Protector of the Light (Champion of the Sidhe urban fantasy series) Read Online Free

slowly, showing her that it bore no weapon nor was it intended for violence. He held it in a softly curved shape, not flattened to slap nor clenched to strike. As he would have approached a new steed, he eased his hand closer to her face, testing to see if she might flinch or accept. He could tell that even holding herself still for him challenged her. He saw it in her tremble and heard it in the quickening of her breath. With as delicate a caress as he could achieve, Lugh cupped her cheek. Mingled in the barest of Touch that he granted her, Lugh showed her kindness: the majesty of the Sidhe, the beauty of the fey, the wonderment of magic, the love one has for the simpler beings that desire nothing more than to be loved and treated with kind acceptance, for which they granted a fierce loyalty.
    When she leaned her cheek into his palm, he knew she'd surrendered her resistance. Guided by his lightest encouragement, her face upturned toward him. Lugh placed a chaste kiss upon her lips. Her mouth softened to his, and he could have taken liberties with her if he desired them, and she would not have resisted. Rather, he lingered in that feathered kiss as he Touched her, feeling at once both her need and her lack of it. The woman had been Touched, this much was true. The Touch burned a void into humans, making them an empty vessel inside that forever longed for fulfillment. But this woman had been filled with Sidhe magic and very recently. Lugh need not give her but the slimmest Touch to top her vessel to the brim once more. He loathed to waste even the scant bit of magic he'd granted her, but for the location of other Sidhe, he'd have paid a greater price.
    Lugh withdrew from the kiss only far enough to gaze into her eyes. The heat of her breath, coming in hard gasps, brushed sweetly over his face. His palm still cradled her face, though he no longer Touched her with his magic. "Now, you shall take me to the Sidhe." A simple instruction to test her compliance.
    With a tiny nod of her head, she whispered, "Yes."
    His smile was so soft as to only touch the corners of his mouth. Lugh murmured to her, "If you are loyal, if you are truthful with me in all things, if you are willing to bear my secrets to your grave, then shall I consider becoming your patron. This is no light thing, not for you and not for me. You must prove yourself before I grant such a commitment." The pad of his thumb brushed tenderly over her cheek, petting her, soothing her, luring her to entrust him.
    Lugh glanced back over his shoulder at Selena, for accepting the human as his servant served more than one purpose. "I shall accept your charge as my companion, as long as she remains faithful to me," he stipulated, "and provide her with what protection I am able." Although he remained somewhat dubious as to what benefits this human could offer him beyond the location of the Unseelie. Like as not, the vampire meant the woman to be nothing but a proxy to spy on him and report his movements back to her mistress, but then knowing that meant he could use her to his advantage when next he must negotiate with the vampire. If he guided and indoctrinated her properly, London's loyalty would swiftly turn to him, heart and soul. And if nothing else, he could always task her with the menial errands suitable to what skills she possessed. Without Willem, or another lesser fey, to fetch and carry for him, there was clothing that needed tending to and food to be procured and other such domestic concerns.
    "Good." Selena gave him a truly brilliant smile that seemed very genuine. She finger combed his hair, grooming him so that his ears were hidden, yet another uniquely feminine sign that she'd truly taken to him and the concern for his wellbeing. "Then if I learn anything that might be worth your blood in trade, I shall contact you through London."
    "I have no doubt that you will." He offered a rueful smile and then collected the axe once more from the vanity. When the human didn't