Page 76 of Kingdom of Faewood

“We can outrun it if we leave now.” Lander jerked his thumb toward the other males, and in a flash of magic, four of them shifted.

Lander grabbed Guardian Alleron and secured him to Lars while Jax leaped atop Phillen, then held out his arm to me. “Ready to get on?”

I couldn’t be sure, but his words sounded slightly irritated.

But why is he angry with me?Stomach tumbling, I nodded.

Lander grasped me around the waist and lifted me as though I were as light as a feather. He draped me across the stag, right in front of Jax, and when Jax’s arm slid around me, every indecent thought I’d had about the Dark Raider came roaring back.

My pulse thumped. “Where are we going?”

“North.” Jax’s clipped comment met my ear.

I squirmed. “Um,wherein the north?”

“Somewhere safe.” In a flash, he shot back when my rump met his groin, his entire body tensing.

I stilled, stopping my fidgeting completely just as humiliation hit me. Oh Goddess. Heknew. Jax knew that I’d been aroused by him. It was why he was suddenly acting so distant.

Never had he been so stiff and formal with me, and never had he made certain that not even an inch of our bodies touched. It was becoming entirely apparent that the Dark Raider knew of my lust this morning, and he was telling me quite clearly—no words needed—that he wasn’t interested.

Shame cascaded through me. Thank the Goddess I hadn’t acted on my desire to lose my virginity. I could only imagine how awkward that rejection would have been.

Phillen leaped forward just as a bolt of lightning flashed in the distance. The rest of the stags followed and collectively picked up speed. But it wasn’t until we reached the end of the town and all of the fae were out of the way that they really let loose.

Jax’s arm tightened, holding me in place as energypounded around him. In a blink, a cloud of his magic surrounded us, cutting through the wind even though it began to howl.

As before, the realm turned into a blur of colorless sound the second they fully exacted their magic, and in a blink, Fosterton and the impending storm disappeared behind us.

Everywhere I looked was a void. A large, suffocating, never-ending span of nothingness.

And the only fairy I had for company for the rest of the day was the Dark Raider.

CHAPTER 18

“Goddess,” I sighed. “What’s a female to do?”

“What’s that?” Jax replied, a frown in his voice.

“Ah...” I snapped my spine upright. “Did I say that out loud?”

We hadn’t even been riding ten minutes, and already I was aware of every single breath Jax took. It seemed even my humiliation couldn’t stop the fact that I desired this male. And I had no clue how to stop it.

“You did,” he replied, and if I didn’t know better, a smile had slid into his voice. “Care to share why?”

“Not really,” I replied too quickly.

“Are you sure?”

I huffed a laugh, thankful that he was beginning to sound more like he had previously and was no longer irritable, but I still changed subjects. “So where is it we’re going? And please don’t say north again.”

He took a long, deep breath. The blurred void around us continued, and it felt as though we were the only fae in the realm. “To the capital.”

My eyes bulged. “Stonewild Kingdom’s capital? As in Jaggedston? But why there?” It didn’t seem like a safe place to venture. So many fae lived there, and the kingsfae were strong in their numbers, making it seem like a place Jax would avoid.

Another heartbeat of silence passed. “Because that’s where I live.”

My breath stopped. Stunned, I couldn’t reply.

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