Underworld Bride Trials 1 Playboy King - Meg Xuemei X. Page 0,76
the weight of his smoldering gaze. I might burst into flame if he kept looking at me like that.
I shrugged off my tattered jacket, dropped it on the floor, and flashed him a sly smile to show him that I had my shit together.
“You’re breathtakingly beautiful,” he said.
He thought me beautiful even when I was half-covered in blood and dirt.
Just as I looked up at him in gratitude, my stomach grumbled. Damn, I hadn’t expected that to spoil the mood.
“You’re hungry, my lamb,” he said.
“I haven’t eaten since this morning,” I told him.
He frowned at me in concern. “Why not? Have you been fighting demons all this time?” A killing rage flared in his eyes. “I didn’t see other Dominion soldiers. Who let you fend off the demons alone? You were nearly killed.”
If he hadn’t arrived in time, I would’ve been either killed or maimed and dragged to Hell.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “Your cousin Pigston is the cause of all my misfortune.”
“Pigston?”
“Paxton, Pigston—same thing,” I hissed. “He didn’t allow me to have breakfast. He didn’t even let me sniff coffee, let alone grab a donut before he dragged me to the class on Olympian Glory. There was no glory in his mistreatment of me.”
Héctor narrowed his eyes, a dark storm forming on his handsome face.
“He dragged you?” he drawled.
My eyes brightened at his menacing tone.
Now was the time to drive a wedge between the demigods, since I’d just found one who wasn’t just smitten with me—he needed me.
Not many females—no, I was the single woman who could touch the death demigod and still breathe air into my lungs. Though his touch was death to others, it was deliciously addictive to me.
Because of the great pleasure touching me—and only me—could give him, it was in his best interest to be kind and to preserve me.
How cool was that?
I concealed a grin.
“He manhandled me as if I were a criminal and yanked me with him for over a mile while I was dizzy with hunger,” I said.
Rage coiled in his sapphire eyes.
“In addition, he forbade me to have lunch,” I said, my jaw tightening as I recalled the sea demigod’s cruelty toward me.
“How dare he!” Héctor snarled. “I’ll have a word with him.”
When a demigod said he would “have a word with” someone, he meant “inflict violence upon” that someone.
“He dared, despite your displeasure,” I said, fueling his anger. “Do you remember that dream we shared?”
“Yes, lamb,” he said. His hard expression softened at my mention of the erotic dream, his eyes growing more hooded as pure male lust thickened in them. “I remember every detail. I’ve been cherishing and replaying it in my mind.”
“That’s very thoughtful and romantic of you.” My heart fluttered, but my mission hadn’t been accomplished. I had more nasty things to say about Paxton. “Pigston barged into my bunk room uninvited while I was sleeping,” I said as I dropped my pants. Héctor’s eyes followed my moves. “He flooded my bed and thus hauled me out of the lovely dream we were having while I was still…on top of you.”
I’d lied a little. My friend Yelena had pulled me out of the dream, but there was no need to get all the details right.
Héctor pulled his lips back in a feral snarl. “That was why we didn’t finish our lovemaking. And I’ve been trying to get to you ever since.”
“How frustrating! It was all because Pigston interrupted us,” I said, as I dropped my sports bra on top of the pile of my dirty, bloodstained uniform.
I suddenly felt shy, but I pushed my shyness away. Héctor had seen me naked, and I looked the same as the dream version of me.
“Paxton always was a cold-hearted dick,” Héctor said, his heated gaze glued to my breasts. “I tolerated him only because I was the same way.”
“You’re different than him,” I cried in dismay. “You’re different, right, Héctor?”
If Héctor turned out to be cut from the same cloth as Paxton, what were my chances of changing my fate from violence and despair to something better?
A gentle glow softened his hard eyes as he promised. “I am now because I have you.” He paused as his rage returned. “Why did Paxton go to your dorm? A demigod never tends to trivial things like that.”
“You tell me,” I said, my face hardening. “He didn’t go to the streets to fight the demons as you did but came to my dorm to harass me. Then he ordered Jack, his pawn, to beat me within an inch of my life. He made me pay because I didn’t bow down to him like all the others. Pigston marked me and promised to break me. I regenerated and escaped before they finished me off.”
