The Master of the Hunt: A Paranormal Romance Read Online Free Page A

swept him away with all my charms.” She muttered darkly to herself.
    “Something quite like that,” Henry’s voice and masculine chuckle from the doorway made her immediately flush with embarrassment at her previous statement. He carried a silver chalice in one hand, and a platter filled with tiny finger sandwiches in another. “Here, drink this first.” He handed Elizabeth the cup, which contained a shining, honey colored liquid. She drank hungrily and had forgotten the last time she had had anything to drink this morning. Her parched throat accepted the drink heartily.
    When she drank a bit of the liquid, her mouth seemed almost to explode with a sweet, fruity taste. Mmmmmm, she thought to herself. Instantly her headache began to ebb, as did the nausea and the constant ache in her arm. “That’s amazing!” Elizabeth said delighted. She swiftly emptied the contents of the cup and handed it back to him hoping for more. Henry sat next to her on the bed smiling, and began feeding her the sandwiches. They, too, tasted marvelous, a deeply spiced meaty flavor that she had never experienced before either.
    Once she had finished all the food and drink, Henry set the platter and cup down on the table next to the large bed. Then turning back to her he gently undid the sling covering her broken arm. Pushing up the sleeve of her sweater, he gently checked her wound. The touch of his fingers on her bare skin immediately distracted Elizabeth from any pain his tender ministrations might have ever caused. Knowing this might be her only chance, Elizabeth leaned in to the handsome Master of the Hunt and stole a kiss.
    Completely unexpected, the kiss exploded into passion between the two, and, using her good arm, Elizabeth pulled Henry closer to her as she lay down on the bed. Henry broke the kiss momentarily to look deep into her eyes. “So be it,” he murmured into her ear. “There is no turning back now my sweet.” So carefully and passionately, Henry then made Elizabeth his.

Chapter 5
    After their lovemaking was over, Elizabeth fell into a deep, dreamless slumber. Hours later when she awoke, the room was awash in the rosy pink and orange of dusk. Henry was nowhere to be seen in the large bedchamber, but a deep red rose lay on the bed next to her. A note was tied to it.
    Elizabeth went to grab the rose, and suddenly realized with a start, that her broken arm no longer hurt. In fact, it clearly was no longer broken. “That’s not… possible.” She said wonderingly to herself. Opening the note, Elizabeth read Henry’s message, written in the beautiful handwritten style of a well educated man of years long past.
    “Beloved lady, dress in the clothes I have provided you here and meet us all out in the yard when you awake. All will be explained at that time. Henry”
    Elizabeth looked around the darkened room and saw a beautiful riding habit in tones of scarlet red and embossed with golden thread draped across a chair on the other side of the bed. She got up, stretched a bit and went to further inspect what was there. To her astonishment she also found a beautiful pair of black kid skin boots which stood next to the clothes as well.
    Elizabeth did as she was instructed in the note, and put on the new clothes. Amazing! Everything fit exactly as if it had been tailored expressly for her by hand. But how could that be? Once dressed she went walking through the immense house looking for Henry – or for anyone at that point. For some reason it was empty – then she heard sounds coming from outside.
    She headed out through the front door, to see the hunting party waiting there for her. There the group was arranged in a semi-circle, with the darkest horses on the left, and the lightest ones on the right. All of the ladies were dressed in clothing similar to hers, while the men wore gleaming suits of armor. And all of the party carried bows, with a quiver of arrows slung across their backs. The nine giant white and red hounds had