by Unknown
Rose and I covered half of our faces with our grey hoods. My wings were tucked in tightly and cloaked; even my shadow didn’t show them.
Yet Rose still turned heads, despite her plain clothes and her makeup hiding her legendary beauty. Could it be her inborn brightness that she could never really mask? I was drawn to her all the time, regardless of how she looked.
I glared at the onlookers until they couldn’t look away fast enough.
I found that I enjoyed walking beside her very much, but I had to take pains to restrain myself from wrapping my arm around her shoulder. She would shrug me off with some snide comment, especially with her companions watching.
I put my hand against the small of her back every chance I got, either to steer her through the crowd, or to urge her to stay close to me, or just because I could. When my hand lingered longer than necessary, she didn’t slap it away. Instead, she pretended not to notice.
So far, she appeared extra nice toward me, which only raised a red flag. I wondered what she would demand next.
I braced for it, even though I was constantly distracted by the pleasure of touching her.
Every now and then, she sent me a sidelong glance through her lashes, which made me want to fuck her badly.
However, my burning lust didn’t dull my contentment with striding beside her. We conversed casually without the usual tension that was between us in Atlantis.
“Did you call me when the assassins attacked you, Rose?” I suddenly asked.
She tensed, and I immediately called myself a fool for bringing that up while we were actually cozy with each other. But when a puzzle was out there, I had to solve it.
“Why?” she asked defensively, but her voice was soft. “Why did you ask that?”
“I heard you in my head,” I said. “And I sensed your need for me.”
She gave me a long look before admitting, “I was too weak to call my guards, so I thought of you.”
But she wasn’t too weak to reach me, as if there was a supernatural link between us. No wonder I was attuned to her scent. What was she to me?
“You did right to think of me; think of me or call me anytime, Rose,” I said.
She nodded curtly and appeared to not want to dwell on the subject. I didn’t pursue it. I continued to walk close to her, my arm brushing against hers. She didn’t move away.
The streets changed. High buildings all around competed to thrust into the sky.
Rose slowed and surveyed our surroundings, a look of calm excitement on her face.
I watched her every move.
For a second I wondered what it would be like if she wasn’t a Mysthian princess and I wasn’t an angel. We might fall in love like normal lovers. There would be no taboo on our coupling, nothing forbidden that we alone consented to.
Then I was taken aback by my daydreaming. That was idiocy! The princess and I would never fall in love. I had never been the loving type, and would never be one. But I was sure we would have fucked each other already if we weren’t who we were.
We entered a vast shopping plaza.
As we passed by a couple of brothels with bright neon signs in the windows—Babylon was famous for its large, diverse brothels—I spotted quite a few angels going into the places.
Both Rose and I lowered our hoods to cover more of our faces and hurried by.
She stopped at a corner near the fountains outside a few shops and looked over her shoulder. In an instant her companions had moved to gather around her.
“Get yourself some fancy dresses and put them on my account,” I told them. “Rose is safe here with me.”
“We’re not leaving Prin… Rose with you alone,” the Mysthian guard said hotly.
If it weren’t for Rose, her guard would have been dead in a second for her offense. I wondered if she realized that.
The Mysthian courtiers sent the guard a look of disapproval and turned to smile at me sweetly.
“We’d better stay close together,” Rose said, pretending not to see any of the exchange, “so we won’t lose each other.”
We resumed our adventure as a group, and soon the courtiers walked on either side of me, not the princess. They talked cozily, laughed easily, and flirted with me. Whenever they flattered me, it was done subtly. I could see why the king and his court were taken with them.
I kept Rose in my line of sight as I dallied with her courtiers. Even though I hadn’t played around in millennia, I found that I wasn’t rusty. The females giggled in delight at my jokes. One of them fondly punched me on the arm.
They were soft, warm, and knew the right things to say. They didn’t carry their princess’s haughtiness and occasional harshness. And unlike their princess, they aimed to please me instead of trick me or put me down at every turn.
