Page 40 of Ensnared

She drops to her butt on the grass next to me. Her eyes aren’t focused on anything.

“Hey. What’s wrong?”

She turns toward me slowly. “You can’t resist even the slightest command of the blessed. None of us can. Their wishes, their whims, they’re all as good as unbreakable commands once we’ve been ensnared.”

I snort. “Maybe there are some advantages to having a mud dragon prince as my blessed.”

“What did you just call me?” Axel strolls around the tree on the corner of the property.

Penelope’s eyes widen, and then she bows, her head scraping the ground in front of her. “Blessed is the day.”

Is she making a joke? “Get up.” I push the thought at her, figuring she needs a little help.

Axel folds his arms over his chest. “Looks like the training has been a huge success.”

I hop to my feet. “Did you really think she was going to turn me into a good little slave?” My hands are itching to punch him. “Think again, Your Majesty. I’ll never be a good slave. Never ever.”

Penelope sounds like she’s choking.

“You may return to your household.” Axel sounds tired. “I appreciate your efforts.”

“Shall I come again tomorrow?”

Axel looks at me and raises his eyebrows.

“Oh, sure. It wasn’t fun, but I think I’m learning stuff.”

“Same time,” Axel says.

She salutes as she hops to her feet, but she never picks her eyes up higher than his feet. She practically scurries away. The same woman who was so haughty I could barely stand her is now acting like Axel’s the Maharajah of India.

She said she can’t resist a single whim of her dragon. Not a whim. What does it mean that I barely feel Axel’s emotions, and that his commands and orders do almost nothing at all?

“I think our bond may be broken,” I say. “I suck at commanding humans to do things, and apparently the other ensnared are like, boot lickers.”

“Boot. . .” Axel blinks, and then he throws his head back and laughs.

I can’t help watching him when he does. I’ve seen him smirk. I’ve even seen half-smiles. But I’ve never seen him laugh, and it’s a painfully beautiful sight. His perfect, shiny, ebony hair ripples. His crystal sharp jawline is thrown into sharp relief. His dancing golden eyes look like they belong on a movie star. And his entire, sinewy, sculpted body shakes in a way that I can’t help watching in awe.

I’ve been so full of contempt and disgust that I’ve never really looked at him before. I mean, I noticed he was beautiful, but if he were a human, he’d be slap-your-mom and steal-your-best-friend’s-boyfriend gorgeous. He’s taller even than Gideon. He’s broad without being blocky. And his skin’s a perfect, deep bronze color. He could be on a tanning bed print ad without being airbrushed or filtered.

And now he’s smiling, and it miraculously makes him look kind.

I know he’s not kind.

It’s probably something excreted by my ovaries that’s making me this stupid. He’s a devil sent to destroy all of us, and I’m sitting here getting all heart-eyed while he laughs at a joke everyone else on planet earth has heard thirty million times. Shut up, traitorous hormones. Shut up right now.

“You’re lucky,” Axel has finally stopped laughing. “That I don’t want my boots licked. I don’t mind a little insouciance as long as you entertain me.”

Great. Now I’m a court jester. “I think I’d rather lick boots.”

His eyes are dancing again. “But you’re better at entertaining. Your tongue’s too busy talking back to do any licking.”

“I don’t talk back,” I mutter. Which is when I realize that even now, I’m talking back.

Axel holds out his hand, and there’s a small box resting on it.

“What’s that?”