Lust Read Online Free Page A

ones.
    â€œIf you three would allow yourself to leave the estate, you might find a suitor. It is your eccentric natures that make others suspicious, nothing more. Smile, flirt, flasha bit of ankle or bosom for once, you might be surprised what it will induce.”
    â€œYou are far too liberal in your dealings with others,” Prue cautioned. “It is better to be temperate and even.”
    â€œAnd boring as the devil,” Mary returned. It was a direct hit. But Prue bore it well as she always did.
    â€œCome now, we’re sisters,” Mercy whispered, linking her arms with Prue and Mary. “What is there left, if not kindness between us?”
    â€œI’m only trying to help,” Mary sniffed. “For I have no wish to see you all end up as old maids, and I for one will not sit in my tower room becoming one with you. Tonight I am going to the green, and I am having a dance and a meat pie, and I’m going to go a-Maying as all other young ladies do. There is no harm in it, Prudence,” Mary snapped, “so you may put away your pinched lips and your disapproving frown. Now, who is coming with me?”
    Her question was met with absolute silence.
    â€œAs I thought. You three are utterly hopeless.”
    Â 
    The twigs cracked beneath the horses’ hooves as they emerged from the edge of the woods. Before them, sun light filtered through the leaves that whispered around them. The hounds they brought sniffed the air, their ears alert, their dark, obsidian eyes watching the humans as they prepared for the Beltane festival.
    Niall’s words seemed to whisper all around them. Some by sin rise, and some by virtue fall…
    â€œDo you believe him? Our king’s belief that our curse will end once we find these virtues?”
    Thane shrugged at Kian’s question as he watched the approach of four women down the path. Niall, while king of the Dark Fey, was also his half brother. As the eldest, Niall had always seemed awe inspiring to Thane, who was younger by five years. He had never had occasion to doubt Niall, nor had his older brother ever been proven wrong. They had very little to go on in regards to the curse, so why not trust in Niall and his vision?
    â€œSeems a great folly to put any stock in the Bard’s words,” Rinion grumbled. “He’s only a human after all.”
    â€œShakespeare,” Avery grunted. “I only cared for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But then, I’m partial to Titania.”
    â€œTo fucking the mortal actress who plays Titania,” Kian corrected.
    Thane raised his hand to silence their banter. Pointing to the women, he commanded silence, then waved his hand, concealing their presence with faery glamour. If the women were to look their way, they would see only the iridescent glimmer of a sunbeam sparkling through the trees.
    Convinced they could not be seen or heard, Thane turned to his companions. “Niall would not have sent us here if he supposed it was foolishness. Every one hundred years, the virtues are born into the mortal realm. They have been born. And they are of age. Our king believes that this is the only way to break his mother’s curse on our court.”
    â€œDo you think the time is right?” Avery asked as he reined in his black steed to a halt. The women were close and the faery mount could smell their presence. “It’s only been six months since we were here to bury Irian’s woman.”
    â€œAnd you stole that maid from the village,” Kian snapped.
    Damn him, Kian was intent on starting something with Avery. Thane sent his twin a hard glare, which Kian naturally returned.
    Like Niall, Thane’s twin was a fey prince, possessed with the cardinal sin of envy. Thane could see the jealousy in his brother’s eyes as he glared at Avery, who harbored the sin of gluttony. Of the seven of them, Avery and Kian were most opposed. As Envy, Kian coveted everything Avery had. And