Shther scrambled from a pillow to perch in his favorite place on her left shoulder.
She frowned at him. What was he doing here? He’d been told to keep an eye on Zamush and warn her when the man was around so she could avoid him.
About time. I was getting bored. BoD announced in a droll tone.
You always complain you’re bored.
Yeah, I abhor being redundant.
A fake mental sigh if she ever heard one.
It’s so sad this is what I’ve been reduced to.
Great, he was one of those moods. The only thing to do was ignore him.
Leaving the guest quarters on the third floor, she wandered down a wide, spiraling staircase to the second. While she didn’t hear any voices or people moving around, she could sense where a group might be. As she headed through the long corridor, a tug in her solar plexus stopped her in her tracks. The urge to turn around and head the other way was overwhelming.
Do you sense that? She asked BoD.
Sense what? Down the hall there’s a group of...
No, not them. I feel like I have to go this way.
I guess it doesn’t matter where you start, does it?
No, not really. She followed the tug as it squeezed. It led her to an open doorway into a darkened room. At first, there wasn’t anything to see. Then a low moan caught her attention. At first she couldn’t understand what lurked in the pitch black corner. Her eyes widened. Oh. It was two people in a passionate embrace. The woman’s back faced her.
She had her arms wrapped around the neck of a dark-haired man, their mouths dangerously close to one another.
A tingle swept up the back of Jelena’s neck. Goddess, she’d hate to be caught interrupting the intimate scene. She turned around. Wait… the man had black hair. Akurns had light hair. The only one she knew with that coloring was... Zamush. With fists on her hips, she stared at the couple.
The woman moaned, her head tilted.
Zamush had one hand on her lower back while the other held her head in place.
Jelena couldn’t see his expression since his long hair created a curtain.
It didn’t look like he was sucking her blood. Was he… was he kissing her? Jelena clenched her teeth so hard a searing pain shot up her jaw. She never kissed anyone when she took their blood. Who the fuck did he think he was, kissing some strange woman after he’d kissed her? She slapped a hand over her mouth. Shit! Where in the hell did that thought come from?
Another low moan from the couple.
Her blood boiled. With an indrawn hiss, her hands froze, becoming numb as her ice power sizzled up her arms. She’d freeze him and shove that female into an ice prison and then...
A sharp pain on her neck jerked her out of the haze of anger clouding her vision. She looked at Shther on her shoulder.
He shook his scaly head.
She blinked and focused on her pet and not the bloodcurdling image of those two. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and forced her ice power to recede. When she regained control, she glanced at Zamush and the woman. She held her breath, praying they didn’t see her. She didn’t have to worry.
When Zamush pulled back, his entire focus was on the woman. He licked his blood-free lips.
His tongue swiped across those tempting mounds in slow motion. The memory of those lips against hers made her tremble.
Let’s get out of here before they see us. BoD admonished her.
At least he didn’t mention how crazy she’d been acting. Oh Goddess, she almost let loose a ball of ice on Zamush when he wasn’t doing anything wrong. She’d told him more than once she wasn’t interested in him. So what did she expect?
With a heavy heart, she slunk out of the room to avoid getting caught in her own hypocrisy.