Ruby Dixon – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Ruby Dixon – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:33:03 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 http://www.books2020.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Ruby Dixon – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.books2020.com 32 32 Vowed to the Vulture God – Aspect and Anchor Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/vowed-to-the-vulture-god-aspect-and-anchor-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:33:03 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/vowed-to-the-vulture-god-aspect-and-anchor-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)

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The Vulture God of Aos needs a partner.

Or more accurately, a watchdog. It's my job to escort him through the phenomenon called the Anticipation. If I make sure he stays alive until the very end, the fates will save my brother's life.

Of course I say yes. Who wouldn't?

I expected Kalos to be repugnant, not an elegant, world-weary man with silvery hair and tired green eyes. I expected him to be cruel and uncaring. As we get to know each other, I find that his caustic commentary shields a soft heart that's been betrayed too many times before.

He's used to everyone hating him. He doesn't know how to handle love, or understanding. He doesn't know what to do when I don't turn away from him, and kiss him instead.

Most of all, Kalos doesn't know that I'm doomed to leave his side, no matter how this ends

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter

One

ELSIE

“Khaleesi?” I hold the coffee cup up at the pick-up bar with a smile, even though I know someone has gotten the name terribly wrong in their haste to get the order out the door. “Caramel latte with a double shot?”

A woman pushes her way through the early morning crowd, elbowing toward the counter. She casts an annoyed look at the people in front of her and makes her way to me. “I think that’s me.”

“Khaleesi?” I offer her an apologetic grin. “I’m sure someone botched your name.”

“Not sure how they got ‘Khaleesi’ from ‘Lachesis’, but whatever,” she mutters, taking the cup from me. She eyes the busy cafe. “Kind of a madhouse here this morning.”

“It’s like that every morning,” I admit. “Everyone needs their caffeine.” I’m still mentally trying to place her name. It sounds vaguely familiar, but I don’t know where I’ve heard it before. It’s certainly not common, and yet the woman herself looks average. She has plain brown hair, nondescript clothes, and a face I’m going to forget the moment she leaves. “We mangle everyone’s name. It’s part of the charm, right?”

But she doesn’t turn to go when she takes her cup. Instead, she tilts her head and studies me, oblivious to the crowd around her waiting for their order to come up. “So much going on and you’re still full of smiles and sunshine. That’s impressive.”

She has no idea. I keep smiling, because sometimes it feels as if a smile is all that’s holding me together. “It’s either smile or break.”

“Exactly. Cheerful determination is the way to handle everything that the universe throws at you, isn’t it?” The woman—Khaleesi or Lachesis—takes a sip of her coffee and shakes her head. “Can you add more cream to this?”

“Of course,” I tell her, and reach for the cup. I add another splash behind the counter, put the lid back on, and hold it out to her again. “There you go.”

She grabs my hand over the coffee and her gaze bores into mine. The noisy sounds of the coffee house die away around us and for a moment, it feels like there’s no one in the room but her and me. “Your brother is going to sit in front of the television,” she tells me. “He’s going to say something, and his nose is going to start bleeding. Then he’s going to tell you that he had a scan and his cancer is back. He didn’t want to bring it up.”

I stare at her in shock. What…how…?

She releases my hand and plucks the coffee from my grip. “I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll talk more.”

“Have a great day,” I say automatically as she turns and leaves, and the sounds of the packed coffee house drift in again. The clink of forks against porcelain plates mingles with the whooshing hiss of the milk foamer.

That was…weird.

My co-worker nudges me and slides another cup my way. “Georgia?” I call out, automatically picking the cup up and holding it out. “French roast, three sugar for Georgia?”

“Jorge,” a man in a business suit says, irritated, and practically snatches the cup from my grip.

“Have a nice day,” I chirp out automatically, and return to the hustle and bustle. It takes a moment, and I remember where I’ve heard the name Lachesis before. It’s a cool name and one of the three Fates in Greek Mythology—Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. I remember that because I loved mythology and wanted nothing more than to be a classics major back when I thought anyone could go to college for whatever they wanted, instead of what was practical. The thought makes me smile wryly to myself as I grab another coffee order.

That feels like a thousand Elsies ago.

I don’t think about the woman again for the rest of my shift. I don’t think about anything, really, until it’s time to go and the tip jar is counted out and portioned out between all of us. It’s a decent amount but still less than I’d like given that it’s split between all seven of us behind the counter. Still, it’ll buy gas for my car. I pocket it, say my goodbyes to my co-workers, and all but rip my apron off as I head out the door. I smell like coffee grounds, and the last time I went to the university library straight from my shift at the coffee house, my boss complained.

So now I go home to change first, since I can’t afford to lose any more goodwill at the uni library job. They’re already frustrated with me because I’m only taking one class this semester, and it’s online. I’m supposed to do more, but between juggling three jobs (I also work at a vet office scrubbing cages and hosing down kennels on nights and weekends) and pet sitting, plus picking up Ubers on holidays, I’m hanging in the best I can.

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Advertisement Barbarian’s Choice – Ice Planet Barbarians Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/barbarians-choice-ice-planet-barbarians-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:32:19 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/barbarians-choice-ice-planet-barbarians-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alien, Alpha Male, Erotic, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

I might be the only unmated female in my tribe, but it doesn’t mean I’ve given my heart. I’m waiting. I want resonance, and I won’t settle for anything less.

But when an alien ship lands and a handsome stranger steps out, I know he’s the one. His name’s Mardok and he’s fascinatingly different – and distractingly appealing. But Mardok can’t stay on the ice planet, and he says he can take me with him.

Now, I must make a choice. Do I stay and lose my mate forever? Or do I follow him to the stars and leave behind everything I know?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

FARLI

“Come on, lazy one!” I say as I put my hands on my hips. “It is time to go out!” I tap my foot impatiently, though I am smiling. “If we linger here all morning all the good tree bark will be eaten, and then where will you be?”

