by Leilani Love
Ally’s Guard
The Dragon Ruby Series
Leilani Love
Copyright © 2019 by Leilani Love
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
This book is dedicated to my friends and family. Thank you for letting me bounce ideas off you and not giving me funny looks when you realize I am talking about characters in my head and not real people.
A special thanks for those of you who took the time to message me or leave a review. It means the world to me to know you enjoy my characters and the world I have built for them.
I hope you enjoy!
Also by Leilani Love
The Dragon Ruby Series
Violca’s Dragon
The King’s Fire
Violca’s Vow
Kassandra’s Wolf
Warrick’s Hope
Ally’s Guard
Coming Soon
The Bear’s Seer
* * *
A King’s Tale
Saving the King
The Lost King
Coming Soon
Battle to be King
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
About the Author
Chapter 1
Jared was annoyed when he was assigned protective duty of Ally, the queen’s older sister. Ally was known for her obnoxious behavior and constant desire for a rich husband. That desire was so well known that Lazzaro, the Vampire King, had used it to capture her so he could use her younger sister Aithne to try and kidnap one of his fellow dragon shifters, Chase. Lazzaro wanted to force Chase’s mate, Violca, to help him.
It did not work out the way that Lazzaro had planned. Aithne was a trained assassin and had been torn because she liked Chase and had also developed a friendship with Violca and her four sisters. The five sisters were descendants of the original Earth Witch and once Violca had mated with Chase, they came under the protection of the Dragon King, Viktor. When Aithne tried to kidnap Chase, she failed, and instead ended up being captured by the dragons. Jared had never seen Viktor torn by his obligations and when Aithne finally told them that Lazzaro had kidnapped her sister and wanted to trade her for Chase, they agreed to help rescue her.
Once rescued, Ally threw herself into Victor’s arms. Jared would never forget watching her play the part of the damsel in distress and the intense desire he felt to yank her from his King’s arms. Jared had seen Aithne’s face as Viktor helped her to the SUV. He could see how hurt she was and Jared wasn’t surprised to hear she had run off that night. When Aithne returned bearing Victor’s mark, Jared felt an odd sense of relief, but he just chose to ignore it.
Jared adored Aithne, the immortal Celtic assassin, daughter of Boudica, and now queen of his people. As part of the elite Royal Guard, one of Jared’s responsibilities was keeping the royal family safe. Today Jared drew the short straw and got stuck babysitting the selfish Princess on her trip to New York. Ally had a date with some British shifter. Tonight, Jared would need to drive them on their date and make sure she stayed out of trouble.
Jared watched as she went from one dress to another putting them up against herself to see if she would like it before putting it in his arms to hold for her. By the stack he was holding, there wasn’t much she didn’t think would look good on her. When she added a blue dress that looked like it was meant to reveal way more than it concealed he finally looked down at her. “Princess, unless you’re planning on buying a dress for every female in here, I really doubt you need to buy this many today.”
Ally looked up at him and gave him an overly bright smile. “Of all the guards I could have gotten to go shopping with it figures I’d be stuck with you. I’m often surprised you can see me while sitting up on your high horse.”
Jared tightened his jaw, glad he was still wearing his sunglasses from earlier, so she couldn’t see him glaring at her. Ally rolled her green eyes at him before finally saying, “Fine, follow me and put those in my dressing room. I can start trying these on and see if I like any of them for tonight.”
As Jared walked behind her, he tried not to notice the other men staring. Ally liked to wear clothes that clung to her and her sinfully ample curves, revealing just enough to make men’s mouths water and itch to touch every tantalizing inch. She wore enough makeup to call attention to the unique color of her eyes and highlight her full pouty lips, which were often in a flirty smile directed at one poor guy or another. From the front, one couldn’t help but notice her ample cleavage. But from the back Jared had often noticed the way she swayed her hips from side to side, drawing your eyes to her perfect backside and the curve of her hip that made him want to grab on and hold tight. She was thick enough that a man knew he could hold her tight and she wouldn’t break.
He also knew he wasn’t the only one thinking that. Jared had often watched men turn and watch her walk regardless of who they were with. There was no way Ally didn’t know the way men responded to her when she walked into a room. She seemed to thrive on being the center of attention.
Since this was one of Ally’s favorite stores, the entire staff knew her and bent over backwards to accommodate her. Her dressing room was at the end of the row near the sitting area where he would be stuck waiting for her as she came out to examine herself in every one of the dresses she had piled into his arms. As Jared hung the last dress on the hook he turned around to see her already starting to remove her silk blouse.
“What are you doing?” Jared asked, his tone harsher than he meant.
Ally let out a loud sigh as she neatly folded her top. “Please Jared, don’t be such a prude. I am just trying to be helpful and finish up quickly, so you don’t break that jaw of yours clenching it for too long.”
