Page 10 of The Demon King's Destiny

“I was meditating.”

“With your mouth wide open and drool coming out? Doubtful.”

She playfully swatted his arm. “It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was.”

Parts of Evelyn’s body warmed in reaction to the timbre of his voice. All the wrong parts. She should not be feeling anything for this male, or any male for that matter.

Except for one.

“What were you doing, aside from interrupting my rest?” she scolded.

“I had the afternoon off and was on my way to help out the Greycen family with the summer harvest.”

“Ah, out being a pillar of the community.”

“I try.”

“And it wouldn’t have anything at all to do with watching Maggie Greycen work the field? I hear it’s quite a sight.”

Jasper smirked. “The ladies talk of her ample … assets, do they?”

Evelyn barked out a laugh and swatted him again. “You are terrible.”

“I can be. But to answer your question, no, I’m not going to help because of Maggie. I owe her father a debt and this is how I’ll repay it.”

“How admirable.”

“Not really. Besides,” he said, staring intently at her mouth, “she’s not half as lovely as the female who always seems to run in the opposite direction when she sees me approaching.”

Evelyn’s eyes grew big as he leaned closer. She reflexively leaned away from him, but he kept coming. Before she could demand to know what, exactly, he thought he was doing, she tipped backwards and fell off the rock.

Too late, she tried to twist and get her arms under her to break her fall. All Evelyn managed was to slam her cheek into one of the smaller boulders just before her body continued its descent to the ground.

She landed awkwardly, with her rear on the dirt and her front plastered to the side of the rock. She did a quick check of her person. Nothing hurt too much other than her cheek.

“Damn, that smarts,” Evelyn cursed, reaching up to inspect the damage.

Already swelling. A little bloody. Likely starting to bruise. It would be just like her to go through hours of rigorous training unscathed—aside from one missing eyebrow—only to be injured by her reaction to some moron’s idea of a sexual advance.

Two large boots landed with a soft thud beside her.Speaking of said moron.

“Ah, Goddess. I’m sorry, Evelyn,” Jasper apologized, kneeling and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Here, let me see,” he cajoled.

His fingers gently lifted her chin. Evelyn turned her face so he could get a better look at the damage and he flinched. The big bad warrior-in-training flinched. Hard. Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her amusement.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re a cruel one, Miss Evelyn, laughing at me.”

“I’m not the one knocking ladies off of boulders.”

“Yes, well, I’m not used to such gross aversion to my advances.”

“I imagine not. But really, what were you thinking? You can’t just go around kissing every girl who crosses your path. I mean, sure, convenience is important, but did you think thirty seconds of my time warranted our faces making contact?”

His guffaw was loud enough to knock over a tree. “You are not like other females,” he chuckled once he had enough air to speak.

Evelyn twisted her lips, uncomfortable with his comment. He was right. She wasn’t like the other females she knew. She was good at playing her role well in her father’s court, but outside of those formalities, Evelyn had always been a little rough around the edges. Blunt. A jokester.

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