Stolen Princess

by Nikki Jefford

  Devdan led me to an empty bench behind the dragon’s head. We were far from alone, but the folks gathered around the fountain were eating, reading, or talking on the benches—some were even smooching.

  Oh. Sweet. Berries. Was this really happening? I was about to receive my first kiss from the cutest elf ever.

  We sat side by side, leaving a couple inches between us. Devdan clasped his hands together in his lap.

  “Tell me something, Melarue.”

  “Yes, Dev?” I asked sweetly.

  “Have you ever kissed a male before?” He grinned at me in amusement.

  “Why would you ask that? Of course, I have.” I sat up taller.

  He laughed and scooted against me so our thighs were pressed together and legs were brushing against one another. A shiver ran through me right before heat flowed through my veins as though my fire magic was trying to protect me from a chill.

  Devdan’s eyes became hooded. “Don’t worry, Melarue. I’ll make sure you enjoy it."

  Before I could retort that maybe he’d enjoy it more, his mouth was on mine, pressing a warm, moist kiss over my lips. He didn’t pull back or break contact. His mouth moved over mine, parting my lips, making room for his tongue. The wet tip darted in and out, making me dizzy with want. I felt giddy and hot, as though I’d chugged down an entire bottle of sweetberry wine in one sitting. I closed my eyes and gave in to the delirium of his never-ending kiss. I could feel the smile on his lips and the vibration of his chest along with his faint chuckle. No wonder he’d been so cocky. He knew how to deliver.

  His hand moved to my thigh. He didn’t stroke me or squeeze. It almost felt like a taunt, leaving that light pressure on my leg, making me want him to do more. He stroked my tongue with his, sending more shivers and heat through my body.

  Fire erupted along my fingers, blazing like candles at the tips.

  Devdan drew back. My heart hammered, worried what his reaction would be to my elemental powers. I wasn’t expecting his chuckle.

  “My kiss is so hot it set you on fire.” He smiled smugly.

  “You wish,” I said, giving him a slight push.

  He rubbed his lips together and stared at me hard. I tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

  “Do you know how unique you are?” he asked. I was really digging the awe in his voice. It was so much better than Father’s irritation when my fire magic had flared up for the first time five months ago.

  “One of a kind. I know. I know,” I joked to hide the slight shake of my hands and pounding of my heart. Could we get back to kissing now?

  As though reading my thoughts, Devdan leaned forward. Right before his lips touched mine, I closed my eyes.

  His mouth made demands of mine that I attempted to answer as quick as I could.

  Oh, Sky Mother, above. Or below? I didn’t know up from down any longer. I was afraid if I opened my eyes, he’d stop. I didn’t want him to stop. Ever. This might have been the longest I’d managed to sit still my entire life.

  Never one to be idle and let others have all the fun, I pressed against Devdan and slid my tongue into his mouth, which was only fair.

  He groaned in pleasure, and I felt the smile on his lips widen.

  “Minx,” he whispered through our kiss.

  That made me smile. I leaned closer, demanding more of him with my mouth. I’d show Dev how quickly this first-timer could learn. Kissing wasn’t about quantity but quality, and I was all about performance.

  His hand slid up my thigh, nearing my nether regions. My pulse quickened in anticipation.

  “What in the seven hells is this?” a female screeched.

  At first I thought it was Nueleth who had followed us and was freaking out for some inexplicable reason. I certainly didn’t recognize the hysterical voice as my even-tempered sister’s. But when my eyes fluttered open, there she was, spitting mad—kinda like the stone dragon behind her.

  Aerith’s cheeks were flushed, her fingers curled like claws extending toward Devdan as if she meant to strangle or rip him to shreds.

  Devdan smirked, his full attention now on Aerith. “You’re sorta interrupting something here, Princess. You had your chance, so why don’t you save your dignity and stop making a scene?”

  “You snake,” Aerith hissed. “I’ll deal with you later.” She turned her attention to me. “Mel, we’re going home. Right now.”

  Devdan’s smile faded. He turned to me with expanding eyes. “You know her?”

