Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Selena Kitt Read Free Book Online Page B

more alert now. “Checking the monitors.”
    “Shhh.” Kai stroked and petted Jules, who was still shaking in his arms. Whatever she’d seen had really frightened her. “It’ll be okay.”
    “Nothing, Sir,” Cap assured him. “Not even a woodchuck.”
    “What about the heat sensors?”
    “Negative.”
    “Thanks.” Kai ended the call and slid his phone into his pocket, trying to comfort the terrified woman in his arms. “There’s nothing out there, Jules. I promise you.”
    “But I saw them!” Jules choked desperately, turning to hide her face against his shirt.
    “Maybe you saw a reflection… or—”
    “I swear I saw them!” She was adamant, tearing herself away from him to stalk over to the wall of glass, peering out. The sun was gone now, leaving a dusky dimness in its wake. “It was them… it was… them…”
    “Who?” Kai asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
    Jules was quiet, hugging herself. She gave a little shudder and then shook her head.
    “I guess you’re right.” She cleared her throat, rubbing her bare arms. “Probably a reflection. Just… seeing things. Too much wine.”
    She gave a half-hearted laugh, turning as Sebastian came in, pushing a tray with their coffee.
    “Oh, good—caffeine. I think I need to sober up.”
    “Is everything all right, Sir?” Sebastian asked as he poured their coffee and the two of them settled into the chairs where they’d started their night with wine.
    “Call down to Cap, make sure he’s on high alert,” Kai told Sebastian, watching Jules wince as she drank the hot coffee—black. “Not sure, but there might have been someone out there…”
    “Yes, Sir.” Sebastian glanced at the glass wall, then back to Kai, looking concerned, but he left them alone again.
    “You okay?” Kai asked softly.
    “I feel silly,” Jules admitted, smiling at him, but her gaze kept going to the glass, as if she thought something—or someone—might appear. The night was coming on now, and their reflections were clear in the glass.
    “Maybe this will make you feel better.” Kai stood, going over to the switch near the door and flipping it. A mahogany colored shade came down to cover the window from ceiling to floor as he flipped another switch to turn on the high, crystal chandelier overhead.
    “Thanks,” she murmured as he came back to sit beside her. She was still shaken, but she looked less pale. Turning her attention from the now-covered window, she looked at him, tilting her head and frowning. “So tell me… you said you had a proposition?”
    “I do.” He took the cup of coffee Sebastian had poured for him from the cart. “Are you ready to hear it?”
    “I think so.” She swallowed, looking at him over the rim of her coffee cup. Roberta Flack was still playing in the background, soothing.
    “This is something that will benefit us both.”
    “Yes, you mentioned…” She put her cup down, her spine straightening as she faced him. “No selfless acts.”
    “Gotta put your own oxygen mask on first.” He thought his plan was rather brilliant, really. It would serve to get her ranch back in the black again while serving him as well.
    “Right.” She gave a little snort. “Although I’m not sure sex is exactly equivalent to oxygen. We can all live without sex.”
    “Speak for yourself.” He laughed, then suddenly understood what she was saying. “Whoa… did you… you thought my proposition involved…?”
    “Well, yeah.” She blinked, her cheeks pinking up considerably from their previous frightened pale. “It… doesn’t?”
    “No, Jules.” Amused, Kai shook his head, feeling his mouth twitching at the corner. He met her questioning eyes. Those gold flecks had a depth in them he thought he could drown in.
    Kai sat back and told her his proposition—one that didn’t involve any sexual contact between them at all. She didn’t seem displeased with his idea, but he was surprised to see the look on her face when he was finished was