“I feel it, too,” she said, her teeth beginning to chatter.
“Hope you can ride,” he muttered then tore off his shirt, kicked away his boots, and dragged down his jeans. Before she had a chance to think about the fact he wore no underwear, he shook his body and transformed.
She’d forgotten how large he was in his satyr’s skin. He reached out a hand, and she let him swing her up onto his long horse’s back. Then she scooted toward his torso and slipped her arms around him, holding tight.
Nikon made a sound like a loud whinny and charged down the darkening path toward Bonne Nuit.
Chapter 5
They skirted the village, keeping to the trees so the humans wouldn’t see them. Unfortunately, they didn’t count on passing Gus Hearn, the local ferryman, who sat high in his deer stand in the woods.
When they were hidden again by brush, they heard cussing and a crash behind them, and then more cussing as he shouted to himself, or into a phone.
“They’ll think he drank a little too much of Ole Winnie’s hooch,” Nikon muttered, sounding not a bit out of breath although he galloped like a racehorse.
They passed the trail leading to the bed & breakfast, and Radha didn’t say a word, knowing he was likely heading straight for Vindlér, where there would be less chance a human might see them. She held on, her knees gripping his sides, her arms tucked under his, and her palms clutching his chest.
“I don’t feel it anymore,” she shouted. When the fear dissipated, another emotion rose, bringing with it some very confusing sensations—like the way her breasts tingled as they rocked against his back, and how the coarse hair on his horse’s body abraded her inner thighs.
“I don’t feel it anymore, either,” he said. “But I’m not taking the risk. I promised I’d protect you.”
His pace didn’t slow until they entered the clearing. To the left was the large oak, the witches’ sacred tree. To the right stood the building that was still partially under construction because they kept expanding.
Before they came to a halt in front of the steps leading into the building, men flowed from the sides of the building and through the front door.
Ali and Ethan raced toward them, Ali extending his arms to catch her when she unwound her arms from the satyr’s torso and dropped.
“Was there trouble?” Ethan barked out.
“We were walking to town,” Nikon said, his chest billowing. “The air grew suddenly cold, and both of us felt a presence.”
Ali hugged Radha against his chest. “You did right bringing her here.”
“Were you seen?” Ethan asked.
Nikon grimaced. “By Gus Hearn at his deer stand.”
“Then I think we’re safe,” Ethan drawled, aware of the ferryman’s penchant for booze. “Hit the locker room and get changed.”
Radha glanced to the side to see Nikon shake. A millisecond later, he stood nude in his human flesh and walked up the steps—after giving her a wink, because he’d caught her staring at him.
Ali tucked a finger under her chin, raising her face. “Did you enjoy your ride?” he asked, his dark eyes narrowing.
Radha lifted her chin away. “The phrase ‘hung like a horse’ is rattling around my brain,” she quipped.
There was laughter around them, but Radha didn’t dare glance away from Ali. She could tell he wasn’t pleased.
“That’s not something you see every day,” Renner said, clapping a hand on Ali’s shoulder. “A beauty riding a satyr. Wish I’d thought to take a picture.”
“I did,” Sigurd said, grinning and holding up his iPhone.
Ali looked beyond her, his gaze scanning the woods around them. “Do you think it was your mare?”
“I don’t know that I have a mare,” she said. “Everyone’s assuming that’s what it is.”
He slipped one arm behind her back and guided her up the steps. “I think you’d best stay inside from now on.”
“I won’t be a prisoner,” Radha said, annoyed that once again the guys were making decisions for her as they’d done for all the witches when they’d first arrived. Those first weeks had been uncomfortable for all her sisters, cooped up in the B&B, their every movement monitored.