  About time he looked at me—the female he’d been kissing seconds before! It was like he’d forgotten all about me the moment Aerith showed up. I’d been so blind, thinking he didn’t like her when it was the exact opposite. He was one of those stupid males who used insults to hide his true feelings.

  “She’s my big sis,” I said in a bored voice. I got to my feet with an air of nonchalance, stepping over to Aerith’s side, ready for her to march me home so I wouldn’t have to stick around as the third wheel, yet again, any longer than I had to.

  I thought I saw Devdan trying to catch my eye, but I refused to look at him, as though he was beneath my notice. I stuck my hand in my coat pocket and fingered my coins, concentrating on the hard bits of metal.

  Devdan stood up and folded his arms.

  “So, this is why it’s taking so long to sell my pieces,” Aerith said with disdain. “You’re too busy corrupting young girls.”

  “Hey!” I said, glaring at her. “I’m a grown elf, and I can look out for myself.”

  “Clearly you can’t,” Aerith snapped. She turned back to Devdan. “I will be by later for my jewelry, and it better all be there.”

  Devdan sneered. “And who’s going to sell it for you?”

  “I will.” Aerith puffed out her chest.

  Devdan laughed humorlessly. “I’ve got news for you, Princess. No one wants to buy from you. Little Sis can tell you.”

  “Hey—” I started to say, but he wasn’t finished.

  He took a step closer to Aerith and smiled cruelly. “You’re tainted. Ruined. Damaged goods.”

  Aerith’s mouth gaped open as though she’d been knocked in the head and was still processing what had happened.

  Flames erupted in my stomach, scorching me from the inside. I would have liked them at my fingertips to really put the fear into the scoundrel standing before me, but they’d chosen this moment to remain dormant.

  “Don’t talk about my sister that way,” I growled with each step I took up to the stupid pit head I wished I’d never kissed. I grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him in the groin.

  Devdan doubled over, clutching his genitals, and groaned in pain.

  Aerith blinked several times before taking me by the arm. “Come on, Mel. Let’s go,” she said in a hollow voice.

  We walked swiftly away from the gurgling fountain and the cursing male. My jaw ached with tension as we skirted the market before heading down the hill. Elf folk passed us, headed up to the market. It wasn’t until we’d left behind the last of the lingering crowds and were nearing the meadow that I allowed the tears to flow freely down my cheeks.

  I didn’t sob, though. Sobbing was for babies.

  I swiped angrily at my cheeks.

  “I hate Devdan!” I proclaimed.

  Aerith’s body lurched as though she’d been startled. I didn’t know why she looked so surprised. She knew what a stupid jerk he was. “How do you even know him?” There was no more anger in her voice, simply curiosity. When I remained quiet, she drew out my name, “Melll?”

  “I saw him selling your necklace,” I said, thinking quickly. “Well, trying to sell, anyway, and doing a pit-poor job of it. I tried to help him out, but the elf he was trying to sell to was a total bitch.”

  “Mel!”

  “Well, she was.”

  Aerith chewed on the inside of her cheek a moment before speaking again. “What did Devdan mean when he said no one wanted to buy from me?”

  I shrugged.

  “Mel—” she prodd
ed again. “Why did he say you would be able to tell me?”

  “I don’t know. He’s stupid,” I said with exasperation. “I don’t feel like talking about him anymore—ever.” I folded my arms across my chest and clamped my mouth shut into a tight frown.

  Experiencing my first crush and my first heartbreak all within the same hour felt like galloping through a field of daisies for five blissful minutes before getting bucked off, trampled, and crushed into pollen—the kind that gave everyone itchy noses and watery eyes.

  It was the pits. The absolute pits. Just like my heart. It felt shriveled, dry, and picked clean of all the sweet stuff.

  “I’m sorry,” Aerith said. “I should have told you about Devdan—should have warned you.”

  “I can look out for myself,” I huffed.

  “I know you can,” she said softly.

