Read Online lily harper 04.5 - the bladesmith by h p mallory - Free Book Online Page B

Persephone in the beginning, aye. That much was true. I had lusted after her, enjoyed our sexual trysts and even tolerated her trifling conversations that did little to interest me. But I had never trusted her, and now, as the time was drawing nearer, I understood why. She was untrustworthy.
    There was no wholesomeness within her lovely exterior and there never had been. When faced with the promise of power I supplied as leader of the Underground, she had jumped at the opportunity to possess that control. I was well aware that she considered me nothing more than a vessel of influence, a way to attain the supremacy she sought. And it had and was corrupting her. Now it was time I put a stop to it.
    I did not bother to rap on her door but showed myself into her chamber. She was naked and lounging on the red, silken linens of her bed, just as I knew she would be. I found my attention drifting from her wide open legs and her lascivious grin to the four-poster, carved mahogany bed. It had been one of several gifts I had bestowed upon her. Now the image of it suddenly infuriated me. I despised the fact that I had ever given her anything.
    I returned my attention to her encouraging expression and frowned. Once upon a time I would have leapt on her, forced my head between her thighs and lapped at her feminine flesh with abandon before pummeling her with my determined cock. But this was not that time.
    “Ah am strippin’ ye o’ yer title o’ queen,” I announced, my tone of voice steely and resolute.
    She closed her legs and scooted back on the bed, sitting up as she faced me squarely. Instead of the concern I expected to see in her gaze, I found amusement, ridicule even.
    “Oh, are you?” she asked with a small laugh as she shook her head, giving me the impression that she was the one in charge, or believed herself to be.
    “Aye, Ah am,” I answered with the briefest of nods.
    She pulled one of the silk sheets to her body and covered her lower half, not bothering to cover her beautifully symmetrical breasts. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked upon me with sudden ill humor. “You cannot take anything away from me.”
    “Ah’m the king, the ruler o’ the Oonderground. Mah word is law,” I answered and tried not to stifle a yawn. I had hoped she would yield the keys to the kingdom with some level of poise and dignity, but it appeared such would not be the case. I did not know why I expected otherwise. Mayhap it was just stupid wishful thinking.
    “And I am the queen, your queen,” she insisted, all the while glaring at me. “You have no right to strip me of my title. Not when I am recognized as queen by our people and by Afterlife Enterprises. You cannot simply do away with me just because you so choose.”
    “Yer affairs with Alaire are makin’ ye ah laughin’ stock,” I started as I sighed and then rubbed my forehead because I had not wanted to get into this much depth. I had hoped to get in and get out, as it were. “An’ Ah willnae allow mahself tae be included in the ridicule.”
    “Is that what this is about?” she scoffed at me as a huge smile took hold of her mouth. She knee-walked a few steps down the mattress until she reached me. Then she dropped the satin sheet that guarded her nudity. “I am all yours, my love,” she said, her narrowed eyes betraying the lie in her words. “Alaire means nothing to me. He was simply a distraction because you have not shown me the same interest you did when we first met.” She paused for a moment as she studied me. “Have you taken another woman to your bed?”
    “Ye know Ah havenae,” I answered, my lips tight because I hated the sound of Alaire’s name on her lips. I was not jealous. I just hated his name, hated him and everything he stood for. As to other women in my bed, I had not taken any, but that would soon change.
    “Then show me you still love me by claiming me and imprinting yourself on my body. Take me back from Alaire. Make love to me the way only