Page 1

CHAPTER 1

Zee grunted. “Deeper.”

“I am.”

“Shove it in harder.”

“It’s too small.”

“Kitten, have you seen the size of the hole? Put some hip action into it.” He huffed, bent over the rickety cabinet, hugging all the panels in place. His wings were up, out of the way, while his tail helped him hold on. “Did you lube?”

I was trying to manhandle the cabinet’s side panel into its longer back panel, lining up the little wooden-dowel things with their holes. But it wasn’t going so well. Although, I could tell by the tittering coming from the customers in the bar, at least they appeared to be enjoying the show.

“I don’t have any lube,” I told Zee.

“Emergency lube is vital—I can’t hold it. Thrust, Adam.”

“I am thrusting!” I jerked my hips, trying to pump the panel into place.

“May I be of assistance?” Lord Reynard chose that precise moment to appear in the corner of my vision. I puffed my bangs from my sticky face, while awkwardly contorted around the end of the cabinet. Reynard stood back, eyebrow arched in silent judgment, holding the instruction pamphlet I hadn’t read. And neither had Zee.

“Does it look like we need your help?” Zee grumbled. “Hold it!”

Reynard’s beautiful, dark-lined, silvery eyes swiveled to Zee, then cut back to me, querying whether we wanted an answer.

Of course, he had to show up while I had my ass in the air and appeared to be humping a poorly put-together piece of furniture. “Uh, I think we’re—” My grip on the panel slipped, and the rickety cabinet buckled. Its doors popped off, the legs twanged, and drawer shot up toward my face. Reynard grabbed my shoulder, and spun me into his firm arms as though we were back on the dance floor, just in time for me to watch Zee sprawl onto the floor with the cabinet.

He sprang back to his feet, flared his wings, and hissed at the now flattened piece of furniture. “No. I am done. You need eight arms to put this shit together. It’s like fucking Jenga.”

“In Jenga, don’t you take pieces out?” I asked.

“Huh?” Zee grunted.

“Did you read the instructions?” Reynard asked, his warm arm still clasped around me.

“Did I read the—pfft.” Zee barked a laugh. “Did I read the instructions?” he mocked, in Reynard’s posh American accent. “Instructions are for losers, control freaks, and people with tiny dicks. Oh, and there I see you’re holding the instructions. And Adam. There’s a surprise. Also, those are in Swedish. You fucking read Swedish, Your Highness?”

Oh dear.

“I do,” Reynard replied calmly. “And please, I’m a mere baron. Your Highness is reserved for immediate royal family.”

Zee’s tail rattled, and his eyes narrowed to dagger-like slits. But the wards didn’t tingle, so that was good, right?

If I’d expected them to get along, since we’d plucked Reynard out of his family’s clutches and they’d begun to use each other’s first names, I’d clearly been a bit too optimistic.

Zee picked up a hammer, took a single step closer, and dropped it at Reynard’s feet with a heavy clang. “Have at it, Fancy Daddy.” He flicked his horns and strutted off, hips rocking, boots punctuating the floor.

“Why does he insist on calling me Daddy when we are clearly not related?”

“Oh, uh, I have no idea.” I extracted myself from the comfortable niche under Reynard’s arm, and brushed sawdust from my clothes. I couldn’t construct the cabinet on my own, and there were a hundred other jobs to be done in the hotel.

“Why don’t you take a break and I’ll see what I can do?” Reynard asked. He shrugged off his jacket and draped it over a nearby chair, then folded his shirt sleeves up his forearms.

I could have watched Reynard’s fingers tease those sleeve cuffs all day. He made each gesture precise. Each pinch had its place. Every little fold-over was performed with perfect accuracy, ensuring no gesture was wasted, and he had the kind of wrists and forearms made for advertising expensive, luxury watches. Why were forearms so sexy?

I cleared my throat. “Are you sure? Don’t you have better things to be doing?”

“I have some time. The company largely runs itself.” He picked up the instructions again and leafed through them. “This shouldn’t take long.”