Page 84 of Red Captive

Steel rolls his eyes. “I didn’t doubt it for a second.” He gives a half-smile. “When do—”

The door opens, and a woman saunters in.

My jaw unhinges. She’s beautiful. Her hair is cut in an elegant bob that falls just short of touching her shoulders. It looks like it was cut today, it’s that sharp. She’s wearing high heels and a gold mesh dress that leaves very little to the imagination. It’s clear that she isn’t wearing underwear; there are these golden sparkly stones that cover her assets, but only just. Her breasts are high and bounce a little with every step she takes.

Her makeup is flawless. Her lips are a bright, fire-engine red. There are these big sparkling gold earrings on her ears. She’s easily the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

“Oh, my god! Steel! It’s you.” She strides over to him and throws her arms around him, pressing herself against him. “Roscoe mentioned that you were back. He wouldn’t tell me why you left or where you had gone. We will have to have a long talk all about it.” She hasn’t let him go; in fact, she presses herself against him even more. Those stones must be digging into him.

Steel doesn’t hug her back, but neither does he push her away.

She finally lets him go but cups his jaw in both her hands. “Are you okay? What’s this mess you got yourself caught up in? You’ve had me worried.” She’s tall. I’d say at least six foot two. They look good together, which has something stabbing in my gut. It’s hard and raw and wholly unexpected.

“I’m okay, Natalia.” He takes her hands in his, pulling them from his face, but doesn’t let go immediately. Instead, he smiles. “You look well.”

Understatement of the century.

He lets her go. Natalia smiles and goes visibly weak at the knees. Even a woman as beautiful as this turns into a puddle when Steel smiles. I can’t say I blame her.

“Thank you.” She leans up and kisses him on the lips.

On the freaking mouth. It catches him off guard and he frowns, stepping back.

“I’ve missed you,” she says in a husky tone.

When Steel doesn’t say anything, she turns to me. “So, this must be the human.” Natalia looks at me with disdain for a moment before plastering a fake smile on her lips. “The cause of all the trouble.”

My first instinct is to say something snarky back, but I don’t. “Yep, that would be me. My name is Jen.”

Her facial features tighten for a moment before she schools her emotions. “I’ve ordered champagne. Do humans enjoy champagne, Jen?”

“That’s perfect.” I could do with a glass or two of champagne to calm myself down. I have this horrible feeling that Natalia is the woman Steel slept with. I can’t say I blame him since she’s drop-freaking-dead gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can’t help the jealousy raging through me. I want her to go away and to stop hitting on Steel. I want a lot of things that will probably never happen, either, so I suck it up.

Steel and I had sex once. We are not together. He isn’t mine. I need to get over it.

The door opens, and another woman walks in, carrying a tray in one hand.

“Finally.” Natalia claps her hands. “Our drinks have arrived.”

The waitress is wearing the same golden mesh dress as Natalia but without the stones covering the important bits. Her breasts are slightly smaller but no less perky; her nipples, too. I can tell that she likes to wax…all over.

My jaw has unhinged again.

“Hi, Steel.” She smiles, putting the tray on the table. Then she gives this cute wave in his direction.

“Hi, Lola,” Steel says.

The waitress giggles, taking an ice bucket and some flutes off the tray, followed by another tumbler. I can see her ass, and nobody bats an eye.

“Are you going to have a whiskey with me?” Roscoe asks Steel, who nods.

“Sure, why not?” He comes over to me, leaning in. “Are you okay?” he asks, almost in the shell of my ear.

Nudity is normal for dragons. I look out at the audience and see several naked men in the crowd. There are two ladies up on stage; they’re naked, too. Completely bare-ass naked. They’re wearing the same golden earrings as Natalia and Lola, and each is holding a sign that says “Round 1” on it. They must go to the same waxer as Lola because they’re completely devoid of hair.

“Fine,” I croak. “All good. Your friend seems…um…nice,” I say in a clearer voice.

What the hell should I say?

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