Page 10 of The Iron Fae
“Guns?” he hums. “That seems… easy.”
“You use your blades?” I point.
Kai picks up his jacket and pulls it back over his arms. His honey filled gaze is amused to say the least.
“And magic.”
He hovers near me, placing a hand behind my back, but not touching my skin. I’m relieved with the level of respect he offers me. Chewing my lips, I walk beside him. It’s a short walk from his office out to the stables.
The warm sun covers my skin in a soothing way as it moves out from behind a cloud. Dark fluffy clouds dot the sky off toward the horizon. We weave through a garden not so much unlike Cordelia’s.
A horse is already saddled and ready, tied to a wooden post. Behind the stable is a vast valley, far away from the woods I’d ventured through when I first arrived here. That must have been the back entrance. A few men ride together in the valley, dressed in much similar fashions to Kai atop their horses.
This is when I know I’m way over my head. Though, I probably should have figured that out sooner.
My steps falter, my heels dig into the earth with every step. Sighing, I raise a hand. “I just can’t with these. I’m sorry if it makes me less of a lady or look less like I’m here to be your…you know, but I can’t.” I fuss with the buckles, knowing full and well that I’m probably giving Kai a good show of my fun buns between my legs.
His gaze though is turned toward the men, he’s averted his attention, but grips my arm to steady me as I bend. A satisfied moan slips out as I set my bare feet down in the prickly grass.
“Better?” His accent is sweet.
“Much.” I hang the shoes from my fingers, not sure what else to do with them. Kai snaps his fingers and they disappear.
“They’ll be waiting inside your closet.”
I crinkle my nose as we approach and the decaying scent of horse dung greets us. If my human nose is this offended how are the Fae not gagging on it?
“Would you like to ride with me or would you like your own horse?” He asks, stopping to run his palm down the side of the horse. His stallion is grey with black speckles dotting its fur. The horse’s black mane has been cut relatively short, groomed so it’s perfectly straight and ends bluntly.
“I don’t mind riding with you.”
“You don’t know anything about horses, do you?” He pats the stallion then closes the distance between us.
“Not at all.”
“And hunting?”
“Only a vague idea of the concept.” I purse my lips.
He chuckles lightly. “Are my brother and sister so overwhelming that you’d really rather be doing this?”
“No, but yeah.Yes,kind of.” I wring my hands.
“Duly noted.” Kai nods and reaches toward my waist. “May I?”
“Yes.”
He grips my sides and lifts me up to the saddle. His hands slip down my legs as I adjust and balance on the horse’s back. His smile becomes tense, his gaze following his hands.
You have amazing legs.I remember Lincoln saying. Maybe Lincoln’s not the only one to notice.
“It may be better for you, since you’re new to this, to straddle. Hopefully it’s not too uncomfortable in that outfit.”
My hands quiver as I cling to the saddle and pull one leg over it. Nerves burst in popping bubbles inside my stomach. I try my best to ignore them.
Kai sniffles once before he unties the horse from its post and reaches for the horn of the saddle, swinging himself carefully around me. He pushes me forward gently, his legs cupping me and his chest hot against my back. Only the cool metal of his blade within the baldric soothes the heat.
“Ready?” he whispers over my shoulder.
