The Burn of the Underworld
Page 22
“We’re mostly flying,” he said.
“Are you being cheap?” I demanded.
“What?” He widened his eyes and frowned at me. “I have all the gold in the world. I’m one of the richest men alive. You can have tens of thousands of boots after we find the witch. I’m just being practical while we’re on the road.”
“Will you let me have new boots or not?” I asked. “I don’t want to meet the First Witch with my toes sticking out of the holes in my shoes. It will reflect very badly on you.”
He sighed and followed me upstairs. I heard him murmuring quietly behind me, “—the first female who drives me mad ... the thorn on my side ... I pray to Earth Goddess that the witch will be—”
“—the opposite of me,” I finished for him. And good luck with that, I snickered. “You don’t need to follow me. You can wait at the cashier and be ready to pay her. I’ll come to you after I try all the dresses and the boots on the second floor.”
“Like hell I’ll let you out of my sight,” he said.
While I selected the boots—I was picky—he never took his eyes off me. At one point, I caught him watching me with dark fascination. Now he was fascinated. What about moments ago at the alley? I was still frustrated and fuming beyond words, and his proximity still affected me.
Even though there were so many other shoppers around, all I felt was his potent presence and the charged electricity between us.
Soon I found I wasn’t the only one affected by his sexual energy. Women gazed up at him in heated appreciation. A few of them placed themselves between us and swayed their hips, talking and giggling loudly to get his attention.
I picked up two pairs of boots then nodded toward the third, fourth, and fifth on the shelves. “Do you mind, Ares?” I asked. “My hands are full.”
Ares blew out a long-suffering sigh, then snatched a pair of crimson hunter boots, “Aren’t they too bright?” he asked as he trailed after me toward the fitting room.
Must he criticize everything I did? “I like red,” I said in a clipped tone.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll get two shop girls to assist you. I’ll pay them extra.”
Then a velvet, sexy, and cultured feminine voice reached us. “We aren’t in Babylon now, are we? And this shop has its own charm.”
A stunning blonde glided toward us, escorted by her companions and servants. She was obviously a lady of noble birth in a poor disguise.
She didn’t spare me a look, but stopped right before Ares, eyes widening in a delightful surprise. “Oh, hello,” she greeted him, her voice musical.
“Hello, my lady,” Ares said with a soft, silky voice that he had never used on me. With me, his voice was always hard, hoarse, or very much annoyed. With me, he was not a delight for even a nanosecond but full of negative charge.
He stepped aside and gestured, politely giving the lady the rights of path. He’d never treated me with such respect. Most of the time he was yelling at me, “Freyja, stop it. Freyja, don’t screw it up!”
The noblewoman didn’t pass by. She tilted up her elegant head to gaze at Ares with a scorching heat. She was tall and slender, but he was taller at seven feet.
Ares was enormous and powerfully built, but she seemed more taken by his feral, handsome face. Following her line of sight, I reevaluated his features and mostly focused on his sensual lips and his bedroom eyes. When his eyes and mouth weren’t hard, they made him seem even more handsome than he already was.
The other female shoppers stopped talking and glared at the noblewoman. She outshone them all. A noble like her could afford the best tailors in town. Perhaps she simply wanted to walk on the wild side.
The half-blood prince could be any woman’s wildest ride if she could rein him.
A faint spark of jealousy tugged at my heart when I noticed Ares’ eyes shining at her.
A smile tugged at his lips as he darted a glance at me. Ares wanted to see how I reacted.
The jealousy left me.
I was wild. I was free. And I saw a better way out of my slavery to the Dragonian prince.
I flashed him a meaningful smile, and he frowned at me.
The duo of nobles started introducing themselves and engaged in effortless, pleasant conversation. She called herself Agatha, and Ares called himself Aston. I snickered.
Ares asked Agatha where she came from and if she had any news from the south. He’d left Atlantis for a few months now, and in this part of the continent, we didn’t get updated intel quickly.
I loitered around and listened carefully. She had a lot of information about the south.
“Freyja,” Ares ordered, “go try the boots. The day is short.”
Agatha looked pleased at the prince dismissing me.
I shrugged and strode toward the entrance to a row of fitting rooms.
When I looked over my shoulder to see if Ares was keeping an eye on me, I saw he was, even as he cozied up to the woman.