Chahm-pee bleats at me, his expression stubborn as he puts his head in his favorite basket and continues eating his morning meal.

I groan and move forward, grabbing him by the harness Tee-fah-ni made for him. “Will it be like this today, then? Are we going to fight?”

He ignores me, head down as he chews. Some days Chahm-pee is eager to get out, but today he wishes to stay and eat and wallow in his laziness. I will not let him, though. He gets too fat in the brutal season, so during the bitter season, I make sure he hunts with me. “Move,” I tell him, tugging on his harness and then giving his flank a slap.

Chahm-pee lifts his head and bares his yellow teeth at me, showing he is displeased. I snort at this, because Chahm-pee is all show. He will bleat and drag his feet and then the moment we are in the sunlight, he is prancing and acting like a kit despite his age. At two hands of age—eight, by human count—Chahm-pee is full-grown and bigger than most dvisti. I think it is because I make sure he is well-fed. Probably too well-fed, if I go by my mother’s advice. Kemli thinks I spend too much time focused on my pet and not enough on providing for the tribe. Perhaps she is right, but food has been plentiful ever since we came to Croatoan village, and Chahm-pee does not eat the same things we do.

I give another tug on his harness, but Chahm-pee weighs double what I do, and there is no budging him. He belches and puts his head back in his food basket.

I know what to get him to move, though. I sling my hunting pack over my shoulder and head toward the entrance to my hut, pretending like I am going to leave. “Mmmm,” I say exaggeratedly, digging into my pocket. I carry a pouch of rakrak seeds—Chahm-pee’s favorite—for such an occasion. I shake the bag and then pull it out.

His head immediately lifts, ears pricking. His little tail swishes back and forth. I have his attention now.

“So tasty,” I coo, and head out of the hut a few steps, then wait.

The dvisti trots out behind me and noses my pocket. He knows what I have. Amused, I pull a few seeds out and let him eat them from my hand, and then continue to head out into the village. He follows behind me, like the well-trained animal I know he is not.

“Very good, my Chahm-pee,” I tell him, pulling a few more seeds out of my pocket because I have a soft heart. “We shall go and get our hunting in for the day. That will be nice, will it not? We can enjoy the sunshine and the fresh air, and some fresh food to eat. We like fresh food, do we not?”

“Are you talking to Chompy again?” a woman calls out, laughter in her voice. “You know he still can’t answer?”

I grin, ignoring Jo-see’s teasing. Even though it is early, the village is bustling with tribesmates. Jo-see is herding her little family toward the longhouse, where Air-ee-aw-nuh will be teaching classes to the kits, like she does every day the hunters go out. When the weather is bad, that is family time. But when the day is crisp and sunny like today? The hunters head out into the wild and the kits head to class. Warrek teaches them hunting when they are older, but when they are little—and there are so, so many little ones in our tribe—Air-ee-aw-nuh teaches them to count and how to spell in the human language. She has offered to teach me, but I have too much to do. “Hello, Jo-see,” I call out, smiling to the little mother. I wink at her small son, who is doing his best to squirm away from his mother’s grip. “Hello, Joden.”

“Farli, can I come with you?” Joden asks in his sweet little voice. “I want to play wif Chahm-pee.”

“No, baby, you get to hang with Mommy and sissy today,” Jo-see says in a calm voice, even as she adjusts the kit on her hip. Joha is only a season or so old, and sucks her thumb as she looks at me with big eyes. She is quiet and gentle, unlike her squirmy little brother. I wonder what their next kit will be like. Even now, Jo-see’s belly is heavily rounded with yet another kit. The tribe loves to tease Haeden and his mate about their frequent resonances, but Haeden just takes it all in stride. I think he secretly loves the fact that he and his mate have resonated three times so quickly, but Jo-see loves being a mother and Haeden is a good father. They are happy.

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Advertisement Barbarian’s Heart – Ice Planet Barbarians Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/barbarians-heart-ice-planet-barbarians-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sun, 01 Feb 2026 09:22:42 +0000 https://www.books2020.com/barbarians-heart-ice-planet-barbarians-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alien, Alpha Male, Erotic, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75650 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >81

I’ve never spent a day without my mate since arriving on the ice planet. I’m happy and in love, and we have a beautiful child together. All that changed when the world shook.

My mate nearly died.

He wakes up from his coma…and he can’t remember me. Or our son. Every memory of the past two years is gone. And that changes everything between us. How can I love someone that doesn’t remember me?

How can I not, when I know he’s still my mate underneath it all?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

STACY

Pashov’s arms go around me and he nuzzles my neck, all affection. He’s always very affectionate around breakfast. And lunch. And okay, dinner. The man’s ruled by his stomach, and today is no change. He presses a kiss to my neck and then peers at my frying pan. “Are you making those for me?”

“No,” I say, teasing in my voice. “This is for Josie. Are you hungry again?”

“I am always hungry, female.” His hand slides to my butt and he gives it a squeeze. “Perhaps throw one of your cakes on there for your suffering mate?”

Suffering? I snort with amusement, but I get out a scoop of the mash I use for the not-potato cakes. “Sweet or meat?”

“Meat, of course.”

Of course. He likes sweets about as much as the next sa-khui, which is to say not at all. I open my pouch of spices for the peppery flavoring he likes so much. “Oh, shoot. I’m out. I need more of the spicy stuff. Do you think your mother has more?”

“There is some in the storage cave,” he tells me, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I will go and get it for you.”

“Leave Pacy with me,” I tell him, setting my pan down. “He needs to eat, too.”

He shrugs off the papoose carrier and sets my son down near my feet, touching his nose. “Do not eat all of the cakes. Save some for your father.”

Pacy giggles and tries to catch his father’s big finger with his tiny hands. My heart squeezes with affection at the sight. “Hurry up,” I warn Pashov. “I need those spices if you want to eat.” I’m not trying to nudge him too much, but my mate can get distracted at times, and if I leave my pan on for too long, it’ll get too hot and scorch the cakes.

