Page 36 of Chained to the Devil's Daughter

With a roll of my eyes, I stepped away. He surveyed me with a cautious eye that told me he wasn’t convinced. That’s fine. He’d find out soon enough. I was, for real, seriously good at secrets, though. I could definitely keep this one until this evening. . . That wasn’t so far away.

Yeah. I was fantastic at keeping secrets. Even better than I was at keeping promises.

19

Searra

Would you chaperone a trip to the gardens with me?”

Ash’ren stilled. Lava churned around his pupils. Never in our history was he a candidate to prance through the inner rings with Devil’s golden princess. I’m thirty-flaming-three, and my father is nowhere around. I meant what I told Fara. I’m ready to flaunt my man.

His moment of disbelief was swift. Desire poured from his churning depths into mine, wrapping my soul in a chrysalis where I wanted to turn to goo andpoofinto a sexy, slutty butterfly for his use.

“Shall we take the stairs, or the tree, Queen Firefly?”

I glanced at the window, where the branch of the tree gently tapped in the breeze. It was dumb enough that he’d climbed through it in broad daylight. I didn’t need to hold my breath through an eeny-mini-minor fear of heights, too.

“The door.”

“You’re no fun,” he teased, tugging my braid. “Thought you loved climbing trees.”

“Absolutely not.”

“As the lady wishes.”

Ash’ren set a mindful pace through the palace and out into the daylight. It felt so natural to be on his arm, it physically pained me not to snuggle deeper. The strength to reign in my urges was only credit to the gawking folks of all stations—guards, servants, nobles alike.

Ash’ren’s bicep was tense, hard as stone. Maybe I’d made a mistake gallivanting him around so early. Rings, had I painted a target on his back? I peered up at him, expecting to find pain or annoyance at the whispers that floated around us.Ash Render.The princess’ dog.

Rage. A lethal storm raged in his eyes, his unusual magic seeping from under his boots with every step. Judging by how we were suddenly alone, I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

“Pitiful,” he scoffed.

“Their opinions of you don’t matter. I know who you are.” He seemed to drag his gaze to mine, confusion barely leaking through the lethality. “What is it, then?”

“They fear me so greatly, yet they left you alone in my care.” He spat on the ground. Void-black saliva sizzled on the pebbled walkway. “You should get rid of them all.”

“I can hardly imagine the palace so quiet,” I huffed. Gently, I fastened onto his arm to slow our pace, which was steadily speeding toward a light jog. “They’re brainwashed.”

Ash’ren seethed, unraveling from my grip. He rubbed both hands over his face, his left traveling up to his broken horn. I could barely hear him muttering what sounded like numbers. On my tippy toes, I plucked his worried hand and held it between us.

“Our rule will not abide by the same harsh laws as my father’s. The cruelty will end with us. Well, granted, some of these flaming forkers will continue being cruel. In which case, we will kill them”—Ash’ren’s face lit up—“withkindness, you sadist.”

An easy smirk returned to my lover’s face, and he spun me back into his side. He shook his head as if to say,your kindness is too good for them, a phrase I could hear as clearly as if he’d spoken it into my ear.

I started to walk, but he was planted like a tree.

“What?” He was quiet. I rolled my eyes. “Kindness is challenging, but it’s reward—”

“Ourrule?” His grin became so deep it filled my guts as much as his cock did, jostling my insides a little. “Are you proposing to me, Princess Firefly?”

“Ha! Ha! Funny guy!” Alarm bells ricocheted in the empty space between my ears. Flaming rings, I could dang well keep this secret! “All I’m proposing is that we take a walk.”

He closed the distance between our heights, as though he were about to plant one on me. Shrubbery rustled nearby and I flinched away. I was fully intent on disobeying the rules of courtship in a couple of hours, but I wanted to do so on my terms.

Undeterred, Ash’ren continued his descent until his lips brushed my ear.

“When you propose, my little love bug, you won’t be able to walk for days.”

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