The Dragon King's Au Pair

Chapter 6: Act Like a Lady

AVA

King Gavriel's lips were on mine. Fire coursed through me, and then, sudden clarity.

This can't be happening.

What had all those women at the banquet said? Was I just to be a plaything for the king? I pulled myself back and raised my arm.

The sharp smack of my palm hitting Gavriel's cheek echoed around the room and for a second we both stood there panting.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked, willing my voice not to shake. I steadied myself against the wardrobe, trying to stave off the rising feelings in my body.

Panic and flattery and something that felt a little too much like delight.

But Gavriel's smoldering look didn't change. Instead, he took another step toward me, crowding in around me.

"I should think it is obvious," he growled, his voice low and sultry. "Tell me to leave if you don't want it."

The way he said it sent a wave of heat coursing through my body. There was so little space between us, the way he was looming over me. It would be so easy to close the distance.

I watched as his lust-darkened eyes flicked to my lips, his own set in a smirk. Before I knew what I was doing, I surged forward, meeting him in another kiss.

If the first kiss had been hot, this one seared. King Gavriel deepened it, turning my head and licking into the seam of my mouth. His tongue was hot and urgent and his hands ran over every inch of me, every touch sending a jolt of longing through me.

His hands roamed lower, and then he was lifting me up into his arms, bracketing me against the wardrobe.

As if I'd done it a thousand times before, I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling his hardness pressed between my legs in a way that made me want only one thing. We tumbled onto the bed, pulling each other's clothes off between kisses in a mindless frenzy of desire, too desperate for words, too hungry for logic, too ravenous for consequences.

He stood over me, throwing me down on my back and spreading my legs, and in the moment just before he entered me, I saw a glowing in his eyes that made me feel like I was falling, falling, falling...

I woke with a start as my shoulder hit the floor of my dark, empty room.

"Ow!" I cried into the night, trying my best to untangle myself from the sheets that had wrapped around me in my sleep.

The pain of falling out of bed was only surpassed by the horror I felt when I realized what I'd been dreaming of. I didn't exactly know the rules of working in the palace yet, but I was sure there had to be one against sex dreams about the king.

I managed to put myself back to bed, wrapping my long loose nightgown around me and trying not to think of the images my unconscious mind had conjured. Praying that it didn't mean anything.

It obviously didn't work very well. By morning, I felt like I hadn't slept a wink since I'd woken up from that mortifying dream. Despite my drowsiness, I forced myself out of bed, stretching and feeling the folds of the nightgown tickle my skin. I'd found this in my wardrobe the evening before, along with two plain linen maid's uniforms and frocks.

My old clothes were, of course, nowhere to be seen and I could only assume they'd been burned judging by the way everyone had been looking at them.

I was just about to remove my nightgown and get dressed for the day when a sharp knock came at my bedroom door. Before I could even answer, the door burst open and King Gavriel strode in.