The Ruby Kiss Read Online Free Page B

her head drop back on the pillow with a thump and threw an arm over her face. They’d obviously hit a major cultural difference. She fought to control her fractured breathing and calm down. The fact he’d called it mating should have warned her that something was off. It wasn’t his fault if nightstalkers only made love when they wanted children; she was human, he was not.
    “There’s been a misunderstanding,” she said, striving for a level tone. “I am
not
having a baby.”
    His lip curled with disdain. “You mean you don’t want to bear a nightstalker boy.”
    “No. That’s not what I mean. Well, it is, but . . .” Blast. Now she’d hurt his feelings, although why she cared after this fiasco she didn’t know. “Listen, Nightshade. I’m not prejudiced against nightstalkers, if that’s something you’re worried about. I won’t have
any
man’s baby.”
    He stared at her as though she blasphemed. “I thought females wanted babies. My friends’ women all have babies.”
    “Two misunderstandings there: I’m not your woman, and I definitely do not want a baby right now. Surely you’ve had other lovers who didn’t want babies?”
    He stared at her blankly for a moment, managing to look intimidating even in the nude. “The situation has never arisen. I usually prefer men.”
    Ruby’s mouth dropped open. For long seconds she couldn’tthink of a single thing to say. Then blood rushed to her head. “Get out of my bedroom. Now!”
    “What have I done to anger you?” he demanded. He looked even more confused.
    “Do you want a bloody list?” she screeched, the last shreds of her self-control shot to pieces. “Get out!”
    With a grunt of disgust, he snatched up his jeans and headed for the door.
    When he’d left the room, Ruby closed her eyes and dragged in steadying breaths. How the hell had she gotten herself into such a mess? With a slight twinge of regret, she realized she had probably been unfair to him, but babies were a sensitive subject and her emotions had flared out of control.
    Downstairs, her dogs barked like mad and the back door slammed. He was gone. An ache of missed opportunity hit her. Too late she feared she might have ruined something special.

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Chapter Two
    Nightshade had spent the day tramping north through woodland. Now it was dark enough for him to take to the air, he flew between the rocky mountain peaks of the Scottish Highlands following the trail of silvery rivers through the glens. Somewhere in one of these valleys he should find the fairy Gathering of Kith and Kin.
    He scowled down at the scenery, still smarting from Ruby’s inexplicable behavior. One minute she’d been panting in anticipation of mating, the next she’d shoved him away. The woman had looked at him as though he was a boggart that had just crawled out of the muck! What had he done wrong?
    Well, it was Ruby’s loss if she didn’t want his son. If he’d found one woman with whom he wanted to mate, there must be another somewhere. Maybe he would meet a suitable female at the Gathering. Hosted jointly by the Scottish Seelie and Unseelie Fairy Courts, when his djinn friend Devin invited him he’d described it as the social event of the decade. Members of The Good People came from all over the world to attend the five-day celebration.
    The sound of music reached him, and he saw points of light dancing in a valley to his right. He descended, noticing colorful tents and teepees between the trees. He circled, trying to spot his father in the crowd, but the campfires and lanterns did not shed enough light to identify Dragon among the thronging masses. With so many fairies in one place, it was impossible to pick out the psychic signature of an isolated individual.
    Throughout the meeting ground, knots of people drank and talked around campfires. Their voices rose and fell, blending with the lilting sounds of flutes, drums, and stringed instruments. The crowd stretched along the southern bank of a loch. Above