Page 31 of The Fury Queen's Harem

I sighed inwardly. It had taken them this long to find out I was receiving a guest who’d slipped past them? But I couldn’t blame them when the one who’d slipped past was a powerful warlock. There was a reason he was called Lord Elvey.

Elvey shivered as my fingers traced along his strong jaw line. It was only a nanosecond, then he stilled again. Only his breath rasped.

His scent, unmasked by his magic now, wafted toward me. It was faint, but it was enough for me to scent Fae in him, though not a full-blood one.

That discovery punched me in the stomach and drove the air out of me.

I knew I was half-Fae, but I’d never got to learn anything about my mother’s side. It was forbidden. Dragons and Fae didn’t mix. I’d been wondering for years if that was somehow tied to my curse.

And now both Fae and dragons had come to my small world on Pandemonium, and both species smelled of distant home and forest sun and shadow, which pumped such longing in my blood.

I leaned toward him.

One kiss, and I would find more about him.

And he wouldn’t be able hide who he was from me.

A furious roar stopped me in my tracks.

Blaze, the fire dragon prince, charged in, a shield in his left hand, and a longsword in his right. Henry lunged at him, but Blaze slammed him back with his shield. At least, he didn’t use the sword to cut down my hound. If he had, he would suffer my wrath, no matter how amazing his kiss had been.

Henry hadn’t really wanted to eat the fire dragon, either, since I’d ordered my monsters not to kill, but to herd any hunters toward me. Their fight was due to an obvious misunderstanding, since the dragon prince didn’t appear to be one who appreciated being herded or escorted.

Two giant Lamashtus also dashed in as Henry’s backup.

Sybil landed on Henry’s rear, waiting for me to issue orders.

I waved for all of them to leave.They aren’t invaders.I flashed a few images in their heads.They’re my guests.

Henry snarled at Blaze once more, then stared at Elvey with menace.

Elvey flicked his gaze from the dragon prince to Henry and arched an eyebrow at the hellhound. Henry half-snarled and half-whimpered, cringed, then bolted out. His peers followed him out without any further contest.

Blaze glared daggers at Elvey, then looked at me with jealous rage. “You! Girl! Are you just going to kiss everyone?”

A corner of Elvey’s lips tugged up in a half-smile and the warlock slanted a lazy glance at the dragon prince, not so much worried about the sword in his opponent’s hand. Elvey graced me with a sly, full smile, as if the fun had just begun.

I’d never expected that I’d get myself tangled in a situation where men would fight over me.

“You don’t own me, Blaze,” I said. “All we shared was a kiss.”

“It wasn’t just a kiss!” he said, temper flaring. “It was the kiss of the century, and you don’t get it just with anyone.”

“Some kisses are good, some bad,” I said mildly like a good liar. “I just have to take it all. As queen of the jungle, it’s a custom for me to kiss every alien who comes to visit my realm. That’s why I sent out the messengers. I thought you were quite satisfied with my kiss, so why are you complaining?”

Elvey chuckled.

“They aren’t alien visitors.” Blaze raised his voice. “They’re all hunters, including the sleazy one you were going to kiss. They all came to slay your beasts!”

I narrowed my eyes. “And you didn’t?”

His jaws tightened. “I considered aborting my former effort to hunt your guardians after that kiss. Don’t tell me you didn’t feel a special link between us. You ran away before I could get to know you more and offer you my protection. I’ve been tracking you ever since, but I ran into a few demons and had to take time removing them from my path.” He sent another threatening glare at Elvey before focusing his longing gaze on me. “As soon as I took care of them, the damned cannibal plants trapped me and tried to eat me.”

He unconsciously touched his chin. It was still raw from the contact with the cannibal plants, as was his forehead where it wasn’t covered by his mask.

“That’s quite impressive, Prince Blaze,” Elvey said with a mocking admiration. “You even fought off the friendly plants. I’ve learned to deal with them. All you need to say is one magical word—please—to get them to loosen their eager embrace.”

His golden eyes glowing with rage, Blaze strode toward us. “Get away from her!”

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