Chapter 9
Finally, a man had managed to throw me off balance—and soak my panties in the process. I mean talk about hot and holy arousing. The elf prince wanted me to blow him.
Was it romantic? Nope. Was it love? Not even close. Was it all about a dude dying for me to wrap my lips around his dick for a good suck? Totally. But considering the fact I’d assumed he hated me, it felt like a step in the right direction.
What direction you might ask?
Why to my happily ever after, of course.
I’d not given up on it. After all, I’d been attempting to summon my true love.
Admittedly, the spell I chose might not have been the best choice.
However, there remained a chance that either Ulseere, or even Gryvak, could be the one.
Although, seeing as how Gryvak wanted to rule over humanity, I really rooted for it to be Ulseere.
For those thinking I settled, I could do worse. The dude personified hotness. Could move like a jaguar stalking in a jungle. Oozed sex. Came from royal—
“Would you stop staring at my buttocks and thinking so hard?” he growled as we headed down the hall to the stairwell. “It’s distracting.”
“If you didn’t want your ass admired, then you shouldn’t wear such snug pants.” He’d ditched the long duster so I had a nice view of his cheeks flexing.
“We don’t have time for me to bed you and rid ourselves of this ridiculous attraction.”
I blinked and stopped dead. “Wait, are you saying you’re attracted to me?”
“As if it weren’t obvious.”
I quickly skipped to catch up to him. “Obvious how? When you’re insulting me? When you’re telling me I’m only good as bait?”
“If it weren’t for my unwanted arousal for your person, I’d have killed you and destroyed the book by now.”
I stopped dead again. “You’d murder me to stop Gryvak?”
“Eliminating you would prevent Gryvak’s return to Infernal and would provide an adequate resolution for the king’s mission. However, for some damnable reason, I’ve kept you alive,” he grumbled with obvious annoyance. “I blame my unseemly lust for not doing my duty.”
A very begrudging compliment. “For a guy who’s attracted to my ass, you sure haven’t shown it.”
“I thought I just explained how I did.”
“Um, on Earth, guys who like girls usually ask them on dates, or buy them flowers, or try a cheesy pick-up line, like hello, cute witch, I’ve got a broom stick you can ride.”
“Why would I offer you vegetation or a cleaning implement?” he asked in all seriousness as he held open the stairwell door—after he’d stuck his head through to scan it.
Rather than answer, I countered. “How do guys from your world let a woman know they’re interested?”
“We show them.”
“Show them how?”
I had no warning. None at all. One second, I stood in the hall and he held the door open. The next, I’d been dragged against his solid chest and firm lips pressed against mine.
There was nothing gentle about his actions. Everything, including the kiss, was hard, just like him, and yet as he slid those lips over mine, there was also a soft sensuality, a breathtaking awareness, a jolt of desire, a need to—
Take a cold shower because the embrace stopped as quickly as it started.
“Don’t stop.” A plea I truly meant.
“We don’t have time.”
“In that case, you shouldn’t have begun something you couldn’t finish,” I grumbled.
A glint in his eyes went well with the partial curve of his mouth. “Who says I don’t plan on finishing?” He paused before purring, “Later. If you don’t cause trouble.”
“And if I do?”
“Then you’ll owe me oral satisfaction.”
“Which won’t solve the ache between my legs.” I put it bluntly.
“Then, as you humans would say, don’t fuck up.”
No shit because one expert kiss had me wondering what else he did well.
“I feel you staring again,” he noted as we headed down the stairs.
“Just trying to gauge how wide I’ll have to open my mouth.”
He stumbled.
I smiled. Two could play this game.
The floor below ours appeared deserted. No one in the hall. No noise from the rooms as we passed them. Ulseere paused in front of a door, and I whispered, “How can you be sure this is the room right under ours?”
He gave me a look as if I’d asked the dumbest question.
So I asked another. “How are we supposed to get in without a key?”
I expected him to boot it open like a guy would in an action movie.
Instead, he placed his hand on the door, right on the electronic keypad. Click. The light turned green, and we were inside.
I let Ulseere do a quick check of the space before blurting out, “If you can simply open doors, why did you bother booking a room with the receptionist?”
“Use your head for something other than a hat rack and I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” he replied as he grabbed a suitcase and shook it. “Empty.”