“I am going,” he says, uncurling his big body and getting to his feet. He tugs on my braid, grabs my ass again as he leaves, and then jogs away into one of the back tunnels.

The ground shifts.

I drop my pan into the fire, ignoring the crash of sparks it makes, and grab Pacy instead. I don’t understand what’s happening. I look around, wondering if I’m imagining things, but then the ground shakes again.

“Out of the cave!” someone bellows, and then hands grab me and pull me blindly after them. I think it’s Haeden, and he’s got Josie in one arm and drags me with the other.

“Wait!” I cry out. “Pashov!” He’s in the storage cave.

I look over…and then the ceiling collapses.

“PASHOV!”

I wake up in a cold sweat. Every inch of me is slick with it, and I rub my arms briskly to get rid of the dampness before it can crystallize to frost. Next to me in the nest of furs is Pacy. He’s got one fist in his mouth, and as I watch, his little mouth works as if nursing in his sleep. Normally the sight of my son in sleep brings me immense joy, but today…

All I can see is the velvety pale blue skin, the dark lashes that frame his eyes, and the nose with the bump right in the middle of the bridge, just like his father. He’s the spitting image of him, and it hurts me.

I’ve lost my mate.

Even though Pacy’s asleep, I pick him up and pull open my tunic, settling him to my breast. He latches on sleepily and then begins to nurse, pushing a small hand against my skin. The nursing’s to comfort me more than him, I think. I need to hold him close. I need to feel the calm that motherhood brings with it.

I need to feel the touch of someone who loves me and whom I love.

Because right now, I’m losing control.

I glance across the small tent. Georgie’s sleeping curled against her mate, with Talie in a basket of furs nearby. They’ve been nice enough to let me stay with them for the last week and a half, but I know it can’t be easy on them. It’s not easy on me, either. Every time Vektal pulls Georgie close, I think of Pashov. Every time they exchange a look, I think of Pashov. Every time he steals a kiss from her, I think of Pashov.

And I hurt all over again.

Tears threaten, but I close my eyes and force myself to be calm. It does no good thinking about my mate right now. Right now, he is not my mate. He doesn’t remember me. Doesn’t remember the last two years we’ve spent together, or the baby we made together. Doesn’t remember resonating to me.

Doesn’t remember me at all.

To him, I’m just another faceless, puzzling human. He doesn’t remember our crash here. He doesn’t remember Vektal mating to Georgie, or me resonating to him the first day we met. He doesn’t remember the birth of our son. He remembers his sister and his brothers. He remembers his family and the rest of the tribe.

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Advertisement When She’s Stuffed – Risdaverse Holiday Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/when-shes-stuffed-risdaverse-holiday-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:06:22 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/when-shes-stuffed-risdaverse-holiday-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alien, Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Novella, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 9
Estimated words: 7952 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 >9

Pamela loves her job on Risda III - as cook to Lord and Lady va'Rin, she is responsible for creating delicious meals. What better way to show her appreciation for her new life than a Thanksgiving feast?

Alien guardsman Toghar has adored Pamela in silence for years now. Is today the day to speak up? Or should he wait until she stops shoving her hand into that dead bird on the counter?

Will the holidays bring these two together? (The answer is yes, of course.)

This is a short, stand-alone story set in the Risdaverse featuring a human woman, an alien hero who has no idea what Thanksgiving is, and some stuff that probably shouldn't happen in a kitchen, but does anyhow

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER

ONE

TOGHAR

Today, I decide, I'm going to tell Pamela that I care for her. It's done. It's decided. I'm going to do it.

Anxiety makes my palms sweaty, and I wipe them on my clothing. I want to tug at the high collar on my standard-issue security uniform, but if I tug on it once, I'm going to tug on it all day. I run my hands down my thighs instead.

"You look nervous," the guard at the estate entrance comments as I lift my badge to scan. "Something going on?"

"No," I scoff, leaning in for the second part of the scan and opening my eye wide. I wait as my retinal print is processed, but my tail twitches.

I must be unconvincing because Jassoh narrows his eyes at me. He knows something is going on. I wait at the door, ready to begin another day as one of Lord va'Rin's many security guards on his grand estate. He employs several of us, and because we all live in the barracks, we tend to be in each other's business. Normally I don't mind if my co-workers are nosy. But today is the day.

After a long moment, Jassoh's expression changes and then he grins, blocking the door before I can enter. "Wait. Are you finally going to do it? You going to tell that little human female how you feel?"

Shoving the other male aside so I can enter, I fight the urge to growl at how familiar he is with her. No one gets to call Pamela a “little human” except me. "If I can get the words out. And she's not 'little.' Not to you."

"You can do it," he encourages, slapping me on the back as I walk past. "Don't be so nervous. What's the worst that could happen?"

The worst that could happen?

Pamela is human and I'm mesakkah. She's a former slave, kidnapped from her planet and rescued by Lord va'Rin. I'm one of the race that stole her from her home. She could loathe me. She could be horrified at my confession of devotion and never want to see me again. Perhaps she will be so disgusted at the thought of an alien male besotted with her that she will abandon her job and her comfortable, safe life here on Risda III. My words will drive her away and then I will never see her again.

At least now, when she doesn't know how I feel, I can watch over her. I can make sure that she's safe and protected and taken care of every day.

Jassoh doesn't understand. I mumble something about being late and push through the door before he can quiz me further.

I nod to the others as I walk through the echoing halls of the expansive estate, heading for my station near the kitchens. It's early, and Pamela won't be in for several hours yet. Which is good, because that'll give me time to get my keffing head on straight, to calm down and think about how I'm going to ask her to let me court her. I need to word it just right. After five years of working alongside one another, I can't bear the thought of another day passing without her knowing how I feel.

And yet...it's safest not to say anything at all.

