He was such a fucking dick. Her cheeks pulled up in a mirthless smile. What the hell was she doing, aching at every clipped word he offered? He’d told her to grow a spine multiple times. It was time to do just that, because this? Fretting and worrying about a man who was happy to hand her off like a maiden of old in exchange for military support? This was beyond ridiculous.
“Right. Well, I guess we shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer.” She snatched her hand off his arm and brushed past him down the stairs, hiking up her skirts to allow for a fast descent.
Kesh made a displeased noise from behind her. She ignored him and continued to the bottom of the stairs and straight ahead, toward the double doors leading into the throne room.
“Georgia!”
Without looking back, she let her skirts drop and pushed both doors open with more force than needed.
They swung open with dramatic gusto.
There may have been just fewer than fifty demon lords present, but there were far more males in the large throne room. Servants, bodyguards… fucking goblet holders, for all she knew. Maybe three hundred, at her startled estimate.
Every single one of them turned to look at her, the murmur of voices dying to complete silence at her appearance.
There was a clench of terror at being their sole focus, a primal human need for self-preservation stirring somewhere deep down. The need of prey to flee and hide. She pushed it away with a force of will.
Women with spine didn’t cower.
“Hello, boys.” Georgia raised her chin and stepped forward, into the throng of demons.
They parted for her like the Red Sea, creating a clear path all the way to Kesh’s throne elevated on the dais straight ahead.
Well, why the hell not?
She sailed forward, chin up, spine straight, regal as fuck. The only sounds that followed her were the swish of her dress and the clicking of her heels. When she reached the dais, she hiked her skirts to ankle height and took the two low steps up, then turned around and sat down on Kesh's throne like she belonged there.
From her new perch, she had a clear line of vision to the open double doors she’d just marched through. Kesh now stood in them, taking up the entirety of the frame. His face looked like a thundercloud.
Sick satisfaction thrilled up her spine. With just the tiniest hint of a smirk, she leaned back on his throne and cocked one ankle on her knee in imitation of how he’d sat when she was first brought to him, broken and terrified. Spineless, as he’d called her.
Asshole.
Kesh’s nostrils pulled up at the unspoken provocation. Black eyes locked in hers, displeasure rolling off his wide frame in waves. Without a word, he stalked down the cleared path toward her with long, sure strides. Like a warship on smooth water.
He didn’t stop until he was right in front of her.
Georgia tipped her head back to look up at him, but made no attempt to move out of his seat.
The silence in the throne room was deafening.
His eyes narrowed in warning.
She narrowed hers in response.
His lip curled up, bearing the faintest hint of what now looked like a blunt human fang at her, but before she could mimic the gesture, he grabbed her by the upper arms and hoisted her off the throne.
Georgia gave an indignant squeak, then a huff when he took his seat and placed her on his lap.
“I was sitting there.”
“You were. And now, I am.” His strong hand curled around her hip, holding her in place, before he directed his attention to the gathered demons.
“Forty-nine lords have been invited to court the most recent Pure Breeder to surface. Yet my throne room is packed with six times that number of males. If you are merely here to gawk at the girl, this is not the time nor the place. We’re at war. My lords, please dismiss your entourages to the perimeter of the building. If you wish to court the Breeder, you will do so alone.”
Mutterings rose from the crowd, then a stream of demons began filing out through the double doors. When movement finally stilled again, she could see guards stationed around the entire perimeter of the large hall. Fifty men remained in front of the throne. Like Kesh, all had that same air of barely concealed power thrumming under their skin. Bar none, each of them had his gaze fixed on her.
Georgia lifted her chin higher. They may look like barely leashed predators in human disguise, but she wasn’t prey. They were here to win her favor, not tear her apart. Unlike the male whose lap she was perched on.