Jared turned on his heels and walked out as one of the sales ladies walked in. If she was taking her shirt off in front of him how many other guards had she started to strip in front of? He was going to have to talk to Viktor and inform him to only use female guards to watch her. His fist clenched at his side, he watched the other sales girl scamper from the room to set out the coffee for him and the passion tea Ally had asked for earlier.
It was going to be a long night and Jared needed to calm down. Ally stepped out wearing a dress that hugged her curves perfectly. The emerald green color made her eyes stand out and Jared couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her generous breasts where pushed up against the fabric, looking like they wanted nothing more than to be released. The dress shimmered and clung to her as she walked.
The sales lady came out and made the appropriate oh and ah sounds stroking Ally’s ego. Ally smiled while turning slightly, checking out her reflection from the different angles the mirrors provided her. “Would you mind getting me the dress next to this one? Same color but…”
The sales lady grinned. “I know just the one. I’ll be right back.”
Ally smiled at her and went to the dressing room. After a few seconds, he heard her call out to him, “Jared! Can you come here please?”
With a loud annoyed sigh, Jared got up and walked to the dressing room. Ally had her back to him and looked up and over her shoulder. “I can’t quite reach the zipper. Would you mind?”
Jared debated for a minute before reaching up and grabbing the zipper. He’d never understood why wome
n’s zippers were in spots they couldn’t reach. As he unzipped her, he felt her soft skin brush against his hand and bit back a moan. The zipper went down her back stopping just above where her back met her tempting ass. Jared knew he shouldn’t look, that would be the gentlemanly thing to do but if he was honest with himself, he never claimed to be a gentleman. His eyes were drawn down and he could see a hint of her thong. It was black lace like the bra he saw earlier, and his eyes couldn’t help but follow that thin strap of lace between the beautiful globes of her ass.
“I brought you the dress you asked for and another one I thought would look stunning on you,.” the young girl said as she stepped into the room, stopping when she saw Jared. “Oh, excuse me,” she said blushing as Jared stepped away from Ally.
Without a word Jared stepped out of the dressing room and back into the sitting area. Picking up his coffee he took a sip and turned so he could watch the entryway to the dressing rooms from one of the mirrors. He was determined to ignore Ally as she tried on each dress the sales girl insisted on bringing her.
Chapter 2
Ally sighed as she got into the back of the car. Jared had a way of getting under her skin and making her feel bad for no reason. He was constantly judging her. She could feel his scowl of disapproval every time she was stuck with him. All the rest of the guards seemed to enjoy her company and she never understood what his problem was with her.
When Jared got in she saw him glance in the rearview mirror. “Back to the hotel Princess, or were there more stores you wanted to hit?”
“Hotel will be fine,” Ally said thinking she would rather just order room service and lounge in the tub before her date tonight.
Ally gazed out the window watching the people walking around, noticing all the happy couples holding hands. She hated to admit it but she was very jealous of her baby sister who had recently found the love of her life and married the Dragon King. Ally wanted nothing more than to be happily married and to stay home and raise a houseful of babies to love. She was all prepared to do just that, but then her father died. Once her mother had taken over the clan, the Romans broke the peace and attacked them. In their eyes women were not equipped to rule. After the first attack Ally had run to her fiancé for help. But when he laughed at her and told her that he would gladly help if her mother was willing to make him the leader of her clan, she realized that he had never loved her. He was marrying her because of what he could get from her. Ally decided right there, if men could marry for what they could get from her, she would do the same. She would never be dumb enough to believe the pretty words that men told her.
That worked well until she saw Viktor look at her baby sister. To be honest the more time she spent with the dragon shifters the more she started to question herself. Her eyes went to the back of Jared’s head. He must have recently cut his hair, which was a shame because she loved the way his hair curled at the bottom.
Ally hated how, when he was near her, she couldn’t stop the way her stomach seemed to jump, and her heart seemed to race. She wondered if he knew her response to him and if that was why he always seemed angry with her and called her Princess in that tone.
When they got to the hotel she waited for him to open her door and she slid out. She resisted the urge to look over at him while he got her stuff and instead walked into the hotel. She was excited about her night out. He was a wolf shifter she’d met when Kassandra had invited pack leaders to meet with Damian and Warrick. He was the alpha of his pack and had lost his mate years ago. She didn’t know how it would work since she wasn’t his mate, but he had laughed and told her that it wasn’t a problem. He also convinced her to give it a try and meet up with him.
When she got to the elevator, she waited for Jared who was surprisingly close behind, carrying her bags. “Here Princess, let me get that for you,” he said with a smirk on his ridiculous kissable lips as he reached past her to push the up button.