I'm torn. Lord va'Rin has given me permission to court her. He says I don't need it, that we are both adults. This is true, but we also both work for him, and Pamela is very close to his wife. If she does not want me to court her, things can get very awkward. Perhaps that is why I have kept silent for so long. Pamela deserves to feel happy and safe when she is at work. It's better for all of us if I keep my feelings to myself.

But doing so is...agony. I ache to touch her, to stroke her mane back from her face. I can't stop watching her as she moves about, and her soft smiles fill me with such joy, even if they're not aimed at me. Perhaps I should say nothing.

At least I have time to decide, I think to myself as I stroll down the long halls of Lord va'Rin's home. Pamela will not be in for work for a few hours yet. I arrive early every day ahead of her and⁠—

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Advertisement Space Vampire – Scared Sexy Collection Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/space-vampire-scared-sexy-collection-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sun, 12 Oct 2025 20:51:58 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/space-vampire-scared-sexy-collection-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alpha Male Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 16945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 85(@200wpm)___ 68(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 >19

In a universe full of heartless aliens, an abandoned human and a vampire clone discover an unexpected connection in this delightfully bite-size short story by New York Times bestselling author Ruby Dixon.

Dana, the overlooked human pet of an alien scientist, and Vlad, a genetically engineered vampire with a taste for more than just blood, find themselves unexpectedly alone on a deserted space station. As they plot their escape, they’ll have to navigate cramped quarters, steamy encounters, and the growing realization that they might be each other’s perfect match. But with their captors in hot pursuit, will their budding romance survive the vast emptiness of space?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter One

Dana

The station is silent. Normally it’s pulsing with noise—the clank of machinery, the whir of the atmosphere generators straining to keep up with the population, the hum of multiple voices in the background, the sound of booted feet on the floors. Now everything is so very quiet. Even the atmospherics click off, content with the temperature and the level of oxygen in the space station.

I lift up the metal grate and climb out of the laundry shaft I’ve been hiding in. At first, I thought I’d get a few hours to myself. The moment the laboratory alarms went off, screeching about an escaped subject, I raced down the hall, away from my alien master, and climbed into one of the chutes. I come here sometimes when I want to be left alone for a bit. As an alien’s unwilling pet, I get handled a lot whether I want it or not. It’s nice to get a few hours to myself, and I curled up in the piles of uniforms . . . and apparently fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I’ve been out, but everything’s far too quiet.

Surely everyone didn’t just . . . leave for good?

Surely not.

Surely they’re just in a meeting? Threat neutralized and things are back to normal? I’ve lived on this station for a year now as the miserable pet of the head scientist, Nasit sa’Wost, and there’ve been a few times when their “experiments” have broken free from their confines. It happens when you’re dealing with living things. The quiet is unnerving, though, and it’s getting to me.

Has to be a meeting. I’m not that lucky.

“Computer,” I call out. “What’s today? Where is Nasit sa’Wost?”

It doesn’t acknowledge me. Of course it doesn’t. I’m not a person to it, which is annoying as hell.

Fine. I pull the stupid frilly bow off my head and the second one off my waist, tossing them on the floor. Nasit is going to be looking for me soon enough, and I want to enjoy not being someone’s pet poodle for a hot minute. I stretch, yawning, and run my fingers through my hair, happy to be free of the dumb decorations the alien puts on me. Nasit loves a garish bow and an even more garish dress for me. I swear, it’s like Halloween every day.

I glance up and down the hall. No guards, no scientists. All is still.

This means I have a few more minutes to myself. Might as well enjoy the freedom while I have it.

I waste no time in heading for the cafeteria. If we’re going with a Halloween vibe, it’s time for me to trick-or-treat. Specifically . . . treat myself. My mouth waters at the thought of getting to eat something other than a hard, flavorless nutrient bar. Nasit gives me nothing but those, and even those he’s stingy with, because he likes a “lean” pet and not a “puffy” one. Jerk. I’m going to eat at least six bowls of noodles before they get back, I decide.

When I get to the cafeteria, though, the sliding doors are tightly sealed shut.

Frowning, I put my hand on the door lock panel. It doesn’t respond, so I tap it again. And again. “No! Come on! Answer me!”

The doors never even budge. Of course they wouldn’t. They open only for the people who live on this ship, and I’m considered a pet. With a furious snarl, I slap the panel again. No dice. I try to access it with an override code on the panel, but the station ignores my attempts.

All trick, no treat. Boo.

Emergency Mode. Security Breach. Containment of Specimen Required.

Ugh. Stupid station. Maybe I can pry the door open manually. I try to work my fingers into the tight seams of the door for at least ten minutes before I give up.

“I hate you, Nasit,” I say mournfully as I rest my forehead on the cold metal.

So not only have I been abandoned, but I can’t even enjoy this. I lightly thump my head against the door again, and then turn to look down the hall. No one has even noticed me. No one’s here to see me trying to break into the food supplies.

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Advertisement By the Horns (Royal Artifactual Guild #2) Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/by-the-horns-royal-artifactual-guild-2-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Thu, 25 Sep 2025 16:03:28 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/by-the-horns-royal-artifactual-guild-2-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Series: Royal Artifactual Guild Series by Ruby Dixon
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 540(@250wpm)___ 450(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >142

In a world of magical artifacts and fantastical beings, a woman with a deadly magic secret needs the help of the minotaur she’s trying to forget in the sizzling sequel to Ruby Dixon's New York Times bestseller Bull Moon Rising .

Gwenna has always considered herself a normal person. A former servant, she wants nothing more than to land a steady job with the Royal Artifactual Guild so she can make some steady coin to send home to her mother. She's not special. She's certainly not a necromancer. That would be impossible, given how necromancing (or any 'mancing) is forbidden upon penalty of death. So if the dead keep talking to her? Well, she's going to keep on ignoring them. They're not going to stand in the way of her dreams.

