Once Upon a Twist Read Free Page B

urge to bury his hands in her hair and press his lips to her. “What is?”
    “That you’re going to the Ball. I will be all alone in my big house. It seems a shame to waste it – after all, if the undead are going to kill me, I’d hate to die a spinster and a virgin.”
    Before he could react to her provocative statement, she swung the sack over her shoulder and sashayed off back down the pathway. As he observed the sway of her hips and the pertness of her bottom, the tightness in his groin that had only just abated sprang back to life. Resisting Ella’s attempts to make love was turning his willpower into something extraordinary. But he would not make love to her without a ring on her finger. She was too special for anything else.
    Closing his eyes, he willed the ache away. Already he was in over his head with her. It was imperative he remained in control of all his faculties, including his lust levels, if he was going to get the enchantment broken and take her away to safety.
    He was on the verge of losing sight of her when he remembered something else he needed to tell her, something that couldn’t wait for another day.
    “Ella,” he called, his voice somehow carrying through the thick trees. “I’m going to be tied up for the next couple of days so I won’t be able to meet you until the day after the Ball.” There was no way he could tell her the truth now. It would have to wait.
    “Your loss,” her sweet voice carried back.
    And then she was gone, leaving James utterly confounded. Spending time with Ella had already proved she was not of the same mould as other women. Her reaction to his news about the undead only served to add to her mystique and add to his determination that, whatever the cost, he would keep her safe. It was his duty.
    He would get this damn Ball over and done with and then focus his energies on breaching that barrier. Lady Christell would be forced to break the spell or suffer the consequences.
    Or he wasn’t Prince James Charming.
    ***
    Ella pulled the last of the rollers from Izzy’s thick auburn hair and scrutinized her work. She had not succumbed to the temptation of turning Izzy’s hair into a frizz-ball. That particular temptation had been tempered by Christell’s pet cat Domino, the ugliest, nastiest feline to have ever walked the land, guarding Izzy like a sentry. If Ella had made the slightest error, Domino would have gone tearing off to his mistress.
    In any case, she didn’t want to sabotage Izzy’s night. Izzy might treat her as if she was a bad smell but she didn’t have the innate viciousness of her mother or sister. Somehow, her beatings were gentler too, rarely marking Ella’s skin. There were times, when it was just the two of them, that relations between them were almost friendly.
    “What do you think?” Izzy asked.
    Ella smiled. “I think you look beautiful. Prince Charming won’t be able to resist you.”
    Izzy sniffed. “Rumour has it the prince has already found a bride.”
    “Really? Then why go ahead with the Ball?”
    “Who knows? It might be only a rumour. Still,” she added, suddenly cheering up, “I’ve heard that his Knights are very pleasing to the eye and there will be plenty of them in attendance. There is nothing more attractive than a man with an air of danger about him.”
    So long as you keep your mitts of James, you can do what you like. Or do who you like.
    An unexpected wave of compassion for her stepsister suddenly swept through her. She clenched her hands into fists to stop herself from squeezing Izzy’s shoulders and telling her she didn’t need to be the bike of the land; that true love was waiting for her.
    The moment was lost when Ana came bursting into Izzy’s bedroom. “Are you ready? Mother says the carriage will be with us in five minutes.”
    Unlike her sister, Ana had not trusted Ella with her hair or makeup, having not forgiven or forgotten the time when Ella had deliberately made her look like a clown.
    Compared