Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,52

her home after her former psycho boss had tried to kill her. Kai had gently laid her on the bed, knelt on the floor and took her shoes off then lifted her legs onto the bed. She had felt so treasured and cared for, but she still needed to see her lion. After asking for him to shift, he seemed hesitant but slowly took off his clothes and placed them at the foot of the bed.

She wondered if this would be painful to watch but all she could do was stare at him as his human form began to disappear into what could only be said as the most beautiful red lion known to mankind. His body was huge, his paws the size of her face and his fur was shiny and red, with a dominate flair around his face, but what stole her heart was his golden eyes. Sitting on the edge of the bed she reached out for him and the lion slowly walked to her and placed his head in her hand. She swore she could hear him purring, but do lions purr?

Pulling back her hand she scooted up on the bed and motioned for him to jump up next to her. Gracefully he walked to the bed, put his front two paws on the comforter and literally walked the rest of the way till he was on his side and he laid down with his head on his pillow. He turned on his back in a submissive manner to let her know she was safe and he would love to have her hands in his fur.

She looked at his underside, amazed that the injury he had gotten from the bear was already healed. She began to pet him as she murmured soft words about how strong and beautiful he is. She then curled up next to him and he put his paw on her stomach as if to say he would protect her for the rest of his life.

While those are the thoughts she would love to be thinking about, she realized thinking about Kai was causing a different kind of sweat and a longing that was going to be evident to the public if she didn’t redirect her thoughts immediately.

The overly bright lights were beaming down on her, making beads of sweat roll down her back. Ember didn’t even want to shiver from the perspiration soaking her clothes. That would show weakness. It would show that she was nervous as hell.

And a pastry chef should not be a blubbering, shaking mess while being assessed for talent.

That wouldn’t look good.

Ember discretely rolled her shoulders back.

I think I’m going to dehydrate while standing on my feet, right here.

She swallowed, her mouth and throat were dry. Was that a tremble starting in her knees? No, stop that.

There is sweat rolling down the crack of my ass.

For fuck’s sake, this was pure torture.

The three judges each took another bite from the creme brulee she had made. Her fresh peach ice cream had already been sampled with no indication as to its success or failure. Ember watched as Marianna Mumford brought another dainty bite up to her pinched lips. The woman ran a baking magazine, a vlog, and had storefronts in Times Square, London, and Paris. This was a woman who knew her creme brulee.

“I think we have all tasted enough,” Marianna declared, placing her spoon down.

The other two judges, George Alexandru and Carly Armando, nodded, also putting down their forks.

“I’ll go first,” Carly said, clearing her throat. The judge’s brown eyes fixated on Ember, leaving her about two seconds away from passing out.

They can see the sweat marks under my tits, for sure.

“I’m not a huge fan of ice cream,” Carly began her diatribe. “It’s not something I reach for, you know?” She dragged the scoop of ice cream toward her, picked up her spoon and shoveled a bite into her mouth. “This isn’t ice cream. It’s literally peaches and cream. You flavored the cream perfectly. It’s tangy but not too sweet. This was a masterpiece. I would reach for this.”

“I agree,” George piped up.

Suddenly, there was no sound in Ember’s head. All of her sweat dried up, leaving her a shaking mess in front of the judges under the harsh light of their judgment and the spotlights.

“It wasn’t the best I tasted today during the competition,” Marianna shrugged. “It was okay. I mean, you could have picked a different fruit for more of a challenge. I thought it