Page 42 of To Hunt a Demon King

“You’re a nice man,” I said, biting my lip as the wine continued to wring the truth from me. “I think if you weren’t such an ass half of the time, I might fall for you.”

“Ouch,” Hunt said, smirking down at me. “The truth hurts, Red.”

“Please let me go crawl into a hole and die now,” I said as he continued to spin me around. “I can’t even say I’m sorry because I can’t lie.”

Hunt laughed again and the sound rumbled through me. I suddenly realized how closely we were pressed together, and heat flooded through me for an entirely different reason.

“It’s refreshing, having you forced to speak the truth,” Hunt said, spinning me around. The sun had almost fully set, and the sky had turned a golden red. “Maybe I should pack some wine with us.”

“I am sorry for tricking you,” I said, knowing now at least he wouldn’t be able to doubt my honesty. “It was before I had gotten to know you.”

“I know,” Hunt said gently. “I forgive you.”

“You do?” I asked, looking up at him in surprise.

He smirked again. “I think this is payment enough for your crimes, don’t you?” he teased. I groaned again, trying to pull my hand from his grip to cover my face. He held it tighter, pulling me a little closer.

“A truth for a truth, Red,” he said. “You have nice eyes too.”

“Thank you,” I said, blushing furiously.

The village had sort of faded to the background as we had been dancing, but it came back to the foreground now as villagers surrounded us, throwing flowers at us. Hunt released me, and I laughed.

“What’s all this?” I asked, as villagers began to surround us, clapping and cheering. One of the women placed a crown of woven flowers atop my head, and I laughed, reaching up to stop it from toppling off.

“They’ve crowned you the Queen of May,” Hunt said, leaning against the fountain and crossing his arms. “You have to open the feast.”

“How do I do that?” I asked, shouting over the sounds of the villagers.

“You have to crown a king!” a small voice shouted, lifting a second flower crown that was a twin to mine. Many other voices joined the small voice, shouting at me to crown a king.

“Choose me, my lady,” came a chorus of male voices as men crowded around the square, jostling for my attention. I laughed, feeling ridiculous and overwhelmed. Hunt sat on the fountain, looking impassively at the crowd.

“Alright, fine,” I said, taking the crown and holding it out. “You want a king?” The crowd cheered, and several of the men grinned. I held the crown up high and dropped it on Hunt’s head.

The crowd roared in approval, and Hunt looked toward the sky as if praying for patience.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done, have you, Red?” he asked as the crowd pushed us together. The crown nearly fell off his head, and I reached up to put it back into place.

“Oh, have some fun, Hunt,” I shouted, grinning at him ridiculously. Clearly the wine had gone to my head, and I was having a lovely time, but Hunt gave me a hard look.

“Just remember that I tried to warn you,” he growled as the crowd pressed closer.

“Warn me about what?” I asked, gasping as I felt myself being pushed to stand atop a stool that had been put on the ground before me. Hunt was pushed up onto one too, and we stood there, above the crowd as they cheered. “Why are you so annoyed?”

“Because of this,” Hunt said, gripping me firmly around the waist as he bent and pressed his lips to mine, the crowd cheering loudly around us.

The Fool

Part 2

Chapter 16

Time seemed to both slow and speed up, the crowd around us fading away again as Hunt kissed me. His lips were soft and hard at the same time and warm as they pressed gently to mine. This was not a kiss like Vera had described to me. Hers were all tongues and teeth and desperation. This was gentle, almost sweet, and when Hunt broke away after what was both an interminably long and cruelly short time, I gasped a little.

Without another word, Hunt helped me down from the stool, grinning amiably as if pleased by what had just happened between us. I felt my cheeks flush, both from the heat the kiss had stirred in me and from the embarrassment of having basically forced Hunt to kiss me.

“Red,” Hunt said, drawing my attention as the crowd dispersed around us to continue the celebration. “You okay?”

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