“Are you poisonous?”
His eyes darted around, and the frown lifted a bit.His little feet shuffled.“Maybes.”
Oh, holy pizza babies.He was trying to pull one over on her.This thing was too frigging cute.She was going to have to keep him.“Maybes?”she said slowly.“So, you don’t know if you’re poisonous?Are you a baby lizard?”
“I not a baby.I Otto.”
It took Katy a moment to realize the creature was conveying something important.“Auto?Is that short for something?”Like automatic liar.
“O-t-t-o,” he spelled.“My name.”
“Oh,” she exclaimed in delight.Katy wanted to clap for some ridiculous reason.The fact that he’d shared his name with her, instead of biting her, seemed like a small victory of sorts.“Well, Otto, I’m Katy, and I am not poisonous.”
“You worse.”Otto’s large, yellow eyes, with their odd vertical pupils, glided over her .“You female.You”—he pointed at her—“you own kind of venom.”
Katy’s mouth dropped open as she watched the little devil giggle.He actually giggled; shoulders shaking, eyes crinkling at the sides of his scaly face, lips sliding up into a large grin, revealing those sharp teeth.“Oh, you got jokes, huh?Funny guy.”She stared down at the little lizard and realized that he sort of had a skater vibe going on with the baggy jeans and a big T-shirt.She wondered if he had to wear the jeans so loose because of his tail.His shirt was black and a pleasant contrast against his green scales.As his laughter died down, he shifted and looked uncomfortable.
“So where am I?Last thing I remember, I was on a plane.Then I woke up, and I was punching you in the face.”
“My master’s home,” Otto answered.“You his guest.”
“Hmm.”Katy laughed.“Guest.Right.Your master and I have a very different idea of what the word ‘guest’ means.”
“King Azure is power,” Otto said quickly.“He do great things.If he say you are a guest then you are guest.You must not argue.You must do as he says.”Otto’s little voice rose higher as he spoke, and his eyes grew brighter.His hands wrung tighter and tighter around his shirt.He glanced at the door and then back at her.“Do as you told, Female.”
Katy held up her hands.“I never said I wasn’t going to cooperate.”She was hoping to calm him down, though she had no intention of doing any such thing.Judging by the credulous look Otto shot her, he didn’t believe her.Okay, so he was good at calling BS, she had to give him that.“Look—” she started, but the door to the room flew open, and the words froze in her throat.
“Lookssss like the catsss got the little wolfsss tongue,” a deep voice said with a notable hiss.Katy turned to see a huge snake—yes, a snake—slither into the room.His body was as thick around as a telephone pole and probably just as long.Green scales so dark they appeared black covered the top of him, while his belly was a paler green.
Katy stumbled back as the front portion of his body lifted from the floor, and his head suddenly flared open.A cobra.A big cobra.A king cobra.Shoulda seen that one coming, Katy.Beside him stood a woman, tall, with jet black hair that flowed like a midnight stream down her back, the color so dark it shone with a bruise-like hue.It was pin-straight yet appeared silky soft—the type of hair other women envied.Not Katy.But other women.The woman wore it pulled away from her graceful neck and slicked back to emphasize her beautifully sculpted face.
The woman’s gaze held Katy in her spot more surely than even the presence of the huge snake.Katy noticed the woman’s exquisite eyes were the color of the finest jade, flecked with emerald and peridot.They dominated her features, seeming to peer into Katy’s soul with an ancient wisdom.Framing those eyes were full, black lashes, so long they brushed her high cheekbones whenever she blinked.
“You’re far from home, Little Wolf.”The woman’s voice was sultry.
Good grief.Katy stared open-mouthed at the woman.She wasn’t even concerned with the big-ass snake, though, somewhere in her subconscious, she knew she should be.But how in the world wasthiswoman living in the world andnoton the cover of every magazine?“Your cheekbones could cut glass,” Katy suddenly blurted out.Okay, what the hell?Was she suddenly channeling Lola’s spirit?Or was Lola doing a seance trying to contact her?You’re not dead, idiot.The slithering of scales made her head turn.“Yet,” she muttered.
“My mate mesmerizes everyone she meetsss,” the enormous snake said.
He’s a snake—a cobra—and he’s talking.Like, just talking.Bane didn’t talk when he was in his panther form.Did that make this shifter special somehow?It’s a snake.He shouldn’t be able to speak at all.He looked like any cobra that might be seen on a nature show … just twenty times bigger.And his mouth moved in such a way that he could form human sounds and words.I’ve never seen that on any nature show.Why am I not screaming?Or peeing myself?Or doing something else that would make much more sense than still trying to figure out how in the world someone as beautiful as his mate—wait— “Your what?”
“Mate.I’m Zeena.”She motioned to the snake.“And this is Azure, King of the Kingdom of Venom, where you are currently our guest.”
There’s that damn word again.
The air shimmered, and suddenly standing next to Zeena was no longer a big-ass snake but a tall, dark, and deliciously handsome man.
“It’sssss nice to finally meet you, Katy Dire.”The king’s voice was just as deep and clear as it had been in his snake form.
King Azure had a commanding presence, even as a human.He towered over six feet and was lean like a swimmer, with smooth, black hair that fell past his shoulders in clever spirals.His face was aristocratic, with sharp features.He had prominent cheekbones, like his wife’s,err,mate’s, whatever.Man, their kids were going to hit the gene-pool jackpot.He had a powerful jawline and a straight nose that drew the eye.Meanwhile, his eyes were mesmerizing in their intensity.The man’s irises were a clear azure shade of blue.When he locked eyes with Katy, it felt as if he, too, could see deep into her soul.She snapped her eyes to the side so fast it hurt.The last thing I need is someone seeing into my soul.No soul for you!She wasn’t sure if such a thing was possible, but best not to take chances.
Katy noted in her quick perusal that when he went from snake to human, an outfit—a sharp black suit, to be exact—came as part of the change, and the man wasn’t left standing there naked.That was a nice perk … or not.Considering how hot he was, naked wouldn’t have been such a bad thing.Though considering Zeena looked like she could slit Katy’s throat with one of her long, pretty nails and do it with a smile, clothes were probably better.
“Hassss Otto been good to you?”
The little lizard suddenly scurried to her side and bowed.“I be most curious, my king.”
“Courteous,” Azure corrected dryly.