Also standing in her way? One big, arrogant, far-too-flirty Taurian named Raptor. They slept together once, and now he wants more . . . but she doesn’t have time for that. Her focus is on being a fledgling, a trainee for the Royal Artifactual Guild. But Raptor won't go away. He's on a secret mission for the guild to find an artifact thief.

Problem is, he thinks the thief is Gwenna.

How can she convince Raptor that he's got the wrong girl when all the signs point to her? And how do you tell a Taurian you can't date him because you hear dead people and it might cost you your life?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

One

Gwenna

Dere Ma,

Aspeth is helping me to rite to you. She is teeching me my letters so I can better myself. I am still a repeeter at the guild but we will have recruitment day soon and I hope to be picked as a flegling again. If I can work for the guild I can send money home. I have enclosed a few coins. Please pay someone to rite back and let me know you are well. I love you.

Love, Gwenna

The dead man in the alley is really bothering me.

Not that I killed him, of course. I just know that he’s there, and I can’t tell anyone.

Nor can I tell anyone that I’ve been able to sense the dead lately. I don’t know why. I don’t know how it started. All I know is that if there’s a dead person somewhere nearby, my skin itches and crawls as if a hundred bugs were moving over my body.

It makes it damned impossible to concentrate.

I swipe at the window I’m supposed to be cleaning, hoping no one notices that I’m not truly giving my all. I need to keep my head down and stay out of trouble to remain as a repeater, one of the workers for the Royal Artifactual Guild. Repeaters have a strange sort of position in the guild. We’re considered “failed” students, but because we’ve been students in the past, we’re also allowed to be first in line when it comes time to sign up with a new guild master for the next year’s training. If I piss off Mistress Umala, though, she’ll drop hints that I’m a bad, lazy employee, and she could ruin my chances to get picked as a fledgling for the next year’s tutelage. True, my best friend is married to a guild master, but I can’t count on Aspeth to grease the wheels for me. I need to earn my place, and as a woman in a male-dominated guild, I need to make doubly sure that my record is impeccable or people will talk.

Focus, I remind myself. Concentrate. Ignore the dead man in the alley and how hard your skin is buzzing because it must be a fresh murder—

A throat clears behind me.

I lower my arm, turning to greet Mistress Umala. She’s an elderly woman with thick coils of white hair atop her head, and she wears a severe, high-necked dress in guild colors, along with a repeater sash at her waist and a second one at her shoulder. She’s not a repeater, though. It’s just part of the uniform. I’m told that she’s a guild member’s widow who decided to take up cleaning to keep her husband’s pension, and now she just makes all of us who clean miserable. I really wanted to like her, because we maids should stick together, but Mistress Umala made it clear from day one that she didn’t think much of me because I’d actually “dared” to try to be in the guild.

“Is there a problem?” she asks, looking down her sharp nose at me. Her skin is so pale that she looks unhealthy, and for a moment, I wonder if she’s the corpse I keep sensing.

I put on my sweetest smile. Only one more month until recruitment day. Then I’ll be free of drudgery. “Why would there be a problem, ma’am?”

She arches one hairy silver brow at me. “You’ve been rubbing that window with a dry rag for ten minutes now.”

I…have? I glance down at the rag in my hand and sure enough, I’ve forgotten to wet it. “Just getting a few of the worst smears taken care of,” I say cheerfully, and rub the window with the rag again as if this is all according to plan. “See?”

“I do not see,” Umala hisses. “All I see is a young woman not doing her job properly.”

Biting back a retort, I keep the smile on my face and take the shit she shovels at me. It’s the servant’s lot in life to smile through their true feelings, to never let their employers know what they’re really thinking or else they’ll get the boot. After years of working as a kitchen girl, and then a maid, I know all about how to look fawning and humble. “I’m very sorry, ma’am. I’ve no wish to be a bother. I’ll finish up this window quickly.”

And then I scratch at my neck and the high-collared uniform I’m wearing, because by the gods, that dead man is going to make me crazed.

I keep on scratching as she harrumphs. “See that you do. And then get the windows on the second floor. They look filthy.”

I nod and bend over to dip my rag in the soapy bucket at my feet. “Of course, ma’am.” One more month. One more mucking month. “Even the rooms with the patients?”

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Advertisement Romancing the Clone (Sunrise Cantina #3) Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/romancing-the-clone-sunrise-cantina-3-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Sat, 16 Aug 2025 22:27:18 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/romancing-the-clone-sunrise-cantina-3-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Novella, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Series: Sunrise Cantina Series by Ruby Dixon
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Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >36

Simone loves a good opportunity. When she sees that there’s a hole in the market on Risda III for a bakery, she steps in to fill the void. With a cart full of fresh baked goods, she rakes in the credits. Who cares if she doesn’t know the difference between a biscuit and a babka? She’s got hustle and a winning smile.

Ruth-Ann cares. She cares a lot.

It irritates her that Simone has a baked goods business…and that it’s succeeding. Does no one else see that Simone’s crusts are soggy? Her cookies as flat as pancakes? It bothers Ruth-Ann so much that she makes sure to point out to Simone everything she’s doing wrong. Daily.

Simone despises Ruth-Ann and her know-it-all attitude.

It’s mutual.

Until the day Simone’s cart doesn’t show up to its usual spot and Ruth-Ann realizes that she might care a little too much

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER

ONE

SIMONE

Michelle had been a terrible girlfriend. She’d been scatterbrained and rude, and messy as could be. Selfish, too. She made sure that she came, and then if you didn’t, that was your problem. We were only together for a few months before I got tired of that shit and we broke up. That was long before aliens invaded my life and stole me to the other end of the universe, though.

I think about Michelle this morning as I check my sourdough “pet” in the window of my home, because Michelle was a lot of things but she was also a baker, and so I’d heard far more about baking than any woman had a right to. I’d watched all the baking shows with her, and while I’d never tried my hand at any of it, I remember a lot of things Michelle would say when people messed up.

