Hazel's Promise (The Fey Quartet Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

hand. His grip wasn’t tight. She could pull free, if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to. What she wanted was to relax into Tam’s embrace, to have him hold her close and not stop kissing her.
    Hazel almost protested when Tam finally released her. She stared at him, breathless and dazed.
    Tam grinned. The glint of mischief was back in his eyes. “Your debt is paid, sweet Hazel.”
    Hazel lurched back on her heels, dismayed. I let him kiss me almost witless . She scrambled hurriedly to her feet. Her lips were hot and tingling, her cheeks burning.
    She walked around the fire on weak legs and sat, struggling to pull her dignity around her. The nape of her neck felt cold without Tam’s hand there. She rubbed it with trembling fingers. She wanted to rub her lips, too, wanted to stop them tingling.
    To her shame, she realized that she hadn’t thought of Drewet from the instant Tam’s lips had touched hers.
    It was the cider, she told herself. I drank too much of it . But in her heart of hearts, she knew that wasn’t true. It was Tam’s mouth, Tam’s tongue, Tam’s skill at kissing that had stripped her of caution and common sense. Not the cider.
    Pride kept her sitting at the fire, when all she wanted to do was crawl into her blanket and pull it up over her head. She tried to look unconcerned and nonchalant, as if Tam’s kiss had been merely commonplace, as if she weren’t shaken to her very core.
    Tam wasn’t shaken. He was spreading out a blanket on the other side of the fire, whistling under his breath.
    Hazel rubbed her lips surreptitiously with the back of her hand. It didn’t erase the tingle.
    Tam turned back to the fire and sat, cross-legged. Hazel found herself unable to look at his face. “I think I’ll turn in,” she said, and was pleased with how casual she sounded.
    “Good night,” Tam said cheerfully, as if absolutely nothing had happened.
     
     

CHAPTER FIVE
    HAZEL FOUND IT difficult to meet Tam’s eyes in the morning. She was embarrassed by their kiss. Embarrassed, and ashamed. How could she have responded to Tam when it was Drewet she loved?
    Tam wasn’t embarrassed. He whistled jauntily as he folded up his blanket and stowed it in the packsaddle.
    Hazel folded her own blanket, not looking at him as he strapped the packsaddle onto Marigold’s back. She buried the blanket in her sack and yanked the drawstring tight.
    “Toss that over here,” Tam said, holding out one hand.
    Hazel hugged the sack to her chest. “You needn’t come any further. Mottlethorpe’s only two hours from here. I’ll be fine by myself.”
    “We’re coming,” he said, and gestured with his hand for the sack.
    Hazel hugged it more tightly. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
    “Tough,” Tam said. He crossed the small clearing in three strides, pulled the sack from her grip, and returned to Marigold.
    Hazel followed him. “I said I’ll be fine by myself!”
    “And I told you yesterday that Marigold’s a stubborn beast. She’s got her heart set on Mottlethorpe. Don’t disappoint her.”
    “I’m not joking!” She reached for the sack.
    The cheerfulness faded from Tam’s face, leaving it serious. “Nor am I. It’s too dangerous for you to travel alone. I’m coming with you.”
    “I don’t want you to,” she said stiffly.
    “Is this because of last night?” Tam strapped the sack in place. “It was just a kiss, Hazel. Forget about it.” He reached out and ruffled her hair. “Come on, let’s go. I’ll tell you about London, if you like.” And his manner was so casual, so brotherly, that she felt foolish.
     
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    BY THE TIME Tam had told her about London—the cantilevered bridge and the great wall with its gatehouses, the beauty of St Paul’s Cathedral—Hazel had mastered her embarrassment. She was able to look Tam in the eye again.
    “What would you like to hear about next?” he asked cheerfully. “Coventry? Lincoln? York?”
    “My mother grew up in York. What did you think of