Page 3

The clip-clop of hooves on the sidewalk drew my gaze away from the rabbit and the hay bales. A majestic centaur approached us at a leisurely pace. I watched, mesmerized, unable to take my eyes off him. He might very well be the most handsome creature I had ever seen in my life. He literally glowed with male beauty. There were no other words to explain the light emanating from his skin. My fingers itched to touch him. I wanted to run my hand up his arm. I wanted to see what the rest of him looked like and whether he glowed everywhere else.

The wand buzzed and sent a stinging shock through my fingers. I lifted it and yelled in pain. When I looked at the centaur again, my raging hormones were once more under control.

Oh. Right. Something strange was happening here.

It was Farley’s skin I wanted to explore, not this beautiful stranger’s. I didn’t even like shifters. Farley was my exception—my only exception. And Goddess help me, I intended to keep it that way.

The centaur stopped behind the hay bales and shyly smiled in my direction. “Greetings, Innkeeper,” he said in a voice that melted my insides. He bowed his head respectfully.

Wow. The centaur’s voice was as lethal as the rest of him.

It took a lot of concerted effort to ignore the lustful thoughts his voice caused. A conversation with this creature would weaken any woman’s legs, regardless of how many she possessed. For a couple of seconds, I was actually grateful mine were hidden beneath the layers of my ugly skirts.

I blinked and tried not to stare at him. “Welcome to the inn, Prince Robin of Locksley.” It took me a few moments, but I finally dragged my gaze back to Alfred. “Peace said her friend was dealing with some sort of curse.”

“Indeed, he is,” Alfred said, bobbing his rabbit head. “Are you not affected by it?”

I cautiously glanced at Prince Robin again, who ducked his head to study his hooves. “No, I’m not really seeing anything out of the ordinary.”

“Because he refused to date, the Fairy Queen turned him into a lothario. Everywhere we go, His Highness is now bombarded with unwelcome advances from strange females.”

I shrugged. “Why is that a curse? Most men would love to have that problem.”

“He is betrothed,” Alfred said stiffly, puffing up his furry chest. “Drawing so much unwanted attention is unseemly. He desires only one female in his bed, and I support his choice to abstain from others. Hiding from the efforts of the curse is what has brought us to your door.”

I lifted the wand in my hand and glared at it. “Maybe you should pop out and take this one, Jezel. The prudish rabbit speaks your archaic language. You know that I have no idea how to talk to someone about abstaining.”

“I beg your pardon,” Alfred exclaimed in his snootiest tone. “Are you suffering another mental breakdown? Do you have some strange fetish about your wand?”

Loud laughter erupted from me. The wand sparked painfully against my fingers, causing me to drop it to the porch floor. Still chuckling, I bent to pick it up. Unfortunately, the corset-tight layers of heavy cloth wouldn’t let me reach down enough. I laughed again, feeling utterly ridiculous. Carol would pay for all this nutty stuff—all of it.

“Don’t bend over too far, Selene. I’ll get that for you,” Farley said, walking outside.

Picking up the wand, he smiled and handed it back to me. He must have come from the back of the house. Because they were here so often, Paul and his mates had carved a path through the woods that led to the inn’s backyard. To shorten their walk from the infamous Assjacket, Farley said he bent time with his new physics. Now it only took them all of five minutes to reach the inn.

If it were anyone but Farley, I would have considered such a wild claim about bending physics to be a strange pickup line meant only to impress.

Hey baby, I bent physics for you. Are you impressed?

I understood magic, and I could tell Farley possessed some. What I didn’t quite believe was that bending physics on a path was truly possible, but... whatever.

Since I talked to a ghost witch inhabiting a wand and was stuck in a magical house that dressed me in ugly clothes whenever it wanted, I had no right to challenge other people’s magical claims.

“I have unexpected guests, Farley. These are the friends Princess Peace-and-Harmony mentioned.” Looking back at Alfred, I inclined my head toward Farley. “This is my hot date. He sees beyond my ghastly innkeeper clothes.”

Farley grinned at me and turned to be polite to my guest. He nodded and said hello to the rabbit without asking a single prying question. As if he saw strange things every day, he cast a cursory, indifferent glance at the hay bales, saddle, and hay fork.

Then his gaze shifted beyond the hay to the centaur looming behind it. His eyes turned feral in an instant, and a deep growl emanated from the area covered by his eight-pack abs. It rose in his throat, and when it emerged from his mouth, it was everything except a roar.

I reached out a hand and patted his abs. It took all my willpower not to explore them. Who knew roaring would turn me on so much? “Shush, honey. You’re scaring my guests.”

“He can’t be a guest because he can’t stay here,” Farley said in a growly voice. The fangs I loved were on full display, but he was not smiling. “I forbid you to look at him.”

2

My hand froze against Farley’s intriguing eight-pack. I must have misheard him because I know he would never openly order me around. Well, maybe he would do it in bed, but definitely not in front of strangers.

I eased my hand away from him just in case. “I’m sorry. What did you say to me?”