“No, thank you. Maybe some water.”
He strode to a pitcher on a bar at the back of the room and poured her a glass. Bowing slightly at the waist, he handed her the crystal goblet. “The master will be with you in a moment.”
“Thank you.” She should have sent a falcon to let him know she was coming, but renting the bird was yet another expense she couldn’t afford. She made herself comfortable and waited.
After several long minutes, she stood and paced the room. More time passed, and she examined the books on the shelves. She paced the room again. Poured herself another glass of water.
A full hour after she’d arrived, Adradys appeared in the doorway, not a hair out of place. While she was exhausted, in need of a meal and a bath, and utterly sick of waiting in that room, he looked like he had just climbed out of a hot bath to have his servant dress him and buff his nails. She’d never seen skin that smooth, not even on her own face.
“Harlow, I’m so glad you stopped by. What a pleasure.” He held out his hand to her and kissed her fingers with weak, soft lips. His rank odor hit her square in the face. He really needed to sort that cologne. Ugh.
“Good to see you again,” she forced out. “I’ve come to give you my answer.” She reached into her bag and retrieved the box with the ring.
He scoffed. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not wearing it. Do you desire me to place it on your finger?”
She held the box out to him. “I am flattered by your interest in me and know that you will make someone a wonderful husband or mate someday, but my answer is no.”
He chuckled and stared down at the ring. His eyes flicked up to hers and then back down at the ring as if he were waiting for her to say something else.
“You must be joking,” he finally said, his smile fading into a scowl.
“No. I’m sorry.” She jerked her head to the left once. “The truth is we’d be miserable together. I have too many habits that you wouldn’t appreciate in a wife, plus there’s your reputation to consider. If you can’t hire my father for fear of his past ruining your company, I’d say you’d be taking far too much risk to marry his daughter.” She pressed the ring into his hands, then turned around to reach for her bag.
His hands were on her in the blink of an eye, his fingers digging into her shoulders. “Don’t you turn your back on me, wench. If I say you’re mine, you’re mine.” The words hissed through his teeth with such aggression that Harlow froze. He turned her around in his arms, crushed her in a bear hug, and smashed his lips into hers with such force their teeth clacked.
It took much too long for Harlow to overcome the utter shock and confusion of the moment to react. His lips were cool and entirely too soft, as was the rest of his narrow body aside from the very short length of maleness pressed into her hip. Once her brain regained its footing, she found her balance, jerked her head back, and headbutted him as hard as she could.
“Oww!” His hand rose to the red mark on his forehead just as she stomped on his foot and kneed him in the balls. He collapsed in a heap of angry male dragon.
“I am not and will never be your wench, Adradys. And as of now, don’t even call me your friend. Stay away from me.” She swept her purse from the couch and strode toward the door.
A deafening crash came from the foyer before she got there, and Harlow heard the butler scream. A purple-and-gold blur raced for the kitchen. Harlow tentatively peeked around the corner to see what had spooked him. The door had been kicked in and hung off its hinges. Marius loomed in its place like Hades himself come for a soul. In the moonlight, his pale hair and eyes glowed like silver flames, truly terrifying. His chest rose and fell in huffs, and his wings seemed to take up every inch of the front room.
Harlow stepped into the foyer. “What are you doing here?”
Marius frowned. “I saw through the window. He put his hands on you. Do you need… assistance?” The words came awkwardly, as if he’d acted before he’d thought it through. A low growl rumbled in his chest.
She tilted her head. She’d been in here over an hour. “Did you… follow me here?”
“I wanted to make sure you made it home safely.” His gaze sliced to the side.
She couldn’t keep the corner of her mouth from twitching. “You’ve come to save me.”
Marius glanced away and grunted noncommittally.
They were interrupted when Adradys appeared in the door to the salon, red-faced and hunched as if he was still in pain. He sneered at Marius. “What are you doing here?”
Marius sneered right back. “As it turns out, nothing.”
Harlow looped her arm into Marius’s. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
As they turned to leave, Adradys snapped, “You’ll rue the day you rejected me, Harlow.”
“I find that highly unlikely.”
He roared after them. “Things are changing. Mark my words, there will come a time when you’ll be begging for the opportunity to shine my shoes.”
She shrugged. “Just as long as I don’t have to kiss you again.”
