Page 36 of Queen Takes Knights
“Why wouldn’t we be?” He retorted, though his words were quiet. “Areyouupset withme?”
I leaned into him, pressing my breasts against his arm. My nipples ached, so surely he could feel how hard they were. “Does this feel like I’m upset with you?”
He threaded his fingers in my hair, the same as he’d done to Daire last night. But he didn’t jerk my head back, baring my throat.
Daire jumped out of the car and swept the rear passenger door open. “Ready, my queen?”
Alrik released my hair but he didn’t step back. He watched me slide into the car with heavy-lidded eyes and he growled at Daire, though I wasn’t sure why.
They’d fucked each other last night, but today, they were aggressive to each other. It didn’t make sense.
I felt uneasy and tense all the way to downtown Kansas City, even though Alrik sat beside me and held my hand as if nothing was wrong. I just felt out of sorts. Vaguely achy and disinterested and even weepy for no particular reason. And then it hit me.
PMS. My period was due to start. I broke out in a cold sweat and my stomach rolled queasily.
“Shara? Are you all right?”
I forced a small smile. “I’m fine. I just remembered that I get car sick easily.”
Daire met my gaze through the rear-view mirror, dimple flashing in his cheek. “Then you should ride up here on the way home. That might help with the motion sickness.”
I nodded, and heard a small noise from Alrik, almost like a muttered curse. I glanced at him, but he was looking out the window.
I concentrated on our bond, trying to listen without being intrusive. His emotions surged like an angry sea. Jealousy rose like a tidal wave, only to crush into a downward spiral of guilt. Then anger at himself. And confusion. He was just as confused about what he was feeling as I was. That helped, some.
Maybe he was feeling some odd effect from my PMS? It was like my emotions were magnified in him, only more toward anger.
And lust, I decided, feeling the surge as I climbed out of the car. I glanced back over my shoulder and his eyes were locked to my ass.
The Power and Light District was festively lit, even during the daytime. I took a deep breath, hoping to calm my social anxiety before it got out of hand. I didn’t want to affect Alrik even more, or he might stride into the crowd slinging bodies out of my way. Even Daire was feisty after I insisted he leave his ketars in the car, but he offered me his arm, so I linked elbows with him and reached for Alrik too, tugging him close. He growled at Daire over my head, but he just winked back at him.
We ate some fantastic barbecue and window shopped for a couple of hours. I bought a couple of books—hardcovers, something I never would have splurged on before, both because of the expense and the weight in case I needed to bolt. My shiny gold card worked effortlessly. We found a trendy boutique shop selling women’s clothes, and Daire insisted I try on practically everything in the store. At least that’s what it felt like. Once he got me in a dressing room, he refused to let me out by bringing arm loads for me to try on. Alrik sat glowering on a cushioned bench in the center. A sales assistant started to come over to ask if I needed any help, took one look at the mountain of a man outside my stall door, and quickly buzzed past to help someone else.
The stack of things Daire wanted me to buy was almost as tall as me. “I don’t need this much stuff,” I protested, trying to figure out where I’d even put that much. I didn’t have a closet in the tower, though my old room downstairs had a large walk-in that was mostly empty.
“Yes, you do.” He waved the assistant over. “She’ll take these things. Could they be delivered for her later today?”
The woman’s eyes rounded at the huge pile, and I could almost see the cash register cha-chinging in her head. “Of course, I’m sure we can arrange that. If my manager can’t, I’ll bring them to you myself.”
She started to gather up all the hangers, but Alrik slammed his hand down on the stack. He went down through several layers until he found a particular item, pulling it out even though it messed up the top clothes. “Put this one on.”
Something in me bristled at his tone. The queen in me raising her head, tipping her chin, refusing to bow. The woman took the dress and raced up to the cash register so she could ring it up, and then brought the dress back. “You might be cold in it. It’s not really a winter dress.”
I stared at him, while the lady stood there with the dress, awkwardly looking back and forth between us. I didn’t look at the dress—I wasn’t even sure which one it was. That wasn’t the point. If he thought he could start dictating to me what I could wear… That was going to stop. Now.
I’d never had a boyfriend, let alone a date a full-grown man. But even if I was just an ordinary human woman dating the average Joe, there was no way in hell I’d let him order me about. “Just because you’ve had your dick in me doesn’t mean you can tell me what to do. Let alone what to wear.”
Alrik bowed his head and shocked the hell out of me by going to one knee before me despite the crowded store and the goggling sales person. “Forgive me, my queen. I don’t know what came over me.”
I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arm around his straining shoulders. He buried his face against my stomach, and despite his apology, I felt his teeth on my belly. He even started to nuzzle lower, as if he’d bury his face in my pussy right here in the store. Before things got out of hand, I drew back, took the diaphanous dress from the woman, and stepped into the dressing room.
“She’ll need matching shoes,” Daire said to the woman.
“Oh! Yes, I know just the pair.”
I stepped out of my jeans and checked my underwear to be safe. Crap, I’d started already. I hadn’t brought my backpack along. Usually I would have put in a tampon right away, even if I wasn’t flowing much. It seemed to help keep my scent under control so I could get away from the monsters during the day and hide somewhere new before nightfall. It didn’t always work, but it did seem to help.
I needed to stock up on the way home. Blowing out a sigh, I tried to think of a creative way to ask two healthy males to stop for tampons at the drug store as I balled up the stained undies and dropped them in the little waste basket. Leaving behind a decoy to attract the monsters to my old location usually helped me slip away undetected. Though going commando in a slinky dress was not the smartest thing I’d ever done.
