Free Blue Voodoo: A Romantic Retelling of Bluebeard (The Hidden Kingdom Series Book 2) by Jennifer Blackstream Page A

chest. His eyes were glazed, heavy-lidded with passion. He blinked twice before a frown tugged at the corners of his sinful mouth.
    Dominique averted her eyes. “Getting back to your business proposal, I’m afraid I still don’t see what benefit an arrangement with you could offer me.”
    She slid off his lap, gritting her teeth as her wounds reminded her of how she’d ignored them, pulled the damaged skin. She bit the inside of her cheek as she snatched the cloth from the lukewarm water and scrubbed at her skin. She would bathe at home, when she had privacy. For now, she only wanted the worst of the swamp gone from her skin, to be clean enough to walk home.
    When she’d done the best she could—and could no longer stand to be naked in front of Julien—she dropped the cloth back into the bowl and plucked the bandages from the basket. Wordlessly, she wagged them over her shoulder.
    He took the hint and picked up the bandages. His movements were less sure now, the caress of his fingers over her skin as he wrapped the bandages around her torso no longer an attempt at seduction, but a confused fumbling.
    “You are not being honest with yourself.” His words when he finally spoke were hesitant, delivered haltingly as though her breaking the kiss had thrown him off. Then he cleared his throat. “You know exactly what I have to offer you.”
    His tone deepened, making his double meaning crystal clear. Dominique gathered her temper around her like a shield as she forced herself to grab the bag that still lay on the bed beside Julien. She ripped the clean clothes from the satchel and held her breath as she untangled herself from the sheets and stood beside the bed.
    “Yes, yes, you say you’re the best rumrunner in the five kingdoms.” The dress shook in her hands and she gripped it tighter, forcing herself not to rush. She pulled the dress up and fastened it as best she could. Relief washed over her, almost enough to make her forget the pain tracing intricate patterns over her back. She grabbed the skirt she just discarded and transferred her things from those pockets to the clean skirt. “That may have been true at one time, but I find it hard to believe that remains so today. It seems to me that someone as easily identifiable as yo—”
    Julien was suddenly standing beside her, fingers digging into her shoulders with bruising force. Dominique gasped, tried to pull away only to struggle to breathe through a nauseating wave of pain.
    “Ah, and now we come to the heart of it.” Julien’s voice lacked all traces of the warmth it had held mere moments ago. He put his lips a hair’s breadth from her ear, every word an intimate caress. “You’ve had your fun, Dominique. Now you will remove this curse. Enough is enough.”
    “I will say when it’s enough,” she bit out through clenched teeth. “And I have no need of your services —any of them. I am quite satisfied with my staff, so you can get back on your ship and sail off into the sunset.” Again.
    “Your little spell has cost me my business, threatened the lives of the men who depend on me,” Julien ground out. “You will make retribution for the losses I’ve incurred because of you. Accept my proposal, Dominique. We can both benefit from this.”
    “How romantic,” Dominique spat.
    A cruel chuckle crawled over her skin. “Oh, Dominique, can’t we be adults about this? Listen to reason. A marriage between us will repair some of the damage you’ve done to my reputation. And without your spell to brand me, it will be considerably harder for those who seek to see me hang to find me. If any do manage to locate me, they will think twice about pursuing the husband of the voodoo queen of Sanguennay.”
    “Ah, so I am to replace a perfectly respectable staff with a man who will draw unwanted attention to my business. And I am to marry him—an unquestionable detriment to my reputation—in order to repair well-deserved damage to yours.” She pulled against