Oh, that dummy just put carton egg whites in the mixer. Her meringue is never going to whip.

She didn’t let her bread rise for long enough. That’s going to be a problem.

She’s putting a drizzle on her cake to keep the crumb from tasting too dry. That’s smart.

Michelle’s voice is in my head as I work on the baked goods for my cart this morning. I’m not much of a baker, but I am a savvy businesswoman, and when I got here to Risda and saw that the only place serving food that you could take away with you was that nasty-ass cantina? I saw opportunity. I ditched the idea of farming and asked to start my own business.

Well…that’s kinda how it happened. It wasn’t that farming was bad. It was that a few months after I arrived, my friend Dora showed up with a carinoux kitten for me. Apparently they’re highly sought-after guard cats. I took one look at the kittenish face and fell in love. I named him Pluto, and he’s been the absolute joy of my time here.

He’s also going to be the size of a tiger when he’s grown and has eight legs and scaly skin. So in addition to being huge and always hungry, he terrifies the cattle. It makes being a cattle rancher difficult, and I’d much rather have Pluto than a farm full of cows. I made a deal with the Port Custodians and sold my farm back to them in exchange for an income stipend. I could sit around and do nothing all day, but…that gets old fast.

So…baking. I can bake in the morning, and when I sell out, I can close up and roll my cart home. If I sell out an hour after I set up, I can take the rest of the day off. If business is slow on that end of the street, I can move closer to the spaceship yards and the official “Port” where the workers are.

And someday I’m going to have a second cart, I decide. One full of sweets and one full of savories. One full of cupcakes and the other full of seed-filled breads and maybe even veggie hand-pies.

For now, though, I’m starting small.

I take the jar of sourdough starter and spoon out enough for the day, then feed it new flour and set it on the window so it can do whatever sourdough does. Michelle did the same when we lived together, and I’m basically just copying her. From there, I make a pancake mix with the grainy, seed-based flour we have here on Risda III and add “pollinator sweetener” to make my honey pancakes. Mine are about as big as silver dollars and I stab a sharp eating stick through a stack before setting them on the tray. It’s not a traditional way to eat pancakes, but they’re portable and sweet and everyone loves them. I also make muffins because those are easy, and little fruit jam sandwiches made out of a seed bread. I fry discs of the sweet potato-like root called tahaari and then make sandwiches with those for my alien customers who aren’t as fond of sugary snacks.

Risda III doesn’t have a bakery, so I’m the closest they’ve got.

Considering that I sell out quickly, I’d say it’s a success. I know one of the Port Custodians has a wife who’s an amazing baker, and I want to run her down in the street and pepper her with questions every time I see her, but that feels intrusive, so I just do my own thing.

If people don’t like my baking, they won’t buy it, right? With that pleased thought rolling in my head, I chop up a haunch of meat for Pluto and fill his bowl, then prep my cart for the morning rush.

It’s incredibly early and I fight back a yawn as I roll my little cart down Risda’s Main Street. My clear windows are full of muffins. Little sandwiches line up in neat rows, and my pancake stacks cover the top of the cart, swaying as I push the thing down to the best vending spot. I yawn again, because I’m not used to waking up so early, but that’s the curse of the baker, I suppose. If this place had a coffeehouse, it’d make a killing.

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Advertisement Corvak’s Challenge (Ice Planet Clones #4) Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/corvaks-challenge-ice-planet-clones-4-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:08:43 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/corvaks-challenge-ice-planet-clones-4-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alien, Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Series: Ice Planet Clones Series by Ruby Dixon
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Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 83205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >92

When the clone pods were abandoned on the ice planet, two of them opened before the others. Corvak, a gladiator and a splice, ran into the snows. He carried Aidy, a confused human woman. They're on the run, determined not to get caught.

Aidy has no idea what's going on or why she's been dumped in the icy mountains. Corvak, however, is convinced this is all one big gladiator game, and one he's determined to win. To do that, they'll have to avoid all the others and survive by any means possible.

Why do they need this parasite anyhow...and why do their chests keep humming?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER

ONE

AIDY

"Come with me if you want to live."

I jerk from sleep at the Terminator quote. I'm a movie buff, but that's a strange one to wake up to. Who's speaking? The voice is that of a stranger. I open my eyes, shaking off the last of my weariness, to see a big hand thrust into my face.

It's not a human hand.

The hand extended out to me has the wrong number of fingers. There are dark claws and vaguely gray skin, like I would imagine a monster would have. I bite back a yelp of distress and follow the sight of that strange hand up to⁠—

Jesus Christ, I don't know who—or what—that is.

The stranger looming over my bed is as inhuman as his hand. He looks a bit like the beast from the Beauty and the Beast cartoon come to life, with just a color palette swap. He's got strangely shaped ears, a bushy mane, and big, wide, gray shoulders that look like they're covered in a downy layer of fur. His mouth has a few extremely prominent teeth that might not be teeth at all, but tusks.

He's also near-naked and it's cold as fuck.

I…don't know this man. What's he doing in my room? Why's the air conditioning so fucking cold?

As I stare up at the strange beast-man, hyperventilating, a snowflake drifts past. This…isn't my home. My frantic gaze flicks back and forth, noting my surroundings. I'm in some sort of metallic…coffin? A tube or a pod of some kind with lots of flashing lights and light padding underneath.

I'm practically naked. There's nothing covering me but a sheer white shift.

And I'm fucking freezing.

I cover my breasts in horror and swat his hand away. "Where are my clothes? Where are we? Who the fuck are you?"

The hand pushes into my face again. "I will explain everything. I know how this game is played. Those that do not escape right away will be killed."

"Killed? Game?" I squeak, terrified. "What game? And I can't leave. I don't have clothes⁠—"

He glances off to the side, even as a snowy breeze ruffles his mane. He turns to look back at me, dark eyes intense. "Quick. Come with me. We have to go now."

