Free The Beast Prince (The Fairy Tale Series Book 1) by S.E. Smith Page B

tingled and her butt was sore. Frustrated, she weighed the small limb before throwing it like a javelin at the doorway. This time, she had to dive to the side to keep from getting nailed. She landed on her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Dropping her head onto her arm, she drew in a deep, gasping breath before losing what precious little oxygen she had pulled into her lungs when she felt the touch of a hand on her shoulder.
    “Are you finished now?” Sharden asked in a quiet voice. “The clouds are getting darker and I can smell rain in the air.” He paused when he heard Lisa mumble. “What did you say?”
    In aggravation, Lisa raised her head and glanced over her shoulder at him. “I said great. Frigging luck! Let’s just add a nice thunderstorm to the misery,” she retorted.
    “I…,” Sharden started to reply when several big, fat raindrops landed on him and Lisa. “It is time to go. We will be lucky to make it to the Inn without getting soaked.”
    Of course, they didn’t make it. Lisa released an exhausted sigh and shivered as the cold rain poured over them. She was riding behind Sharden on a beast that looked like a cross between a horse, an elephant, and a dragon. It had a long trunk like an elephant, the body of a horse, and the feet and tail of a dragon. If Lisa had any doubts that she had fallen down the rabbit’s hole, it had disappeared when he led her to the creature.
    She buried her face between Sharden’s shoulder blades and pressed even closer to his slightly warmer body. She was freezing and she didn’t do cold well. It made her crabby, miserable, and did she mention, very, very cranky? She curled her fingers into the front of his soaked shirt, hoping to find some warmth. A relieved sigh escaped her when she felt the heat radiating off of his body.
    “Your hands are cold,” he commented.
    “So’s the rest of me,” Lisa muttered against his back, before she lifted her head. “How much further?”
    “We are almost there,” he replied, reining the beast to the right. “I can see the lights from the inn.”
    “Thank goodness,” she retorted through chattering teeth. “I’m about to turn into a popsicle.”
    Lisa stared over Sharden’s shoulder. He was warm and she was so cold that if it had been possible, she would have wrapped him around her without a second thought. Right now, she was too tired, cold, and hungry to care that she was in a strange world and might not have a way home. At the moment, all she cared about was finding a warm, dry place, a nice hot meal, and a soft bed.
    “I hope you have money,” she said before sneezing. “Sorry. I don’t think they’ll take mine.”
    Sharden chuckled. “I have gold,” he assured her.
    Lisa grimaced. Gold! Shoot! If he was handing out gold, he could spill a little of it her way. She would have rolled her eyes at his statement if they hadn’t been frozen.
    A mournful groan escaped her when he pulled the beast to a stop and slipped his leg over the neck of the animal so he could slide off. She immediately missed the warmth of his body. The chattering of her teeth could be heard over the sound of the rain. She didn’t complain when he reached up and pulled her off the back of the creature.
    A young boy appeared out of the shadows of what looked like a barn and ran over to grab the reins of Sharden’s horse. Sharden asked the boy a quick question, but Lisa missed it. She was too busy trying to bury her body in the warmth of Sharden’s arms.
    “They have a single room left,” Sharden replied.
    “I… don’t… car... care,” Lisa stuttered. “You… You… can… have… the… floor.”
    Sharden chuckled. “Thank you,” he retorted dryly.
    “No… no… no problem,” Lisa mumbled.
    She gave up trying to talk after that. She felt frozen to the center of her marrow! A soft whimper escaped her when Sharden pushed open the door to the inn and blissful warmth surrounded them.
    Thank goodness for indoor heating , she