Rose kept her unreadable mask in place.
The redhead courtier turned to the princess. “Your…Rose,” she said. They weren’t used to saying her name without a title, but we were in Babylon. The redhead pointed. “There’s a popular teahouse at the corner.”
“Let’s go and have tea then,” Rose said amiably, but she didn’t spare me a look as if all of a sudden she couldn’t stand the sight of me. I wondered if it was because I’d made a pass at her courtiers. I did it to see if she cared, though I didn’t give a damn about the other females or how charming and articulate they were.
We entered an elegantly decorated, two-story teahouse. Everything inside was made of wood, including the teacups. Blue wood lanterns dandled from the ceilings; paintings of blossoms on wooden hand fans adorned the walls.
Rose chose a long table in the center of the upstairs dining room. I should have been the one to pick where we sat, but I let it go. Not worth arguing with her now.
She sat across from me. The courtiers competed to slide into the chair on either side of me as if I was the hottest dish on Earth. The blonde guard stayed behind her princess, her scarred hand on the hilt of her sword.
An Aryanian server came to our table at once. Aryan was one of the mortal subspecies. Their lifespan was about thirty years.
“Order the pearl tea for me, Femi,” Rose told the redhead courtier, then turned to me with a blank look. “I’ll go freshen up.” She stood up and her guard pulled back the chair for her.
I frowned. “It’s a public lounge, which isn’t suitable for you. I have a penthouse not too far—”
“I have a mundane need,” Rose interrupted me annoyingly. “When I need to go, I need to go.”
What a snappy little creature!
Her guard sneered at me, and the courtiers gazed up at me with sympathy.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll accompany you.”
“Really, Seth?” Rose arched an eyebrow. “That’s a ladies’ lounge. If you need to go, you should go to the separate one for males.”
“I won’t let you out of my sight,” I said.
“The ladies’ lounge is right there, straight ahead.” Rose threw up her hands impatiently. “I’m not going to disappear on you, if that’s what your worry is.”
“I’ll go with her.” The blonde guard gave me an evil look. “You can see us in and out from here.”
“See?” Rose said to me. “Lexa will keep me safe and sound. We’ll return shortly. You go ahead, enjoy a drink and your lovely companions.”
Had she sounded a bit jealous?
The courtiers moved closer to me, asking about angels’ food culture and dating rules in our home world, their ample breasts brushing against me from both sides.
I felt nothing at their touch, but I didn’t shove them away. I smiled and wanted Rose to see this at least.
She kept her face expressionless, then turned and headed to the ladies’ lounge at the end of the dining hall, her guard at her heels with sword ready.
As soon as Rose vanished from my view, I snarled at the courtiers, “Be quiet.” And my eyes didn’t leave the entrance of the ladies’ lounge.
PRINCESS ROSE
I wasn’t impressed wi
th Babylon’s diversity and complexity. It smelled of trash, sweat from mixed subspecies, and cheap perfume. Paper and plastic bags littered the corners of the streets, and then the wind picked them up and blew them everywhere.
Babylon couldn’t hold a candle to Mysth, the only magic realm on Earth.
Rumor had it that the Mysthians wouldn’t visit mortal realms. The prince had no idea that I’d been here twice, disguised as one of the subspecies.
This time, I didn’t come to the Free Market Place to shop. I came with the sole purpose of meeting the Dragonian rebel leader. With Prince Seth escorting me, no angels would suspect me. All I needed was to ditch him in the middle of our outing, and then Femi and Philomena would take over and stall him. They had done a fabulous job charming him at every turn.
I thought, walking amid the crowd, that the prince and I were just two faces amid thousands. But soon I realized in dismay that we couldn’t really blend in while the damn prince stood out and kept drawing attention.
He’d cloaked his wings alright. He had a hood over his head and his face was in shadow, but he couldn’t cover his warrior’s large size and the menace he’d been born with. It emanated from his every pore.
