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Before the situation could escalate further, Andre stood up. “Enough!” The power in his voice was enough the stop the two women in their tracks. He strode until he was between them. He looked at Lydia.
“Lydia, did you not understand me earlier when I said Simone was to be my partner?” Andre’s voice had lowered, but it still carried easily to the crowd. “You will not disrespect her.” He then turned to Simone. “There are ways to challenge those in my court. You need to learn them before challenging a high-ranking member of my court.”
It took everything that Simone had not to tear into Andre. But even in her pissed off state, she knew that openly challenging him in front of his court would not turn out well for her. He would have to respond. She nodded at him. But this wasn’t over. She would go at him in private.
Fortunately for her, Lydia wasn’t the brightest bulb in the world. The vampire stood up as tall as she could and gave Andre an imperious look. “I demand that you to punish her. She failed to show me proper respect.” Her voice rose at the end of the sentence.
Anger hit Simone like a brick truck. She looked around, and she could tell by the startled look on Lisa’s face that she felt it, too. Murmurs that reached her ears from the onlookers suggested they felt it as well.
Fast as lightning, Andre reached out and grabbed Lydia by the throat. He effortlessly lifted her off the ground. She grasped at his arm, trying to force him to let go. Everyone present could hear her choking. Simone looked around and noticed that no one except for her shadow appeared to be bothered.
The lion shifter started growling at Andre. Claws burst from the tips of his fingers, and his hands started spouting fur. Simone’s dragon took control of her body and prepared to defend herself and Andre when Lisa blurred into action and hit the shifter. Dennis flew back nearly ten feet from the force of the blow.
“You what?” Andre growled as he squeezed his hand slightly, causing the other Nightshade to choke some more. “You dare to demand something from me?”
Simone realized that the anger was coming from Andre. His anger felt like a massive wave of heat that threatened to burn her. She took a step closer to him. She didn’t know why, but she had to.
“If you ever do this again, I will end you.” Andre flicked his wrist, and Lydia went flying towards her shadow. The casual strength he displayed awed Simone. He had tossed a full-grown woman across the room like she was a ball.
Everyone moved away from the pair on the ground like they were lepers. No one wanted any of the fallout from Lydia’s actions to fall on them. Simone couldn’t blame them.
Time to leave, Andre’s voice sounded in her mind. She could still feel the heat of his anger over their connection.
No one spoke as Andre led Simone from the ballroom. Lisa followed closely behind the pair. As they exited the ballroom, two male Nightshades followed them out.
Simone looked at the two questioningly. She hadn’t seen them in the ballroom when they entered earlier.
My guards. I’ll introduce them to you later, Andre thought at her as they strode through the house. Less than a minute later, they exited the Little House into the warm night.
“I told you Lydia was going to be a problem,” Lisa commented as they set upon the path leading back to the main house.
Andre gave his second a disgusted look. “Please don’t start with ‘I told you so.’ Nobody likes a know it all.” His second just laughed at him.
“Who is she?” Simone wanted to know who she was in relation to Andre. She had her suspicions but wanted to hear it from him directly. Not that any exes from his past would bother her in the least. Not at all. Her dragon grumbled sourly in her mind, but she ignored it.
“She’s a recent addition to my court who has ambitions way above her station,” Andre muttered.
Lisa snorted rudely. “You mean she thought that by sleeping with you, she would be your lady?”
Yep, her suspicions were correct. Simone’s dragon growled in jealousy. She hushed it. They had no romantic claim on Andre, but that wasn’t stopping her dragon from wanting to go back to kill the catty Nightshade for daring to try to lay claim to Andre.
“Your ex-girlfriend, huh? I must be a rude surprise.” Simone couldn’t help but tease Andre about it.
“She was just a brief dalliance.” Andre shot Simone a considering look. “I didn’t encourage her to look above her station.”
Simone laughed. “Dude, you had to have known what she wanted. Harpies like that don’t sleep around without a prize.”
“Lydia knew from the start that I wasn’t interested in her romantically.” Andre sped up a bit, and Simone had to jog to catch up. His posture was stiff. She had hit a sore spot. “Anyway, we don’t need to talk about her. She’s nothing.”
The small group exited the grove to the side yard of the house. “Lisa, I won’t need you for the rest of the night.”
“Good. I have a few things to do.” Lisa bade them a goodnight and continued down the path that led around to the back of the mansion.
Andre turned to her. “Since you are so chatty, we can continue our conversation in my room.” His smile grew wide when she swallowed nervously.
Join him in his room? Well, she wanted to talk to him, but she was hoping for his library again. Well, as long as they stayed away from a bed, they should be fine. She didn’t trust her horn-dog of a dragon to not want to jump his bones—his very handsome bones. “Sure.”
They entered the house by the side door, and Andre dismissed his guards for the night. They walked up to his suite on the second floor in silence. Andre appeared deep in thought about something.
When Andre opened the door to his room, the expensive elegance within did not surprise her. Everything in this house was elegant. The furnishings in the room were antiques. The main color scheme was deep red and black. Someone decorated this room to suit Andre’s tastes.
“Have a seat.” Andre pointed to the seating area that was in front of an enormous stone fireplace. It wasn’t lit in deference to summer, but Simone could imagine laying on the plush rug in front of a roaring fire. She sat in one of the wing chairs. It wasn’t comfortable. She idly wondered if he would mind if she found something that wouldn’t hurt her behind to sit in.
