Tempt the Devil (The Devil of Ponong series #3) Read Online Free

government building
unescorted.
    “Only five guards? It seems the militia vastly
underestimated you,” he said.
    He’d practiced that tone in so many daydreams. Light,
pleasant, slightly teasing. It was supposed to show there were no hard
feelings. It was supposed to make her pause.
    She hardly seemed to have heard him. Then, as if someone
had thrown a switch, she indulged him with a tight smile.
    “It’s time we had a little chat, Governor Zul.”
    Her mouth had no business caressing his name like that.
The silky insinuation in her voice traveled across his skin and down–
Kyam cleared his throat and scowled at her.
    She walked toward his desk but did not sit. She turned to
the soldiers flanking her. “Thank you, gentlemen. You may go,” she said coolly,
as if they were hers to command.
    “You’re dismissed,” he told them. “Please, Lady QuiTai,
have a seat,” Kyam said more courteously, indicating a chair.
    Her eyes slid sideways and remained there until the door
closed behind the soldiers.
    He hoped she’d say something cruel to him, so he would feel
better about the confrontation they were about to have. It didn’t matter what,
as long as it made it okay for him to rage back and then demand a favor from
her.
    He didn’t feel angry at this moment, though. He didn’t
feel worried about her anger either – because she was here, with him, and
the old feeling of adventure was back – and something more. That was part
of her charm. Calamities always followed in her wake, but she was impossible to
resist.
    Her hands lay folded in her lap, but at any moment she might
flick her long black braid over her shoulder or smooth her sarong. She might
smile mockingly at him. He drew a deep breath, hoping to catch the spiced scent
she wore at the hollow of her throat, but she was too far away.
    “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” He sat down
and nudged the wastebasket under his desk with the toe of his boot. He hated
the way he sounded. He’d become an Intelligence officer to escape the starched
formality of his mother’s salons, but here he was, talking as if he were back
in Thampur, wearing a velvet sherwani jacket and holding a silver-tipped
walking cane.
    “We need to talk about the ludicrous new law forbidding my
people to assemble,” she said.
    He clasped his hand together on his desk. “I regret that
we cannot.”
    “It was a serious mistake when your Grandfather first
enacted it, and an even worse idea to bring it back. Normally I’d blame Chief
Justice Cuulon, but he seems to have your support.”
    “It doesn’t matter what I say. Cuulon controls the laws.”
It was true. There was nothing he could do.
    “Arresting my people for gathering, even in the
marketplace, and especially on festival days, is an error you’re going to
regret. It’s the first step down a very dark path.”
    It dawned on Kyam that, after all, she had no idea he’d
been about to invite her to come see him. What a relief. She wasn’t
clairvoyant. She wasn’t spying on him. This visit was a coincidence.
    “I cannot discuss it with you.” It made him strangely
happy to deny her.
    “I thought you wouldn’t. Coward.”
    The insult didn’t dampen his relief. “I’m quite busy,” he
said dismissively, covering his reaction.
    She rolled her eyes.
    “Unless you have something else to say to me, Lady QuiTai,
it’s time to leave.”
    He was bluffing, of course. They had barely started, and
she’d already given him leverage to use against her. She wanted the law
repealed; he wanted her soul for Thampur. Could it possibly be this easy? He
felt almost giddy.
    “I had somewhere else to be today. Unfortunately,
circumstances forced me to delay my plans. As you can imagine, I don’t care to
be inconvenienced like this. We’ve lost enough time to your nonsense already.
It’s time for you to stop sulking,” she said.
    His jaw dropped. He’d forgotten how blunt she could be,
and how rude. “I have not been