rather thought that would be the point of assistance.”
“Oh, of that lightly I can assure you I’m quite prepared. But…” She tapped him on the nose with a leaf. “My assistance comes with a price.”