Regardless of how crowded the streets were, all the subspecies voluntarily gave him a wide berth, as if their survival instinct had sensed a deadly predator among them. The incoming crowd couldn’t help but stare at him then quickly tear their gazes away, as if they understood clearly that staring at the disaster would just invite it.
Then they swept a glance by me.
The prince growled at anyone who dared dart their gaze in my direction, until they fled. He thought they wanted the bone another dog wanted to claim. He didn’t realize those who stole a glance at me were only curious to see what type of female I was—she was either foolish, audacious, or both to stand by the worst predator.
Seth found every chance to touch me, pretending to be chivalrous. I let it go instead of snapping at him only because my people were watching, not because his touch sent pleasure slicing up my spine and made me crave more. I put on a mask of indifference and occasionally a little disdain, when all the while my nerves caught on fire.
At some point, he started flirting with my courtiers. After all, the prince was a male, so he acted like any typical male who enjoyed being showered with attention by beautiful females.
I should not have been annoyed. Hadn’t that been my plan all along?
Femi and Philomena were doing an overqualified job of getting the prince heated up, so they could play him and keep him occupied after I took off.
Then why did I let sizzling anger build in me? But shouldn’t he at least put up a little resistance when beautiful females came along? Shouldn’t he keep up his act and reputation as the coldest bastard?
When I gave him a look, he showed me white teeth and a roguish grin.
I decided to block out their flirtation and giggling. I needed to focus on my task. It was time to ditch this stupid, horny angel.
Right on cue, Femi suggested having a snack at the Mooncake Teahouse. I chose a table away from the window on the second floor. Femi and Philomena sat on either side of the prince, their buxom chests squeezing against him, and he seemed to enjoy their touch to no end.
I told Femi to order the pearl tea for me and excused myself for a bathroom break.
The prince immediately tensed up and objected, “It’s a public lounge, which isn’t suitable for you. I have a penthouse not too far—”
“When I need to go, I need to go,” I almost yelled at him.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll accompany you.”
Oh really? He’d go watch me pee?
“I won’t let you out of my sight,” he said as if it was the final word on the subject, and rose to his feet.
“I’m not going to disappear on you!” I said with enough temper in my voice.
Right, he’d finally shifted his attention back to me, but only to treat me like his damn prisoner.
I laid out common sense on the table, informing him that it would cause an ugly scene if he followed me into the ladies’ lounge. “Is that what you want?” I demanded.
Lexa glared at the prince. “I’ll go with her. You can see us in and out from here.”
I told him blankly, “You go ahead, enjoy a drink and your lovely companions.”
Femi and Philomena dragged him down with soft purrs and sexy whispers.
The prince didn’t look happy at all.
Before I entered the ladies’ lounge, I glanced over my shoulder. The prince’s stare followed me, temporarily ignoring my gorgeous courtiers, who were all over him. They should have been able to keep the prince engaged long enough for me to return.
For a second, I wondered if the prince would take them to his penthouse instead of me. No male had ever before rejected their invitation.
And why the hell not? He had this burning lust in him for so long, and both Femi and Philomena wore my scent.
The image of him mounting my courtiers stayed in my mind like slime.
I wasn’t beside myself with glee now, even though I had easily ditched the prince. My treacherous body urged me to go back and stop him from taking other females. But if I had vowed that he would never have me, why was I so unhappy about him having others?
Lexa pulled me along as she noticed my steps halting on the stairs.
Seth had no idea that the upstairs ladies’ lounge was connected to the one downstairs. That was why we had specifically chosen this teahouse, though we had made it look like a random pick.
“Femi and Philomena can take care of themselves,” Lexa said.
I fought the nausea and followed Lexa out through the downstairs exit.
I am Rose Jekaterina Faylinn, I repeated to myself. I’ll do whatever is necessary to secure my people’s future. I wouldn’t allow my selfish need and emotions to get in the way.