She ignored him and stepped into the elevator as soon as the door opened. He got in behind her and she pushed the button to her floor before he could say anything. It was just the two of them in the small space and all she could smell was him. He always smelled so good. She often wondered if it was just him or did he have some cologne that all men should be wearing? He smelled clean, fresh, and manly.
It was hard to pretend to ignore him when they were in small spaces. Jared always seemed to run hot and radiate heat. She wanted nothing more than to lean into him. Well, at least until she looked at him and saw that look of contempt he always seemed to have when he was looking at her. The inside of the elevator door was polished so much she could make him out perfectly. Jared’s jaw was clenched so tight she thought it would break and he looked awkward carrying her bags. She should have bought a bunch of fun panties and lingerie and made him carry them around.
He turned to look at her and she blushed knowing he must somehow sense her amusement. When the door opened she said a small prayer of thanks and stepped from the elevator to the hallway. Her suite was one of four on this level and was closest to the elevator. If she had to guess, Jared had set that up, she was never in any trouble, but he took his job very seriously.
She opened the door and walked into the grand front room. She loved staying here; it wasn’t like staying in a hotel but a mini luxurious apartment. She could have a party with at least twenty guests and be comfortable. There was a giant private balcony that extended from the front room to her grand master suite.
“Put the bags anywhere, I’m going to soak in the tub,” she said as she stepped into her room. Discarding her clothes as she went, Ally started the water for the tub. There was nothing she loved more than a hot bath. Adding in vanilla bath scents and bubbles she smiled thinking that a glass of wine would be amazing. She decided to go and check out what the bar had to offer.
Having already stripped down to just her thong and not seeing her bags in the room yet she bit her lip as she opened the door to her bedroom just a sliver to see if she could see Jared. Her bags were in the front room and there was no hint of him. Ally let out a sigh. Thinking he must have gone to his room, she decided to be quick and grab what she could and bring it back to her room.
The bar was closer to his door and she stepped from the room walking quickly, stepping around the bar and looking at the wines on display. Bending over she smiled when she saw one of her favorite vintages. Before she could pick it up she felt someone watching her.
“Shit,” she whispered under her breath grabbing the wine and straightening up. She closed her eyes. With anyone else she would be worried that he would be thinking she was hitting on him but not Jared. His face would be disapproving, and she bet she could see the pulse in his jaw.
When she turned around, she kept her back straight and did the only thing she could think of, “Oh Jared, would you mind opening this and bringing me a glass and the bottle.”
Without waiting for a reply, she left the bottle on the bar counter and, with her head held high, went back to the bathroom to check her water. Once in the bathroom she turned off the faucet saying a small prayer of thanks that she hadn’t taken more time out there or the tub might have started to overflow, giving Jared one more thing to step in and correct her about.
Ally stepped into the tub and sighed as she leaned back against the high back. She felt her body relax as the bubbles came up just enough to cover most of her. A soft knock on the door startled her awake. Her eyes widened a bit when she saw Jared standing in the doorway, a glass in one hand and the bottle of wine in the other.
“Your wine, Princess,” Jared said as he stepped into the bathroom.
Ally smiled, surprised that he’d done as she asked. When she leaned forward to grab the glass from him, she felt the cold air as her chest raised from the warm water. Jared’s eyes went from their normal hazel to almost black and his nostrils flared before he thrust the glass into her hand. Without a word, he set the bottle down and stormed out of the bathroom.
The complete silence of
the room was broken when she heard a door slam shut. It was far enough away that she knew it must have been his bedroom door. She frowned as she leaned back, taking a sip of her wine. Jared always seemed to be mad at her but he’d never acted like he had just now and she wondered what had brought that on.
Chapter 3
Jared didn’t intend to slam the door as hard as he did. To be honest, he didn’t mean to slam the door at all. He just needed to get away from her before he did something he would regret. When he found her in the living room wearing nothing but a thong he wanted to grab her and shake her. Did she prance around naked for the other guards to see her? Did she not understand how much of a temptation she was?
When she smiled at him, like she did every day, and asked him to bring her the wine, he almost put her over his knee and smacked her ass. But instead he did as she requested and brought them to her. When he walked in he could tell she was surprised because her eyes widened. She actually looked happy to see him. Then she leaned forward and her firm, perfectly round breasts came above the water line, a droplet sat at the edge of her hardening nipple and he almost lost the little bit of control he had and licked that tempting drop.
Jared would never admit that he had just run away from a naked woman in the tub, but that was what he did. Ally had gotten under his skin like no other woman before her. He wanted to say it was because she was so infuriating and spoiled. It wasn’t because all he could think about when he saw her was grabbing her and putting her over his knee for a good spanking.