A Little Night Muse(32)

                To her delight, hot color stained his cheeks. Had any of her                     kind ever blushed? She couldn’t imagine a pursuit wicked enough to fluster a                         phae. No, she would only find such a gorgeous,                     riotous fever in her flushed cowboy.

                He pulled a mock scowl and nudged her plate. “There are seconds                     if you want them.”

                “I do want,” she confessed with another suggestive glance from                     beneath her lashes. “Maybe thirds.”

                When they finished, he made her sit while he cleaned up. She                     had never seen dishes washed before. The plates from a phaedrealii feast—spun with illusion from bracken leaves or shards                     of ice or nothing at all—were torn or smashed or disappeared when backs were                     turned.

                She rather thought she preferred the phae method.

                She brought herself up short. Of course she preferred the phae way. She was                     phae. And the only way to get back to her way of                     life was to end the Hunter’s. The impossible compulsion pressed her harder than                     Wolly’s insistent stare at the back of her head.

                Josh dunked the dishes in lemon-scented bubbles. “I’ll fire up                     the cell signal booster. I meant to do that as soon as we got home, but I was                     distracted.” He glanced at her over his shoulder. The intensity of his gaze                     sparked something in her; not quite a blush, but...”Maybe we can reach the                     Hunters and find out when they’ll be back.”

                Curse the Hunter. Adelyn gripped the edge of the stool as the                     blood rushed out of her head. “Tell me about them.”

                His brows lifted. “You’ve never met them?”

                “No. We have...acquaintances in common.”

                “They’re good people. They’ll help you.”

                They’d kill her if they discovered her intent. And they weren’t                     people at all. Not that Josh could know that.

                Again, her expression must have worried him because he left the                     soapy water to stand in front of her, his knees bumping hers while his hands                     dripped. “Whatever happened to you, it happened far away from here. You’re with                     me now, and I won’t let anything bad touch you again.”