The Prince of Angels didn’t matter. Right now I had more important things to consider than worrying about whom he was going to sleep with.
Out of the Mooncake Teahouse, Lexa and I rounded a few zigzagging back alleys, and jogged toward a nondescript building. North’s crews, disguised as vendors, tourists, or even homeless vagabonds, were planted on every block we passed.
We reached the perfume shop.
An older Dragonian female was cleaning the windows. A boy, probably twelve, handed out a brochure across the street. At the west corner near a small park, a road-repair team was testing their equipment. Under their uniform jackets, I believed they were all heavily armed.
North’s lookouts were everywhere.
The shop’s door swung open at my approach, then shut behind Lexa and me as soon as we swept in.
A Dragonian warrior bowed and gestured for me for follow him down the stairs to the cellar. Lexa entered first, her hand tight on the hilt of her sword.
A tall, lean Dragonian male in a grey trench coat stood before the half-window that rose above the ground. He turned slowly as I padded toward him.
I would recognize him anywhere just by his distinguished black horns.
I threw back my hood and revealed my face.
My glamour had fallen off because Femi, who had the gift of glamour, wasn’t close by.
“Hello, North,” I greeted him.
PRINCE SETH
I kept an eye on the doorway of the ladies’ lounge, even as I ordered a mug of red tea that—according to the Aryanian server—grew on the highest mountain on Earth, and even as I fended off the courtiers’ unceasing demands for attention.
They ordered almost every kind of cake. Of course they would expect me to pay for everything.
Angels usually didn’t pay for whatever they took from the earthborn, but I wasn’t that kind of angel.
When the desserts arrived and filled the table, my gaze remained in the direction of the ladies’ lounge. The redhead courtier cut a piece of blood rice cake and raised a spoonful to my mouth. “Try this, my lord,” she purred. “See
if it melts on your mighty tongue.”
The black-haired courtier giggled in a low, sensual voice.
I swatted the spoon aside and ordered sternly, “Leave it.”
The redhead blinked, putting on an injured look.
Like I gave a damn.
I had ended my sport with them as soon as Rose left the table.
The redhead put the cake into her own mouth instead. “Yummy!” She shut her eyes in ecstasy. When she opened them, she gazed at me brightly. “You sure you don’t want a bite, my lord?”
“Just be quiet,” I said curtly.
It had been three minutes and Rose hadn’t come out.
Why did it take so long?
The dark-haired courtier stood up, nestling her breasts against my shoulder. Her hand curved down on my chest to massage my muscles. She thought that I’d lost interest in her “sister,” so she needed to step in.
“Get your hands off me,” I said, dropping all my niceties since their princess wasn’t around to watch. “I did not permit your advance.”
The courtier jerked back her hand, and both females looked at me, batting their eyelids with puzzled, hurt, yet forgiving expressions.
“I don’t need you to entertain me,” I said. “You’re Rose’s companions. Keep an eye on her for me, and you’ll do just fine. Now I need my focus; I need to make sure Rose is safe.” I pushed their chairs further from mine at the same time. “And some space, ladies.”
They traded another uncertain, worried glance.
“She won’t come out so soon,” the dark-haired said. “It takes time to redo the hair and makeup.”
I frowned. “In the ladies’ lounge?”
“Oh, yeah,” the redhead said. “There is a lot about Mysthian noble females you don’t know, and Rose is our role model in perfection.”
“I didn’t see her put on much makeup before,” I said.
“Today is a special occasion, isn’t it?” the redhead said.
She meant that Rose had her full masquerade.
“She looks fine!” I sighed exasperatedly. “I’m sending one of you to go check on her process.”
“Certainly, my lord,” the dark-haired courtier said and headed toward the ladies’ lounge. She stalked out half a minute later. “She’s still fixing her makeup, as I said. She ordered us not to go check on her every two seconds. She needs her privacy.”