Free Ruby Shadows by Evangeline Anderson

he
demanded.
    “ I
know what you told Grams but I thought…” I shook my head. “You were
just saying that to make her feel better, right? I mean, you don’t
really care about me, any more than I care about you. We’re just
sort of working together to get this done. Right?”
    “ Just working together…” Laish mused in a low voice. “Is that
how you see it?”
    “ Well, it’s better than thinking that I’m prostituting myself
to you in order to get through Hell and shut that damn door,” I
snapped, my nerves worked to the breaking point.
    “ I
suppose so.” Laish sighed and gave me a long look. Then he stepped
forward and cupped my cheek again, looking down into my eyes. I
wanted to pull away from his gentle touch, which sent shivers all
through me, but something stopped me. “Yes, Gwendolyn,” he
murmured. “You can trust me. And if an oath is necessary to
satisfy, I swear it—not on my soul, as I have none—but on yours. I
will not leave you or forsake you. I will protect you with my
life—but in order to do that, I need for you to trust
me.”
    “ I…I’ll try,” I said in a small voice. Damn it, why did he
always make me feel so unsure of myself? And why did his hand on my
skin make my st omach flutter and my heart race? It was ridiculous but I
couldn’t stop my body’s reaction to him any more than I could stop
breathing.
    “ Good,” Laish murmured. Leaning down, he brushed a gentle,
chaste kiss to my lips. It was so soft, I barely felt it but the
warm press of his mouth to mine reminded me of the other, much more
passionate kiss we had shared before when I had “paid” him for the
demon’s breath I’d needed for a spell. Part of me wanted to kiss
him back—and part of me was scared to death. I held perfectly
still, frozen with indecision until he straightened up. “Trust me,”
he murmured. “And put on the dress.”
    “ All right,” I whispered back. “But at least turn around so I
can have some privacy.”
    “ Privacy will soon become a thing of the past but I will be
happy to cede you one last moment to yourself.” Turning, he
presented his broad back to me. “Go on, get dressed. And hurry,
there will be a changing of the guards soon at the Great Barrier. I
would like to take advantage of it to slip in
unnoticed.”
    “ Can’t believe I’m doing this,” I muttered to myself. But all
the same, I went ahead, shedding my jeans and t-shirt (and bra,
which I hated to lose) and shimmying into the thin red dress
instead.
    It occurred to me,
as I changed, that once we reached Hell, it had taken Laish exactly
ten minutes to get me out of my clothes. The thought made me
irritated with myself and I was even more annoyed when I remembered
the way his soft kiss had made me practically melt. What was wrong
with me, anyway? I was a strong, independent witch. I should be
immune to his mind games.
    But apparently
I wasn’t because here I was, on Hell’s front doorstep, wearing
nothing but my lacy black bikini panties and a thin red night-gown
looking dress which showed plenty of cleavage and outlined both my
nipples clearly. It was also a lot tighter around the hips and
behind than I liked—not that I was surprised—Laish had clearly
meant for it to fit me like a glove. At least my chosen
footwear—the little black ballet flats—didn’t look too bad with
it.
    “ Are you ready?” Laish rumbled.
    “ As I’ll ever be,” I grumbled. “You can turn around
now.”
    He turned and looked
at me, those ruby red eyes traveling over what felt like every inch
of my body.
    “ Well?” I shifted uncomfortably. “Are we going to
go?”
    “ In a moment. I want to admire the view.” He stepped toward
me. “I knew that color would look lovely against your skin. I love
the tone, you know—so warm and creamy. Like café au
lait.”
    I lifted my chin,
trying not to let his nearness affect me. “Thank you but can we go
now?”
    “ Not yet.” He let one finger drift over the thin silk