Page 75 of Witch Queens: Tales from Oz

I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I love you,” I blurted out.

He cupped my cheek with his large hand, “I love you, too.”

CHAPTER 27 - PART 2 – Mombi

Istood there in myoffice staring into the blank space as I tried to process my last phone call.

The last thing I needed was for some homicidal maniac tromping around Gillikin County. Although, perhaps the shifters would dispose of Dorothy or Dorothy would rid us of the shifters, either way, it would work to take something off my plate.

Sighing, I sank down into my plush office chair. Glancing towards the wall of windows on the south side of my office, I looked out into the deceptively quiet open grasslands and woodlands just beyond the village.

We had shifters living in the hills and mountains of Gillikin. It was said that they had been around as long as time, and for the most part, they stayed to themselves.

Or at least they had until one-night last summer. The one night that their king had left his Lead Warrior in charge and they had attacked the village.

I could remember everything about that evening. The butterflies in my stomach as I pulled on the impossibly tight red dress. Praying that my ass looked phenomenal and not huge as it always did to me.

I wore my raindrop diamond pendant earrings and a matching necklace that rested just above the swells of my ample breasts. Was it too much? Probably, but I was on the hunt and wasn’t afraid of using everything I had in my arsenal.

My long auburn hair was pulled up into a lazy chignon that could easily be disrupted by a man’s greedy hands—or a King’s, as it were.

Jake’s eyes had hungrily raked over my body until I felt as if I stood there without a stitch of clothing on. His manners over dinner were impeccable, damn him.

By the time dessert was served, I had almost decided to grab him by his tuxedo lapels and throw him on the table. I couldn’t help but wonder what his small goatee would feel like against my face as he kissed my lips. Or if he really was as strong as his more than six-and-a-half-foot frame suggested.

Jake shaved his head completely bald, which was interesting, considering in lion form he had a massive mane that I desperately wanted to run my fingers through.

I had watched him with his pride and knew that he ruled with an iron will. His brother Eric was his lead warrior and most trusted companion. The lionesses often vied to become his Queen, but Jake remained alone while his brother wallowed in the spoils.

It was said that four of their new cubs were fathered by Eric, each with a different lioness.

The contention was high among the pride, and I knew that Jake had given his brother an ultimatum to either pick a mate or he would do it for him.

But none of this was supposed to matter because, for the first time, I had let down my defenses and allowed him into my home, into my world.

---