I don't know what's going on—the last memory I have is fuzzy and somewhere warm with beige walls. This isn't Arizona. Arizona is warm and the sun is hard, unlike the watery sunlight here. This might not even be Earth, judging by the strange greenish tint of the sky barely visible past my freezing-ass coffin. Also judging by the big inhuman stranger holding a clawed hand out to me.

But I want to live. Whatever else is going on, I don't want to die.

"Don't look at me, okay?" I say as I sit up, taking his hand.

He scoffs. "You can worry about your naked body when we are safe."

Rude. But also, true. As I sit up, I look around and get the scope of my surroundings. This really isn't familiar to me at all. We're in a strange, snowy place with distant pink trees and jagged cliffs. Everything's covered in snow and looks highly dangerous. My coffin is in the valley between some of these alarming-looking cliffs, and mine is not the only one. I can hear the distant sound of sobbing, and as I watch, another coffin slides open.

What happens when all these people get out? Is it like the hunger games and we all have to fight for resources? I am most definitely not a fighter. I look at my new "friend" again. He says he knows how this game is played.

I put my hand in his and let him drag me out of the coffin.

The moment I emerge from the cocoon, the absolute cold hits me. I don't have shoes. I don't have a coat. The wind is the coldest thing I've ever felt, and my nipples immediately turn into rocks. I want to crawl back into the coffin, but the stranger is pulling me forward, dragging me along after him.

Two steps into the snow and I stumble.

He immediately moves to my side again, helping me to my feet. "We have to go."

"I c-c-can't," I manage, teeth chattering. "I don't have sh-sh-shoes."

He glances around again, makes a ferocious-sounding snarl in his throat, and then hefts me into his arms. A moment later, I'm tossed over his shoulder like a heroine in some fairy tale, and then he's racing away through the snow, heading into one of the narrow canyons. My vision bounces, but I see a large figure with a spear stalking between the coffins. Somewhere else, a woman screams.

Oh god. Oh fuck. We really are being killed. I clutch at the back of the gray stranger. "Don't drop me!"

"Never. I keep what is mine."

I must have heard that wrong. Doesn't matter. He's my ally right now. I try to remain still and quiet, even when my stomach threatens to spill its contents. I pinch my nose and close my eyes, willing myself not to barf despite being shaken like a bowl of Jello. Even though his body is warm against my front, the rest of me feels like ice as the wind rips against my skin, and I want to sob with how awful this is.

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Advertisement When She Wishes – Risdaverse Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/when-she-wishes-risdaverse-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:19:15 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/when-she-wishes-risdaverse-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alien, Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Novella, Paranormal Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 19577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 98(@200wpm)___ 78(@250wpm)___ 65(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >22

Payton needs help on her farm. Heavily pregnant from a one-night-stand, she can't manage all the manual labor and is supposed to be on bedrest. An alien man from a cat-like warrior race arrives on her doorstep with an offer to work for room and board. Bodhrri will get to stay on the planet, and Payton will get an extra pair of hands to help out until her babies (yup, plural) are born.

Tiny problem - he's the father of her unborn children and he had no idea until now she was pregnant. Is this a secret baby plot?

(No, it's secret BABIES.)

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter

One

BODHRRI

There's a knot in my throat as I pack my bag. I fold up my clothes, toss my data pad in after them, and add in my favorite mug. As a contracted worker, I don't have much to my name. It's easiest to be able to pack up and go at a moment's notice. At least, that's the line of thinking. But after fifteen years of bouncing around from job site to job site, I've found a place that it's keffing killing me to leave.

I'm in love with Risda III, and I can't stay.

My contract is over as of today, the dock expansion I and the rest of my crew were hired to work on finally completed. It's the first time I've ever been planet-side. I grew up on a station. Most of my jobs have been maintenance types on various other deep-space stations.

I never knew what I was missing. Planets have fresh air. And birds. And grasses. And stars at night.

I'm going to miss the stars more than anything.

Well, almost as much as the fresh air and the fact that my lungs feel clear here.

But I can't stay. Even if I had the credits to afford to abandon my job—I don't—Risda III is a closed world. It belongs to some rich mesakkah lord who keeps humans and sets them up on land here. Like all the laborers, I've been told to avoid the humans. I've been mostly successful at it, too. Now I wish I was one, because I'd get to stay here forever.

There's not a lot of luck out in the universe for a praxiian that comes from a poor family house, though. I can't even honorably join the armed forces or try my luck as a gladiator, thanks to my piss-poor lungs. I spent my formative years in the lowest parts of a poorly-working space station, only to destroy my lungs before I reached an age to join the military. There's no chance for me to make my fortune, so I have to take what scraps the universe offers me. Normally I've made my peace with it. Easier to be at ease with your job when every place you go to is shit.

Hits different when you're sent to paradise and told you can't stay.

I drag my feet for as long as possible, but there's only so much time I can spend packing my bag. Then there's nothing to do but leave my small rented apartment and head into Risda III's one settlement to get my contract signed off and so I can get paid. I head out of the apartments for the last time and into the bright morning sunlight. I squint up at the sky, but it's endlessly blue with a few puffy clouds drifting overhead. No stars.

Damn. I really wanted to see the stars one last time. They always make me think of that woman and that one night. The human woman who told me all about stars and wishing. Never saw her again, but I think about her all the time. Wherever she is, I hope she's happy. I hope she loves this planet every bit as much as I do.

I head out, crossing through the small town that's sprung up just outside the space port. There's a small cluster of buildings that line one street, and not much else. That's how the lord that owns this place prefers it, I'm told. I see a few humans walking about, but no one approaches me. Praxiians aren't popular on this planet. Kef, I think most males of any species aren't popular on this planet. I've noticed that most of the residents here are female and human. Anyone not human has to be ready to show paperwork at any and all times, and I notice there's a Port custodian patrolling the street. His gaze lands on me and he watches me closely as I keep my head down and head for the custodian office to get my work contract stamped so I can get paid. I don't want to cause trouble here. It's the last thing I want. One of the things that's so appealing about Risda is how very peaceful it is.