I should have been the one opening drawers and rifling through the fabric contents, but he’d implied I might be dumb. It took me a second before I had the answer. “By reserving a room properly, we don’t have to worry about reception assigning it to someone and them walking in on us.”
Did I get any kind of congratulations on figuring it out? Nope.
“Will this be suitable for Florence?” He held up a sports bra and matching pink undies.
“Yeah.” I snatched them because he shouldn’t he handling Flo’s lingerie—he should be removing mine! I gave them a sniff to make sure they’d not been worn. Fabric softener tickled my nose, indicating they were clean. Now on to an outfit.
The closet had a few choices like a red sarong dress great for a cocktail party.
Crisply ironed slacks with a matching blouse and blazer.
A navy blue and white jumpsuit. All so prim and proper.
I ended up choosing the one piece because I knew Flo would hate it.
The last time she wore one she complained about being fully exposed each time she had to yank it down to pee.
Hehehe. As her best friend, I had a duty to drive her nuts.
“Anything else?” Ulseere asked.
I shook my head. “This gets Flo out of her current stuff until we can go shopping or head back home.”
“Then let us tackle your garments next, seeing as how yours are in worse shape.”
It occurred to me then that his weren’t. “How come you’re not covered in dust like me?”
His teeth flashed in a grin. “Having an affinity for air allows me to cushion my outerwear against dirt, and the gift of water lets me quickly rinse stains and then dry them by removing all moisture.”
“Handy.”
“Very especially when travelling for long periods of time where every ounce you carry makes a difference in your pace.”
“You travel often?”
“Whenever and wherever my king sends me.”
“You didn’t answer the question. How often?”
“I spend more time away from the castle than in it.”
“You live in a castle?” I squeaked as we once more hit the hall and headed for the stairwell.
“Yes. Bigger than this hotel that falsely claims the same.”
“What does it look like?”
We entered the stairwell, and rather than reply, when the door closed, he swirled his hand in the air, and where it passed through an image formed.
I gaped. Not only because of the casual display of magic but because of the magnificent palace being shown.
“Holy shit,” I huffed, staring wide-eyed at the ginormous citadel.
Too complex and massive to be called a castle but not delicate enough to achieve what I thought of as an attractive palace like movies usually portrayed the elves living in.
White gleaming stone with minarets and windows and crenelated passages running the length of it. “It must have taken forever to build.”
“It was a project of centuries that began as a carving in the mountain. When it came time to expand, blocks of stone were shipped in to match its current appearance.”
“And you live there?”
“Yes.”
“With how many others?”
He shrugged. “It changes, but I believe the number bandied about had it around a quarter-million.”
A quarter-million people… “It’s not a home, it’s a bloody city.”
“The city actually rings the base and contains a few million citizens.”
“It must be hard having to leave so often.”
He shrugged. “Not really. It is sometimes more dangerous to be so close to the seat of power than away from it.”
“You’re the king’s man. Surely that offers protection.”
He snorted. “Humans aren’t the only ones who suffer from envy.”
“You know, you don’t have to go back.”
As Ulseere skipped down the steps heading for the third floor, he didn’t pause as he replied, “I can’t stay here.”
“Why not?”
The snort echoed up to me. “To do what? Be what? Live where?” Before I could even attempt to answer, he kept going.
“I am a soldier, a fighter, a wielder of the five elements. All skills that do nothing for me on Earth. Your culture doesn’t appeal.
And then there is the fact that I don’t wish to live my life constantly under a glamour. ”
“Your skin color isn’t that noticeable.” I’d certainly stopped seeing it.
“Your entire planet is obsessed with the pigment of other people’s flesh. Even if they weren’t, there’s my ears.”
I bit my tongue lest I mention plastic surgery. Why should he have to change himself? He shouldn’t, and I should stop trying to convince him Earth would be a good place for him to retire. He likely had friends back home. He felt comfortable there. Had a job. A place of his own. What did Earth have?
Me.
But I wasn’t so vain as to think one kiss—or even the epic sex we’d surely have—would be enough to keep him.
The man hunted demons and misbehaving princes for a living.
The best he could expect here? A job in construction.
Delivery if he learned to drive. The military and cops wouldn’t take him without a birth certificate and other identification.
Although I did wonder how hard it was to become an assassin or merc for hire. He’d make an awesome John Wick type.
“We’re approaching the sixth level,” he announced in a low tone.
Looked like our chat was over. Back to business.