Jared was annoyed when he was assigned protection duty of Ally, the queen’s older sister. Ally was known for her obnoxious behavior and constant desire for a rich husband. That desire was so well known that Lazzaro, the Vampire King, had used it to capture her so he could use her younger sister Aithne to try and kidnap one of his fellow dragon shifters, Chase. Lazzaro wanted to force Chase’s mate, Violca, to help him.

It did not work out the way that Lazzaro had planned. Aithne was a trained assassin and had been torn because she liked Chase and had also developed a friendship with Violca and her sisters. The five sisters were descendants of the original witch and once Violca had mated with Chase, they came under the protection of the Dragon King, Viktor. When Aithne tried to kidnap Chase, she failed, and instead ended up being captured by the dragons. Jared had never seen Viktor torn by his obligations and when Aithne finally told them that Lazzaro had kidnapped her sister and wanted to trade her for Chase, they agreed to help rescue her.

Once rescued, Ally threw herself into Victor’s arms. Jared would never forget watching her play the part of the damsel in distress and the intense desire he felt to yank her from his King’s arms. Jared had seen Aithne’s face as Viktor helped her to the SUV. He could see how hurt she was and Jared wasn’t surprised to hear she had run off that night. When Aithne returned bearing Victor’s mark, Jared felt an odd sense of relief, but he just chose to ignore it.

Jared adored Aithne, the immortal Celtic assassin, daughter of Boudicca, and now queen of his people. As part of the elite royal guard, one of Jared’s responsibilities was keeping the royal family safe. Today Jared drew the short straw and got stuck babysitting the selfish Princess on her trip to New York. Ally had gotten a date with some British shifter. Tonight, Jared would need to drive them on their date and make sure she stayed out of trouble.

Jared watched as she went from one dress to another putting them up against herself to see if she would like it before putting it in his arms to hold for her. By the stack he was holding, there wasn’t much she didn’t think would look good on her. When she added a blue dress that looked like it was meant to reveal way more than it concealed he finally looked down at her. “Princess, unless you’re planning on buying a dress for every female in here, I really doubt you need to buy this many today.”

Ally looked up at him and gave him an overly bright smile. “Of all the guards I could have gotten to go shopping with it figures I’d be stuck with you. I’m often surprised you can see me while sitting up on your high horse.”

Jared tightened his jaw, glad he was still wearing his sunglasses from earlier, so she couldn’t see him glaring at her. Ally rolled her green eyes at him before finally saying, “Fine, follow me and put those in my dressing room. I can start trying these on and see if I like any of them for tonight.”

As Jared walked behind her he tried not to notice the other men staring. Ally liked to wear clothes that clung to her and her sinfully ample curves revealing just enough to make men’s mouths water and itch to touch every tantalizing inch. She wore enough makeup to call attention to the unique color of her eyes and highlight her full pouty lips, which were often in a flirty smile directed at one poor guy or another. From the front, one couldn’t help but notice her ample cleavage. But from the back Jared had often noticed the way she swayed her hips from side to side, drawing your eyes to her perfect backside and the curve of her hip that made him want to grab on and hold tight. She was thick enough that a man knew he could hold her tight and she wouldn’t break.

He also knew he wasn’t the only one thinking that. Jared had often watched men turn and watch her walk regardless of who they were with. There was no way Ally didn’t know the way men responded to her when she walked into a room. She seemed to thrive on being the center of attention.

Since this was one of Ally’s favorite stores, the entire staff knew her and bent over backwards to accommodate her. Her dressing room was at the end of row near the sitting area where he would be stuck waiting for her as she came out to examine herself in every one of the dresses she had piled into his arms. As Jared hung up the last dress on the hook he turned around to see her already starting to remove her silk blouse.

“What are you doing?” Jared asked, his tone harsher than he meant.

Ally let out a loud sigh as she neatly folded her top. “Please Jared, don’t be such a prude. I am just trying to be helpful and finish up quickly, so you don’t break that jaw of yours clenching it for too long.”

Jared turned on his heels and walked out as one of the sales ladies walked in. If she was taking her shirt off in front of him how many other guards had she started to strip in front of? He was going to have to talk to Viktor and inform him to only use female guards to watch her. His fist clenched at his side, he watched the other sales girl scamper from the room to set out the coffee for him and the passion tea Ally had asked for earlier.

It was going to be a long night and Jared needed to calm down. Ally stepped out wearing a dress that hugged her curves perfectly. The emerald green color made her eyes stand out and Jared couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her generous breasts where pushed up against the fabric, looking like they wanted nothing more than to be released. The dress shimmered and clung to her as she walked.

The sales lady came out and made the appropriate oh’s and ah’s sounds stroking Ally’s ego. Ally smiled while turning slightly, checking out her reflection from the different angles the mirrors provided her. “Would you mind getting me the dress next to this one? Same color but…”

The sales lady grinned. “I know just the one. I’ll be right back.”

Ally smiled at her and went to the dressing room. After a few seconds, he heard her call out to him, “Jared! Can you come here please?”

With a loud annoyed sigh, Jared got up and walked to the dressing room. Ally had her back to him and looked up and over her shoulder. “I can’t quite reach the zipper. Would you mind?”

Jared debated for a minute before reaching up and grabbing the zipper. He’d never understood why women’s zippers were in spots they couldn’t reach. As he unzipped her he felt her soft skin brush against his hand and bit back a moan. The zipper went down her back stopping just above where her back met her tempting ass. Jared knew he shouldn’t look, that would be the gentlemanly thing to do but if he was honest with himself he never claimed to be a gentleman. His eyes were drawn down and he could see a hint of her thong. It was black lace like the bra he saw earlier, and his eyes couldn’t help but follow that thin strap of lace between the beautiful globes of her ass.

“I brought you the dress you asked for and another one I thought would look stunning on you.” The young girl said as she stepped into the room, stopping when she saw Jared. “Oh, excuse me,” she said blushing as Jared stepped away from Ally.

Without a word Jared stepped out of the dressing room and back into the sitting area. Picking up his coffee he took a sip and turned so he could watch the entryway to the dressing rooms from one of the mirrors. He was determined to ignore Ally as she tried on each dress the sales girl insisted on bringing her.