More thoughts that should never come from a praxiian.

As I always do when I go into town, I scan the residents walking the street and peer into the buildings, looking for a familiar head of long blonde hair atop a very short female. I hate that I never caught her name, and I was hoping to talk to her one more time before I left. But today, like every other day, she's simply not here. Sometimes I wonder if I imagined her.

The custodian office is quiet this early in the morning. One custodian has a woman seated across from his desk, and another is busy typing something into his data pad. I wait for them to notice me, and when the second male looks up and spots me, he waves me over.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >22

Advertisement Bound to the Shadow Prince Read Online Ruby Dixon http://www.books2020.com/bound-to-the-shadow-prince-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Wed, 19 Mar 2025 15:57:46 +0000 http://www.books2020.com/bound-to-the-shadow-prince-read-online-ruread-online-dixon Genre: Alpha Male, Dark, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Magic, Paranormal, Virgin Authors: Ruby Dixon Advertisement

Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >218

In order to protect her kingdom from the wrath of a vengeful goddess, Princess Candra must remain locked inside a tower for seven years. Seven long years without a friend―or a lover―by her side. And shut inside the tower with her? A Fellian, the enemy of her people, a fearsome warrior race complete with wings and claws and fangs. Nemeth is terrifying, cruel, and disturbingly magnetic. Candra should kill him for his supplies, but she’s desperate for his company…and his touch.

As time inside the unchanging tower rolls on, Candra uncovers the man behind the stony facade. And when their tenure hits an unexpected snag, Candra and Nemeth are forced to make a difficult choice. They’ll need to face an outside world they no longer recognize, one that threatens their lives and their surprising love

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Chapter

One

The moment I hear the palace messenger is looking for me, I hide in my closet.

It’s completely childish. I know it is. It’s just that any time someone has a message of “grave urgency” to give to me, something terrible has happened. The first time, it was my father’s death to bandits. The second time, it was that my mother had died of the sweating sickness. The third time, my sister Erynne was told it was time for her to marry my nemesis, Prince Lionel, and I still haven’t forgiven her for agreeing.

So any message that’s for me and me alone? It cannot be good news.

My maid enters my quarters and looks around, frowning. “Lady Candromeda?” She takes a few steps forward, her dark blue skirts swishing as she strides.

I chew on my nail, hoping she doesn’t look in the heavy wooden wardrobe, and if she does, that she doesn’t look behind the huge, embroidered pink panniers that I wore thrice last season. They’re incredibly stupid skirts, but they’re easy to hide behind, at least.

Riza gazes around my quarters, her eyes narrowed. “She was just here. And she has to come back soon for her medicine.”

Wincing, I wrinkle my nose. Riza’s right. I hate that she’s right. I can never get very far because I’m tied to my nurse, who has to administer the potions I take daily, or else I’ll get sick and die. It’s the curse of the Vestalin line to have tainted blood. My mother’s sister had it. My sister Erynne has avoided it, and thus she’s the valuable one. Our youngest sister, Meryliese, was spared the family curse, but because she’s the youngest, she must be dedicated to the gods. She left when I was a toddler, and I barely have any memories of her. The Vestalin family is down to myself and Erynne.

And I’m tainted.

It’s…inconvenient.

The Vestalin line dates back to the first kings of Lios. There has always been a Vestalin dedicated to the gods. There has always been a Vestalin family to bring fortune to the people of Lios. We are the blood of heroes. The first Vestalin, Ravendor Vestalin, sacrificed herself to save our kingdom and ever since, we have been held and revered as the best of humankind.

Well, the non-tainted ones are.

I’m the tainted one, so I’m more or less forgotten. The taint in my blood, the Vestalin curse, means that I’m useless as a bride, because I’m barren. Those with the curse cannot have children, and those without the curse that bear Vestalin blood have a chance of giving it to their children. My mother bore six children to my father, but only three of us survived childhood, and I am the only one that was tainted.

Luck was not with me then, and it’s not with me today. As Riza looks around, my nurse enters my chambers, the hated silver tray in her arms, vial of medicine still steaming from its preparation. She sets it down in the usual spot next to my chair by the fireplace, and begins the preparation of the potion.

Dragon shite.

“Princess?” my maid calls out again, heading over to my adjoining bedchamber in case I’ve appeared there. She glances back at the messenger, who lingers in the doorway, straightening his livery. “Your medicine has arrived, right on time.”

Pursing my lips, I decide to give up on hiding. I kick open the door to the wardrobe and tumble as gracefully as I can from behind the mess of skirts and silks. I throw my hair back and straighten my clothing, lifting my chin as the messenger gapes. “Have you seen my red silk corset, Riza? I was looking for it,” I lie.

Riza just snorts and moves to my side. “Let me help you with your sleeve, my lady.” As I sit gracefully into my chair, she mutters just low enough for me to hear. “Hiding in the closet like a child and you a lady of four and twenty. For shame.

“No one asked you,” I mutter back as she pulls on the knots of my oversleeve, removing it from my gown. Nurse sits across from me, busy at work. My arm is bared, and I lay it out for my medication, not looking as Riza ties a tight band of golden cord around my upper arm.

I can’t look at the needles. They make me feel faint to see them shoved into my arm, so I always turn my head. I use this opportunity to glance over at the messenger, who’s gawking as my ladies prepare me for my daily medicine. “What?” I snap, knowing that I’m being unfair to him. “Haven’t you ever seen a potion administered before?”

He swallows hard, staring at my nurse.

I glance over just in time to see her lift up a large syringe and a needle as long as my finger. Oh gods, I had to go and look, didn’t I? I clench my jaw and keep my face focused on the messenger as my nurse taps my arm, looking for the vein. “You had a message for me, didn’t you?”

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