Read Online Kelpie (Come Love a Fey) by Kaye Draper - Free Book Online Page A

on the
end of my bed.  Somebody pinch me.
    “Good
morning.”  He grinned, at me and I could only imagine what I must look like,
hair standing on end and bags under my eyes.
    “What
do you mean morning? ”  I gestured toward my bedroom window.  “Do you see
any form of daylight out there?”   Geez .  Waking up at my usual time was bad
enough.  This was just sick.  I reached over and turned the clock toward me,
squinting at the glowing digital numbers.  Five o’clock.  It was five o’clock
in the freaking morning.  “What on earth do you want?”
    He
stood and went to my closet, where he began pulling out clothes at random.  “We
are going to look for my kin.”
    I
gaped at him.  “I said we could go after work tonight.”
    He
shrugged.  “I think it’s best if I put out the word early, when the world is
just beginning to stir.  Besides, I felt that you were about to awake.”  Now he
had control over my circadian rhythms?
    I
closed my eyes and took a deep breath.  “Fine.  Whatever.”  I was awake now
anyway.  I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.
    Leith
crossed to the bed and handed me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.  “We’ll start
in the woods near here and work our way outward.  I will lose some of my
anonymity, but it can’t be helped.”
    I
shooed him out of my room and got dressed in silence.  At this point, I was
just going along with the charade.  Maybe once he saw that he didn’t have any
random family living out in the woods, he would start to realize he needed some
professional help.
    I
made my way to the bathroom, where I splashed some cold water on my face and
dragged a brush through my hair, leaving it loose and fluffy.  I squinted at
myself in the mirror.  My roots were starting to show, darker than the rich
caramel color I got out of a box.  I would need to touch up the color soon,
though Leith would probably complain about that as well- unnatural and all.  He
came to peer into the room impatiently.
    “Are
you ready?”  He seemed keyed up.  I took in his reflection in the mirror while
I pretended to examine my face.  I swear he had filled out some in just the
brief time that I had known him.  The soft cotton shirt was a bit stretched
across his wide chest.  His crazy hair was a riot, as usual, and it gleamed as
if it were wet.  I flicked my gaze back to my reflection, feeling depressed at
the absurdity of the situation.  I had a gorgeous guy living with me, and we
were going to go off into the woods at five a.m. to look for his fairy
relatives. 
    I
sighed and headed toward the kitchen to get my shoes and purse.  “Alright,
c’mon.”
    We
drove to a small wooded area just outside of town.  At Leith’s direction, I
pulled over on the side of the road and followed him into the woods on foot. 
We walked for about five minutes or so, making good time as I scrambled to keep
up with his silent, flowing pace.  The smaller saplings near the road were
gradually replaced with larger maples and pines.  The rapid thumping sound of a
woodpecker sprang to life from somewhere nearby and I craned my head to try to
catch a glimpse of black and white in the trees around us.
    “So,
uh, what are we looking for out here?  Do you really expect to find your family
out in the middle of the woods?”
    He
snorted.  “My clan.  They aren’t relatives.”  He held a branch aside for me and
I ducked awkwardly, my breath catching as the maneuver brought me into the
shelter of his arms.
    I
stepped away, rolling my eyes.  “So they aren’t all a bunch of horses like
you?”
    Leith
sounded amused.  “A clan is a family, I suppose, but it’s made up of all
different sorts of fey.  My clan was made up of water fey and woodland
sprites.”
    He
paused and looked around him.  “My real clan would be in Scotland, but some may
have moved here or been taken here as I was.  And any of the fey here with
similar affinities should recognize me as their brother.”
    I
shook