Read Online Everlasting Enchantment by Kathryne Kennedy - Free Book Online

behind her. She arched a brow at the smile on Gareth’s face, and obviously assumed she knew the reason for it. She shivered inside her black costume, making the beads glitter in the candlelight. “That didn’t take long… I knew she couldn’t resist you.”
    Gareth shrugged.
    Selena licked her red lips and took a step toward him. “Where’s the relic?”
    His gaze slowly traveled the length of her. “You have no need of it, my lady.”
    She caught her breath and then smoothed her hands down her bodice. “Perhaps not, but His Grace…”
    Gareth abruptly strode forward and tore the sheer black fabric off her shoulders, crushing her waist against him as he buried his face in her neck. “Must we wait?”
    She chuckled and he felt the vibration against his lips. “You know how I like it, don’t you?” Her hands stole beneath his hair and her nails skittered across his neck. “Ah, yes, but of course you do.” Still, her lust hadn’t clouded her senses yet, because she quickly asked, “Where’s the relic?”
    Gareth ran his tongue across her skin. “It’s still in the bedroom with the were-cat. Shall we say she is a bit… tied up, at the moment?”
    “Isn’t little Millicent full of surprises,” murmured Selena. She glanced back over her shoulder at the guard hulking in the doorway. “If I don’t ring within an hour, return with your men.”
    Gareth glanced up to meet the envious eyes of the guard before the door shuddered closed. Selena tore at his surcoat, returning the favor of her ruined pelerine, and he heard the much-sturdier fabric rip as he struggled out of his sword belt. Gareth released her and quickly removed his tunic and the thinner one under it. She stepped back and her black eyes grew even larger as she studied him. “Sweet Hades, what a deadly combination. That youthful face and body with those wickedly knowing eyes.” Her fingers flew to her back and soon her silk gown lay at her feet, only a few buttons rolling across the room in the process.
    “Tell me, Sir Knight. Will you abandon your code of chivalry for me?” She dragged off her petticoats.
    Gareth swallowed. She wore no chemise, just a corset that lifted her breasts in offering, and stockings tied with black lace around her naked thighs. His body quivered at the lascivious woman and yet his mind recoiled. For a moment, he froze with the shock.
    “Have you ever made love to a were-bat before?” she asked as she stepped forward, her hand eagerly finding the hard ridge of him beneath his braies.
    “The relic has never chosen one,” gasped Gareth. His thoughts strayed to the closed bedroom door and the listening woman behind it. Why was he thinking of Millicent while a beautiful woman teased his body? Some of the women he’d slept with liked to perform in front of others and he’d overcome shyness hundreds of years ago. So he couldn’t be concerned that she’d overhear them. And the were-cat had asked him to bed Selena, so it couldn’t be his honor that bothered him.
    Why, then, didn’t he want Selena?
    “You will remember me,” promised the were-bat as she leaned forward and licked his neck. Gareth’s hands caressed her shoulders and expertly started to untie the laces at the back of her corset without any conscious thought from his addled head. His body knew the steps of the dance and could manage without him.
    The bedroom door flew open and he turned his head in time to see Millicent shift into her were-form. But Selena ignored the interruption, her mouth sucking at the skin of his throat, and when his gaze turned back to her, he noticed she’d sprouted black leathery wings. The pressure of her mouth on his neck increased and she uttered tiny mewling sounds. And then she bit him. Hard enough to draw blood. Gareth reflexively tried to push her away but the pain from the bite quickly eased and a shudder went through his groin. A distant part of him realized she’d released some drug when she’d pierced his skin, but