Autumn could have sworn there was someone watching her as she’d talked with her father. But that couldn’t be right. Rylan had the foresight to disappear when her father had arrived. Not that it mattered. He was probably fully aware of what her dad wanted her to do. He had a choice. Unlike her.

“Hello?” she called out, hoping whoever it was answered. She hoped they were friendly. If not, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. Calling her father back was out of the question. Not when she was mad at him. And for all his faults, Rylan had left them be.

A rustling came from the right, and she turned in that direction, surprised to find a small golden snake clinging to one of the branches of her willow tree. She’d never seen him about before. Then again, she’d never seen any snakes about. They weren’t common in this part of the country.

“Hello,” she repeated, softer this time, and reached out a hand towards the creature. It shook its head. Wait…it did what? She had to be seeing things, snakes didn’t shake their heads unless they were part of children’s books. “Okay then…how are you?”

The snake stayed silent. Autumn shook her head. Of course the snake was silent. It was a snake. She supposed it could be a shifter, but it’s small size made that seem unlikely. Unless it was a child. But again, that seemed unlikely. What shifter parents would let their child slither around in strange gardens. Actually, quite a lot of them probably would. They tended towards the live-and-learn persuasion as far as Autumn understood.

The snake untangled itself from the willow branch, and coiled itself on the floor, before a haze of lilac smoke seemed to rise from the creature, much like the panic in Autumn. Snakes shouldn’t be doing that…should they?

If she hadn’t been watching, she’d never have believed what she was seeing. There, stood precisely where the snake had been moments before, was a man. His hair and eyes shone like gold, drawing her to him in a way she hadn’t expected. She’d never felt this way before. It was an almost kind of helpless feeling. Like she wasn’t completely in control of herself.

And she hated it.

“Very well thank you,” he replied, his voice smooth and velvety as it rolled over her. Oh no, when had she turned into such a girl? She wanted thrill and adventure, not romance and seduction.

Though saying that…the seduction part could also be fun. She wondered if snake-man still had a forked tongue in this body, but pushed those thoughts to the side. Her father would have a fit if he knew the wicked turn they’d taken.

“And how about you, Autumn?” he asked, her name sending a little thrill through her.

“How do you know my name?” she bit out after a moment’s reflection on how odd it was that he did. He looked away from her, and in the direction of the house. Oh. He’d been listening to the conversation she’d had with her dear old father. Great, just what she needed. “It’s rude to listen in.”

“It’s rude to follow too,” he pointed out, an amused grin spreading over his face.

“You heard about Rylan then?” She sighed, pushing her hand over her face, before pulling it away hastily. It probably wasn’t an attractive thing for her to do. Why she was even caring about that stuff, she wasn’t so sure. It wasn’t like her. Men were there to satisfy an urge, that was all.

“Yes.”

“Do you have a name?” she asked, realising how rude it was of her not to.

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell me it?” She stared at him head on, trying to size him up. As far as she was aware, he didn’t fit the bill for any kind of paranormal she knew about. His snake form was too small to be a shifter, and the only beings she knew about who had purple magic were necromancers. But he wasn’t one of those. Not with the amount of life magic he was throwing off. Life magic that almost felt like that of a true born animal…

But, no, that couldn’t be the case.

“Nathair,” he answered softly. His golden-brown eyes boring into her. She felt it through every part of her body, and wanted it more. Against her bare skin, and looking into her soul. Seriously…this needed to stop. She wasn’t this girl, and she’d never wanted to be this girl.

“That’s a mouthful,” she retorted. He just smiled in return. “How about Nate?”

“You can call me whatever you’d like, Autumn,” he responded, his smile growing larger.

“Okay, Nate it is.” She liked it. It sounded good, and fell from her tongue easily. Almost like it was meant to be there. Maybe it was, maybe this was her mate…no. She shouldn’t be thinking like that. Mostly because her father was right in one respect. Having a mate, or a husband, or any kind of tether, would stop the life she wanted to lead from happening. And she wasn’t willing to give it up for anything, even her true mate.

“I like it,” he said, before lapsing into silence and just studying her again.

“Are you going to say anything else?” she asked eventually. “Only I have a lot of things to do and…”

“Do you really not want to get married?” he interrupted. She scowled. No one did that to her. Though he was the first person to question what she actually wanted, so maybe she’d let him off.

“Of course not, I want to live my life before getting married.” Her words came out a little snappier than she intended, though it wasn’t really her fault. He had asked a rather stupid question. Who wanted to get married just because their father said so? If he could find her one example, then she’d eat a whole branch of holly.

She’d stew it first though. She wasn’t stupid enough to put the leaves, and more importantly, the poisonous buries, straight into her mouth.

“What if you married me instead?” he blurted out, before covering his mouth. She raised an eyebrow at him. If he didn’t explain pronto then…well, she wasn’t too sure what she’d actually do. It wasn’t like being a dryad gave her any remarkable powers other than an ability to sense life magic, and a fantastic way to pass by unnoticed. Her stealth skills were stronger than the average dryad’s anyway, just one of the ways she’d become so good at what she did.

“Go on…”

“It wouldn’t be a proper marriage, just in name only. You could do whatever you wish. I could do whatever I wish…”

The look he gave her following his statement said he wouldn’t be averse to doing far more than just that. But something told Autumn that he’d actually respect her and her wishes.

“You can try, but it’s traditional for a dryad bride’s father to be given gifts.”

“I can bring gifts. What would he like?” Nate asked her instantly, a boyish gleam in his eyes. This was going to be far far too easy. If he succeeded in impressing her father, then he’d be allowed to marry her, and slipping away from the odd snake shifter would be far easier than from Rylan, whose stealth skills almost rivalled her own.

Almost. But not quite. There was a reason she’d so easily been able to catch him out earlier.

“I don’t know yet, he’ll announce it tomorrow,” she said, a little dejected by that. She had no idea what her father would ask for. But given how he’d become in the last few years, there was little doubt in her mind that it would be outrageous, and likely out of Nate’s range.

“Okay, whatever it is, I’ll get it and bring it to him. Then you’ll be able to marry me.” He gave her a stunning smile, and she returned it weakly, really not sure of what to make of the situation.