I checked out the fitting room area. Just as I hoped, there was a narrow staircase leading downstairs. I would have to decide soon if I really wanted to flee.
I calmed my racing heart, stepped into a fitting room, and quickly put on the new dress. Its silkiness caressed my skin. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The green dress went well with my dark emerald eyes, pale skin, and lush, flaming hair. And more, it pushed up my half-exposed breasts to the maximum effect.
An urge to let Ares see me in a dress was so strong that I glided out. I could walk like water flowing and breeze passing as well.
His eyes, which had never left the entrance, brightened to a molten gold at the new me. His interest in Agatha waned as he looked me over.
“How do I look, Lord Aston?” I purred.
“Passable,” the prince said.
Agatha stared at me, as if she had just seen me, but she didn’t seem pleased to see me.
“Pick something practical,” Ares said. “If you want fancy dresses, there are plenty of places I can take you to after we get to our destination.”
“Where’s your destination, Lord Aston,” Agatha asked, “if you don’t mind me being curious? We might be heading the same direction.”
“I’m gonna try the boots,” I said. “Would you be a dear and fetch me a few practical clothing to your standard downstairs, Lord Aston?”
He growled. He definitely didn’t know how to take an order. He checked himself when he realized the pretty women were watching him, and he turned his snarl into an awkward grin.
“The shop girls can do that for you,” he said, about to clap his hands to summon the girls.
Agatha laid her long fingers on his massive arm. “I’ll help, Lord Aston. It’d be a pleasure. The shop girls seem to be somewhere else. They’re having a crazy sales day.”
As a fine opportunist, she wanted to get him away from me and work on him. I’d play along, but not because I was in an altruistic mood. This presented the perfect opening for me to make a graceful exit and part with the prince on relatively good term.
He wanted the First Witch, and I would give him one.
A sudden searing pain surged through me and rammed into my heart. My body rebelled at the idea of me leaving Ares. For a second, I was shocked at its fierce objection and its independence of my reason.
My superior will was trapped in a base body that only wanted to gratify its carnal needs.
Ares nodded in agreement at the noblewoman and sent me a warning look—it would be the last annoyed look he would ever cast my way—and headed downstairs reluctantly.
Continue to read The Dragonian’s Witch
More Books by Meg Xuemei X
HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES
Magic Trials (coming in June 2019)
Magic Secret (coming in July 2019)
Magic Fury (coming in Aug. 2019)
Magic Unchained (coming in Oct. 2019)
THE FIRST WITCH SERIES
The Dragonian’s Witch
The Witch’s Consort
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bsp; THE WAR OF GODS SERIES
A Court of Blood and Void
A Court of Fire and Metal
A Court of Ice and Wind
A Court of Earth and Ether
HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES
Coming in June 2019
Magic Trials
Magic Secret
Magic Fury
Magic Unchained
THE CURSED DRAGON QUEEN & HER MATES
The Fury Queen’s Harem
The Dragon Queen’s Harem
The Fae Queen’s Harem
EMPRESS OF MYSTH SERIES
Angel’s Forbidden Lust
Angel’s Indecent Proposal
Angel’s Fated Mate
Angel’s Storm Magic
TRUE MATE SERIES
Claim the Wolf King
Claim the Leopard Princess
THE WICKEDEST WITCH SERIES
Wicked Witch
Dark Vampire
Fallen Angel
DARK CHEMISTRY SERIES
The Siren
The Prince
The Red Queen
The Girl Next Door: A Small Town Romance
About the Author
Meg Xuemei X is a USA Today bestselling author of steamy fantasy and paranormal romance. She finds it dreamingly delightful to be around drop-dead gorgeous alpha males who are forever tormented by her feisty heroines, formidable alien fallen angels, wild shifters, unseelie fae, dark vampires, menacing demigods, and cunning witches.
She's visited the universe of War of the Gods, The Empress of Mysth, The First Witch, Shifters' True Mates, the badland of The Wickest Witch, and Dark Chemistry. Next she'll boldly go to the Underworld and join Calamity's War. At this moment, in her southern California abode, she's packing as many forbidden weapons as she can carry. Her favorite is a magical whip with wicked spikes.
She is always happy to hear from readers and welcome new friends on Facebook.
Email: megxuemei@gmail.com
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