I sobbed a little now, but I felt no shame crying in front of the formidable death demigod.
“That’s why you saw me covered in my own blood and wandering the dangerous Manhattan streets. If you hadn’t showed up, Héctor, I’d have been done with, all thanks to Pigston.”
Death folded like a shadow around him, and blackness swallowed the beautiful sapphire color of his eyes. His fists balled. His ebony wings spread to full in aggression. In an instant, Héctor turned to the Demigod of Death in every sense.
“Héctor?” I called in alarm.
Darkness retreated from him slowly as he gazed back at me.
“Lamb, do not fear,” he said. “I wasn’t angry at you. I’ll confront Paxton. If he did those things to you, he’ll no longer be my brother.”
“You think I lied?” I cried in outrage.
“Of course not, lamb,” he said gently. His eyes returned to dark teal, and his wings vanished from his back. “Paxton won’t lay a finger on you again. If he does, I’ll kill him.”
I widened my eyes. “You’ll kill your cousin for me?”
Paxton had said the Demigod of Death was his unyielding ally and they went way back.
“I’d kill anyone for you,” Héctor said.
I eased my breath. I’d found the ultimate, powerful protector.
“Thank you,” I said. “Just don’t kill the wrong one. I’ll point a finger at the bad ones for you to slay.”
Though we were talking about killing and violence, I felt incredibly romantic and safe. This girl didn’t seem like the Marigold I knew. But my every fiber beat with appreciation that Héctor would pound terror into my enemy’s heart for me.
Héctor braced his large hands on my arms. Pleasure rippled through me from the touch.
I’d taken off everything except for my panties.
Héctor stared at my black panties. For a moment, he seemed lost, as if he couldn’t decide where to touch me first: cup my breast or have a taut, pink nipple in his mouth?
He looked like he wanted to do so many things to me at once. He wanted to have his hands all over me.
“Shouldn’t I get into the Jacuzzi?” I said, making the decision for him. “The water has filled up.”
“Yes, lamb. That’s a good thought,” he said, starting to turn me around to inspect me. “You’ve recovered well from your injuries. And now let’s check your butt.”
With that announcement, he pulled my panties down to my knees, then all the way down, and tossed them to the ground.
His gaze dipped to my golden pubic hair and the valley between my thighs. I inhaled sharply at the unbridled lust raging in his eyes.
My aching sex throbbed in need.
“Héctor?” I whimpered and shivered.
“Bathe first, lamb,” he said huskily, lifting me up from the counter and carting me toward the Jacuzzi.
Bubbles churned inside. Faint blue light adorned the ceilings and illuminated the marble tub.
Héctor laid me inside the tub, his eyes never leaving me. Neither did I take mine off him.
He inhaled. “I’ll be back.”
I was about to protest since I didn’t want him to leave, but I had no intention of scaring him away by showing him my suddenly developed needy and clingy traits.
He picked up my panties and dirty uniform and left the room. I didn’t care if he burned them.
I was done with the Academy.
Keep reading Magic Trials
Books by Meg Xuemei X
UNDERWORLD BRIDE TRIALS
Playboy King
Rejected Queen
Hidden Court
Hellfire Crown
HALF-BLOOD ACADEMY SERIES
Magic Trials
Magic Secret
Magic Fury
Magic Unchained
Magic Flame
DARK FAE KINGS SERIES
Book 1: Fever Fae
Book 2: Frost Fae
Book 3: Night Fae
Book 4: Blood Fae
THE WAR OF GODS SERIES
A Court of Blood and Void
A Court of Fire and Metal
A Court of Ice and Wind
A Court of Earth and Ether
OF SHADOWS AND FIRE SERIES
The Burn of the Underworld
The Rise of the Underworld
The Dragonian’s Witch
The Witch’s Consort
About the Author
Meg Xuemei X is a USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author of paranormal and fantasy romance. She finds it delightful to be around drop-dead gorgeous alpha males who are forever tormented by her feisty heroines, unseelie fae, dark vampires, menacing demigods, demon A-holes and fallen angels, fun shifters, and cunning witches.