  The love in her voice made my heart beat anew. Who needed males, anyway? There was no bond more sacred than sisterhood. Well, depending on the sister, of course. Shalendra wasn’t part of the sacred circle.

  “And I’ll find someone else to sell the jewelry,” Aerith said firmly. “Someone actually motivated to sell and who doesn’t insist on keeping twenty-five percent.”

  “Twenty-five percent?” It was my turn to screech. “That’s insane!”

  Aerith snorted derisively. “At first he was insisting on thirty.”

  I turned around abruptly and began marching back the way we’d come.

  “What are you doing?” Aerith asked in alarm, jogging to catch up to me.

  “I’ll do more than knee his nut sack for taking advantage of us.”

  “It’s okay. We’ll find someone else.”

  I slowed my steps. “Damn straight we will,” I said, lifting my head. “Me.” Before Aerith could argue over the impropriety of me peddling our wares at market, I tried to reassure her. “No one knows who I am.”

  Another benefit of being the youngest daughter. I was easy to overlook or dismiss. Easy to forget when beautiful, golden, blonde Aerith emerged like the sun.

  I just wished I could forget Devdan’s honeyed kisses the way he’d forgotten me the moment Aerith appeared.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Aerith

  Mist cloaked the meadow when Keerla rode up bareback on her painted horse the following morning. I saw her from the kitchen window where I flipped pancakes on a cast-iron griddle over a two-burner stove. After giving the pancakes another flip, I moved briskly to the front door.

  I was cooking up yesterday’s batter, which I’d set inside the fridge and covered with a cheesecloth to save for later. Some gut instinct had warned me Mel would get into trouble, but I’d never dreamed I’d find her with Devdan.

  Luckily, I didn’t have to warn Mel to stay away from him. She wanted nothing to do with the snake. The relief of that helped ease my anger. At least I had interrupted before he had a chance to invite her back to his hovel. At least it had just been a kiss. At least she wasn’t “ruined” and “tainted” like I was.

  Well, Devdan and the rest of Pinemist could take their ruthless remarks and shove them right up their elf holes.

  I opened the door and grinned at Keerla as she dismounted and left her horse to graze. “Good morning,” I said.

  “Morning,” she replied, answering my smile with a pleased one of her own.

  “Did you get it?” I asked.

  She pulled a knapsack out of her black cloak and held it up with a wide grin. “Every last piece.”

  Relief filled my chest. I hadn’t trusted myself to collect my jewelry from Devdan. It would have been too tempting to fire an arrow into his rotten pit of a heart.

  “Thank you so much,” I said, taking the knapsack from Keerla. Too bad the weight in the bag wasn’t coins. I’d have to find another way to sell the pieces—without sending Mel out to haggle.

  “My pleasure,” Keerla answered, still grinning.

  “Please, come in.” I set the knapsack on the trunk table and took Keerla’s cloak from her, hanging it from a copper unicorn horn peg beside the door.

  “Nice apron,” Keerla said with a smirk.

  Which reminded me the pancakes needed to come off the griddle. I dashed into the kitchen and scooped the pancakes one by one onto a large pink-and-blue-pastel-flowered serving dish. I added more cooking oil to the griddle and poured out four more pancakes.

  “Tea?” I asked.

  “I’ll get it,” Keerla said, striding into the kitchen in her usual tight dark leathers.

  She was tall enough to reach the mugs on the top shelf of the cupboard without the help of a stool. She pulled out two pottery mugs with pastel swirls and poured hot water into them from the steaming kettle. I’d left a variety of tea bags out in a small open wood box on the counter.

  “What kind do you want?” Keerla asked.

  “Sweetberry, thanks,” I said.

  “You and your sweetberries.” Keerla shook her head. “Please tell me they’re not in the pancakes?”

  “Nope, but I do have sweetberry syrup.”

  “What a relief.”

  “What elf doesn’t like sweetberries?”

  “Me,” Keerla said firmly.

  No surprise she chose one of the dark teas. To each their own.

