Dragon's Challenge - D. R. Rosier Page 0,45
without making a mess or drawing attention.”
Lacey came out with the food a few moments before Nysa returned to the table, and they all dug in. It was better than he’d been expecting, and as usual he was starving after a long day in the saddle. Once the edge was off, he told the others about the bounties.
Then he said, “We’ll track down their lair tomorrow after breakfast with Stephanie, it can’t be too far from the farms they’re hitting. The bandits we’ll deal with when we leave, on our way to Ironreach. I’ll take care of the dire wolves with Tansya, so Nysa can get started on the business end of things with Shar to look out for her.”
Cinder pouted, which was alarmingly effective with her sexy bowed lips, and he almost jumped when she touched his leg under the table.
“What about me?” she asked with a sulk, while caressing his leg teasingly.
I smirked, “Last I checked I don’t give you orders, Cinder. You can come with me, watch Nysa’s brilliance in business, or whatever else you want.”
Shar’s eyes narrowed, “But you give me orders?”
Fuck. Damnit.
“Damned right, mine,” he bluffed hard with a stern commanding voice and a possessive stare.
Shar smirked, “Nice try. Kind of hot even, but no.”
He shrugged and let out a sigh, “I know you, and you always watch Nysa’s back when she hits the city streets. I also know Tansya would be uncomfortable doing it, so I guess I assumed.”
It was also about tracking, he was indifferent tracker, but his dryads could follow week old tracks after a damned hurricane given their natures and nature magic to assist them. April wasn’t bad at it either.
Shar bit her lip, “Alright, I’ll buy that one. I do want to watch Nysa’s back, and if six dire wolves can take you out without my help, I don’t want you anymore.”
Cinder smirked, “That was fun to watch. I never saw an elder tiptoeing through a spell-trap field before. I’ll come with you then.”
He suppressed an eyeroll at her first comment, and just grunted acknowledgement of the second. He also wondered how long she’d be caressing his leg and fucking with him, because he really wanted to fuck her into submission badly in that moment, even as he pretended it didn’t affect him at all. Did she have to add teasing seduction as part of her games, it was driving him crazy.
She couldn’t possibly mean it, could she?
Fuck, he was an idiot, of course she didn’t. There was no way she’d risk being bound to him and losing the contest of wills. Her kind were all about being wild and free.
He knew one thing though. His princess was going to get fucked really hard in just about a half hour or so.
“We’ll meet back here after breakfast,” he told Cinder, then asked Nysa, “Any leads?”
Nysa nodded, “A couple. There’re no breweries that are completely failing with bad product, but there’s a couple that are struggling. It’ll still be a good investment, but the outlay will just be a little higher this time. It might be cheaper to just build our own, but that’s counterbalanced by removing one competitor and having an established customer base to start with. That said, I need to do a lot more research before I’m sure, and we’ll run down those leads tomorrow. I think I can learn enough tomorrow to have it wrapped up the day after tomorrow, according to your schedule. I might even be able to find another small investment or two.”
Damn, it really turned him on when Nysa turned mogul and showed her intelligence.
Thunder crackled and rolled above them, and he heard the raindrops start sheeting down in the streets. The weather on the coast was a lot less predictable, he’d learned. The storm would pass in a half hour or so, if the last few days were any indication.
After they finished their meal, Cinder got a room, and they headed outside in the rain to open a portal back to the castle. Nysa had them covered in a large dome, so they wouldn’t show up looking like drowned rats. He was looking forward to seeing his princess. Stephanie had been absolutely wild and insatiable three nights ago, after being apart for just two days, he was hoping for a similar welcome this time too. After that, they’d lied in bed for hours chatting, as she caught him up on all the doings in the castle and kingdom, and he shared his