“Would you like Boris to bring you something?” Andre asked.
“I’m a little hungry,” Simone admitted sheepishly. “I was too nervous to eat earlier.”
Andre walked over to a desk on the opposite side of the room and picked up an ornate phone that sat on it. “Boris? Yes, please bring something to eat for Simone and blood wine for me.” He hung up the phone and came over to the other armchair.
Her mouth suddenly became extremely dry, and her palms dampened. Simone looked away as Andre sat down in his chair. She didn’t know what to say now that it was just the two of them. Part of her wanted to upbraid him for chastising her in the throne room. But the part of her that included her lady bits just wanted to jump him. And her dragon was also on board for the jumping part.
“What do you think of my court so far?”
Simone stared at him, unable to think of an answer. Then she jumped up. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She fled for the first set of doors she noticed.
And walked right into a room-sized closet. It was larger than most people’s bedrooms, and the cabinets were made of dark-stained mahogany. The closet furniture and clothing just screamed obscene wealth. Simone’s father would turn green with envy if he saw this room.
But she didn’t take time to appreciate the gorgeousness that was a closet and fled the room. The next door was the bathroom. She stopped dead at the sight of the luxurious room.
The room was longer than it was wide. At the far end was a freestanding tub that could easily sit two. On the right side was a large shower, tiled in marble, with a large seat and multiple jets. On the other side was a large, dark vanity with the same light-colored marble on it. The toilet was off to the side in a small room.
Simone stopped just inside of the room and took a deep breath, trying to control her roiling emotions. Something about Andre just made her want to throw common sense out the window. What was it about him? The vampire had uprooted her entire life in less than a week, and now, she wanted to throw herself into his arms.
Her dragon grumbled inside her mind, but Simone couldn’t figure out what the pesky thing was trying to tell her.
A click behind her had Simone turning around. Andre was behind her, having closed the door. His brown eyes roamed over her body. Her nipples tightened as his gaze swept over her. Her breath hitched.
She stood still as he walked over and invaded her space. “I was going to just talk, but I like this better.” Andre’s voice was as smooth as aged brandy.
“Like what better?” Simone’s voice was slightly breathy.
“This.” Andre wrapped his arms around her and took her mouth in a deep kiss.
Simone froze for a second before opening her mouth to protest. But Andre’s lips smothered the protest. After a second or two, she couldn’t remember why she was protesting. The kiss was just that enthralling.
They stood there for a few minutes, just kissing one another. Then, Andre shifted his hands so that they cupped Simone’s behind, and he lifted her into the air. Simone shrieked and wrapped her legs around his waist.
He carried her over to the vanity, where he set her down on the counter. His lips left hers, and he started working his way down her neck. Simone threw her head back and moaned as his hands slid beneath her shirt.
The feel of his hands on her back was heavenly. Slowly, his hands slid around until they were just underneath her breasts. He lifted his head from her neck and looked deep into her eyes. “I want you in the worst way.”
Hell, Simone was on fire and wanted him as well. “Then take me.” She wasn’t a shrinking violet or a virgin. During her time in Chicago, she had spent time with several dragons of the conclave.
Andre shook his head regretfully. “Not until the bonding ceremony. With my powers, I could accidentally start the bonding process during sex.”
Simone tried to bring her mind out of its sexual haze. “Huh?” That was totally an eloquent answer.
“My powers are deeply rooted in sex,” Andre’s thumbs stroked the underside of her breasts, causing the nipples to harden, “due to one of my ancestors bonding with an incubus.”
“Oh...” Simone’s eyes widened. That explained why he seemed like he was energized after they kissed. Maybe she would regret this later, but at that moment, she didn’t care. She wanted him to continue with his hands and so lovely tongue. “How far can we go without bonding?”
A sexy gleam appeared in Andre’s eyes. Simone felt her core moisten at that look. “Oh, I think I can cause you to scream a few times.” He pulled his hands out from under her shirt. “Lift your arms unless you want to lose that shirt.”
With a shiver, Simone did as she was told. Andre lifted the blouse over her head and tossed it behind him. His eyes slid down to her breasts, which were straining inside of her bra. “You don’t need this.” He held up his hand as a claw grew out of one finger. He stuck the claw under one bra strap and yanked upward. The bra strap broke. He repeated the action on the other side of her bra.
“Perfect.” Andre palmed her generous C-cup breasts. Simone leaned into his touch as his hands seemed to ignite something deep within her. Her dragon purred with excitement.
He leaned forward and took a nipple into his mouth. Simone moaned as sensation streaked from her breast to her core. She grabbed his head and pulled him off her breast. His lips released it with a wet slurp. “Kiss me.”
“With pleasure.” Andre took her lips with his and kissed her hard. The two dueled with their tongues for a while until he broke off the kiss. “Spread your legs.”
Again, he grew one claw. This time, he used it to slice through her panties. What was with him and destroying perfectly good underwear?
His hand slid between her legs, stopping just before he got to her private parts. Andre traced the skin on her thigh, and she pushed herself forward to get his fingers where she wanted them.
“You want this?” Andre’s lips were at her ear. He then licked her earlobe, and Simone shivered. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“Good.” He moved his hand forward and started doing wonderful things with his fingers. Simone didn’t last long before she shattered.
Andre slowly coaxed her down. When she could breathe normally, he smiled at her. “That was only round one.”