  Keerla set my mug of aromatic sweetberry tea beside the stove as I flipped the pancakes over. I leaned my back against the counter and sipped my tea while the pancakes finished cooking through on the other side.

  Keerla took a gulp from her mug before setting it down.

  “Thanks for taking Mel out today,” I said.

  In addition to reclaiming my property from Devdan, Keerla had agreed to take my sister out horse shopping. We never traveled far, but I figured it would be a welcome distraction for Mel. We had plenty of grazing area, and taking care of an animal was another way to keep Mel busy.

  But this outing was as much for my youngest sister as it was for me.

  After Keerla agreed to take Mel for the afternoon, I’d invited Jhaeros to call on me.

  I missed him and the way he made me feel like the most treasured elf in all the realm. But no way was I going to call on him with Lady Dashwood spying from her windows. I needed good vibes only—and an uninterrupted kiss.

  “Uh-huh,” Keerla said as though reading my thoughts.

  I’d told my friend everything—from the kiss between Mel and Devdan, to the request for a quiet afternoon in which to spend time with my sweetheart.

  “I hope this gentleman caller of yours appreciates what he’s got.”

  “He certainly does,” I said, scooping up the cooked pancakes before pouring the last of the batch over the griddle. “He’s nothing like that prick, Devdan.”

  Keerla picked up her mug and lifted it to her lips, nodding before taking another gulp and setting it down. “He’s got spunk, like your sister.”

  I scowled.

  “Keerla?” Mel’s sleepy voice called out from her room. She traipsed into the open dining-and-kitchen area a few seconds later in a long blue bathrobe. Her hair looked like it had doubled in volume, tumbling down her shoulders in a tangled mess. Mel rubbed her eyes.

  “Look at what the cat dragged out,” Keerla said, amusement in her voice. “Morning, Mel.”

  “Have you been here long?” Mel asked, looking at her tea mug.

  “Nope, just arrived.”

  “You got the jewels from Devdan?” Mel asked.

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “Did he say anything about me?”

  “Uh—” Keerla glanced at me as though looking for help.

  I stared back and nodded. I didn’t need the particulars of the exchange—getting the jewelry back was all that mattered to me—but if Mel wanted details, she deserved to hear them. Devdan had merely insulted me, which was nothing compared to toying with my sister’s emotions.

  “I didn’t really stick around to chat,” Keerla said before gulping down more tea.

  Mel’s face fell.

  “Pl
us, I did all the talking,” Keerla added. “You know, demanding the return of your sister’s jewelry and threatening to cut off his genitals if he ever so much as looked at you or your sister again.”

  I snorted and took a sip of tea.

  Mel’s mouth hung open. “Keerla,” she whined.

  “Don’t worry,” Keerla said, straightening her spine. “He received the message loud and clear. He won’t be bothering you again.”

  Mel’s lower lip puffed out.

  “Who wants pancakes?” I asked a little too loudly and cheerfully.

  Mel glowered, and Keerla raised her brows.

  “Well, I, for one, am starving.” I carried the plate of warm pancakes to the small wood table by the kitchen and set it in the middle. I’d already put out three plates, knives, and forks.

  I untied my apron and hung it from a cute little button mushroom peg on the end of a cupboard.

  “I’m not hungry,” Mel grumbled.

  “You should eat something now, or you will be later,” I said.

  “It’s okay,” Keerla said as she sat down heavily at the table. “Mel and I can get a bite in town later. I know I’ll be ready to eat again this afternoon.”

  I took the seat in front of my friend, who wasn’t shy about piling pancakes onto her plate. I did the same then grabbed the small ceramic pitcher and drowned my pancakes in sweetberry syrup.

  Keerla’s upper lip curled.

  I chuckled and said, “More for me then.”

  She scoffed and rolled her eyes before cutting off a piece of pancake and stabbing it with her fork prongs. Keerla handled her dining ware as though they were weapons.

  I sawed into my oozing pile of pancakes, nearly moaning when I took my first bite. My lashes fluttered and closed briefly.

  Keerla snorted, and I opened my eyes to find her smirking at me with a wicked smile.