Sassy Ever After: Dragon Sass (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Free Page A

to, after all, the one they’d danced to on every anniversary, and it couldn’t help but move her. Damn Barb—of course she’d known.
    Jules opened her eyes and saw Kai leaning on the stage, watching her, utterly transfixed. Seeing him startled her, as close as he could get without getting up there with her. He looked like he wanted to—not just climb up onto the stage, but climb inside her, wear her like a second skin. The intensity of his gaze both thrilled and scared her.
    Thankfully, there was a break in the song in that moment, or she would have faltered. She caught her breath, swallowed, and glanced back at the screen. But she knew the words by heart.
    “The first time ever I saw your face…”
    And just like Barb told her to do, Jules found herself singing to him. Part of her resisted, but another, deeper part, was simply unable to help it. The man watching her wanted her to sing to him— just him. His eyes drew hers, magnetic, hungry. He wanted more of her, all of her. He looked at her like he could devour her in one enormous gulp.
    The audience, still listening with undivided attention, disappeared completely.
    Kai was the only person in the room. And she sang directly to him, for him. His eyes glowed, so alive it was like they were on fire, as if he could make her burst into flame with just his gaze. Something was happening—her voice had hypnotized him, and his gaze had sparked kindling buried somewhere deep inside of her. It burned now, hot, fast, making her cheeks red and her voice tremble with heat.
    When the song was over, the last note held just a little too long, because for some reason she didn’t want it to end, even though she hadn’t wanted to get up there and sing in the first place, the crowd burst into applause, most of them standing, stomping their feet, demanding an encore.
    “Jules! Jules! Jules!” A chant rose up in the bar as she handed the mic back to the D.J. and rushed toward the steps.
    The spell was broken. There was no way she was going to sing another one, not tonight. Not with him here. Watching her. Setting her body on fire with his eyes alone.
    But she couldn’t avoid him as she practically ran off the stage. He was right there, a hand at her elbow, keeping her from fleeing.
    “Where did you learn to sing like that?” His voice was low, almost accusatory. Kai looked angry, not pleased by her performance.
    “I’ve always been able to sing like that.” She kept the quiver from her voice and managed to gather enough strength in her trembling limbs to shake him loose.
    “I’ve never heard anything like it.” He shook his head, looking bewildered, his mouth turning down at the corners.
    “You should watch more American Idol.”
    She turned to go but he grabbed her arm again. Glancing up at him, she expected words, but it seemed he was speechless. Those piercing eyes went right into her, though, and she squirmed, feeling as if he could see far more than she wanted him to.
    “If you don’t mind?” She glanced down at the hand on her arm. His left one. No ring. Why did that thrill her so much? “I have to answer that booty call now.”
    He scowled at that, but let her go. She fled, not saying a word to Barb when she called after her. Jules practically ran to her car, taking deep gulps of cool, summer air, hoping to extinguish the fire that had suddenly been lit in her belly.
     
     

CHAPTER TWO—Jules
    Jules usually got up at the butt crack of dawn, mostly by necessity rather than inclination. She wasn’t really a morning person by nature, but running the ranch and taking care of the the horses required early-to-bed and early-to-rise hours.
    Staying out at the bar until after midnight was not the norm and she’d been exhausted by the time she returned to the ranch. She found Stuart had already gone, leaving her a note on her kitchen table. He had a key to her place, and used it whenever he wanted.
    The note read:
    Sorry, got tied up. Thought you’d have given up on